Week-by-week Archives - Can an Average Runner Become an IRONMAN?

Is it really Week 1??!

September 8, 2016 by Amy Riley Leave a Comment

Is it really “Week 1” ??!

Sunday – 90 minute run that I wanted to get int in before church so the family could have the free afternoon together. Asked the running moms group if anyone wanted to run at 8am. (I haven’t ran with them in so long! Miss them!) Yes! Ran with Marrianne and Allyson. Then I had about 50 minutes to finish up on my own.

At one point I had a side stretch on the left side and I felt a little something in my right knee. Nothing major at all, yet aware that its challenging to try to work through stuff on both sides at once.

I’d been thinking over the last week about having a MAT (muscle activation technique) session to ensure my left glut muscles are fully on because my left hamstring is sometimes a little achy, and I believe it’s due to left glute muscles not firing. I’ve resisted going to a MAT session because so many remedies – stretching, foam rolling, riding on a bike – all of which I’ll do a LOT of prior to the run during the race – can cause a muscle to turn back off. And, I’ve been running like this perhaps for a while so maybe my body has made mechanical adjustments. Just doesn’t seem worth it.

Yet, with this experience on the run, I decided to make a chiropractor appointment this week. See if there’s any ART to do to work up build up on the bands leading to the knee or release any pressure in the back. Whatever. First 1 appointment. Felt good to decide. = 90 minutes

Monday – Off. Well I thought I was off, then in the evening I was looking at my calendar for something else and saw the workout I was supposed to do. Dang it! How did I miss that? Ugh! It’s 7pm when I notice, not doing it then.

Now I’ll have to pack and work out on my day and a half trip this week. Shoot, when I so enjoyed not packing for a and doing a workout on last weeks trip.

Tuesday – Swim – 4 x 5 minutes. Start off fast and settle into pace each time. Felt good, felt like I could settle in each time = 20 minutes.

Biked 30 minutes in cycling room, tried to keep it at a pretty steady effort, light multi-taksing.

Ran 30 minutes. (Yesterday’s workout!) = 80 minutes

Wednesday – Figuring out what time to get up. (I can’t wait to be done with this mental figuring out!!)

Swim: warm up 5 minutes, 6 x 50m (so 1 minute, 15 seconds), cool down 5 minutes… so allow 20 minutes.

Bike: warm up 5, 5 x 2 minutes, cool down 5 minutes… so allow 25 minutes.

Run: warm up 5 minutes, 5 x 1 minute, cool down 5 minutes… so allow 20 minutes.

Allow 90 minutes. So… Get shuttle at 7:15am, finish workout by 6:45am. Start at 5:15am. Set alarm for 5am. Ugh! Smiling, yet annoyed I missed Monday workout!

Week 2 – Enjoying the Taper!

September 3, 2016 by Amy Riley Leave a Comment

Sunday – Chicago Triathlon was fun! See more here.

Swim 17:40
Transition 1: 7:53 (includes approximately ½ mile jog)
Bike: 54:29
Transition 2: 3:37
Run: 27:55 = 1:51:31 minutes

Monday – Off. Got a massage!

Tuesday – Swim session: Warm-Up: 250 continuous, Main: 200, 2 x 100, 200, 2 x 100, 200 (200s at RPE 4, 100s at RPE 7 to 8). This felt quick and easy. Took about 40 minutes.

Bike 60 minutes in cycling room at gym. Warm-Up: 10 minute RPE 3, 40 minute RPE 7. Cool Down: 10 minute RPE 3. I just tried to push the effort in the middle some. = 100 minutes

Wednesday – 90 minutes of cycling, did a 60-minute class in the middle of this. Did some intervals and hills and at end of class did different components in quick succession. Fun class. Feeling strong. = 90 minutes

Thursday – Off. Travelled without any workout clothes. It was great! Didn’t pack workout clothes, no water bottle, no running shoes, no gels, didn’t search for a nearby lap pool, don’t even give a shit if the hotel has a fitness center!

Friday – 40 minute run. Outside, great temp. Strides every 5, starting at 10 minutes. Run went by quick. = 40 minutes

Saturday – Amy came with me to the gym! Met at 6:30am , got 2 lanes in the pool and I swam 45 minutes continuous. I was jealous of her variety in the next lane as I saw her kicking and varying it up.

Then to cycling room. 8am to 9am class. Instructor comes in and says he’s do the longest hill he’s ever done in a class. Sorry Amy! And he said it was in honor of Amy Riley doing Ironman Wisconsin the next weekend. Yay! Cheers for me! (I eat this stuff up!) He also mentioned it was my first Ironman on one of the toughest Ironman (IM) courses. Whew!

A gal in the glass showed me her IM water bottle. I gave her a thumbs up. What I should’ve and could’ve said was, “I’ve seen your Ironman water bottle and I’ve been jealous of it for quite some time!”

Enjoyed the class. Walked Amy out afterwards and returned for the 9:15 to 10am class. Then added on to get to 3 hours. It’s nice to notice that the cycling classes full and easier than it once was.

