30 wks

Thirty weeks until IM Mont Tremblant.  Seems like it should be time to start training with some focus.  When I did IMWI in 2009 I followed a 30-week plan.  G followed a 30-week plan when she did IMWI last year.  So it only seems right that I have a 30 week plan.

But I don't.  I don't really have any plan to get me to IMMT.  And for now, I'm ok with it. 

Biking, I'm six weeks into Jorge's winter cycling plan over on Beginner Triathlete.  Averaging 4-5 hours a week.  Fairly high intensity.  Next week is test week.  I've been dreading it all week, not quite losing sleep over it, but close.  First, 20 minutes all out is not fun.  The 5 minute all out test isn't so bad, but that 20-minute test, it hurts, for way too long.  Then there are the results. Big improvements?  Great, my following workouts just got that much harder.  Little/no improvement?  What the hell am I doing wrong?  It's almost a no win situation.  I do feel like I'm getting stronger.  We'll know shortly.

10 more weeks on Jorge's plan brings us to the beginning of April.  Prime time to start riding outside.  Not sure where I'll go for my structure at that point.

Running is going along fine.  Up to about 27 miles a week.  Still running 6x a week.  Still doesn't feel like I'm running much at all.  My longest run has been just over 8-miles.  Everything easy.  Winter has been very cooperative until very recently.  Twice this week I've shortened runs due to weather.  Thursday it was snowing and maybe 5 degrees F.  About 2 miles in I could feel snow freezing in the corner of my eyes.  Time to turn around and head back to the office.

This afternoon I was out in a light freezing rain which resulted in icy sidewalks and wet then fogged up glasses.  And it was windy.  So I couldn't see, running on ice, and I had to avoid the wind, cause it still wasn't exactly summer.  The hell with it.

I actually have this run plan/build set up to take me all the way to IMMT, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to keep at it through spring/summer.  This is a fairly quiet time at work, so running 4-5 days a week at lunch is doable.  Come spring who knows.  I'd love to be able to keep at it like this, I just don't know if it will work.

Swimming.  Swimming is coming along slowly.  To sum up my progress, I almost swam a 200 yesterday, but my son apparently can't count and we came up one length short.  That has been my longest interval so far.  1,500 has been my longest session.  Still swimming with the kids, mostly at open swim.

There are lots of good things about swimming with the kids.

1.  I'm swimming harder, pushing myself to keep up.  With P it's an all out effort just to stay next to him, if he's trying.  With Mel, I'll give her 5-yards then try to catch her.  Either way I'm not just lazily swimming along.

2.  Neither one of them likes rest between intervals.  It's open swim, they want to get back to playing.  I pull them in individually for short sets throughout my swim, so the sooner we're done, the sooner they play, and the less rest I get.

3.  I'm learning new things.  Today's lesson was flip turns.  I doubt I'll be doing them anytime soon.  But I tried.  Most efforts left me sitting on the bottom of the pool.  At least the kid's got a good laugh.  Mel is determined to teach my how to butterfly as well.  I can't even dolphin kick well.

4.  And perhaps most importantly, I actually want to go to the pool.  I still have no desire to solo swim.

But I have absolutely no swim plan, I know what kind of volume and sessions I need to build up to.  Just no plan per se.

And there you have it, 30-weeks until IM Mont Tremblant.  Fasten your seat belts, keep your hands in the car at all times, enjoy the ride.