Back in the saddle...and face down on the trail...

I had a 15 mile trail run planned yesterday.  My marathon is about 2 1/2 weeks away, so I have to get in my long runs.  But after the prior day's disastrous bike ride I really felt the need to rekindle my love of riding.  So I decided to ride the 12 miles to the trail head, run the 15 miles, then ride home.  It would likely be almost a 5 hour workout.  It seemed like overdoing it, but I didn't want to skip or postpone the imperative long run in my marathon buildup, and at the same time I didn't want to wait too long to get in an enjoyable ride.  So I asked Karin if she thought it was too much.  She said, "Nah.  It can just be an easy ride.  Besides, that's what you do."

Turns out it was too much.

I actually managed my time badly (Who, me???) and got a late start, so I had to cut the run short to make sure I wasn't riding home in the dark.  It's a good thing I did.  I only ran 12 miles, and I was dragging around mile 8, which is about the time my toe caught a rock and I went flying and landed face down on the trail.  I was bruised and scraped up on my knees, arms and face, and covered in dirt from knees to nose!  I dusted myself off and finished the run and ride home, but today I am just exhausted and sore everywhere!  I assume the general all-over fatigue is from the workout itself, and the soreness is from the fall.

But I actually did have an incredibly enjoyable ride, even on the way home, when I was exhausted and sore.  Perhaps it was because my only goal was to get home, just like my only goal on the way there was to reach the trail.  And that's when I realized that, although I do love cycling, I don't have the heart of a cyclist.  What I have is the heart of a Bike Commuter.  I love to ride when the goal is just fun and fitness, and especially, to get somewhere.  To get to work, get to the trail, get to the gym, or just get to lunch.  In regular shoes.  On platform petals.  That is my kind of riding.

Unfortunately, I sense that is not the kind of riding that leads to a successful Ironman.  So I will actually have to do goal-oriented, speed-specific, challenging rides.  A lot of them.  But I will make a concentrated effort not to lose my bike commuter roots, and every once in a while, put on my running shoes, slide casual capris over my padded shorts, and ride the 15 miles to Sunday brunch.

Another little blow to the ego, followed by new hope

www.mapmyride.com data for "Spirit-crushing Ride"

So I was just on www.mapmyride.com putting in the route for the "hilly" ride that nearly brings me to tears (or, sometimes, actually brings me to tears).  Turns out that 3 mile spirit-crushing climb in the middle of it is only rated a "Cat 5".  Otherwise known as "The least difficult of all the categorized climbs."

Well that is unfortunate.

I have been whining like a little baby over the least difficult of all the categorized climbs.

Slightly more encouraging is the knowledge that (according to the same elevation data) there are actually 2 climbs of nearly equal length and intensity on that ride.  So 6 total miles of constant climbing.  So by the time I hit the middle of the second stretch of climbing, it's no wonder I am near a melt down!

But the best news of all is this: The above-mentioned route actually has about 300 ft. more climbing than the Ironman AZ bike route!  So once I am past the February 9th ride (featuring "rolling hills and some long, gradual ascents") where I will be trying to keep up with my dad, my training may actually become easier!

A BAD, BAD DAY

I had a pretty productive training week last week.  It looked like this:

Mon: 32 mile (hilly) ride
         40 min. full-body strength training
Tue: 45 min. trail run
Wed: 13 mi. run + 1 hr. hike
Thur: 28 mile (hilly) ride
Fri: 45 min. swim (focus on torso rotation)
Sat: Rest day
Sun: 30 min. run w/ 6 X 30 sec. sprints

Yesterday I attempted the 28-mile ride that makes me want to cry...but I actually started crying before I even got to the "hard" part!  There was a headwind which I later found out was about 13 mph.  My shoes were acting up AGAIN! I couldn't even clip in because I was afraid I couldn't get out quickly, which is not an option on the streets where I ride.  There is a lot of traffic and a lot of side streets, which I never pass without slowing down and making eye contact with the driver, because they very often don't realize I am there!  So I can't be struggling to unclip from my pedals when a car rolls through a stop sign before it sees me.  And I was so tired of riding on crappy roads, which is mostly all there is around me.  I rode part of the ride on the canal bike path to get away from traffic, but the surface conditions on the path were even worse than the road!  And there was no way I was going to attempt the spirit-crushing hill not being able to clip in.  It was such an awful ride.  It was supposed to be 28 miles, but it ended up only being 13.  But it felt like 28.  I have never hated cycling as much as I did yesterday.  I was regretting ever signing up for Ironman, since it means months of long, hard rides in my future.  I used to like bike riding.  Back when it was fun.  When there were no goals.

