I remember hearing about the post ironman slump.
It was all about athletes hitting a near depression. No goals to reach for, no training plan to stick to, worried about weight because their training was no longer out pacing their calorie intake. No more "I'm just going to take one day at a time because I can't think past today's workout." And the post race feeling of not having a purpose is not limited to Ironman finishers. It spans 5k finishers to Ironman finishers and includes people who were unable to finish their race.
Now it's two weeks past the Ironman, and I have to ask myself: Now what?
Today I'm going to start my training again. I've got enough races under my belt to know how to pace a race, and I'm comfortable saying that while I need to put in volume on all three sports, my best improvement can be made in cycling
I really enjoyed most of the ironman. I did reach the point during the race where I swore I'd never do it again. I think everyone does. Less than three days later, however, I was counting down the time until I can return to the Ironman. I plan to go back the year that my youngest goes to school, which should be after September of 2015.
So, I'm going to do some goal setting in the meantime.
My goals:
Qualify for the Boston Marathon
Sub 5 hour half ironman
And I'm not in a rush for these - I'll get there when I get there.
I've got some time to think and plan. One thing for sure - I'm adding some functional weight training to my workouts. But it's time to enjoy my training for the sole purpose of running. Or cycling. Or swimming.
There's a feeling of pure joy in training for me that I didn't feel as much during the weeks that had 15-20 hours of training. It's time to chase that feeling again.
Anything is possible now...
It was all about athletes hitting a near depression. No goals to reach for, no training plan to stick to, worried about weight because their training was no longer out pacing their calorie intake. No more "I'm just going to take one day at a time because I can't think past today's workout." And the post race feeling of not having a purpose is not limited to Ironman finishers. It spans 5k finishers to Ironman finishers and includes people who were unable to finish their race.
Now it's two weeks past the Ironman, and I have to ask myself: Now what?
Today I'm going to start my training again. I've got enough races under my belt to know how to pace a race, and I'm comfortable saying that while I need to put in volume on all three sports, my best improvement can be made in cycling
I really enjoyed most of the ironman. I did reach the point during the race where I swore I'd never do it again. I think everyone does. Less than three days later, however, I was counting down the time until I can return to the Ironman. I plan to go back the year that my youngest goes to school, which should be after September of 2015.
So, I'm going to do some goal setting in the meantime.
My goals:
Qualify for the Boston Marathon
Sub 5 hour half ironman
And I'm not in a rush for these - I'll get there when I get there.
I've got some time to think and plan. One thing for sure - I'm adding some functional weight training to my workouts. But it's time to enjoy my training for the sole purpose of running. Or cycling. Or swimming.
There's a feeling of pure joy in training for me that I didn't feel as much during the weeks that had 15-20 hours of training. It's time to chase that feeling again.
Anything is possible now...
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