Make it HURT

My friends, the ultra-focused long rides, are back. As it should be. I've got to get in a number of them in the next few weeks to be ready, REALLY READY, for Ironman Brazil. I just wouldn't have it any other way.

Last summer, prior to Ironman Wisconsin, I got my first taste of these rides. They are the sort of thing that to execute them properly, it's tough to ride with someone else, unless they are willing to do what *I* need to do. They are best done on the flats (how convenient that I live in Flatland!), and I enjoy them more with a stiff headwind (cross winds not so much).

I got my wishes in spades today. The high only got to 68, and there were stiff east/east northeast winds blowing. When I do these rides, I go west. So in a perverted sense, I was excited today because I knew I'd have to ride home into a headwind!

I loaded up the Lobster bike (my road bike--the SRM isn't back until Monday, unlike what the service center promised--so it's road bike this weekend, and the Power Tap is fucked up or just needs a battery or something so I'm riding on feel, but I know what FUCKING HARD feels like!), and suited up. I chose rather skimpy riding clothes, since the plan was for a 4-hour ride followed by a 30-minute run. I pulled some weeds in my front yard flower bed to test out the temperatures, and knew I'd be fine.

The bike workout was to be this:
WU: 60' @ 65-70%
MS: 2 x (40' @ 88-90%, 10' Easy), 20' Easy, then 1 x 20' @ FT.
Remainder (50') is 80-85%, as you feel.

Remember, I rarely just go out and JFR anymore, although I did so in South Carolina due to the presence of certain "mountains." With those, you just push it up and hang on as you fall off the damn things.

I headed out and oh joy! Tailwind, so I'm in the 52/13 (highest available gear) heading west to Fermilab. Fermilab has an accelerator ring that you can see from an airplane. Very high-tech. Since I am going senile, I didn't remember how long it normally takes for me to get there from my house, nor did I have an odometer, but I figured on about an hour, and I was correct. Then I figured I'd do the 2x40' in there (a couple of loops), and then head back to a T intersection (Eola Road and Bilter, for those of you who might know the area), then west again to do the FT interval, and finally turn around and head for home.

What a beautiful day! I love being in Fermilab, because, well, it's so scientific. You see these various buildings where they are doing who-knows-what, and there are huge tanks of liquid helium and liquid nitrogen hanging around. And REALLY BIG electrical thingies. But there are woods in there, and also a herd of buffaloes (which I like to call bobbleheads), and there is very little to no traffic in there, and the roads are decent, so it's a nice place to put the focus hammer down.

And focus I did. The loop was mostly windy, and I would just pop into the big chain ring and ride as hard as I could for as long as I needed to. I could feel the muscular fatigue in my quads, but I didn't care. It was good I didn't have a speedometer, because I didn't care. All I cared about was make it hurt. Make it count. And I did. I could tell sort of from my heart rate and my calorie burn that I was kickin' it. And since I was riding mostly on flatness, there was no coasting, although I did have to stop and pee a few times, but I made it quick, because I was so into getting it done today.

While I was in there, I saw: buffalo, horses, egrets, herons, robins, cardinals, a red-tailed hawk and at least 10 other cyclists, all of whom had on way more clothes than me. All of them were happy to smile and wave at me, as I did to them, except for one woman. She looked a little surly on her tri bike (perhaps she was looking down at my silly clip-ons on a road bike which I was barely even using) as if she was the only one "working." WTF??? I can always at least lift my left hand off of wherever it is to give some sort of acknowledgment.

As I was leaving Fermilab, I thought to myself that I have come a long way, when I really have no problem looping around to get my "work intervals" done. There are other places I can ride, but I like being surrounded by science in a safe-riding haven even though I suppose I am picking up some spare electrons or something. I always feel pretty good when I'm in there!

But, as is always the case, all good things come to an end. So I left the place with one more nasty interval to go. And this one would include a few short hills. The deal was NO shifting into the small chainring even for those. I had to grind it a little bit, but no worries, it was only 20'. Most of it was on a north-south road, so I avoided the stiff easterly winds. But then I turned to ride home. Total headwind! Which was great, since I was not allowed to lollygag on the tail end of the ride.

