Season salvage ideas
I need some advice here teamies. Thinking I am going to drop out of IMFL due to a multitude of training interruptions (more interruptions than training). Seriously, this has been the worst summer for training ever--just got off a 10 day backpacking trip with the Boy Scouts and I'm on a plane to my next destination for another week away. I did one 5 mile run in between and felt very bad (yes, probably coloring my decision). At this point, the best I can see myself doing is 10 weeks of so-so training. Last tri I did was St. George in May, so I have been basically detraining for 12 weeks. I don't want to go to Florida untrained unless I have a real change of heart and feel like it would somehow benefit me to go through pain and humiliation. Financially, if I don't do Florida I can recycle my Southwest tickets on another trip, and WTC will send me back $150 of my entry. The hotel can be cancelled without penalty.
I am looking at the path forward and trying to decide what to do. I'm thinking maybe I should get through the summer and do a couple of HMs that I have on the schedule in August and September, maybe try to do a fall marathon then start the OS and get ready for Texas in the spring. How does this sound?
Comments
I think that your plan is a sound one. If your head and heart are not in it - it is best to salvage the year and put focus onto something else for a while. You are looking at this a good way. Money spent last year at IMFL is already gone. So in reality you will be ahead this year $150 for pulling out! Ha ha ha! :-D
The way that I look at it is this:
You can trudge through and complete IMFL which may put your head into an even worse place which is setting you up for a hard go at IMTX training. Mental fatigue is far worse than physical fatigue. If you break it off now, you can refocus on something else - single sport i.e. running like you said - and then come back mentally fresher and ready to get back into triathlon specifics.
Do you see/anticipate that you will drop back into a groove or routine to train for anything in the Fall? If not, don't put yourself thru it. Stop training and start hammering (whether on the bike or the run) shorter & harder workouts. Like, go ez when you need to recover and then punish yourself for short bursts. If you take the scheduled race, any or all of them, off the table, then you can use these types of workouts to recharge your batteries. By the time that you've made it thru the best time of the year, Fall, with no pressure or agenda, you'll be ready to prepare for the OS!
How's the SAU bank? Be honest with the situation. If you're getting warning signs, stand down from any scheduled races. Not necessarily the working out part, but take it ez on the "I Got A Schedule That I Gotz To Keep But I Gotz All These Things That Are Getting In The Way Or I'll Never Kill My Race Coming Up in 4 Weeks!" And don't make a big deal of doing something like that. Do it quietly and the house will pick up on it pretty quickly. The real house.
Just my 2cents worth, keep the change!
I am always amazed at how so many of us race so often. Just the thought of that exhausts me, and it has nothing to do with the training.
Also, you wouldn't be the first guy that worked hard and peaked for a really tough May race and then had trouble finding the focus with the rest of the season. (For the newbies reading, this is why RnP have us take a serious break after an early Spring race if we are also scheduled for a big Fall race. Not saying Steven didn't, just spreading the word.)
If you're seriously thinking you shouldn't do IM FL, you've already lost the battle. It's imperative to have a DAMNED good reason to enter into an Ironman, otherwise it's a very frustrating experience on many levels. Once you commit you've got to be all in all the way to the end, through training, as well as the race.
Not saying you should or shouldn't, that's your decision. Just, unless you've got yourself really psyched up to race, it won't be worth it. If you DID really want to do the race, you CAN get yourself ready within 12 weeks, no problem, IMO, but like I said, gotta be all in, fully committed to the training plan. Might require a little ramp up the first two weeks, but our bodies adapt quicker than you might imagine to the training stress as RnP write it. Your FTP and VDOT might be a little low compared to previously, but as long as you keep your training based on current ("should, not could") speeds, the plan works. "Do the best with what you've got."
There was lots of frustration and times where I definitely wanted to pull the whole plug, but I've just re-committed myself to doing the absolute best I can with whatever I can muster up in the final weeks. I'm nowhere near where I was last year at this time before an IM, but it's coming along surprisingly quickly. In a way, I'm kind of more motivated now than ever because I've realized that even having the ability to train is somewhat of a blessing and I'm committed to maximizing the time I have left.
Keep it up and make every workout count, almost never too late to get back in the game.