Logging is reaility
Since my July break I have been on the gas. So much so that I rode the most miles for a 2 month period that I have ever ridden. I have averaged 1,215 miles a month for the last 2 months; 400 of those miles coming in the mountains. (Every hundred in the mountains is equivalent to 150 miles at home, holding race day watts). During this period I also averaged 31 miles running a week and 5.5k in the pool (a little weak in the swim but oh well).
Long story short I am fit…very fit! But I am not writing about my training. More so my training log ( www.athleticore.com ). The reason being is more often than not the numbers I think I’ve hit are not the same as actuality. Without logging my workouts I would have no way to actually know for sure what I did week to week, month to month, year to year and race to race. By logging every thing for a few years now I can go back and see exactly what worked during my training, taper etc. That is exactly what I did on Sunday. I pulled up the month leading into Ironman Arizona 2008 and Ironman CDA 2008. Arizona was my best race last year so I really wanted to parse the numbers. What I found was much simpler. I was rested, very rested. With out tracking my workouts I would have tried to pull from memory what I did last year to get ready for my races; and trust me my mind is not always reliable during the taper!
I find that high level endurance athletes are not very good at rest but the numbers don’t lie. I am health and the only way to get faster from this point on is to get fresh. So that is exactly what I plan to do for Kona…get some rest. T-3 and counting.