When I did my first (and only) Ironman in May 2012 one of the things that kept me going that day was knowing how many people were cheering for me. There were only a few on course that day but there were many others virtually cheering from locations around the world.
This time it looks like I might have quite a few people on course cheering for me as well as online. The cheering has already started and it is really helping. I have gotten a few messages from people cheering me on now. My motivation has been lagging, but knowing that people are cheering helping keep me on track.
If you aren’t busy on November 16th and need something to do in the Tempe/Phoenix area, come on down to Temp Town to cheer me on! I will give you a high-five, a sweaty hug, or possibly a few tears in return!
Now we are talking! What a great week of training. I did EVERY workout, on the correct day!!! That is huge for me. Now, I did mess up one run, poop out on my long run, and ran extra on my brick run (just had to prove to myself I could run after the bike), but other than that I think I had a pretty stellar week.
This was my biggest training week so far and besides being extremely hungry the Monday after, I felt pretty darn good! Most significant thing is that swimming is almost 100% pain free. I lost a lot of speed and endurance in the water but it is coming back.
I also manged a decent brick on Sunday, 4 hours on my bike followed by a 50 minute run. The key for my Sunday workouts are to get out of bed and get it done ASAP. This means before I go to bed on Saturday night I make sure to have everything prepped for the ride in the morning. Tires pumped, nutrition ready, bottles out, kit and shoes ready…EVERYTHING! That way all I have to do is get up, eat, get dressed and go. It made a huge difference to be on the road just after 7:00AM because I knew when I got back I would still have some Sunday to enjoy!
So that is my goal for this week; plan ahead! The more I can set myself up for success, the easier this will be. That includes getting lunches for kids packed before bed an even picking out my clothes for the next day. The more I can plan for, the more time I will have to train. This week my life gets much more complicated because my kids go back to school. If you don’t know this about me, between Stuart and I we have 4 boys ages 6-12. That means we have to run a pretty tight ship. The more we can plan, the better things go. I couldn’t do this without Stuart. He takes care of so many details for me so I can train. I am so lucky!
I know I was just complaining to Stuart the other day that I hate having to sign up for races so far in advance because you never really know what life will be like once the race rolls around. But I think I have the major event of 2015 picked out! The TransRockies Run (6-days of course).
A dear friend from my college days actually helps support this race and I am REALLY interested in it. It is a little costly ($1300-$1500/person depending on when we sign up) so that will take some figuring out. But I really want to do this. Really really want to do this one. Next year I turn the big 4-0 and what better way to signifying going over-the-hill than by running over 20,000 feet of hills!
The race has a cap on participants so we will have to make a decision relatively soon but luckily there is a withdrawal policy in case something comes up.
The week is getting away from me so I better do this before the week is over! I felt much better this week. Not 100% pre-crash feeling but I would say 80% My biggest complaint is my swimming. My shoulder hurts from the crash when I swim and I feel like I have lost a ton of swimming endurance. I am not going to rush this one because I know the swim is not my issue, it is actually my strength.
The ride is really my weakness. The most noteworthy part of my week was getting back on the tri-bike OUTSIDE! Sunday I went out for a 3 hour ride. To make it more interesting I took a totally different route. I am not gonna lie and tell you it was amazing to be back on my bike. I have grown to realize, I don’t really like cycling all that much. The hassle, the money, and the opportunity for great bodily harm has worn out my love of the bike (at the moment). Maybe my feelings will change, but for now I am just not digging it. That being said, I only have 12 more weeks of it and then I can take a nice long break and get back on the trails for running and Ultras. So ride on I must!
As the race gets closer I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. There is still a big part of me that is excited for the race and actually I am most excited to do this for Stuart (my husband). He has bent over backwards all year to help me train for this race and I don’t want to let him down. As much as I want to just walk away and be done right now, that isn’t an option.
This week I am working on adding a little more intensity to my workouts and trying to up the overall effort. Hopefully I can get some of my speed and endurance back soon!
