I did not run at all last week, but managed to bike 225 miles and swim 17,000 yards. Not a bad week! On the weekend, I rode 82 miles on Saturday (3 hours inside and 1.5 hours out), and I got way behind on my calories, although I was full after dinner. Sunday the plan was for a 3 hour ride, and 1.5 hours in I was bonking like a champion. Luckily, I found a gas station that had lots of sugar, and got a brownie, a Carmelo bar and a bottle of Gatorade. I finished the brownie and half the Gatorade while resting outside, and the Carmelo got eaten about 1/2 hour later.
Yesterday morning when the alarm clock went off, body said "Nope." Even though I didn't really sleep much more, I stayed in bed for awhile, and when I got up and moving around, I felt really, really tired, so skipping the swim was a good idea. Later in the day, I began experimenting to find out if there was a way I could run without my foot hurting. It seemed I could prance around barefoot in the house, but the minute I went outside on pavement it was a no go. I contemplated some more and thought oh well, another week of no running while I wait for new orthotics.
I did lift for about an hour yesterday, and this morning I actually felt some DOMS while swimming. It was a tough swim workout, but still... When I finished and got home, I still felt depleted, so I decided I just needed to keep eating a little every hour. It was a beautiful day, and I wanted to bike outside, but I felt tired and weak. I had some leftover Infinit, and that combined with wearing my pirate kit was enough to get me moving pretty well on the bike.
Before I had gone biking I decided to put my old (fucked up) orthotics into a pair of running shoes, and voila! Foot feels a whole lot better. So one thing is that my arches said they needed the additional support, so maybe this will help reset the muscles in my foot that are causing me some pain. Meanwhile, I still have crap going on in my right lower back, but it's a chicken and egg thing--did the foot cause the back or vice versa? I don't know, but it is a good idea for me to take a couple of weeks off running. Looking back at my training log, I should have done this like 3 weeks ago, but I am a dumbass and tried to work through some pain issues. Never again! Guess that's what comes with old age.
So this week will be another big bike week and maybe a whole lot of swimming, too, although I don't need to swim 17,000 yards. But it couldn't hurt. Depends on whether I feel like getting up at 5AM for the next 3 days.
Whereas yesterday I was getting a little down about the not running thing, I think now I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel, and won't retest things for another 2 days, and will see how that goes.
I forgot how tired tons of biking makes me! And I'm pretty sure that's the earliest I have ever put in so many miles in a year! If I can equal that this week, I am for sure moving in the right direction. Just the fact that I did it at all tells me my bike fitness is pretty good. I haven't done a century ride yet, but it's only a matter of a few weeks now.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Friday, April 09, 2010
Behind on Things
As my training hours continue to slowly inch up, my time available for other things must decrease, including posting to the blog.
I am not running this week. Last week I was experiencing hamstring issues, but still able to run (or so I thought). Last Thursday I headed out to do a nice, easy long run of 2 hours (a rest week, you know), and was running just fine for about 7 1/2 miles, and then the top of my right foot (same side as the hamstring) began to hurt when landing. I am pretty good at managing pain, but after about a mile and a half of toughing it out, I caved and walked home (about 3 miles). It didn't hurt so much to walk. Due to this, I decided I was done running for the week.
I only swam 6650 last Friday, again in honor of a rest week, although I had wanted to get in 7000. Instead, I spent a bit of time socializing with someone I hadn't seen in months, and it was worth it. Saturday I did 3 hours on the trainer, and took Sunday completely off. Rest week completed, coming in at 15 hours.
This past Monday I attempted running, but in less than 1/4 mile, my foot hurt so much I quit. I figured it was time to take a week off from running, but I hadn't yet formulated whether I would sub in elliptical or something else for it.
Tuesday I went to see the foot ortho, who took X-rays, ruling out any bone issues, and based on my symptomatology, notified me that I needed orthotics, which is what I was hoping would happen. I have Morton's foot, which means my second metatarsals are longer than the first, and it creates all sorts of problems. I had running orthotics but they were old and besides I trashed them last fall at North Face. Still, I had been trying to wean myself off them, thinking I should be able to do without. Well, I guess not!
The jury is out as to whether the foot caused the upstream issues in my hamstring and back. I had noticed something out of whack in my back a few weeks ago, but was able to address that just fine. I think I may have just overstretched my hamstring, and then the foot thing changed my stride and made it worse. My new orthotics don't arrive for a few weeks, so I will be trying a few interim measures to see if I can get back to running next week. Or perhaps I will just tough it out on the elliptical.
After my Doctor visit, I decided I would bike and swim more this week and just let the running muscles rest, which should be good for my back and hamstring (and foot!). I finished all my swimming for the week already, and came in at 17,000 yards. I did 3 on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 8,000 today. Not bad, although I should have swam on Tuesday, too, but I just didn't want to get out of bed and opted for more sleep. I biked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and my TSS so far is the same as for all the time I biked last week! The plan for the weekend is to ride 4 hours Saturday and 3 on Sunday or some combination that adds up to 7+ hours. Saturday is supposed to be the warmer day, which would be good for outdoor riding, except I need to be done by about 1PM and it won't be very warm during those hours, so it may be trainer both days. But you know what? I don't even care. I have gotten to the point where I just motor away on the trainer watching (or should I say glancing at every few minutes) whatever sport is on Universal Sports and get my time in. I have bottles already fixed for both days.
If I get in 7 hours of biking this weekend, that will put me at about 19 hours for the week without running, so that will have to be enough. At least I will have my first high mileage biking week!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can fix all my right side issues in the next 1-2 weeks. Since I can bike and swim, all is good there, and I can still ramp up running for UMC in like 12 weeks, so I am still OK. Of course, I am slightly worried at the same time, and I already miss running, mostly because it is just so easy to head out the door with maybe 1 bottle! Still, it was nice to know I could do all that swimming with minimal after-effects. While my traps and triceps were a little sore during today's swim, I recovered just fine from the effort and actually wish I would have time to swim over the weekend, too, but that won't be happening as there is now pressing yard work to be done!
Have a great weekend and keep moving!
I am not running this week. Last week I was experiencing hamstring issues, but still able to run (or so I thought). Last Thursday I headed out to do a nice, easy long run of 2 hours (a rest week, you know), and was running just fine for about 7 1/2 miles, and then the top of my right foot (same side as the hamstring) began to hurt when landing. I am pretty good at managing pain, but after about a mile and a half of toughing it out, I caved and walked home (about 3 miles). It didn't hurt so much to walk. Due to this, I decided I was done running for the week.
I only swam 6650 last Friday, again in honor of a rest week, although I had wanted to get in 7000. Instead, I spent a bit of time socializing with someone I hadn't seen in months, and it was worth it. Saturday I did 3 hours on the trainer, and took Sunday completely off. Rest week completed, coming in at 15 hours.
This past Monday I attempted running, but in less than 1/4 mile, my foot hurt so much I quit. I figured it was time to take a week off from running, but I hadn't yet formulated whether I would sub in elliptical or something else for it.
Tuesday I went to see the foot ortho, who took X-rays, ruling out any bone issues, and based on my symptomatology, notified me that I needed orthotics, which is what I was hoping would happen. I have Morton's foot, which means my second metatarsals are longer than the first, and it creates all sorts of problems. I had running orthotics but they were old and besides I trashed them last fall at North Face. Still, I had been trying to wean myself off them, thinking I should be able to do without. Well, I guess not!
The jury is out as to whether the foot caused the upstream issues in my hamstring and back. I had noticed something out of whack in my back a few weeks ago, but was able to address that just fine. I think I may have just overstretched my hamstring, and then the foot thing changed my stride and made it worse. My new orthotics don't arrive for a few weeks, so I will be trying a few interim measures to see if I can get back to running next week. Or perhaps I will just tough it out on the elliptical.
After my Doctor visit, I decided I would bike and swim more this week and just let the running muscles rest, which should be good for my back and hamstring (and foot!). I finished all my swimming for the week already, and came in at 17,000 yards. I did 3 on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 8,000 today. Not bad, although I should have swam on Tuesday, too, but I just didn't want to get out of bed and opted for more sleep. I biked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and my TSS so far is the same as for all the time I biked last week! The plan for the weekend is to ride 4 hours Saturday and 3 on Sunday or some combination that adds up to 7+ hours. Saturday is supposed to be the warmer day, which would be good for outdoor riding, except I need to be done by about 1PM and it won't be very warm during those hours, so it may be trainer both days. But you know what? I don't even care. I have gotten to the point where I just motor away on the trainer watching (or should I say glancing at every few minutes) whatever sport is on Universal Sports and get my time in. I have bottles already fixed for both days.
If I get in 7 hours of biking this weekend, that will put me at about 19 hours for the week without running, so that will have to be enough. At least I will have my first high mileage biking week!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can fix all my right side issues in the next 1-2 weeks. Since I can bike and swim, all is good there, and I can still ramp up running for UMC in like 12 weeks, so I am still OK. Of course, I am slightly worried at the same time, and I already miss running, mostly because it is just so easy to head out the door with maybe 1 bottle! Still, it was nice to know I could do all that swimming with minimal after-effects. While my traps and triceps were a little sore during today's swim, I recovered just fine from the effort and actually wish I would have time to swim over the weekend, too, but that won't be happening as there is now pressing yard work to be done!
Have a great weekend and keep moving!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Forgetting and Remembering
I am re-reading "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior." I can't remember exactly when I read it the first time, but it's clear to me that I am getting much more out of it this time. Does that mean I have progressed on my own journey to enlightenment? I hope so. I feel like my own journey was derailed from 2006 until about a month ago when I was able to close my Dad's estate. In that span of time, my Mom died, my Dad died, I remodeled most of my house, I made some colossal romantic relationship errors, I lost relationships with a few of my siblings, and I decided to do an Ultraman. Oh yeah there were 7 Ironmans in there, too.
I have been feeling off track for a few months, even though I've had the bright spots of achieving some huge training milestones and good race results. I have felt a jumble of emotions, with the biggest one being a fear that I somehow am screwing up my life while trying to train according to my own (super high) expectations. And because of that fear, I have slipped into a bad state of mind where I am spending too much time on the past and the future, and not enough on the NOW.
So picking up that book is one of the things that is helping me to reset myself. I was finally able to sit down with my ATP (Annual Training Plan) and look at it and think that it is a great--no make that FUCKING GREAT blueprint for training for an Ultraman for someone like me. Back last September-October, I mapped out some key training weekends that will be coming soon that should be great. But the difference now is that I have X'ed off some weeks for recovery, knowing that at the level of training I am trying to accomplish, that they will be highly needed. And I decided that instead of trying to rewrite the whole future NOW, that I can take it one week at a time. What a novel concept! That is not something I've ever had to do, but now I'm cool with it. So even though I planned all my time off from work for special training events, those things will still stick, it's the before and after that might change a bit.
In terms of my running issues, I finally relaxed and told myself, "Sheila, you KNOW how to find and fix this, so just do it!" And so on Sunday evening, I did just that. I spent some quality time with my trigger point books, located the likely culprits, and then on Monday I began working on myself, and I think I have almost fixed everything! Now, I still need to get acclimated to the hills around my house, but at least now I know that some stuff just got out of whack in my back, and I was on the wrong track before, but now I am doing the right things.
I am doing my first recovery week this week--but I am letting it be what it will be, in other words, if I end up doing a bit more, that's OK, and if it's less, that's OK, too. The prime objective is to get back to 100% running with no pain issues.
Yesterday I swam 4000 yards--the intent was to just swim an hour, since it's supposed to be a recovery week, but I warmed up more than the workout called for and then I did the full workout and that was that. It was great in that 4000 felt like NOTHING! And then I tried out my running legs, after first jumping rope for 10'. The jump rope is an attempt to prod my back into rebalancing itself. It's hard to jump rope if your body is all floppy or twisted to one side, and I was doing it back last fall when doing tons of running, so I figured why not? And then I ran, and while I didn't feel completely aligned, I enjoyed the run with minimal pain in my glutes/hamstrings/adductors.
This morning I ran, and it was only 30 out, and I worked on a few muscles before heading out (I jumped rope first, too, which was a great warmup), and had another pretty good run, although I could say really good, since post-run I did not feel any lingering glute issues. So it looks like I have identified the culprit muscles (if you are interested, it is trigger points in my iliocostalis lumborum referring pain to my glutes).
I also biked outside today on LGL! What fun! Although it wasn't warm enough for shorts, it was pleasant enough, and even though I didn't try and do any intervals, I still held good power. I realize I have a lot of work to get all my hill strength back, but I have to say that's the strongest I've felt out the door in years. So I guess all the time I spent indoors on the trainer being miserable were worth it. I definitely needed to get outside, where I use way more of my body while biking than while sitting on the trainer. I still love LGL--she is light and nimble.
Another thing I picked up from "Warrior" is that I could do better on my diet. Just like when one is trying to kick any bad habit, one needs to be ready for it. And while I rarely indulge in fast food, I could stand to eliminate some more processed foods from my daily fare. I do like the convenience of Lean Cuisine for lunch, and in a sea of choices, it certainly isn't the worst, but it does contain more of some stuff that I don't need (sugar for one), and so I will try and gradually wean myself off, provided I can substitute with something just about as quick. In my world, whatever time I can save is precious. I need to cut back on sugar PERIOD. Not in my training nutrition--outside it. Sugar in the coffee, sugar in the jam, sugar in the Lean Cuisine, and then of course, I want a handful of jelly beans or other pure sugar candy late at night. I am also experimenting with less starches (rice/pasta) in favor of more veggies, but it's easy to do that in a light training week, so we'll see how it goes. Coffee and beer are not on the list to remove!
Mostly I am working on quieting my mind down when I'm not training. You'd think that with the increased training I've been doing, which is an area where I certainly am quite able to quiet my mind (just like the guy in "Warrior"), that I would be enjoying more peacefulness, but it hasn't worked out that way. For one thing, when I'm on the trainer, there is pen and paper on a stool next to it, and I always end up making lists. Can't do that while riding outdoors!
And then there has been those long swims. Last Friday was one of those times where it wasn't really that bad to do it, and then I felt pretty good the rest of the day, so maybe my "hatred" of those is that I am thinking too much about the future and worrying about whether I am doing enough (or too much, as some people have counseled). But there is something to really being used to swimming so long, and I think I am finally there! It has taken 20 weeks. Is that a reasonable amount of time? I think so. Considering my long swims have been about double a "normal" workout for IM training, I am good with that. Try doubling your training in a sport and see how long it takes for it to feel "normal!" Now that I'm acclimated, I go into a truly periodized long swim pattern, which is critical since my bike volume is about to explode!
Maybe all of this has to do with the improving weather, but maybe not. Sometimes I just find that I need to forget some stuff and remember some other stuff because at the end of the day, I KNOW the answers are within.
I have been feeling off track for a few months, even though I've had the bright spots of achieving some huge training milestones and good race results. I have felt a jumble of emotions, with the biggest one being a fear that I somehow am screwing up my life while trying to train according to my own (super high) expectations. And because of that fear, I have slipped into a bad state of mind where I am spending too much time on the past and the future, and not enough on the NOW.
So picking up that book is one of the things that is helping me to reset myself. I was finally able to sit down with my ATP (Annual Training Plan) and look at it and think that it is a great--no make that FUCKING GREAT blueprint for training for an Ultraman for someone like me. Back last September-October, I mapped out some key training weekends that will be coming soon that should be great. But the difference now is that I have X'ed off some weeks for recovery, knowing that at the level of training I am trying to accomplish, that they will be highly needed. And I decided that instead of trying to rewrite the whole future NOW, that I can take it one week at a time. What a novel concept! That is not something I've ever had to do, but now I'm cool with it. So even though I planned all my time off from work for special training events, those things will still stick, it's the before and after that might change a bit.
In terms of my running issues, I finally relaxed and told myself, "Sheila, you KNOW how to find and fix this, so just do it!" And so on Sunday evening, I did just that. I spent some quality time with my trigger point books, located the likely culprits, and then on Monday I began working on myself, and I think I have almost fixed everything! Now, I still need to get acclimated to the hills around my house, but at least now I know that some stuff just got out of whack in my back, and I was on the wrong track before, but now I am doing the right things.
I am doing my first recovery week this week--but I am letting it be what it will be, in other words, if I end up doing a bit more, that's OK, and if it's less, that's OK, too. The prime objective is to get back to 100% running with no pain issues.
Yesterday I swam 4000 yards--the intent was to just swim an hour, since it's supposed to be a recovery week, but I warmed up more than the workout called for and then I did the full workout and that was that. It was great in that 4000 felt like NOTHING! And then I tried out my running legs, after first jumping rope for 10'. The jump rope is an attempt to prod my back into rebalancing itself. It's hard to jump rope if your body is all floppy or twisted to one side, and I was doing it back last fall when doing tons of running, so I figured why not? And then I ran, and while I didn't feel completely aligned, I enjoyed the run with minimal pain in my glutes/hamstrings/adductors.
This morning I ran, and it was only 30 out, and I worked on a few muscles before heading out (I jumped rope first, too, which was a great warmup), and had another pretty good run, although I could say really good, since post-run I did not feel any lingering glute issues. So it looks like I have identified the culprit muscles (if you are interested, it is trigger points in my iliocostalis lumborum referring pain to my glutes).
I also biked outside today on LGL! What fun! Although it wasn't warm enough for shorts, it was pleasant enough, and even though I didn't try and do any intervals, I still held good power. I realize I have a lot of work to get all my hill strength back, but I have to say that's the strongest I've felt out the door in years. So I guess all the time I spent indoors on the trainer being miserable were worth it. I definitely needed to get outside, where I use way more of my body while biking than while sitting on the trainer. I still love LGL--she is light and nimble.
