Disclaimer: This
blog is a documentation of my now second Ironman Journey for AZ Ironman
2013. Format will be random, i.e. quick journal format, random thoughts,
motivational quotes, pictures of random moments and memories along my journey.
For the most part, it’s documentation for me and may not be to exciting for
anyone else to read, but for those of you brave enough to ever wonder…could I
do an Ironman or even just a triathlon? I then offer you a firsthand
account of what goes on in the mind of an Ironman age group triathlete including
all the highs, lows, emotions, fears, rants, etc, etc. I have dreams of
one day making this into a book, so that when I’m old and gray…I’ll have
wonderful memories and also fulfill one of my bucket list items, to write a
book. Please forgive any spelling mistakes as I’m sure I am just happy to
get everything written down, just chalk it up to fatigue from lots of training!
It’s the last week of
June; I’m at the end of my Build One Training Phase. The first week is not
included here as it was my training for Deuces Wild Olympic, so I already
blogged about that and my results of the race.
This month which was supposed to be a Build One training phase. Ended up
being more of a recover/rest/injury month. I aggravated my hip from my
training. So I had to take some forced rest days, boo. But the ultimate goal, is to make it to
Ironman AZ in November. If I have to revamp my training plan, skip my race in
Aug. to make sure I’m healthy and recovered, then I will. That is just a
training race along the way. I also have made more contact with my new Training
Team. FC coaching. I am now starting to meet some of my “teammates” and I began
official training with them on July 8th, so revamping my training
plan is what I need to do. So my time
and distance training overall was less, but I’m happy to say I feel a little
better, and I have PT ordered to check things out and make sure it’s nothing serious.
Crossed fingers.
Current Stats Overall:
SWIM: ~108,862
Yds
BIKE: ~ 585.73
Miles
RUN: ~ 243.31
Miles
Strength: ~ 22:25 hr/min
Total Training Hours:
162:35 hours/minutes
Week One
As mention above. This was Race week, so I highlighted the race in
my previous blog.
Week Two
This week ended up more of a recovery week from my race. I still
got in at least 10 hours of training. The plan was 13:30. But honestly, I
needed the rest, and I was pretty happy with 10:20 hr/min. I got in two really
great naps… if you can call a red zone a “nap” from a sugar coma incident. And some stretching and yoga. I had my first
real long bike ride of the season and it felt pretty good.
Monday- Headed to the Y for a recovery swim and run. I
went super easy with 2300 yds at the pool, just doing lots of pull buoy and
keeping it simple, stretching out the body. It felt good, I was sore, but good.
Then on to the treadmill for an easy 2 miles, super slow, but good to get the
kinks out.
Tuesday- I planned to go to Core Fusion, but I was so
tired, I came home and slept for a while. Which is exactly what my body
needed.
Wednesday- Again, I had planned to hit the Y for another
swim and run, but I was so tired…I managed to make it to the highway and instead of turning left, I turned
right and headed home. Vegged out…rested, napped. Much needed. But after I
napped, I did do 30 min of Yoga to work out the rest of the kinks, then 40 min of love/hate on the foam roller. Even
gave myself a nice bruise on my right hip trying to work out the kinks.
Thursday--- Hmmmm this day didn’t turn out as planned, even
with all my rest, I still felt tired, but was ready to tackle my bike ride and
softball game. But…things didn’t go as planned, as work has a habit of having
bad “stuff” always around. So for breakfast, it was sugary carbs. Then a salad
for lunch. And an afternoon snack of once again a yummy dunkin donut. Which
because of our small town, we don’t have local. So I grabbed a cream filled
yummy delicious goody goodness donut. Whew…that was way too much sugar. By the
time I was walking back from the nurses’ station at work , I felt like I
couldn’t walk straight. By the time I made it home, I vaguely remember going to
drop off a package at UPS, get gas, and go to the grocery store. I got home,
laid down around 4 ish…and hit the red zone…otherwise known as sugar
coma…..out. I slept for a solid 4 plus
hours. I woke around 8:45pm. Only to realize that I wasn’t going to make it to
softball at 9 pm because I still couldn’t walk straight. So I got up, ate
something? And then was out within an hour.
