Ironman volunteering

This past Sunday I volunteered on the bike course for Ironman Wisconsin. I spent about 6 hours pointing right and yelling "left!" so that bikers didn't miss their turnoff. It was right at an intersection so along with Officer Ann and Barry, we directed traffic as best as we can. I don't think I ever quite appreciated how obnoxious drivers can be until I'm watching them honk (at an officer!) for having to wait for bikers, making a turn right into the path of the bikers, and sometimes swerving damn close to them. I wasn't biking yet I was ready to curse out some of these drivers. The bikers were trying to complete an Ironman! Some drivers were nice and polite, and some were just assholes.

Last year, I was right by the finish line and watched as people came through, smiling and waving. It inspired me to do one. This year, working the middle of the bike course made it feel possible. The athletes do two loops of the bike course so they travel the same terrain and pass us twice. Some waved and nodded and said "thank you for volunteering," but the majority of them were focused on the race. It wasn't like the finish line where the racers were happy and relieved to be finished, but it was like how I felt on the marathon at mile 18, when you hit that point of not thinking too far past the next obstacle. You say to yourself, just get up that next hill, or just 5 more minutes. It is a mental battle.

So, I'm looking forward to the LA marathon and been scouting out training plans. I know now that I'll need to build in a few weeks of rest. I also would like to get up to 24 miles, and ideally a couple of times. Getting to 20 miles was sufficient to get to the finish line, but it didn't leave me feeling confident at the start. If part of the point of the 20 mile long run is to boost confidence, then I really need it to be closer to 24 to feel good. I'm aiming to start training in the first two weeks of November, which will give me 18-20 weeks. Ideally, I'd like to keep up with a weekly maintaining fitness schedule of a long ~10+ mile run on the weekends, and shorter 6 mile (tempo and interval) runs during the week until November when I'll start racking up the miles.