Week 4 - keeping steady - Can an Average Runner Become an IRONMAN?

Sunday – OFF!

Monday – Had calls in the morning, then drove the kids out to my Mom’s so they could spend the week there. Got back in time to fit in a half hour massage. Wow, so many knots. Scheduled another massage for the next day.

Biked 75 minutes. Plan read: WU 10 spinning @ RPE 3 Main: 7 x (5t, 3r) 3t @ REP 5, 3r at RPE 2. I was not at all sure what this meant! So I just tried to keep a steady tempo kind of effort going, while multi tasking in the cycling room.

Ran 45 minutes. Did this inside on the indoor track. Went by pretty quickly, even though my iPod hasn’t been working since the 3 hour run in the rain! Easy pace. = 120 minutes

Tuesday – Had thoughts of going to masters swim class in the morning since the kids were out of town and the timing could work. Yet then I stayed up late doing some work so I opted for sleep instead. Plus, I actually think I’m calmer in “open water” than the pool. So a busy, splashy time in the pool might panic me more than a splashy crowd in a lake. And I could just be making that up!

Swim recovery session. Warm Up: 150m, Main: 5 x 200 (50 easy, 50 build, 50 easy, 50 hard). Done. About 40 minutes.

Ran 60 minutes indoor on the indoor track again. Went well. Easy run. Then 6 x 20 second strides afterwards. 65 minutes.

Then my 2^nd massage in 2 days. Still plenty of knots. = 105 minutes

Wednesday – Facilitated all day. 2 hours on bike in fitness center. This was not a good bike (in the fitness center). Just at level 1 it was a tough push. OK. Just worked my way through 2 hours. Did some mutli-tasking. Sweated a lot! = 120 minutes

Thursday – OFF! Was up late unpacking and packing and doing work for a new opportunity.

Friday – Chose sleep over doing the short recovery swim on the calendar, since I’d be swimming the full course the next day.

On my drive up to Madison – after I was already figuring out how to carry extra water bottles in the back packets of my jersey and thinking about what the heck I’d do with my car keys during the swim event that had no gear check while all my cycling stuff was in the car [just take my key remote (they are 1 piece) in the water and hope the remote still works??] I got a notification that the swim event was cancelled.

Seriously? Again?

The swim part of my Half Ironman was cancelled. I haven’t been able to swim with others on Chicago lakefront because of travel or going out to see my husband recovering from surgery in the burbs.

I cried, I was so frustrated and disappointed. I was nervous to do the swim event, but I just wanted to do it! I was ready to have this be my last big milestone of the training and be on the taper.

Now what? Ugh. Is there another swim event I could fit in?

I stopped at a Starbucks to figure this out before I headed to my friends. I didn’t want to be distracting and didn’t want the kids upset while I searched on my computer when they wanted to play. I could do the Chicago triathlon at the end of the month. (The next weekend). I couldn’t believe it was still open for registration! So I started the registration process online as I text my coach about whether it was a good idea and I text my friend who’s done it about whether it’s splashy and crowded. Both said yes right away. I registered.

That was decided. Just still feeling confused and defeated about not being able to do a crowded open water swim. Tried to shake it off. Decided I’d do a loop on the bike course the next day. Push myself on speed. Make the most of the trip up here.

Saturday – Pouring when I got up. Just didn’t feel motivated to get up and do less than the original plan. Waited out the heaviest of the rain. Went over to Endurance House, where I’ve left for previous VQ supported rides before. Immediately I was questioning if I was going the right way! I was. Yet as I got out on the road I was still wondering whether I was going the right way…

My coach wanted me to push it more on the downhills so I had more of a steady, even, effort through out. I’m sure I was slowing down since as I struggled to determine whether I was going the right way. Then I was lost. I was pretty sure I was off course. It was a freshly paved road. I didn’t remember that from last week. I was so upset and defeated. I couldn’t think. I didn’t know what to do. I could move forward and see if it got familiar, but I might get myself into busy streets or hills I can’t do. I could go back, yet the course is only marked in one direction on one side of the street, so I might miss the marking again. I had already spent time looking at the course online and couldn’t figure out where I went wrong. I called my husband, at my wits end. He said to trust my instincts. I have none! I’m so f-ing fed up! I could just put Endurance House in my phone, head back and call this shit quits. Yet, dang it! I didn’t want to do that.

I back tracked and found the turn I missed, and then I didn’t allow myself to think about it much and got back on course. It was about a 9 mile add. OK, that’s good. This was supposed to be a big day anyway. I got rained on a few times. That was fine. Although it slowed me down some because I took it a bit slower on the wet downhills. It was the sun peeking out form time to time that worried me. I didn’t have sunscreen on. Dang it. Stupid. Should just put that on regardless! Should I turn around? No, no, just keep going.

Ugh, this day is bugging me. But I’m doing it. I wanted to get through the new Barlow hill part so I could be familiar with that and know when I would dismount. I was getting through the loop but it was not feeling like a good time. I was doing less than I originally planned. I hadn’t been logging the pace desired, I was worried about sun burn! Just couldn’t get into a positive place. Just drudging through.

Then I heard the church bells. Pretty. Made me look around. Gorgeous patch work countryside – you know – where you can see one type of landscape, 1 color folding into another? I turned towards the church and there was a sign: “Free Water for Cyclists.” YES! I was going to be running low on water. I filled up my water and read their sign. How awesome! I felt the love and support! My husband text me right at this moment. I heard the ding. I called and told him about the support from the church. “God works in mysterious ways,” he said. Yup!

I didn’t go on to LOVE the rest of this loop, but I sure feel much, much lighter. Rest of ride felt much faster.

Totaled 60 miles, 13.6 mph, so nowhere near goal, yet faster. = 270 minutes

TOTAL = 610 minutes = 10.15 hours