#100

This is my 100th post. I can't believe that I started this blog nearly a year ago, and I also can't believe that Ironman is only 8 days away.

This morning I was up at 5:00 to get a six-mile run in before going to see Meyer do a 5k race. I spent part of my run on the boardwalk and going along the beach. With the sun peeking over the horizon, the waves gently rolling in, and a slight breeze off the ocean, it couldn't have been a better morning to run.

At the 5k, for which Meyer shaved over 2 minutes off his previous race time, were a couple people who've done an Ironman and were giving me all sorts of wonderful encouragement. I love the running/tri community here.

I'm still in that nervous-scared-excited triangle, which I figure I'll be in right up until the starting gun, but it isn't affecting my training sessions so I'm going to just keep plugging along for the next week.

Separation Anxiety

Baby Blue is gone.

My bike, my friend, my companion for many solo rides over the past 9 months is now at a bike shop in Philadelphia awaiting transport to Madison.

I dropped her off this morning at the shop and was literally shaking when I handed her over to the bike tech there. Suddenly, the Ironman became very real. It's almost here.

Driving back home, I realized that the race has now become all-consuming. I can hardly think of anything else.

I already miss Baby Blue. I hope she has a good trip. Would it be too much for me to sleep with her pedals under my pillow?

Yagaddawannit

If you don't get the title, you need to say it out loud, really fast.

I'm in the beginnings of the final push. And I'm starting to realize just how much I want this. I also realized that I simply had a bad July. The physical issues, the mental issues....that's all behind me. I've got just over 5 weeks left, and I'm ready to give it my all.

My run this morning was good. It was a short one - just a 4-mile recovery run - but I still had no trouble getting up before the sun to do it. While I was running and thinking about the drive one needs to complete an Ironman, I though of this video. It's a little disturbing, but every time I watch it, it reminds me of what people will put themselves through to reach a goal. This is certainly NOT how I want to finish (especially for my mother's sake) but I'm going to finish this Ironman, even if I have to crawl across the finish line.

One of Those Days

While I was hoping to hit 19:30 at the Run for JJ 5k yesterday, I couldn't shake the sluggishness I felt throughout my body. I finished in 20:12 - my worst time of the summer, but still faster than anything I'd done prior to this year. Everyone else must have been feeling sluggish too, since 20:12 was still good enough for 2nd place in my age group.

Guess it was just one of those days.

My coach surprised me with a day off today, followed by two more recovery days (although some people wouldn't call 3 workouts in 2 days no matter how easy they were "recovery.") I think he understood that my body just needs a little extra rest before we really ramp it up over the next few weeks.

And, somewhat surprising to me, I'm looking forward to the next few weeks!

Mental Blecchhies

This week I had a case of the mental blecchhies (see a few posts ago for the physical blecchhies). My body is working fine, but getting myself motivated, especially on the days with two training sessions, was a bitch. Knowing that I've only got about 6 weeks left and can't derail myself now, I asked a three friends who have about 8 Ironman finishes between them if they ever felt this way and what they did.

Thank goodness for friends! All three of them experienced the same thing, and all three got through it by telling themselves that it is ok to miss a workout every now and then. It is ok to substitute a chicken breast and Endurox with chocolate chip cookies and a mojito for a recovery meal.

So one night this week, after a pretty decent swim I walked to the nearest convenience store and went home with a pint of Ben & Jerry's. I don't even remember the flavor, but it was sooooo good. I, of course, ate the entire thing that night - all 1,000 calories of it.

Now it's the weekend and I'm feeling pretty good. The only thing on my training schedule was a recovery run, which I did with Meyer this morning. Tomorrow is another 5k race, and I'll be shooting for 19:30. Back in May my coach said he thought I'd be at 19:30 by the end of the summer. I laughed. Now that possibility isn't that far off. We'll see tomorrow.

Even When I Don't Want To

When the alarm went off at 5:00 this morning, I wanted to turn it off and sleep for another hour or two. When I hit the trail for my warm-up, I wanted to turn around and run home. After the first and second and third mile repeat, with the air much heavier than it has been lately, I wanted to stop and cut the workout short.

But I realized that that would do me no good. I need to be 100% committed to preparing my body - and mind - to respectably finish this race.

It would be easy for me to go home after work tonight and relax, but the training plan calls for an "optional open water swim." For me now, it is no longer an option.

