Last Rites before Goofy

Today, while "working," I'll be packing for Orlando and getting the usual miscellaneous stuff done that I do before leaving town. Us women have a tendency to want to leave the house in good order so that when we come back, there isn't a lot of crap staring us in the face.

I had a talk with my coach, Rich, yesterday. He has no doubts about my ability to run both days at Goofy; he thinks the hardest thing will be dealing with my feet. I assured him that once I finish the 1/2 marathon, it's back to the hotel I go for some serious R&R time to give myself the best shot at running decently on Sunday. I am wearing a different pair of running shoes each day, so that each day my feet get "cushy" treatment. I get 2 days off from training to recover next week (although my guess is that Tuesday morning or afternoon I'm going to want to go for a recovery swim), and then we talk and get me back on my game for Ralph's 1/2 Ironman and Ironman Brazil.

Rich said, matter-of-factly, that my running is "way ahead of where it needs to be to be successful in a 1/2 Ironman." DUH!!! That was part of the point of why I signed up for Goofy Challenge in the first place, or was it just stupidity? I told Rich I didn't really remember why I signed up for this, except that it was out far enough from Ironman Brazil that I should be able to recover just fine and then I'd have one helluva running base going into Ironman training. Note: what I am doing right now is NOT Ironman training--it's base training to me, although unless you've been doing Ironman-level training for several years, please don't try this at home!

I expect that in February we will kick up my bike training a little in terms of volume. My "long" rides are currently 2 hours, and while I know I could go out the door and ride well for 4 hours, it will be good for me to probably take that up to 3 hours, just so that as soon as I can begin riding outside in late March/early April, I can start hitting 4 and 5-hour rides right away, which I will need to do to be ready for Brazil.

My run training is just fine--in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we drop it back slightly in volume during the week, but keep my long run at 1:30-1:45 until April, and then kick it up to 2:00 once or twice a week (yes, last year there were 4 weeks in which I did (2) 2-hour long runs--it's not for the novice, for sure, but it really does help build "bullet-proof" legs).

My swim training has been going fine, and once I get past the heavy weight/high reps phase of my strength training (February 27 is the date!!!), I'm sure my swim speed will come back. Even though I have barely been swimming (for me, that is--anything less than 9,000 yards a week is really just playing when you are talking Ironman training), I know my endurance base is still there with a little work. Yesterday I didn't do the swim workout I was supposed to--I felt like swimming long and continuously. So I just jumped in, swam 1500 yards straight, then did a little kicking and then 900 yards of pulling straight. Nice, easy, mindless swimming. But I am looking forward to seeing how fast I can swim once the weights decrease. I've been hitting everything pretty hard, so January (after Goofy, of course) should be a relief!

It's really comforting to know enough to anticipate what lies ahead for me in the next few months. So far, I'm very pleased with how my running and biking have been progressing. If I can just add in the swimming, I should be in great shape for the racing season.

I've decided to not take my laptop with me to Orlando, which means no email, no Internet, no blogging until I'm back. I don't need the distractions when I've got a big job to do, and if I'm not running, I'll be laying in bed with my feet up!

So everyone have a great weekend, and we'll catch up on the other side of 39.3 miles of running!

2005 Recap

I don't typically track my training on a calendar basis--I'm more interested in a training season; but a calendar year is a point of measurement as well, so here goes:

Workouts
Swim: 492,871 yards in 172.29 hours, or 22.8% of total workout time (avg. 3.31 hours/week)
Bike: 307.09 hours (approx. 5,374 miles), or 40.6% of total workout time (avg. 5.9 hours/week)
Run: 222.82 hours (approx. 1,404 miles), or 29.5% of total workout time (avg. 4.29 hours/week)
Strength: 53.81 hours, or 7.1% of total workout time (avg. 1.03 hours/week)
Total Hours: 756.01 (avg. 14.54 hours/week)

Training Time: I can't even begin to compute all the time I spent doing things in support of the workouts, including but not limited to: weekly massage, health checkups, nutrition tweaking and body composition maintenance, bottle preparation and washing (!!!!), event planning, travel time to/from training venues and racing, education, mentoring others in the sport, resting.

Injury Report: I suffered bilateral bursitis of the ischial tuberosities in April, eventually finding out I had (probably still have) a herniated disk, but through my own research and tenacity, returned to running after a 2-week layoff. As a result, I modified my stretching program (I now actually have one) and my strength program (stepped up the core workouts and work on hip rotators).

