Tensions

Don't you love them? Tensions? I am having some now. I signed up for the Heart O' Dixie Triathlon, July 27th, and will soon sign up for Bikes, Blues, and Bayous. Those events are on back-to-back weekends, and I wish to do well in both of them. I also hope to do well in the 300 Oaks Road Race, a local 10K, September 21, and I want to do some marathons this winter. Therein lies the tensions.

To do well in the soon-to-be events means I need to taper for each of them. To do well in the Oaks and run a lot of miles this winter means I need to keep the training volume up. Thus, the challenge is to figure a way to be as fresh as I can for the HOD and end the week with at least 20 miles of running. With my current state of fitness, that will be a bit tricky. The event itself will give me 6.6 so I need to go in fresh with at least 13.5 miles of running. Most likely that will mean I have to do a couple of big runs early in the week and hope to recover by Saturday.

The very next week, being fatigued from the triathlon, I need to get in another 20 miles of running and still be fresh to ride that Saturday for 62 miles. How to pull it off? I can only hope for a quick recovery from HOD and some easy miles early in the week. All I can do is all I can do. 

These two events themselves will give me a strong training stimulus, but I need more than them alone. Experience has taught me that I need a minimum of 20 miles per week to build a base. A base is a fitness level broad enough to train upon for greater fitness. There is another triathlon on August 14th that I'd like to do. Again, I will have to train through it with as little taper as possible having the Oaks and my winter plans in mind.

I am not complaining, by the way. These are the kind of problems I want and the kind of problems I thought were gone from me forever. The weight training world calls this programming. How to program enough volume, be fresh, and stay injury free. It gets dicey sometimes. With the help of the Lord, I'll pull it off. Thank you, Jesus.