42 weeks to go....have you ever tried to hold a turtle back!

If you ever pick up a turtle by it's shell, it will continue to move his legs until he finds his (or I should say her) resting spot or until her legs will not go any longer.  Ironman training is not always about continuous motion as sometimes you have to take rest stops along the way.  Though I am eager to build distance, my coach is focusing on building strength, working on technique to be more efficient and conserve energy, and helping address the problems I have been having with my calves.  I have been held back, told to slow down (which is about impossible for a turtle to do without coming to a complete hault), to stretch, stretch, stretch and drink, drink, drink.  There must be a method to this madness called professional coaching/training as I have made it through the week feeling pretty good at the end despite a few bumps in the road.

The first bump occurred during drills at the track workout, when my calf went into a spasm and I ended up doing a lot of stretching and fast walking drills and missed out on the fun painful speed work and heavy breathing the remainder of the group got to experience.  My coach took some time to assess my strength and flexibility and gave me some exercises to work on and instructed me to work on my hydration and try a pair of compression socks.  As soon as I found a pair and put them on, I already felt my muscles sink into a more elongated position providing instant relief and I have been wearing them around and was able to do a 40 min slow wun (run with a walking flair).  The weekend was filled with more swim drills and a 2 hour bike ride on the IRONMAN course.  It was windy going out and fun, fast and smooth coming back!  I even had a companion for the entire 2 hours (a rare thing to see a turtle with).  I always feel good after the swim workouts, but I am eager to get back to adding some long slow distance back into my schedule.  In due time, the miles will build.....patience.....there are still 42 weeks to go.

The bestest part so far is the friends that I make at each workout, not to mention on Facebook and on this blog.  I have found a few others training for their first IM in AZ.  My life is already fuller, so I can't imagine what it will be like in November.

Ride On!

I stand corrected....now it is 43 weeks until Ironman

Well, somehow I miscounted what week it was last Sunday and today it is officially 43 weeks until AZ Ironman 2012.  That is 43 weeks or 301 days or 7224 hours or 433, 440 minutes or 26006400 seconds...however you want to look at it.  43 more weeks to get ready, 43 more weeks to wait, 43 more weeks to drop weight, eat better, get more toned, get stronger, faster, fitter.

I attended 4 group workouts on week 1 with my new team.  The people are great and just waiting on my official training schedule.  This is the beginning of obsessive thinking, questioning every piece of scientific data an amateur athlete can collect like what type of clothing to wear, what nutrition to take, how to stay hydrated, how to treat tight muscles, and how to prevent injuries.

What I learned this week is I am not as good of a swimmer as I thought....And changing your technique after 40 some years is not an easy task to do.  I thought this was going to be my easy event that I would just zoom through the water with grace and dignity.  Well, think again.  Turtles get to where they want to go, nobody ever said it was going to look pretty.

My right calf tightened up during a run on Thursday night, so it is tug o war with the gatroc-soleus (fancy name for calf muscle).  The is a past problem I have batteled with and thought was related to my degenerating disk in my low back, but my coach believes it is a muscle imbalance.  Let's hope she is correct and stretching and strengthening more intensely resolve this problem, otherwise it is going to be a LONG 26 miles at the end of my race.

Oh and the bike, I did find a few riders that were close to my speed, but remember the turtle only goes one speed and that is SLOW.  Let's see if Racelab can train a turtle to move faster.  Mmmm, maybe the modern turtles have a special diet that will make them faster.

So there you have it, week 1, getting my feet wet and starting to work on technique and speed.  My coach i sick so wishing her a speedy recovery so she can start working on making me speedier!

I Survived my first TRACK WORKOUT. And the gun goes off, let the training begin!