Last week I went to see the Orthopedist to investigate why my hip and shoulder were sore. Luckily nothing was that bad and the doctor thought I just needed a little more rest. I think the mere fact of visiting the doctor is what helped my recovery. On Saturday I did an hour on the bike trainer, which felt better than the hour on Monday. Saturday evening I rode my mountain bike to the store to get a few groceries (and tonic for my gin and tonic). It was the perfect way to ride outside for the first time since the crash. The position on the mountain bike and the huge tires makes for a very safe-feeling ride. Sunday I did 30 minutes on the treadmill followed by 30 min swim. The run was actually ok. The swim hurt quite a bit in my shoulder where I had hit it in the crash. But instead of stopping right away, I kept swimming to see if it would loosen up and get better. It did. It wasn’t great and I swam really slow, but I swam.
So here I am, less than 100 days until race day. I have a feeling it will take me about 3 weeks to get back to where I was pre-crash. But the fact that it is less than 100 days has me a bit more motivated to get this done. I keep saying I am not doing any more triathlons after Arizona. That may not hold true forever, but I am really looking forward to handing up my tribike, and simplifying my training greatly! Stuart is training for a marathon and some trail running. I am so jealous of his training right now. It is simple and uncomplicated. I wish I was doing it with him. 96 days and counting…
So my last post was a little dramatic. I will admit it. I went to see the orthopedist today to talk about the pain in my hip and shoulder. The verdict on the shoulder is tendonitis of the bicep. I was happy it wasn’t my rotator cuff. This one wasn’t that concerning to me because I can swim with no problem (just can’t streamline well or use a kick-board; neither are necessary for race day).
After the bike crash I started having pain in my hip. The pain gets wore when I run or get out of my saddle on the bike. This could be a big problem. The doctor looked at X-rays and tested out the hip. His thought is it is just a bad bruise of the muscle from the bike crash. He said more rest (I am giving it another week). If after the rest it still hurts I can come back for an MRI because maybe there is something going on that didn’t show up on the X-rays (stress fracture or torn muscle).
This gave me some hope. I kind of needed a doctor to tell me to rest and that it is most likely nothing. That is why I put the picture of last year’s winner, Victor Del Corral, in this post. I was actually there when he crossed last year. It was pretty cool. I feel like I will make it to that finish line as well (I wasn’t so sure for the last week). The clock will NOT read 8:02; that is for sure. Heck, it might read over 16 hours like it did in St. George. But I think I will be crossing that finish line on November 16 sometime before midnight. We will find out in just over 15 weeks!
So I crashed at the end of week 1 training. I actually wasn’t that discouraged the day of the crash. Crashing happens when you ride bikes. I knew the crash was just an accident. I didn’t feel it was really my fault. I didn’t work out last week until Sunday. I did 60 min on the bike trainer which went fine; just easy peddling. Then I got on the treadmill to try running. This didn’t go so well. It only too three steps to realize that I can’t run yet. There is pain in my hip that I can’t run through.
So here I am, in my third week of training for Ironman Arizona and I am contemplating quitting. I know that seems extreme. I have been reminded by Stuart that I have a very solid base so a couple of weeks off isn’t going to ruin my training. But I want a good race. I really want a good race and I am worried that if I can’t get moving again soon I am going to show up in Arizona unprepared and just half-ass my way through the day. That is not what I want.
I know it is early to think about quitting but I want to be honest about how I am feeling right now. I have an appointment on Thursday with Sports Medicine/Orthopedics. Originally this was for my shoulder which has had a niggle for months (doesn’t hurt when I swim, only when I extend my arms in streamline). But now I am going to ask about my hip. I rode my bike last night and applied a little effort and my hip is not happy about it today.
When I did my first (and only) Ironman in May 2012 one of the things that kept me going that day was knowing how many people were cheering for me. There were only a few on course that day but there were many others virtually cheering from locations around the world.
See Becca Try to Tri 