Note to self….DONUTS are not worth it…EVER!!!!
Friday- well..
After that restful night…I was still tired. Really? Made it through work, and was home on the
bike trainer for a good 1:15 hr/min. Love me some Alias on DVD. Note to
self…when reaching for the fan remote, make sure your pedals unclip before you
start to lean to reach for it. I’m glad
my quick release on the bike trainer work as I ended up a big pile on the floor
on my right side. At least the carpet was soft!
I could only laugh. I managed to stay on the bike reaching for a Gel in
a race speeding down the highway, but fall flat out on my trainer.
Saturday- This was
a brick weekend, and even though I did the race last weekend, because it was in
zone 2 I was okay. Got to Y early and
got in my hour swim. And after some debate…decided to do the run on the
treadmill due to the weather. Was having a raging migraine starting and didn’t
want to run out in the heat, it was already in the 90s. So I ran on the
treadmill for 45min. Felt decent, legs weren’t too tired. I got a few errands
done before I headed home. And since my headache was not letting up, I took my
“cure” for Migraine and laid down for about 45 min. thankfully it went away. I
jumped on my trainer, because at this time it was 97 degrees out…and well, I’m
not a fan of heat stroke, so I opted to ride the trainer. Happy to say, no
falls todayJ. Once done, I still felt pretty good, but I’m still struggling with getting in
calories after my long training sessions. Recover drink is all I can muster.
The rest just doesn’t happen. Today was no exception, as when I went to a co
workers birthday party. I couldn’t eat anything, or drink anything but Coke. My
body was not happy with me.
Sunday- woke today with some hesitant dread about doing a 3:30 ride. I wanted to go up to Flag for a better scenic ride, but since I slept in and got home late the other night, I decided to just go from my place. I headed out around 7 am, already hot. I had nutrition with me, determined to do better on the ride at least if I wanted to get through it. I used my Stash bars which I LOVE. I also had water and Gatorade. I also weighed myself to assess dehydration. I was feeling good on the bike, my seat felt good, my pedals felt good. I actually felt good. I got all the way into Prescott after an hour, and felt good. I then headed up the hill to Williamson Valley Rd. and was a bit shocked that I could ride the hill pretty good. So I give credit to my speed plays, and my training on the trainer, for single leg drills, and spin ups. I felt good on the hills. My nutrition was good, as I ate ½ a Stash Bar every 30 minutes, and kept drinking H20 and Gatorade. I still felt good as each hour went by, and before I knew it..i was on the home stretch. I was almost home, and I felt good. No girly part issues. I LOVE MY NEW SEAT!! Where have you been all my life? Wow, that was so worth the money. And only after three rides, I love it, and it feels good. That makes me so happy for the full. Because my girly parts hated me during the bike. I’m looking forward to not having that issue! I cruised in with 53 miles, the first 50 miler in the books for this year’s training session. I felt so good. Of course, when I got off and moved around, I started to feel the stiffness and low back pain. Nothing a hot shower couldn’t fix and a 2 hour nap of courseJ. Good end to a frustrating week.
Week Three
Well, here we go again. Back to a crappy training week. It started
out pretty good with my swim on Monday for 2450 yds. And a good 5.5
miles on the treadmill with some speed work up to Zone 3 put in place. I felt good,
tired, but good, and my leg didn’t hurt.
Tuesday- Core
Fusion night, I felt like I got in a good workout, but I felt like I didn’t
push myself enough. Perhaps…knowing I needed too? But then when I got home, I
was exhausted and was sleep much sooner then I planned.
Wednesday- This was my last workout of the week. I swam,
slowly because I was tried from my core fusion class, and I was more tired on
the run, the treadmill felt really slow. But I got it in, I felt a bit sore,
but nothing major.