Another thing I picked up from "Warrior" is that I could do better on my diet. Just like when one is trying to kick any bad habit, one needs to be ready for it. And while I rarely indulge in fast food, I could stand to eliminate some more processed foods from my daily fare. I do like the convenience of Lean Cuisine for lunch, and in a sea of choices, it certainly isn't the worst, but it does contain more of some stuff that I don't need (sugar for one), and so I will try and gradually wean myself off, provided I can substitute with something just about as quick. In my world, whatever time I can save is precious. I need to cut back on sugar PERIOD. Not in my training nutrition--outside it. Sugar in the coffee, sugar in the jam, sugar in the Lean Cuisine, and then of course, I want a handful of jelly beans or other pure sugar candy late at night. I am also experimenting with less starches (rice/pasta) in favor of more veggies, but it's easy to do that in a light training week, so we'll see how it goes. Coffee and beer are not on the list to remove!
Mostly I am working on quieting my mind down when I'm not training. You'd think that with the increased training I've been doing, which is an area where I certainly am quite able to quiet my mind (just like the guy in "Warrior"), that I would be enjoying more peacefulness, but it hasn't worked out that way. For one thing, when I'm on the trainer, there is pen and paper on a stool next to it, and I always end up making lists. Can't do that while riding outdoors!
And then there has been those long swims. Last Friday was one of those times where it wasn't really that bad to do it, and then I felt pretty good the rest of the day, so maybe my "hatred" of those is that I am thinking too much about the future and worrying about whether I am doing enough (or too much, as some people have counseled). But there is something to really being used to swimming so long, and I think I am finally there! It has taken 20 weeks. Is that a reasonable amount of time? I think so. Considering my long swims have been about double a "normal" workout for IM training, I am good with that. Try doubling your training in a sport and see how long it takes for it to feel "normal!" Now that I'm acclimated, I go into a truly periodized long swim pattern, which is critical since my bike volume is about to explode!
Maybe all of this has to do with the improving weather, but maybe not. Sometimes I just find that I need to forget some stuff and remember some other stuff because at the end of the day, I KNOW the answers are within.
Friday, March 26, 2010
This training makes me nuts!
So after the great week I had last week, I had trouble falling asleep Sunday night. Not sure why, but I just tossed and turned and I don't know how much, if any sleep I got. To make things worse, I woke up with a kink in the right side of my neck, bad enough that turning to that side hurt. So no swimming. I knew the neck thing was just trigger points so I started working on them.
I thought I'd give my legs a break so I went to the Y and got on the treadmill. Legs felt dead, and still was experiencing some tightness from my low back leading to sciatica. So I did 1/2 the workout on the treadmill.
I thought I'd try and swim Tuesday morning, but the neck still hurt, which meant I could try and catch up on some sleep which was a good thing. I got a good 1:45 ride in, though, and I am supposed to switch my schedule around this week and run long on Thursday, so Tuesday is now a slightly longer ride (what the hell was I thinking--not sure if I can always get in that much on a work day).
Wednesday I was feeling like I still needed more sleep so did not swim again, although the neck was significantly better. But I thought I'd give outdoor running another shot, and after about a mile, man things hurt, so I backed way off and ended up doing some walking and then some run/walking. This was a sign that I guess I just needed to back way off on running this week, and given that all this messed up stuff is on the right side of my body, it's a signal that I am training really, REALLY hard and need to let this stuff resolve.
Yesterday I finally felt like getting up at 5AM to swim and wanted to run or do elliptical, so I did the elliptical first, which causes me no problems, and then I had a pretty good swim of 3100 yards. And I got a massage in the afternoon which was sorely needed.
I have to say over the last few days that even though I know I need some amount of rest, it just makes me crazy when something hurts. Or you can call it "overuse." Whatever. I have made it pretty far into this training regimen without completely shelling myself, and am always feeling like I'm on the verge of it. At the same time, getting in the training I want to get done is a trick, and getting the rest of my life in is also a trick. I know that I am very fit, but I am also very stubborn, and when I have scheduled training and I can't do it, it takes awhile for my mind to catch up and realize all will be fine. Next week I am doing a PLANNED recovery week, so it sucks even more to have this week be a sort of down week too, but again, I think things will work out.
I am to the point now where I just look at what I had planned for training for the coming week and think about how much of it makes sense considering where I have come from, and then since I'm introducing recovery weeks, does that mean I can still do what I had planned for the following week? Actually, when I look at things on a macro scale, the recovery weeks are fitting in there very nicely after some brutal weekends I have planned. THOSE I intend to do!
In my head, I wanted to get in another easy ride yesterday, but bagged it and finished up my strength work. I wanted to get in over 2 hours of training so I was set up for today's long swim with a good day of work the day before. Why? Because all of this toughens me up.
Last night I ate pasta to the point of being overstuffed, slept really well, and woke up just minutes before the alarm went off at 4:45. I bounded out of bed, had an obligatory cup of coffee (which I don't really need to wake me up anymore since I am sleeping what my body needs) and a toasted English muffin, got my swim stuff together, and was in the pool swimming at 5:33. I could shorten my lead time a little bit, but hey--I'm proud of the fact that years ago I would need like 1.5 hours after waking up to get going on a workout, and now I'm down to :45. That's a hefty 50% improvement!
I sort of decided before I fell asleep last night that today's swim would be 1500's. Although months ago I had written out these workouts for Fridays, I just ignore them and make something up. It's not like I'm going to get faster at this point, so I have made the point of these swims to not slow down and practice my nutrition. So I did 8800 yards this morning, and maybe it's because I have hardly run this week (in my book anyway), but I have felt great all day! And that 8800 included 5200 yards of pulling! And my arms are not sore at all! So this tells me I am indeed adapting to this, and next week I will do a 2.5 hour swim before my long ride and see how that feels.
I also asked my boss for a hiatus from some special duty at work for May-July. I might get it or not, but somehow I felt I might as well ask. The special duty is just something that adds that extra bit of stress for a week, and my schedule can't be too flexible those weeks. It is the first time I have ever made a request like that, and probably the last time. We shall see how it goes.
Now I am going to enjoy a starch free dinner (since I had oatmeal right after the swim and rice with lunch), sleep in tonight and work out for 4 hours tomorrow, and I am actually looking forward to it. As much as (and I guess I should admit it finally) I like to run, I had been on another 9 week serious run build after Goofy, so a little breaky-poo was probably in order. I will try and realign my back and acclimate to running outdoors, and as it warms up, it will be so great!
Right now as I write this, I'm thinking that there are these major training blocks and I need a certain amount of focus to get through them, and I think my focus muscles were getting a little tired; but I think I am recharging them and ready for the next assault.
I thought I'd give my legs a break so I went to the Y and got on the treadmill. Legs felt dead, and still was experiencing some tightness from my low back leading to sciatica. So I did 1/2 the workout on the treadmill.
I thought I'd try and swim Tuesday morning, but the neck still hurt, which meant I could try and catch up on some sleep which was a good thing. I got a good 1:45 ride in, though, and I am supposed to switch my schedule around this week and run long on Thursday, so Tuesday is now a slightly longer ride (what the hell was I thinking--not sure if I can always get in that much on a work day).
Wednesday I was feeling like I still needed more sleep so did not swim again, although the neck was significantly better. But I thought I'd give outdoor running another shot, and after about a mile, man things hurt, so I backed way off and ended up doing some walking and then some run/walking. This was a sign that I guess I just needed to back way off on running this week, and given that all this messed up stuff is on the right side of my body, it's a signal that I am training really, REALLY hard and need to let this stuff resolve.
Yesterday I finally felt like getting up at 5AM to swim and wanted to run or do elliptical, so I did the elliptical first, which causes me no problems, and then I had a pretty good swim of 3100 yards. And I got a massage in the afternoon which was sorely needed.
I have to say over the last few days that even though I know I need some amount of rest, it just makes me crazy when something hurts. Or you can call it "overuse." Whatever. I have made it pretty far into this training regimen without completely shelling myself, and am always feeling like I'm on the verge of it. At the same time, getting in the training I want to get done is a trick, and getting the rest of my life in is also a trick. I know that I am very fit, but I am also very stubborn, and when I have scheduled training and I can't do it, it takes awhile for my mind to catch up and realize all will be fine. Next week I am doing a PLANNED recovery week, so it sucks even more to have this week be a sort of down week too, but again, I think things will work out.
I am to the point now where I just look at what I had planned for training for the coming week and think about how much of it makes sense considering where I have come from, and then since I'm introducing recovery weeks, does that mean I can still do what I had planned for the following week? Actually, when I look at things on a macro scale, the recovery weeks are fitting in there very nicely after some brutal weekends I have planned. THOSE I intend to do!
In my head, I wanted to get in another easy ride yesterday, but bagged it and finished up my strength work. I wanted to get in over 2 hours of training so I was set up for today's long swim with a good day of work the day before. Why? Because all of this toughens me up.
Last night I ate pasta to the point of being overstuffed, slept really well, and woke up just minutes before the alarm went off at 4:45. I bounded out of bed, had an obligatory cup of coffee (which I don't really need to wake me up anymore since I am sleeping what my body needs) and a toasted English muffin, got my swim stuff together, and was in the pool swimming at 5:33. I could shorten my lead time a little bit, but hey--I'm proud of the fact that years ago I would need like 1.5 hours after waking up to get going on a workout, and now I'm down to :45. That's a hefty 50% improvement!
I sort of decided before I fell asleep last night that today's swim would be 1500's. Although months ago I had written out these workouts for Fridays, I just ignore them and make something up. It's not like I'm going to get faster at this point, so I have made the point of these swims to not slow down and practice my nutrition. So I did 8800 yards this morning, and maybe it's because I have hardly run this week (in my book anyway), but I have felt great all day! And that 8800 included 5200 yards of pulling! And my arms are not sore at all! So this tells me I am indeed adapting to this, and next week I will do a 2.5 hour swim before my long ride and see how that feels.
I also asked my boss for a hiatus from some special duty at work for May-July. I might get it or not, but somehow I felt I might as well ask. The special duty is just something that adds that extra bit of stress for a week, and my schedule can't be too flexible those weeks. It is the first time I have ever made a request like that, and probably the last time. We shall see how it goes.
Now I am going to enjoy a starch free dinner (since I had oatmeal right after the swim and rice with lunch), sleep in tonight and work out for 4 hours tomorrow, and I am actually looking forward to it. As much as (and I guess I should admit it finally) I like to run, I had been on another 9 week serious run build after Goofy, so a little breaky-poo was probably in order. I will try and realign my back and acclimate to running outdoors, and as it warms up, it will be so great!
Right now as I write this, I'm thinking that there are these major training blocks and I need a certain amount of focus to get through them, and I think my focus muscles were getting a little tired; but I think I am recharging them and ready for the next assault.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Change
I basically did the same training week this week as last, except that all the running was RUNNING! 37 miles worth, which is a good week, I think.
I seem to have gotten a slight "breather" this week, in that some work stress decreased, and it has (mostly) warmed up so I got in 2 outdoor rides and a few outdoor runs. Working out outdoors has a definite impact on my outlook on things, except that now I realize I have a good amount of garden cleanup to do! But, the difference in working at home and being able to take a short break and go outside into the sun is huge vs. just doing something inside the house.
My right side is still a bit messed up, but at least I know it's my QL (quadratus lumborum) that is at fault, and I know that I have injured it a few times in twisting falls so when I start to pile on the volume, it is susceptible to trigger points, which is all this is. It also made me realize that I need to change up my stretching/yoga/trigger point routine, as my muscles get used to being stretched a certain way and then the stretches become almost useless, so I need to change the stimulus.
Remember this--the body requires change to adapt to increasing load and maintain or increase fitness. It is maddening, but true--if you keep doing the same thing all the time, you will lose fitness/flexibility, so you need to be aware of the need to change things up every so often. A normal, periodized training plan already has some change built in, but even in the constraints of one, you still need to mix things up quite a bit. For example, change the route/terrain you run/bike on, perhaps change where you swim or play around with your breathing patterns (something I like to do), change the order of body parts in your strength training or change the exercises. A lot of what is classified as overuse injuries is, I think, a lack of change. For me, I have been doing a helluva lot of biking and running indoors, which puts me mechanically in nearly the same position all the time, so I need to break the pattern.
I am starting to feel almost able to cope with my planned training for the next 6 weeks, which is a good thing. I will be building in recovery weeks, but now is the time when I am "training to train" which in Ironman lingo is preparing your body for the final period of super high volume that builds that final fitness you need to do well. Looking forward, I even think I will be able to manage some 22-25 hour weeks out in July. Isn't that crazy? It will be mostly biking, though, as that is still the biggest part of Ultraman. THANK GOD!!!
I am just really happy it is spring, even though we had some snow yesterday. But it's still March, so that is to be expected. Soon enough, it will be beautiful, gorgeous spring weather, which I have come to love so much! There are tons of birds here now, and it appears the recovery from West Nile virus continues. Lots and lots of robins, a decent amount of cardinals, and even (strike me down for saying this in a year or two) crows. The resident pair of red-tailed hawks alights in my backyard every other day or so to take a break from cruising the neighborhood for hapless squirrels and other prey, and I am always happy to see them! The onset of spring is always such a wondrous time to me--I forget about a lot of the plants I have and yet there they are coming back to greet me and put a smile on my face.
Oh and the first day of UMC shall henceforth be known as "Frabjous Day!" I can't wait for it!
I seem to have gotten a slight "breather" this week, in that some work stress decreased, and it has (mostly) warmed up so I got in 2 outdoor rides and a few outdoor runs. Working out outdoors has a definite impact on my outlook on things, except that now I realize I have a good amount of garden cleanup to do! But, the difference in working at home and being able to take a short break and go outside into the sun is huge vs. just doing something inside the house.
My right side is still a bit messed up, but at least I know it's my QL (quadratus lumborum) that is at fault, and I know that I have injured it a few times in twisting falls so when I start to pile on the volume, it is susceptible to trigger points, which is all this is. It also made me realize that I need to change up my stretching/yoga/trigger point routine, as my muscles get used to being stretched a certain way and then the stretches become almost useless, so I need to change the stimulus.
Remember this--the body requires change to adapt to increasing load and maintain or increase fitness. It is maddening, but true--if you keep doing the same thing all the time, you will lose fitness/flexibility, so you need to be aware of the need to change things up every so often. A normal, periodized training plan already has some change built in, but even in the constraints of one, you still need to mix things up quite a bit. For example, change the route/terrain you run/bike on, perhaps change where you swim or play around with your breathing patterns (something I like to do), change the order of body parts in your strength training or change the exercises. A lot of what is classified as overuse injuries is, I think, a lack of change. For me, I have been doing a helluva lot of biking and running indoors, which puts me mechanically in nearly the same position all the time, so I need to break the pattern.
I am starting to feel almost able to cope with my planned training for the next 6 weeks, which is a good thing. I will be building in recovery weeks, but now is the time when I am "training to train" which in Ironman lingo is preparing your body for the final period of super high volume that builds that final fitness you need to do well. Looking forward, I even think I will be able to manage some 22-25 hour weeks out in July. Isn't that crazy? It will be mostly biking, though, as that is still the biggest part of Ultraman. THANK GOD!!!
I am just really happy it is spring, even though we had some snow yesterday. But it's still March, so that is to be expected. Soon enough, it will be beautiful, gorgeous spring weather, which I have come to love so much! There are tons of birds here now, and it appears the recovery from West Nile virus continues. Lots and lots of robins, a decent amount of cardinals, and even (strike me down for saying this in a year or two) crows. The resident pair of red-tailed hawks alights in my backyard every other day or so to take a break from cruising the neighborhood for hapless squirrels and other prey, and I am always happy to see them! The onset of spring is always such a wondrous time to me--I forget about a lot of the plants I have and yet there they are coming back to greet me and put a smile on my face.
Oh and the first day of UMC shall henceforth be known as "Frabjous Day!" I can't wait for it!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Hat Trick
I trained 3.5 hours Friday, 3.5 hours yesterday, and 3.5 hours today. Doesn't sound like a big deal, huh? When it's part of another 19 hour week in March, it is, to me anyway.
Last weekend I wasn't feeling it, and I think I was shelled from the intensity of the sprint races plus my general training intensity coupled with high volume = needed some rest. I skipped my long swim, and then I skipped my long ride because mentally I just couldn't see being on the trainer for 3 hours. I went and saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D. Loved the movie, but the 3D is just a gimmick and didn't add anything to the movie itself. I managed a long run last Sunday (2:15), even though I should have cut it short, since I was experiencing some referred nerve pain in my right leg. But sometimes I can be stubborn, and I still finished the run, only to feel messed up on Monday.
Monday I did a 3300 yard swim in the morning, and once again I found myself swimming faster than I have in years. One would think that I would get somewhat faster with all the swimming I'm doing, but on any given day, I might be too fatigued from overall training load to swim well. Still, when it happens, it makes me feel pretty good. I lifted later in the day, and this year is the first time in years that I have needed to cut back a little on my strength training for this time of year. Usually by the time I'm at 17+ hours per week, I'm well past my strength build, but this year is different, and I just can't handle some of the usual strength stuff right now because of my training volume. But it's good, and I am still getting about 1.5 hours a week, which is fine and still more than I was doing a year ago.
Tuesday I biked outside on my MTB, Clipless Fuck, for about 1.5 hours. I didn't feel as pathetic on the hills as I thought I would, and I probably rode too hard for my first outdoor ride. Go figure after 5 months of indoor riding!
Wednesday was an easy "form" (i.e., mostly drills) swim, and then later on I ran outdoors. Instead of doing the scheduled track workout (which I was afraid to do because of the condition of my right glutes), I just thought I'd run for an hour and see how far I got. Well this being the first outdoor run since Goofy Challenge and it including my local decent hills, I did not have high expectations. But turns out I have picked up some speed, although my legs did not appreciate the concrete one bit. My glutes felt worse afterward, and it was a combination of the pavement and speed.
Thursday morning I knew I shouldn't run at all so instead I walked for about :45. Even walking at this point will help me acclimate to the concrete and asphalt, but man, my anterior tib muscles hated it!
