Monday blahs...

I actually got out of bed at 5:30am, put my swimsuit on, sweatpants, sweatshirt, and then crawled back into bed. It was cold, I wanted 10 more minutes of warmth in my cozy bed, and figured I would be on the road by 5:50 and make it to swim on time. I later awoke, looked at my watch...it was 6:05am and I 'threw in the towel.' I guess what made me feel a little justified is knowing that I am going to spin tonight for an hour and a half and run for about 45 minutes. But now I'm riddled with guilt for not going to swim, I'm in a bad mood, depressed, and to top it all off, it's Monday.

I only did an hour on my bike on Saturday, and nothing yesterday. I'm getting behind and only have 67 days remaining. I'm going to chalk last week up to being my 'active recovery' week and will step things up this week, I have to. The good thing is that truly this week was supposed to be 'active recovery', so I haven't mutilated my overall training schedule, just swapped weeks.

I'm going to have to revise my training schedule though, I'm realizing that it's too low in hours. Weeks that I'm scheduled for 13 hours should be more like 16 hours. I'm also going to have to get up to running 10 or 11 miles this week and 13 by next week.

That's it for now, might write more later. The way I'm feeling about everything in my life right now, I could spend a full day just writing about all the things that feel wrong right now. I don't think this has anything to do with just turning 30, it's just pure coincidence, but I get the feeling that 30 is going to be rough for me, I just feel it. Not the best thing to be this negative, it's not even like me to be this negative.

In one blink of an eye...

two weeks has passed by!

I attribute my bloglessness to all the time I've spent training over the past two weeks. I've accomplished a lot...ran 8 miles (when I wasn't sure if I could run 5!), completed several hilly 30+ mile rides (one on my own), and just recently, successfully completed a 70 mile ride up to San Juan Capistrano (well, technically it was 67 miles, but I think I can write that off as 70, right?)

I am doing well with my training, however I fear that I'm a bit behind (in mileage for the run, specifically) so will need to re-evaluate my training plan and get a little more aggressive. I swam for an hour yesterday, did an hour and a half at spin last night, and half an hour on the stair-stepper and weights. Three hours on a Monday = tired girl on Tuesday morning.

Note to self: I still need to establish my One Thing...

73 days left.

Back in the saddle again

6:20am: jumped in pool
7:30am: dragged myself out of pool

I did it, I actually put in an hour of swimming this morning, and my shoulder did not fall off!

To antagonize or motivate?

It's Day 2 of this week that I haven't shown up for swim in the mornings and I've caught a lot of slack for it. I understand that my friends are trying to motivate, however it seems to me as it's more antagonizing. I will swim when I want to swim! There's more to it, really. My left shoulder bursitis has been acting up and I'm a bit freaked out about making it worse. I've also had a bit of insomnia these past two nights which has left me feeling lethargic in the mornings. So, I'm taking advil and focusing on my cycling. I will attempt to swim tomorrow through Friday, avoiding the pull buouy, as I'm sure that's what instigated the inflammation of my shoulder this time around.

My cycling is going well though, I managed to put in 3 hours and 45 minutes on the trainer on Sunday, totalling 56 miles, and then ran for 15 minutes so that I can start getting used to the T2 transition. Last week's goal/training hours called for 10 hours - I managed to get in 8 hours and 45 minutes. This week's goal calls for 10 and a half hours.

It's certainly hard juggling a social life with my training plan. It almost seems easier that I just cut out the socialization for the next 87 days rather than reconfigure my week's training hours. I also just need to do away with the excuses. If I can't swim in the morning due to shoulder pain, there's no reason that I can't get up at that same time and hit the treadmill at the gym or jump on my bike trainer. I guess it's just hard to know when to say when....all the books talk about rest and recovery, many of them indicate that if you're too fatigued to do a workout to the caliber that you would expect, it might be worthwhile to skip the workout and rest instead. So how do I make that call? And how do I do it without the guilt?