Thursday - I was
hoping to get on my trainer, but I ran out of time. So I headed over to
softball and I did my usual warm up, swinging my legs around, doing some
dynamic stretching with my legs to prevent any quad pulls. But I could feel
that my leg was not happy. So I just decided that I would take it easy and not
get out to fast. I was fine until about my second/third time up to bat. I
didn’t feel like I pulled anything, the pain in my side, just started to get
progressively worse. And by the half way mark in the game, I was on the bench with
ice on my hip. I had a few friends who felt it was my piriformis, or my glute,
who tried to work on me a bit in between innings( thank god for therapists as
friends). But it kept getting worse. I made it home, swore a few times.
Friday- And when I woke up the next day, I couldn’t
walk on my leg without pain when I put weight on it. The
doc gave me a high dose of steroids over the weekend to see if that could calm
it down. So now I’m on a forced weekend of rest. NO EXERCISE, or at least go
easy. Right….
Saturday- The good news is I got to sleep in for the
first time in a long time. I got to catch up on a bunch of chores around the
house and errands that I have been neglecting. I got in a second nap. I read, I worked on my blog. Knowing I was going to be tempted to do some
kind of workout on Sunday. I was proactive and took my bike into the shop for a
new chain, chain ring, and cassette. I purposely went later in the day, so they
couldn’t get it done on Saturday, closed on Sunday. And couldn’t pick up until
after 3pm on Monday.
Sunday- Again
another morning where I was able to sleep in.
More cleaning done and chores that have been neglected around the
house. But still have pain… I notice
when I’m in a fully flexed position like squatting down to pick up dog poop(
sorry for the visual) or when I curled up on the bed on my right side in a
flexed position and fell asleep with a nap, when I stand or straightened out to move. I get that sharp
pain again above my iliac crest. So…hoping
it’s not something too serious.
Week Four
Is coming up, I’m not sure what it holds for me. Not sure if I’ll
be happy or frustrated about the week. At least it’s going to be recover week.
So with that, I’ll know how much better my hip feels by the end of the week.
The game plan is changing. I need to figure out what is exactly
going on with my hip. I am in a bit of a holding pattern, and it makes me
nervous. I’m used to having everything set, and organized. Maybe this is a
blessing in disguise. The number one priority is to get healthy and focus on
Ironman. Now since, I may have to decrease my training, Nutrition is also
number one to get back on track.
Monday- Swim. I
got out of work and headed over to the Y. I got in a good swim. Didn’t hurt.
Thank goodness. 2400 Yds. I did feel a slight tug when I did a few laps
kicking, so I was disciplined enough to go with the pull buoy and not aggravate
anything. So far so good. Headed home, and got tires rotated since I just swam.
That only took two years to do!
Tuesday- Came home, wishing I
could go to Core Fusion, but had a adjustment by one of my PT friends who said
I had a major Upslip on my hip/pelvis..An alignment off by over an inch! So
that’s why my hip hurt. So she warned me it’d hurt for abit, but I should get
more PT. I did feel about 50% better with the pain after she worked on it. But
I came home and rested. Another good 4 hour nap. Either I really needed it, or
something is up. This sleeping all the time, it feels like I’m going crazy that
I can’t workout, so hence getting
depressed that I can’t do what I need to do to stay “sane”.
Wednesday- Had the
day off today, so I dropped of my Escape and got it fixed, went to the Y while
I waited and got in about 30 min on the bike in the gym. It felt good; my hip
didn’t hurt while I was on the trainer. But it was a bit tender once off. I
then headed over to swim in the pool and did my T-Pace Testing. I swam 3 x 300yds
with 30 sec rest at 5:44, 5:44 and 5:35. Average 5:41 for a 300 yd, which
divided out equaled a T-Pace for my100 yd at 1:54. A two second decrease.
Nice!!! I felt good. I wonder now, after
seeing that last 300 yd time…could I of made the first two a bit faster? Or was
it that I was just warmed up and did better? Hmmm...I’ll still take it. And
this with injury to my hip so I wasn’t kicking with my legs. Once home I did ~ 20 min for back and core
strengthening. A little PRI breathing.
Some relief, but not enough.
