The Plan
I finished a successful 2019 race season chasing joy and breaking 4+ year old PRs at the 70.3 triathlon distance and at the marathon, but I also finished with some nagging issues. Back in July I was pushing my mother in law up a steep hill in a wheelchair when there was a sudden pain in my ankle. With a combination of rest, bracing, and the kitchen sink I managed the issue pretty well through the last big race on October 13th, 2019 at the Chicago Marathon where everything fell into place and I ran a 2:56. I still can't believe that happened. 5 days later and feeling invincible I tried to fun run the Bourbon Chase Ragnar relay across Kentucky. I had to drop out less than 2 hours into a 30+ hour team effort. There was no pace slow enough that didn't leave me feeling like I was going to do lasting damage.
Since the beginning of November I've been very aggressive trying a variety of strategies and have had dozens of appointments with Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Doctors and even an MRI. The conclusion was that I needed to keep moving, get serious about strength training and wait the problem out. With that in mind, I started doing tons of cross training and even got introduced the that scary room at the YMCA where (shock) the weights are. The horror!
I've also been researching ultra distance cycling and frankly, I've struggled to find any great resources. There are a few posts online that have been helpful, but the information seems to be much harder to find for a 24+ hour cycling event than it is a pedestrian triathlon or marathon. So, while I'm trying to transition (Ha! Get it?) from triathlon/marathons to ultra-cycling there still is my annual pilgrimage to Boston for the marathon and some running races with friends along the way so I figure I might as well start out getting ready for the 444 by running some half marathons and at least one spring marathon.
Yep, I know that sounds pretty dumb but let's see where this goes together. The marathon build that I'm doing is the formalization of the wacky, wild and unstructured 2019 that got me a 4:36 and 24 minute PR at the 70.3 tri distance in addition to the fast Chicago Marathon 3 weeks later. I was in great shape, but had averaged less than 30 miles running for the 18 weeks prior to that marathon.
Specifically, the general structure of the current phase of the build has me doing 2 swims, 3 bikes, 3 runs, 2 heavy lifting sessions, 2 Body Pump classes and 4 Physical Therapy routines each week.
To see the progress so far and the near term plans in detailed shorthand click on Progress at the top of the page.
Since the beginning of November I've been very aggressive trying a variety of strategies and have had dozens of appointments with Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Doctors and even an MRI. The conclusion was that I needed to keep moving, get serious about strength training and wait the problem out. With that in mind, I started doing tons of cross training and even got introduced the that scary room at the YMCA where (shock) the weights are. The horror!
I've also been researching ultra distance cycling and frankly, I've struggled to find any great resources. There are a few posts online that have been helpful, but the information seems to be much harder to find for a 24+ hour cycling event than it is a pedestrian triathlon or marathon. So, while I'm trying to transition (Ha! Get it?) from triathlon/marathons to ultra-cycling there still is my annual pilgrimage to Boston for the marathon and some running races with friends along the way so I figure I might as well start out getting ready for the 444 by running some half marathons and at least one spring marathon.
Yep, I know that sounds pretty dumb but let's see where this goes together. The marathon build that I'm doing is the formalization of the wacky, wild and unstructured 2019 that got me a 4:36 and 24 minute PR at the 70.3 tri distance in addition to the fast Chicago Marathon 3 weeks later. I was in great shape, but had averaged less than 30 miles running for the 18 weeks prior to that marathon.
Specifically, the general structure of the current phase of the build has me doing 2 swims, 3 bikes, 3 runs, 2 heavy lifting sessions, 2 Body Pump classes and 4 Physical Therapy routines each week.
To see the progress so far and the near term plans in detailed shorthand click on Progress at the top of the page.
