Long on excuses ... nothing dramatic ... tired of blogging for awhile and decided to take a break. Was also injured and I took a while (a long while) to get back into shape and to do anything worth writing about really. But now I have finally gotten back to where I wanted to be ... turned 50 this year, and did my third IM event in Austria on July 3, 2011 ... it was AWESOME and I did AWESOME ... I have gotten better with age, posting a 45 minute PR and feeling really great ... I think that I have finally gained some measure of "wisdom" after all these years. Comparing my three IMs:
IMC - my first; trained religiously; followed the plan to a T; was super emotional at beginning and end; very excited during; enjoyed an endorphin high for about a week after! Goal was sub-14:00; Finished in 13:40 so I was stoked!
IMCDA - my second; trained too hard to try and improve my time; was slightly over-trained and grumpy before and during event; emotional at beginning of event but not at end; just happy to be done. Goal was sub 13:00; Finished in around 13:20:xx. I was satisfied but felt like I should have been able to do better given my volume and intensity of training. I am convinced I was over trained, not by much, but enough to impact my mood, and sap my energy reserves.
IMAUS - my third; was not emotional at all; followed the "less is more" training plan and constantly reminded myself that "it is better to be 20% under-trained than 2% over-trained", using that excuse whenever it suited me to take an extra rest day or sleep instead of doing a workout if my body felt like it needed it; felt confident before, and during the race; and had the reserves that I expected to have given my lower training volume and intensity than previous IMs - posted a PR in 12:35:xx
Now I have completed my "hat trick" and don't feel a compulsion (yet) to do another IM event, but you never know ...
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