Dropped a cool 300$ on my
Escape, with another 800$ to find somewhere to get more that needs to be fixed.
But at least nothing pressing right now.
Bearings fixed on the back wheel… the most important at least done.
Thursday- Was
supposed to do softball today, but had to bail and not do it. I also had every intention of going to Fusion
of Movement to do Gentle Yoga…but again, I came home and fell asleep…another
four hours of “recovery” or depression
from not being able to get in my workout for stress relief. I have a habit of shutting down when I start
getting stressed, that or panic attacks, which luckily, haven’t resurfaced as
of yet. But the nightmares are continuing to come out of nowhere. I rarely have
nightmares, but the last six months, they have been pretty vivid. I was reduced the other night to almost
blocking my door with a chair due to how real it felt. Not good :(, and hence….sleep alluded me once
again.
Good news is that I FINALLY got a prescription for Physical Therapy to check out my hip, back etc. Except I can’t get in until July 3rd. I’m not sure I can hold out that long for not working out. I keep telling myself that rest is good, but it just doesn’t seem to be getting any better. My mind is running wild…feeling like I’m losing all my fitness that I worked so hard to get. I’m a very patient person when it comes to my job and my patients. But when it comes to me…I’m very…impatient.
Friday-- Got
home from work today and got on the bike trainer, did an easy 45 minutes with
90 rpm, Zone 2 heart rate. Everything felt good…so I was happy with that. Once
done, I got off and my hip was tight, so I got in a 20 min yoga stretch, and
then a 10 min core workout. Hoping that
more flexibility will help with the pain.
I did have some comfort today, knowing that nothing was still out of
“whack”, my PT friend reassessed my hip and noted that I didn’t slip out of
alignment again.
Saturday- Had to work today. Wasn’t very good on
nutrition, but may have been when I woke, felt like I had no taste buds…so no
food tasted good through the whole day.
My plan was to get in a VERY EASY jog/run after work. But as work
progressed through the day, my hip felt worse from lifting patients. Certain
movements were worse than others. So when I headed out to get in my easy run. I
made it only about 100 yds before I was reduced to tears, and admitted defeat.
I walked back to the house, and wallowed in self pity, and fear. What if it’s
something worse? What am I going to do? I am usually a strong person; I usually
can handle a lot. But I need this right now, I need to be able to train, I need
to be able to feel like I have a goal, a purpose. Right now without it...I feel
useless. I have done more in the last
week of “catching up” on things. I got my car fixed, house cleaned, tires
rotated, errands ran. I even did a craft project, and made a new frame. Then I
find myself watching lots of movies, falling asleep. I don’t want to get this
as my “new normal”. I feel as if I have no direction. I feel lost.
Unsettled.
I spent a little time out on the back porch tonight. Watching the
supermoon, crickets chirping, the stars come out. It was beautiful. I have missed that, it’s so peaceful. I turned
on my lights on my tree, and could barely see them! So much growth has happened on my tree. I
have some wonderful shade. I sat for a long time, watching the moon rise,
petting the dogs. Listening to the silence. Feeling somewhat peaceful. Just Breathing. Trying to figure out what I’m
doing. What am I going to do?
Sunday- Woke
today and got on my trainer, trying to be patient with my leg/hip and stay in a
controlled environment. If I go outside, I’ll get hills and wind, and that will
not be good for easy on my leg. So trainer it was today, and I got in 1:30
hr/min. for 18.5 miles. Not fast by any means, BUT..The best thing that happen
was my leg felt GOOD after the workout today!
YEAHH!!!!! Let’s keep that up!
Now on to the next training block, Build Two. I’m sure I’ll get nowhere
near where I want to with training time. BUT I’m in a recover/healing mode with
my leg/hip. So I’m going to listen to my body and only do what it can do
safely. So I’ll focus my goals this month on nutrition, I keep talking about
it, but I’ve yet to get really committed with getting better nutrition. This is
one thing, I have control over. So….
DISCIPLINE
Is just choosing between
What you want
NOW
And
What you want
MOST
MOST
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