Feeling humbled by the support and enthusiasm of my friends and family.

The countdown is on and I certainly feel it. It’s amazing to me that other are tuned in as well. = 225 minutes

TOTAL = 555 minutes = 9.25 hours

Swim – 58 minutes = 10%
Bike – 429 minutes = 77%
Run – 68 minutes = 13%

Week 3 – I’m so so so tired of this!

August 27, 2016 by Amy Riley Leave a Comment

Sunday – At my Mom’s, after arriving home from Madison yesterday afternoon and before we go to the Dells tomorrow. So, I’ll go over to Delnor fitness center, get a guest pass, and do my swim session.

I’m filling out the paperwork. They said they’d give me a free guest pass even though my friend that goes there was technically out of them! I ask about how to get through the locker room to the pool. “Oh, our pool is closed for annual maintenance.” I drop the pen, of course it is! I say, “That’s why I’m here.” Wow, unbelievable. Okay. Breathe. Smile. “Is there another pool in the area you can recommend?” Yes, another town over. I call the Norris Center, pull up directions on my phone and head over. $8. The pool length 25 yards instead of 25 meters. I don’t do any complicated math (who has any brain power left???) and tack on an extra pool lap to each segment.

Warm-Up: 2 x 200, Main: 3 x 750. I did the first one longer, so that the last one would be shorter.

I put on my watch when I arrived and surprise!, out of charge. Even though I hadn’t used it since it had last been plugged in. So I moved rings on the lane diviners and counted things out that way. = 90 minutes

Monday – Did an hour run before we left for the Dells. Ran easy, did take my route over the few slight hills in the area. = 60 minutes

Tuesday – Had a couple alcoholic beverages yesterday afternoon (and did more working out than my plan originally prescribed over the weekend) so … OFF!

Wednesday – Hour run. Ran before we got in the car to drive home. Got rained on a couple times.

Oh, and I’m doing all my runs without music these days because my iPod hasn’t worked since the 3 hour run in the rain a couple Fridays ago. Doesn’t even bother me much – which is perplexing – I love music – but after I get going, it doesn’t really register that I’m running without music!

Was supposed to do 60 minute ride when we got home, but I had too much to do to prep for tomorrows virtual course facilitation. Had to bag it. = 60 minutes

Thursday – Did 60 minutes of cycling on trainer at home from 6:40am to 7:40am so I could connect with the family, take pictures, before the kids left for their 1^st day of school.

Then took off for 2 hour run. Felt good. Passed by pretty quickly without incident. = 180 minutes

Friday – 90-minute ride on trainer in basement – no time to fit it in any other way. = 90 minutes

Saturday – Was planning to go to Ohio Street Beach in the morning to open water swim with others. Pouring! Sure I could go down there, yet what I’m looking for is an opportunity to swim with others an get splashed some. Went back to bed and dozed some.

Then I got up and decided I wanted to get out a tricky work email I needed to complete sooner rather than later. I should have time for that, then a short bike and swim session, then go to my Source Healing appointment (acupuncture) and the Chicago tri expo. Finished the work, felt great about it, packed up and heading to the gym. Started working some times in my head and I didn’t have enough time! Geez, I just wanted to work some and not be timing things and now I’m time boxed. I’d only have time for a 20-minute ride and the swim session would be squished. Crap. I went back home. I’ll have to do it later.

Instead, took the kids to Panera for lunch, then took Mckenzie with me to my Source Healing appointment. It was fun for me to have Keri, my practitioner, and McKenzie meet. It was fun for Keri too! McKenzie was her talkative self and took it all in stride. And then to the expo. It’s so much more fun to have an energetic young person with you for these things! We got done with the expo after 5pm. No way did I feel like working out after that. Plus, then I got to thinking that it wasn’t a good to do it before the tri tomorrow. Either way, it ain’t happening!

Was a bad and usual week for me for missing workouts.

McKenzie and I instead did a much needed Target run, including getting gifts for their cousins birthday party the next day.

TOTAL = 480 minutes = 8 hours

Swim – 90 minutes = 19%
Bike – 150 minutes = 31%
Run – 240 minutes = 50%

Week 4 – keeping steady

August 20, 2016 by Amy Riley Leave a Comment

Sunday – OFF!

Monday – Had calls in the morning, then drove the kids out to my Mom’s so they could spend the week there. Got back in time to fit in a half hour massage. Wow, so many knots. Scheduled another massage for the next day.

Biked 75 minutes. Plan read: WU 10 spinning @ RPE 3 Main: 7 x (5t, 3r) 3t @ REP 5, 3r at RPE 2. I was not at all sure what this meant! So I just tried to keep a steady tempo kind of effort going, while multi tasking in the cycling room.

Ran 45 minutes. Did this inside on the indoor track. Went by pretty quickly, even though my iPod hasn’t been working since the 3 hour run in the rain! Easy pace. = 120 minutes

Tuesday – Had thoughts of going to masters swim class in the morning since the kids were out of town and the timing could work. Yet then I stayed up late doing some work so I opted for sleep instead. Plus, I actually think I’m calmer in “open water” than the pool. So a busy, splashy time in the pool might panic me more than a splashy crowd in a lake. And I could just be making that up!

