Train-cation and an Answer?

Last week's workouts:

Mon:  Rest
Tue:  Ride 60 minutes + 10-min run brick, 1.5 mile swim
Wed:  Ride 85.23 miles
Thu:  Rest
Fri:  Run 7 miles
Sat:  Swim 2.4 miles
Sun:  Disabled List (see below)

Total miles:  116.34

Last week was my family's summer vacation at our favorite spot in the world, Green Lake, Wisconsin.  My plan was to get in as much training as possible, while still enjoying time with the family away from work.  I also had an olympic distance triathlon scheduled for Sunday at the lake.  I'm happy to say I was able to get most of that done.

Training was important to me this week, as I was still trying to recovery physically and mentally from whatever happened at Ironman 70.3 Muncie.  I started out with a great 16 mile long run the previous Sunday, and my streak continued into this week.  I did a 3-discipline workout on Tuesday, where I rode hard, ran hard, and got a 1.5 mile open water swim done while Emily kayaked beside me.  Each of these workouts was great - it felt good to push the pace on a warm, humid day for Wisconsin.

On Wednesday I got my long ride done, which consisted of 43 miles on my own at whatever pace felt comfortable (about 17mph), and another 42 with Amy at her pace.  The ride was great!  I pushed where I could, conserved on the hills, and absolutely enjoyed the day despite a challenging course in the hills of central Wisconsin farm country.

The scenery made the miles fly by.

I'm a sucker for cows.

Lakeview Inn - one of our favorite dives 

 

Had to stop for a picture here - Emily's orders

Lake Emily 

This farm had a dog that likes to chase bikes (and I assume cars and anything else that goes by).  I kept him busy watching me while Amy went by, and I then sprinted past the driveway.  The dog was right on my heel at 26 mph before I finally dropped him.  Yikes! 

Amy on her first 40-miler 

Needed a jolt of sugar at mile 73 

These girls were all eating when I stopped at the top of a hill to wait for Amy.  One by one they all came over to check things out.   

Just a random chicken hanging out with a duck 

Felt great off the bike at 85 miles 

Congrats to Amy on her first 40-mile ride 

I felt like a million bucks coming off the bike.  The schedule called for a 10-minute run, which would have been fine, but my kids were on their own that morning, and I felt guilty.  Nothing that a little run for Ice Cream couldn't help fix.

I should have done something on Thursday, but we just had fun on the lake instead.  I don't regret it one bit.  Friday I got a 6 mile run done, but got lost so it ended up being 7 miles.

Our Saturday started with a trip to the Princeton Flea Market which is full of interesting people and interesting treasures.  I picked up this sweet shirt and some cheese curds.

After the flea, I hit the water for a 2.4 mile swim while Amy kayaked with me for safety.  The swim was a bit rough - between the wind and the boat traffic, I felt like I got beat up out there!  About a mile through the swim, I developed a cough.  During a rest break, I started coughing up what looked to be mucus from my lungs.  I didn't think much of it, and finished the rest of the swim.  I felt pretty good for most of the swim - I settled in, and managed to fight through the waves.

That's a reasonably straight line for me!  The big correction was a move closer to shore and avoid weeds

When I finished with my swim, I noticed the same cough that I had in Muncie.  It felt like I had swallowed some water, because I was coughing some fluid up, but it looked pink.  My lungs also had the same rattle in them when I exhaled all the way.  After eating some lunch (while having wet coughs), I decided to lay down for a while.  I felt okay on my back, but if I would roll on my side, I would have a productive coughing fit.

I decided to do some research, and I found that my symptoms are exactly the same as Swimming Induced Pulmonary Edema (SIPE).  I mean EXACTLY.  I know I shouldn't self-diagnose, but I was looking for answers.  This is kind of a scary condition, so my first call this morning was to my cardiologist.  I'll either be going to see him or possibly a pulmonologist - waiting to hear back - to get checked out and determine if I can continue on my journey.

Although the coughing had subsided for the most part within a few hours, I had some rattling in my chest and I coughed up some blood-tinged "junk" Sunday morning, so I decided against racing the RMC triathlon that morning until I can get some medical advice.  Plus I'm not doing all this work for an Olympic - my eye is on the prize, and I'll do what I need to in order to Louisville.

If this is indeed SIPE (to be determined), the issue is that fluids from the blood leak abnormally from the small vessels of the lung into the airspaces.  The hallmark of SIPE is cough productive of pink frothy or blood-tinged sputum.  Symptoms include: shortness of breath out of proportion to effort being expended; crackles, rattling of 'junky' feelings deep in the chest associated with breathing effort - usually progressively worsening with increasing shortness of breath; and cough, usually distressing and productive.

The risk factors for this are listed as water immersion, excessive pre-swim hydration, long course length, and antiplatelet agents such as aspirin and fish oil (both of which I take).  Water temperature is also listed as a contributing factor (Green Lake was about 70 degrees when I swam.

So - some questions for the doc this week:
1.  Is everything normal now?
2.  What steps can I take to hold this off?
3.  Is it safe to attempt this race, or should I withdraw?