We all have days like that, right?

Right???

Tough rides and tweaked shoes

Yesterday I did a 28-mile ride, on the same route I rode Monday.  It is a very hilly route, and there is about a 3-mile stretch in the middle of the ride that seems to go uphill forever!  I routinely sink into single digits on that hill.  I also routinely swear I am giving up cycling altogether on that hill.  I intend to keep riding that route multiple times a week until I reach a level of competency on it where I don't want to cry like a baby and curse like a sailor during that 3-mile hill of torture.

The already significant torture of the hill was compounded by the fact that I have been having serious problems with my shoes.  I adjusted my cleats a little farther forward a few weeks ago, and since then they have been nothing but trouble.  After a few times of unclipping at intersections, the cleats somehow get slightly twisted, so they are at an angle, and as a result they get stuck in the pedal.  At several intersections and at the top of one particularly arduous hill I was literally stuck to my pedals.  I almost pulled a muscle trying to get my shoe out of the pedal!  It was terrifying, and I ended up riding the last 12 miles of the ride not clipped in, during the hilliest sections.  I know I screwed them up when I adjusted them, since I never had a problem before that.  Now I have to figure out how to fix them.

Slow down!

I had an epiphany during the fifth mile of my 13 mile run today.  At the end of the 4th mile I was already tired, wondering how I was going to get through 9 more miles.  At that point I turned off the street onto a dirt path, and within a few minutes I suddenly felt fantastic!  I mean, I literally said, out loud, "Wow! I feel fantastic!"  When I looked down at my GPS I realized I had inadvertently slowed down by almost 10 seconds a mile!  That's when it hit me: Going just a little bit slower feels better!  I felt like I could easily go on for the next 9 miles and maybe longer.  Because now I was actually running what my body apparently considered an easy pace.

This was truly a revelation for me.  I have been running for a long time, and I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, so I really should have made this connection a long time ago.  After all, common sense, race results, and years of various speed workouts would dictate that when I run longer, I run slower.  Conversely, when I run a shorter distance, I am able to run faster.  And yet, somehow, I never turned that logic around to realize that if I choose to run a little slower, I can run comfortably for longer.  When I am struggling part way through a long run, I don't recall ever making the conscious effort to slow down.  I often slow down eventually, unintentionally, but by then it is too late.  I will struggle the rest of the way.  If I go slower early, before I need to, I can maintain a steady, comfortable pace the whole way.

This logic is so simple, so basic, it is astounding (and embarrassing) that I didn't realize it earlier. I mean, it's ridiculous!  Going a little slower feels better.  Of course it does!  That is just common sense!  That's why I hate speed work.  It hurts.  Slower hurts less.  I have considered a couple of reasons for this mental block: 1. The pace that my body feels is easy is slower than I think I should be going and 2. It goes against my instincts to slow down.  The whole point of training is to get faster.  So I would never tell myself, while training, to go slower!  But I sure will now!

My dad's age

So I just found out my dad is actually only 61, not 62 like I thought!  This is typical.  The whole year that he was 55 I thought he was 57.  Anyway, this is good news.  It is much less embarrassing to get dropped by a guy who is ONLY 61!

Workouts!

Just finished a 32 mile ride!  Actually it was a hell of a workout.  I rode 6 miles to the gym where I met my friend and did a 40-minute full body strength workout.  Then I rode a 20 mile hilly course from the gym, then 6 miles home from the gym.  Riding a hilly course immediately after doing a couple hundred squats and lunges was pretty brutal, but now I feel strong and I get to eat pizza!  The ride was abysmally slow.  I know I didn't used to be this slow.  But that was a couple of years ago when I was riding 5 days a week.  So hopefully if I just keep riding I will get faster.  That is how it works, right?

Yesterday I swam for an hour, including a butt-load of drills.  It turns out that if you do multiple long sets of just pulls, or just kicks, when you put it all back together and use your whole body you feel like a superhero!

Ironyman training

I got a phone call from my dad the other night.  He said my mom has been reading my blog and is "concerned".  She thinks I should consider skipping one of my 2 upcoming events, either the century ride or the marathon.  Ha ha! Moms.

