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.
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.
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!
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
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.
That's a reasonably straight line for me! The big correction was a move closer to shore and avoid weeds
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!
Hope everything is ok Paul. Love the shirt! Kelli
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