Second, the whole sodium thing was just me OD'ing on sodium when I didn't need it. My weight is down to 113, which while I would prefer it to be about 2 lbs. less, is still going to be just fine for racing. After 2 days on the mild diuretic and then just watching my other sodium intake, order has been restored! I'm really not a fatty! Even my massage therapist, Mike, said he could tell the difference between this week and last week. I don't feel completely bloated anymore, and my skinsuit felt GOOD when I wore it for another 5K swim yesterday.
Third, I decided early this week that I was getting tired and frustrated with the management of my thyroid, and so I called to schedule an appointment with my doctor. Only she's out for 2 weeks, so I decided (with help from a friend) that it couldn't hurt to speak with a different doctor at the same practice. Of course, in preparation, I summarized a bunch of data and wrote up all the questions and concerns I had.
I had seen this doctor before, but he didn't remember much about me, so I led off with, "I am pushing the metabolic boundaries of my body." He looked at me all puzzled, and I explained that I do marathons, Ironmans, the occasional Ultraman and sometimes ultramarathons. I could tell by the look on his face that he understood what I was saying. You don't say all those things in one sentence and not be taken for a serious athlete (or complete lunatic).
We reviewed my up and down thyroid tests, I explained that I was frustrated that we'd been at this for nearly a year and I am still not stabilized, and that I still didn't feel "right." Now, don't get me wrong--in some ways, I feel fucking fantastic--but I can also tell things just aren't right. I am hypersensitive to my heart performance, body composition, sleep, bowel movements, all that. This doctor listened to me, and then he grilled me as to whether I was taking the meds properly (YES) and whether I was messing with the dosing on my own (FUCK NO I WOULD NOT MESS WITH THAT, although I did not actually say FUCK NO, although I thought it).
He paused for a moment and then said that we need to get me off the generic. THE GENERIC??? I didn't know I was ON a generic and that there was NOT A GENERIC. He said some people just don't do well on the generic, and the fact that I was forced to be cutting pills meant I wasn't getting a precision dose. So here's what we are going to do: I started on the non-generic today at 75mcg, and we will see at my next test whether we are achieving the desired result. He also gave me a referral to an endocrinologist, which I will utilize if I don't start to feel "right" in the next 3 weeks or so, i.e., right before IMCOZ. Now, I recognize it will be hard for me to tell, because as you know, I have so much HTFU and I get so excited about all this shit and I will be tapering so how could I not feel great? But I think I will know when all my bodily systems are synchronizing properly again.
The best part of my office visit was at the end, when the doctor looked me in the eye and said, "You look AMAZING for someone your age, and the fact that the only meds you are on is Synthroid speaks volumes about you." He also said that anyone going through my metabolic ups and downs would be driven mad, let alone someone like me training for an Ironman! You cannot imagine how great that made me feel. Because I thought I was pretty damn healthy and that I was (despite the extreme endurance exercise) taking pretty good care of myself. And that this science experiment has been a clusterfuck.
Oh and the other great part of the visit was that my blood pressure, despite the fact that I felt all jacked up when I walked in, was a beautiful 117/72.
So I am optimistic that perhaps we may have cracked the Crackhead thyroid nut, and if not, well then off to the endo I will go.
Switching gears, I've been working on my ATP and came up with Version 1 earlier this week. I know from having done this exercise several times that I always come up with something that's psycho initially. I've learned more about myself including respecting the fact that I'm older and how much I can tolerate. I've also learned just how incredibly fit I am despite thinking I did almost nothing earlier this year and most of last year. I may not be fast, but hey, I can go all day and then some!
So I sat on the first psycho version of my 2014 ATP for a couple of days, then revisited it, because you really have to look at the numbers multiple ways in order to know you've got it right. So I updated workouts and such yesterday, and this morning I checked my work and found out I'd made a few mistakes (this all comes from my actuarial side--it's called "reasonableness checking") and a few other things still weren't quite right. Now I'm happy with what I've got, and it it still subject to change as I go along in the plan. I'm tapering more on the front and back end of races, and there is still some wiggle room in there that I am sure I will need to take advantage of here and there. But it's still a fucking awesome plan, and it's below.
My A race for 2014 is 24 Hours of Triathlon, or as Brad and I call it, 24 Hours of Crack! Brad is in charge of creating the strategy for us to break the record based on our individual strengths. Right now, Brad is the ace cyclist. I might have him on overall swim and run endurance, though, but in terms of pacing, early on Brad will have me beat. But he knows that the longer the event, the less I slow down compared to other people, so this should be interesting.
Red Rock Canyon marathon should be fun. I should even have a chance at qualifying for Boston there, but if I don't, I won't cry. I won't be doing straight-up marathon training for it, and will continue to bike and swim moderately throughout that cycle. But if I rest appropriately after IMCOZ and can nail all the quality runs in training, I should do well. I did go 4:20 at Goofy Challenge in 2010, and that was the day after a 1/2 marathon, so a 4:05 is a definite possibility, which is all I need to BQ.
Triple T in May will be a "train through" race, but I need to be in Ironman shape for it. I love that race, and can't wait to see who else I know that I can con into going and sharing the Crackhouse (cabin) with me. So far, it's just Lori, but I know there will be others. It's nice to have a cabin full of people you know and love there!
Leadman 250 will be like my 3rd Ironman distance race of the year. It's 5K/223K/22K, but one needs to build better than Ironman bike fitness (which I have and love maintaining), a bit better than Ironman swim fitness (which I have but it's currently dormant), and you might think you don't need to do Ironman-level run training, but yes you do! Unless your Ironman marathon is under 3 hours ;) So doing Triple T and 24CRACK in the leadup will be perfect preparation, and then just a bit more than my normal amount of bike training for part of the time. Actually, I should close out 2013 with about 334 hours of biking, and the 2014 ATP plus estimate of the remainder through year end will put me at about the same amount. So actually, in aggregate, I won't be biking more next year than this year--it will just be concentrated into less time, since I will go really light initially.
Oh yeah, there's that Chicago ITU Oly in there in June, but that's a "just for fun" race. I will do however I do.
All in all, 2014 looks to be a great year if I can execute it. So now I can just finish up the last few weeks of heavy training for IMCOZ knowing that I have other great things on the horizon no matter how that race goes. I am grateful for being able to nurture such incredible fitness despite:
- Being on a thyroid rollercoaster for well over a year, including a scary hyperthyroid incident
- Landing in the ER for we still don't know what
- Overcoming a virus that took me completely down for 3 days and that lingered for 4 weeks
- Crashing while running and being beat up a little from that for about 2 weeks
- Self-diagnosing and overcoming a sodium overdose
- Experiencing on and off issues (and experiments) with my right foot and lower back in general
Enjoy the Crackitude below!
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