About this time, my right foot started to hurt a bit, which was funny because usually my rule is 5 hours riding or 80 miles before that happens. But I guess with all the wind and with all the effort I was pushing (I would REALLY like to have seen what my true watts were--oh well, next weekend I get the big surprise!), it happened a little sooner, at just 3:30 in. At this point, I knew I had a long ride back into the headwind, so I unclipped that foot and stretched it a bit, and kept going.

Stupid road bike doesn't have quite the aerodynamic position of my tri bike, but I made do. I got sick of riding in the hoods so I used the silly clip-on aerobars, which helped with the aerodynamics a little bit. I think I was gritting my teeth all the way back.

But wait--when I was about 5 miles from home (more or less), I got a special treat--2.5 miles of recently grooved road. I envisioned that I was riding the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix or something like that. It was actually better on the road bike than it would have been on the tri bike, but it still sort of sucked. But I was laughing, like how much more could this hurt? Here I'm kicking out HIM watts (most likely), I'm riding into a stiffy, I'm on fucking GROOVEMENT (that's what I call it, anyway), and joy of joys, now I get to ride up another hill! It just doesn't get any better than this! I was thinking that if I can remember shit like this during Ironman Brazil, the race should be a piece of cake. Note: training rides should ALWAYS be harder than the Ironman ride, if you are pacing properly, that is.

When the groovement ended, I was grateful (er...maybe I was grateful while I was on it). And it was then that I began thinking about my run to come. I have this bad habit of not holding myself back enough when I am supposed to, so I began a mantra, "GO OUT EASY, GO OUT EASY."

Since I'd be running from my house, I figured, what the hell, run east first, right into that headwind, to make it hurt even more, and at least I'd get some relief on the way back.

When I got home, I had to wash my face because I was such a mess of drool, Gatorade, salt, sweat, you name it. I put the running shoes on and assessed my legs. They felt worked. As they should have. OK, so now RUN, asshole.

And out I went. It did not feel good. My legs felt like lead weights. There were 2 young girls stretching as if they were going to run, and I felt obligated to tell them, "I really CAN run, but I just got off my bike after 4 1/2 hours," because I felt like I must've been running like a drunk person. Now, remember, right out my house I have to run up a 1/4 mile hill, so I really get to keep making it hurt. Then I turn left into the headwind.

The wind doesn't feel too bad on the run. I think it died down just a little. No wait. Now it's gusting, and picking up my feet and almost making me fall down. That's one of the fun things about being so lightweight. I literally get my feet picked up more than I'd like when they are already in the air. But it makes me laugh.

As always, I am battling the brick demons. I am just running as best I can. I'm not looking at the HRM, as it would be pointless. I'm just trying to get a decent cadence with tiny wittle steps (a la Elmer Fudd). I pull my hat down further over my eyes as the sun is bugging me and so is the wind. I get to the first mile. 8:42. What the fuck is that? I shouldn't be running that fast (remember, I am S-L-O-W). Especially after that hard ride. But really I don't feel all that bad. Just the usual this-fucking-sucks-it's-a-brick-run-why-the-fuck-do-I-do-this-shit bad. So I figure that since I'm into a headwind, and I will always run faster back towards home, what the hell let's do another 7 minutes out and then turn around.

No problem. It does suck just a teensy-weensy less with the little tailwind. I figure I must look like total crap, but then my head registers, "Hey, we don't really feel all that bad maybe we CAN keep a decent run pace up in an Ironman." I guess the more you do this shit that hurts you, the easier it feels. Thanks coach! My threshold for suckiness is much bigger now. I am thinking that few of my friends that I used to train with could keep up with the shit I do now. Or maybe they could. I alternate between feelings of invincibility and total suckitude. This is what keeps me training, I guess.

I start the last mile home, and all I can think is, "MAKE IT FUCKING STOP." No walking, no slowing down now, just run and get it done. In reality, I was also thinking how long could I keep going like this? And I know that with a little Coke or Ultra Violence, a long, long time (I didn't even use the old Ultra Violence today!!!). I was listening to some music on the radio, but seriously I didn't even hear it.