Friday I managed to swim 8200 yards before work, and it appears my body is adapting to these long swims in terms of my ability to stay awake and coherent afterward. I consumed all my anticipated nutrition and fluid during it, which I am sure played a big part, plus I didn't really push the pace. Doing these really long swims indoors is truly a grind. Maybe if I'd been swimming since I was 10, it wouldn't be so bad, but that's not the case, and a 2:45 workout before work is hard even if it's biking or running. But the added suckitude from these long swims is that I have all this crap oozing from my eyes for hours afterwards, not to mention the goggle marks, giving me the look of an accident victim. Swimming in and breathing chlorine for that long is surely not healthy, but at least I don't feel sick like I used to after these swims.
I even managed to go for another :45 walk later in the day, and my suspicion is that doing something else on these long swim days is a good idea, if for nothing else than to force my body to exhume all the chlorine from my pores.
Yesterday I did do my 3-hour trainer ride, and managed some decent power, and at one point thought I might have done well in a 1/2 Ironman that day. I know--wishful thinking! It was raining and cold outside, so for my :30 run, I ended up at the Y but used the elliptical trainer, again trying to be kind to my tight ass. But of course I cranked up the level and did some sort of hill workout. When I got off the thing, it felt close to as if I had run, and my legs were appropriately wobbly. After that I had to get some food in me, go grocery shopping, get waxed, cook dinner, eat, and I was asleep by 9PM (I had already set my clocks ahead).
No alarm this morning, and I slept in until 7:30. I am actually happy that the mornings are going to be dark for awhile, because I will wake up with the sun. Today I had a 2:30 run scheduled, and had no idea whether I could/should run at all. Worse case scenario was that I would do it all on the elliptical, which I despise more than a treadmill. But I wanted to stay indoors since it would mean controlling my speed and then I wanted to get in a 1/2 hour cool down swim afterward.
Waking up so late and needing to be running by 9 meant I just got up and started doing stuff and getting my workout gear together. Usually I would have done that the night before, but I just ran out of time yesterday.
I was on the treadmill at 9:10, and suddenly an amazing idea came to me--maybe if I didn't try and run my usual pace, I would be OK. So that's what I did, and I ran slower today than I have since...well, since North Face last October, but it was the right thing to do. Usually I do progressive long runs, but today was just about putting in the time. I kept wondering when things would hurt to the point where I needed to abandon ship for the elliptical, but that never happened. So I ran for 2:30 and then walked for :30, since I wanted a total of 3 hours on my feet today. I did stretch about every 10 minutes or so, and that coupled with an awareness of the position of my right foot and also noticing that I have some amazing trigger points in my lower right abs that I'd poke at every so often (which probably looked strange) allowed me to run the whole time.
Plus I had a nice 20 or so minute conversation with someone I know who was so uplifting to talk to. He gets what I'm putting myself through in the name of a goal and that it is not much fun most of the time, and I even shared my thoughts of wanting to throw in the towel with him. Instead of the usual crap like "well if it's not fun then don't do it" or "maybe you should just rest for a few weeks," he just told me not to give up and keep going, and that he knew that once I committed to something, I would do everything I needed to do. That was something I needed to hear today!
I got in about :20 of swimming, and it felt good.
And now onto some mental stuff...
My Dad's estate is officially closed. It happened a few weeks ago. Coincidence that I am experiencing some nerve pain probably originating in my low back? Coincidence that last weekend I had to shut things down? No. I had wondered for months how I would feel when this "closure" occurred, and the jury is still out. I am not feeling too much delayed grief, although if I read or hear about someone else experiencing death of a loved one, it does make me cry. I also have to come to terms with losing relationships with 3 of my siblings. It makes me sad to have lost first Mom in 2006, then Dad in 2007, and now 3 other family members. And while all of this was going on, I was trying to be a good friend to several friends and acquaintances going through their own life crises, only to be tossed aside by several of them. I feel like I have lost so many people that I loved with all my heart, and now I am trying to do something all by myself that is harder than anything I've ever done, and that is the struggle I have right now.
It is easy to do hard things when you have your support network around you, but it's hard when your support network abandons you. I'm not saying that I have zero support network, it is just that these were people very special to me, some of whom I think "got" me more than anyone else in my life ever has. So of course all of this has got me thinking that it's time to make some changes, time to seek out some new people that will "get" me and maybe even appreciate me. But I committed to do something hard and the reality is that I don't have the time to seek out new relationships right now. And that is the conundrum, the thing that every few days, surfaces in my head and makes me think maybe I can't do this, that maybe I am too weak for it.
And then a small good thing happens. Friday before my long swim, I read this post by David Goggins, who is a person I hugely admire and relate to in certain ways. There are people out there who do the hard things no matter what. It is just their nature. And it made me think who the fuck am I to give up on something I made a commitment to, just because right now it's hard for me because I am experiencing a shitload of loss and at a crossroad in my life where maybe it's going to be time to once again take stock, toss out more stuff (and even people) that does me no good and maybe even put aspects of my life on hold while I work towards something which I am not quite sure why I am doing but that I just know I need to do.
So I make a remark about Goggins and his post on Facebook and get some of the usual blather remarks about how I can't possibly HATE my long swims because they are, after all, in support of the big goal. I just state how *I* feel, how *I* experience my life, and that is all that Goggins is doing. Maybe your experience of life is different, but hey, neither him nor I am saying that the way that we have chosen is better or worse than someone else's way. Don't tell me how I am supposed to feel, and I won't tell you. Whatever is going on inside your head is none of my business.
I do not equate happiness with fun. While there are aspects of my training that are from time to time fun, at this point, it is all work. Fitness is work! Here is another viewpoint by a person that I identify with. I do know people who need to be constantly entertained--if they aren't on vacation, engaged in the hoopla of a big event, watching something exciting on TV, doing a group workout (for motivation, you know) or trying out the latest fitness fad, they just aren't "happy." That is OK. I am not like that. I like to plan the work, thinking about what's possible at the culmination of it all. But the reality is that the middle part is the hardest. Doing the work. Planning is fun! Racing is fun! Training for Ironman was sometimes fun. Achieving a new fitness benchmark is satisfying. But it's work, and not fun.
Why do I want to do the hard thing? Maybe in a prior life I would have chosen an occupation that was harder than what I do now. I've been told I would make a good policeman, lawyer and assorted other occupations. Maybe I want to do hard physical things because I wimped out on the occupation thing. For me, doing hard physical things helps me to cope with doing hard mental things. And yet I don't feel that what I am doing is really that hard. It is just hard NOW. Thing is, whatever you are doing that you are experiencing as hard is no longer hard once you've transcended it, right? Non-emotional things, anyway. Grief and loss of someone's love cannot be trained for, but I think you can shorten your acceptance period.
OK now back to some physical stuff. You'd think that with the generally good physical condition I was in before I embarked on this Ultraman stuff that I would have zero issues with my body, but you would be wrong. I am asking my body to do stuff it's never done, and even if I religiously stretch 1/2 hour every day, sleep tons and eat right, I'm still a working stiff trying to fit it all in (and more of it) and not crack. If I could do my training every day and then lay down or even nap for a few hours afterward, that would be great. If my meals would magically show up in front of me 2 or 3 times a day, that would be great. If I could outsource everything but my actual job and the training, showering, eating and sleeping, it would be Nirvana! But I can't, so I find whatever little things will help me to deal with my limited time and resources. So whenever I find a new way to save time, I'm a happy camper. Losing an hour of time today was truly crushing, but in the end the time I lost was relaxation time. Sleep is not something I will sacrifice.
I'm signed up for a 1/2 marathon next Sunday. Right now I'm not sure if I can do it or not. I am just taking this ass tightness one day at a time. I certainly have the endurance for it. Actually today I felt like I could have run an entire marathon, and I know that it wouldn't have been hard. When I have thoughts like that, I know that my fitness is progressing. My benchmark used to be feeling like I could do a 1/2 Ironman at the drop of a hat. Now it's an Ironman. It would have been a bit rough today, but I could have gotten through it. I hope that as the days and weeks go by, I feel like that more and more.
Everyone go and be who you are, without excuses, and do not feel you have to answer the question "why." Except to yourself.
Last weekend I wasn't feeling it, and I think I was shelled from the intensity of the sprint races plus my general training intensity coupled with high volume = needed some rest. I skipped my long swim, and then I skipped my long ride because mentally I just couldn't see being on the trainer for 3 hours. I went and saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D. Loved the movie, but the 3D is just a gimmick and didn't add anything to the movie itself. I managed a long run last Sunday (2:15), even though I should have cut it short, since I was experiencing some referred nerve pain in my right leg. But sometimes I can be stubborn, and I still finished the run, only to feel messed up on Monday.
Monday I did a 3300 yard swim in the morning, and once again I found myself swimming faster than I have in years. One would think that I would get somewhat faster with all the swimming I'm doing, but on any given day, I might be too fatigued from overall training load to swim well. Still, when it happens, it makes me feel pretty good. I lifted later in the day, and this year is the first time in years that I have needed to cut back a little on my strength training for this time of year. Usually by the time I'm at 17+ hours per week, I'm well past my strength build, but this year is different, and I just can't handle some of the usual strength stuff right now because of my training volume. But it's good, and I am still getting about 1.5 hours a week, which is fine and still more than I was doing a year ago.
Tuesday I biked outside on my MTB, Clipless Fuck, for about 1.5 hours. I didn't feel as pathetic on the hills as I thought I would, and I probably rode too hard for my first outdoor ride. Go figure after 5 months of indoor riding!
Wednesday was an easy "form" (i.e., mostly drills) swim, and then later on I ran outdoors. Instead of doing the scheduled track workout (which I was afraid to do because of the condition of my right glutes), I just thought I'd run for an hour and see how far I got. Well this being the first outdoor run since Goofy Challenge and it including my local decent hills, I did not have high expectations. But turns out I have picked up some speed, although my legs did not appreciate the concrete one bit. My glutes felt worse afterward, and it was a combination of the pavement and speed.
Thursday morning I knew I shouldn't run at all so instead I walked for about :45. Even walking at this point will help me acclimate to the concrete and asphalt, but man, my anterior tib muscles hated it!
Friday I managed to swim 8200 yards before work, and it appears my body is adapting to these long swims in terms of my ability to stay awake and coherent afterward. I consumed all my anticipated nutrition and fluid during it, which I am sure played a big part, plus I didn't really push the pace. Doing these really long swims indoors is truly a grind. Maybe if I'd been swimming since I was 10, it wouldn't be so bad, but that's not the case, and a 2:45 workout before work is hard even if it's biking or running. But the added suckitude from these long swims is that I have all this crap oozing from my eyes for hours afterwards, not to mention the goggle marks, giving me the look of an accident victim. Swimming in and breathing chlorine for that long is surely not healthy, but at least I don't feel sick like I used to after these swims.
I even managed to go for another :45 walk later in the day, and my suspicion is that doing something else on these long swim days is a good idea, if for nothing else than to force my body to exhume all the chlorine from my pores.
Yesterday I did do my 3-hour trainer ride, and managed some decent power, and at one point thought I might have done well in a 1/2 Ironman that day. I know--wishful thinking! It was raining and cold outside, so for my :30 run, I ended up at the Y but used the elliptical trainer, again trying to be kind to my tight ass. But of course I cranked up the level and did some sort of hill workout. When I got off the thing, it felt close to as if I had run, and my legs were appropriately wobbly. After that I had to get some food in me, go grocery shopping, get waxed, cook dinner, eat, and I was asleep by 9PM (I had already set my clocks ahead).
No alarm this morning, and I slept in until 7:30. I am actually happy that the mornings are going to be dark for awhile, because I will wake up with the sun. Today I had a 2:30 run scheduled, and had no idea whether I could/should run at all. Worse case scenario was that I would do it all on the elliptical, which I despise more than a treadmill. But I wanted to stay indoors since it would mean controlling my speed and then I wanted to get in a 1/2 hour cool down swim afterward.
Waking up so late and needing to be running by 9 meant I just got up and started doing stuff and getting my workout gear together. Usually I would have done that the night before, but I just ran out of time yesterday.
I was on the treadmill at 9:10, and suddenly an amazing idea came to me--maybe if I didn't try and run my usual pace, I would be OK. So that's what I did, and I ran slower today than I have since...well, since North Face last October, but it was the right thing to do. Usually I do progressive long runs, but today was just about putting in the time. I kept wondering when things would hurt to the point where I needed to abandon ship for the elliptical, but that never happened. So I ran for 2:30 and then walked for :30, since I wanted a total of 3 hours on my feet today. I did stretch about every 10 minutes or so, and that coupled with an awareness of the position of my right foot and also noticing that I have some amazing trigger points in my lower right abs that I'd poke at every so often (which probably looked strange) allowed me to run the whole time.
Plus I had a nice 20 or so minute conversation with someone I know who was so uplifting to talk to. He gets what I'm putting myself through in the name of a goal and that it is not much fun most of the time, and I even shared my thoughts of wanting to throw in the towel with him. Instead of the usual crap like "well if it's not fun then don't do it" or "maybe you should just rest for a few weeks," he just told me not to give up and keep going, and that he knew that once I committed to something, I would do everything I needed to do. That was something I needed to hear today!
I got in about :20 of swimming, and it felt good.
And now onto some mental stuff...
My Dad's estate is officially closed. It happened a few weeks ago. Coincidence that I am experiencing some nerve pain probably originating in my low back? Coincidence that last weekend I had to shut things down? No. I had wondered for months how I would feel when this "closure" occurred, and the jury is still out. I am not feeling too much delayed grief, although if I read or hear about someone else experiencing death of a loved one, it does make me cry. I also have to come to terms with losing relationships with 3 of my siblings. It makes me sad to have lost first Mom in 2006, then Dad in 2007, and now 3 other family members. And while all of this was going on, I was trying to be a good friend to several friends and acquaintances going through their own life crises, only to be tossed aside by several of them. I feel like I have lost so many people that I loved with all my heart, and now I am trying to do something all by myself that is harder than anything I've ever done, and that is the struggle I have right now.
It is easy to do hard things when you have your support network around you, but it's hard when your support network abandons you. I'm not saying that I have zero support network, it is just that these were people very special to me, some of whom I think "got" me more than anyone else in my life ever has. So of course all of this has got me thinking that it's time to make some changes, time to seek out some new people that will "get" me and maybe even appreciate me. But I committed to do something hard and the reality is that I don't have the time to seek out new relationships right now. And that is the conundrum, the thing that every few days, surfaces in my head and makes me think maybe I can't do this, that maybe I am too weak for it.
And then a small good thing happens. Friday before my long swim, I read this post by David Goggins, who is a person I hugely admire and relate to in certain ways. There are people out there who do the hard things no matter what. It is just their nature. And it made me think who the fuck am I to give up on something I made a commitment to, just because right now it's hard for me because I am experiencing a shitload of loss and at a crossroad in my life where maybe it's going to be time to once again take stock, toss out more stuff (and even people) that does me no good and maybe even put aspects of my life on hold while I work towards something which I am not quite sure why I am doing but that I just know I need to do.
So I make a remark about Goggins and his post on Facebook and get some of the usual blather remarks about how I can't possibly HATE my long swims because they are, after all, in support of the big goal. I just state how *I* feel, how *I* experience my life, and that is all that Goggins is doing. Maybe your experience of life is different, but hey, neither him nor I am saying that the way that we have chosen is better or worse than someone else's way. Don't tell me how I am supposed to feel, and I won't tell you. Whatever is going on inside your head is none of my business.
I do not equate happiness with fun. While there are aspects of my training that are from time to time fun, at this point, it is all work. Fitness is work! Here is another viewpoint by a person that I identify with. I do know people who need to be constantly entertained--if they aren't on vacation, engaged in the hoopla of a big event, watching something exciting on TV, doing a group workout (for motivation, you know) or trying out the latest fitness fad, they just aren't "happy." That is OK. I am not like that. I like to plan the work, thinking about what's possible at the culmination of it all. But the reality is that the middle part is the hardest. Doing the work. Planning is fun! Racing is fun! Training for Ironman was sometimes fun. Achieving a new fitness benchmark is satisfying. But it's work, and not fun.
Why do I want to do the hard thing? Maybe in a prior life I would have chosen an occupation that was harder than what I do now. I've been told I would make a good policeman, lawyer and assorted other occupations. Maybe I want to do hard physical things because I wimped out on the occupation thing. For me, doing hard physical things helps me to cope with doing hard mental things. And yet I don't feel that what I am doing is really that hard. It is just hard NOW. Thing is, whatever you are doing that you are experiencing as hard is no longer hard once you've transcended it, right? Non-emotional things, anyway. Grief and loss of someone's love cannot be trained for, but I think you can shorten your acceptance period.
OK now back to some physical stuff. You'd think that with the generally good physical condition I was in before I embarked on this Ultraman stuff that I would have zero issues with my body, but you would be wrong. I am asking my body to do stuff it's never done, and even if I religiously stretch 1/2 hour every day, sleep tons and eat right, I'm still a working stiff trying to fit it all in (and more of it) and not crack. If I could do my training every day and then lay down or even nap for a few hours afterward, that would be great. If my meals would magically show up in front of me 2 or 3 times a day, that would be great. If I could outsource everything but my actual job and the training, showering, eating and sleeping, it would be Nirvana! But I can't, so I find whatever little things will help me to deal with my limited time and resources. So whenever I find a new way to save time, I'm a happy camper. Losing an hour of time today was truly crushing, but in the end the time I lost was relaxation time. Sleep is not something I will sacrifice.
I'm signed up for a 1/2 marathon next Sunday. Right now I'm not sure if I can do it or not. I am just taking this ass tightness one day at a time. I certainly have the endurance for it. Actually today I felt like I could have run an entire marathon, and I know that it wouldn't have been hard. When I have thoughts like that, I know that my fitness is progressing. My benchmark used to be feeling like I could do a 1/2 Ironman at the drop of a hat. Now it's an Ironman. It would have been a bit rough today, but I could have gotten through it. I hope that as the days and weeks go by, I feel like that more and more.
Everyone go and be who you are, without excuses, and do not feel you have to answer the question "why." Except to yourself.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Wanted: Crew Members for Ultraman Canada 7/28-8/4/2010 in Penticton, B.C. Canada to Support Me
What’s in it for you?