Joy Division: I can't even begin to describe the sheer enjoyment I experienced in 2005, stemming from pushing myself to higher intensities of training, helping along several athletes towards their first Ironman, meeting new people and I suppose earning a few PR's along the way.

Mental Factor: Having struggled through some personal issues this fall and initiated permanent changes as a result, I now feel well-prepared to capitalize on the physical and mental strength built during 2005.

Actual Results:
Marathon PR 10/2 (the one I'm proudest of--run by myself)
10K PR (2 weeks after the marathon PR)
5K PR (not by much, but I'll take it) on Thanksgiving Day
Sprint PR (was just out to have fun, results are fun, too!) at Galena Triathlon in May
1/2 Ironman: 2nd worst time ever in 100+ degree temps. Still had fun!
Ironman: DNF'ed at Wisconsin

All in all, it was a wonderful year, and 2006 is starting off with a bang this coming weekend at the Goofy Challenge. In mid-March, it's off to Ralph's 1/2 Ironman for some fun (it will be interesting to do a 1/2 IM with all my bike training done INDOORS!), then an epic training weekend with Shelley at the end of March. In May I'm heading to Ironman Brazil; 3 weeks later in June my 3rd (and hopefully fastest) attempt at Horribly Hilly Hundreds 200K; a week later some riding, spectating and cheering at IMCDA; then a long stretch of training with a 1/2 Ironman thrown in prior to Ironman Florida. No doubt I'll throw in 1 or 2 more epic training events just to keep things interesting.

At the end of the day/week/year, all I can ever ask for is my health and mental well-being. As much as I like to plan and set goals, I also know that being right here right now in this moment is where it's at. And on that note, back to work I must go!

The Full Meaning of Training

Commodore inspired this post.

I get comments from various people regularly when they see the amount of "training" that I put in on a weekly basis. Comments range from it's intimidating to how do I fit it all in and the ever popular do I have a real job?

I really formally began athletic "training" about 15 years ago. I started out just lifting weights, which transformed into bodybuilding, then I added cardio (for health reasons!), then I started running, and then finally I discovered triathlon.

For me, to say I'm "in training" means:

• I have set nutritional/body composition, fitness and or competitive goals (Note: a goal can be "to maintain current weight/fitness").
• I have planned workouts for a period of weeks to months designed to achieve those goals.
• I commit to the goals and planned workouts.
• I execute on my planned workouts daily.
• I measure myself periodically towards my goals, and adjust the goals and or process as necessary.
• I seek out credible knowledge sources to enhance my understanding of the sports, my body, and mental techniques to enhance sport and life performance.
• I tend to my physical health outside of the actual workouts by sleeping sufficiently, eating nutritionally, stretching, getting regular massage, getting my routine healthcare checkups and not engaging in physically dangerous or destructive behavior such as drug use, excessive alcohol usage or driving without my full attention (e.g., I avoid using my cell phone while driving).
• (new in the past 3 years) I tend to my mental health both during and outside of the actual workouts to ensure I am minimizing controllable stress, enhancing personal serenity and tending to my emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs in order to enhance my athletic pursuits and keep my life in balance.

To me, executing on the workouts on a daily basis is the easy part--it's all the other things listed above that can really take focus and mindfulness, for it's the sum of doing all of those things that will yield a peak performance. I think many people jump into "training" too quickly--they see a "plan" that calls for 10-12 hours of "training" a week, but really that's just the workout time, and it's really not much more than about 1 hour per day, so how hard can that be? No, it's the rest of the stuff that you do or don't do that is going to carry you through the "training." And then they start in on it, and find that perhaps they didn't consider that all that "training" would require more sleep, removing sources of stress, getting their mental houses in order, and it becomes overwhelming. Overtraining and poor performance are usually not the result of under- or overdoing the workouts--they are the result of underdoing the rest of the training process.

So let's see--how much time do I spend on those other things? 1.5 hours weekly on massage, about 2 hours weekly stretching, at least 7 hours weekly practicing mindfulness/meditation, at least 7 hours weekly nourishing my intellectual/spiritual needs, and probably that much working on my emotional needs. I guess it's a lot of time! I can't really count it all up, because to me it's a full time job!

It's taken me 15 years to work up to the level where I am today. FIFTEEN YEARS!!! This is why whenever someone asks me how long did it take to get my physique where it is, or my performance where it is, my answer is my current age.

