Above, a couple of big weeks of training, just completed.

"The will to win means nothing, if you haven't the will to prepare."
Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

It will be nine weeks tomorrow since the bike crash, but my recovery has been going well, so it’s time to do some racing, starting this weekend with the Desert Half in Osoyoos. With that in mind, Coach Kev put together a schedule with two hard build weeks, followed by a very easy taper week. I like to think of it as a “fitness cram”.

The first week had a run focus, with 5.5 hours’ worth. Because of the impact associated with running, it’s appropriate to ease off the run volume a minimum of three weeks from a focus race, to allow the joints time to recover. There was no shortage of cycling in week 1 either, with nearly 300km, and just under 9000m in the pool.

The second week, just completed, featured my longest ride so far this year, 100 miles*, and longest run of the year, 19 miles. All told 450km of riding, four hours of running and 8500m of swimming. You’ll notice no weight training; I was advised by the respiratory doctor to avoid weights until eight weeks after the crash. It doesn’t make sense to resume now, within a week of a race.

This week has only six hours of training, with a little intensity work thrown in to stay sharp.

The key workouts the last two weeks were Tuesdays and Thursdays, which featured around 80km per day of cycling, and almost 3000m per day of swimming. So how to pull that off on a work day? Thanks to bike commuting, and the extended daylight of the summer solstice period:

4:30 AM: Get up, eat, get on the bike at 5:00 AM. Ride 11 km to the pool.

5:30-6:30 AM: Swim 2800-3000m.

6:40 AM: Ride 15 km to work.

5:00 PM: Ride 22 km home.

5:50 PM: Immediately (before the beer urge) get on the Computrainer for a one-hour power or tempo interval session, 33-35 virtual km.

7:00 PM: Shower, eat, satisfy beer urge.

Saturday’s 100-mile ride was an important test of fitness, coming at the end of the tough two-week training block, with a lot of fatigue in the legs. I rode east on Highway 22X to the Trans-Canada highway, and aided by the net downhill and tailwind, blazed the 75km in two hours. Then I turned back west and ate headwind all the way home, taking 2:40, ouch what fun. Then four loops around McKenzie Lake Way, and another Century in the books.

*A 100-mile ride is also known to road cyclists as a Century, or to triathletes, as a Saturday Training Ride.

BTW, congrats to my running mate from last weekend at Coeur d'Alene, Kyle Marcotte. He won the Great White North triathlon in Stony Plain for the second consecutive year. Also congrats to Don, Cal, Jared, Simon, Bernie, Darryl, Cat, and Jill, who also had great races.