· Your food and lodging are paid for on this wonderful vacation (you pay to get yourself there and back)
· You get to be a part of an elite athletic experience
· If you are considering doing something like this yourself, you get to see how it’s done
· You get to take a lot of credit for my success—I can’t do this without you!
· You have the opportunity to learn a lot about training for, planning for and executing a significant event, since when I am not racing I will be babbling on about everything
· You have the opportunity to pace me for parts of the double marathon (52.4 miles) in a beautiful place, getting in some valuable training time!
What does a Crew Member do?
· Drives/rides in the chase van that accompanies me during the bike and run legs.
· Helps “manage” me pre- and post-race days and in transition.
· Ensures adequate supplies are on hand during bike and run legs—including athlete and crew nutrition, hydration, cooling, medical, etc. This means that while I am getting a massage and trying to recoup my energy after Days 1 and 2, you are still busy doing stuff.
· Ensures athlete navigates course accurately (except during the swim where I will have a kayaker escort doing the honors—bonus if you can kayak and would be my escort!).
· Understands and is accountable for providing athlete nutrition, gear changes, cooling, pacing information.
· Keeps track of nutrition dispensed to keep athlete on track with needs.
· Ministers to athlete in case of poor judgment, problem solving and (when required) motivation
· Understands difference between athlete needing to HTFU and being in actual physical danger.
· Paces the athlete during the double marathon at times. This is not strictly a requirement, but I would prefer it if at least 1 of the crew can do this.
· Detailed information can be found here: http://ultramancanada.com/
Basically, you do a bunch of work while I show up and race!
The actual racing dates are 7/31-8/2, but I need crew members to be up there 2 days before so we can review final plans, perhaps drive parts of the bike courses, purchase supplies, etc.
The race directors will help me find a crew if I do not provide my own, but my preference is to have people that I know and trust, and I would expect to do some planning beginning in April-May (checklists and that sort of thing). It helps if you have done ultra-crew duties before and if you have done ultra-distance events, only so you are not alarmed at my physical or mental states along the way.
If you can’t do this yourself but you know someone who might be interested, please have them contact me, especially if they are in my local area (greater Chicagoland).
I don’t often ask for too much from others, but this time is a huge exception. If you do this for me, I will forever be in your gratitude and can hopefully return the favor !
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Do I Have DUMBASS Written on My Forehead?
This is going to be a race report, weekly summary and general commentary.
First off, I got in just shy of 19.5 hours of training in this week, holy fucking CRAP! Not bad for the last week of February. I am getting my weekly run mileage over 30 again (finally), the swimming is inching up little by little, and in a few weeks I should be busting outside for some more serious riding. Meanwhile, my strength workouts have been killer, and I get in extra because it keeps snowing, and the way I shovel, trust me, it's another workout!
Friday was another 7500 yard swim, only I did it a bit on the easy side ("only" 3,000 yards pulling). It was from 6-8:30AM, and I was appropriately tired afterward, but ate well the remainder of the day, and I actually felt OK by noon, so this tells me that 1) I am acquiring the endurance to swim this distance (actually up to almost 9,000 yards) and be alive afterward; 2) I am getting the nutrition right and 3) I can do another workout the same day. Yes, that's right, later in the day I finished up my strength work for the week. Sure it was only 30', but I felt just fine doing it. I really believe it's better if I do SOMETHING after these big efforts, even if it's just walking, to get my blood moving. I discovered something else to help me get over a big swim--lay on my back on a bed with shoulders up hanging off. I swear the combination of pec stretch and blood flow to my head and arms did wonders for me.
So OK Friday was about 3 hours of training.
Saturday I was able to sleep in and felt pretty good when I woke up. Instead of farting around for a few hours, I got myself ready to bike and run, and I had mixed up 200 calories of Ultrafuel to pre-load me with carbs. I was on the bike before 9AM, finished 2.5 hours, and then headed to the Y to run :35 and hike :15. I felt really good running, even though I thought I wouldn't. After that I got in a good stretch, did some chores, then watched a bunch of Olympics coverage and got ready to race today.
I slept like a rock last night, wishing I had time for like 12 hours, which I am pretty sure I could have slept that long. I had 2 cups of coffee, my usual breakfast and 200 calories of Ultrafuel. I rode LGL for 10' real easy to begin my race warmup, then drove to the race site.
In the locker room, I saw a woman that I thought belonged to my Y. I asked her if she went there, and she said yes, and she recognized me. I asked her her name, and I guessed her last name, since I always stalk who is in my age group, and got it right. She asked me mine, and then she said I am the woman she can never beat. She just aged up to 50-54 this year, and before the first race, I thought she stood a chance of beating me if I had a bad day, but that just never happened. She asked me how I rode so hard on the bike (a stationary bike, Precor brand), and I told her I ride A LOT. You know, like 6,000 miles a year! She said she did, too, but I am not so sure--I have never seen her out riding in the area, and I would recognize her, I think. Anyway, she tells me how many marathons she has done (I think it was over 50), and I was like, WOW, and I was wearing a Goofy Challenge shirt, and she asked me what my times were so I told her, saying, "I'm not very fast."
Next, she starts expounding on this class at the Y led by the trainer named Maurice, who I know. She tells me I should really REALLY take this class because it would really help with my endurance, and you know me--I am just smiling politely letting her ramble on. I thank her, but say that I think I have plenty of endurance. She tells me again I should take this class, and I say nothing.
Finally, I ask her when her wave goes off and it's before mine, and I say, "Oh, too bad--it would be fun to go head to head." And then I said, "Not that I'm competitive or anything." And she said almost the same thing.
OK, so that was the funny story. Why? What is it that the more fit I become (and trust me, you can LOOK at me and tell, I know this because I hear it often enough) that people think I am a dumbass and they need to tell me something amazing that I absolutely MUST do to improve? OK you might say they are just trying to be helpful, but I do not do that to other people unless they have either asked me for advice, or told me a lot about what they are doing and wishing for better results in which case I might have some ideas for them.
But today, it was someone who I am clearly faster than, and at one point I did tell her I have done a bunch of Ironman races (after she asked me about triathlons), so what is it that required some comment about something I should do to increase my endurance?
I kicked her ass in the race today ;) And I had my fastest run ever! So I guess next time I see this woman at the Y, I should thank her for annoying the shit out of me.
Now she is not the only one making these suggestions. 2 weeks ago, a friend of mine (he knows who he is) reported that my run cadence is too high and that I should decrease it. To which I replied, I think, "Huh, funny that I have become faster." I did not TRY to increase my run cadence--it just happened. Just like last year I noticed my average cycling cadence had gone up (it was 98 at IMLP, and most of my workouts lately are 98-100 even with hard intervals). This year, just after North Face, I began noticing my run cadence was higher. When I do strides, it is about 100. Before this year, I was usually around 90-95. What is different this season? I have RUN MY ASS OFF. I am not worried about the increase in cadence--I think it is just self-selected, and I am certainly not going to try and make it less.
Then maybe a month ago, someone else was asking me about my training, and the question came up how much biking am I doing? To which I answered about 5.5 hours a week nowadays. He said, "That doesn't sound like enough." Then he proceeded to tell me that he thinks I am swimming too much, and I got rather pissed off and said, "Oh and when was the last time YOU trained for an Ultraman?" I guess a lot of people are experts on how I should be training, even though they have never attempted what I am doing.
I find this to be simultaneously annoying and hilarious. Honestly, unless someone asks me and I think it's worth my time to go into some level of detail as to what I think they should be doing, I keep it to myself. There are people who I truly respect that I will reach out to for advice and will also welcome it from them unsolicited. People who want to tell me a thing or two generally have no idea of what my full training is like, and any coach worth their salt would not offer up advice without knowing quite a bit about the athlete.
Oh well, back to the race report.
So after miss "I can help you out" leaves the locker room to go and do something else, I head to finish up my warmup. I went onto the track, since the first wave hadn't started, and ran 23 laps (12 to the mile), with the first 12 really easy, then I picked it up for about 9, then a few more easy. I decided I wanted to do 23 laps during the race, which would be a personal best for me. While I was running, I waved at some people I knew down below (the track at this club is upstairs), and I thought I was feeling pretty good and could have a good race.
I went back downstairs and got on one of the Precor bikes for 10 minutes, and figured it was going to be what it was going to be. I saw the massage therapists (from the school run by my masseusse, Mike) were already in attendance, so I ran over and asked if I could get a quick tuneup on my legs, which were still pretty worked over from Saturday. I told my girl about the woman in my AG and that I fully intended to show her how it's done once I got going. I got about 5' worth of work on my legs and was good to go.
I hurried back into the locker room and put on my swimsuit bottom (already had the top on), and headed to the pool. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to the clock, because I only had time to swim 50 yards before we started, but hey, that's the breaks. I got lucky swimming next to a woman who was swimming about the same pace as me, and I even got to draft off her a little. We were neck and neck for about 300 yards, then she pulled ahead a little, then slowed down, and I final kicked past her at the finish.
Back to the locker room and I'm walking in after a quick shower, and someone yells at me, "I want your abs!" And then 3 or 4 other women chimed in. I said something about just get your bodyfat way down and there they are, and hurried up to put on my bike shorts, socks and running shoes and head to the bikes.
Waiting for the bike leg to begin, one of the volunteers came up to me and said I really had a nice kick in the pool and I was shocked. I am still pitifully slow in the water, but he said I really kicked it in when they blew the horn for a minute to go. So that made me feel good--I have been working on my kicking, so when I can do it, it's OK.
On the bike and I was going to do my usual pattern. It's a secret, OK?. No it's not! It's called RIDE FUCKING HARD! I wasn't first in my wave to hit a mile this time as there were some hotshot youngsters in it, but that was OK, I think I still did pretty good, maybe 2nd place for the bike wave, and my highest mileage for the 3 races this year. I did more miles last year, but so did everyone--the bikes must have been calibrated differently. Anyway, I did my usual lay on the floor for about 30 seconds after I was done because it is SO hard, and then made my way with jelly legs upstairs to run.
I got congratulations on my biking from several of the youngsters, so that was pretty nice, and then we were lining up to run, and I was busy sipping water (hoping that I wouldn't puke afterward), and got to the line, and everyone wanted me in front, but I am not a fast runner, but I know how these things go--many people go off like fucking rabbits and then they slow down.
We took off, and I tried to start relatively easy, and decided to hold pace for 12 laps, which would be just more than half my goal of 23 (in 15 minutes). Of course, it got harder as time went on, but I did not try and push it until I was 12 laps in. Meanwhile, I had passed at least 5 people who had gone out way too fast, so that was cool. I just ran and ran, and at some point I lost count of my laps, and I thought I only did 22, but I guess it was 23, and I was pretty happy, and almost puked, but I really had to try and catch my breath and hung over the railing for a bit.
I jabbered with a guy I met at the first of these races who is really good and really young, but I really enjoy talking to him. He said I looked good running, and I said he looked like he "was out on an easy ride" on the bike. We compared notes, and then I went to check results so far just to be sure I had beat Miss I Know More Than You, and I was way past her. Not that I am competitive or anything!
Then I got a great massage and had to NOT eat pizza because I still wanted to run some more. At this club, the treadmills get shut down during the race, so I had to drive home and head to the Y. I got in another 1:15 of running, and :15 of walking on incline. Running after these races always sucks, ALWAYS! But I got it done, and I am glad for it.
Next up is to see whether I can actually get up and swim tomorrow morning. I'm pretty sure I will and it will feel good.
Another week of Ultraman training survived, another race and my last one (as of this writing) before Ultraman!
First off, I got in just shy of 19.5 hours of training in this week, holy fucking CRAP! Not bad for the last week of February. I am getting my weekly run mileage over 30 again (finally), the swimming is inching up little by little, and in a few weeks I should be busting outside for some more serious riding. Meanwhile, my strength workouts have been killer, and I get in extra because it keeps snowing, and the way I shovel, trust me, it's another workout!
Friday was another 7500 yard swim, only I did it a bit on the easy side ("only" 3,000 yards pulling). It was from 6-8:30AM, and I was appropriately tired afterward, but ate well the remainder of the day, and I actually felt OK by noon, so this tells me that 1) I am acquiring the endurance to swim this distance (actually up to almost 9,000 yards) and be alive afterward; 2) I am getting the nutrition right and 3) I can do another workout the same day. Yes, that's right, later in the day I finished up my strength work for the week. Sure it was only 30', but I felt just fine doing it. I really believe it's better if I do SOMETHING after these big efforts, even if it's just walking, to get my blood moving. I discovered something else to help me get over a big swim--lay on my back on a bed with shoulders up hanging off. I swear the combination of pec stretch and blood flow to my head and arms did wonders for me.
So OK Friday was about 3 hours of training.
Saturday I was able to sleep in and felt pretty good when I woke up. Instead of farting around for a few hours, I got myself ready to bike and run, and I had mixed up 200 calories of Ultrafuel to pre-load me with carbs. I was on the bike before 9AM, finished 2.5 hours, and then headed to the Y to run :35 and hike :15. I felt really good running, even though I thought I wouldn't. After that I got in a good stretch, did some chores, then watched a bunch of Olympics coverage and got ready to race today.
I slept like a rock last night, wishing I had time for like 12 hours, which I am pretty sure I could have slept that long. I had 2 cups of coffee, my usual breakfast and 200 calories of Ultrafuel. I rode LGL for 10' real easy to begin my race warmup, then drove to the race site.
In the locker room, I saw a woman that I thought belonged to my Y. I asked her if she went there, and she said yes, and she recognized me. I asked her her name, and I guessed her last name, since I always stalk who is in my age group, and got it right. She asked me mine, and then she said I am the woman she can never beat. She just aged up to 50-54 this year, and before the first race, I thought she stood a chance of beating me if I had a bad day, but that just never happened. She asked me how I rode so hard on the bike (a stationary bike, Precor brand), and I told her I ride A LOT. You know, like 6,000 miles a year! She said she did, too, but I am not so sure--I have never seen her out riding in the area, and I would recognize her, I think. Anyway, she tells me how many marathons she has done (I think it was over 50), and I was like, WOW, and I was wearing a Goofy Challenge shirt, and she asked me what my times were so I told her, saying, "I'm not very fast."
Next, she starts expounding on this class at the Y led by the trainer named Maurice, who I know. She tells me I should really REALLY take this class because it would really help with my endurance, and you know me--I am just smiling politely letting her ramble on. I thank her, but say that I think I have plenty of endurance. She tells me again I should take this class, and I say nothing.
Finally, I ask her when her wave goes off and it's before mine, and I say, "Oh, too bad--it would be fun to go head to head." And then I said, "Not that I'm competitive or anything." And she said almost the same thing.
OK, so that was the funny story. Why? What is it that the more fit I become (and trust me, you can LOOK at me and tell, I know this because I hear it often enough) that people think I am a dumbass and they need to tell me something amazing that I absolutely MUST do to improve? OK you might say they are just trying to be helpful, but I do not do that to other people unless they have either asked me for advice, or told me a lot about what they are doing and wishing for better results in which case I might have some ideas for them.
But today, it was someone who I am clearly faster than, and at one point I did tell her I have done a bunch of Ironman races (after she asked me about triathlons), so what is it that required some comment about something I should do to increase my endurance?
I kicked her ass in the race today ;) And I had my fastest run ever! So I guess next time I see this woman at the Y, I should thank her for annoying the shit out of me.
Now she is not the only one making these suggestions. 2 weeks ago, a friend of mine (he knows who he is) reported that my run cadence is too high and that I should decrease it. To which I replied, I think, "Huh, funny that I have become faster." I did not TRY to increase my run cadence--it just happened. Just like last year I noticed my average cycling cadence had gone up (it was 98 at IMLP, and most of my workouts lately are 98-100 even with hard intervals). This year, just after North Face, I began noticing my run cadence was higher. When I do strides, it is about 100. Before this year, I was usually around 90-95. What is different this season? I have RUN MY ASS OFF. I am not worried about the increase in cadence--I think it is just self-selected, and I am certainly not going to try and make it less.
Then maybe a month ago, someone else was asking me about my training, and the question came up how much biking am I doing? To which I answered about 5.5 hours a week nowadays. He said, "That doesn't sound like enough." Then he proceeded to tell me that he thinks I am swimming too much, and I got rather pissed off and said, "Oh and when was the last time YOU trained for an Ultraman?" I guess a lot of people are experts on how I should be training, even though they have never attempted what I am doing.
I find this to be simultaneously annoying and hilarious. Honestly, unless someone asks me and I think it's worth my time to go into some level of detail as to what I think they should be doing, I keep it to myself. There are people who I truly respect that I will reach out to for advice and will also welcome it from them unsolicited. People who want to tell me a thing or two generally have no idea of what my full training is like, and any coach worth their salt would not offer up advice without knowing quite a bit about the athlete.
Oh well, back to the race report.
So after miss "I can help you out" leaves the locker room to go and do something else, I head to finish up my warmup. I went onto the track, since the first wave hadn't started, and ran 23 laps (12 to the mile), with the first 12 really easy, then I picked it up for about 9, then a few more easy. I decided I wanted to do 23 laps during the race, which would be a personal best for me. While I was running, I waved at some people I knew down below (the track at this club is upstairs), and I thought I was feeling pretty good and could have a good race.
I went back downstairs and got on one of the Precor bikes for 10 minutes, and figured it was going to be what it was going to be. I saw the massage therapists (from the school run by my masseusse, Mike) were already in attendance, so I ran over and asked if I could get a quick tuneup on my legs, which were still pretty worked over from Saturday. I told my girl about the woman in my AG and that I fully intended to show her how it's done once I got going. I got about 5' worth of work on my legs and was good to go.
I hurried back into the locker room and put on my swimsuit bottom (already had the top on), and headed to the pool. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to the clock, because I only had time to swim 50 yards before we started, but hey, that's the breaks. I got lucky swimming next to a woman who was swimming about the same pace as me, and I even got to draft off her a little. We were neck and neck for about 300 yards, then she pulled ahead a little, then slowed down, and I final kicked past her at the finish.
