Weeks 15 & 16 of Ironman training – Appreciation

Weeks 15 and 16 have proven to be the most difficult yet.  Week 15 brought about a 3 hour bike workout on the Ironman bike course around my home town of Verona (funny that this was difficult considering I’m going to be on the bike over 6 hours on race day).  Week 16 was the 3^rd time I’ve ridden the course and each time, and I’m sure every ride between now and September 7^th, reiterates that I need to get stronger on the bike.  I’ve got a little over 4 months until race day and come hell or high water I’m going to get stronger on the bike, that’s my new obsession.

A question has been floating around my house lately as to which will prove to be more difficult, the Ironman race or childbirth?  I am kidding of course!  I have to keep reminding myself (and I’m doing a horrible job) to not complain to Jess about any of my aches or pains due to self-inflicted training.  Jess has been a champ throughout my training thus far.  She’s always there to listen to me talk about training, which frankly is a boring topic if you’re not training for an Ironman.  Jess does all the food shopping which can be a full time job feeding an Ironman-in-training and a pregnant woman.  She makes healthy meals for me to eat (my Dad and I both believe we could survive on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches).  Jess keeps me grounded when I get worked up about some aspect of training (see the obsession with biking above).  She cheers me on and keeps me going when I start to waver in my resolve to complete this race.  Quite simply, and I know this is a bold statement, she is the greatest wife in the world! 

There are those of you who have been showing support in other ways and I greatly appreciate all of you as well.  Whether it’s reading this blog, commenting on Facebook or asking me how training is going.  I appreciate all of you and recognize the strength of my support group is going to directly contribute to the strength necessary to complete the race on September 7^th!

Weeks 13 & 14 of Ironman training - Adjustments

The training is getting very real now as I've wrapped up weeks 13 and 14.  I have one more week in my base building phase and then I'm a third of the way through the program with the next 10 week phase focusing on building strength.  The next phase will incorporate some higher heart rate workouts even though for the majority of the race I will be operating in a lower heart rate zone.  The thinking is that there will be times throughout the race day that I'll run my heart rate up to a higher zone and I'll need to be able to pull it back down into a sustainable range.
The theme of this entry is adjustments to the workout plan; adjustments to the workout itself and adjustments to the schedule.  I've already made the adjustments to the workout plan before I started any of this training, I believe this is vital to success as you need to prioritize the workout schedule around your previous commitments to family or work.  I've discovered over the past two weeks a couple of other adjustments I'm going to need to make.
The next two phases of my training plan calls for swimming workouts three days per week (currently the plan has two per week).  I had a long workout day last week that called for swimming 2,500 yards straight without rest, and I accomplished it with ease; another 1,724 yards and I'm at the entire 2.4 Ironman swim distance.  Also just yesterday I had a 2 hour 45 minute bike workout in which I rode the Ironman bike course loop around Verona, Mt. Horeb, Cross Plains, and Middleton, and this I did not accomplish with ease!  So in the next phase I'm making the adjustment to eliminate the extra swim day and replace it with an extra bike workout.
The point is, I'm not afraid or concerned about making adjustments to my workouts.  What I am very careful to do is plan my adjustments ahead of time and make them in writing as to not question or forget them.  I find that if I wait until the day of my workout or actually during my workout to make the adjustments then I'm taking the easy way out and cutting corners off my workout.  Make the adjustments to your workout to fit your life, but do them ahead of time and prioritize your workouts among the other items that are important to you.  

Weeks 11 & 12 of Ironman training - vacation

Everyone needs a little time off from work and working out.  When I was growing up, about every other year, my parents would load all of us kids into the station wagon and drive to CO to one of the ski resorts.  So in the spirit of reliving my past, I loaded my parents up into their SUV and drove with them to Breckenridge, CO this past week for one last family ski vacation hooray!  Most of my family and their families made the trip and we had a great time together; I was even able to get in a few workouts.  Thanks to others that have trained for the Ironman race before me I was able to take their advice to just enjoy myself and family while on vacation and not get too concerned with not getting in all of my workouts (5 months to go so there's plenty of time to make it up).

The few workouts that I did get accomplished, both on the trip and right when I got home, made me feel a little more at ease with taking the vacation.  For the most part I didn't notice the thin air in CO during my runs or while skiing, where it really hit me was in the pool.  I could hardly swim 200 yards without feeling like I was going to drown.  Now that I'm back I'm refreshed and ready to attack the next 5 months of training!

I guess the message of this entry is that it's OK to take some time away from work and working out to spend with your family and show them your true appreciation for their support.  After all, what are you more likely to remember, the great day of skiing you had or that great 5 mile run you got in?  I'm not saying you need to abandon your workouts altogether while on vacation, but you could certainly dial them back to make sure you spend time appreciating those around you.  I do like to get a few workouts in while I'm away from home mostly to justify the food and drink over consumption that is bound to happen.