A time-crunched 42-year-old Clydesdale’s (200+ lbs.) attempt to qualify for the Ironman Triathlon Championship on minimal training.
If only the boys could tow me through Ironman...
After a decade-long hiatus from serious endurance sport, I missed the benefits of hard work concomitant with big goals. In 2010 and 2011 I entered a smattering of triathlons and long bike races loosely following modern training guidance: A time-consuming mix of short, high intensity intervals and long, low intensity workouts in HR Zones 2 and 3. The training did not work for me. Working a full-time job while maximizing the time spent with my wife and two boys (8,6) — including coaching two sports each in the Fall and Spring — didn’t leave time for a scientific programme, especially 5+ hour weekend “base” workouts. So I decided to go old school as an experiment. I’m reverting to the ethos I learned as a rower in the 1980s at St Paul’s and Harvard, and as a 1990s Marine: Every workout is a race. All into the oar, all the time. Finish strong. Now I needed a big goal….