Back to the locker room and I'm walking in after a quick shower, and someone yells at me, "I want your abs!" And then 3 or 4 other women chimed in. I said something about just get your bodyfat way down and there they are, and hurried up to put on my bike shorts, socks and running shoes and head to the bikes.
Waiting for the bike leg to begin, one of the volunteers came up to me and said I really had a nice kick in the pool and I was shocked. I am still pitifully slow in the water, but he said I really kicked it in when they blew the horn for a minute to go. So that made me feel good--I have been working on my kicking, so when I can do it, it's OK.
On the bike and I was going to do my usual pattern. It's a secret, OK?. No it's not! It's called RIDE FUCKING HARD! I wasn't first in my wave to hit a mile this time as there were some hotshot youngsters in it, but that was OK, I think I still did pretty good, maybe 2nd place for the bike wave, and my highest mileage for the 3 races this year. I did more miles last year, but so did everyone--the bikes must have been calibrated differently. Anyway, I did my usual lay on the floor for about 30 seconds after I was done because it is SO hard, and then made my way with jelly legs upstairs to run.
I got congratulations on my biking from several of the youngsters, so that was pretty nice, and then we were lining up to run, and I was busy sipping water (hoping that I wouldn't puke afterward), and got to the line, and everyone wanted me in front, but I am not a fast runner, but I know how these things go--many people go off like fucking rabbits and then they slow down.
We took off, and I tried to start relatively easy, and decided to hold pace for 12 laps, which would be just more than half my goal of 23 (in 15 minutes). Of course, it got harder as time went on, but I did not try and push it until I was 12 laps in. Meanwhile, I had passed at least 5 people who had gone out way too fast, so that was cool. I just ran and ran, and at some point I lost count of my laps, and I thought I only did 22, but I guess it was 23, and I was pretty happy, and almost puked, but I really had to try and catch my breath and hung over the railing for a bit.
I jabbered with a guy I met at the first of these races who is really good and really young, but I really enjoy talking to him. He said I looked good running, and I said he looked like he "was out on an easy ride" on the bike. We compared notes, and then I went to check results so far just to be sure I had beat Miss I Know More Than You, and I was way past her. Not that I am competitive or anything!
Then I got a great massage and had to NOT eat pizza because I still wanted to run some more. At this club, the treadmills get shut down during the race, so I had to drive home and head to the Y. I got in another 1:15 of running, and :15 of walking on incline. Running after these races always sucks, ALWAYS! But I got it done, and I am glad for it.
Next up is to see whether I can actually get up and swim tomorrow morning. I'm pretty sure I will and it will feel good.
Another week of Ultraman training survived, another race and my last one (as of this writing) before Ultraman!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Survived another big week
Where do I start?
First, I wondered if I'd feel at all OK on Monday after Sunday's warmup then race then run afterward. 2 weeks prior, I felt absolutely shelled on Monday and took the day off. This time, I thought I got the nutrition and hydration right for my long swim the Friday before, felt pretty good Saturday for a bike and run and then the race went well on Sunday and I hoped I'd come close to covering my calorie replacement for the day.
Monday morning I woke up and was predictably a little "crusty," but felt that a swim would do me good to loosen up if nothing else. I only had to swim 2700, so I went and got it done, and immediately ate another breakfast afterward, since I could tell I was low on carbs. While the swim felt great, I now felt like I'd been hit by a truck, but after the oatmeal kicked in, I felt like I was up for running, and so I did an easy 50' run at lunchtime and felt like I was coming around.
I had to attend a 2-day offsite training seminar for work Tuesday and Wednesday. Since we would be sequestered during lunch, I shuffled my workouts for Tuesday-Thursday, since I wouldn't be able to do lunchtime workouts on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Tuesday I had to get my 1:25 bike in first thing in the morning, which meant starting at 6AM, and my body was just not into it. I had enough sleep, but a trainer ride at that time of day is rare for me, but I slogged through it anyway and figured I had some residual fatigue from Sunday anyway.
Wednesday morning I thought I'd lift for 1/2 hour and then go and do my run, which starting this week for about 8 weeks or so, is a nice track workout with 5k and 10k intervals included. I was careful not to do anything with my legs in my lifting session, and then headed to the Y to run. I did the 10' warmup on the treadmill (which prevents me from running too fast when I'm supposed to be warming up), and then hit the track, where, surprise, surprise, it turns out I'm running a little faster than a year ago. YA THINK???? After all that running I've done since last September, I assumed maybe I should be a little faster, and the indoor tris more or less bore that out, but now this workout was just 3 days later than a race. I continue to be surprised that I can turn in a decent run performance just about whenever now. Still, once I finished the 1-hour blitz, my legs were a little sore, but I stretched a little bit before heading to the training class. When I got back home after the session, I worked for about an hour and then lifted for about another 1/2 hour.
Thursday morning I swam just 1900 (it was supposed to be a threshold test, but my training is just too nutso and changing all the time for me to be "on" for these, go figure), and then I ran for 1/2 hour. I normally would have done that short run on Saturday after my long ride, but I was going to change things up for the weekend, so I got it done Thursday morning. Later in the day I did another 1:25 trainer ride, and just did not have biking legs (the story of the week, I guess), but I finished it for time with craptastic power output.
I had decided I would do a "big Saturday" by combining my long swim and long ride, which meant that Friday I could sort of sleep in (for a change!) and just do a 50' easy run, and then later on finish up my strength work for the week. Even though I hadn't trained more QUANTITY by Friday than normal, adding that track workout just 3 days after a race was enough for me to feel sort of tired on Friday anyway. But at least I didn't have to swim 2.5 hours! Still, I had to make bottles for Saturday so I'd be ready to roll before 5AM.
Yesterday I woke up at 3:45 so I'd have time to choke down 650 calories before I began working out. I needed to be in the pool at 5AM in order to get 3 hours of time before Masters started. I'd mixed up 3 bottles of a new Infinit mix that contains a bit of protein, as I've been advised to try and start taking in some protein for these long workouts. I putzed around a little and started swimming at 5:07, but still managed to get in 8700 yards by 8AM. The Infinit seemed fine, but it also had less caffeine than my normal mix so we'd have to see how that went. Since I'd sucked down so many calories before I started, I couldn't finish all of the Infinit, but still did pretty well.
I went back home to hop on the bike, and I'd decided to not use Infinit but just Gatorade and gels. I am not sure if that was the mistake, or the protein Infinit was bad, but I just never felt good on the bike. I am going to attribute it to the Infinit, and in 2 weeks I'll switch back to 100% carbs for comparison. Anyway, it wasn't like I needed to ride HARD, but I wanted to and just didn't have the oomph I was looking for. Or maybe I am just growing tired of 2:30+ trainer rides. Maybe the 4000 yards of pulling wore me out. Who knows? I was just glad once I got done, and I treated myself to a huge serving (more like 1.5) of the lasagna I'd made and frozen last month or whenever that was, and it was great. I also had Endurox R4, then a Ghiradelli treat of caramel-filled squares and a small mint-flavored Milky Way. I figured that a 6-hour workout entitled me to some treats! For dinner I had 2 meaty lamb chops and a big pile of spaghetti with homemade pesto chased with a couple of beers. Once I finished working out, the remainder of the day consisted of laying around and watching the Olympics. I really got into the 30k cross-country race, and enjoyed watching the teamwork of the Swedes--it was more like a bike race!
Since I had woken up so early, I was pretty ready to sleep by 7PM but stayed up until 8PM to watch a bit more Olympics before retiring. No alarm clock.
The deal for this weekend was to see if I could back up a big swim and ride with a long run. This is something I'd not done yet, and as this Ultraman training is all about trying out new stuff and seeing how I respond (especially considering that on paper I have some amazing shit planned!), I figured this was a good time to try out the combination, as in about another month, I will move my long run(s) to Thursday (and also Tuesday come May FUCKING OUCH!).
When I woke up this morning, I felt well rested (10 hours is good for that), and didn't feel gnarly muscular-wise. I wanted to start running by 9AM which meant I had some time for some other chores like dusting, dishes, etc. Well in that time, and I find this happens frequently, I began feeling tired, so I drank most of a can of Coke before heading to the Y. My body is funny that way in that if I just start training before my brain can sidetrack me, I'm usually good, but if I put it off for even an hour I start to feel tired.
I got to the Y and had to congratulate one of the trainers who had just qualified for Boston in his first marathon!. He's 23, and he and I chat regularly about this and that. So I wasted some more time, but it was fun talking to him, and then I got down to business.
When I started running, it actually felt good, so once again I surprised myself by achieving another milestone in this journey. Plus, I did a progressive run which ended with 20' at tempo pace, and that felt hard, but still I got it done, getting in 13.1 miles in 2 hours. Then I walked for 30' at 4mph changing incline .5% every 5 minutes.
All in all, I got in 17 hours regular training plus 30 minutes walking, so not a bad week. I feel pretty tired right now (expected), but better than I felt last Sunday after I finished all that stuff. So I'm hopeful I can be in good enough shape to get in a swim tomorrow morning, and then I'll bike since we are getting another snowstorm, so I'll put off running until Tuesday.
This week will be challenging again, as I hope to rediscover my biking legs, I've got another track workout on Wednesday, and I'll be back to swimming 2.5 hours on Friday before work, a 2:30 ride on Saturday plus a :40 run, and Sunday is the last of the 3 indoor triathlons (which I intend to win my AG, even though I've secured the series win already), but I need to run a total of 1:40 on Sunday between warmup, race and post-race run again. The week after will be a beast--sort of like this week--only I will be running more. I will do another "big Saturday."
I am getting better at the nutrition thing. It seems lately that literally all I do is eat, sleep, train, stretch and work. But if I get the nutrition thing right, I have a little energy left over on the weekends to get a few things done. And I am grateful for that time right now. Once it warms up and I'm running outside exclusively, that will mean less time spent driving to/from the Y, and I may even start running there to swim in the morning...anything I can do to get more time on my feet is a good thing, and 3 trips a week on foot would give me 3.6 extra miles of running per week, which will switch over to biking to the outdoor pool in June.
Arrggggghhhh...speaking of which did anyone see the ski cross qualification round? Enak Gavaggio had the most rad helmet that had a skull and crossbones on it. I saw this while I was still running (and quite smelly, I'm sure), and just lit up, pointed at the TV screen and shouted "NICE!"
I am amazed that yet again I have been able to do something new that give me just a little more confidence about this thing I am training for that maybe, just maybe, I can do it. To me it's a little like collecting so many tokens that I am going to need to pull out on the race days--the more of them I collect sooner in the training process, the more time I have to collect a huge stash, and then whether I need them all or only a few during the race, it doesn't matter because I HAVE THEM! That to me is what confidence building is all about. I have already done 11 7,000+ yard swims and now have done long swim/long ride combination twice and a few rather long runs along the way. And I am beginning to collect nutrition tokens, too, which are just as important as the training ones. So my collection of tokens is growing, even though they are damn difficult to collect! But every time I get another one, my mind believes just a little more that I may actually be able to do this thing. Even more importantly, though, is that every time I collect another token, my desire to continue training grows. Believe me (and I know I sound like a broken record), this is the most difficult thing I have ever attempted, and the voices telling me to just give up that this is too hard are present frequently. But the tokens quiet them down, and eventually they will be gone (I hope!), leaving me with the means to get the race done and finished.
First, I wondered if I'd feel at all OK on Monday after Sunday's warmup then race then run afterward. 2 weeks prior, I felt absolutely shelled on Monday and took the day off. This time, I thought I got the nutrition and hydration right for my long swim the Friday before, felt pretty good Saturday for a bike and run and then the race went well on Sunday and I hoped I'd come close to covering my calorie replacement for the day.
Monday morning I woke up and was predictably a little "crusty," but felt that a swim would do me good to loosen up if nothing else. I only had to swim 2700, so I went and got it done, and immediately ate another breakfast afterward, since I could tell I was low on carbs. While the swim felt great, I now felt like I'd been hit by a truck, but after the oatmeal kicked in, I felt like I was up for running, and so I did an easy 50' run at lunchtime and felt like I was coming around.
I had to attend a 2-day offsite training seminar for work Tuesday and Wednesday. Since we would be sequestered during lunch, I shuffled my workouts for Tuesday-Thursday, since I wouldn't be able to do lunchtime workouts on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Tuesday I had to get my 1:25 bike in first thing in the morning, which meant starting at 6AM, and my body was just not into it. I had enough sleep, but a trainer ride at that time of day is rare for me, but I slogged through it anyway and figured I had some residual fatigue from Sunday anyway.
Wednesday morning I thought I'd lift for 1/2 hour and then go and do my run, which starting this week for about 8 weeks or so, is a nice track workout with 5k and 10k intervals included. I was careful not to do anything with my legs in my lifting session, and then headed to the Y to run. I did the 10' warmup on the treadmill (which prevents me from running too fast when I'm supposed to be warming up), and then hit the track, where, surprise, surprise, it turns out I'm running a little faster than a year ago. YA THINK???? After all that running I've done since last September, I assumed maybe I should be a little faster, and the indoor tris more or less bore that out, but now this workout was just 3 days later than a race. I continue to be surprised that I can turn in a decent run performance just about whenever now. Still, once I finished the 1-hour blitz, my legs were a little sore, but I stretched a little bit before heading to the training class. When I got back home after the session, I worked for about an hour and then lifted for about another 1/2 hour.
Thursday morning I swam just 1900 (it was supposed to be a threshold test, but my training is just too nutso and changing all the time for me to be "on" for these, go figure), and then I ran for 1/2 hour. I normally would have done that short run on Saturday after my long ride, but I was going to change things up for the weekend, so I got it done Thursday morning. Later in the day I did another 1:25 trainer ride, and just did not have biking legs (the story of the week, I guess), but I finished it for time with craptastic power output.
I had decided I would do a "big Saturday" by combining my long swim and long ride, which meant that Friday I could sort of sleep in (for a change!) and just do a 50' easy run, and then later on finish up my strength work for the week. Even though I hadn't trained more QUANTITY by Friday than normal, adding that track workout just 3 days after a race was enough for me to feel sort of tired on Friday anyway. But at least I didn't have to swim 2.5 hours! Still, I had to make bottles for Saturday so I'd be ready to roll before 5AM.
Yesterday I woke up at 3:45 so I'd have time to choke down 650 calories before I began working out. I needed to be in the pool at 5AM in order to get 3 hours of time before Masters started. I'd mixed up 3 bottles of a new Infinit mix that contains a bit of protein, as I've been advised to try and start taking in some protein for these long workouts. I putzed around a little and started swimming at 5:07, but still managed to get in 8700 yards by 8AM. The Infinit seemed fine, but it also had less caffeine than my normal mix so we'd have to see how that went. Since I'd sucked down so many calories before I started, I couldn't finish all of the Infinit, but still did pretty well.
I went back home to hop on the bike, and I'd decided to not use Infinit but just Gatorade and gels. I am not sure if that was the mistake, or the protein Infinit was bad, but I just never felt good on the bike. I am going to attribute it to the Infinit, and in 2 weeks I'll switch back to 100% carbs for comparison. Anyway, it wasn't like I needed to ride HARD, but I wanted to and just didn't have the oomph I was looking for. Or maybe I am just growing tired of 2:30+ trainer rides. Maybe the 4000 yards of pulling wore me out. Who knows? I was just glad once I got done, and I treated myself to a huge serving (more like 1.5) of the lasagna I'd made and frozen last month or whenever that was, and it was great. I also had Endurox R4, then a Ghiradelli treat of caramel-filled squares and a small mint-flavored Milky Way. I figured that a 6-hour workout entitled me to some treats! For dinner I had 2 meaty lamb chops and a big pile of spaghetti with homemade pesto chased with a couple of beers. Once I finished working out, the remainder of the day consisted of laying around and watching the Olympics. I really got into the 30k cross-country race, and enjoyed watching the teamwork of the Swedes--it was more like a bike race!
Since I had woken up so early, I was pretty ready to sleep by 7PM but stayed up until 8PM to watch a bit more Olympics before retiring. No alarm clock.
The deal for this weekend was to see if I could back up a big swim and ride with a long run. This is something I'd not done yet, and as this Ultraman training is all about trying out new stuff and seeing how I respond (especially considering that on paper I have some amazing shit planned!), I figured this was a good time to try out the combination, as in about another month, I will move my long run(s) to Thursday (and also Tuesday come May FUCKING OUCH!).
When I woke up this morning, I felt well rested (10 hours is good for that), and didn't feel gnarly muscular-wise. I wanted to start running by 9AM which meant I had some time for some other chores like dusting, dishes, etc. Well in that time, and I find this happens frequently, I began feeling tired, so I drank most of a can of Coke before heading to the Y. My body is funny that way in that if I just start training before my brain can sidetrack me, I'm usually good, but if I put it off for even an hour I start to feel tired.
I got to the Y and had to congratulate one of the trainers who had just qualified for Boston in his first marathon!. He's 23, and he and I chat regularly about this and that. So I wasted some more time, but it was fun talking to him, and then I got down to business.
When I started running, it actually felt good, so once again I surprised myself by achieving another milestone in this journey. Plus, I did a progressive run which ended with 20' at tempo pace, and that felt hard, but still I got it done, getting in 13.1 miles in 2 hours. Then I walked for 30' at 4mph changing incline .5% every 5 minutes.
All in all, I got in 17 hours regular training plus 30 minutes walking, so not a bad week. I feel pretty tired right now (expected), but better than I felt last Sunday after I finished all that stuff. So I'm hopeful I can be in good enough shape to get in a swim tomorrow morning, and then I'll bike since we are getting another snowstorm, so I'll put off running until Tuesday.
This week will be challenging again, as I hope to rediscover my biking legs, I've got another track workout on Wednesday, and I'll be back to swimming 2.5 hours on Friday before work, a 2:30 ride on Saturday plus a :40 run, and Sunday is the last of the 3 indoor triathlons (which I intend to win my AG, even though I've secured the series win already), but I need to run a total of 1:40 on Sunday between warmup, race and post-race run again. The week after will be a beast--sort of like this week--only I will be running more. I will do another "big Saturday."
