There was a discussion on following training plans on one of my Ironman Arizona forums. I was surprised at how many people were on top of things, following their plan and doing all their workouts. I must say I felt a bit like a slacker.

These people have jobs and children, they live busy lives just as I do and they put in the work that is needed to make their Ironman a success. That takes a whole lot of dedication and sacrifice. They inspire me because I know how hard that is.

My answer to the question was that just as in life, my training follows the 80/20 rule. I would say I skip one or two workouts a week. I do make sure I get the key ones done: the long rides, runs and swims. But I juggle the rest.

I’ve learned that life is not about anyone’s given ability to do anything; it’s about someone’s willingness to make the necessary sacrifices. Practice trumps talent. If I dedicated myself 100% to beat thirteen hours, chances are I could do it. But I am not doing the work, because there are other things I am doing and I am passionate about those too.

The beginning of this week felt terrible. My tempo run was awful and I couldn’t get any power on my interval bike workout. But then the long workouts came, and I got them done.

Then, instead of riding outdoors on the pancake flat roads of South Florida I rode 90 miles of hills of the Ironman Chattanooga course at the Ultrabikex Computrainer Studio. Again my power numbers weren’t stellar but I felt accomplished to have spent over five hours looking at a screen. My sixteen-mile run was not fast, but it was consistent; it’s been a while since that actually happened. And I swam four miles for the first time in life. That was about 80%, and I feel great about it. In my terms, this week was on track, even if I didn’t actually run on one.

Here is how it went:

Monday: SWIM – Ocean open water 2.5 miles

Tuesday: RUN – Disastrous 1k repeats in the heat

Wednesday: BIKE – Disappointing wattage on an interval training course at Ultrabikex

Thursday: SWIM – Ocean open water – 4 miles

Friday: unintentional rest day.

Saturday: BIKE – 90 miles at Ultrabikex Computrainer Studio

Sunday: RUN – 16 miles on my own.

How about you? How was your training week? Are you on track with your goals?