It’s my first week of my official Ironman training and it went better than expected. Of course there were highs (finally hitting my stride in the pool and gaining some smoothness in the water) and the lowest of lows (retching over on a Friday morning at 4am due to not-so-good veggie patties and breaking down into tears on my bike just about an hour ago) but thus is life in training!
Finding balance between training and working, and finding some progress along the way, has been really important to me during base training. As I step it up a notch and insert some early morning workouts and mid-day workouts, I really need to keep my bearings. I also need to be much, MUCH stricter about my weekend workouts. Too many weekends in a row I’ve let my workouts slide to mid-day or in the evening hours. I should really be getting them out of the way as early as possible, but I find it hard to do when I training on Friday evening. I’m not even kidding. I think that slacking on my weekend long runs/rides will be the absolute death of me if I can’t get them under control. Skipping them during base training was one thing. Skipping them now is completely out of the question. It’s all about making myself a priority. Starting this coming week, I need to be stricter on myself to PUT OUT on Saturday and Sunday, NO EXCEPTIONS!
I’m enjoying my time in the pool, much more than usual, since I feel like I’m finally gaining some momentum (figuratively and literally). I bought Total Immersion to help me with my swimming. The best 10 bucks I’ve spent on a training ebook yet. (The minute I finish it I will write my book review!)
Now if I could just be as ecstatic about my rides…Does it bother anyone else out there to ride on a trainer? I find it incredibly annoying. Like, I hate life when I ride on a trainer. Even putting on music or a movie doesn’t cut it for me. I almost prefer lugging myself to the gym and hitting spin classes back to back to back or just even sitting on the stationary bike at the gym is better than riding in my apartment. Initially it was for convenience’s sake but now I’m just hating it all.
Uhg.
I think it is the bike fit. I don’t really want to buy a new bike…I’d rather make the one that I have work for me. I’m considering lugging the thing to a bike shop and having them make some upgrades for me, but if it ends up costing an arm and a leg I may have to reconsider. Something I definitely planned on doing this month was upgrading my bike GEAR (not my bike)…I need some new handlebar tape (that can wait, I guess), some new pedals (clips? clipless?), bike shoes (I currently ride with my running shoes), and some new bike shorts (the ones I currently have are one, ripped, and two, make my thighs look like sausages). Also, I’d like to figure out my whole seat situation. It feels fine when I’m riding about town but man, it hurts when I ride indoors. Maybe it’s the angle or something. I adjusted it about a month or so ago per some YouTube videos (ghetto, I know) and it felt a lot better, but now it’s back to the same old frustrations.
Week 1 Ironman Louisville training:
12:30:37 hours: 7,720 yards swimming; 49 miles cycling; 9.49 miles running; 50 minutes strength training.
Monday, February 25: 26 minutes/5 mile ride; 36:59/5K run in the morning. 1 mile swim in the evening.
Tuesday, February 26: Strength training in the morning, followed by an indoor ride immediately after.
Wednesday, February 27: 43:55/4.06 mile run midday, 45-minute/0.25 mile swim in the evening.
Thursday, February 28: 1 hour/12 mile ride indoors, 30-minute/2.32 mile run midday.
Friday, March 1: 1:30/1.25 mile swim after work.
Saturday, March 2: 1.2 mile swim/1:08. Awesome swim!
Sunday, March 3: 2 hour/20 mile bike ride. Crappy ride on an indoor trainer. Mostly annoyed at my bike fit and kit.
Next week I have 13:35 hours on tap. Somehow I’d like to squeeze in some hot yoga. It’s also my birthday week so this will get interesting. I just don’t know how to balance Ironman training with any other sort of physical activity, let alone work…Running mid-day has helped me with my times a bit. Now if I can get some comfortable riding in, in between my team training and my swimming, I’d be golden…
One thing I learned this week: I am my own worst enemy when it comes to time management.
One thing to focus on next week: Getting more miles and time on the bike, whether it’d be my own bike or one at the gym. Just get more time and miles in the saddle.
Amara in Training 