My Ironman training plan--I try to follow it strictly. I knew this week was going to be one of my most challenging yet. Not only did I have twelve hour work days, but I am also in the last half of my Ironman build-up training--and it is getting rough. I just didn't know how rough it was going to get. To understand what I mean, I need to explain a little bit about how the Ironman plan is organized. It is set up in four week blocks. The first week is hard, the second week is harder, and then the third week is the hardest of all before they plan a week of recovery training. Well this last week was the third week of the cycle, and it was also the fifteen week of Ironman training.
I should have known this was going to be a rough one when the suggestion for the week shared, "Don't feel discouraged if you feel general fatigue beginning to mount as this week progresses--just concentrate on getting the work done and on the coming recovery week." And I think general fatigue does not even come close to describing how I felt this week. For example, on Friday I woke up at 2:45am, was in the pool by 3:30, swam 2800 yards (I like round numbers), and then did 30 minutes of hill work on the stationary bike before hitting an hour long spin class at 5:30. I was back at the house by 6:45am, where I proceeded to collapse back into bed unable to lift my head off the pillow. My husband and kids came in several times to make sure I was still alive, and in my comatose state I was frantically trying to figure out how I could get out of attending a meeting I had to lead at 9am. Luckily, Sean revived me with coffee, and I was able to drag my body to work and fulfill my obligations at the meeting...and then came the three day weekend. No rest for the weary!
I should have known this was going to be a rough one when the suggestion for the week shared, "Don't feel discouraged if you feel general fatigue beginning to mount as this week progresses--just concentrate on getting the work done and on the coming recovery week." And I think general fatigue does not even come close to describing how I felt this week. For example, on Friday I woke up at 2:45am, was in the pool by 3:30, swam 2800 yards (I like round numbers), and then did 30 minutes of hill work on the stationary bike before hitting an hour long spin class at 5:30. I was back at the house by 6:45am, where I proceeded to collapse back into bed unable to lift my head off the pillow. My husband and kids came in several times to make sure I was still alive, and in my comatose state I was frantically trying to figure out how I could get out of attending a meeting I had to lead at 9am. Luckily, Sean revived me with coffee, and I was able to drag my body to work and fulfill my obligations at the meeting...and then came the three day weekend. No rest for the weary!
A view from the water tower overlooking our running path. This is where I just had to change my attitude. I could continue to have a defeated attitude, or I could turn it around and do the best I could to add some fun to my training. So on Saturday, I ran 13.3 miles with my Ironman buddies in one of my favorite settings--Temecula wine country. We start out in a suburban neighborhood, but before long we are running along beautiful vineyard properties with hot air balloons flying overhead. With this kind of scenery, I couldn't help but have a more positive attitude about my training. After all, if not for my need to do a 2 1/2 hour run, I would have missed out on this experience.
At mile 45 we finally reached the beach. On Sunday, I decided to surprise my husband with a family trip to the beach, only as part of that trip we would need to bike five hours from Murrieta to Solana Beach (and yes, he considered this a gift, not a punishment). Instead of seeing this training ride as a chore, I was able to spend some quality time with my husband touring through some beautiful terrain, and then we spent the day at the beach with my daughter and youngest son who drove down on their own. In addition, our bike trip was planned so that we were able to have lunch at our favorite splurge restaurant, Pizza Port. After enduring over 60 miles of hills and headwinds, nothing tastes better than a slice of pizza and an ice cold Arnold Palmer (lemonade iced tea).
My early morning training buddies take over the Red, White, and Blue Run. Day three of my holiday weekend training extravaganza, I had to make up the 3,600 yard swim I skipped on Saturday. I was in the pool by 5:30am, because I had to meet my running buddies for a 5K run at 7:30. I can't say I was happy to be in the gym's pool instead of snuggling up in bed, but I was at least able to look forward to meeting my friends once I finished the endless laps.
My buddy Kay put together this team of runners and made sure we all attended (I won't even mention the lengths she went to to make sure none of us backed out). I must admit, I was a little sore and tired at this point, but it was a nice flat course that Kay and I had run on numerous occasions, so I knew what to expect. I started out right behind the boys and I tried not to let them get too far in front of me. There were so many points where I wanted to just slow down and walk, but I constantly reminded myself that it was only a three mile race. The end of the course had us finishing inside the Storm Baseball Stadium and at that point it was easy to push myself to a respectable 28:10 finish. It wasn't the most organized race, and they really had a hard time figuring out the actual finish times, but Kay and I both finished with a first place in our age division. Okay, well I really need to be honest here. Because I wasn't wearing my glasses, I didn't realize they had placed me in the wrong age-division until they announced me as the winner of the 30-39 age group. At that point with all the mistakes the organizers had made, I didn't want to confuse things any more by pointing out their error and asking for my 2nd place in my actual 40-49 division. My daughter did point out that people must have thought I looked ancient for a thirty year-old--thanks lovely, supportive daughter.
Here I sit at the end of my three day weekend extremely thankful that I survived my week, and looking forward to my rest day tomorrow and a week full of recovery training. My body did not give out on me, but I am feeling my body begin to go into sleeeeeep moooode...ZZZZZZZZZZZ!
My buddy Kay put together this team of runners and made sure we all attended (I won't even mention the lengths she went to to make sure none of us backed out). I must admit, I was a little sore and tired at this point, but it was a nice flat course that Kay and I had run on numerous occasions, so I knew what to expect. I started out right behind the boys and I tried not to let them get too far in front of me. There were so many points where I wanted to just slow down and walk, but I constantly reminded myself that it was only a three mile race. The end of the course had us finishing inside the Storm Baseball Stadium and at that point it was easy to push myself to a respectable 28:10 finish. It wasn't the most organized race, and they really had a hard time figuring out the actual finish times, but Kay and I both finished with a first place in our age division. Okay, well I really need to be honest here. Because I wasn't wearing my glasses, I didn't realize they had placed me in the wrong age-division until they announced me as the winner of the 30-39 age group. At that point with all the mistakes the organizers had made, I didn't want to confuse things any more by pointing out their error and asking for my 2nd place in my actual 40-49 division. My daughter did point out that people must have thought I looked ancient for a thirty year-old--thanks lovely, supportive daughter.
Here I sit at the end of my three day weekend extremely thankful that I survived my week, and looking forward to my rest day tomorrow and a week full of recovery training. My body did not give out on me, but I am feeling my body begin to go into sleeeeeep moooode...ZZZZZZZZZZZ!
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