The Depths of Winter Return

For a while there it was looking like we would be able to ride outside sometime soon.
That isn't the case anymore. Over the weekend we got dumped on. They are estimating that we got around 30cm of total accumulation over the weekend. If you love outdoor winter sports you are probably in heaven right now. If on the other hand you are trying to prepare for a July Ironman this sucks. My schedule for the weekend was 100min run on Sunday which would have been a slog fest so I bumped Mondays long ride to Sunday and suffered through 3:30 on the trainer while watching a couple action flicks. That still leaves me with the 100min run for today. Only problem is the -18c temps and the fact that the roads are only partially plowed and most of the sidewalks are knee deep in snow. My solution is to do two 60min treadmill sessions instead one this morning and one tonight. Hopefully that will be about equivalent?

Overall training is going very well. All in all I am happy with my progression to date. Looking back at my schedule from two years ago I am way ahead of the game. Long rides are about an hour longer and the long run is about double. My swimming is really the thing I am most happy with as I think I am currently in better swim shape than I was on race day in '06.

On the advice of Mike Neill I have gone back to doing a lot of drill work. I emailed Mike a few months ago and he suggested that I work through the drills in Total Immersion. Well I have been focusing on that on my last few Tuesday swims and I am already seeing some improvement. I am rolling much better and am starting to really feel the water for the first time.
My long swim splits seem to also be improving. My latest long swim stats are as follows.
2500m 46:15 total
500m splits 9:05,9:11,9:14,9:22,9:21
1:51/100m
The week before was
2500 total 45:27
500m splits 8:59,8:55,9:00,9:11,9:25
1:49/100m
The week prior to that was
2200m Total 42:00
500m splits 9:37,9:33,9:36,9:24,200m split 3:49
2000m 38:10
1:55/100m

I think as my muscles adjust to the new technique I should see things fall to a consistent 500m split under 9:15. I think the spits greater to that are a result of muscular fatigue and a bit of technique breakdown.

Long run pace also seems to be improving nicely. Last weekend I did a point to point run ending out at a friends parents place on Treasure Island. Stats for the run were 17.46km at 5:26/km pace (as calculated using gmap). I was scheduled to do another MAP test on Friday morning but the battery in my HRM chest strap was starting to die and I couldn't get a consistent signal. I am going to try and squeeze another one in this week to make up for it.

With 19 weeks to go I think I am on track to have a shot at achieving my goals for the race.

Stick to the plan and keep taking care of my body and everything will be good to go on race day.