Well, it turns out that my century ride has been downgraded from the 100 mile ride to the 55 mile ride at the Tour de Palm Springs.  My dad's riding buddy in Palm Springs signed up for the 55 miler, so that, combined with my training and upcoming marathon, made the 55 miler seem like a better fit.  That takes a lot of pressure off, but even riding "only" 55 miles, I am still a bit worried about keeping up with my dad!  That's right--the 34 year old training for an IRONMAN is afraid of getting dropped by her 62 year old dad.  Trust me, it's a legitimate concern!  He rides like 20-30 miles at a time 3 or 4 or maybe more times per week!  In other words, he is doing what I should be doing!  When we rode a hilly course the day after Thanksgiving he smoked me on all the hills.  And while the cycling portion of my training has been progressing very sporadically since then, he has been riding and improving consistently.  I recently found out that he has a bet that he will beat another cycling friend in the 55 mile ride.  That means that when my dad drops me at mile 10, we can both pretend that it is just due to his friendly rivalry with that guy.

So that leaves plenty of room to worry about the marathon.  But I have decided not to worry about that either.  I was concerned because my triathlon training doesn't really allow for the necessary running focus that effective marathon training requires.  I actually found myself wondering: How am I supposed to train for a century and a marathon simultaneously and be any good at either one?!  Yes.  I actually had that thought.  Right before I realized that is EXACTLY WHAT IRONMAN TRAINING IS!!!! That's what happens when you shift focus from your real goal!  So I am just gonna keep on with my Ironman training and see what happens.  I plan to work up to an 18-miler, then two days later, if I can run 10 miles, I think I am good to go for the full marathon.  And if not, I will just downgrade to the half marathon!  That is the real key to success: LOW EXPECTATIONS!

6 Days without exercise!

Today is the 6th day since my run in Central Park.  6 days without exercise!  Though I am constantly beating myself up for only getting in 4 days of training week after week, the fact is I very seldom go more than 3 days without a workout.  Yes, I am inconsistent for an Ironman, but for a regular person, I am actually pretty consistent!  So 6 days without a workout is a long stretch.  But it's not just 6 days of not working out...it is 6 days of not working out WITH A MARATHON LESS THAN 5 WEEKS AWAY, FOR WHICH I AM ALREADY UNPREPARED!

It was already cause for concern when I found myself Googling "Marathon training in 6 weeks," so imagine my chagrin to find myself, 2 weeks later, Googling "Marathon training in 4 weeks."  But the truly disconcerting part is that I got a lot more hits when I Googled 4 week marathon training than when I had Googled 6 week.  This leads me to 3 startling conclusions: 1. A scary amount of procrastinators are out there, 2. An even scarier proportion of those procrastinators are hoping to finish marathons with next-to-no preparation and, 3. Less time on Google could allow more time for actual marathon training.

Today I feel much better.  I am hoping to be back to work the day after tomorrow, and back to working out the same day.  After a full week with virtually no physical activity I know I will have to ease back into my "routine" (and let's face it, I use that term loosely anyway).  So at this point I may actually be even more behind, fitness-wise, than when I originally Googled "6 week marathon training."  The good news is, I have no doubt that a search for "3 week marathon training" will yield even more responses!

Sick!

So that thing where I post my planned training schedule for the upcoming week?  Yeah...I probably won't do that anymore.  At the end of the week it's just embarrassing, and that just gets awkward for all of us.  Training sessions are like hitchhiking alone in South Africa or registering for an Ironman--best not discussed until it is already done.  So, I trust we are all on the same page here--no need to discuss last week's projected training, right?  Bygones!  Water under the bridge!

Moving on...I am sick.  I assume I have the flu, because according to the news everyone in America has the flu right now.  I am sure you can imagine how an endurance athlete in training for multiple events, who already feels behind in her training, is reacting to being too sick to train.  Being on the 6-WEEK marathon training plan (a borderline ridiculous concept to begin with) does not allow time to get sick!  Just like those overweight people for whom every Monday is the beginning of a diet, I often feel like every Monday is the real beginning of my training.  Like this is the week I will be consistent and hit all my training goals.  Thus every week dawns with that misguided-yet-undeterred expectation; except this week.  Because this week I am sick.  I can't even go to work, much less workout.  Whether or not I accomplish my specific weekly training goals, one thing I don't do is sit around a lot.  And what does a sick person do?  That's right, sit around a lot.  I am not good at being sick and sitting around.

