I’m thinking that on May 20th, barring any unforeseen injuries or mishaps, I’m going to start the Ironman 70.3 race in Haines City in the best shape of my life. At least, it will be a new version of “best shape of my life”.
Being in shape is a very relative thing.
I’ve been (much) stronger than I am now in the weight room.
I’ve been able to run faster at every distance from 100 meters to marathon at one point or another than I can now.
I’ve probably been able to do a 40k time trial on the bike faster than I can now.
I’ve definitely been able to get knocked down and get back up faster and more times…rugby has a fitness nothing else can emulate.
As far as triathlon goes, I’ve probably been in better “sprint” shape than I am right now too. My best 5k fitness level probably correlates with that.
But I’m definitely approaching a new level of fitness for triathlon distances Oly and up. Not that I’m anywhere close to fit enough for 140.6 right now…I know my place in the hierarchy. But it doesn’t seem like an insane distance now. Definitely seems matter-of-fact-doable.
May 21st, or maybe a day or two after that, I’m going to have some thinking to do. I’ll worry about it then, but it seems like a shame to miss the opportunity to start at this point and build into something bigger.