I made it through the first week of honest-to-goodness training for Ironman Augusta 70.3. It was a tough week, emotionally and physically, and there were moments that I wondered why I am putting my body through this. If you've ever trained for a triathlon or any big race, then you probably realize that thinking that way in the first week of a training program is not really a good thing.
The workouts weren't difficult. They were tiring, and I realized that I have some work to do so that I do not go splat on the race course in September.
Monday - I was supposed to swim 45 minutes, but given the fact that our dog passed away, I took a rest day. By that, I mean I lay on my couch and cried all day long and into the wee hours of the night.
Tuesday - I decided to make up for missing Monday's swim by doubling up. I did a road ride for the schedules 60 minutes in the morning - a little over 16 miles - and swam in the early evening as my kids were practicing with their swim team. Doubles usually don't bother me, especially if there is no running involved, but this workout day left me drained.
Wednesday - A 45-minute run, which ended up being 4.65 miles and included a longer-than-should-have-been walk break. I have talked about my absolute LOVE of running before, and today it enveloped me like a big sweaty grizzly bear and choked the hell out of me. I felt clunky and uncoordinated, and SLOW. The humidity in Florida in the summer cannot adequately be described, it must be experienced. Even at 4:45 a.m., it is a mean and mocking little SOB. In the cool months of winter, I almost get to the point where I like running. But in June, I want to humiliate it in front of its friends.
Thursday - I swam again while the kiddos practiced, and got in 2000 yards in 42 minutes. The plan called for 45 minutes, but I doubt the 3 minutes lost is going to make a bit of difference in the end. I worked on my backstroke, and 600 yards of the workout was kicking drills because I have no kick and, for their size, extremely weak legs. This affects me not only in the pool, but also on the bike. So, despite the fact that I practically move backwards in the pool when I do it, I did kick drills. And I also observed that 9-15 year-olds swim a lot faster than I do.
Friday - A rest day, amen and hallelujah! When training for any type of race, you grow to relish rest days, even if you have a twinge of guilt over not training on those days. Especially when you see someone working out. Then you feel lazy. Somehow, though, I manage to get over it as I sip my cold drink while lying by my pool.
Saturday - Weekend workouts are the long workouts, and both my husband and I moan and groan about them while in training. Today, we were working out with some people from our tri club, a swim-bike brick workout. I had a decent swim, I felt a little tired but was still able to get in 1900 yards of mostly freestyle and a little backstroke, plus I more than made up for the 3 minutes I skipped out on during Thursday's swim. That was followed by the bike ride from hell, a hilly and painful 22 mile ride on county roads. My favorite part was having a panic attack when we went over Interstate 75. Bridges scare the hell out of me, and I wasn't expecting to have to deal with an overpass, whose bike lane was a little too narrow and close to the edge for me. Oh, and the tractor truck that blew by me at the precise moment that I looked down at the road below when I really do know better than to do that was just the cherry on the cake. And I realized that I need a new bike saddle. In fact, I am reminded - even at this moment - every time I sit down.
Sunday - Long run day, my favorite day! Not really. We were thankful for an overcast morning and there was a breeze, so the humidity behaved itself somewhat. Both husband and I were really tired, our legs were tired, our arms were tired, our brains were close to flatlining. So we did a run/walk/run thing. We ran a mile and walked one minute, for 6.2 miles. It was actually quite pleasant, we could talk to each other during the workout, and the walking only slowed us down a little bit. The run/walk thing is difficult for a lot of runners, because you don't feel like it's really a run if you do any walking whatsoever. To that, I say get over yourself. It took me a while to get there, but I am realizing that my legs feel less tired for the rest of the day when I give them a little bit of a break during some workouts.
Total training time logged: 6 hours, 24 minutes
I realize now that my fatigue is likely the result of two doubles during the week. I feel good that I was able to get in all of my scheduled workouts, and didn't have the urge to blow off even one of them. It's like being able to check every item off a to-do list, and if you are like me, then you are all like, Yes! I got it ALL done! I am Super-multitasker! And then you make your next to-do list.
On to week #2!
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