And just like that....

Spring seems to have started to sprung!

Thank heavens!

We've had the good fortune (aka "weather pattern") of 40+ degree days for over a week. Even the temps at night have not gone below freezing for several days. This means the melt is on in a big way.

I could not be happier.

Even the lakes are looking mushy and unsafe to walk on.

Yipppeeeeeee!

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Not really sure why.

Training keeps on keeping on. I had a pretty good week a couple weeks ago, but last week I found myself tired and in a "mood" about training.

The mood came from being busy at work and letting the day get away from me (and cutting in to scheduled workout time).

I also had what I'm sure was one of my first panic attacks about doing IronMan Wisconsin.

For some reason I got all bent out of shape about not making the bike-cut off.

If you don't know, IronMan races have cut-off times for each leg. You have 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete the swim. You have to be done with the 112 miles on the bike by 5:30 pm. You have to complete the marathon and cross the finish line by midnight.

Surprise of surprise, I'm not all that worried about the swim right at this second. Even though I'm S L O W in the water, I think I can cover the 2.4 miles in less than 2 hours 20 minutes.

I have started to get a bit worried about the bike. Even though I'm spending a lot of time on the trainer and pedaling for hours, I am not known for blistering bike speeds during events.

IM WI has a tough bike course -- or so I've heard. I just got my head in a place where the Voice of Doubt raised a bunch of questions:
"What happens if it is really windy?"
"What happens if it is rainy?"
"What happens if it is cold?"
"What happens if you come in at 5:31 or 5:32 or 6:00 pm?"

Then came the worst question of them all:

"What happens if you just make it? You come in at 5:30 and you can get out on the marathon course. You'll only have 6 1/2 hours to complete the 26.2 miles!!!! That is only one hour longer than your DREAM P.R. time without the swim/bike thing before starting the run!!!"

Yikes!

So I fretted a lot and did what any normal person would do. I cut back on the training. Self-fulfilling prophesy and all.

I also sent a note to my coach admitting to my fear of missing the cut offs. Here is his reply:

Hey Amy
Plenty of time… remember its only March. The volume will be increasing soon enough. I do think one thing we can do for the race is to rent race wheels. That will give you a M.P.H speed right there. You can call gear west and reserve a pair. The Liberty Half will give us a good indication of what to work on and where we can shave time off. just keep moving forward and take it day by day.. the most important thing is to stay healthy.

Ps.. I added 30 mins to your bike Sunday :-)

Yes -- that is right. He added an additional 30 minutes to my already 2-hour session on the trainer. Bleah.

But, you know, his note bumped me back to reality. Back to the fact that it IS only March and the race is STILL a long way away. I've got plenty of time to train and adapt.

So I got back on the training horse, put in a great 1:40 minute run on Saturday and sat in that bike saddle for 2 1/2 hours on Sunday.

Every time I finish a planned training session, I'm working on silencing the Voice of Doubt.

Or, at least giving it a bit of laryngitis.