Half Iron Training

First today's blog is going to be broken into two totally different subjects.  Triathlons and Running.  

This Monday, Jan 28, I started my half iron training program.  I have been doing a variation of this training program for about a year so I am familiar with the schedule.  The difference now will be the intensity.  My goal is to not only to improve my endurance, but to also improve my speed.  

I plan to incorporate more speed drills and tempo runs/ride/swims.  This is going to be fun.  As always when I go into a new season, I plan out my races and then work backwards from there.  This year, I have actually rated A races.  I have incorporated a couple of sprint tri's as B/C races just to work on transitions and to keep my focus.  

An 18 week training plan can tend to get a little monotonous, but with less intense races scattered, I think I will be able to make it.  I love racing.  

Now about Running.  I have a love/hate relationship with running.  For me running has always been easy.  I can quickly zone out while running.  I never really worked on it.  

I am currently reading "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall.  This book is mostly about ultramarathons and ultra racing.  While I have run a couple of marathons and I enjoyed the challenge, I have not been bitten by the ultra bug.  While some would consider an Ironman an ultra event, I don't.  Not yet anyway.  

While I am finding some of the book very interesting and good, other parts seem to be dragging on.  Way too much background on each person.  I am struggling to finish it.  More on this once I actually finish it.