I’ve been known to skip a few workouts in my day, but the off season is a time to dream. When your Ironman is 363 days away, premature optimization is the glue that holds this mess together.
With that in mind, I have been reading a few race reports for inspiration and happened to land on Daniel Bretscher’s. He’s a pro triathlete who just happened to win Ironman Wisconsin, then get 2nd at Ironman Chattanooga 3 weeks later. I witnessed both efforts.
His report began innocently enough. He had some early season injuries, then a marginal performance, but that’s when he got serious. He pulled out of his scheduled races and focused solely on training for Ironman Wisconsin.
The five weeks leading into his taper were mammoth. He posted those numbers and I’m reposting them for you to stew on. He wanted me to be clear that this was not his normal schedule, but something he did as a max build for IMWI.
Daniel Bretscher’s Wisconsin training block
*I’m including this because the 5 week stretch spanning July 20-August 23 is the reason I won Ironman Wisconsin. What I did on September 7 only happened as a result of what I did these 5 weeks.
In 35 days I logged the following training totals
Swim: 26 sessions, 118,000 yards (23.6k avg/wk)
Bike: 32 sessions, 1934 miles (387 mile avg/wk)
Run: 32 sessions 323 miles (64.5 mile avg/wk)
Hours: 187:34 (37:30 avg/wk)
*19 days with 6+ hours training
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not positive I put in that many hours the whole year leading up to my race in Louisville. Maybe that’s why he set a course record and I crumbled like Little Debbie.
I realize he’s a pro and that’s his job, but it’s still inspiring. I figure if I put in even half that effort I will be knocking on Kona’s door. Hmm.
He’s a great guy, and it’s an honest and insightful read that includes gems like this from his run:
I started to feel slightly dizzy and had a few minutes of pure helpless desperation. I’ve never experienced such a feeling in my life and for a few minutes I didn’t know if I’d even finish.
Follow him on Twitter @DanielBretscher and of course I’m always followable @miketarrolly