These were rather light-duty weeks. I was incredibly busy with work and things have taken a turn for the crazy, so I haven’t been able to keep up as well as I used to. I’ve also been inside my own head for a bit this month, ruminating on a lot of things in the past that have come creeping up in my psyche. They really have no place in my thought process but for some reason I just can’t shake some of the things that have happened to be.
Regardless…relentless forward progress this year. Whether it’s an hour or day or not, that’s still an hour more than most people get a day, right?
Week 13 and 14 base training recap:
12.7 hours total training time; swim 2640 yds; bike: 20 mi; run: 8.4 mi; Walk: 8 mi. (What mini weeks!)
A few wins within the last few weeks — I’m rocking a wildly messy looking flip turn in the pool, and my coach is seeing some improvements. Overall, I feel a lot stronger during my biking and my running, thanks to my strength training sessions with the tri team. I feel insanely guilty for skipping out on my long run and ride this weekend — run for 2:30 and ride for 1:30 — but I had to work yesterday and I just feel so incredibly drained. The stress has been dialed up quite a bit at work and I can feel it taking a toll on me.
Recently I’ve began to visit a local chiropractor near my work. After I partially dislocated my shoulder, I went in to get that fixed, along with recurring low back pain, headaches, and some neck issues that stemmed from a pretty bad car accident about five years ago. I’ve been going in for adjustments about three times a week. I’m a sloucher. I can blame my job but it’s really been a recurring theme. Every single photo of me — from race photos to casual pics — always show me slouching. I’m sticking out my gut and hips, my shoulders are hunched over, my face is dropped, etc. During races, this hunchback follows me and gives me really bad backaches after events. I think also carrying my weight in an uneven way is probably also hindering my overall ability to train and race efficiently, so hence the visits. It’s part prevention and part cure, in my opinion. I’ve also opted for one of their massages, and WOW, massages at a chiropractor’s office is much much better than at a cheapie Chinese massage spa. Regardless, I’m feeling better. My shoulder is back in place, I feel a bit better overall, so I’ll keep going for a bit to get me back into alignment.
I received the Ironman Louisville 24-week training plan on Friday and applied it to my Training Peaks account. Things are going to be rough for sure. I have a lot of swimming to do before I truly feel comfortable in the water. I can’t stop thinking about the swim. No wetsuit? Swimming in a river? Strong currents? What if I don’t make it? Are there going to be lots of kayaks for me to rest on just in case?
Regardless, February has come and gone. It was a bit of a crappy month…out with the flu for about a week, and then two weeks of really slow training. Hopefully March will be better. This coming week’s workout includes 3 swims, 3 runs, 4 rides, and 2 strength training sessions, for a total of almost 12 hours of training. Let’s see how it goes. From tomorrow until August 25th, I’ll finally get to use the blog title Week ___ Ironman Training. That’s got to be a step up from base training! I’ve also been thinking about fundraising for a charity. My birthday is in a few weeks and I’d like to use it as an opportunity to fundraise for a charity, new or recurring (like Dress for Success).
Amara in Training 