I am getting better at the nutrition thing. It seems lately that literally all I do is eat, sleep, train, stretch and work. But if I get the nutrition thing right, I have a little energy left over on the weekends to get a few things done. And I am grateful for that time right now. Once it warms up and I'm running outside exclusively, that will mean less time spent driving to/from the Y, and I may even start running there to swim in the morning...anything I can do to get more time on my feet is a good thing, and 3 trips a week on foot would give me 3.6 extra miles of running per week, which will switch over to biking to the outdoor pool in June.
Arrggggghhhh...speaking of which did anyone see the ski cross qualification round? Enak Gavaggio had the most rad helmet that had a skull and crossbones on it. I saw this while I was still running (and quite smelly, I'm sure), and just lit up, pointed at the TV screen and shouted "NICE!"
I am amazed that yet again I have been able to do something new that give me just a little more confidence about this thing I am training for that maybe, just maybe, I can do it. To me it's a little like collecting so many tokens that I am going to need to pull out on the race days--the more of them I collect sooner in the training process, the more time I have to collect a huge stash, and then whether I need them all or only a few during the race, it doesn't matter because I HAVE THEM! That to me is what confidence building is all about. I have already done 11 7,000+ yard swims and now have done long swim/long ride combination twice and a few rather long runs along the way. And I am beginning to collect nutrition tokens, too, which are just as important as the training ones. So my collection of tokens is growing, even though they are damn difficult to collect! But every time I get another one, my mind believes just a little more that I may actually be able to do this thing. Even more importantly, though, is that every time I collect another token, my desire to continue training grows. Believe me (and I know I sound like a broken record), this is the most difficult thing I have ever attempted, and the voices telling me to just give up that this is too hard are present frequently. But the tokens quiet them down, and eventually they will be gone (I hope!), leaving me with the means to get the race done and finished.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
I Guess it's a Double Today
As you might imagine, time available for blogging has been limited compared to 6 months ago and prior. So since I'm not yet doing 5+ hour workouts on a Sunday, I have a bit of time, so you get a twofer today.
Once again, I think I got the nutrition right on my Friday long swim, which ended up being 8,000 yards. I had an English muffin w/jam, 2 cups of coffee and 200 calories of Ultrafuel right after I woke up, and was in the pool swimming within :50. I think that's a new record!
I took 2.5 hours worth of Infinit with me, and I finished about all of it. Here is the workout I did (keep in mind I make these up from week to week):
1000 free (a warmup of sorts)
2000 pull
1000 free a bit faster than during warmup
500 kick to give my face a break from the goggles, but kicked peppily
1500 pull w/paddles (see I like to get progressively harder as I go just like when I do long runs)
10x200 with 15" rest as 100 fast, 25 back mod, 25 free mod, 25 back mod, 25 free mod
I ended up doing 8,000 because I had time! And I was swimming well. I had time to stretch a bit in the sauna and then headed home to start my workday. I immediately drank Endurox R4 and made 2 servings of oatmeal (cinnamon spice, yum!). About an hour and half later, it was time for some fruit, then I ate a normal lunch and a salad and pasta w/chicken liver-tomato sauce (sounds gross, but it's really good--I LOVE chicken livers so I get a good dose of protein and since I don't eat much fat I get that, too).
I felt "normal" around 4PM. No chance for me to nap since I had a busy workday.
Yesterday morning I awoke feeling pretty good and not even thinking I'd need supplemental caffeine for my workout (beyond my usual 2 cups of coffee). I did 2:15 on the trainer, overall at 81% of FTP (although I felt pathetic as I should have been able to manage more, oh well), then went and ran :25 and walked at 4MPH at 3% incline for :15. Still a decent workout.
I ate a small baguette last night, which is unusual for me since I'm not a big bread eater. But it was good, and that plus some rice with dinner and I broke down at the grocery store and got some orange slices (candy) to supplement and felt I had taken in a good amount of carbs.
This morning I had a Power Bar with the coffee, then I drank a can of Coke while doing my warmup for the race, an hour's worth of Infinit plus 32 oz. of Gatorade during the race and my post-race running, chowed down at the race, and since then I've had a mango and a beer, but am growing rather hungry again.
I am still finding it tough to get all the calories in that I need, only because of the sheer time I am training plus sleeping plus work do the math, I just don't have time to eat so much! But I am working on how to change that, and good thing is that my appetite usually picks up as it gets warmer. I know that's backwards of most people, but it is how it is for me.
I worked on my training schedule for the next 3 weeks and think I can still do it ;) But fast approaching is the craziness that I am not sure I can manage, but we shall see. As long as I'm cool with this being THE ONE THING that I am doing, it is working. It was good to see some familiar faces at the small race today, and once I'm back to riding outdoors there will be more of that.
Well, I need to go and eat some more now, so that's it for today!
Once again, I think I got the nutrition right on my Friday long swim, which ended up being 8,000 yards. I had an English muffin w/jam, 2 cups of coffee and 200 calories of Ultrafuel right after I woke up, and was in the pool swimming within :50. I think that's a new record!
I took 2.5 hours worth of Infinit with me, and I finished about all of it. Here is the workout I did (keep in mind I make these up from week to week):
1000 free (a warmup of sorts)
2000 pull
1000 free a bit faster than during warmup
500 kick to give my face a break from the goggles, but kicked peppily
1500 pull w/paddles (see I like to get progressively harder as I go just like when I do long runs)
10x200 with 15" rest as 100 fast, 25 back mod, 25 free mod, 25 back mod, 25 free mod
I ended up doing 8,000 because I had time! And I was swimming well. I had time to stretch a bit in the sauna and then headed home to start my workday. I immediately drank Endurox R4 and made 2 servings of oatmeal (cinnamon spice, yum!). About an hour and half later, it was time for some fruit, then I ate a normal lunch and a salad and pasta w/chicken liver-tomato sauce (sounds gross, but it's really good--I LOVE chicken livers so I get a good dose of protein and since I don't eat much fat I get that, too).
I felt "normal" around 4PM. No chance for me to nap since I had a busy workday.
Yesterday morning I awoke feeling pretty good and not even thinking I'd need supplemental caffeine for my workout (beyond my usual 2 cups of coffee). I did 2:15 on the trainer, overall at 81% of FTP (although I felt pathetic as I should have been able to manage more, oh well), then went and ran :25 and walked at 4MPH at 3% incline for :15. Still a decent workout.
I ate a small baguette last night, which is unusual for me since I'm not a big bread eater. But it was good, and that plus some rice with dinner and I broke down at the grocery store and got some orange slices (candy) to supplement and felt I had taken in a good amount of carbs.
This morning I had a Power Bar with the coffee, then I drank a can of Coke while doing my warmup for the race, an hour's worth of Infinit plus 32 oz. of Gatorade during the race and my post-race running, chowed down at the race, and since then I've had a mango and a beer, but am growing rather hungry again.
I am still finding it tough to get all the calories in that I need, only because of the sheer time I am training plus sleeping plus work do the math, I just don't have time to eat so much! But I am working on how to change that, and good thing is that my appetite usually picks up as it gets warmer. I know that's backwards of most people, but it is how it is for me.
I worked on my training schedule for the next 3 weeks and think I can still do it ;) But fast approaching is the craziness that I am not sure I can manage, but we shall see. As long as I'm cool with this being THE ONE THING that I am doing, it is working. It was good to see some familiar faces at the small race today, and once I'm back to riding outdoors there will be more of that.
Well, I need to go and eat some more now, so that's it for today!
100th Triathlon
Today was my 100th triathlon, the second in the series of 3 indoor sprints.
My wave started at 8AM, so I got to the club at 6:30 to do a good warmup, but DOH! It didn't open until 7AM, so I drove back home (um...sped), got on my bike for 10', got back in the car, got there and managed to do a 15' run warmup and another 10' on the Precor bike. I only had time for 200 yards of swim warmup, but whatever...I had hoped to do 500-600 yards.
Swim was nice, I just swam strong and relaxed. I did do 1 more lap than 2 weeks ago, but it's still not my best swimming, as I need like 800-2,000 yards to warm up nowadays! Still, I wasn't feeling much lactic acid accumulation, got out, showered briefly and suited up for the bike.
There were a number of people behind me yelling at me while I was biking, and I only recognized one voice. Turns out there were others that I know, but once they realized I was hard at it, they left me to my effort where I pretty much tuned everything out. I hit the first mile first in my wave and was close to the front the entire time. I would say that maybe 15% of the time I had my eyes closed. It was cool to be able to do that, you know? I mean, I didn't have to watch where I was going, and I could just really focus on the effort. I went .1 mile farther than 2 weeks ago.
Got off the bike and laid on the floor for maybe 20 seconds, and then headed upstairs to run. I didn't feel I had an adequate run warmup, but too bad, it was go time. I took it out hard but not too fast. I always get a kick out of how so many people go off like rabbits and many of them come right back to me after a few laps.
I felt pretty good running, but not particularly fast, and didn't bother to look at my watch or the race clock just like 2 weeks ago. When I do this, it either makes me feel like I suck or wow this hurts or crap there is a lot of time left, so I just counted my laps.
I was just a hair slower today than 2 weeks ago, and upon finishing, I immediately bent over and felt pukish. I thought I could stop it, but I realized it wasn't happening, so I made my way to the nearest bucket and let fly. It was not very much, but I sure felt better afterwards!
I spent about 1/2 hour chatting with some friends, and then changed and got on the treadmill. I ran for 1:10 and then did some fast incline walking for :15 to round out the day. I got an excellent massage and then chowed down on some pasta and sausage chased with a banana nut muffin, checked the results board (still on top!), showered up and am back at home.
Now I am going to stretch, have a beer or two, watch some Olympics, do laundry, adjust my training schedule, and get workout crap ready for tomorrow.
It was a good showing for me today, and there's one more race to go, but technically I already won the series, but still I hope I was at least in the top 20 females overall today and also want to go faster in 2 weeks.
The bike effort 2 weeks ago made my threshold intervals feel easier, and I am sure that will be the case again this week, which is part of the point of racing, right? Although I do push myself pretty hard in training, a race just brings out more of the pain, which is why I do it--or so I tell myself.
Happy Valentines Day to all the lovers out there!
My wave started at 8AM, so I got to the club at 6:30 to do a good warmup, but DOH! It didn't open until 7AM, so I drove back home (um...sped), got on my bike for 10', got back in the car, got there and managed to do a 15' run warmup and another 10' on the Precor bike. I only had time for 200 yards of swim warmup, but whatever...I had hoped to do 500-600 yards.
Swim was nice, I just swam strong and relaxed. I did do 1 more lap than 2 weeks ago, but it's still not my best swimming, as I need like 800-2,000 yards to warm up nowadays! Still, I wasn't feeling much lactic acid accumulation, got out, showered briefly and suited up for the bike.
There were a number of people behind me yelling at me while I was biking, and I only recognized one voice. Turns out there were others that I know, but once they realized I was hard at it, they left me to my effort where I pretty much tuned everything out. I hit the first mile first in my wave and was close to the front the entire time. I would say that maybe 15% of the time I had my eyes closed. It was cool to be able to do that, you know? I mean, I didn't have to watch where I was going, and I could just really focus on the effort. I went .1 mile farther than 2 weeks ago.
Got off the bike and laid on the floor for maybe 20 seconds, and then headed upstairs to run. I didn't feel I had an adequate run warmup, but too bad, it was go time. I took it out hard but not too fast. I always get a kick out of how so many people go off like rabbits and many of them come right back to me after a few laps.
I felt pretty good running, but not particularly fast, and didn't bother to look at my watch or the race clock just like 2 weeks ago. When I do this, it either makes me feel like I suck or wow this hurts or crap there is a lot of time left, so I just counted my laps.
I was just a hair slower today than 2 weeks ago, and upon finishing, I immediately bent over and felt pukish. I thought I could stop it, but I realized it wasn't happening, so I made my way to the nearest bucket and let fly. It was not very much, but I sure felt better afterwards!
I spent about 1/2 hour chatting with some friends, and then changed and got on the treadmill. I ran for 1:10 and then did some fast incline walking for :15 to round out the day. I got an excellent massage and then chowed down on some pasta and sausage chased with a banana nut muffin, checked the results board (still on top!), showered up and am back at home.
Now I am going to stretch, have a beer or two, watch some Olympics, do laundry, adjust my training schedule, and get workout crap ready for tomorrow.
It was a good showing for me today, and there's one more race to go, but technically I already won the series, but still I hope I was at least in the top 20 females overall today and also want to go faster in 2 weeks.
The bike effort 2 weeks ago made my threshold intervals feel easier, and I am sure that will be the case again this week, which is part of the point of racing, right? Although I do push myself pretty hard in training, a race just brings out more of the pain, which is why I do it--or so I tell myself.
Happy Valentines Day to all the lovers out there!
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Think I Got it Right This Weekend
This is the first week that I've done a fairly big swim on Friday, good trainer ride and run on Saturday, and a long run and swim on Sunday. I now consider Fridays part of my weekend, in terms of big training days.
Friday was 7500 yards, yesterday was 2:30 on the trainer (at 82% of FT overall, not bad) and a :50 run, and today I did a 1:45 run followed by a 15' treadmill "hike" (5 min. each at 2%, 3% and 4% incline at 4mph) and then a 1-hour easy swim (drills mostly). I am still upright as of this writing around 3PM in the afternoon!
Each of the 3 days, I had at least 300 calories in before I started, drank 20+ oz. fluid per hour, took in about 220 cal./hour while working out, and took in at least 500 calories right after I finished. I also drank plenty of water during the day, slept like a champ (9+ hours each night), stretched at least :30, and ate rather cleanly overall. Today's post-workout meal was a big salad of red and green leaf lettuce, a can of Italian tuna packed in olive oil (drained), a handful of blackberries, a handful of grape tomatoes, 1/2 handful of anchovy stuffed olives, about a cup of alfalfa sprouts, a small drizzle of olive oil, a good dose of truffle infused cream of balsamic, and a good sprinkling of freshly ground pepper. I should have put a sliced avocado on there, too, but that may be my next snack.
Surprise, surprise, everything went pretty well, but the real tale will be told on Monday when I start another week. Getting that swim right was the hardest thing, and to an extent, getting in all the calories to replace what I'd burned.
Go ahead and laugh and say, "Sheila you should know by now that's what you need to do," which is true, but somehow it's harder for me now that Friday is a big day as well as Saturday and Sunday. But I'm starting to get this down. As I said in an earlier post, my margin of error is just less than it has ever been, and so I need to be vigilant about my nutrition almost daily now. IF I want to perform, that is.
At least it is just February, so I'm getting on track soon enough that I stand a chance at keeping things going for another 5 1/2 months.
There's a challenge at my Y called "Burn 35,000 calories in 100 days." Of course they dumbed it down so people only need to burn 350 calories a day in exercise to make the total, which is like walking 3 1/2 miles, who can't do that? Especially if you weigh more than the average 140 lbs. that most cardio machines assume as a default (which is better than 95% of the members, I'd guess). Every time I see the board, I think about how long it would take me (and I'm small) to hit that total. One of the trainers I know and I were chatting about how long it would take us. He's a young guy, so he burns like a lit match. Right now I'm burning off between 7 and 8,000 calories per week (maybe more, not really sure). Funny that I know a few people training for a double-deca Ironman (20x IM distance, yeah, crazy, huh?). I burn 6,500-7,000 doing an Ironman, but I think the average is about 9,000, so talk to those people on Day 4, they are DONE with that stupid challenge!
I want my Y to have a contest called "train with Sheila for a week." I get to pick the week. Just do whatever I am doing that week. Contestants only have to show up for workouts, and must furnish their own workout nutrition. Whoever gets the furthest into the week without crying like a little beeyotch wins. If anyone finishes, I would give them one of my Ironman medals. And a hat. Seems like a good deal, don't you think?
It was another 17-hour training week. So are the next 3 weeks. That is not an amount that I typically "hang out" at. It is usually a jumping off point for bigger training. I will say 17 hours is an amount where you "feel" it. It used to be that 14 hours was like that for me. 17 is the new 14! Good thing, too, since it is only going to get harder from here on out. Holy crap, it just dawned on me that 17 hours is the time allowed to finish most WTC Ironman races. Huh. You think I could show up and do one right about now? Yeah, I think I could show up and go under 17 hours ;)
And now, believe it or not, I need to eat some more food. Hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoys the Stupor Bowl! I may watch some of it (haven't watched a football game in a few years, why start now?) or not. I will be thinking about all the people eating all their snacks and drinking all their drinks. I am good with waiting another 5 1/2 months for my occasion to do that!
Friday was 7500 yards, yesterday was 2:30 on the trainer (at 82% of FT overall, not bad) and a :50 run, and today I did a 1:45 run followed by a 15' treadmill "hike" (5 min. each at 2%, 3% and 4% incline at 4mph) and then a 1-hour easy swim (drills mostly). I am still upright as of this writing around 3PM in the afternoon!
Each of the 3 days, I had at least 300 calories in before I started, drank 20+ oz. fluid per hour, took in about 220 cal./hour while working out, and took in at least 500 calories right after I finished. I also drank plenty of water during the day, slept like a champ (9+ hours each night), stretched at least :30, and ate rather cleanly overall. Today's post-workout meal was a big salad of red and green leaf lettuce, a can of Italian tuna packed in olive oil (drained), a handful of blackberries, a handful of grape tomatoes, 1/2 handful of anchovy stuffed olives, about a cup of alfalfa sprouts, a small drizzle of olive oil, a good dose of truffle infused cream of balsamic, and a good sprinkling of freshly ground pepper. I should have put a sliced avocado on there, too, but that may be my next snack.
Surprise, surprise, everything went pretty well, but the real tale will be told on Monday when I start another week. Getting that swim right was the hardest thing, and to an extent, getting in all the calories to replace what I'd burned.
