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. 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!
Month Four of Ironman AZ
2013
It’s the last week of May;
I’m at the end of my Base Three Training Phase. As usual, I didn’t get in all
my time like I wanted to. But I think I’m beginning to see that because I’m
really an “older” athlete, that maybe my body can’t handle this high of
intensity. It pisses me off to say that, but maybe that is what is happening.
And nutrition, which MUST be my main focus for this month and on.
Current Stats Overall:
SWIM: ~90,902
Yds
BIKE: ~ 442.92
Miles
RUN: ~ 219.25
Miles
Strength: ~ 18.25 hr/min
Total Training Hours:
135:24 hours/minutes
Week One- Training was
modified a bit this week for my Whiskey Row 10K on Saturday. I was also just
plain tired. So I took more rest breaks and “recovery naps” then planned. Kind
of bummed I’m more tired this time around, but again, I may have blocked out
all the fatigue from the first time. I also am having a really hard time with
getting motivated to do my workouts, I have lost my “umph” . That fire that
burns inside to get me kick started. I think some of it has a lot to do with
nutrition and increasing my training plan. I have not eaten NEAR the required
calories that I am supposed to eat. I
recall this problem last time. So I have recommitted to doing Paleo Diet to get
back to healthy eating, but I don’t think I can go strict with the intensity of
the plan I am currently at. So I’m going to get my Paleo Diet for endurance
athletes read this month. That is my goal for nutrition, and then I get to see
how it works for Deuces Wild the first week of June.
Monday:
I got in a good swim with some speed sets and got in a good 2300 yds for my
hour swim. Then my run was a Zone 2 workout with some fast 30 sec accelerations
at a 7:30 pace. Nice. Felt really good and strong tonight.
Tuesday: The plan was to do Core Fusion, work has been
pretty stressful and I have been having to do some really long hours…booooooo.
So when I got home and changed, I sat down on my bed. And woke up about 3 hours later. So….guess it
was a recovery/rest day.
Wednesday: Another Swim and Run, and tired… got 2350 yds
in the pool for an hour, but just darn tired, I started on my Paleo Diet today
again, just meat fruit and veggie. Got though the day, but was a bit
rough. My run was crappy, I was tired.
Thursday and Friday: I opted to take off and save my legs for Saturday’s Whiskey Row
10K race. So I skipped my hour rides on
both days. Even with my recovery naps,
and resting up. I still feel kind of punk.
Saturday :
Whiskey Row 10 K Day! I woke and
immediately knew I was not going to PR, I was feeling crappy. My body just felt “not good”. I went ahead
and ate what I needed to before the race, not worrying about Paleo. I got down to the race site and felt really
tight, even my warm up and stretching didn’t seem to help. I knew this was a
training race, but secretly I still wanted to break an hour, even without
proper training, hello? Really?
Ran into Tina and Mark.
Tina is doing her FIRST EVER Triathlon in June. A sprint Tri and I’m so happy
she is doing it. I’m honored that she
says I inspire her, and giving her all the beginner info that she needs. Makes
me happy that I can help someone to experience their first Triathlon. And Makes
me wish I could get certified as a Triathlon Coach. As it’s something on my
bucket list to do one day.
The start went off at
7:30 AM. Looking at the overall race, I
was on track for under an hour when I hit the 4.5 mile mark. However, I noticed
that I was having a really hard time breathing. Like I have to stop cause I
can’t catch my breath breathing, even with my pace within my normal times. Of
course I knew it was a hilly course, so that would affect it. My first two
miles were good, my third and fourth began to creep in the red zone due to
breathing, and a nasty sharp pain in my right side, reminiscent of my
gallbladder attack three years ago. What I think now it was, was my insanely high
Max Heart rate.
