Facing the Ugly Truth

With just over 15 weeks to go, I am not at all in the shape I was in when I race 70.3 Couer d'Alene. I mean, of course I'm not in shape. I took time off and then injured myself. Facing the reality of where I am is not easy. I was in such a good place with my fitness and was eager to get moving. But this is what can happen in this sport.

I'm finally well enough to train and this week I started the testing process. I did a run threshold test on Monday, a critical swim speed test on today, and an FTP test on Wednesday. By doing the test I can see where I really am and just how far I'll need to climb.

So let's talk about where I am.

Run

I've suffered the most in my run. My top-end (threshold) speed is down. My heart rate sky rockets and overall muscle fatigue is less than fun. I think the shin splint issue leading up 2 CdA combined with not running at all for a month just has me behind.

I'm going to focus a lot on heart rate right now. Keeping it in a steady range to prevent injury. Hopefully using the Normatec Legs I'll see some positive results allowing me to push a little harder than previous blocks.

Bike

My FTP was only 10 watts lower than my previous FTP. This was great news considering how much time I was off. When I look at my training throughout the injury, riding on the training was the only sport I could do. It wasn't much but apparently it helped a ton. Still, I'm going to have to push myself here regardless.

Swim

Unfortunately swim took the hardest hit. Fortunately for me, I can get in swim shape relatively fast. My only concern is re-aggravating the injury. I think for now all signs are positive. I still feel the rib when I swim so I won't be able to push as hard as the other two sports.

Summary

I'm focused on incremental improvement as fast as possible.