Twelve weeks

The first twelve weeks of 2006 is done. Over. Completed. Part of history.

It's 12 solid weeks of work towards my first Ironman triathlon. Deposited in the bank. In that time period, I've averaged:

* 567 crunches per week (at least 200 every single week for 12 weeks)
* 3556 meters or 2.2 miles swum per week (only 1 week less than 1500 m out of 12 weeks)
* 67 km or 42 miles cycled per week (at least 21 miles every single week for 12 weeks)
* 24 km or 15 miles run per week (at least 10 miles every single week for 12 weeks)

Contrast that with my averages for 2005:
* 135 crunches per week
* 1010 m swum per week
* 16 miles cycled per week
* 13.8 miles run per week

While those aren't huge numbers by themselves, I'm going for solid groundwork right now while I very slowly ramp up the volume. While I'm never going to be terribly fast or have extreme endurance, I'm working toward a certain basic solidity, versatility, and comfort level in each discipline, week after week. It's the consistency that's been especially good for me, as well as maintaining the balance of *some* work in each discipline every week. Tracking my totals week-by-week while maintaining fixed minimum weekly distance levels in each discipline has been an extremely productive change in the way I approach my workouts. It adds up fast, too - so far this year I've accumulated:

• 6800 crunches (last year - didn't do consistently until late in 2005)
• 42.6 km or 26.4 miles swum (last year hit this total on May 30th)
• 804 km or 500 miles cycled (last year hit this total on August 11th)
• 292 km or 182 miles run (last year hit this total on May 3rd)

I feel fantastic! I love it when it all works, when the plan starts yielding results. And I'm just getting started. Hear me roar!

And you know what? If I can do it, anybody can. Hey, I'm a slacker, remember? I still haven't exceeded 11 total hours of training in any week this year. :-)