Can an Average Runner Become an IRONMAN?
Audaciously...I'm thinking, "YES!"
Alight! I’m starting to consider what needs to be packed in the 2 transition bags that I’ll turn in the day before my Ironman race. I think I’ve actually already got everything I need…except perhaps the bags themselves.
| T1 |
T2 |
| Cycling Shoes
Socks Water Bottle Helmet Lead Band Sunglasses Sunscreen |
Running Shoes
Socks Water Bottle Chews Gus Visor Sunscreen |
Things I’ve learned recently…
Pack the Body Glide. Doesn’t matter if you don’t have a hard workout or a long one. Just pack it, just in case.
Fitness centers don’t necessarily have a stationary bike.
Don’t question it. Don’t think too much about it. Just pack up, put on your clothes, take the next step, get started. Move forward. Don’t think. Laugh, if you can.
My most frequent answer to, “What are you doing?” is “I’m on a bike.” In a fitness center, somewhere.
I’m on a trip in which I haven’t had a good swim option (the hotel told me they had an outdoor lap pool. Uhmmm, no you don’t!) So I’ve pushed out 2 swim workouts and pulled up 2 runs. (Running in the New Orleans heat and humidity.)
I have three more trips in the next 2 weeks. A business partner just asked me to attend a 3-day train-the-trainer session in California in July. And this request for 3 more days out of town has sent me into a total overwhelm tailspin!
So…let’s outline the schedule!
| Week of | Hours | What’s Needed |
| May 29
Cisco & Nashville |
14.5 | Bike 2 hours Monday p.m. or 4:00-6:00 a.m. Tuesday.
Run 1 hour Tuesday p.m. or 5:00-6:00 a.m. Wednesday. Swim 1 hour Wednesday p.m. after flight at 8:00 p.m. or 5:45 a.m. on Thursday. 105-minute swim on Friday in Nashville? Where? Saturday 3-hour bike ride, 30-minute run in fitness center??? Rent bike??? Sunday swim and run after we get back. |
| June 5
1 day Joliet |
16 | Moved things around = reasonable! |
| June 12
Holland, MI |
8.5 | Pull 1 swim session up to Tuesday.
Run before we leave on Sunday. Swim when we get home. Open water swim continuous while I am there. |
| June 19
2 days Joliet |
11 | Moved things around = reasonable! |
| June 26
2 days Decatur |
12.5 | Run 90 minutes late morning (after already biking and swimming) or 4:30-6:00 a.m. Tuesday.
Run 30 minutes Wednesday a.m. 5:30-6:00 a.m. |
| July 3
Holiday Day w/Laura |
14 | Check plan, not sure everything’s in my calendar = reasonable! |
| July 10
California 3 days
|
8.5 | Move Monday’s swim to Sunday.
Move Tuesday to Monday (all 3 sports on Monday). Move Wednesday’s run to Tuesday. Tuesday run 5:00-6:00 a.m. or in evening. Move Thursday’s bike to Wednesday. Wednesday bike 5:30-6:30 a.m. or in evening. Thursday Learning Group webinar from 6:00-8:00 a.m. Week before half IM. Yikes! |
| July 17
3 days California |
13.5 | 6:00 a.m. Learning Group webinar Monday after half IM.
Move long bike to Monday and replace short bike. 60-minute run Tuesday p.m. or Wednesday 5:00-6:00 a.m. Swim session while I’m gone? |
| July 24
2 days NB |
15.5 | Wednesday p.m. 75-minute run.
Thursday p.m. 90-minute bike. |
| July 31
HH Vacation |
17 | Rented bike.
Check time for August 5 swim. Do swim by time instead of distance. |
| August 7
2 days Canton |
18 | ??
Moved things around to make travel days reasonable, yet that puts all 3 sports big on Sunday and big bricks on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Saturday 88 miles on IW bike course + 25-minute run. |
| August 14
2 days Joliet |
10 | Reasonable and shift bike to Saturday. |
| August 21
Wisconsin Dells |
13 | Shift swims = reasonable! |
| August 28 | 8 | No trips = reasonable! |
| September 4 | 5 | No trips = reasonable! |
I wrote all this out in my notebook, as I was cycling in a fitness center for 2 hours. I got more and more overwhelmed as I flipped in my calendar forward to the next week and next week and saw trip after trip after client days on-site. I was sighing and shaking my head. I’m sure the gal on the bike next to me wondered what my problem was.
I was worrying that I was shifting my training sessions around too much. I felt I should review the big weeks with my coach and talk with people about whether I was completely messing up the purpose of so many workouts by moving them around. I needed to research options for biking and swimming in all the cities to which I was traveling. So. Much. To. Do!!!
Then, I stopped. I thought: CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE!
I took on this game. There’s no need for me to talk to anyone. This is how I need to work it out in order to make the training happen with the work commitments that I wanted to make and that I want to keep. I don’t want to hear anyone else tell me that what I’m doing isn’t good – because it’s what I need to do. This is my game. I’m doing it my way.
And, if I can do next week – with 3 on-site work days – and a Thursday through Sunday vacation trip; then I can do any one of these weeks! Game on.
May 7 was a great day! After a terrible 90-minute run – due to not being properly fueled the day before and a poor night’s sleep, I went out and handled – really well – 48 miles on the Ironman Wisconsin course. (I did fall at the first stop sign of the day, but we’re not talking about that here.) Friends came with me on the ride, I made new friends, I learned so much about gears and shifting, and I felt strong.
Had a quick, yummy lunch at a friend’s house in Madison and then headed towards my Mom’s for church (a Mass said for my Dad) and dinner with Mom and my sister for Mother’s Day.
Then – and this is a big reason to remember May 7 – I WENT OUT!
I went out to meet up with a couple of long-time friends and dance! We laughed and caught up and ran into people we know (because the band we went to see has 3 members from our high school), and danced a lot. I obnoxiously (and awesomely) played a tambourine on stage and had a great time.
I’m so glad my friend’s made this night happen (thanks Jules!).
In the next couple of months as Ironman training cuts into any possible social time more and more…I will remember May 7 and know that I had so much fun… way back when…