The One Thing

I was obsessed with researching Ironman information, nutrition, and any tips or programs I could find on the internet with regard to Ironman races. I would have done it all day long if I could! I stumbled across a very inspiring and informative website (www.cruciblefitness.com) which I think I may cling to for a bit. Rich Strauss is the author of the below-mentioned material.

"The body will do amazing things, when driven by the single-minded focus created through clarity of purpose. In short, identify why you want to do this to yourself and then commit your head to driving your body to the edge of your physical envelope. In the words of Jack Palance in City Slickers, it's the One Thing."

He outlines how to go about determining that One Thing. It is my goal that within the next two weeks I will determine what my One Thing is...although I'm thinking maybe having Two Things wouldn't be bad...afterall, more is better...isn't it?

So how do I determine my One Thing?

* Identify why you want to do the race before signing up. Are you doing it for you or to prove something to someone else? Be completely honest with yourself. "I'm a doing this Ironman so I can earn a unique title that is mine forever." One Thing = title of Ironman.
Take that One Thing and mate it with your race goals and expectations: "The title is important to me, not the time. I want to finish with a smile on my face."
* Remind yourself, daily, of your One Thing and the race goals and expectations you have built around it. Through this process your One Thing will provide clarity of purpose to your training. When the Phunometer is pegged during a 6 hour long ride, you'll know why you are still out there.
* In your mental rehearsals before the race, visualize the conversation between Mind and Body when the Body begins to question the Mind's commitment to the One Thing. Prepare your rebuttal beforehand.
* On race day, continually remind yourself of the One Thing. Focus completely on its accomplishment. Remember, you can never disappoint your friends or family. They will be proud of you regardless. However, you can let yourself down. In the end, the best we can do is follow our commitment to our One Thing.

He also makes three points he makes with regard to Ironman-How-To. It kind of jumps the gun, I have a lot of other things I need to focus on at the moment, but it's also good to be proactive and put these principles to practice in my current training.

Principle #1: Ironman is not a triathlon, it's a quadathlon(?): swim, bike, run, eat/drink. On race day only 20% of your focus will be on your physical performance while the other 80% will be on how to maintain that performance.

Principle #2: Ironman is not about racing, it is about making good decisions. Use the OODA Loop: Observe the situation, Orient yourself and determine possible courses of action, Decide on a course of action, then Act. Go over, around, under or through the wall.

Principle #3: Show up with a well-made, well-rehearsed plan and expect it to not survive first contact with the race. Be prepared to improvise by "racing in the now." It's a very long day and you have all of it to fix a problem. Do the best you can, right now. The rest of the day will take care of itself when you get there.

Am I swimming upstream?

I succeeded in getting up early this morning and jumped into the pool at 6:15am. I swam only about 1750 meters (I think?) All the while it seemed that I was swimming against a current or something...I definitely need to work on my form and get some technique pointers from the coach or else I'm going to continue to be the slowest of the entire group! Or maybe I would improve if I could be consistent about showing up to swim at least 3-4 times per week? I'm afraid that my form needs some work though, so I worry about reinforcing any bad habits...ah, the dilemnas of a triathlete!

Pain is temporary, pride is forever

That was my motto in June 2003 when I completed my first marathon. One year later I completed my third marathon and figured I needed another challenge...something bigger. Low and behold, the inaugural Tempe, Arizona Ironman was announced soon thereafter, and before I knew it, I had invested $425 in the race registration and was looking at road bikes.

I've built my base training up over this past four months and am now about to partake in a 13 week training program. My goal is to finish the race with a smile on my face...and to journal this entire experience along the way.

So...the journey begins.

It's been raining consistently for the past week. I managed to convince myself again this morning (at 5:20 a.m., might I add) that it was not necessary that I get out of bed to go swim...just like yesterday. I'm now a bit puzzled by this early morning rationale - Was I afraid of getting wet from the rain, or the pool?