February review

My Ironman training has gone well this month. I really lost motivation in 2017 and January of this year, but I've got it back...big time. I've been doing almost daily workouts for four weeks now. My mileage: Swimming = 11 miles, Biking = 137 miles, Running = 38 miles, for a total of 186 miles. This is 49% more miles than in 2016 when I was training for my last Ironman race. Of course, quality of training is better than quantity, so I'm following the advice of my workout plan by staying within certain heart rate zones. I'm also trying to improve run efficiency by increasing my cadence, and my swim efficiency by using more bilateral breathing. There are about 5 weeks left before my swim league's championship, so in March I plan to work on some bad habits I've developed, and do extra weight lifting sessions. I'm having a great time being physical! It's a great stress reliever. You should try it out if you haven't gotten into this habit! That is all.

What's the point of a second Ironman?

I am reading a book on the Science of Triathlon Speed. Maybe I'll grab the book and give it a proper citation later. Anyway, it gives lots of advice on what techniques in swimming, biking, running will make you measurably faster, and what equipment will help, and what equipment will not. The biggest, most important piece of equipment the book recommended for improving bike performance was a power meter. Power meters are really expensive, at least relative to my bike. If I bought one, it would be like buying 60% of a new bike. I don't really want to spend that kind of money on a hobby, especially since it doesn't matter that much to me how fast I can do an Ironman.

This brings me to why I am doing an Ironman this year in the first place. It will be my second full-distance triathlon. My first was the Rev3 Cedar Point, an amazing, awesome, rewarding experience in 2016. I signed up for Ironman Maryland (IMMD) in 2018 because I had so much fun during Rev3 Cedar Point. So what should be my goal at IMMD? Obviously, I want to finish the race safely, and do it before the time cutoff. I also want to have as much fun as I can. What about my speed? Since the two courses are completely different, it doesn't make sense to try to "beat my time" from 2016 (13:37:57). I have never raced to beat others; I am simply not fast enough to be competitive for a podium spot.

Is it worth training to increase my speed? What would that do for me, since I don't expect to be competitive anyway, and I have no personal best to beat? In this context, buying a power meter just seems to be too much of a luxury. Still, I do desire to be fast. Fast is fun. Faster is better, and I want to be better. I had a motto in 2016 for my first iron-distance race: I don't need to prove myself, I just want to improve myself. I will take that idea on this year as well. So in 2018, I want to improve my result from 2016. That means that maybe I should look up my 2016 age group ranking and try to beat it. That means I should look up my bike and run times from 2016 and try to beat those. The two courses are completely different, but neither route features many hills. If anything, the Ohio race had some elevation change, while Maryland will not. Meanwhile, I hear there is a lot of wind in Maryland, so maybe that will cancel out any gains I might get from a flatter route. Yes, so I will come up with some times to beat:

2016 Results
Swim: 1:27:54
Bike: 6:41:43
Run: 5:00:40
Total 13:37:57
Age Group Rank = 9 out of 11 = top 82%

2017 IMMD
I scanned the 2017 results of IMMD to determine what times would give me a top 82% finish. I found Bart Mehring. He was at the 82nd percentile, and amazingly, his swim and bike times almost exactly matched mine. He swam in 1:26:33, biked in 6:41:44, and ran in 6:11:35. He clearly walked more of his marathon than I did, so I'm not sure he's the guy I want to beat. I can do better. Scrolling up exactly one page, I find Yossy Pinhas. His swim was 1:27:40, bike 6:34:22, and run 5:27:36. I still assume I can beat that. Going up one more page, I find Michael Lanzisera. He swam in 1:27:06, biked 5:59:48, and ran 5:00:36 for a finish time of 12:59:04. So that's what my goal is going to be: finish in under 13 hours. If I do that in 2018, my age group rank will be 62 out of 160 athletes, or top 39%. So let's make my goal to be in the top 40% just to use a round number. Given my previous triathlon results, that is very reasonable. I am a middle-of-the-pack athlete, and this won't change. However, my goal is to cut 42 minutes from my bike time.

What if I cut 60 min off my bike and/or run time? That would take me to the top 35% in my age group. What's the difference between 35 and 40? I don't think I care.

I think I might have more time this year to train. I will take the book's (less expensive) suggestions on how to improve my speed. This will help me achieve my "improve" goal, and if I can finish my race earlier, I'll probably enjoy it a little more...but only if my gains come from improved efficiency more than speed. I don't want to work so hard that I don't enjoy it. I'll still have to think about this some more.

January mileage

It's an Ironman year, so I'll start posting my monthly mileages. You might not care, but posting them publicly keeps me motivated. So, I start with what I did in January: 6 miles of swimming + 63 miles cycling + 23 miles running + 4 miles walking = 96 miles. This is 4% of my goal for the year!