So, what does it take to prepare for training?

A complete disregard for common sense. Think about it, who in their right mind would actually volunteer to swim 2.4 mils (there are boats now) or bike 100 miles and run 26.2 miles (there are cars, buses and planes for that matter). Well call me crazy, cause it sounds "fun".

Some things you should keep in mind while you read the series of steps I took over the last several months:

1. They are meant for athletes and not your regular fitness buff.
2. Although they seem crazy, I did my own personal research regarding my body and how it works, which will be different for every person.
3. Every step of the way, I'm listening to my body for signs that I am (a) not doing enough or (b) doing too much.

The first thing I worked on was switching from muscular strength training (think heavy weights, low reps) and started working toward muscular endurance training (think light weights, high reps). I went from bench roughly my body weight for 6 solid reps to doing about 65 pounds for close to 20 reps at a time. For the average fitness buff 12 to 15 reps is pretty good for endurance training. I would only allow myself 30 seconds rest, which meant that it is just about enough to break down some of the lactic acid into usable energy but not much. Again the average gym buff would do better with a little more rest say around a minute.

After that, I had to balance training for not one but 3 sports. So, I have 3 key workouts spread out along with 3 days of lifting spread out on different days. So that's 6 days with still more to add. This is when you separate common sense and my habits. In order to get active recovery and some speed training in, I needed to add 3 more half distance workouts and 6 active recovery workouts. In case your not adding it up as we go along that's 15 workouts a week. Now here is the good news, the active recovery gets to pair up with the weights which brings me down to 12 workouts... Some might see a rest day, but I saw half days instead.

The next part was learning what my body can and can't do. This is an on-going process. The most important thing to realize is the difference in the kinds of pain that occur during exercise.

Everyone feels pain differently, and if anything is ever a new type of pain, its best to see a doctor about it. Never ignore new, persistent  or severe pain. What might have been a boot for a few weeks can quickly turn in to a cast and 6 months physical therapy. And if you thought exercise can hurt, try going through physical therapy. - and that ends the Public Safety Announcement.

However, if you are getting a repeated pain that you already know its just a sore muscle or an exhausted muscle. Then you will already know what to do. 

Now in keeping with my schedule and listening to my body, I didn't start full steam rolling into the insanity that is 12 workouts a week. The 6 key workouts are a must, an active recovery workout following each key workout is a must, but that's only 9 total workouts. I also started each key workout at lower then my previous base training if I was training for just that sport. So instead of 40 miles on the bike I started at 30, instead of 2000 yards swimming I start at 1500 straight, and instead of 5 miles running I started at 3 miles.

The last part was to pack on some weight and fat. I'm still actually working on getting my weight a little higher especially my fat. Fat is nothing more then stored energy for a swimmer, but for an Ironman it also means conserved body temperature. Some of these events are taking place in waters that are only 70 or 75 degrees. For comparison, 78 is the lowest that USA Swimming allows for competition; 80 is the average at the swim pool I coach at and I am usually freezing; 82 is usually considered comfortable for anyone who is actively playing around; 86 is the average kept for places that do strictly water aerobics. In short, I'll be freezing without a wet-suit and I need to conserve my body temperature as best as possible so my body doesn't burn extra energy trying to stay warm, I need as much as I can get.