Yesterday marked my
return to Half Ironman racing with Muncie 70.3. After putting in a solid
block of training in Boulder for the last two months, I had mixed
expectations. I knew I was in good swim shape from the hard swim
workouts at altitude, I had worked harder on the bike than I've ever
worked before, and my run training was improving week by week - although
I hadn't yet started doing any speed work, my volume was where it
needed to be to run a half. Since it's been over two years since my last
1/2 Ironman, this race was sort of a test to clear out the cobwebs, see
where my race fitness was, and to use it as a stepping stone to gain
fitness for my next half Ironman, followed by my return to Ironman racing.
The main lesson I learned this weekend is that training fitness unfortunately does not always equal race fitness. Although I finished in a respectable time of 4:40, it was a much harder fought race simply because racing hard for over 4 hours, and running a 1/2 marathon off a 90km time trial and a 1.8km swim is not an easy thing to replicate in training - especially after a two year race sabatical.;-) So now that I've put in a good training base, I'm looking forward to the fun part of racing more and giving my all at something that I love.
The main lesson I learned this weekend is that training fitness unfortunately does not always equal race fitness. Although I finished in a respectable time of 4:40, it was a much harder fought race simply because racing hard for over 4 hours, and running a 1/2 marathon off a 90km time trial and a 1.8km swim is not an easy thing to replicate in training - especially after a two year race sabatical.;-) So now that I've put in a good training base, I'm looking forward to the fun part of racing more and giving my all at something that I love.
Onwards and Upwards!
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| Myself and Monica, one of the athletes I coach who qualified for 70.3 Worlds in her second ever half Ironman. |
