A few years ago I decided to start keeping a training log and now that I have data for a few years it has been fun to look back and compare how I'm doing now to how I was doing before. This year with Ironman on the race schedule for the first time I know I need to spend a lot of hours sweating it out in order to reach a level of success that I will be happy with. Below is my progress to date and how it compares to the two previous years (up to May 27 of each year):

2012 Training Totals:
SWIM = 1.6 km
BIKE = 1914 km
RUN = 501 km

2011 Training Totals:
SWIM = 8.4 km (5.3 times more than this year)
BIKE = 816 km (2.3 times less than this year)
RUN = 80 km (6.3 times less than this year)

You can see a big difference but, this is not a fair comparison since I didn't do any races last year. To really get a grasp on how I'm doing I need to compare to 2010 where I completed 5 triathlons (4 at half Ironman distance) and 1 marathon. Also, in 2010 a large number of my personal records as seen on the right side of this page were recorded. So here it goes.

2010 Training Totals:
SWIM = 43.3 km (27.1 times more than this year)
BIKE = 871 km (2.2 times less than this year)
RUN = 198 km (2.5 times less than this year)

Well, it's obvious that I need to start swimming more but with more than double the biking and running totals I feel confident that I will be ready come August. And, those 2010 records I mentioned earlier, I have already broke 2 of them this year. I recorded my best marathon a few weeks ago during the Vancouver Marathon, and I dished out my best Mt Cypress ascent last week. So with my long distance running and cycling currently better than they have ever been, and with another three months of training before the big event, I'm feeling pretty good.

Actually, to be honest, the training progression happens so slowly that it's easy not to notice. Until I did this comparison I had no idea that I was training this much or, improving this much. I guess what I'm getting it is, if our successes aren't measured and recorded it's hard to recognize the improvements. Keeping a log of training time and personal records is important and can help anyone who is seeking to elevate their personal abilities.

So for the next few months the plan is to swim a lot more than I am now and keep biking and running like crazy. This is the home stretch now; it's no time to become lackadaisical. I need to stay focused and determined. I'm hoping to hammer out a good Half Ironman in July, ideally it will be my best ever but we'll see how quickly I can build my swimming up. I'm also hoping to beat my Iona TT record, and go sub 40 minutes on my Mt Cypress climb some time this year. It's only May, there's a lot more in store. I'll keep you posted.

I'm sitting at work at 9:00pm on a Friday evening before a long weekend waiting for a massive file to upload to a website which will probably take about a half hour so I might as well use this time productively.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of volunteering at Ironman Canada and witnessing friends and complete strangers push their bodies to the limits in 30+°C temperature to complete one of the most physical one day challenges there is.

Four years ago I set a goal to complete Ironman in 5 years so if you're amazing at math you'll have already figured out that next year is my target date.

One of the benefits to volunteering is that you get priority over everyone else to register for a for sure sell-out event. This is a good thing too because when Derrick, Scott, and myself showed up to the registration site 2 hours early there were already a couple hundred people lined up to sign up.

I am very excited to officially announce my candidacy for Ironman next year and I couldn't be more thrilled. At this point I feel like everything that should have been done has been done and I'm right on track to hammer out an amazing race. I'm not rushing into this, or signing up on a whim. During the past four years I have gone from completing my first sprint distance triathlon, to completing 5 half Ironmans and another marathon. I will be completing another marathon in about a month and hopefully two more next year. I have finally procured a decent bike (post on that to come), and I have obtained the will to persevere.

While at the race I picked up this wrist band that they were throwing out into the crowd.

This will be my motivation. I hope that when it's raining and cold I'll be able to look at this and remember what it takes to be an Ironman and get out there and train.

I'm hoping that you all will support me in this goal. Without your encouraging words this all becomes a lot harder. I'll be updating you throughout this next year on my progress so that you can follow along with me on this Ironman journey.