And I got home. 2300 calories later, you would think I ate my entire house, but I didn't. See yesterday I sort of crashed (verge of overtraining), and knew I had better seriously load up on carbs. So I bought a bunch of crap. 2 Butterfinger easter eggs. 3 Fannie Mae creme eggs. I made a high-fat salad of Boston lettuce (in honor of the marathon on Monday, of course), grape tomatoes, crab meat and Marie's Thousand Island dressing. I forgot the damn avocado! It's a good salad, but hey, it's salad--that's WHAT FOOD EATS! I ate all the candy, the salad, and then snacked on some Cheetos and Jordan almonds. I know, I know--not exactly the most nutricious choices, but I needed to REALLY CHEAT for once. And it was all good! I've been piling on the volume lately, and I didn't want to go into today's workout feeling like shit.

So I stretched some more, and I got my lunch down and now it's about time for dinner. I can't wait to ride tomorrow--3 hours sort of like what I did today, but no brick run (yippee-cay-ay). It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so most likely I'll be on the trainer. Oh well, it's got to be done.

Happy Easter!

Running on "Tired" Legs

There are those who swear by the weekly training schedule for Ironman where you ride long on Saturday and run long on Sunday. The belief is that this mimics how your legs will feel running in the Ironman by running long the day after a long ride.

Thankfully, my coach (and another of my coach's before him) disagrees with this. Collectively, we believe that separating your long run from your longest ride by at least 48 hours allows you to put in a more quality long run. And I will now add this: BESIDES, DUMBASSES (sorry, but the closer I get to an Ironman the more foul my language becomes), WHEN YOU ARE IN YOUR IRONMAN BUILD YOUR LEGS ARE FUCKING TIRED MOST OF THE TIME ANYWAY.

Let me illustrate my point by recounting the previous 4 days of my training:

Sunday: 2:30 hour trainer ride with 1.75 hours of intense riding followed by :30 run ending at better than tempo pace
Monday: 1 hour intense strength session (including the 'ol legs) followed by 1 hour swim (thus effectively trashing my arms). Everything was tired when I woke up this day, and I ended the day tired and fatigued.
Tuesday: 1:35 ride with :50 of intense riding followed by :30 run ending at 5K pace. I was tired when I began the workout and tired when I finished, but I still had a great workout.
Wednesday: 1 hour swim, and :55 tempo run, where the tempo portion was done uphill into a 20MPH headwind in +70 degrees, just for fun. I was extremely slow in the water during my swim warmup, but then I was able to pick it up nicely (and I even identified and know how to correct a stroke flaw in the process), and the tempo run was great, including being pulled over by a cop for "jay-running" (that's another story in itself, but I shall not tell it)

So guess what? My legs are FUCKING TIRED. But I did my long run (2:00) this morning, and, in typical style, it was a progression from easy to mod-hard (tempo), with :15 steady to finish it off. During the winter, I was doing my long run on Sunday, the day after a typically 2:30 trainer ride with :30-:40 brick run, and generally didn't have any problems doing it. But lookie here, now I get to do it the day after a tempo run which was preceded by a heavy-duty brick day. See my point? My legs are FUCKING TIRED, and they are going to stay that way for the next 6 weeks on and off, and then I get to taper. That's just how it is at this point in Ironman training. But, my legs are FUCKING STRONG, too, so they come around quickly during a workout. Besides, a little bit of fatigue is expected about this time. No worries, I am sleeping and stretching like a champ!

Now that being said, would I rather do this run on Sunday preceded by a 4-5 hour hard ride with :45 run off the bike the day before? Hell no. Those rides trash me for the rest of that day, and while I believe I'm strong enough to do a long run the next day, I'd rather not. Why? Because despite me starting the day out a little tired today, I still got in a quality run. Many folks who do their long runs "old style" can only manage LSD pace during those Sunday runs. Knock wood, I can still manage back-to-back tempo flavored runs and then I'll be plenty recovered for this weekend's festival of riding.

Tomorrow I only have to swim, so my legs will FINALLY get the break they need to be ready to hit it hard this weekend. And then my running cycle will begin again on Monday.

The cool thing about doing your long run during the week is twofold: 1) it allows you to ride long on 2 consecutive days (I don't know many folks who can manage a 3+ hour ride on a weekday) and 2) it gives such a sense of satisfaction and relief to know that you don't have to run long on the weekend.

