Waaaaaayyy back in November, when I started this blog to document my training, I predicted that a time would come when all I could write would be “I’m so tired…” It took 7 months, but finally that day has arrived. Actually, it’s worse. I haven’t even had the decency to let all of you, my loyal readers, know how tired I am. Instead, I just vacated my blog altogether for the last several weeks. June has been a hard month.
It’s not just that training volume has increased. June has seen a convergence of work explosions, life activity, and training load, creating a perfect storm of energy drainage that puts me in a catatonic state on my couch many evenings, obsessively watching Fringe episodes (seasons 1-4 so far) and unable to compose coherent sentences, let alone thoughtful and reflective blog posts.
Not that things are any better today. I have a massive work week coming up, capped with a training weekend in Tahoe, and I just broke down in tears in my closet because choosing my outfits for the week overwhelmed me so much. Alarming.
So I’ve been a slacker about my blog, even though there has been plenty to reflect on, in training and in life.
AMBBR
On June 1, I went up to Tahoe for America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride (aka AMBBR). I spent much of the trip focused inward, fascinated by each and every physical reaction I had to the elevation. I swam, biked and ran while up there, and while the swim and bike were mostly fine (excepting occasional and sudden gasps for air, as if I had just remembered to breathe, though I had been breathing all along), the run was a brutal slog that I am hoping had more to do with a fading cold than with the elevation. We’ll test that theory this weekend.
Clearlake
On June 8, I went to Clearlake for another training event. It was supposed to be a ¾ Ironman, but weather had other ideas. With temperatures edging up to 109, coaches made a last-minute switch, and instead we did a 40-minute swim (about 1.2 miles), a 50-mile bike ride (mostly flat), and a timed run, that for me lasted 2:30 and spanned 12.5 miles. I finished the course a little after 12pm, exhausted, covered in salt, so hot I could barely move, and dreaming with passionate detail about lounging in a pool. Luckily, that wish was fulfilled, complete with friends and cocktails.
I felt fatigued through the bike leg, but since my bike computer had a battery fail at mile 1, I have no data to help me understand why. I did push pretty hard to stay with another teammate for half the ride, which may explain why the run was so very, very slow. That, and the heat, the awful heat. That miserable, oppressive heat. Despite my slowness, I felt proud of my perseverance, my drive. There was a water stop at mile 5, which was the official turn-around for the day, but I knew others were going a little ways past the water stop to get extra mileage in, and I wanted to push myself, too. I like having the opportunity to see what I can do, so I can get to the end and say, “yes, I did that.”
AMBBR Finishers It’s not just that training volume has increased. June has seen a convergence of work explosions, life activity, and training load, creating a perfect storm of energy drainage that puts me in a catatonic state on my couch many evenings, obsessively watching Fringe episodes (seasons 1-4 so far) and unable to compose coherent sentences, let alone thoughtful and reflective blog posts.
Not that things are any better today. I have a massive work week coming up, capped with a training weekend in Tahoe, and I just broke down in tears in my closet because choosing my outfits for the week overwhelmed me so much. Alarming.
So I’ve been a slacker about my blog, even though there has been plenty to reflect on, in training and in life.
AMBBR
On June 1, I went up to Tahoe for America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride (aka AMBBR). I spent much of the trip focused inward, fascinated by each and every physical reaction I had to the elevation. I swam, biked and ran while up there, and while the swim and bike were mostly fine (excepting occasional and sudden gasps for air, as if I had just remembered to breathe, though I had been breathing all along), the run was a brutal slog that I am hoping had more to do with a fading cold than with the elevation. We’ll test that theory this weekend.
Clearlake
On June 8, I went to Clearlake for another training event. It was supposed to be a ¾ Ironman, but weather had other ideas. With temperatures edging up to 109, coaches made a last-minute switch, and instead we did a 40-minute swim (about 1.2 miles), a 50-mile bike ride (mostly flat), and a timed run, that for me lasted 2:30 and spanned 12.5 miles. I finished the course a little after 12pm, exhausted, covered in salt, so hot I could barely move, and dreaming with passionate detail about lounging in a pool. Luckily, that wish was fulfilled, complete with friends and cocktails.
I felt fatigued through the bike leg, but since my bike computer had a battery fail at mile 1, I have no data to help me understand why. I did push pretty hard to stay with another teammate for half the ride, which may explain why the run was so very, very slow. That, and the heat, the awful heat. That miserable, oppressive heat. Despite my slowness, I felt proud of my perseverance, my drive. There was a water stop at mile 5, which was the official turn-around for the day, but I knew others were going a little ways past the water stop to get extra mileage in, and I wanted to push myself, too. I like having the opportunity to see what I can do, so I can get to the end and say, “yes, I did that.”
Slacking
This week: general slacking. It has been a very light recovery week, and I took it a step further by taking several extra days off completely. I think my body can use this extra rest, but it can be mentally hard to take time off.
In an email this week, the team manager wrote that Vineman, the Iron-distance event some of my teammates are training for, is just 6 WEEKS AWAY! This is crazy! Since we’ve all had the same training calendar, this means that, conceivably, I could be doing a 140.6-mile event in just 6 weeks. My real race is still 3 months away, of course. But still!! This blew my mind. I definitely don’t feel ready to do an Ironman in 6 weeks. I haven’t run more than 13 miles this whole season, partially due to my Achilles issues. Could I really do a marathon at the end of a 112-mile bike ride?
