Miser Iron Mom training

News flash:  training for an Iron Man can be time consuming!

(I mean, just in case you were thinking of trying this for yourself.)

Before I got this crazy idea in my head, my default weekly exercise routine was basically

• Run a total of 14 miles/week (2.5 miles 3 mornings a week; long run on Saturday).
• Spend about 3.5 hours/week doing said running.
• Rest (virtuously) 3 days/week.

Occasionally I'd take on an additional fun run, usually with my husband, but there was no pressure to do so.  And even when I kicked into high marathon-training gear, the biggest difference was that the week-day runs got a little more intense and the Saturday runs got longer.

Nowadays, in addition to the above running, I've added three more default components:

• Bike a total of 70 miles/week (15 miles 3 mornings/week; long bike on Sunday)
• Spend 5 hours/week doing said biking.

And

• Swim a total of 6 km/week (about 4 miles: 4km on Mondays, 2km on Wednesdays).
• Spend 3 hours/week doing said swimming

And

• Lift weights 3 days/week to build strength and avoid injury

In total, my weekly exercise time has gone from a piddly 3-4 hours per week to a rather substantial 12-13 hours per week.  And that doesn't count the extra fun runs or training rides that my husband cajoles me into.  

I have no idea how (or even whether) I'll be able to keep this up when classes start at the end of August.  And I know that this routine is a base, a minimum, just barely enough to get me ready for the real training that will kick into high gear come spring . . . because as impressive as the above amounts seem, swimming is the only sport where I'm doing the full Iron Man distance in the course of a regular week --- and eventually, I'll have to do the whole thing on a single day.

Given how quickly the bike training has progressed, I've decided I don't really want to spend two years training like this . . . so I've moved the target date for the race up to next summer.  (Plus, this way, if I have to bail on the Iron Man because of injury or adoption emergencies, I can still fall back on 2015).

Here's the baby I'm aiming for, for August 2014.  It bills itself as the "most vibrant venue", and I have no the heck idea what "vibrant" means in this context.  But the timing seems right for an academic like me; I'll have all next summer to kick my training from a wimpy 12-hours/week into something respectable.

Yeah.