We were 100 days until Ironman UK 2023 by the time we hit the end of March.
That’s when I started counting down the days.
You can have one of two reactions to a countdown to a date:
- It’s 100 days away, we still have plenty of time.
Or
- It’s 100 days away, OMG I NEED MORE TIME!
My brain would be telling me, “I have to ride 100 miles every week … I have to run a marathon every day…”
At least once a week I had to remind myself to “trust the process” that is Ironman training.
I began Ironman training in December and gradually, I increased the swim, bike and run distances.
The process is about building up strength without getting hurt.
(Getting hurt, like falling off your bike?)
Like doing too much, too soon and knotting up the muscles in my shoulders or legs … like I did the first time I trained for an Ironman.
(How did that work out?)
I spent six weeks in PT to rub the knots out of my traps and lats.
(Your what?)
My latissimus and trapezius muscles.
(Your what?)
My back and shoulder muscles. I accelerated my swimming from 1,200 meters to 3,000 meters and injured myself.
By April, I have a strong enough base to expand the distances for the swim and the run.
(Not the bike?)
Kinda.
(Please elaborate.)
My weekly swim workouts include a 2,000 meter swim, even in the off season.
(You have an off season?)
So, I’m always prepared to swim half the distance of an Ironman. Those distances expand in May, 8 weeks before the race.
Between December and March I accelerated my run from a 10K, 6.2 miles to a half marathon…
(Which you did in Central Park.)
…and I expanded those eight weeks before the race.
But the bike workouts only get a little bit longer, but they get a lot bit harder.
(Did you just say “a lot bit”?)
Anyway … bike workouts.
Ninety Days Until Ironman UK
By April it is warm enough to cycle outside, but I prefer to do most of the riding inside the house.
(Do you Peloton?)
No, I use my racing bike, I just put it on the trainer, a frame that keeps the back wheel off the ground. To increase my cycling strength in the first four months of training, I don’t ride longer, I ride faster.
I am oversimplifying how we build strength and endurance, but most of my three rides a week are 60 minutes long. The four, five and six hour rides will take place in the last 60 days of training.
(Tell me those were outside.)
Nope!
(Isn’t that boring?)
Indoors, no traffic, Netflix on my phone.
(How do you watch Netflix while you follow a workout plan?)
I spend more time watching the workout data than the show. The plan downloads into the bike computer I mounted onto my handlebars. Every time I’m supposed to switch gears, I get a three second countdown. If my cadence or power numbers go too high or too low, I get a warning beep.
Passover threw a monkey wrench into my training. I bike and run on Sunday, swim on Monday, run on Tuesday, bike on Wednesday, run on Thursday, bike and swim on Friday. I was in a rhythm and being away from home meant rethinking my week. I had to come home for the middle days because I had work, so that was when I did my bike work. I did my run workouts by running a one and two hour run on the first days.
I went to the hashkama minyan and instead of eating for the two hours before lunch, I went for a run. After Passover I manually entered the data into Strava.
(Some people take walks…)
I go for runs. I could have taken two rest days and I would not have lost any fitness, but I don’t do well with sitting around for too long.
(How did you keep yourself entertained on a two-hour run if you didn’t have tracking data and you didn’t have music?)
Every time I train for an Ironman, there is an album that speaks to me and I play it every Tuesday during my 60 minutes interval run. So, by April I was able to play the album in my head as I ran.
(You have an album that lasts 120 minutes?)
No, I make my own extended play versions of the songs in my head. At some point on every long run my reality becomes metaphysical solipsism.
(Meta what?)
Subjective realism; everything exists inside my head or my body. I hear music in my head, I feel my heart beating, my feet touching the ground, but everything else is a landscape painting; visual white noise. I notice my surroundings, but I do not “see them.”
For that brief period of time, I stopped being a husband, a father, a son, a schoolteacher. I simply exist as an athlete in motion.
That is why I break down crying at the end of every Ironman when I see my family. As enjoyable as the temporary vacation from my reality is, reality is so much more rewarding.
David Roher is a USAT certified triathlon and marathon coach. He is a multi-Ironman finisher and veteran special education teacher. He is on Instagram @David Roher140.6. He can be reached at [email protected].
