Can an Average Runner Become an IRONMAN?

Audaciously...I'm thinking, "YES!"

Week 14 – not perfect, but progress!

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Ironman pic

It’s not going perfectly! Yet, I’m making progress. Look at this notebook. It’s full of the results, the thoughts, the doubts, the celebrations, and all the work of the first 7 months of Ironman training.

Time to get a new notebook!

Sunday – Traveled back from Nashville. Set alarm to get up and do run before we left – too tired! Felt sick to my stomach and went back to bed for two hours.

Landed in Chicago about 3:00 p.m., went out to west suburbs to pick up the kids, got home around 6:30 p.m. (I still had hours of training in front of me!)

McKenzie worked out with me! She ran 21 minutes with me. Then I went out, picked up the pace and finished my 45-minute run.

Then she went to the pool with me. Wu – 300 continuous (alternate 50 swim, 50 kick), Main – 20 x 75m, Skipped cooldown – it was too late! McKenzie had to get to bed!

For the first half, she was swimming under me on nearly every length. She puts one of my swim caps on and my fins and looks adorable, and is fast!

Then she was doing some sort of singing and dramatic arm movement show. So I was sometimes getting more rest in between than I should because I had to watch the cuteness.

Then she got out of the pool at about repeat #11 and I tried to step it up.

I’m so thankful she went with me. I NEVER would have wanted to go to the pool for this long without her.

She’s excited to do her Jr. Fitness Certification workshop at the gym – now that she’ll officially be a 4th grader in a week – so she can come in the 3rd floor of the gym with me ( & on the indoor track).

This was swim session I missed earlier in week. = 115 minutes

Monday – Another swim session! Didn’t want to do it. Looked at shifting it to Tuesday but low and behold, too much on Tuesday to do that. So, don’t think about it – just move forward.

Had 8:00 a.m. call, then some priority work tasks to handle. Got in pool around 9:45.

Wu = 4 x 50m was getting tired, bilateral was feeling tough

Main = 500 swim, 500 kick, Did it! Most kicking I’ve done in a row! 500 pull, felt weird, 500 swim

Then was to do 15 x 100m (25 easy, 25 build, 25 easy, 25 hard)

Had to get out of pool by 11:15 to do 2 hours on bike before 1:00 p.m. appointment, so got in just 9 100s. Totaled 90-minutes in the pool. Given the hard swim session yesterday, figured it was best to cut the swim short and do full bike.

Biked two hours in cycling room by myself. = 210 minutes

Tuesday – 90-minute bike – didn’t do in morning as planned. Went to bed early last night and woke up groggy and slightly headachy and stuffed up. I thought I was going to possibly get sick last week. But I didn’t (vitamins, sleep, orange and cranberry juice)! Then thought I maybe had allergies… now I have a cough. No worry. I just keep going. Did this at fitness center after 5:00 p.m. Skype call with Australia. = 90 minutes

Wednesday – Off. Full day of facilitation in Joliet.

Thursday – Big day! 2-hour run, was tough to get into a groove, going a little too fast at first,  struggled to settle in. So I tried to just practice how to settle in, in the moment.

Was feeling tired 50 minutes in and had chaffing under my arm 30 minutes in.

So…lessons learned –

I can keep going when I’m tired or under-fueled.

I can keep going for 90 minutes with discomfort.

And, at the end, my overall pace was 10:20. So I was thinking things were going worse than they were.

I’m doing better than I think!

Swim session – tired after run, slammed down some food, gut was churning and did it!! 90 min swim

Wu – 300 (2  50’s were kick); Main – 10 x 200m (50 easy, 50 build, each with rest around 7 minutes, 50 easy, 50 hard) did this! And all bilateral; Cd – 6 x 25m = 2,450m.

Although this session didn’t feel great: gut churning, arms tired; I saw a huge breakthrough in my ability to be able to swim hard for two lengths of the pool after swimming six lengths bilateral is completely different than where I was a couple of months ago! Progress!! = 210 minutes

Friday – Easy swim session: Wu – 250m; Main – 2 x 500m. = 35 minutes

Saturday – My coach and I talked about doing 30-minute bike and 30-minute run. I decided to sleep in and not workout. Fresh legs for the race!

TOTAL = 660 minutes = 11 hours

  • Swim – 285 minutes = 43%
  • Bike – 210 minutes = 32%
  • Run – 165 minutes = 25%

Week 15. This week is a test.

