Week 5 of Ironman Training - From within

Week 5 was dialed back a bit due to the injury suffered last week.  My calf and knee just felt a little bit 'off' this past week so I took it pretty easy.  Stuck to both of my swim workouts, did some lighter P90X workouts and then did my long run on Saturday, so in the end I was still making progress.  The good news is that the leg feels good and I'm ready to dive into the full training plan.  

Up to this point I was prepping for the training program as to maintain some gains made from last year.  I was running 3 times a week, swimming twice a week and doing P90X 3 times a week.  Now starting this week the real deal begins and I'm pretty fired up to get started.  My workouts will consist of a brick workout on Mondays (bike then a quick transition to a run), Tuesdays will be swim and run, Wednesdays will be a swim and bike, Thursdays are a  swim and run, Friday is a long run, and Saturday is a long bike.  The workout times start at 6 hours per week in the beginning and peak at 15 hours per week later in the summer.  Basically my life is going to be eating, sleeping, and breathing training until September 7th.  

I saw a very interesting news story this week about a former Olympic athlete from my town of Verona, WI.  They interviewed this man about his experiences in the Olympics, what he has being doing since then, and what impacts that experience has had on him coaching his kids who have just started in the same sport.  It was something he said when talking about the later that really caught my attention.  He said he doesn't push his kids to excel, he knows that his kids must push themselves if they want to be great; it must come from within.  It is such a simple concept but it rings so very true; no one else is going to do the work or motivate you.  Others may pick you up when you're down or help steer you back on track when you've strayed but it's up to you to get yourself to the starting line.  Others may inspire you to take the first step or cheer you along the way, but it's up to you to push yourself a little further.  Others might workout with you, or coach you in the proper technique, but it's up to you, it has to come from within.