August: in the books

this past week I lost three training days--2 driving up to and back from Boston to help Alex move in and one helping nail down Anders' new place in L.A.  So this months total was dinged a bit down the stretch (and generally lower than plan as I've discussed before).  I'm making a bit of adjustment and doing my last heavy week from Thursday through to next Wednesday--I've completed my long run and swim and add the bike on Monday or Tuesday.  then I'll do a mini "taper" into the Diamonman Half-Ironman on sunday the 8th and then do a full 14 day taper into IM Lake Tahoe.

September's totals:

swim: 41,500 yards
bike: 995 miles
run: 119 miles
time: 88:50

Here is how my 3-month IM builds compare in aggregate volume over the last 4 years:

2013 (June-August):

Swim: 119,000
Bike: 3,068
Run: 336
Time: 268.4

2012 (July-Sept):

Swim: 117,000
Bike: 3,388
Run: 387
Time: 291.7

2011 (August-October):

Swim: 112,000
Bike: 3,122
Run: 433
Time: 285.6

2010 (June-Sept):

Swim: 91,000
Bike: 2,787
Run: 306
Time: 256.4

So in aggregate, the 2013 build doesn't look that bad.  I've actually worked harder in 2013 than back in 2010 when I was building for Kona (although I had some biomechanical issues in 2010 and was doing a lot of PT during the build).  My 2013 swim numbers are actually the most of any of the builds (although the last three years have been pretty similar) which reflects my increased committment to swimming after a slow start this year.

My bike numbers and aggregate training time are down quite a bit from 2012 and my run numbers continue to be an issue as my knee seems to be more of a limiting factor as time goes on.

That said, I certainly feel ready to race an IM and am cautiously optimistic about my potential performance.  I'll get a great read next Sunday at Diamondman....