217? Really? No Wonder I
couldn’t BREATH! That is just NUTS! I’ve never had a heart rate that high. So
either I was just pushing it without the proper training, or well, I don’t know
what is up with that. I’ve has some issues in the past 6 months with not being
able to catch my breath when I was training for my 10 miler in Phx, but I don’t
recall my heart rate being that high or documented. My doc thought maybe I was
getting exercise induced asthma at the time. Garmin has been going a bit haywire on me too,
so it could just be a glitch. Crap, let’s hope so!! But it really was super
uncomfortable. So I knew by Mile 4.5 that I wasn’t going to break an hour. And
since I knew I had an hour swim and another 30 min run ahead of me. I opted to
just ease back, go by feel and finished in 1:04. Not my best time, but not
horrible either.
After I watched Jessica
Brown fly across the marathon finish line in 3rd, I was off to swim
at the Y. Ironically, my swim was a great recovery workout, I got in my times
and pacing like I wanted too. And I was able to let the water sooth my sore
body. My last 30 min on the treadmill
was in Zone 2 to get in 2.3 miles. Which made it a total of 8.5 for me overall.
I still had a nasty stitch kick up
during the treadmill run, on both sides. So I’m not sure what the main cause of
it was, at least my HR stayed in Zone 2 the entire time. Calories burned?
1332. I’d eat if I could, but GI issues
are making it pretty impossible to keep anything down. Hopefully soon, I can
eat.
Headed home and enjoyed
a HOT shower. I also spent time on my foam roller, which I have a love/hate
relationship with. I love the benefits of getting out the kinks, I HATE the
Pain! ARRRHHH!!
Sunday: Woke somewhat sore from
race and training. My legs were pretty tired, but I got in my ride. The plan
was just a 1:30 hr/min, but the 15 mph winds had other plans and it ended up
taking me 2:21 hr/min. And I had just about every curse word I could think of
coming out of my mouth. But I have to use my motto of “embrace the wind”,
because it could be just a windy during the race, so I need to continue to
practice in the wind to get better.
Week Two-
attempted to get myself back on track for training, but once again this week
had to be modified. I had a Continuing Education course on Friday/Saturday down
in Phx so I had to switch it up again.
Monday: I got in my swim, 2300 yds My run was an easy
45 min with good Zone 2 training. I was tired and legs were pretty sore from my
ride on Sunday, but I had to just gut my way through it, so it was one of those
days.
Tuesday: this day ended up being a total wash, I fully
planned to be at Core Fusion for my hour ab workout, but work got in the way
and I got to experience a 14 hour day, yuck! I haven’t’ had one of these in a
really long time. I wasn’t too happy. L And really needed the workout for stress
relief.
Wednesday: Once again, I was tired. Long workout today,
and was regretting it a bit. Had hour swim and hour run. I gutted out my swim
with 2300 yds and my run ended up being pretty good, I got 5 miles in with 4 x
at 6 min at a 10min pace for lactate threshold training, happy to say the heart
rate stayed within normal ranges.
Thursday: I was planning to get in a 1:00 bike ride,
but by the time I got home, I was so mentally exhausted that it was all I could
do to get my bags packed for my weekend down in Phx for my Cont. Education
course.
Friday and Saturday: I was up at the butt crack of before dawn and on my way to Phx
for a Cont. Edu. Course for Friday and all day Saturday, I have been trying to
get this course for the last three years, and got a great opportunity to take
it for an extremely reduced rate. It was
an excellent course, great instructors and great information. I also got to
catch up with a good friend who was kind enough to let me crash at his place so
I didn’t have to worry about paying for a hotel. It was so good to see him as he is like a
brother to me and the closet I have in AZ to family. I’m happy we got a chance
to catch up, he is great a helping me keep life in prospective, and when to
tell it like it is and give me a reality check when I need it. After my Friday class, I gave up on 5 pm
traffic and headed over to Chapperal Park and took a nice long bike ride down
to Tempe Town Lake and did a lap around the run course or AZ IM.
Sunday: I woke up and had breakfast, and drove back
up to Prescott, and headed over to the Y for my first Brick workout of the
training plan. I got in over 3000 yds in the pool and felt good. Then I picked
up some stuff from the store, and headed home. Called my Mom to wish her Happy Mother’s
Day, and then after seeing way to many crazy drivers on the road, opted for
jumping on my bike trainer rather than the road. I felt good, wished I got in
more miles, but just didn’t happen. Once done with the bike, I headed out the
door for a quick 30 min run. Which was
at a good pace overall. Overall, I felt
really good. Much better than I did the first time I did this back in 2011 for
my first Ironman, I can only hope that is a good sign and that my training is
paying off. I will soon know with my race in Show Low on June 1st.
