That Escalated Quickly

There must be some sort of name for it.  Kinda like Murphy’s Law, only from someone not named Murphy.  Or perhaps just a different Murphy.  Begs the question of what would have happened had Murphy come up with a second law.  The basic theory is that as soon as you convince yourself that there’s not enough time to handle whatever your current schedule is, something else will come along that will make you long for the schedule that you thought was impossible.  Maybe it can be my law.  I’m definitely living it right now.

I thought my running schedule to train for an ultra was near my limits in terms of duration and intensity for what my mind and body could handle while still staying employed and actually seeing my family on occasion.  Then I discovered triathlon training.  Kinda putting a beating on me right now.

Admittedly, I’m pushing the boundaries a bit on the tri training since I was already signed up for a marathon in the middle of February.  I’ve created a Franken-plan combining a 24-week Ironman training plan, and a moderate-level marathon training plan to get me to the line in Myrtle Beach in 3 weeks with the potential to try and race the marathon and see if I can put together a PR.  Net result is for 6 weeks each week consists of 2-3 strength-training sessions, 2-3 bike rides, 3 swims, and 5 runs.  Trying to get enough sleep to support this as well, which is equally challenging.  It’s been pretty fun so far, but I won’t be terribly unhappy to get past the marathon and work out a more sustainable model.

My recent tinkering with my running shoe mix has me going the opposite direction of the wave of minimalist-shoe momentum, and looking at Hokas.  For those that aren’t familiar with these shoes, they take the approach that more-is-more, and offer more support and cushion than just about any other shoe on the market.  I finally saw one of these shoes in person at a tri store last week and I’m thoroughly intrigued.  Rockstar Emz uses Hokas for much of her prodigious treadmill running, and if they help her put in 4,000+ miles a year, they certainly have potential for me.  With the amount of training I’m pushing right now, these might be some more insurance against overtraining injury.  I’m always looking for ways to slay the injury dragon.

Swimming remains my main nemesis right now.  Apparently water has gotten much thicker since I did swim-team as a kid.  There can’t possibly be any other explanation for the degree to which the pool owns me right now.  Water and I are starting to work out some sort of tolerable agreement, but it’s still pretty contentious.  In the meantime, I’m stepping up my sprint workouts at the track in hopes that I get fast enough to just run across the water like this guy….

Seems like a reasonable plan.