I'm not Going to Make It

I have spent a lot of time over the last view weeks calculating average speeds, flat to hill ratios, heart rate optima, and I keep coming to the same conclusion: I'm too slow. Until now I was worried. Now, I have officially entered panic mode. There are only fours weeks left!

There is not much I can do at this point to gain strength or improve my speed. Anything but following my training plan could result in injury or leave me not as rested as I need to be on race day.

Gaelic for Go Slow

My problem is the bike cut-off time at the Ironman in Zürich in four weeks. I have to finish the whole race (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile marathon) in 16 hours. Those wimps at the world championship in Hawaii get 17 hours to do it.
I think I have enough endurance to do all three events in 16 hours. But, ten hours into the race, you have to be back from the bike ride, or they wont let you go onto the marathon. I should be out of the water in an hour and fifteen or so (you have to take it easy there, or you wont make it through the day). Going through transition 1 to strip the wetsuit, put a shirt, helmet, socks, and bike shoes on takes me between five and ten minutes. That leaves me about 8.5 hours to do the 112 mile ride. And it aint flat.
Last weekend I did a relatively short (70 miles) ride to Powerscourt Falls. I didn't go into the park to actually see the largest water fall in Ireland. It's a very scenic area and I will be back when I have more time to enjoy it.
I adhered strictly to my heart-rate zones for flats and hills and came back not completely dead as is usually the case for me on long rides (and runs). Which is to say, everything still hurts and I'd rather sit at the computer with a glass of wine and some good food, than even think of going out there and walk, let alone run, anywhere. But, compared to the long ride last weekend, this was a piece of cake.
Of course, in four weeks, I'll have to do that, and another 42 miles, and a marathon to finish the day. Plus, I'll have to do it faster! The heart-rate dictated pace I had last Saturday would not do.

I'll have to rush. Just don't know how exactly.

The running training plan I'm following is designed to get you done with a marathon in just under four hours. Of course, they don't take into account the whole taking-a-bath-and-sitting-on-your-bike-for-nine-hours part before that. The plan makes me do my longer runs at around ten minutes per mile, and tempo runs at around 8:40 per mile and speed work close to eight minutes per mile. This is supposed to get you ready for a 9 minute/mile marathon on race day.
That wont happen (for me) after a 112-mile bike ride. I'll be happy with anything below five hours. But it does give an indication about how these things are supposed to work. You keep killing your body week after week. Let it partially recover once in a while, and then go back at it with longer distances and higher speeds. At the end you get to tapper for three weeks and your body rewards you on race day with the best performance of your life. (At least in theory ;-)

That is now a very nice road to ride on; with the dressing and all ;-)

This week is rest week and then one more grueling week leading into taper. We'll see whether this will work out. I have my doubts as you can tell. The 9-mile easy run earlier this week was almost fun (for a run). When I was training for half Ironmen, a 9-miler was pretty daunting (and four years ago I could not have done it at all). Now it is something to look forward to, since it is so much easier than what I had to do last week, or what's coming next week.

Wouldn't it be nice? Eat all day, get spray-painted once in a while, but no work, no grocery shopping, and no training for an Ironman.

My easy bike during this rest week was a mere forty miles. Again, something that a couple of years ago would have been a major effort. I did it on Wednesday evening after work. (Of course, its light here past ten O-clock every night already, so it's not quite as impressive as it sounds.)
I rode up a steep hill where I took the "Don't worry the sheep, or I'll shoot your dog" picture last month. That hill was a lot easier this time. Maybe this whole training thing will work and I will be able to finish my race...