Crackhead Logic

Here she is, the original Crackhead! At least she was a crackhead for awhile. I have no idea where she is now.

I am also known as Crackhead, but for a different reason than the lovely Whitney. It's because of some of the allegedly "extreme" training that I do.

I don't consider my training extreme--what it is is that I select training and racing "events" that I either know I am capable of or that will stretch my limits, and then I work with my coach to build them into my training plan.

I've been doing Ironman for 5 solid years, and I train fairly high volume (about 750-800 hours per year), and I know my body really well, so I feel pretty capable of choosing these events, and I'm pretty sure when the right time is to insert them into my training. Most of these events focus on biking, because, well, that's the cornerstone of Ironman training.

So during 2005, for example, I did a big volume cycling weekend in May, I did the Horribly Hilly 200K ride in June, I did another June weekend where on Saturday I did a 2-mile open water swim race, then rode for 3 hours and on Sunday did a mid-distance sprint triathlon, and in August I organized another big cycling weekend where I got in 12 hours of riding in 3 days, plus some running.

If you've read previous posts, you'll see I did a HIM by myself indoors just 2 weeks ago. On 10/2/2005 I ran a marathon by myself, self-supported (and PR'ed!).

But to me, all this stuff is ridiculously fun, because my definition of fun is:

• push the boundaries of my physical fitness
• push the boundaries of my mental fitness

Both physical and mental fitness are crucial to Ironman success, which is why I've made my 2005-2006 season the year of the exponential jump in my mental fitness. What's fucking cool is that attacking the mental boundaries is having a huge payoff on the physical, at least from where I sit.

So for those of you reading who are looking to take your training/racing to the next level or waltz on over to the Dark Side, consider what you could be doing today to enhance your mental fitness. It might be as simple as granting yourself 5 minutes of quiet time during the day. It might mean making a concerted effort to clear you mind of the day's nonsense before you fall asleep. It might mean turning around that voice in your head that tells you "I suck" so that it says "I'm strong." It might mean turning down commitments to do things that really don't enhance your life or your training. It might even mean shutting off the computer!