I can only hope that this forced rest will allow my body to come back strong and ready to perform.  I hope so, because next week, I am sure, is the week when my training is really going to get in gear. 

NYC

Central Park

I only got in one run in NYC!  Chasing down ticket deals then watching 4 Broadway shows in 3 days is a workout in itself, trust me.  My 8-miler in Central Park felt like 20 miles.  I absolutely LOVE running in Central Park, but this was a miserable run.  I was pretty upset (okay extremely pissed off) that I felt so crappy on the run.  But there may actually have been a reason for the fatigue I felt that day...2 days later I had a full-blown flu!

Despite my intentions to get in some indoor cycling, I refused to waste even a minute of my 4 days in NYC in this depressing little hotel "gym"!

A "Full" week of workouts

So here is my past training week:

Mon.  No workout** (Shocker!)
Tues.  No workout** (Astounding!)
Wed. 11.25 mile run (aka "The run involving the near-pooping of the pants")
Thur. 16 hour work day
Fri. 20 mile ride + 1 mile run off the bike***
Sat. 11 mi. ride to work, 11 mi. ride home + 2 mile run off the bike***
Sun. (Planned: 5 mi. trail run + 45 min. swim)
        Actual: 30 minute run including 6 x 45 second sprints

** Disclaimer: I was in northern AZ for Karin's birthday (Dec. 31st) where it was snowy and icy and I couldn't find a safe place to run.

*** I love these workouts when I run right after the bike.  Even though the runs are short so far, they make me feel like a real triathlete!

So there we have it.  Not a terrible week.  I would say I am satisfied with 4 of those training days. I am most disappointed on the days when I have plenty of time to do a long workout but I let myself get sidetracked by other things.  Like Sunday, where there is a slight discrepancy between the workout I planned and the workout I did.  I don't really think any workout of someone training for an endurance event (or several endurance events) should be as short as 30 minutes; but at least it had a little intensity. I don't mind that I didn't get in a workout on my 16 hour day, because my job is so physical.  But I would like to replace one or both of the "no workout" days with "a workout."  Of course, it was a special occasion, but you may be noticing, as I am, that there seem to be "special occasions" every week!  Friends in town!  Girlfriend's birthday!  Christmas!  Nap time!  Breakfast!  So many occasions! And now it is snowboard season, so there will be days spent doing that. That really is the bottom line: There is always going to be something.  That is why Ironman training is not easy.  That really is the biggest challenge of being a regular person training for an Ironman--getting in the training, doing the work, despite the constant demands on our time.

Now, the following is my PLANNED training for the current week:

Mon. Swim, in my dreams (Done!)
Tues. 1 hour swim w/ drills
Wed. 10 mile run*
Thur. 1 hour indoor cycling + strength training*
Fri. 1 hour indoor cycling including long speed intervals*
Sat. 13 mile run*
Sun. 16 hour work shift

*In New York City

Let's see how I do!

Dream Workouts

I had a long ride followed by a swim planned for today after work.  Then yesterday I received a call offering me overtime hours at work for tonight.  This is the tricky part of scheduling workouts in my life.  I do not have any children (and honestly I don't know how anyone with children ever trains for anything!), but since I am an hourly employee, when I take days off I then have to pick up shifts at work to replace the ones I took off.  For instance, tomorrow I am leaving for 5 days in NYC, which means the 2 days of the week I am here will both be spent working 16 hour shifts.  I love this flexibility, but what it means to someone training for an endurance event is that a lot of  my free time is spent traveling (instead of training) and I end up working a lot of 16 hour days (instead of training) when I am in town.

So in the past week I was out of town for two days and worked two 16 hour days.  So my plan for today was to get to the gym as soon as it opens (5 am) and get in a 30 minute interval swim session before I have to be at work at 6:30 am.  A great plan in theory, except that I went to sleep at 11:30 pm, so the plan would be executed on 5 hours sleep followed by a 16 hour workday. I often find myself weighing the benefits of an extra workout versus lost hours of sleep.  Both are indispensable to effective training, but often mutually exclusive.  (Again, how do people with kids do this???)