My point here is not to discourage anyone from taking on "training" that has a hefty amount of "working out" included. My point is to remind myself and others that there's a lot more to it than the workouts, and that it's important to be honest about how much time you can devote to this stuff and still lead a reasonably balanced life. My observations lead me to believe that very few really nail it. There is nothing wrong with that. There are more important things in life than triathlon, that's for sure. For the time being though, I am attempting a very bold life experiment which is to be an athlete, even while holding down a conventional job. You might say that's thrown my life into a purposefully unbalanced state, and perhaps it has, but in going for it I am discovering all sorts of wonderful things about myself that I never knew and am experiencing life in a way I never dreamed possible. Where this will ultimately lead me, I am not sure, but the path feels right to me and so I will stay on it for awhile.

I can still remember back 10 years ago when all I did was lift weights, and I spent maybe 4 hours per week doing that, but I began working on all the other aspects of training, and it has proven to be quite a journey. They say that the way you do anything is the way you do everything--and I certainly have approached excellence in other areas of my life in the same way. They all require the same "fringe" activities to support your efforts. You don't need to train to be mediocre!

Last Week of 2005

Being in my taper for Goofy Challenge and all, I just wasn’t much for blogging this past week. But, if you must know, I completed all my workouts during the week and here’s a summary, along with any highlights:

12/26: Nothing. Nada. Nil. No work, no workouts!

12/27: 1:30AM Woke up with my stomach doing major flip-flops, and finally got out of bed and went to the bathroom where I violently vomited whatever was left in there. I think it may have been due to eating food I was unused to at a restaurant the day before, although I did choose the “dieter’s delight.” Maybe it was the cottage cheese. Sometimes I’m sensitive to lactose. Maybe it was the cucumbers. Maybe the greek chicken. Oh well. I fell back asleep, and didn’t feel very well the entire day.

3:01PM Run :45, easy to upper steady. Felt OK, even though my stomach was still not too calmed down, but at least my legs were finally recovered from the Sunday lifting session.

12/28: I slept 11 hours. This confirmed that I must have picked up some sort of stomach bug. I just don’t sleep THAT much! I didn’t feel 100% upon waking.

8:40AM Swim 2600 yards in :54. The water was VERY warm, and I could not swim well at all. But being in the water felt good after all the stomach nonsense.

3:19PM Bike 1:15 as WU: 15’ easy, 3’ spinups, 3x(2’ Z3, 1’cd); MS: 10’, 12’, 15’ FT (2’);
CD: 7’ easy. I had LOTS O’ WATTS!!! I hit 164, 166, 166, respectively on the 3 FT intervals. Shows you what a little rest will do for the legs! I really got the glassware vibrating harmonically with the trainer.

12/29: After that 11 hour sleep the night before, I had trouble falling asleep. I ended up taking
Some Tylenol Sleep to help me along. I noticed that my stomach still didn’t feel too great. See this is one of the bad byproducts of tapering for me—my stomach is just not right. I don’t feel like eating what I normally do, and I’m not exercising like I normally do, so things aren’t digesting quickly as I’m used to. On the bright side, though, glad to be getting over this (if it is viral at all) now rather than in a week.

11:37AM Run 1:45. LAST LONG RUN BEFORE GOOFY!!!! I felt pretty exceptional doing this run, even with only having done a puny :45 run 2 days earlier (in general, my long runs feel best when I’ve done about ½ the time 1-2 days before it). Of course, the run finished with 30’ of tempo work. Yee-haw!!! My heart rate was a little high, but I felt great. Something about knowing this is the final big “money in the bank” before the race.

Because the run felt so good, and I did end up going pretty hard, I gave myself a treat:

1:50PM Swim 1000 yards in :20. Just flopped around. This felt great.

12/30: I was finally feeling “normal” again. Nothing like a 2+ hour workout the day before to almost set me right.

11:30AM Strength, abs and core only :35.

1:28PM Swim 2200 yards in :45. Included another 1000 yard TT. I was slower than last week, probably because the water was warmer, and I had worked my arms somewhat in the core session earlier. Oh well. I’m not worried at this point.

2:30 PM Run :45, easy to steady. Felt good!

12/31/2005 New Year’s Eve: My last “long” ride and brick before Goofy Challenge!

10:42AM Bike 1:32, Run :30. I had lots o’ watts again on the bike, this being only my second ride of the week and tapering down. I held 138, 141 and 146 watts average for each of the 3 HIM intervals, and my heart rate was nice and low. There is almost nothing better on a ride to have high cadence (speed), low heart rate and high watts simultaneously! Takes me back to a ride I did in late August when I was going 33MPH while pedaling in the big chain ring with a slight tail wind on a flat! That was SO tasty.

