Five hours of training in one week is not good when you are just three weeks away from your Ironman triathlon event. But that’s what I did this week. I’m not looking to compete in this thing, but I’m looking to complete it. I’ve had a lot going on during my training season. Retirement from a career and attempts to transition into a second career. In a nutshell that’s it but it comprises a lot of life challenges, primarily an attempt to re-prioritize my life and those things that are important to me. Maybe I’ll write about that later but I’ll save this audience the pain. Here’s a capture of this week’s training activities:

I blame this week’s shortage on a return to work. I work a night job and am not good at sleeping during the day, so as the week goes on my sleep deprivation builds and it’s harder to get the good workout(s) in. Hence today’s 30 min bike session-it should have been a 2-hour + ride. Again-priorities. The family has to eat, I need to earn money…blah blah blah. At this point I have serious concerns about finishing the event. I worked a 10-hour shift last night and it was the 4th of five workdays in the week.=I woke up today feeling hammered after 5 hours of sleep (the most in one day I’d gotten all week).

Next week I’ll still focus on power and strength, the following week will be pure endurance, and then taper week. I’m also working to dial in nutrition: using Gatorade endurance and Gu gels, trying to daily fuel well with vegetables and protein, and staying hydrated. Interesting that hydration has become a challenge in my life. I really have to work at drinking constantly at work to keep hydration up. I’ve had cramps in the pool and a lot in the calves today after yesterday’s nine-mile run in the Vibram Five Fingers.

Next week I also need to get some basic prep work done: bike checkup at the shop, get a replacement rear tire as the current is worn from indoor training, and get my kit squared away (I still need new shorts and a jersey).