I have to continue reminding myself that I will do this. And this is probably a good time to once again (for the 3rd time) post this video.

Ready?

Today someone asked me if I was ready for the Ironman.

My answer was "no."

And I feel that at this point - eight weeks out - it should be no. If I was ready now, I'm not sure what I would do for the next eight weeks. How difficult it would be to maintain a race-ready peak for that long. I don't want to be able to answer "yes" to that question until the morning of September 13.

Now, if I'd been asked if I feel like I'm where I should be, I'd have to also answer "no." My cycling is there - exactly where it should be. My running is coming along and should be at the right place in the next couple of weeks. But my swimming is still lagging behind. I'm in the pool at least 2 days (hopefully 3) and in open water 2 days this week. I'm hoping that I'll inch closer and closer to where I need to be so that by September 13 I'll be there.

And because of the swimming issue, my mind isn't quite where it should be. I think July has just been a tough month mentally. I've been in kind of a holding pattern with the training in my pre-push phase. It is kind of like my base-building phase from last January/February, but not as exciting because, unlike last January when everything was new and exciting, it been kind of the same ol' thing. I'm hoping with the final push phase and the increase in training volume and intensity, my mind will be able to focus more.

I'm hoping.

Lows and Highs

Wow, I just realized how long it has been since I last updated the blog. Then I realized how many ups and downs I've experienced since my last post.

Shortly the July 4th holiday I began hitting a mental wall. My training was ok - not great, but ok - but my mind just wasn't in it. I think I was questioning all of the time and effort and if it will really be worth it. At this point, if I'm not working or sleeping, I'm training, and I've had to put just about everything else on the back burner. I'd signed up for the Dave Reynold's Biathlon, picked up my race packet the day before, and then just couldn't do it. I was in bed when the starting gun went off.

In not doing the biathlon, I was able to have two days off of training in a row - something I hadn't had in a while. I guess it was good for me, because the training for me since then has been better. Last Wednesday I got in a good speed workout - hitting 2:50's for six half-mile repeats. And last Friday I had a pretty good speed workout on the bike with my coach. We did nine 1.2-mile repeats and really pushed it.

The speed work must have helped me in last Saturday's Seashore Strider 5k race. I took second in my age group and had a PR of 19:48. I felt good enough to run the route again as a cool down, and then add another mile by running home.

Yesterday I got in a good 3-hour ride. Only in southern Delaware have I been able to do an out-and-back ride and experience headwinds both ways. I was wiped out, though, for the remainder of the day and napped most of the afternoon.

I already got my 60-minute run in today and will be swimming this afternoon. This is going to be a tough week of training but it will get me ready for my "push" phase over the next month.

Only 62 days to go!

Physically Wiped But Mentally Charged

Awesome, awesome training session today. It has left me physically tired but mentally charged.

Workout:
- 15 minutes warm-up, heart rate zone 1-2
- 10 minutes stretching (I'm getting much better at actually doing the stretches!)
- 10 x 30-seconds at 90-95% of max effort; 60 seconds easy jog recovery after each
- 5 x 30-seconds at 90-95% of max effort; 30 seconds easy jog recovery after each
- 5 minutes cool down, heart rate zone 1-2
- more stretching

I'm really feeling good going into this weekend's duathlon. What a change from a week or so ago!

Charging Forward

Saturday's interval run (4 x 1 mile repeats) was great - felt good before, during and after. During the run, while I was focused on HR and pace, I also did some thinking (more thinking during the recovery times) and came to the realization that given my schedule and abilities, I'm not going to be able to get in every training session. I'm not going to nail everything like I did when I was on vacation. And I can't beat myself up for that. I just need to keep charging forward.

My bike is at the shop, getting a new rear tire. I just bought a new pair of running shoes (same as my old ones) which I'll start breaking in after Sunday's race. And I'm feeling pretty good.

Sunday's weather is supposed to be partly cloudy and in the upper 50s. Mentally, I'm ready. This is going to be a good way to start the season.

Charge!

Eureka!

For the past few weeks I've been feeling like my training has been going nowhere. I'm still struggling with my swimming, my cycling and running has been alright but nothing to write home about. I've felt like I've been in a holding pattern.

Then it hit me.

