This is my Journey into the World of Ironman. It's my journal/documentation of the ups and downs of what it takes to be an age-group athlete training for an Ironman triathlon. This is more of a way for me to remember what I am doing over the course of the training season, as any Ironman Athlete can tell you, sometimes the days can blur into one training day of swim, bike, run after another. So, while some may not find this at all interesting, those that wonder...could I do an Ironman? Do I have what it takes to do an Ironman? I give you a peek into my journey and days to complete my next Ironman. Forgive any misspelled words/awkward sounding sentences. I'm pretty happy just to get them down on paper. Consider it a test of your mental skills to figure out what I'm saying. Hope you enjoy reading my journey.
Happy OT Month!!!!
Current Training Totals:
Swim 66,500 yds 27:57 hr/min
Bike 568.54 Miles 48:54 hr/min
Run 244.70 Miles 53:02 hr/min
Other/ 22:15 hr/min
Strength
Overall Training Time: 152:08 hr/min
lots of color options....
It has been a rough month. I started out strong when I first got here to Billings. I got a PR for my first race of my lucky number year ( See previous post), and I got in two solid good weeks of training. Then my body seem to just shut down. My SI joint has been raging and acting up more lately, I got it adjusted twice now, and I've been hitting the yoga and foam roller pretty strong, ice, kinesotape. And I'm just still struggling. The third week has been HORRIBLE. I literally took a sabbatical from training. Mentally, I'm toast. I wanted to quit so badly in that moment. I'm frustrated I feel this way, because I love doing tri's. But I was in so much discomfort from my SI joint, I just stopped. Which just increased my fatigue. So I took almost 5 days off. Mainly because I have been so fatigued by the time I got home from work, I couldn't do more then crawl over to the couch and sleep for 3-4 hours every night, then drag myself to bed. I think some has been an adjustment to getting back to working rehab, which I love, but getting myself back on a timed schedule has been challenging. And I forgot how much it beats up the body.
I've also had a frustrating time getting to the pool. What was supposed to be open lap time from 7-9 at night, is now taken over by Special Olympics. Until May. So, my only time to get in a swim, is at 3 pm to 4:30 pm. And I work until 3:30pm. I'm here first for the job, but they have been gracious enough to let me leave at 3 pm if I'm all done. Which I work through lunch anyway, so I'm still getting all my hours in. But, it has been nerve wrecking. I'm trying to make sure I get all my work done correctly and on time (again, why I'm here), then sprint to the Y to try and get in my swim workouts. I have been getting pretty stressed about this, and I think it has worn me down mentally, and physically, hence, 5 days of F-You to the workouts. And to top it off, the pool closed on me for a week. Then got extended, and I lost a week and a half worth of swimming. They offered another facility to swim at, but the times were ridiculous and all during work hours for me. Seriously? I even looked into switching to another place that has a pool, and they are closed for the week after the week that was closed for the Y. Can't win. So I'm excepting the fact that my swim is just going to miss some time. And hopefully that will help me to get back on track. To make matters more fun, the dogs got into it one weekend, so I had a "Saturday Night Fight Night" at my apartment. Kahlua bit Bailey, and Bailey bit me while trying to separate them, and now we are all on Antibiotics. And my body doesn't like antibiotics. So I now get to struggle with nausea and headaches. It killed one of my saturday rides. I was 1:15 in, and I got so nauseated, I had to go hang out by the toilet. then I ended up laying down on the couch for a bit, got chilly, headachy, and ended up waking up 6 hours later. So...workout got canned. I was supposed to run a 10 K race the next day, but with feeling so crappy, and my SI joint acting up. I'm just not motivated to do ANYTHING. I'm really getting frustrated with this feeling. I'm so over this pity party I'm having for myself, but can't seem to get myself pulled out of it. So, I just keep plugging away at everything I can do. One Step, One Stroke, One Pedal At a Time. And working hard to try an not let all the negativity that seems to be hitting me take over. Patience seems to be the word of the year. I don't feel like listing all the crap that's going wrong. My Gratitude Jar, seems to be filled with all the negative things and memories. I'm ready to fill them with better ones.
My other issues has been shoes....I've been working on this one since November. I have purchased seven different pairs. I'm not sure what's going on with my feet, but I"m having a heck of a time getting into some comfortable ones. I loved my Triumph ISO. then they Become ISO 2s. Which is what I bought, but then had horrible foot pain on the outside of my right foot. Still do on some days, on and off. I've finally found two pair that seem to be working. New Balance 1080s, and Brooks Glycerin 13. I have both of them off my recommended PRI list, so they should be working, but I'm still struggling a bit. (good news!! I managed 10 miles, the day I wrote this, in the Glycerin's and no Kinesotape...progress!!)
