What Happened to August?

I mean, I remember seeing it on my calenders every day. And I know I was busy doing all kinds of things. I just don't seem to see any mention here of the month taking place save for the previous post with my mileage totals.

I think I burnt out, is what happened. July was a great training month and I had hopes of continuing that through August as well. I did OK, but not what I was hoping for. I lost interest in both training volume and in recording my efforts. I kept to my big training days on the weekend just fine, but the days in between I would find myself either unmotivated to get out the door, or just wanting to relax at home. I think I've done enough training to get me to the finish line. Unfortunately just getting to the finish line isn't what I had in mind a year ago when I registered for this thing.

I had some good training sessions last month including:

-5 Speedwork sessions
-Swims of 1.2, 1.25, 2.0, and 2.5 miles
-Long rides of 54, 88 and 116 miles (the 116 being a one-way ride to C-bus)
-Long runs of half marathon length
-Running in the heat
-Running while tired
-2 brick workouts
-1 half iron training triathlon (more on that in a separate post)
-and 4 rides on my new Felt tri bike (more on that in a separate post)

I hope they will be enough. I know I'm starting to self-doubt a bit now that race day is 10 days away, but I didn't stick with my training schedule very well.

The other day I came across a quote, possibly used by another blogger, and I don't recall to whom it is attributed, but whenever I start self-doubting my preparedness I try to think of it and it helps a little: "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you wished you had, or the army you might have had." (Or something like that) Now, I don't equate competing in a sporting event to be anything remotely similar to what our nation's soldiers are doing for us in our name, but it makes sense to me, right now, in my situation.

I'm ready for the swim. I won't be setting any speed records, but I am capable of beating the cut-off. Ditto for the bike. With the new ride I'm more confident, comfortable, and faster than before. Although I haven't been training the run as much as I would like, I'm hoping all the early season mileage and ultras will help me finish in decent shape.