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bike the drive

This week was a sort of test! I had a full week of travel. Work trip then personal trip to Nashville. Could I fit in all the workouts on the road with full days of facilitation and full afternoons of hanging out with friends, drinking a few and listening to live music???. Spoiler alert! Yes, I could!

Sunday – Bike the Drive! My first time.

I rode north on the lakefront path approximately 20 minutes to meet Amy. Then we got on the drive! I rode approximately 2 hours and 5 minutes with Amy, down and back the drive.

This was cool! It was fun to be on the road without the cars. And, it was not as crowded as I thought it might be. Fun!

Would love to do this with the whole family next year.

About a 20-minute ride home. = 165 minutes

Monday – Got up at 6:30am on the holiday to get a swim and bike in before leaving on a work trip. Swim session, didn’t really want to do it. I just moved forward. No need to think about it. Just keep going.

Wu – 5 x 75m; Main – 2 x 1000m (27:35 & 27:33) Did the second one 50% bilateral!; Cd – 250m  – all bilateral! Totaled 2625m  = 1 hour, 20 minutes

Biked 90 minutes. One hour of it overlapped with a cycling class. Felt good on flats and hills. Any kind of sprints were awful. At least in the first half of class, legs were dogging it.

My cycling instructor asked me if the long days were getting tough. Phew, it’s more the “day after day after day” that’s getting tough. You do a long ride then you turn the corner and it’s time for a long swim!

Right now the left side of my neck and left shoulder are sore. It’s probably all the swimming piled up in the second half of last week, and then biking and looking over my left shoulder doesn’t help. Hope and intend for this to loosen up over the next couple days. = 170 minutes

Tuesday – Met my co-facilitators at 7:30 a.m., was onsite all day, and debriefed with co-facilitators at end of day. I got back to hotel about 6:30 p.m. Ran outside from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., some hills. Good to get this training on the hills! One hour run with strides every 5 minutes. It was over 80 degrees, so I went slow. Seems like most of the strides ended up on uphills. Although it was probably pretty evenly distributed. Biked in the fitness center from just after 8pm to just after 10pm. (So you know, worked out all night). Called home, called my sister, called my Mom, reviewed facilitation prep for next day and ordered dinner from the bike. Ate and went to bed. = 120 minutes

Wednesday – Off. Front loaded the week.

Thursday – Got home last night from North Carolina and now traveling this morning to Nashville. I planned to get up at 5:00 a.m. to swim from 5:30 – 6:45, to be back to take the kids to Before School with my husband. I woke up with the alarm and felt stuffy and thought I’d be likely to make myself sick if I got up and did it. So I set the alarm for 1.5 hours later, yet didn’t sleep much more. Oh well, just choose your attitude, here we go.

My current plan for skipping this workout is to do it Sunday instead of a 30-minute continuous easy swim workout. Workable – certainly – yet I’ll miss not having that easy session! And it might be tough energizing myself to go swim (and run!) after traveling home from Nashville and driving out to western burbs to pick up the kids.

It’s the new name of the game – just go work out.

We can also see if I can fit it in in Nashville. I’ll fit in at least one swim session at the Y while I’m there.

Today I already need to do a 100-minute run when we arrive, so I likely don’t want to ask my husband to wait another 1.5 – 2 hours for me to complete a swim as well.

Integrating life!

Did the 1 hour, 40-minute run shortly after arriving in Nashville. Hot. Hot. Very hot. Went slow, listened to my body.

Hot, my face was so hot. Found a park I’d been to on my last visit to Nashville and at 60 minutes, went in a building, drank, fueled, tried to cool off a bit. Tough finish. And finish I did. Average 10:43. Hot! (did I mention that??) = 100 minutes

Friday – Packed up to go down to the fitness center to bike 3 hours.  It was hot in there, so I asked the folks at the front desk to cool it off. Went back and saw NO BIKES! What? A fitness center with no bikes! I stood there stunned, and then regrouped.

Ok, back up to the room packed up for the YMCA. Nice welcome there, and I was shown to the cycling room. Set up my nest and started peddling. And was working. I was handling logistics around my husband’s hip surgery. (That’s a whole other story.) Hip surgery, non-weight bearing for 2 to 3 weeks, no driving for 4 weeks. We had to schedule it soon and I have work trips every week so we’re moving him and the kids to his parents – where he can live on one floor – for 2.5 weeks. I thought I was already buried in logistics (and guilt about being gone) = MORE!

