Post-Ironman epiphany

After wallowing in funk for several days, I went for a recovery run after work, and suddenly realized that my Ironman result was directly a product of the training I had done.  I had hoped to maintain my speed from the Houston marathon all the way into the Ironman, but found that as the weather got hotter and hotter (and my training volume got higher and higher), it became increasingly difficult to hit my pace targets when doing my run speedwork.  At some point (I think it was in June), I stopped doing any structured workout at all, and just did general "tempo" workouts with no pace goal, no obvious progression, and no accountability.  This is where I lost my speed.  Without realizing it, I slipped into a training complacency where training distance began to trump intensity (this happened to me in 2006, as well, with IM Florida).

The structure and accountability of the run training that I did leading up to the Houston Marathon were directly responsible for the speed gains that I made during that period, and I would definitely want to incorporate that (and stick to it) in training for my next IM.

When I do my next IM, I want to be prepared to race at my goal paces, not to just idly hope that I can hit them.  Where I failed in this IM was in my preparation- I was prepared to complete the distance, just not at the pace that I wanted.  Next time I'll know better.