The downside is that you need to get up pretty early to get the run in and make it to work. And then it can be a struggle to stay alert for the entire day, but hey, you have a built-in excuse, right? Seriously, while I do feel tired and sleepy throughout the rest of the day, somehow I manage to do what needs to get done, and then I can settle in for a good night's rest of like 10 hours.

I did my run on the treadmill again today, because with just a little road-running, my right back/hip complex is acting up, so I figured I'd give things a break and run on the treadmill. Besides, I didn't get up early enough to haul my ass to my favorite trail run--for that I need to be up before 5AM. I'm game for that after Ironman Brazil, but if I do my long runs on the treadmill for now, I won't be any worse for the wear.

Another day, another brick workout

Now that I'm getting close to IM Brazil, coach has programmed in 2 brick workouts per week--one on Tuesday after my hard, quality ride, and one on Saturday, after the longest of my 2 weekend rides. So my running schedule looks like this:

Monday: Short, easy ride with Strides
Tuesday: Brick after quality ride
Wednesday: Tempo
Thursday: Long, ending in Tempo
Friday: None or short with strides
Saturday: Brick after quality longest ride
Sunday: None

So we are still getting in 5 runs per week, and the only one that I would consider "easy" is on Monday!

Yesterday was an alleged rest day, but you all know those are sort of against my religion. I knew I would go ahead with my strength workout (to avoid having to do any the same day as a tough brick workout), and I just felt like I needed another swim. So yesterday I lifted (HARD, I don't do anything easy it seems), and within 1/2 hour I went to the pool. I did a "force" workout which consists of lots of pulling (1800 yards worth yesterday). My legs were tired from the strength workout and from the previous week, so I figured pulling would be fine, but man, my arms were like rocks during the workout, but I managed to get through it with decent swim times. After my workday ended, then I spent 2 hours vigorously raking my back lawn, which included cleaning out the biggest of my perennial beds. To say I was tired and sore after all this is an understatement! I slept 10 big ones last night in celebration of my "rest day."

I felt rather tired and sluggish this morning, even with all the sleep I got. I stretched for 45' this morning, because I needed to work out the kinks from the raking, and it just felt like a good way to start my day. Today I had to ride my road bike again, since I won't get the Bitch back until Friday. I thought I had the Power Tap figured out, but after my second FT interval, I cleared the damn thing instead of starting a new interval (for this reason alone I would NOT buy one of these again--the same button combo if held quickly starts a new interval, but any longer and it clears all the data!). Oh well, I just rode as hard as I could during the 2 FT intervals. The winds were gusting to about 38MPH, but the temps were nice (about 72). I can tell I got a decent workout in based on the calories I burned as recorded by my HRM (thank God I have THAT thing dialed in). I'll do my formal FT test next Tuesday on the Bitch with the good old SRM. I am so used to it, and it's so easy to use, unlike the crazy Power Tap.

I didn't think I'd be running too well today off the bike, since I did a fairly serious brick workout on Sunday. But then again, the week before, I did a LOT of serious brick work, didn't I? Still, I keep thinking I'm going to have a "bad" run, but it just hasn't happened since when I was sick. So I take off from my house. There's a 1/4 mile uphill right out my door. Not real steep, but you know you are going up. My stomach felt like the typical, "Can I PLEASE puke right now?" and my legs felt slow and, well, just WRONG. I don't pay attention to my HRM much anymore when I start my outdoor runs, especially a brick run. I just tried to run as best I could, and not give in to the typical thoughts of "Can we PLEASE stop this feels like complete and utter CRAP." But I remembered my mantra that EVERY WORKOUT COUNTS, so there was no sense letting the brick demons take control.