My head is engaged - I am ready to take on this race as long as I get the green light from the docs.  On the flip side, if the best medical advice is that I should not compete, I will accept that without a second thought.  Ironman is one thing, but life is another.

27 days to go (maybe).

Keep your fingers crossed!

Still in Limbo

Last week's workouts:

Mon: rest

Tue: bike 70 min + 10 min run brick

Wed: run 7 miles

Thu: ride 70 min

Fri: travel day

Sat: run 16 miles

Sun: ride 23 miles, swim 850 yards (open water)

Total miles = 88.57

Since the collosal disaster known as Ironman 70.3 Muncie, I've been trying to get my stuff in order. I felt sick Saturday through Monday, but felt better Tuesday so I did my scheduled ride on the trainer. I noticed that my lung capacity still wasn't quite back, but I felt like I did have some power on the bike and the run.

On Wednesday, I had a good run and the lung capacity was better, but still not all the way back. By Thursday, I felt like myself again as Amy and I rode Grant's Trail.

Friday was a travel day with a 3:30 wake-up call and a 425 mile drive as we headed out for summer vacation, so I skipped my scheduled run. In fact I'll be modifying a lot of my schedule over the next week, with the biggest change being the move of my long ride to Wednesday or Thursday when there won't be as much traffic.

On Saturday, I got my 16 mile run in, and everything felt great. I ran the first 11 at my training pace (about a 10:15 - 10:30 average mile at a 9:1 interval) and I picked Amy up for the last 5 miles. My mechanics don't feel as good when I run Amy's pace, but I was more than happy to have her company.

I did a short ride in Sunday, basically moving a weekday ride around since I'll be riding long midweek. By looping the lake here, you get about 23 miles. What I forget however, is how hilly it is! I had a number of grind-it-out hills followed by insane downhills. Here's GoPro footage of my favorite hill where I hit just over 40 mph:

I still don't feel totally engaged for Louisville, although it is only 33 days away. I told myself that I won't make a final decision until the end of the week. I just have this voice in my head telling me that this is going to be an absolute train wreck, and I am nowhere close to ready.

So then why spend all the money on travel, hotel, food, etc. just to crap out?

Can you say head case??

Oh well - that's enough for today. I'm writing this on my iPad, so it isn't conducive to writing. I'll leave you with this clip that just makes me happy (from this morning).

Test

Test

 

Posted with Blogsy

Ironman 70.3 Muncie - DNF

In looking through my race log this morning, I see that I have participated in:

20 - 5K races
5 - 5-mile races
5 - 6 mile races
4 - 10K races
1 - 7.5 mile race
1 - 9.3 mile race
1 - 10 mile race
1 duathlon (13 miles)
2 short (26 total miles) triathlons
18 half marathons
8 marathons
2 half ironman triathlons

I finished every one of those races...until Saturday.  I took my first ever DNF (did not finish) at Ironman 70.3 Muncie, including a trip to the medical tent and a subsequent trip to the emergency room.  Now I find myself at a crossroads - unsure of where this leaves me in my goal of competing in Ironman Louisville.

Ready to go

Athlete briefing

A packed transition area

Kelly, Paul, Dale, and Melinda

Don't really need a swim cap - especially a pink one that's way too tight

Everything leading up to the race went as expected - nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  As soon as my swim wave went off, nothing felt right.  I had no power in my arms, and I just couldn't get a deep breath.  I muddled through alternating freestyle and breast stroke (partly to avoid people crossing over me, partly to sight, and partly to try and catch my breath).  In the last 500 meters or so, I even rolled onto my back for a few strokes to try and find some air.  It just didn't happen.

I exited the swim and headed up into T-1 and saw Amy.  She knew my swim time was very slow and asked how I felt - I think my response was "I feel like s*?t".  I thought that once I got onto the bike (my strongest of the three disciplines), I would settle down.  I switched gear, grabbed my bike, and headed onto the course.

By the time we got to mile 10, I knew I was in trouble in terms of finishing.  My legs had no power either.  Whereas I would normally be riding a 19-20mph average on this course, it took everything I had just to keep up a 14 mph pace.  It was to the point that I was checking to see if I had a brake pad locked on one of my wheels.  I just had nothing to give.  Right around this same time I took a drink from my aero bottle (Gatorade Endurance Formula) and promptly threw it up.  I sat up out of the aero position to try and get more air into my lungs, but it didn't help.

By mile 15 of the bike, I had pretty much decided that I was done for the day.  The course was 2 loops, so I planned to reevaluate when I came back to the turnaround.  When the time came, I turned right instead of left and that was it - I was officially out (once I finished the 6-7 mile ride back to transition).  I ended up completing 30 miles of the bike.

The end to a bad day

Once I got to transition I figured I would go get checked by medical since I just couldn't get a breath.  I had been checking my pulse to see if I was in atrial fibrillation (something I've managed since 2008), but I seemed to be in sinus rhythm.  Because I was the only person in medical, I got lots of attention, very quickly.  The end result was that they could hear fluid in my left lung, and it was off to the emergency room for us.