But I am an Ironman after all, so when my alarm went off at 4:30 am I dutifully got up, put on my swimsuit covered by my work uniform, grabbed my pre-packed gym bag and headed to the gym.  Or so I thought.

I was the only one in the locker room and pool area, where it was dim and warm, and I put my stuff in a locker and got in the pool.  By the time I finished my workout the pool and locker room were teeming with people, many of them children.  I went to my locker to retrieve my gym bag, and when I opened it I discovered it was full of Chinese food.  Lo mein and General Tso chicken neatly packaged in those little cardboard cartons I so love.  I immediately thought, "Oh great!  This has been sitting in my locker for 8 hours!  I doubt it's safe to eat now!"

Then I woke up.  It was 5:25 am.  Time to get ready for work.  No time for a swim.  Luckily, I had already worked out in my dreams.  If I can squeeze in a few more of these workouts while I am sleeping it will solve all of my problems, and I can easily complete the whole Ironman in my sleep!  Maybe even place in my age group!  

Per my previously mentioned goal to post more workouts completed than aborted:

I will post the log of my full training week...as soon as I complete one.

Forum half-truths

In addition to the afore-mentioned Googling of things like "Training for a marathon in 6 weeks" I have been hitting up the internet forums, like Beginner Triathlete, asking the same questions.  On the bike forums I ask if it is realistic to ride my first century on about 8 weeks training.  On the running forums I ask if it is realistic to run my first marathon with about 8 weeks training.

What I DO NOT do is ask in the forums if it is realistic to ride my first century and run my first marathon in less than 8 weeks...within a week of each other.  The forum people, though very nice and helpful, are on a need-to-know basis.  The cyclists and the runners mostly say the same thing:  It is certainly not recommended, and it may hurt, but it is possible, and if I really want to do it I should just go ahead and do it!  They are cautiously encouraging, about the century or the marathon.  I dare not ask about the century and the marathon.

Though I suspect the answer would be the same general sentiment:  DON'T DO IT!  But if you want to, JUST DO IT!

The marathon cometh!

I had been debating whether to run the Lost Dutchman Marathon in February after reading a lot of things that suggested marathon training was counter-productive, if not detrimental to Ironman training.  I had been going back and forth, but was generally on the side of saving my debut marathon until after my debut Ironman, when lo and behold, I received registration for the marathon as a Christmas gift!  Well then, that settled it!  I guess I am running a marathon!  Unfortunately I had not been focusing on marathon training, so now, with less than two months till 26.2, I feel woefully unprepared.  So I started Googling things like: "Can I train for a marathon in 6 weeks?"

Lo and behold once again!  Up pops Olympian Deena Kastor's husband/coach, there on my computer screen , proclaiming confidently that if I can run 12 miles this weekend (which, in terms of my schedule, meant today) I could certainly train for a marathon in 6 weeks.  He then laid out a 6 week training plan!

Well.  Hmmmm.  I certainly did not plan to run 12 miles today.  Now I wish I hadn't had McDonald's for lunch.  But I have to know if I can run 12 miles, so I know if I can train for 26.2 in 6 weeks!  So I put on my running gear and Garmin and stuffed some energy chews in my little hydration pack and off I went.

I ran 11.25 miles.  To be clear, I did not stop because I was tired or sore.  On the contrary, I felt fantastic, and could have gone longer.  No, I stopped at 11.25 miles because at 10.25 miles, 1 mile--via the shortest route--from my house, I almost pooped my pants.  Not a rumbling-belly-oh-that's-unpleasant-better-slow-down almost pooped my pants, but an I-may-actually-have-to-drop-my-capris-behind-this-here-bush-in-the-middle-of-this-nice-residential-neighborhood almost pooped my pants.  My stomach had been less then thrilled for most of the run, but it seemed to stop short of total mutiny...until 10.25 miles.  I ran the whole last mile home a little slower, more of a cheeks-clenched shuffle at times, and until the moment I ran through my front door I did not rule out the very real possibility that those capris would be hittin' the ground behind a bush.

So. 11.25 miles.  True I did not go the 12, but it was very clear that I could have gone 12, very comfortably, had it not been for this unfortunate bowel mutiny.

So I am now following the 6 week marathon training plan.  Well, following it as best I can, as combined with the 5 week century ride training plan*.

* Full disclosure: There is no such thing as a 5-week training plan for your first century ride.  That would be insane.  So I started the (nearly as insane) 8-week training plan on week 4!