Week Three-
So I’m getting a bit back on track this week. I got in almost all of my hours,
just missed some here and there. And Softball
season started for work, so now Thursday, I get to mix it up and have some fun
with the gang from work.
Monday: I keep feeling like I’m just hanging out at
the same pace in Swimming, so I pushed it a bit today, and got in an extra 100
yrs. My run was an easy 30 min with some quick sprints.
Tuesday: FINALLY, I got back to
my core fusion class. I got in a great hour with abs and with
quads/hamstrings. Sasha as usual kicked
my butt. It felt GREAT!! I can tell that
working my core is really helping me to get more balanced with my hip which has
been bugging me more.
Wednesday: Another two hour workout with hour swim,
rockin my distance with a longer set, and a good run keeping it in Zone 2 (
good with the heart beat ) and about 5 miles.
Was tired, but not horrible.
Thursday: SOFTBALL!! I opted to skip my bike workout due to time
and getting out of work late, and got to the softball fields. I brought along
my “stick” massage tool, which helped my very sore quads and hams from class on
Tuesday, which was a lifesaver for not pulling anything from my sprinting. It
was so much fun! We were pretty good with hitting the ball, and on defense. I
was annoyed with the cocky pitcher who thought he would try to intimidate each
of us as we got up to plate making some smart ass comment all the time. I guess that cocky attitude helped
channel my energy and as he would try to mess me up, I would send the ball out
in the field and get on base every single time, and eventually run home. The
only thing that would have made it better is if I could have beamed him with
one of the balls. We won in overtime
and extra innings, had some beers after and headed home.
Friday: Had today off of work, as I worked Saturday. I
woke and headed over to the Y for my longest swam yet! Rocked out with 3250 yds. I should have
pushed it more, but my arm was sore from catching the night before, so I did
what I could. Got over to Peavine and
got in my 1:30 hr/min run for 8 miles. Felt good, but my hip was bothering me.
Had to ice it when I got home after my hair cut.
Saturday: Needed to mix things up a bit, so I took my
mtn bike with me to work, and after work, got on Iron King to get in a 1:30
hr/min ride. Kept my HR in Zone 2. It was nice just to relax and ride and not
worry about distance.
Sunday: Woke with plans to go
to Flag and ride for a change of scenery, but I slept through my alarm and just
decided to do my ride local. Ended up being a good ride, felt pretty strong.
Still have sore legs, but got into the “zone” several times and it felt great.
I do feel like I’m getting stronger in the swim and the run, but I’ve been
slacking off on the bike. So I really need to get my butt in gear with my
bike. I also have been so busy with
everything this month; I’ve yet to get more then carrying around my Paleo
book. I have however gotten my nutrition
better under control over the last couple weeks, so it’s working; I am feeling
stronger with my workouts. I have
officially begun my fun Bike short tan lines that will most likely be here for
the rest of the year.
In other news…I have now
been able to purchase two more big items needed to help me in training. New
Speedplay Zero Pedals in Black on order, and a new Adamo Racing Seat in white
and on its way from TriSports. I CAN’T WAIT!!! They will go a long way at
helping me have a more comfortable ride. I think my pedals are one reason I have had so
much trouble on my right side for all the discomfort and pain in my hip from my
first Ironman. Of course, I will have a
break in period first. Thank you to my 7th
Year Bonus Retention Check from MVRRH. What’s
hopefully up next? A pro bike fit, and
wetsuit.
Week Four
Recovery Week “sort of”,
But also it’s two weeks out to my Deuces Olympic Race in Show Low. I think I’ve
decided to switch up my recovery week with my first week of Build One
Week. So I’ll have recovery week ending
with my race for Deuces Wild Olympic. So I have four weeks of training/then a
week recovery to prep for Deuces. Good way to see how my body handles the
stress.