Swim recovery session. Warm Up: 150m, Main: 5 x 200 (50 easy, 50 build, 50 easy, 50 hard). Done. About 40 minutes.

Ran 60 minutes indoor on the indoor track again. Went well. Easy run. Then 6 x 20 second strides afterwards. 65 minutes.

Then my 2^nd massage in 2 days. Still plenty of knots. = 105 minutes

Wednesday – Facilitated all day. 2 hours on bike in fitness center. This was not a good bike (in the fitness center). Just at level 1 it was a tough push. OK. Just worked my way through 2 hours. Did some mutli-tasking. Sweated a lot! = 120 minutes

Thursday – OFF! Was up late unpacking and packing and doing work for a new opportunity.

Friday – Chose sleep over doing the short recovery swim on the calendar, since I’d be swimming the full course the next day.

On my drive up to Madison – after I was already figuring out how to carry extra water bottles in the back packets of my jersey and thinking about what the heck I’d do with my car keys during the swim event that had no gear check while all my cycling stuff was in the car [just take my key remote (they are 1 piece) in the water and hope the remote still works??] I got a notification that the swim event was cancelled.

Seriously? Again?

The swim part of my Half Ironman was cancelled. I haven’t been able to swim with others on Chicago lakefront because of travel or going out to see my husband recovering from surgery in the burbs.

I cried, I was so frustrated and disappointed. I was nervous to do the swim event, but I just wanted to do it! I was ready to have this be my last big milestone of the training and be on the taper.

Now what? Ugh. Is there another swim event I could fit in?

I stopped at a Starbucks to figure this out before I headed to my friends. I didn’t want to be distracting and didn’t want the kids upset while I searched on my computer when they wanted to play. I could do the Chicago triathlon at the end of the month. (The next weekend). I couldn’t believe it was still open for registration! So I started the registration process online as I text my coach about whether it was a good idea and I text my friend who’s done it about whether it’s splashy and crowded. Both said yes right away. I registered.

That was decided. Just still feeling confused and defeated about not being able to do a crowded open water swim. Tried to shake it off. Decided I’d do a loop on the bike course the next day. Push myself on speed. Make the most of the trip up here.

Saturday – Pouring when I got up. Just didn’t feel motivated to get up and do less than the original plan. Waited out the heaviest of the rain. Went over to Endurance House, where I’ve left for previous VQ supported rides before. Immediately I was questioning if I was going the right way! I was. Yet as I got out on the road I was still wondering whether I was going the right way…

My coach wanted me to push it more on the downhills so I had more of a steady, even, effort through out. I’m sure I was slowing down since as I struggled to determine whether I was going the right way. Then I was lost. I was pretty sure I was off course. It was a freshly paved road. I didn’t remember that from last week. I was so upset and defeated. I couldn’t think. I didn’t know what to do. I could move forward and see if it got familiar, but I might get myself into busy streets or hills I can’t do. I could go back, yet the course is only marked in one direction on one side of the street, so I might miss the marking again. I had already spent time looking at the course online and couldn’t figure out where I went wrong. I called my husband, at my wits end. He said to trust my instincts. I have none! I’m so f-ing fed up! I could just put Endurance House in my phone, head back and call this shit quits. Yet, dang it! I didn’t want to do that.

I back tracked and found the turn I missed, and then I didn’t allow myself to think about it much and got back on course. It was about a 9 mile add. OK, that’s good. This was supposed to be a big day anyway. I got rained on a few times. That was fine. Although it slowed me down some because I took it a bit slower on the wet downhills. It was the sun peeking out form time to time that worried me. I didn’t have sunscreen on. Dang it. Stupid. Should just put that on regardless! Should I turn around? No, no, just keep going.

Ugh, this day is bugging me. But I’m doing it. I wanted to get through the new Barlow hill part so I could be familiar with that and know when I would dismount. I was getting through the loop but it was not feeling like a good time. I was doing less than I originally planned. I hadn’t been logging the pace desired, I was worried about sun burn! Just couldn’t get into a positive place. Just drudging through.

Then I heard the church bells. Pretty. Made me look around. Gorgeous patch work countryside – you know – where you can see one type of landscape, 1 color folding into another? I turned towards the church and there was a sign: “Free Water for Cyclists.” YES! I was going to be running low on water. I filled up my water and read their sign. How awesome! I felt the love and support! My husband text me right at this moment. I heard the ding. I called and told him about the support from the church. “God works in mysterious ways,” he said. Yup!

I didn’t go on to LOVE the rest of this loop, but I sure feel much, much lighter. Rest of ride felt much faster.

Totaled 60 miles, 13.6 mph, so nowhere near goal, yet faster. = 270 minutes

TOTAL = 610 minutes = 10.15 hours

Swim – 40 minutes = 7%
Bike – 465 minutes = 76%
Run – 105 minutes = 17%