When I’m tired like this, it gets hard to control my anxiety about the event. It’s hard to trust in the training I’ve done, and my fitness, and my strength of will. It’s hard to imagine I can do this thing I’ve set out to accomplish. It’s times like this that visualization helps.
Mental Preparedness
My favorite form of visualization is imagining I’m in the last miles of a race when I’m out for a short evening run. I evoke all the feelings I know I’ll have, I imagine myself crying (because, oh dear, I will), I picture the crowds and my friends cheering for me. I get myself completely inspired and amped up. I do this type of visualization to create a sense-memory of what I feel like physically when I’m running 5 miles, and link it in my head to what I feel emotionally on race day. If I can feel as peppy and fresh at mile 135 of the Ironman as I feel at mile 5 of my evening workout, that will be a good thing (a miracle, really!). I’ve done this for marathon training and it helps me stay inspired on the journey and stay light on my feet at journey’s end.
And speaking of journey’s end, here is my own low-tech ticker:
98 days until Ironman Lake Tahoe.
I’m using days, which really freaks me out. But perhaps after a little rest, I’ll feel inspired and amped up and ready to go!
This week: general slacking. It has been a very light recovery week, and I took it a step further by taking several extra days off completely. I think my body can use this extra rest, but it can be mentally hard to take time off.
In an email this week, the team manager wrote that Vineman, the Iron-distance event some of my teammates are training for, is just 6 WEEKS AWAY! This is crazy! Since we’ve all had the same training calendar, this means that, conceivably, I could be doing a 140.6-mile event in just 6 weeks. My real race is still 3 months away, of course. But still!! This blew my mind. I definitely don’t feel ready to do an Ironman in 6 weeks. I haven’t run more than 13 miles this whole season, partially due to my Achilles issues. Could I really do a marathon at the end of a 112-mile bike ride?
When I’m tired like this, it gets hard to control my anxiety about the event. It’s hard to trust in the training I’ve done, and my fitness, and my strength of will. It’s hard to imagine I can do this thing I’ve set out to accomplish. It’s times like this that visualization helps.
Mental Preparedness
My favorite form of visualization is imagining I’m in the last miles of a race when I’m out for a short evening run. I evoke all the feelings I know I’ll have, I imagine myself crying (because, oh dear, I will), I picture the crowds and my friends cheering for me. I get myself completely inspired and amped up. I do this type of visualization to create a sense-memory of what I feel like physically when I’m running 5 miles, and link it in my head to what I feel emotionally on race day. If I can feel as peppy and fresh at mile 135 of the Ironman as I feel at mile 5 of my evening workout, that will be a good thing (a miracle, really!). I’ve done this for marathon training and it helps me stay inspired on the journey and stay light on my feet at journey’s end.
And speaking of journey’s end, here is my own low-tech ticker:
98 days until Ironman Lake Tahoe.
I’m using days, which really freaks me out. But perhaps after a little rest, I’ll feel inspired and amped up and ready to go!
Week 31 Mileage
Tuesday, June 11 Cardio - 1 hour Wednesday, June 12 Run - 30 minutes, 3.2 miles Core - 30 minutes Thursday, June 13 Flaked on a bike ride Friday, June 14 Worked late, went home to watch Fringe Saturday, June 15 Swim - 45 minutes, 1.3 miles (open water) Run - 1 hour 15 minutes, approx. 7.5 miles Sunday, June 16 Bike - 3 hours 45 minutes, 61 miles, 3100 ft. gain Total time: 4 hours 55 minutes, including time spent consuming a large chocolate croissant at Bovine Bakery. | Totals: Swim - 45 minutes, 1.3 miles Bike - 3 hours 45 minutes, 61 miles Run - 1 hour 45 minutes, 10.7 miles Cardio/Core - 1 hour 30 minutes Total - 7 hours 45 minutes |
Week 30 Mileage
Tuesday, June 4 Swim - 30 minutes Cardio - 1 hour (elliptical) Wednesday, June 5 Run - 50 minutes, 5.75 miles (Track) Core - 15 minutes Thursday, June 6 Cardio - 30 minutes (elliptical) Core - 1 hour (cardio strength class) Friday, June 7 Travel to Clearlake Saturday, June 8 Swim - 40 minutes, 1.2 miles Bike - 3 hours 15 minutes, 51 miles Run - 2 hours 30 minutes, 12.6 miles With transitions, total time was 6:30. Sunday, June 9 Rest day | Totals: Swim - 1 hour 10 minutes Bike - 3 hours 15 minutes, 51 miles Run - 3 hours 20 minutes, 18.5 miles Cardio/Core - 2 hours 45 minutes Total - 10 hours 30 minutes |
Week 29 Mileage
Tuesday, May 28 Sickness Strikes! Rest day to fight the cold. Wednesday, May 29 Rest day. Starting to revel in it. Thursday, May 30 Don't want to rush the healing, right? Friday, May 31 Run - 1 hour, 6 miles Core - 20 minutes Saturday, June 1 Swim - 50 minutes, 2275 yards (at elevation) Run - 1 hour, 6 miles (at elevation) Sunday, June 2 - AMBBR Bike - 4 hours 10 minutes, 70 miles, 4200 ft of gain (5:15 total time) | Totals: Swim - 50 minutes, 2275 yards Bike - 4 hours 10 minutes, 70 miles Run - 2 hours, 12 miles Core - 20 minutes Total - 7 hours 20 minutes |