August in review

A couple 100+ mile weeks in there.

I completed my first 70.3 in August, which is pretty much all I've been yapping about. But I should do at least a quick month in review, right?

I started off the month strong, ended up skipping my last long run to make it an unintentional early taper, and then did pretty much nothing after my race. And honestly, I am looking forward to taking some time off from the pool and bike.

Swim: In all, about 20,750 meters, which works out to just about 13 miles. This was 11 swims -- 6 in the pool and 5 in various lakes. That's the exact breakdown as last month with a few additional meters overall.

Bike: Five road rides, including three long weekend training rides, a mid-week pre-race shakeout, and my RACE! This worked out to 237 road miles. Other than that, I got in four rides on the indoor trainer. That's more miles on the road from last month, but only about half the trainer rides.

Run: A total of 123.85 miles, which, if nothing else, proves that I need to add up my mileage a few days BEFORE the end of the month so I can do another stupid 1.15-mile run to make it an even number! Gah! This worked out to 18 runs -- 2 LSDs, 3 bricks, 5 easy, 4 speed (a combo of quarter-mile repeats, half-mile repeats, and mile pickups), 2 tempo, 1 MMD and did I mention 1 RACE??????????? I also had a four-day and a five-day streak in there. It's decent mileage for the month, although it's down about 10 miles from last month.

Other: I didn't do much other than walk the mutts. I am hoping that after this race I'll have more time for yoga, strength training, and pre-hab.

So, now that my triathlon season is over, it's time to focus on my fall marathon. As of today, I'm two 20-milers in this training cycle, so the distance just needs ironing out. What I am really lacking in is speed, which has suffered a lot in all the additional swim and bike training I put in this spring and summer.

I was initially hoping for a sub-4-hour marathon, but I don't know if that will really be feasible at this point. So the plan is to pick up the pace for a few weeks and see where I stand. And if I have to reevaluate my goals, then that is what I'll do.

On to the next adventure!