Journey to Kona Day 96: Loving Ironman Legs

There's nothing like the feeling of "ironman legs" while training for an ironman.  Today was one of those days.  The best part was that, despite nearly 100 miles on the bike yesterday and another 50 minute ride this morning (with muscle endurance efforts, high gear/low cadence), I went into my long run with absolutely no leg soreness, but my legs were pretty dead.  It didn't bother me, nor did it dissuade me from my run.  In fact, I looked forward to just getting out and running at whatever pace made sense.  Since my run course was very hilly, that meant slow!  I didn't look at my pace, nor did I care.  I just ran and enjoyed the beautiful day, knowing that this was another key test of my training preparation for Boulder, and beyond.  The cool thing was that I never felt any soreness, and, if I hadn't attempted a hard downhill mile around mile 10, probably wouldn't have even felt the cumulative fatigue of the last few weeks, and in particular, yesterday.

There really is nothing like the feeling that your legs are dead, but that you can run anyway.  Mentally, it's the most important part of ironman training.  Physically, I'm sure that there are also benefits.  I continue to be fascinated by what has transpired in the last few weeks.  I'm sure that I keep blogging about it, but it's hard not to.  I literally had to take three weeks off, and here I am, having completed one of my most solid two day ironman training efforts ever!  More importantly, the only thing that I'm feeling as I write this is fatigue.  But that goes without saying.

The human body is a remarkable organism.  It takes whatever you throw at it, adjusts, heals, and moves forward.  I've wondered if my accidental break allowed positive healing that is now paying off as I've ramped up my training level once again.  I'm also still intrigued by the impact of my 100 mile event in January.  It took a huge toll on my physiology, but I have a sense that it did something to my legs that further insulates them from the rigors of training.

I'm traveling over the next three days, so training will be limited, but that's probably good.  Additional recovery time at this point doesn't hurt, and will allow me to push further through next week.  With four weeks to go (as of tomorrow) to Ironman Boulder, I'm entering that time where a little caution doesn't hurt, although I'm still intending to push things a little further than I normally would, especially if my body continues to respond the way that it has!