Sado Triathlon - Too much training too late?

Challenge yourself to the hardest rase. You'll have the longest day of your life. but you'll meet great Volunteers who will support you in the rase.
- Sado Triathlon Inspirational Motto


So with the Sado half-ironman looming on September 3rd I feel compelled to suddenly start training. After weeks of not riding at all, since August 1st I have ridden close to 600 kilometers. During each of the past two weeks I have put in 15-hours of combined bike, run and swim training.

It is not at all clear that this burst of training will help my performance at Sado. For that matter it may cause me to be more tired at the event. The literature on triathlon training generally recommends a series of hard weeks and rest weeks over the course of several months, and then a 3-4 week taper.

But my training has long been a function of how much time I find that I have to train, and what I simply feel would be most enjoyable to do on that particular day. In the past few weeks a whole community of cyclists have emerged to ride with at Oi-futo -- Mary, Chuck, Motozo, Chris, Keren, Joe -- and I have been inspired to ride again. Instead of a lonely mind-numbingly boring ride around and around a bleak, industrial wasteland, the Sunday morning ride is now a festive party. The Wednesday night track workout has always been a festive party, and lately even more so with over 30-40 people enjoying the intervals together.

Of course with 10 days to go to Sado I could start tapering now, but this weekend is the most festive party of the late summer -- the all-important Fuji-Yoshida Fire Festival 10k