Races Cancelled: What's Next?

23 hours of training last week was my biggest yet! With just over 15 hours on the bike, 51 run miles and 1:15 of strength, I am beat. Being my first full week back after influenza A, I could feel the fatigue in my body. On Sunday, I decided to hit the reset button after the news of Ironman Tulsa being postponed (date TBD). I started my week with no training and focused on neglected house maintenance before tackling a century ride on Monday. The rest of this week will be focused on recovery.

With IM Tulsa postponed, my training is up in the air, for now. My next official race is Des Moines 70.3 June 21^st followed by Muncie 70.3 on July 11^th. DSM is likely to be cancelled soon, and Muncie is still on the fringe.

This week I decide where to go from here. I can go back to Zone 2 base build in hopes of racing a full in the fall, or I can drop some volume and target more speed for a faster 70.3. Either way, I am anxious to test myself and check fitness.

April 4^th-5^th, I am planning on racing a virtual half Ironman (duathlon) to find out. To give myself that race feel, I’ll take a few easy days before, use race wheels, wear my kit if it’s warm enough and make my car the transition area away from town. I also have the following goals so I have something to shoot for:

22mph on the bike (self-supported) just under a 2:33 split. I haven’t been over 21mph in training, but hopefully my race effort will get me there.

1:30 half marathon 6:50 min/mi or better.

Total time under 4:00 hours excluding transition. I don’t plan on dawdling or recovering before the run. Hoping to drop the any time over 2:30 on the bike from run split.

Some pictures from my Century Ride with Jeff Paul.

1st fuel stop at 45 miles. 2.5 hours of 15-20mph headwinds

Jeff pulled most of the ride / 100 miles right at dusk