January 18th....my first official day of training with racelab.  Wednesday mornings are track work.  I have not done track work since about 1997, the year I got married and decided I needed to run a marathon before my wedding to help get me in shape for the big event. (needless to say, I ran about 7 marathons in a 2 year period around that time including 1 on my honeymoon in Maui).  Since that time, I have been running on and off around injuries and chronic pain so I have avoided the track.  I am not yet really sure what the purpose of the track workout is for me as it helps you get stronger and faster.....but I just need to go longer.  I am sure there is a good reason.  We did Tempo Runs today where we ran off and on for 4 minutes, rest 2 in between times 5 with a warm up and cool down.  The first one was supposed to be at a comfortable pace and then the remainder a little bit faster than that.  What you think is comfortable the first time becomes more challenging and especially with other runners in front and behind you.  All and all, I thought I might lose last nights supper, but I got through it with minimal discomfort or displeasure.  It was actually kind of fun and I look forward to a month from now when I hope to be 10 lbs lighter and a little faster.

When I got home, I did a 20 mile bike ride.  I have not received my official schedule, so I have not figured out how I am going to get all my mileage in now that I am adding workouts with the racelab team.  Watch out world, the turtle is coming out of her shell.

42 Weeks and Counting.....

In 42 weeks from today, I will hopefully be just starting to run a marathon after making the swim and bike cut offs in the 2012 AZ Ironman.  Have just been taking it easy and not pushing myself too hard the past 2 months in anticipation of the intensive training regimen.  It is still hard to fathom how much work there is to do over the next 42 weeks.  I begin training with racelab this week, so I will be trying to get used to a new schedule and taking direction from a coach.  Should be very interesting to say the least.  Instead of my traditional workouts this week, I got on the trail and did some hiking and trail runs.  I assisted leading a 13 mile hike yesterday in lieu of my long run and it was nice to get back in nature and to do something I love before buckling down.  Today I ended up just needing a day of mental and physical silence.  Sometimes you just have to turn the volume down and just be.  I imagine 17 hours of just being on November 19th.  People will be passing by me left and right, but I will just "be".  Crowds will be cheering up and down the course, but I will just "be".  My body will be cold, warm, hot, then cold again, but I will just "be".  My stomach will be in knots, gurgling, hungry, nauseous, gurling, and hungry again, but I will just "be".  I will have sore muscles, cramps, elation, out of body experiences, and more cramps, but I will just "be".  I will cross the line and hear the muffled sounds of "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN".  I will be happy and hugging all the blurred figures around me and then I will collapse and need to lie on my side for minutes or hours.  I will wake the next day feeling proud of my accomplishment, it will be hard to move and walk.  The memory will fade each day.

This is what I imagine it to be.  So I just savor each minute of training, racing, carbo loading, preparation, blood, sweat and tears, because the 42 weeks will go by very quickly and then 17 hours to get the job done and then onto other things.  A medal on my shelf as a reminder.

Facing Your Fears Every Day

On my bike ride today, I thought about how I am filled with fear when I have to ride in traffic and I kept choosing the route with the least amount of traffic.  I decided I cannot be held hostage by fear and that yes there are risks that come with every breath we take.  A few seconds later, I rode by a freshly smashed bunny rabbit.  So much for facing my fears....poor bunny was living them!  Be safe on the road.  Good thing a turtle has a hard shell for extra protection!

Where is the Turtle: Why is she still hiding in her shell!

Well this turtle has been slow to get started....still hiding out a lot in her shell due to having trouble getting out of winter hibernation.  There is not a lot of action here to share over this past week.  I have been working on building the base back up a little bit more in preparation of training for a half ironman on April 15th and getting ready to join up with the group.  There have been a few setbacks along the way with some hip and back pain re-emerging so the turtle is slow out the gates to no surprise.  Last week I managed to fit in 3 weight training workouts, 2 swims, 3 bike rides (with a 40 mile long ride), and 3 runs (with a 80 min long run....wasn't pretty though).  The turtle is trying to get back to a wholesome diet but got into someone's trash bin again.  It is hard getting an old creaky turtle back on track.  Next week I know Bettina at racelab is going to point me in the right direction.  I am going to enjoy my late morning sleeps til then and this blog is still evolving.  Slow and steady...peace out!