Before I got my antibiotics on board. I'm all good now, but I have a circle of numbness on my finger where the bite was.
Somebody else got antibiotics too...he is all healed and hair growing back.
Can we say over 700$ is shoes right here? At least I've been able to return all
that don't work.
Race 10K Report:
Well, I managed to pull my butt out of bed for the 10K race on April 10th. I so didn't want to, had every excuse in the book. It was cold, it was rainy, it was windy. My SI Joint hurt, I should not push it. But I said F-You to all of them. I got my butt to the race site. Sat in the car, freezing, thinking I brought the right clothes, then decided at the last minute to leave my vest on. I was very Matchy Matchy :) As you can see. I did get quite a few chuckles/snickers commented on my "great outfit" during the run. Apparently, not matching is frowned upon??
What? I don't Match?? I did before I got Cold!!
But I didn't really care. I was warm. So, I lined up with the rest of the brave souls that didn't let the weather stop them. I decided to just make this a training run since I still had another 1:20 hr/min to run after. So, for all that complaining and negative talk, I got underway with my race. Snicker here, snicker there, laugh here. And by the time I got to the turn around, I realized I may of had a shot at getting a PR. So I mentally focused on just keeping the pacing going. I stopped two times to catch my breath. But then I pushed on. I was to close to stop now. So I pushed on. Again, the course was longer this year, Last year I hit the lap time for the 10K and still ran another .2 miles to the finish. This year it ended up being .1 over. So I lapped my time about .1 out from the finish, And got a one minute PR!!!! 58:32 Hr. Min. Whew!! I worked hard for that one. The overall time with the extra tagged on was 59:15, which is still a PR if I counted that time. I was super happy! And super cold! I made it back to my car, and just sat for almost 45 minutes trying to warm up. My butt warmers helped a lot!!! I was sooooo cold. Then I decided I wasn't going to make it outside running, so I headed to the Y and finished the rest of my run time there. I guess the one thing I can say is even though I may feel like I'm completely sucking at my training, I'm not letting it affect me during my racing. So Maybe I am doing something right, even when I feel like everything is going wrong with it.
The next week of training, actually has been going pretty well. I have got almost all my workouts in except one. I am FINALLY back in the pool. and I must say, it feels wonderful!! I have accepted the fact that I won't get all my distance times in, with the limited time I have to swim. But anything is better than nothing. So I focus on what I can control. I got lucky on Friday, as the swim team started late at 5 pm. One of the ladies said they pushed it back to 5 for a bit, but I don't know how long that will last.
In exciting news....I got a new bike trainer!! I finally broke down and bought a Wahoo Kicker!!! Then down side, is I feel very incompetent while riding it. It's very high tech, it's all bluetooth and setup with my phone. But I can't seem to get it to work like I want. A big learning curve of course. And my chain keeps jumping off. So I'm not sure I have it setup right. I pretty much get it set on one ring, then adjust the tension and leave it. I should be able to shift, but its making all sorts of noise when I do it, so I just leave it alone. Any Wahoo Riders out there, please feel free to chime in to help me figure out what I'm doing wrong. And I can't get my HR to pair. Boo. I didn't think I'd have to buy a new HR monitor. But she is pretty. I got a sweet deal on it too. From REI with my 20% off, then my dividend, then selling my other trainer, I got it for over half off. Can't complain with that I suppose. :) And somehow I got it where it could be shipped directly to my door so I didn't have to take two hours and drive to Bozeman, the nearest REI to pick it up!
First Ride....I was crying, the chain kept dropping, and I couldn't get in a rhythm
Good bye my dear old friend, Thank you for the many many miles and 4 IMs. Off to a good home here in Billings.
I also got my Base Box with Gear and lots of goodies!! I need to switch out the pink hat mind you. But the rest is pretty sweet stuff. My shirts are too big, but I was thinking they would fit smaller, So now I have big shirts. Trying to see if I can swap them out, but I may just have to try and wash them and try and shrink them.
I've been having trouble with my Garmin HR monitor, New battery replaced, etc. It would only record the first half of my workout, then stop. So after a call to Garmin, they awesomely replaced it...and now I have a new one...
