Last week’s training:
Mon: Rest
Tue: Swim 1,650 yards (main
set = 10x50); Bike 45 min (w/last 15 min. comfortably hard)
Wed: Run 5.5 miles easy
(10:16/mi)
Thu: Swim 1,650 yards (main
set = 4x150); Bike 45 min easy
Fri: Run 40 min. (main
set = 6x1-min sprints)
Sat: Bike 40 miles
Sun: Swim 1,850 yards; Run
9 miles
Total mileage: 85.05 miles
I was bad at journaling this week.
I don’t have one single picture from training to show for the 85 miles I
logged, despite numerous photo opportunities.
I will do better this week so that I have more to look back on than memories and words.
My weekday workouts have been consistent – there really hasn’t been
anything remarkable about them, with the possible exception that some of the
swim workouts seem harder than others.
It doesn’t have anything to do with the length or the sets, just some
days swimming feels like work, and other days it doesn’t.
On Friday I left work early to get my 40-min speedwork run in since I
skipped the morning workout due to rain.
It was pretty warm, but I felt good – settling into a comfortable sub-10
pace and pushing hard on my 6x1-min sprints.
When I finished, I could tell that I was working harder than I would
have if I ran in the morning – a prelude to the weekend.
I slept until 7 on Saturday (a rare treat!) and loaded up for a solo
40-mile bike on a course I plotted along Grant’s Trail and the newly refinished
River Des Peres Greenway, along with side trips to Francis Park and Carondelet
Park. The trails were crowded so I held
my speed down – averaging just below 16mph for the ride. I have noticed that my “easy” pace has crept
up from about 16mph last year to between 18-20mph this year, which is a good
sign. My race plan for Louisville
features the first 90 minutes at a “just out for a ride” pace.
On Sunday, Amy and I went to The Lodge to get a Mother’s Day workout
in. For me, 1,850 yards in the pool, and
for her some time on the elliptical.
After that we ran some errands without the kids, which is probably one
of my favorite things. It isn’t like a
fancy date night, but it’s time we get to spend together just messing around. We finished our errands up around
11:30, I took an hour rest, and by the time I had all my gear, hydration,
nutrition, etc. assembled it was 1:15pm before I got out the door.
The temperature for my long run was 89 degrees with some humidity and
bright sunshine. This was my first long
run in the heat of the day. The plan was
to run 10:1 intervals (10 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking to
lower the heart rate and give the legs a rest).
I was feeling the heat during the first 2 miles, but tried to avoid it
mentally. I haven’t seen the mile splits
from my watch yet, but I feel like my average despite the walks was right about
10:00/mile.
From mile 2.5-4, some cloud cover rolled in which, coupled with the
breeze, was a nice relief from the heat.
I stopped around mile 5.25 to refill water bottles and I was a bit
dizzy, so I took a few minutes to recover before heading out. Things were never quite right again after
that. I got going, but ended up walking
a bit before mile 6, and thought that if I had my phone, I might tap-out. I walked the entire interval starting at mile
6 (11 minutes) and then did some light running after that. My intervals were probably 5:2 for a while
until I felt better around mile 7.5 and ran the majority of the way until mile
9, walking some of the tougher uphills. I finished with an average pace of 11:39/mile.
During the time between mile 6 and 9, I spent a lot of time talking to
myself. Why did you sign up for
this? Do you really think you can finish this race? You have no shot, etc. I was glad that I didn’t meet up with any of
my teammates for this run, as I would be the one who bonked and they would all
be strong.
I made it home and laid on the front porch for a while with a few
popsicles until I cooled off, and then took a long shower. When I checked Facebook, I saw that nearly
ever runner in my group had the same type of day. Decent start and then hang on for dear life. That helped me clear my mind and regain
focus. If Ironman were easy, everyone
would do it. I was delusional to expect
great results on the first hot run of the year, and this is why I’m running on
Sunday afternoons, so that I can handle whatever August 24th throws
at me.
This run reminded me of a quote I read recently: “Pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to
stop. Pain is the little voice in your
head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue, you will change.
Don’t let it stop you from being who you can be. Exhaustion tells you when you ought to
stop. You can only reach your limit when
you can go no further.”
I started today, my rest day, completely worn out, but I have rallied,
both physically and mentally. I am ready
to work and dominate the week.
103 days to go
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