Go ahead and laugh and say, "Sheila you should know by now that's what you need to do," which is true, but somehow it's harder for me now that Friday is a big day as well as Saturday and Sunday. But I'm starting to get this down. As I said in an earlier post, my margin of error is just less than it has ever been, and so I need to be vigilant about my nutrition almost daily now. IF I want to perform, that is.
At least it is just February, so I'm getting on track soon enough that I stand a chance at keeping things going for another 5 1/2 months.
There's a challenge at my Y called "Burn 35,000 calories in 100 days." Of course they dumbed it down so people only need to burn 350 calories a day in exercise to make the total, which is like walking 3 1/2 miles, who can't do that? Especially if you weigh more than the average 140 lbs. that most cardio machines assume as a default (which is better than 95% of the members, I'd guess). Every time I see the board, I think about how long it would take me (and I'm small) to hit that total. One of the trainers I know and I were chatting about how long it would take us. He's a young guy, so he burns like a lit match. Right now I'm burning off between 7 and 8,000 calories per week (maybe more, not really sure). Funny that I know a few people training for a double-deca Ironman (20x IM distance, yeah, crazy, huh?). I burn 6,500-7,000 doing an Ironman, but I think the average is about 9,000, so talk to those people on Day 4, they are DONE with that stupid challenge!
I want my Y to have a contest called "train with Sheila for a week." I get to pick the week. Just do whatever I am doing that week. Contestants only have to show up for workouts, and must furnish their own workout nutrition. Whoever gets the furthest into the week without crying like a little beeyotch wins. If anyone finishes, I would give them one of my Ironman medals. And a hat. Seems like a good deal, don't you think?
It was another 17-hour training week. So are the next 3 weeks. That is not an amount that I typically "hang out" at. It is usually a jumping off point for bigger training. I will say 17 hours is an amount where you "feel" it. It used to be that 14 hours was like that for me. 17 is the new 14! Good thing, too, since it is only going to get harder from here on out. Holy crap, it just dawned on me that 17 hours is the time allowed to finish most WTC Ironman races. Huh. You think I could show up and do one right about now? Yeah, I think I could show up and go under 17 hours ;)
And now, believe it or not, I need to eat some more food. Hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoys the Stupor Bowl! I may watch some of it (haven't watched a football game in a few years, why start now?) or not. I will be thinking about all the people eating all their snacks and drinking all their drinks. I am good with waiting another 5 1/2 months for my occasion to do that!
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Adventures in Nutrition
A week ago, I did yet another 7,500 yard swim on Friday, and it was my 12th swim of 6,000+ yards. In building up these long swims, I have needed to adjust my thinking about them in terms of nutrition and hydration, both before, during and after.
Before I began this UMC preparation season, I'd swum 5,000 yards at a pop maybe 3-4 times before my last 2 or 3 Ironman races. This came about once I discovered the outdoor 50-meter pool a few years ago, which made it easy and even pleasurable to swim longer.
Up to about 5,000 yards (but just once a week--not like I was swimming that much each swim), I didn't need to do anything differently nutrition or hydration-wise, but that may have been that I was already doing them during an Ironman build phase, where I've already kicked up my calorie intake in general.
But I also think that you can wing it on almost any workout that is about 1.5 hours in duration, provided it's not an all out effort. If your longest workout is 1.5 hours, and you do that every day, you have a bigger margin of error on your nutrition and hydration. Here I think the post-workout nutrition is most important--you know, some mix of protein and carbs right away.
Move that time up to 2 hours and things get interesting. 2-hour workouts day in and day out seem to require that my tank (glycogen) is full when I start, and I can't have a lot in my stomach when I begin, whether it's a ride, run (especially!) or swim. If it's the only workout I'm doing that day, I can fudge on the during workout nutrition as long as I do a good job once I'm finished.
It's at 2.5 hours where things demand you do things right across the board (for me), and while I've had plenty of years to get that right for biking and running, this season is the first time I'm swimming that long, too.
I can do 2.5 hours a day, even on some work days. If it's split into 2 or 3 sessions, it just means I need to keep eating a couple hundred calories every few hours, but mostly carbs, because fat and protein will take too long to digest before my next workout (although a piece of string cheese or a hardboiled egg doesn't upset my stomach too much between workouts). Most of my fat for the day will come at dinner time, after all the workouts are done.
If I do a 2.5 hour session on the weekend, I'm careful to load up on calories beforehand, during, and I will always have a complete meal afterward.
I don't often do 2.5 hour workouts on work days, though, or at least I don't usually until I am close to an Ironman and doing 2.5 hour runs on Thursday mornings. So it's a new phenomenon to be already doing 2.5 hour workouts (swims) on work days in the winter, and I guess I'm just an old dog learning new tricks, but it's taken me a few tries to get it through my thick head that I need to be as good about my nutrition for them.
The really long swims I've done on Saturdays or days off from work trigger the same preparation as any long weekend workout, making sure I eat plenty the day before, take in maybe 600-700 calories before I begin working out, good nutrition during and after. Why I wasn't doing this for these long swims on work days I have no idea--habit, I guess!
So Thursday I made sure I drank plenty of water and other fluids, ate a pile of carbs and began my shutdown procedure (you know--like shutting down a computer for the day--mine includes preparing my workout gear for the next day and any special nutrition and loading the coffee pot) early enough in the evening so I'd sleep well. Wanting to get as much sleep as possible, I set the alarm for 5AM on the nose. I woke up, fixed one cup of coffee, had a toasted English muffin with orange marmalade (I love jam, sorry I know it's sugar, but oh well I'm not perfect), at 5:30 I drank 200 calories of Ultrafuel and then I suited up and headed for the pool with 2.5 hours worth of Infinit (573 calories) mixed in 64 oz. of water.
I started my swim at 5:55AM and finished about 8:28. I didn't quite drink all the Infinit--but I did get down 486 calories in 54 oz. of water, which is more than I have ever taken in during one of these long swims. Since yesterday's swim was all about getting the nutrition (hopefully) right, I did 10x750 (sort of--the last 3 repeats were 5x150), stopping around every 15 minutes to drink. Now, during UMC I won't want to stop that often for nutrition--maybe every 20 minutes--but this is a start.
I showered and stretched a bit in the sauna and then went home to start my work day. When I got home, I drank my usual Endurox R4 recovery drink and had 2 servings of oatmeal. Again, while I would like to go to non-instant oats and all that stuff, I can't make the time for that so it was Quaker Oats Raisin, Date and Walnut. Yum! So that was about 540 calories post-workout.
I still felt tired after the workout and really wanted to lay down for about an hour, but I couldn't do that because of work and wanting to be done by 5PM for the day. I had stuff oozing out of my eyes most of the day (damn chlorine), but other than that, I felt better than I had the week before, and this morning I feel pretty good, unlike last Saturday.
My next experiment will be in a few weeks when I will once again combine the long swim and ride on Saturday, which means I will get Friday off! It will be a train-through thing, to see if it's any worse to just do both the same day with a day of rest vs. doing the big swim on a work day. What will be key here is keeping up my calorie intake on Friday. For me, the stimulus to eat comes from working out, so if I'm not working out, my appetite just isn't there.
Now that I think about it, my appetite isn't what I would expect it to be. I'm not ravenous, but I also don't feel my workouts are being compromised, so I must be doing OK. I do know that I will start eating more pasta--it seems to be the best way for me to get in more calories without adding significant volume (which is why I don't eat it when I'm not training very much because I will overdo it). As it is, I'm a rice-a-holic, love the fruit and salads, but I need to kick it up a notch.
Once again I find it comical that the issue for me is not in doing the workouts--it's the nutrition and all the other stuff. I have never had issues being motivated to do the work. Since I think I've eaten pretty well to support my training in the last 10 years and am finding I need to work harder at it now, it makes me wonder how many people are really sabotaging their training with crappy diets. Certainly for Ironman training, it's beneficial to be somewhat lean, and if you want to be able to do any intensity in addition to volume, you had better be eating right. Although, I understand one man's idea of hobby is another woman's (!) obsession. I remember back to the first year I trained for an Ironman and did many things wrong, and I suffered because of it. I was overweight, didn't eat right (thought I could eat anything because of how much I was training), looked like crap, and sucked. My how things have changed!
Before I began this UMC preparation season, I'd swum 5,000 yards at a pop maybe 3-4 times before my last 2 or 3 Ironman races. This came about once I discovered the outdoor 50-meter pool a few years ago, which made it easy and even pleasurable to swim longer.
Up to about 5,000 yards (but just once a week--not like I was swimming that much each swim), I didn't need to do anything differently nutrition or hydration-wise, but that may have been that I was already doing them during an Ironman build phase, where I've already kicked up my calorie intake in general.
But I also think that you can wing it on almost any workout that is about 1.5 hours in duration, provided it's not an all out effort. If your longest workout is 1.5 hours, and you do that every day, you have a bigger margin of error on your nutrition and hydration. Here I think the post-workout nutrition is most important--you know, some mix of protein and carbs right away.
Move that time up to 2 hours and things get interesting. 2-hour workouts day in and day out seem to require that my tank (glycogen) is full when I start, and I can't have a lot in my stomach when I begin, whether it's a ride, run (especially!) or swim. If it's the only workout I'm doing that day, I can fudge on the during workout nutrition as long as I do a good job once I'm finished.
It's at 2.5 hours where things demand you do things right across the board (for me), and while I've had plenty of years to get that right for biking and running, this season is the first time I'm swimming that long, too.
I can do 2.5 hours a day, even on some work days. If it's split into 2 or 3 sessions, it just means I need to keep eating a couple hundred calories every few hours, but mostly carbs, because fat and protein will take too long to digest before my next workout (although a piece of string cheese or a hardboiled egg doesn't upset my stomach too much between workouts). Most of my fat for the day will come at dinner time, after all the workouts are done.
If I do a 2.5 hour session on the weekend, I'm careful to load up on calories beforehand, during, and I will always have a complete meal afterward.
I don't often do 2.5 hour workouts on work days, though, or at least I don't usually until I am close to an Ironman and doing 2.5 hour runs on Thursday mornings. So it's a new phenomenon to be already doing 2.5 hour workouts (swims) on work days in the winter, and I guess I'm just an old dog learning new tricks, but it's taken me a few tries to get it through my thick head that I need to be as good about my nutrition for them.
The really long swims I've done on Saturdays or days off from work trigger the same preparation as any long weekend workout, making sure I eat plenty the day before, take in maybe 600-700 calories before I begin working out, good nutrition during and after. Why I wasn't doing this for these long swims on work days I have no idea--habit, I guess!
So Thursday I made sure I drank plenty of water and other fluids, ate a pile of carbs and began my shutdown procedure (you know--like shutting down a computer for the day--mine includes preparing my workout gear for the next day and any special nutrition and loading the coffee pot) early enough in the evening so I'd sleep well. Wanting to get as much sleep as possible, I set the alarm for 5AM on the nose. I woke up, fixed one cup of coffee, had a toasted English muffin with orange marmalade (I love jam, sorry I know it's sugar, but oh well I'm not perfect), at 5:30 I drank 200 calories of Ultrafuel and then I suited up and headed for the pool with 2.5 hours worth of Infinit (573 calories) mixed in 64 oz. of water.
I started my swim at 5:55AM and finished about 8:28. I didn't quite drink all the Infinit--but I did get down 486 calories in 54 oz. of water, which is more than I have ever taken in during one of these long swims. Since yesterday's swim was all about getting the nutrition (hopefully) right, I did 10x750 (sort of--the last 3 repeats were 5x150), stopping around every 15 minutes to drink. Now, during UMC I won't want to stop that often for nutrition--maybe every 20 minutes--but this is a start.
I showered and stretched a bit in the sauna and then went home to start my work day. When I got home, I drank my usual Endurox R4 recovery drink and had 2 servings of oatmeal. Again, while I would like to go to non-instant oats and all that stuff, I can't make the time for that so it was Quaker Oats Raisin, Date and Walnut. Yum! So that was about 540 calories post-workout.
I still felt tired after the workout and really wanted to lay down for about an hour, but I couldn't do that because of work and wanting to be done by 5PM for the day. I had stuff oozing out of my eyes most of the day (damn chlorine), but other than that, I felt better than I had the week before, and this morning I feel pretty good, unlike last Saturday.
My next experiment will be in a few weeks when I will once again combine the long swim and ride on Saturday, which means I will get Friday off! It will be a train-through thing, to see if it's any worse to just do both the same day with a day of rest vs. doing the big swim on a work day. What will be key here is keeping up my calorie intake on Friday. For me, the stimulus to eat comes from working out, so if I'm not working out, my appetite just isn't there.
Now that I think about it, my appetite isn't what I would expect it to be. I'm not ravenous, but I also don't feel my workouts are being compromised, so I must be doing OK. I do know that I will start eating more pasta--it seems to be the best way for me to get in more calories without adding significant volume (which is why I don't eat it when I'm not training very much because I will overdo it). As it is, I'm a rice-a-holic, love the fruit and salads, but I need to kick it up a notch.
Once again I find it comical that the issue for me is not in doing the workouts--it's the nutrition and all the other stuff. I have never had issues being motivated to do the work. Since I think I've eaten pretty well to support my training in the last 10 years and am finding I need to work harder at it now, it makes me wonder how many people are really sabotaging their training with crappy diets. Certainly for Ironman training, it's beneficial to be somewhat lean, and if you want to be able to do any intensity in addition to volume, you had better be eating right. Although, I understand one man's idea of hobby is another woman's (!) obsession. I remember back to the first year I trained for an Ironman and did many things wrong, and I suffered because of it. I was overweight, didn't eat right (thought I could eat anything because of how much I was training), looked like crap, and sucked. My how things have changed!
Friday, February 05, 2010
Inside the Monastery
I have recently started telling people that I am living like a monk. Well, not exactly a real monk, but I am forgoing many things in the name of this Ultraman campaign. Why? Even though several ultra-friends keep telling me that the training is "not much more than for an Ironman," the impact of "not much more" on me is huge.
I am not a lifelong swimmer, and the specter of swimming 10K and then biking (and biking more the next day and running a lot the next) has me wanting to be prepared. Just like it's advisable to go into an Ironman having trained well enough to know that the 2.4-mile swim won't trash you (although there are plenty of people who still do Ironman that are crappier swimmers than me, and I am just MOP, OK?), or at least for me it is, I want to go into Ultraman knowing I won't be lying on the beach moaning for 15 minutes after I get out of the water.
So I am swimming a lot, and I'm not that fast, so the yardage takes me longer than it would for a faster swimmer. But I am OK with that. Funny thing is, acclimating to the swimming I'm doing now is a trick considering I am also keeping up the same or more amount of biking and running than I would be doing this time of year. I am playing with nutrition, since I am just not used to thinking of swimming as a big calorie burner for me, and finding I need to fuel while swimming (the long swims) just like I would if I were biking or running. And hydrate! Even more! I was already used to swimming 1 to 1.5 hours before work 3 times a week, but Fridays are 2.5+ hours, and it's just a completely different animal. I just want to be prepared.
And then there was all that running I did from September through the beginning of January. And then I am doing extra "core" stuff (planks mostly) and pushups and pullups that I presume are helping to support the additional swimming at least, but also running and biking (the core stuff, silly!).
Then there's the job, which has become a little more intense in the last year. Now take all that training, add in :30 of stretching 6 days of the week, 1.5 hours the 7th day for a massage, and consider that I am trying to do, on average, 2 hours more of training a week than I did the prior season.
That 2 hours (even it were just one it's significant because I was already training a lot) is translating into a need for more sleep and more precise nutrition. I am lowering my caffeine intake (except for during training), increasing my fluid intake, increasing my calorie intake, and rarely eating anything remotely resembling junk food. I am cutting down my beer consumption now (it needed to be done anyway), too. I am to the point where I can wake up and be training within an hour, which includes driving to the Y. Once I am running outdoors more, the driving will be eliminated, but then I will be running more anyway! If there's anything I can do to sleep more at this point, I will do it!
So those 2 extra hours of training are giving rise to lots of other changes that require additional time on my part, to think about what I need to do, plan for it, execute it, take notes on it (in case it doesn't work), and most of all, RECOVER FROM IT!
I won't sacrifice sleep (9 hours a night, sometimes more, baby!) for something that is optional. I know this will all be over in 6 months anyway, so that isn't too long of a time to live like a monk, is it? Actually I don't care what anyone thinks. I suppose it's possible that I look back on this someday and think of it as a waste of time, but I doubt it. I'm doing something that for me, right now, is very hard. It is a ton of work and requires much vigilance. But I do get to experience good doses of joy in the process, too.
Really, I'd rather work out than work any day. I know that if I had the means (or lack of concern, anyway) to quit my job and just train, I would be doing even more. There are some people who say I should do less because I will burn out or the stress will get to me. I do have my moments, and I keep learning along the way what I can and cannot tolerate, but I will keep going. For example, I took a rest day on Monday. Wise move on my part! I am also, for the first time in years, going to do a deliberate cycle of 3 weeks build 1 week step back. I have a feeling my body would force me to do it anyway, but I am going to take the chance that I will, in fact, be stronger for it.
Someone asked me today whether I had anything "fun" planned for this weekend. My response was, "besides what I normally do? No." For now, I have some free time on the weekends to, um, relax, and fit in necessary errands and stuff that came up during the week but didn't attend to. So I don't plan for much more besides grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, reading, taking my sweet time doing whatever else needs doing, and then maybe getting an extra hour of sleep. Exciting, huh? On the plus side, I am starting to think about "what happens after Ultraman?" There will definitely be a vacation that does not have a race attached to it. As to triathlon, I can't say just yet. I'm sure I'll find out for sure in 6 months, though!
I am not a lifelong swimmer, and the specter of swimming 10K and then biking (and biking more the next day and running a lot the next) has me wanting to be prepared. Just like it's advisable to go into an Ironman having trained well enough to know that the 2.4-mile swim won't trash you (although there are plenty of people who still do Ironman that are crappier swimmers than me, and I am just MOP, OK?), or at least for me it is, I want to go into Ultraman knowing I won't be lying on the beach moaning for 15 minutes after I get out of the water.