Back to the cycling studio: Approximately 1 hour, 15 minutes into my ride, people started showing up. A class was starting in 15 minutes! Alright! Won’t be able to work and chip away at these logistics, but 45 minutes will go by and challenge me some. Yay!

It was an hour class – even better – finished last 40 minutes on my own.

Then upstairs for 30 minutes on the treadmill. = 210 minutes

Saturday – Swim session at the Nashville Y. Deceiving, the wider lanes made it seem shorter than 25m, but it was 25m. (Checked with two people and the timing of my laps matched up.)

Wu = 6 x 50m; Main = 2 x 1500m (42:08 and 43:40) 1st felt good, 2nd my head hurt by last 400, ugh! Cd = 4 x 50m

Wasn’t able to do new trick of putting a little conditioner under cap. = 105 minutes

TOTAL = 870 minutes = 14.5 hours

  • Swim – 185 minutes = 21%
  • Bike – 525 minutes = 60%
  • Run – 160 minutes = 19%

Week 16 – Overwhelmed! Had to tell myself, “Choose your attitude!”

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new orleans

Making it work in the heat and humidity of New Orleans!

Sunday – When I called ahead, the JW Marriott in New Orleans told me they had a lap pool…Umm, no you don’t! So I’m shifting the swim sessions out and the running sessions up!

So, now we’re doing a 60-minute run! The fitness center was so hot the day before, I didn’t want to go back there. I ran outside all around the Quarter! (It’s not that big!) Went out about 9:30 a.m. It was hot and humid. Did strides every 10 minutes. After the 4th one, I was wiped! Ran to 50 minutes, then walked to cool off, and finished up the last 10 minutes slowly, skipping the last strides. Average 10:24.

Later in the afternoon I had a headache and took a headache pill to keep moving forward and enjoying vacation. = 60 minutes

Monday – Another 60-minute run! No required strides this time. Took off nice and slow, found a better route in wider areas for more breeze. Felt good, finished strong, easy run, average 10:45. = 60 minutes

Tuesday – 2 hours on bike; in a different hotel with a cooler fitness room. Did one hour on more upright bike and one hour on more seated bike. Wrote out notes for all remaining weeks in training making notes of weekly hours and trips and full day facilitations that will require shifting sessions and for early starts/late nights in order to accomplish.

I’m Overwhelmed!!

I was spinning on the bike – literally and figuratively – thinking I should check with my Coach and Ironman Finishers that I know about whether I can shift the training around as much as I am. Amy I getting the true purpose of the each training session as I adjust them? How am I going to get enough rest and recovery throughout this?

Then, I mentally said, “Stop.” Doesn’t matter what others say. This is what works in my schedule, so this is what is going to be happening. I can post in my Ironman Wisconsin Training Facebook group about needing a pool in some cities to which I’d be traveling and that’s it. That’s all there is to do. Except: CHOOSE MY ATTITUDE

This is a game. This is a game I chose to play. Let’s play it!

= 120 minutes

Wednesday – 45-minute run, easy run outside hot – over 75°, average 10:13 followed by longest swim to-date.

Wu – 200m; Main – 2500m; Cd – 4 x 50m

Phew!

My head was starting to bother me by last 1000. So with 500 left to go I took off my swim cap. Was a great relief, but then I had to mess with my goggles a few times to get them right. Took me 90 minutes to complete this! = 135 minutes

Thursday – Swim.

Wu – 250, alternating each 50 swim and kick.

Main – 400, 4 x 100, 300, 3 x 100, 200, 2 x 100

Skipped cool down because I have a swim lesson tonight. Took me 1 hour, 15 minutes.

90-minute bike ride in cycling studio; not too strenuous; on phone most of the time.

Swim lesson: drills and swimming nearly the whole time. Got to focus on getting the most out of every stroke (lessen stroke count), breathing right away when arm starts moving, and holding arm out there until other enters the water.

Definitely have mechanics to work on and definitely feeling more confident in the water! = 215 minutes

Friday – Was supposed to do a swim session. Decided to swap with Saturday and take my day off today.

Saturday – Swim session – said it would take me 60 minutes. I estimated 75 minutes, it took me 85. Whew.

Wu – 500m; Main – 15 x 100m; Cd – 500m all bilateral!! Breakthrough!! = 85 minutes

TOTAL = 675 minutes = 11.25 hours

  • Swim – 300 minutes = 45%
  • Bike – 210 minutes = 31%
  • Run – 165 minutes = 24%

Overwhelmed!

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game onI’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.