Monday -began with the “first”
build week. I still feel like my swims are not as good as I could be, like I’m
just going through the motions because of fatigue from the day of working long
hours. So this week I pushed a bit more and got in 2500 yds for my hour
swim. My run was an easy 30 min with
some pickups and got in an easy 2.5 miles.
It was hard to keep my HR in Zone 1. I was practically walking!
Tuesday- was a great Core Fusion
workout with Sasha. I really felt it today. But I was also hurting a lot in my
right hip area/top of pelvis. So with some debate, I setup an appt with the Doc
to check it out.
Wednesday- was
another good swim with 2500 yds in the pool with another run in Zone 1 (Super
SLOOOWWWWW) at 2 miles, was having to walk to get it in Zone 1 at times. The
good news is that I wasn’t too sore, so that was nice. I’m finding that my
swims make an excellent recovery for my body, so I’m starting to put them after
my runs/bike to get out all the kinks.
Thursday- Here is where I screwed things up a bit this
week. I went to the doc and after some discussion it was decided my Glut Min
and Mead tendons were really inflamed, so he choose to give me cortisone shot
for immediate relief. Which I then, because
of my stupid competitive self, went out and played softball on our “d” league,
and promptly pulled/strained BOTH my groin/quad muscles. So I hobbled home with
ice for the entire rest of the night. Dumb, dumb, dumb!!!!
Friday- which this forced a rest
day today. My left leg felt better after all the ice, but my right was still
sore, so I took today off as a safety measure, I came home and promptly fell asleep
from 4-10pm. They say recovery happens when you rest right? LOL
Saturday- I woke with my right leg still feeling sore, I
got my first bountiful basket of the year J and headed over to the Y with the intention of
just getting something in, and only going with how I felt. Well I was feeling
good with the swim, did 1:15 hr/min with 3400 yds. What was exciting about this
workout was I did a “test” of my 1500 yds right off the start. So I jumped in
and swam. I got 1500 yds in 31:16 min/sec. I was happy to see that I could pull
this off. It will be a different story in Show Low next week, as I know the
water will be cold, there could be white caps like the first time in June with
winds in the 12 mph. I’m reminiscent of the feeling of drowning from this race,
I think I swallowed half the lake, and so it makes me a bit nervous to tackle
it again, but it is a good test. I am also curious how I do from last year, as
I managed to PR by 30 plus minutes. But it
was in Sept vs. June and the winds/heat was less in Sept.
After the swim I was off to do my 1:45 run. I choose to
take it super easy and only go 30 min at a time and then re assess, if it hurt
I stopped. It was hot today, so I took extra water, which I’m glad for. I headed
out on Peavine, and at 30 min felt good, so I went some more, When I hit the 50
min mark for turn around, I still felt good, hot but good physically, so I pushed
it just a tad to get to five miles before turning around. The return was okay,
the heat was getting to me. I was fine with my leg/quads until about mile 8, and
then it started to tweak a minor bit. I hit 9 miles at 1:45, but because I went
out to five, and the wind kicked up to 15 mph, I was slower, so I still had
some to run in. I jogged in mile 10 easy, was definitely a bit over heated, but
not where I had to lay down like a few times I remember from my first Ironman. I doused myself in water and drank my recovery
drink and felt a bit better. The one thing I’m not too happy about, is I
literally have ZERO appetite after my workout, I can get in my recovery drink
for 4:1 carbs/protein, but then I’m lucky if I eat anything the rest of the day.
NOT good. I am slacking on this; I still never got to read my paleo book this
month, too much going on, so it’s on the list for next month of training.
I came home and rested
for a bit, then I got to work putting on my new SpeedPlay Zeros pedals and
Adamo Racing Saddle. Oh, it took a bit as there were four pages of specific instructions
for the pedals. And once they were on, I couldn’t “engage” the pedals and clip
in, because well according to the instructions, “lightweight athletes” may have
more of a struggle. HA!!! I was jumping on my bike on my trainer and still
couldn’t engage, until finally….”click” I got it. I think they are setup pretty
good, My ride tomorrow will let me know what I have to tweak. But I already like them I can tellJ. Next up my Saddle. This saddle is different,
as it has no ‘nose”, so the “girly parts” don’t get as tender. That’s the plan anyway;
I know there will be an adjustment period, so hopefully it won’t be too long.