So I am swimming a lot, and I'm not that fast, so the yardage takes me longer than it would for a faster swimmer. But I am OK with that. Funny thing is, acclimating to the swimming I'm doing now is a trick considering I am also keeping up the same or more amount of biking and running than I would be doing this time of year. I am playing with nutrition, since I am just not used to thinking of swimming as a big calorie burner for me, and finding I need to fuel while swimming (the long swims) just like I would if I were biking or running. And hydrate! Even more! I was already used to swimming 1 to 1.5 hours before work 3 times a week, but Fridays are 2.5+ hours, and it's just a completely different animal. I just want to be prepared.
And then there was all that running I did from September through the beginning of January. And then I am doing extra "core" stuff (planks mostly) and pushups and pullups that I presume are helping to support the additional swimming at least, but also running and biking (the core stuff, silly!).
Then there's the job, which has become a little more intense in the last year. Now take all that training, add in :30 of stretching 6 days of the week, 1.5 hours the 7th day for a massage, and consider that I am trying to do, on average, 2 hours more of training a week than I did the prior season.
That 2 hours (even it were just one it's significant because I was already training a lot) is translating into a need for more sleep and more precise nutrition. I am lowering my caffeine intake (except for during training), increasing my fluid intake, increasing my calorie intake, and rarely eating anything remotely resembling junk food. I am cutting down my beer consumption now (it needed to be done anyway), too. I am to the point where I can wake up and be training within an hour, which includes driving to the Y. Once I am running outdoors more, the driving will be eliminated, but then I will be running more anyway! If there's anything I can do to sleep more at this point, I will do it!
So those 2 extra hours of training are giving rise to lots of other changes that require additional time on my part, to think about what I need to do, plan for it, execute it, take notes on it (in case it doesn't work), and most of all, RECOVER FROM IT!
I won't sacrifice sleep (9 hours a night, sometimes more, baby!) for something that is optional. I know this will all be over in 6 months anyway, so that isn't too long of a time to live like a monk, is it? Actually I don't care what anyone thinks. I suppose it's possible that I look back on this someday and think of it as a waste of time, but I doubt it. I'm doing something that for me, right now, is very hard. It is a ton of work and requires much vigilance. But I do get to experience good doses of joy in the process, too.
Really, I'd rather work out than work any day. I know that if I had the means (or lack of concern, anyway) to quit my job and just train, I would be doing even more. There are some people who say I should do less because I will burn out or the stress will get to me. I do have my moments, and I keep learning along the way what I can and cannot tolerate, but I will keep going. For example, I took a rest day on Monday. Wise move on my part! I am also, for the first time in years, going to do a deliberate cycle of 3 weeks build 1 week step back. I have a feeling my body would force me to do it anyway, but I am going to take the chance that I will, in fact, be stronger for it.
Someone asked me today whether I had anything "fun" planned for this weekend. My response was, "besides what I normally do? No." For now, I have some free time on the weekends to, um, relax, and fit in necessary errands and stuff that came up during the week but didn't attend to. So I don't plan for much more besides grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, reading, taking my sweet time doing whatever else needs doing, and then maybe getting an extra hour of sleep. Exciting, huh? On the plus side, I am starting to think about "what happens after Ultraman?" There will definitely be a vacation that does not have a race attached to it. As to triathlon, I can't say just yet. I'm sure I'll find out for sure in 6 months, though!
Monday, February 01, 2010
Stinky Little Race Report
Yesterday was the first of the indoor sprint triathlons. Last year there were 4 of them spaced 2 weeks apart; this year there are only 3 because one of the clubs “didn’t see hosting as within their vision” or some bullshit like that. The races benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and are very beginner-friendly, so how that club came to that conclusion befuddles me.
Anyway, last year I won my AG at all 4, which made me the series winner. I did really well at these last year, and I think this year is the fourth time I'm doing them. Format is 10' swim, 10' T1, 20' stationary bike, 5' T2 and 15' track run. Scoring is based on distance covered, so it favors bikers, and then runners. A very short race indeed! I do them just to get in some speedwork, benefit a worthy cause, kill off some of the winter blues, get a nice little massage afterward, and actually feel like a triathlete!
When I registered, at first I thought the first race was only 2 weeks after Goofy Challenge, in which case I would skip it (or not, who knows?), but I was experiencing calendar dyslexia, and was happy to realize it was THREE weeks after Goofy. Still, I wrote on my training calendar, "I might really suck" since this time around I am training harder than ever, and well, it is 3 weeks after a marathon.
On Friday, I had a pretty good 7500 swim, although I felt like a truck had run me over the rest of the day and into Saturday morning. I conferred with some of my ultra friends, and reviewed what I thought I may have done wrong and here's the analysis:
Are we seeing a pattern here? I swear, the eating thing is HUGE! So that is the plan from now on, eat more, drink more, especially before/during/after big workouts.
I got on the trainer Saturday morning and wasn't sure what I would be able to accomplish, but the plan was to ride for only 2 hours, so I figured I could manage that, even if it was just easy spinning. But it turned out I was able to put out some decent power, then I took my time in changing into running clothes and heading to the Y for a short little transition run. I only ran for 20', but it felt good.
When I finished all that, I still wasn't feeling all that great, so instead of trying to accomplish all sorts of things, I basically rested, but managed to go to the grocery store, stretch and fix dinner. I got myself organized for yesterday, since I'd be doing a good warmup, the race, and then running more afterward.
I had a little trouble falling asleep, and I awoke at least an hour before the alarm went off, but didn't feel particularly bad. I just reviewed the situation, though, and decided I didn't have high expectations for the race.
I got to the club, checked in, and they give us a booklet that talks about the race, sponsors, and then they list the AG and overall winners from the previous year. I did get a nice smile out of seeing my name in there!
I headed upstairs to the treadmills and got on one and started out real easy and it felt REALLY slow, so I guess that was a good thing. I did 10' on it and then since the first wave wasn't yet on the track, I ran a few laps quickly. The stationary bikes were set up inside the track (which is 8 laps to the mile), and I got on the spare bike to warm up. I pedalled really easily for 10' and it didn't feel at all bad, but knew from years past how "not good" the bike would feel during the race.
I went back to the locker room to put on my swimsuit, and walked out on the pool deck, got body marked (yes, even for this they follow the tradition!), and when the previous wave was finished, I jumped in. Wow, a nice, COLD pool! I did like a 300 warmup, but it takes me like 800-1000 yards to warmup, so whatever. While warming up, I could feel a cross current that was pushing me into the ropes. Oh well.
So the horn goes off and we are going. I felt good, felt like my stroke was good, but I just didn't have any speed (500 yds. WTF???). Oh well, at least I didn't suck any worse! The young man who was counting laps for me (although I count myself) had asked me before I started how much I thought I'd do and my response was, "I just don't want to suck!"
Despite not swimming very fast, the effort got the lactic acid going (and yes, I got pushed around by the current and the guy swimming breaststroke next to me), but I had to move on, so I showered quickly, and changed out my swimsuit bottom for bike shorts, socks and shoes, a hat (token-I rarely actually wear it). I was drinking Infinit for this, so I got in a couple of swills, and then got on the bike.
The evil bikes. I was relaxed about it, figuring I'd do whatever I was capable of doing, I would work hard, and it would be what it would be. It was good in that my wave had a bunch of youngsters in it, which to me is more motivating than racing against just my own AG, since I tend to be at or near the lead. I was on bike #5, and started out easy for maybe 30 seconds and then started into intervals. I have found that these bikes favor high RPM's, and in fact one of the men who does really well puts the thing at like Level 1 and just spins his brains out.
Anyway, in this wave, I was not the first to make 1 mile--I was 5th, but that was OK, they were all far younger than me. In watching the time and my mileage, I realized I wasn't doing that poorly, but it still sucked--I HATE those Precor bikes! In the end, I ended up at 6.01 miles, so I was at least glad I hit 6, although last year I almost hit 7.
When I got off the bike I just wanted to lay on the floor for a few seconds, so I threw my towel down and did just that. Of course, someone asks if I'm OK, and yes I am, just leave me be! I found my run lap counting volunteer guy, and I figured him for a triathlete himself due to his lack of fat and general build. He asked how many I thought I'd do, and I chuckled, but before I knew it, we were lining up and the gun went off.
I decided to just run, not look at my watch for lap splits or anything, try not to go out too hard, and just suck it up. It's only 15 minutes, right? Good thing they had one of the back doors open as you'd round the third turn, and that cold air felt really good! I had no idea how fast I was going, but I was behind the young speedsters, and after 1 lap began passing others who had taken off way too fast.
My lap counter guy sensed that I was "not bad" and with maybe 2 minutes left started yelling at me to pick it up a little, and I actually did! I'm sure I scowled at him, but even as bad as it felt, I did pick it up just a little and he even ran out to me the last minute to get me to hit 3/4 lap. I ended up at 14 3/4 laps, which is 8:08 pace, don't laugh I know I am slow! Still, I was surprised, and felt like I'd accomplished one goal for the day which was to not totally suck!
After walking a bit and nearly puking (I got asked yet again if I was OK--so OK I know I am not good looking or anything but do I really look that bad?), I decided I had better go and get my run on before I bagged it and just got a massage right then.
I changed out my top, grabbed some Gatorade, and went back upstairs to the treadmill. Oh boy, this is the part I hate! 2 years ago was the first time where I'd race and then continue running afterwards. I ended up doing 1:15, Z1-Z2, and was ready for a massage, so I headed back to the track for that, then I showered up and changed into regular clothes and went to watch a wave where I knew a few super fast people.
Before leaving, I thought I'd go ahead and check the results, just to see how bad I'd done. They had little strips of paper pinned to a bulletin board, and I guess I thought they were in rank order, as I quickly spotted myself down in 3rd place. But then I looked at the actual results and saw I was actually 1st! I jumped up and shouted, "YESSSS!" I'd actually not done nearly as bad as I though I might do, and it was all sweeter to me considering how hard I've been pushing myself lately.
But then I thought, crap, now I have a streak going, so I am going to have to work hard in 2 weeks at the next race! And I will, as long as it's within my power.
The interesting thing yesterday was going in with no expectations, but knowing that I could push myself anyway. I'd done it Saturday and I did it again yesterday. I remember vividly during both the bike and run (I just can't do it swimming) thinking it's hard, it sucks, but I can do it.
Last week saw me put in um...17 hours of training. This morning I decided I've earned a rest day, so I let myself sleep a bit more. I may still lift weights, but am not going to swim or run. And I think I'm going to do that after the next 2 races. Something tells me I need to back off a little...still complete my long swim, bike and run workouts, but the rest will be what it will be.
Anyway, last year I won my AG at all 4, which made me the series winner. I did really well at these last year, and I think this year is the fourth time I'm doing them. Format is 10' swim, 10' T1, 20' stationary bike, 5' T2 and 15' track run. Scoring is based on distance covered, so it favors bikers, and then runners. A very short race indeed! I do them just to get in some speedwork, benefit a worthy cause, kill off some of the winter blues, get a nice little massage afterward, and actually feel like a triathlete!
When I registered, at first I thought the first race was only 2 weeks after Goofy Challenge, in which case I would skip it (or not, who knows?), but I was experiencing calendar dyslexia, and was happy to realize it was THREE weeks after Goofy. Still, I wrote on my training calendar, "I might really suck" since this time around I am training harder than ever, and well, it is 3 weeks after a marathon.
On Friday, I had a pretty good 7500 swim, although I felt like a truck had run me over the rest of the day and into Saturday morning. I conferred with some of my ultra friends, and reviewed what I thought I may have done wrong and here's the analysis:
- Did I eat and hydrate properly the day before? Yes.
- Did I take in sufficient calories and hydration during the swim? No. My pool was warm (85-ish?), and even though I thought I drank enough, in reality I didn't, and even though I think I'm not burning that many calories swimming, I am, so I will fix those things this Friday.
- Did I replenish my calories sufficiently when I finished? No. Turns out I need to have like a full meal of like 600 calories right when I finish. Ideally, I'd take a nap or at least lay down for an hour, too, but unfortunately this is all happening by 9AM on a work day, so no chance of nap! Although I will try and find a way to at least lay down for 1/2 hour this Friday.
Are we seeing a pattern here? I swear, the eating thing is HUGE! So that is the plan from now on, eat more, drink more, especially before/during/after big workouts.
I got on the trainer Saturday morning and wasn't sure what I would be able to accomplish, but the plan was to ride for only 2 hours, so I figured I could manage that, even if it was just easy spinning. But it turned out I was able to put out some decent power, then I took my time in changing into running clothes and heading to the Y for a short little transition run. I only ran for 20', but it felt good.
When I finished all that, I still wasn't feeling all that great, so instead of trying to accomplish all sorts of things, I basically rested, but managed to go to the grocery store, stretch and fix dinner. I got myself organized for yesterday, since I'd be doing a good warmup, the race, and then running more afterward.
I had a little trouble falling asleep, and I awoke at least an hour before the alarm went off, but didn't feel particularly bad. I just reviewed the situation, though, and decided I didn't have high expectations for the race.
I got to the club, checked in, and they give us a booklet that talks about the race, sponsors, and then they list the AG and overall winners from the previous year. I did get a nice smile out of seeing my name in there!
I headed upstairs to the treadmills and got on one and started out real easy and it felt REALLY slow, so I guess that was a good thing. I did 10' on it and then since the first wave wasn't yet on the track, I ran a few laps quickly. The stationary bikes were set up inside the track (which is 8 laps to the mile), and I got on the spare bike to warm up. I pedalled really easily for 10' and it didn't feel at all bad, but knew from years past how "not good" the bike would feel during the race.
I went back to the locker room to put on my swimsuit, and walked out on the pool deck, got body marked (yes, even for this they follow the tradition!), and when the previous wave was finished, I jumped in. Wow, a nice, COLD pool! I did like a 300 warmup, but it takes me like 800-1000 yards to warmup, so whatever. While warming up, I could feel a cross current that was pushing me into the ropes. Oh well.
So the horn goes off and we are going. I felt good, felt like my stroke was good, but I just didn't have any speed (500 yds. WTF???). Oh well, at least I didn't suck any worse! The young man who was counting laps for me (although I count myself) had asked me before I started how much I thought I'd do and my response was, "I just don't want to suck!"
Despite not swimming very fast, the effort got the lactic acid going (and yes, I got pushed around by the current and the guy swimming breaststroke next to me), but I had to move on, so I showered quickly, and changed out my swimsuit bottom for bike shorts, socks and shoes, a hat (token-I rarely actually wear it). I was drinking Infinit for this, so I got in a couple of swills, and then got on the bike.
The evil bikes. I was relaxed about it, figuring I'd do whatever I was capable of doing, I would work hard, and it would be what it would be. It was good in that my wave had a bunch of youngsters in it, which to me is more motivating than racing against just my own AG, since I tend to be at or near the lead. I was on bike #5, and started out easy for maybe 30 seconds and then started into intervals. I have found that these bikes favor high RPM's, and in fact one of the men who does really well puts the thing at like Level 1 and just spins his brains out.
Anyway, in this wave, I was not the first to make 1 mile--I was 5th, but that was OK, they were all far younger than me. In watching the time and my mileage, I realized I wasn't doing that poorly, but it still sucked--I HATE those Precor bikes! In the end, I ended up at 6.01 miles, so I was at least glad I hit 6, although last year I almost hit 7.
When I got off the bike I just wanted to lay on the floor for a few seconds, so I threw my towel down and did just that. Of course, someone asks if I'm OK, and yes I am, just leave me be! I found my run lap counting volunteer guy, and I figured him for a triathlete himself due to his lack of fat and general build. He asked how many I thought I'd do, and I chuckled, but before I knew it, we were lining up and the gun went off.
I decided to just run, not look at my watch for lap splits or anything, try not to go out too hard, and just suck it up. It's only 15 minutes, right? Good thing they had one of the back doors open as you'd round the third turn, and that cold air felt really good! I had no idea how fast I was going, but I was behind the young speedsters, and after 1 lap began passing others who had taken off way too fast.
My lap counter guy sensed that I was "not bad" and with maybe 2 minutes left started yelling at me to pick it up a little, and I actually did! I'm sure I scowled at him, but even as bad as it felt, I did pick it up just a little and he even ran out to me the last minute to get me to hit 3/4 lap. I ended up at 14 3/4 laps, which is 8:08 pace, don't laugh I know I am slow! Still, I was surprised, and felt like I'd accomplished one goal for the day which was to not totally suck!
After walking a bit and nearly puking (I got asked yet again if I was OK--so OK I know I am not good looking or anything but do I really look that bad?), I decided I had better go and get my run on before I bagged it and just got a massage right then.
I changed out my top, grabbed some Gatorade, and went back upstairs to the treadmill. Oh boy, this is the part I hate! 2 years ago was the first time where I'd race and then continue running afterwards. I ended up doing 1:15, Z1-Z2, and was ready for a massage, so I headed back to the track for that, then I showered up and changed into regular clothes and went to watch a wave where I knew a few super fast people.
Before leaving, I thought I'd go ahead and check the results, just to see how bad I'd done. They had little strips of paper pinned to a bulletin board, and I guess I thought they were in rank order, as I quickly spotted myself down in 3rd place. But then I looked at the actual results and saw I was actually 1st! I jumped up and shouted, "YESSSS!" I'd actually not done nearly as bad as I though I might do, and it was all sweeter to me considering how hard I've been pushing myself lately.
But then I thought, crap, now I have a streak going, so I am going to have to work hard in 2 weeks at the next race! And I will, as long as it's within my power.
The interesting thing yesterday was going in with no expectations, but knowing that I could push myself anyway. I'd done it Saturday and I did it again yesterday. I remember vividly during both the bike and run (I just can't do it swimming) thinking it's hard, it sucks, but I can do it.
Last week saw me put in um...17 hours of training. This morning I decided I've earned a rest day, so I let myself sleep a bit more. I may still lift weights, but am not going to swim or run. And I think I'm going to do that after the next 2 races. Something tells me I need to back off a little...still complete my long swim, bike and run workouts, but the rest will be what it will be.
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