Weeks 17 & 18 of Ironman training – Getting Lucky

Week 17 was a recovery week and week 18 was getting back into the swing of training.  My recovery weeks basically mean that I’m doing slightly less than I did the week before and not increasing the time and/or effort it takes to complete my workouts (remember all my workouts are time based and not distance based).  Then the week right after a recovery week is a slight increase to what I did the week before my recovery week.  It can get confusing, that why I've got it all written down and planned out beforehand.   I’m making progress and feeling stronger and faster mostly every day.  There have been a few more days lately that I’m not feeling ‘it’ and I need a little kick in the butt to get my engine started.  All in all, my spirits are up and I’m still excited about the training and the races ahead of me.  So far I've been extremely fortunate to have the support of Jess for this adventure and she takes great care of me so that I can concentrate on training and not get distracted. 

I've also been very lucky thus far in my training to not suffer any physical or mental setbacks…come on now people get your heads out of the gutter; what did you think this entry was going to be about?  Every now and again you hear someone say ‘I don’t believe in luck’, or ‘I make my own luck’.  I can’t help but think how much luck is going to play into whether or not I cross that finish line on September 7^th.  I can take precautions to help alleviate something bad happening to me, but in the end I can’t wrap myself in bubble-wrap until race day. 

I can buy the right equipment and rest when something gets sore, but I can’t totally prevent an injury from occurring; I have to get lucky.  I can have my bike checked over by a professional and take good care of it up to the race, but I can’t prevent blowing a tire on race day; I have to get lucky.  I can practice some open water swims and do all of my swim workouts, but I can’t prevent someone from kicking me in the face and ending my day early; I have to get lucky.  You’re starting to get the point about how many different variables are at play during this 17 hour race day: weather, equipment, strategy, nutrition, other racers, allergies, etc.  I've been lucky thus far and I need to continue getting lucky all the way through race day.  One could easily get consumed by how much luck you need on your side to complete anything in life, but as my brother Jeff told me a long time ago, ‘worrying is a useless emotion’.  All you can do is prepare for the things you can control, and roll with the things you can’t.

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.  

Weeks 9 & 10 of Ironman training - Excuses, excuses

Weeks 9 and 10 are in the books and boy do I have some excuses brewing.  If you're an avid reader of this blog (wishful thinking, I know), you noticed that I missed a blog entry last week.  I was out of town in Atlanta two weeks ago for work and spent all of this past week getting all caught up on work, life, and training.  This is my excuse for not getting the blog done, but I tell you the excuses were starting to come into play and influencing my motivation to get my workouts done too.

I got back from ATL last Saturday afternoon and was planning all along to get my long bike ride in upon my return.  I told Jess after the ride that it was my most difficult workout to date, for the mere fact I just didn't feel like doing it after my long week and flight.  I really had to push myself this past week to find the motivation for the workouts as I had so many things pilling up at work.  My legs were tired, I'm sick of working out inside, I needed to catch up on sleep, etc, we've heard them all before.  Then yesterday I packed both my weekend workouts into one day, first I tackled the two hour bike ride and then immediately jumped on the treadmill for an hour long run...and it felt great!

My point is we all have the excuses, they will be there every single day for the rest of our lives...if you can suck it up and push yourself through the difficult times, there's going to be greatness again on the other side.  I would estimate that 25% of everyone's workouts are terrible, 50% of them are just OK and sufficient, but the 25% that feel great are the ones that keep us coming back for more.  Keep pushing yourself through the difficult times and stay focused on the greatness of the 25%!

Week 8 of Ironman training - On the road

Greetings from Atlanta. I'm at a work conference this week which is severely competing with my workout plan for my attention. Another week of training behind me and so far so good. Last week was my last before a "down" week; every 4th week is a recovery week where time and mileage is dialed down a bit to give you a chance to rest a bit. It's not a significant rest, for example last week was 8 hours of training and this week is 7. I'll take the little victories where I can get them.

My challenge this week is getting all of my workouts in while being away from home. There are some adjustments to be made, for example there's no pool at my hotel so I'm supplementing my swim workouts with weight lifting. I'm making good use of the hotel workout facilities and hopefully will get a run or two in outside before I leave. It's around 50 degrees here, I'll be the only one outside in shorts and a t-shirt!  The training plan I'm using is made for the obstacles of work travel in that the workouts are all time based so I don't have to know my way around town I just need to go out and run for an hour.

The other big challenge is to avoid too many Miller Lites each night so I get the workouts in...this morning was a bit painful!

Week 7 of Ironman Training - Rise and Shine!

I wrapped up week 7 of training and so far one of the only significant gains I'm seeing are on the scale, which makes little to no sense but that's a separate blog topic altogether.  I guess the other gain that I'm seeing is my tolerance for boredom on the bike trainer and treadmill.  Even though I've setup a TV and stereo in my workout room I still just can't get used to indoor workouts.  Jess is able to throw on a good TV show or movie and hit the treadmill for hours, but I'm overwhelmed after 15 minutes.  I need to get outside!  The problem to overcome is the lack of daylight so early in the morning...speaking of early mornings.

The book I'm using to facilitate my training dedicates some significant print space to time management and the importance of it while training for an Ironman.  Last week's post focused on breaking down the hours in the week, which came directly from the book (Be Iron Fit by Don Fink).  One of the main points of this book was that in order to dedicate the necessary amount of time needed to train for an Ironman, you have to get your workouts done in the morning.  I cringed when first reading this, much like all of you are right now.  The book describes all the scenarios at play throughout the day and how each of those will inevitably impact your ability to workout in the afternoon.  The concept is simple; commit to getting up early and working out to start your day for 1 month.  No excuses, every day for a month get up and first thing you do is knock out today's workout.  Then at the end of the month, it will become a habit if you can appreciate all the benefits.

I have taken this approach to my training and I have to admit it's spot on.  Don't get me wrong, there are more days than not that I don't want to do it, but I do.  I sleep better at night (out before my head hits the pillow), I'm wide awake when I'm done with the workout (saves money on coffee), I feel much less stressed at the end of my workday because I don't feel annoyed that now I have to squeeze in a workout (Jess appreciates this).  Start little and build some momentum, wake up 30 mins early for a quick run.  After time you can build that up to 1 or 2 hours early to get in a larger workout and even get some other things done before heading off to work.  If you're reading this blog hopefully you're open to learning a thing or two from my experiences and this would be a great takeaway for you, trust me.  I hated the idea at first but have really grown to appreciate (not love) the morning workouts.