At
the YMCA I work at, there is currently a challenge going on called the “Frozen
Hodag Ultra Tri.” The challenge
includes 44,000 yards of swimming, 225 miles of biking, and 60 miles of
running, to be completed over the course of three months (December through
February). For some of those
participating in the challenge, it is a source of motivation to do more than
what they were doing before, or to try a new sport in order to complete all three
aspects of it.
Last summer when I was in my build period for my
first half-iron distance triathlon, I chased training goal numbers (10,000
yards of swimming, 35-40 miles of running, and 180 miles on the bike) during my
biggest weeks. I wanted 4,000 yards
for my longest swim, 11 miles for my longest run, and completed 76 miles for my
longest ride. I have goals for my
training blocks as well.
It
can be difficult to back off the pursuit of yards and miles though, especially
for volume junkies. The transition
to a new training block focus can also be tough to back off my last sport
focus. I recently completed my
swim block, averaging close to 15,000 yards per week. Now it can be difficult to mentally accept less than 10,000
per week, as it seems so little, yet in reality, that’s still quite a bit of
swimming. It’s also been hard to
back off my running. During my
marathon training, I had weeks of 40-45 miles of running. Now I am making myself settle for a
mere 20 miles per week, and only six days of running versus my normal
seven. Is that really enough
though to fully reap the benefits of my current key focus (the bike)? These are the questions every self-coached
triathlete must ask themselves as they seek to find that balance.
Another
benefit of numbers though, is that once you’ve done something, it doesn’t seem
nearly as daunting or intimidating to do it again. Once you’ve completed that 10K, half marathon, marathon,
half-ironman, it just doesn’t seem as big of a deal anymore. Once I biked 76 miles in training, that
56 miles for the race just didn’t seem so bad. Maybe completing a sprint triathlon, or moving up in a
distance, right now is intimidating for you. It doesn’t have to stay that way though! I used to insist that I was never going
to do a half marathon, half-ironman, or marathon, yet now I have completed all
three! I would argue that I simply
had no interest in taking on such distances. I have discovered how much I have loved the challenge
though. What am I capable of? My guess is that you are also capable
of far more than you would expect as well. How will you challenge yourself this year?