I hit Mile 1 and now I looked at my watch. I was expecting maybe 9:30, since I was supposed to go out "easy." Nope. 8:37. WTF??? (Note to Brett: I bet we were running faster than we thought in SC, he he.) I mean I can't tell you how "not good" I felt and I guess it just doesn't make a difference. So I keep going until I hit 15' where I can turn around, stop briefly to drink some Gatorade (which is probably all over my face at this point since I biked about 1:30), and then head back home. I negative split the turn around to the last mile, and then it was 1 mile to go. I didn't really try to push it that much, but lately, it just seems that the faster I go, the faster the crappy-ass feeling stops, so there is no point in prolonging the matter (note: this is NOT true in an Ironman race--the ultimate in brick workouts. These "short" brick workouts are nothing compared to a 1/2 or full Ironman run. However, I do think I will have the same attitude that if I slow down too much it will just make the crappiness last longer, so I will avoid slowing down as much as I can. I tell you, it can take YEARS to get to that point.). When I'm running that route and it's not a brick run, lots of times I just pick it up a little and manage anywhere from 7:50 to 8:05 on that last mile (which is sub-5K pace for me, see I AM slow!), so today I'd have been happy with 8:30 or more, I really didn't care. Oh well, 8:16 (on Sunday I did it in 7:57). So despite several big training weeks, more bricks than I care to remember, I'm not really losing much speed, am I?

It seems that my legs are on autopilot now whenever I run, and that I have become much better at just ignoring whatever else feels bad that day and getting to the business of running. Does that mean I've become a runner? This is my 9th year of running, so I suppose it's about time! I mean, I actually enjoy running now. I think a lot of it has to do with being very lightweight. I hate to tell those of you out there, even though I feel compelled, but any excess weight just makes running suck. Who wants their thighs rubbing, their tummies bouncing, or feeling the impact of excess weight every time your foot hits the ground? It feels much better to be floating, and to not feel so much gravity whenever I climb a hill. This great feeling now has me paranoid of putting on any weight, but it's not stopping me from eating like a horse. Just ask Shelley how much I can pack in. I swear I have been eating so much, and I think I'm down another pound. I truly believe that once you achieve leanness to the point of only carrying essential fat (which is about where I am), that as long as you are doing some exercise, your body just behaves like a furnace. In fact, I bought a bag of Cheetos at the grocery store. I still haven't begun devouring pasta (another thing that I know keeps me lean: I eat TONS of brown rice, but just don't often crave the pasta anymore--usually by this time in the year I am all over it), but I think I will need to eat some this weekend since I have big long rides. I suppose I should keep a food log to prove how many calories I'm eating (probably less than I think), but I have my hands full just doing my workouts, stretching, sleeping, grocery shopping, and trying to stay ahead of the bottles and laundry. And visit my mom at least once a week in the hospital.

Well, enough of all that. Bonus, I am browning up. I can't wait to see how I look with my 2006 physique and a nice suntan! If nothing else, I plan on looking great in Brazil, including, yes, I will be sporting a thong on the beach. I think I'm worthy.

Weekly Workout Totals 04/03/2006-04/09/2006

Weekly Totals 04/03/2006-04/09/2006
Swim: 11100 yards in 3.92 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1371 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 70 miles in 4 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1881 calories burned
Run: Approx. 37.91 miles in 5.89 hours; 38% of weekly workout time; approx. 3189 calories burned
Strength: 1.5 hours; 10% of weekly workout time; approx. 375 calories burned
All Sports: 15.31 hours; approx. 6816 calories burned
Sleep: 8.43 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.27 hours

Season Totals 09/12/2005-04/09/2006
Swim: 248050 yards in 87.8 hours
Bike: Approx. 2243.86 miles in 129.24 hours
Run: Approx. 873.02 miles in 137.57 hours
Strength: 46 hours
All Sports: 400.61 hours; approx. 179006 calories burned
Stretching: 41.21 hours

Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-04/09/2006
Swim: 8268 yards in 2.93 hours
Bike: Approx. 74.8 miles in 4.31 hours
Run: Approx. 29.1 miles in 4.59 hours
Strength: 1.53 hours
All Sports: 13.35 hours
Sleep: 8.44 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.06 hours avg./week

Goals from Last Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night. DONE.
• Stretch 15' per day. DONE.
• Recover, recover, recover! DONE.

Accomplishments This Week:

• Recovered strongly from training camp week. I had some lingering bike fatigue yesterday, but came around on the run.
• Two long runs!
• Another big running week. Stacked up against last week's 6 hours, I feel really good about my running. And all runs were strong. Yesterday, I ran at about my 5K pace off the bike.
• Got in a solid amount of strong swimming.

Goals for Next Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
• Stretch 15' per day.
• Stay on top of calorie needs.
• Get my head in the game. Every workout counts.