OK, it's on. I'm going to give this one last time--it's all eyes on KONA 2022

 Sorry for being so radio silent for so long.  With this post, I promise that will change (not that it really matters!)

Quick background/bring up to speed:

--I really need to get a total knee replacement of my left knee.

--Anders and I qualified for Kona at IMAZ in 2019--plan was to do Kona in October '20 and then get the kneedone and move on to the next phase of life (trans-continental bike ride at the top of the list)

--COVID

-And this year COVID again....

--Meanwhile, my knee has really deteriorated.  I mean it has got to the point where I really can't sleep for more than say 30 minutes.  GRRRRR...

--Anyways, it is what it is.

--Kona is "on" for next October and so for the second year in a row, I'm postponing my total knee replacement (in part because my surgeon says no Kona if I get it done).

--Not looking for sympathy nor for you saying I should do something different because:

--I'm full send on Kona 2022!

--I'm now on that path...going to be tough but its not a sacrifice because its what I want to do with this one crazy life I have.....

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So, I though I'd bring you up to date on the whole training thing and you know me--that means data and graphs....

So, find below an analysis of this year versus 2019 (when I qualified--but also climbed some big mountains in Bolivia) and 2020, were I tried to get ready but got COVIDED...

So this first chart is my monthly training hours over the last 3 years.  Bottom line, is my knee is really beginning to limit me...

You can see this as well in the graph below.  Having said that, I'll be over 1,000 hours training this year again, and for a 64-year old, at the end of the day, that's still exceptional.

OK, let's look at the 3 disciplines.  First the swim:

Monthly swim volume varies a lot for a variety of different life things--so no worries if you you find this next chart confusing!

The cumulative chart below illustrates better what has been going on in my swim life.  2019, the year I qualified for Kona was a pretty typical swim year for me...lots of swim volume concentrated in the back half of the year.  2020 brought us COVID and I had a hard time finding a "safe" place to swim.  I tried to build my swim in 2020 once I was able to access open water swimming in June but Kona 2020 was cancelled and I never really saw the point in building my swim volume in 2020.

In Dec 2020 I cranked it up and I was full-on to intent on doing 400,000+ yards for 2021 in prep for KONA and then on Aug 19th, that dream was crushed again.  Note, the slowing in the green line after June.  further, I basically stopped swimming mid-September...(I'm back in now--see below)

My bike strategy for 2021 was a continuation of "BIKE MONSTER"--let's face it, I ride a lot of miles on my bikes.  I tried, vis-a-vis 2020, to do more quality work so I biked a bit less through mid-year, but I was well on my way to having the bike fitness I needed to execute Kona when it was shut down again in August.

Still, once again, I will do over 12,000 miles in 2021 and (see below) I'm already on it for 2022...

The big thing for me is the run (walk/climb)--so painful now.  I've gone from it being a competitive disadvantage I could work around to something I hope I can skate by at Kona next year.  It sucks (and its very painful, but there you go...)

So, I've just got back up on The Ironman horse and I'm committed to making it work one last time (Kona 2022).  I'm back in the pool this week.  I'm up above 20 hours training time.  I have a full-on PT attack and injections/draining on my knee (plus a new high-tech brace).  Perhaps, my weekly bike volume illustrates this best:

OK, it may not be very smart, but I'M ALL-IN.  ONCE AGAIN. FOR THE LAST TIME.

onward and upward!!!!

check back in the next couple of days and I'll finally update my (very surprising) 2021 racing results...

rc