My other issues has been shoes....I've been working on this one since November. I have purchased seven different pairs. I'm not sure what's going on with my feet, but I"m having a heck of a time getting into some comfortable ones. I loved my Triumph ISO. then they Become ISO 2s. Which is what I bought, but then had horrible foot pain on the outside of my right foot. Still do on some days, on and off. I've finally found two pair that seem to be working. New Balance 1080s, and Brooks Glycerin 13. I have both of them off my recommended PRI list, so they should be working, but I'm still struggling a bit. (good news!! I managed 10 miles, the day I wrote this, in the Glycerin's and no Kinesotape...progress!!)
that don't work.
Race 10K Report:
Well, I managed to pull my butt out of bed for the 10K race on April 10th. I so didn't want to, had every excuse in the book. It was cold, it was rainy, it was windy. My SI Joint hurt, I should not push it. But I said F-You to all of them. I got my butt to the race site. Sat in the car, freezing, thinking I brought the right clothes, then decided at the last minute to leave my vest on. I was very Matchy Matchy :) As you can see. I did get quite a few chuckles/snickers commented on my "great outfit" during the run. Apparently, not matching is frowned upon??
But I didn't really care. I was warm. So, I lined up with the rest of the brave souls that didn't let the weather stop them. I decided to just make this a training run since I still had another 1:20 hr/min to run after. So, for all that complaining and negative talk, I got underway with my race. Snicker here, snicker there, laugh here. And by the time I got to the turn around, I realized I may of had a shot at getting a PR. So I mentally focused on just keeping the pacing going. I stopped two times to catch my breath. But then I pushed on. I was to close to stop now. So I pushed on. Again, the course was longer this year, Last year I hit the lap time for the 10K and still ran another .2 miles to the finish. This year it ended up being .1 over. So I lapped my time about .1 out from the finish, And got a one minute PR!!!! 58:32 Hr. Min. Whew!! I worked hard for that one. The overall time with the extra tagged on was 59:15, which is still a PR if I counted that time. I was super happy! And super cold! I made it back to my car, and just sat for almost 45 minutes trying to warm up. My butt warmers helped a lot!!! I was sooooo cold. Then I decided I wasn't going to make it outside running, so I headed to the Y and finished the rest of my run time there. I guess the one thing I can say is even though I may feel like I'm completely sucking at my training, I'm not letting it affect me during my racing. So Maybe I am doing something right, even when I feel like everything is going wrong with it.
The next week of training, actually has been going pretty well. I have got almost all my workouts in except one. I am FINALLY back in the pool. and I must say, it feels wonderful!! I have accepted the fact that I won't get all my distance times in, with the limited time I have to swim. But anything is better than nothing. So I focus on what I can control. I got lucky on Friday, as the swim team started late at 5 pm. One of the ladies said they pushed it back to 5 for a bit, but I don't know how long that will last.
In exciting news....I got a new bike trainer!! I finally broke down and bought a Wahoo Kicker!!! Then down side, is I feel very incompetent while riding it. It's very high tech, it's all bluetooth and setup with my phone. But I can't seem to get it to work like I want. A big learning curve of course. And my chain keeps jumping off. So I'm not sure I have it setup right. I pretty much get it set on one ring, then adjust the tension and leave it. I should be able to shift, but its making all sorts of noise when I do it, so I just leave it alone. Any Wahoo Riders out there, please feel free to chime in to help me figure out what I'm doing wrong. And I can't get my HR to pair. Boo. I didn't think I'd have to buy a new HR monitor. But she is pretty. I got a sweet deal on it too. From REI with my 20% off, then my dividend, then selling my other trainer, I got it for over half off. Can't complain with that I suppose. :) And somehow I got it where it could be shipped directly to my door so I didn't have to take two hours and drive to Bozeman, the nearest REI to pick it up!
It turned on while I was unpacking....kinda freaky.
I also got my Base Box with Gear and lots of goodies!! I need to switch out the pink hat mind you. But the rest is pretty sweet stuff. My shirts are too big, but I was thinking they would fit smaller, So now I have big shirts. Trying to see if I can swap them out, but I may just have to try and wash them and try and shrink them.
I've been having trouble with my Garmin HR monitor, New battery replaced, etc. It would only record the first half of my workout, then stop. So after a call to Garmin, they awesomely replaced it...and now I have a new one...
I'm just shy of three weeks out of my first race of the season at St George 70.3 on May 7th. My Race number is 1964. I like that number :) I will probably be pretty slow since it will be the hardest of the three 70.3's I'll be doing this year, but I will have fun, and I will use it as a training race, and I WILL be healed and ready to go by race day. That is my overall goal.