Headed to the ER

Kelly wondering why she just saw me drive by her

Security helped Amy get her car out of the lot, I got a ride in a Gator from the local police, and we were on our way - on the race course - to the ER.  Once there, I had an EKG, a variety of blood tests, and a chest x-ray, all of which were negative.  I got discharged around 2 PM and made it back to the race area in time to see one friend finish the race and pack up my gear from the transition area.

Week 13

Last week’s workouts:

Mon:  Rest (and recovery from the HalfMax)

Tue:  Swim 2,750 yards (main set = 18x50); Bike 70 min (last 20 comfortably hard); 10-min transition run

Wed:  Run 6.5 miles (easy pace)

Thu:  Swim 2,750 yards (main set = 4x300); Bike 1 hour (easy pace)

Fri:  Run 50 min. (tempo run)

Sat:  Swim 3,275 yards; run 14 miles

Sun:  Bike 70 miles

Total miles = 133.9

Week 13 of 20 – training is done.  Overall training is 65% complete. 

This week consisted of recovering from the HalfMax 70.3 race and getting back into focused Ironman training.  Although the soreness from the race was gone by Monday, I felt like I was pulling a parachute on my swim Tuesday morning.  I must admit that at this point, swimming is becoming more of a chore.  It takes a long time, it’s boring, and I don’t even have time to go home anymore before work.  Just time to shower and change at the gym, and it’s time to start the workday. 

I decided to run Wednesday evening so that I would get a run in during warmer temperatures, however it has been unseasonably cool here in St. Louis.  I may not have gotten much benefit from heat training, but I did win the mental battle to get out and do it.

My Ironmate's at it again - chicken, zucchini, corn, and tomato salad

My Thursday swim was more of the same – a chore!  I was also annoyed with some of the weirdos who swim in the morning.  I swear they spend more time talking than they do swimming.  Normally I don’t care – but when they’re talking across lanes and you’re taking your rest interval, you shouldn't have to be subjected to trivia questions and podiatry problems (not making this up).

Thursday afternoon stop at Big Shark to try and keep my pedals from coming loose

Thursday night I was able to ride with my wife – which is a rare treat.  We rode 16 or so miles down Grant’s Trail while our kids were off with friends, and we followed it up with dinner at Crazy Bowls and Wraps.  As the name implies, it was totally crazy!

By Thursday night, my tub has been re-purposed as a drying rack

Friday morning (4^th of July) called for a 50 minute tempo run.  Including my 1-min recovery walk at each mile, my splits came out as 9:01, 9:14, 9:03, 9:47, and 9:33.  Because my schedule called for 20 minutes of fast efforts, I backed off the last 2 miles (but still ran fast).  I haven’t run that fast for a while, but it didn’t feel too bad.  We finished up the 4^th with the Webster Groves parade, a cookout, and fireworks in Kirkwood.

A rare moment to relax Friday morning

4th of July fun

Waiting for the Webster Parade to begin

Despite getting to bed later than normal on Friday due to fireworks, the alarm went off early as usual on Saturday which got me to the pool at 7am.  I put my head down and got my 3,275 yards done just before aqua aerobics started.  Let me tell you – when 8:30 comes, you BEST be out of the pool.  You don’t want those old ladies getting on your case.  I’ve seen it before directed at others – it isn’t pretty!  I went home to eat and change, and then went to Creve Coeur Park for a 14 mile run.  Amy joined me for the first 5 – it was nice to have the company.  I got the last 9 done on my own.  I stretched out my walk interval in the last 5k, but got it done.  I seem to have some of the same mental struggles on any run, whether it’s 5k or 15k.  I’m thinking that will be different on race day when I have the legendary Louisville finish chute to look forward to, and can hear the crowd off in the distance.

A sure sign of summer - stuffing my sweaty shoes with newspaper to dry them out

Sunday brought another early wake-up call (5:30) so that I could eat, gear up, and head to Columbia IL for a 70 mile ride with one of my training partners and 10 people from the St. Louis Tri Club.  We started out with a nice, comfortable 10 mile ride and then started working our way up to the top of some bluffs.  We stayed up through mile 50 when we dropped back down toward the river and then dropped the hammer, knocking out 15 miles at a 20mph average.  These were some strong riders!  Coupled with the rising temps, I was done at the end of the ride (seems to be a recurring theme on Sundays).  I skipped my scheduled 10-min. brick in favor of some food and a nap.

 Typical Saturday night view - gear ready for Sunday's long ride

70 miles of Metro East fun

The downhill at mile 50 was awesome

DONE!  Time for a nap

Aaaah.  Hello Beer Sunday!

I had planned to bring my GoPro on this ride, but forgot to grab it.  Next time – I promise.  There would have been some good video of this group heading down a long hill and having a woman yell “get off the road you idiots!” to us.  We may be idiots for riding 70, but we do have a right to be on the road.

That’s it for this week – not very exciting!  Next week I’m racing Ironman 70.3 Muncie.  The weather looks like it might line up to be a good day.  I’ll have a recap next Monday.

47 days to go!