I didn’t have plans for New Year’s Eve—enjoyed watching a movie and I did break down and have 1 beer, and boy I got a good buzz! I’ve not had anything to drink in a week, and won’t have any again until after Goofy Challenge.

1/1/2006 Happy New Year! The day started off well enough. I slept well, even enjoying waking up around midnight to the sound of fireworks, firecrackers, and a little bit of controlled mayhem here in suburbia. I used the short time awake to clear some unnecessary negativity out of my mind so I could start the new year fresh.

At about 10:15AM today, I was suddenly seized with lower abdominal cramps—I’m not sure if they are related to the fact that I should be getting a period this week (I’m on the 3-month cyclical pills to keep me “regular,” as I’m perimenopausal and my body has been doing strange things the last few years).

At first the cramps felt innocuous enough, but the intensity increased until I was experiencing white-hot pain like I’ve never felt before. I thought that this must be how childbirth feels, but then I thought, no this is worse, I can’t even push on anything to relieve the pain. I broke out in a cold sweat, curled up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor (actually hoping to vomit or something that would end my misery), and briefly wondered if I was about to die.

My first response to pain is to try and fight it, but I knew that would be futile, so I just “let it be,” and began taking deep breaths and just stayed with it. I tried standing up because I thought it might be a good idea to take some naproxen sodium (generic formulation of Alleve) in case this continued, but my equilibrium was gone, so I sat down and kept up my deep breathing. I think it lasted about 15 minutes. I focused solely on being with the pain so that it could exit my being.

It felt like I was sweating out of places on my body that shouldn’t sweat, and I got very cold, and then the pain just stopped. I knew this was no time to make any sudden movements, but I did need to warm up. I toweled myself off (I wasn’t quite drenched, but still pretty sweaty), put my pajamas back on and crawled into bed. I put an extra blanket on (lately I’ve been sleeping with the blankets pulled up only halfway and no pajamas—I typically kick out a lot of heat at night), crawled in and was shivering for a few minutes, but then I finally relaxed and thought about what had just happened.

I had a similar episode a few days before Ironman Wisconsin, only that time I could definitely tell I was experiencing menstrual cramps and effects of prostaglandins (ladies know what I’m talking about); whereas today it was far more intense and while centered in my lower abs, it felt like my entire GI system was being wrung out like a wet towel. I don’t think I dealt with the pain very well in September, but today I was able to “ride it,” and I stayed right in the moment instead of obsessing about “oh, what is going to happen to my race.” It may or may not be coincidental that I've experienced this only during a taper—I have said they mess with my body—but this was a little extreme today. Even still, I just lay in bed for about ½ hour, and then I got up, reheated my last cup of coffee and sipped it and started feeling close to normal.

I suppose some people would think this is something requiring a visit to the doctor, but having experienced other fun aspects of perimenopause, and having come close to this in September, I just chalked this up to my body doing weird things during taper. Oh what fun it is to be a woman! So now you know why I don't like tapering so much.

I felt a little weakened by the whole thing, but in a way I saw it as a gift—I was able to practice totally being in the moment with actual physical pain, and I know that somehow that it was a test for the coming Goofy Challenge. I feel like my body was ridding itself of pain and fear and toxins and preparing itself for starting this year right. I took it easy for awhile, and then finally figured I should try and get my one workout done. If I felt unable to do it, I would just stop.

1:15PM Lift 2x20 in 1:25. This was a tough workout. As I started out, I didn’t really feel weakened from the morning festivities, so I just toughed it out. That was one long strength workout! But I’m glad I got it done. That’s my last strength before Goofy Challenge. I might do an abs and core workout later this week; I might not. I don’t need to do one. The coming week is all about getting ready mentally and keeping light on my feet.

Weekly Totals
Swim: 5,800 yards in 1.98 hours
Bike: 2.78 hours
Run: 3.75 hours
Strength: 2 hours
Total Hours: 10.51
Stretching: 1.95 hours
Sleep: 9.21 hours average per night

So this was my lightest week of training in 15 weeks! No wonder I'm a mess! But I think I shook all the willies out of my system. I am going to be very careful with my eating this week, especially to start loading back carbs starting on Wednesday. It's likely I'll put on 2-3 lbs. as my body stores water with the extra carbs, but all that will surely come off over the weekend. I naturally fall into Atkins-like eating during a taper, so my body should be primed to suck up all the carbs I can dump in this week. I'll also try and keep up the sleep, although I'm sure that will go to hell about midweek. The money is in the bank, the training is done, this week is all about staying healthy and resting!

Happy New Year!