My first race isn't for another six weeks, so on the surface it would appear that I'm just trudging along with nothing "exciting" going on. But I'm not keeping the big picture in mind. Everything I'm doing now is creating the foundation for future training. I'm working on swimming skills to make me more efficient for longer swims. I'm increasing my aerobic capacity on the bike and run to build endurance. I'm getting in the habit of using time on the bike to eat and refuel the body.

I just need to keep these things in mind as I train through the next month before the racing season actually begins.

Today is an "off" day to recharge the body. I'm using it to recharge the mind as well to keep the big picture in front of me.

Dealing with Reality

I'm gathering my stuff together to head back to work to get a good swim workout in before finishing the rest of the afternoon.

After my no-swim workout debacle on Tuesday, I had to come to grips that I'm not - at least for now - going to be able to do what my coach wants me to do in the water. It's ok - at least for now.

Today I'm going to get in the water, try my best, and work on my technique. My workout probably will be nothing like the 2,400 yards I'm supposed to be doing, but that doesn't matter - at least for now.

The important thing is that I'm getting in the water, I'm working what I need to, and I'm not letting my own self-doubts get in the way.

I had a good bike workout yesterday morning (I hadn't moved quite so quickly at 6am in a long time) and I'm going to have a good swim workout today.

I'm going to fix the things that I suck at - at least for now.

Psyched Out

I got my first four weeks of my training program today. My first thought was, "alright, this is going to be hardcore and will put me in the best condition of my life."

Then reality set in.

I'm not a strong swimmer. In fact, I'm not even a good swimmer. I've been working on my technique but I know I have a very long way to go before I'm even remotely efficient in the water. So when I saw my swim workout for today, I realized that the distance was more than twice what I'd been doing lately and that I was supposed to time myself for several parts of it. (And this was all after doing a running workout today.)

I panicked.

I completely psyched myself out to the point of being sick. I feared not being able to do the workout. I feared having to tell my new coach that I couldn't do what he wanted me to do. My fear got the better of me.

I'm dreading having to tell this to my coach. It's only my first week and I've already let him down. Worse, I've already let myself down.

I feel like crap.

I have to make tomorrow different.

Ready!

I'm feeling ready.

Today's workout was a one-hour run. And even though it was only 50 degrees and winds were holding steady at 20-25mph, I felt great! No shin problems, no knee problems, no hamstring problems. I did almost 7.5 miles in the hour time frame, and even had the energy (and breath) to carry on a short conversation in the last mile with another runner who is doing the marathon - her first also.

Julie's travel plans are almost set. She'll be here to run the half-marathon relay with a partner yet to be named. (We'll hopefully get that from the race officials soon!)

This is a take-it-easy week, with just a couple short runs.

I'm looking forward to Saturday!

10 Days 'til 26.2

An odd thing started happening this morning. Every time I think about the marathon, or read an email (lots of email traffic about night-before dinner), or hear someone talk about it I start getting nervous. My heart starts beating faster and I feel a bit of anxiety. Usually I'm pretty calm up until the day before. It's never happened this far in advance.

I've just got to keep telling myself that I'm prepared. I've done what I needed to do, and I'll be fine on race day.

Page 8, Question 3

Question #3 on page 8 of my questionnaire from my soon-to-be coach deals with staying positive when things don't go well during a race.

I didn't fare so well on this one today.

I started out slow and with some tightness in my shins. That continued for about two miles. I've run through that kind of tightness so it was no big deal. Once the shins loosened up, I felt better but I wasn't able to speed up.

I hit the trail at about the 5.5 mile mark and suddenly hit my stride. Miles 7 through 13 were much much better. But then I started dropping on mile 14. My energy was sapped and my legs were burning. By mile 16 I was jogging four minutes and walking one. I trudged through the last few miles and finished the 20 miles ready to drop.

I'm feeling ok now, 8 hours, some hard-core stretching, plenty of fluids, a hot bath and a generous application of muscle cream later.

I have one more long run left before I taper for the marathon (27 days away). I WILL do better next time.

Video Time!

There are a ton of great videos that provide motivation, inspiration or umm...hmm...ah...fear. Here's one.

Note to my mother: I know you don't like to think about your son pushing his body too far. So don't watch this one.

Reason for My Title

I got the idea for the title of this blog from a video I saw. It's hard not to want to do this when you see the video.