My Six-Week Ironman 70.3 Triathlon Training Program

Has it really been a month since I last posted anything? Where did June go? Travel. I’ve been to Chicago, Austin, Washington, D.C., Sacramento, Oklahoma City, and Garden City, Kansas, in the past four weeks. I woke up one morning this week in a hotel room and it took me a minute to remember where I was…and I was at home in my own bed!

That's me in DC overlooking the White House during a reception at John Deere's DC office

I realized today that I have exactly six weeks from tomorrow until the Boulder Ironman 70.3 triathlon. Guess I need to get with the program. The problem is I don’t really have one. I haven’t been in the pool in a month and I been riding on the road much (maybe 300 miles this season including the Elephant Rock Century ride three weeks ago).

Travel makes triathlon training tough. I can’t take my bike with me. Hotel pools big enough to swim laps in are rare. All I can really do on the road is run or workout in a hotel gym (about my least favorite form of exercise). So I do what I can when I can. That’s my training program.

I haven’t been able to run much since the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day and not at all for the past two weeks after taking an elbow to the rib cage in a “friendly” family basketball game while on vacation in Sacramento (two brothers, a brother-in-law, his brother, my daughter, two nephews and a niece who plays ball at Lewis and Clark where she was named to the 2010 All-Northwest Conference Team -- her freshman year!).

The finish of the Bolder Boulder 10K is inside Folsom Field at the University of Colorado

I did spend a lot of time riding on my Cyclops Fluid2 trainer this past Spring and winter and I can feel the results when I do get out on the road. I rode 24 miles to work yesterday morning in a personal best 1:17 (19.1 mph). I rode 50 today including 2,784 ft. of elevation gain and my legs feel good. So I’m not too worried about the bike portion (56 miles)

I rode up to Daniel's Park today to take in the amazing views of the
Front Range of the Rockies

I’ve got two weeks to prepare for the Boilermaker 15K Run on July 11. I plan to modify my two-week half marathon training program for Boilermaker. If my ribs will allow, I’ll run three miles tomorrow, four on Tuesday, five on Thursday, nine on Saturday, three on Monday, three on Wednesday, and an easy three on Friday. That’s thirty miles in two weeks, followed by the 9.3 miles that Sunday. In two weeks I’ll know whether I’m on track for the run leg (13.1 miles).

As for the swim (1.2 miles), I just need to get up and hit the pool more often in the coming weeks. I think I’ll start tomorrow morning before church. I can run in the afternoon. Heck, I might as well throw in a ride and do a personal mini tri tomorrow (with a church break built in!).

And tonight, of course, I’ll be eating BEEF to fuel up. The only question is which cut? I love a juicy Ribeye on the grill. Then again, a medium rare filet with blue cheese and sautéed Portobello s is hard to beat…and Tenderloin is one of the 29 Lean Cuts. Decisions, decisions…

Ride on!

Daren