Journey to Ironman MD: Week 8

This week: Not getting any younger, reminder edition

It had been a pretty good week, all things considered – I had done some core workouts, I had been on the bike, and if I missed the swim on Monday, well, it was going to be icy/messy, and why take chances? Then, on Wednesday morning, going out for my run, I made a little jump down some steps – maybe three feet vertical, four feet horizontal, nothing major – but I failed to stick the landing, and my left knee hyperextended. At first I was hopeful that it was just a tweak, and I could walk it off, but no. Two full days of rest later, I am hopeful I can get back on the bike/in the pool without pain. But stairs, as my son likes to say, remain my greatest weakness.

I was due for a rest week, in any case, and hadn't planned on doing too much this week. Saturday and Sunday saw my long bike ride/ long run go off without a hitch. February 14^th/15^th is the weekend when I will be in Austin, Texas, for Cupid's Undie Run and the Austin half-marathon. The undie run is an awesome fundraiser for the Children's' Tumor Foundation, which does research towards a cure for Neuro Fibromatosis. The run was started by a friend of a friend – if you want to support me running in my undies for a good cause, you can go to http://my.cupids.org/ChrisMartin.

The half-marathon was planned as a full marathon, back in November, when I had just done a half-marathon. But, the winter training didn't go off as planned, so I'll only be doing 13.1. Goal is to finish strong, running sub-9 minute miles. Basically a training day with support and the opportunity to see some friends.

I'll be doing the CORE Bootcamp on Saturday (knee health permitting) + Long ride, Long run on Sunday (again, knee permitting), and then back into the swing of it for February. I'll discuss goals and evaluate January overall next week.