(The full moon must be
making my dogs a bit touchy today, while typing this, I just broke up a rare fight
and stupid me, got my hand in the way of Bailey’s mouth as I was trying to pick
him up, so I’ve got a few bite marks on my fingers…guess I’ll be calling the
doc tomorrow to see if I need a tetanus shot. My last one was in 09, so I’m
thinking I should be okay. Washed immediately
and antibiotic ointment on ASAP.)
Sunday—I woke today and was up
and on the road to Flag by 7 AM, I had a plan to just do a loop around Lake
Mary for a “test ride” on the new seat and the pedals to see how they feel, and
then a quick dip in Lake Mary to make sure my Blue Seventy Axis Rental suit
fits okay for the race next week. The
day was beautiful, but I knew the wind would pick up, and honestly I have been
on my trainer more than the road. I got up to Lake Mary around 8 am, and the
wind was already picking up, it was in mid 50s low 60s. I headed out on my ride, the pedals feel
good, I think they are in the right position; my seat however, needs some more
tweaking. I was rather “uncomfortable” by half way through. Granted, new seat
requires adjustment period, plus it’s not as cushy as the other one. But I think it’s going to work. I think I
need to adjust it back a bit more; I should be sitting more on the front of it.
The winds were around 17 mph by the time
I was done, but I felt pretty strong on the bike, I love this ride, but I HATE
the Lake Mormon Loop. Enough so that I’m really debating not doing Mtn Man Half
Iron, and doing one in MI, or Lake Stevens. That road is sooooo rough, and to
have to do it on two loops, it just doesn’t appeal to me as a good training race;
I’ll be cursing more than riding. So….got to decide what I want to do soon, as
I need to book my flight home to MI also. Of course that will also depend if I
can find a dog sitter.
Next up after I got in
my 35 miles on the bike, was a quick dip in Lake Mary. My wetsuit fit okay, but it also felt a bit
big, I’m hoping that isn’t a factor on race day. I headed down to the water,
and walked in. HOLY CRAP!!! It was
FREEZING!!!! I was for the most part
warm in the wetsuit, and it was nice an buoyant, so I’m not worried about that
anymore. This is my first swim in a blue seventy and I wasn’t sure how it would
feel, but today proved that it will be just fine. The cold however was
hypothermic!!! I was so cold I literally
couldn’t catch my breath; I got in some good strokes, and managed to swim for
exactly 13:27 min/sec. It was also pretty choppy in the water and windy, so
good practice for next week. But that
was enough. It was much colder than AZIM. And I didn’t think I could find
anything colder than that. It was so
cold, I couldn’t walk when I got out, I was stumbling and almost drunk like.
Made for some comical walking let me tell ya!
But it was a good recovery “bath” as my legs were so numb they didn’t
hurt from the ride anymore. And I was in and out so quick….I didn’t even get my
hair all the way wet! LOL Not sure how that happen, but I’ll take it!!!
So next up….My Recovery
Week…. And to began Build One and my first Olympic Race on June 1st
in Show Low for Deuces Wild. I’m hoping the water is much warmer then today,
but Show Low is higher in elevation….so I guess we will wait and see. Except
for the few minor issues with pulled quads, I was feeling strong this
month.
So my Goals for this month. 1. Nutrition, I
still need to work on it, get food actually in my belly after workouts, read
Paleo Book. 2. Keep with Core and Strength work, Core Fusion every Tuesday
3. Get Bike Fit to get my body position correct on the bike with
new pedals and seat. 4. Get a Massage…J 5. I need to get working harder on my bike
strength, that is where I am slacking, and just get more time on the bike,
plain and simple. 6. Non-Ironman
Related—Need to get new bearings on my back wheels on my Escape, just need to
find out where I can get it done. L
If you can
Find a path with
No obstacles,
It probably
Doesn't lead
anywhere.
