How Much is Too Much

I watched Ironman Florida live streaming today.  It was an exciting race amongst the male pros, literally going down to the last few miles of the run.  Did I have a little bit of positive feeling about doing an Ironman? Of course?  Did I change my mind about not doing another Ironman for the next five years? No.  I admit loving the sport, and the distance. But I'm also aware of the amount of time and energy it takes to train and the impact on the body.  What was remarkable about today's race was that the top two men just did Kona 3 weeks ago (finishing 6th and 4th, respectively). Three weeks later they shattered the Ironman Florida record book.  How in the world is that possible?

The human body is capable of some remarkable things.  In the last month, we've seen a man run a marathon in under two hours. We saw the Kona record fall.  Today we saw two men have the best races of their lives just three weeks after racing at Kona.  How is this possible? The simple answer is training.  How does someone like me complete 15 Ironman's over 10 years?  How does an 85 year old finish an Ironman?  Training.  The human body is capable of a lot of things, so long as we train it to get there.  Is it healthy? That's the $64,000 question.  That's actually something that I'm wondering.  I know that doing a 100 mile run is not healthy.

I'm capable of completing an ironman, but I don't really know the net effect on my body.  That's why over the next year I'm looking forward to doing shorter distances.  I'll certainly do half ironman events, and will absolutely do some sprint races.  I'll focus on 5K's.  It will be a different type of stress and stimulus on my body.  I'm not sure what the sweet spot is, but I'm sure that there is one.  We can certainly do too much.  I know full well now taking on and doing too much can affect ones health and well being.  It's all a balance.

There have been some remarkable athletes who have excelled in the ultramarathon world.  Ultimately, they break. And when they break, they break pretty badly.  There's no question in my mind that's too much.  It's harder to tell when it comes to ironman.  I know that it's taken me three weeks to recover from Kona, and I'm not fully recovered.  Of course, I did the race with a sinus infection, which has probably affected my recovery.  When I look back at Ironman Boulder, which I did in June, I was pretty well recovered after a couple of weeks.  I also realize that I had some fits and starts as I got closer to Kona, feeling like I was ready about 5-6 weeks beforehand.  Timing ones fitness for a race like this can be challenging.  Sometimes, we know when we've done too much. Other times, we don't.  I guess that's life!