My plan today was to run 10 to 12 miles this morning and then bike 25 miles this afternoon. My Ironman training schedule only required 5 or 6 miles but I am signed up for the Kentucky Derby Festival Mini- Marathon in 3 weeks and I planned on more mileage in preparation for that.
Normally the day before a long run and the morning of the run, I do several foot and calf exercises to prepare. But I omitted those yesterday and this morning. I didn't think much about it. I felt really good and the weather was great. The run started off great as well.
At four miles, I still felt really good and stopped for some fluid and a gel pack. When I resumed the run, I was having some minor problems with cramping, and shin splints and the like but with some adjustments to my form and my speed, I seemed to compensate for all of those issues. At five miles I again had some minor discomfort which again seems to be okay with a few adjustments. Finally at six miles, my right ankle started feeling very uncomfortable. I tried again to compensate but after running another half mile, it was still hurting. At that point I decided to abort the rest of the run.
I don't really know if that was the right decision. On one hand, these endurance events are difficult and there is a certain amount of suffering inherent in the training. To be able to complete them, you have to get the miles in. On the other hand, if you sustain an injury, it could be a game ender. If you need several weeks to recover, you may be unable to participate in your event.
I feel good about my decision. After about a half mile, if things aren't going well, I'm not sure I want to risk an injury that might occur if I were to go another 6 miles. When I started walking, I discovered that not only was my right ankle hurting, my right knee, and right calf were also acting up. I think that the 2 mile walk back to the car was good for me and I do not think that I sustained any significant injuries.
I still think I will be able to do my 25 mile bike this afternoon. I guess that remains to be seen but I feel good about it. In the mean time, I plan on doing my lower leg exercises to see if I can get that right ankle, calf and knee back in shape before the next run.
Wish me luck!
BTW - If you have an opinion on this, I am definitely interested. I feel like I did the right thing but I am still learning how to manage all of this. I would be grateful for any insight or tips. Thanks!
David
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
Countdown begins - 19 weeks and counting
Last week I got my 20 week workout schedule for the Ironman. So the countdown has begun. With one week behind me, I have 19 weeks to prepare for the big day.
This past week was actually a little lighter than I have been doing for a while but it ramps up pretty fast. Over the course of the training, there will be adjustments. Right now, I am doing more than it suggests because I signed up for a half marathon in 3 weeks. So tomorrow, I will probably run 10 to 12 miles to ramp up for the half marathon instead of the 5 miles on my training schedule. I also need to work in a few smaller triathlons as part of the training.
There is so much to learn about all of this. Last night I went to my second Louisville Landshark social (which was a blast.) Barry Stokes and Mike Jotautus of Barrys Coaching graciously offered some training tips. Mike's tips on swimming were particularly enlightening. Mike explained the beginning swimmers often take 20 - 24 strokes to swim 25 meters. However, elite swimmers swim that same distance with only 7 or 8 strokes! That was a huge revelation. I have been telling people that when I see good swimmers swim, it looks like they are barely even moving. It is almost as if the water is moving them. And they look like they could swim like that all day. At the end of last summer, I was able to swim about a mile and a half but it was not easy. It absolutely wore me out. After long swims like that, I would often come home and take a 2 or 3 hour nap.
A lot of the triathlon training information I see is geared toward people improving their times. That is great but at my level, I am not concerned about my time. I am concerned about my endurance. A lot of the swimming videos and tips prior to this were about swimming faster. I have largely been ignoring those because I am not sure that I need to swim any faster. At my current speed, (assuming I can maintain it for the entire distance) I will be out of the water in plenty of time to continue the race. However, I do not want to expend all of my energy in the water. So faster isnt really that imprortant to me. BUT if I can do the same distance with much less energy, that could be very important for me.
After the presentation, they had a PT test. When I saw it on the FB page, I thought that they were just joking around but I am learning that I should know better than that. We did a little test, as many sit-ups as possible in a minute, as many push-ups as possible in a minute, and finally a plank for as long as you could hold it. On the sit-ups and push-ups, I held my own, especially considering that I am one of the oldest guys there. I managed to do 42 sit-ups and 48 push-ups. But on the plank, I was completely outmatched. I did about 1:15 while the overall best plank was a whopping 6:00! Initially, I thought that the test was a little extreme but actually it was a lot of fun.
Today is my off day and I am really enjoying it. I am learning how important rest is. It is critical to take a day off and it is critical to get enough sleep. Like I said, there is a lot to learn.
Tomorrow 10 to 12 miles to run and about 25 miles to bike. Hoping for good weather.
Have a great weekend!
David
This past week was actually a little lighter than I have been doing for a while but it ramps up pretty fast. Over the course of the training, there will be adjustments. Right now, I am doing more than it suggests because I signed up for a half marathon in 3 weeks. So tomorrow, I will probably run 10 to 12 miles to ramp up for the half marathon instead of the 5 miles on my training schedule. I also need to work in a few smaller triathlons as part of the training.
There is so much to learn about all of this. Last night I went to my second Louisville Landshark social (which was a blast.) Barry Stokes and Mike Jotautus of Barrys Coaching graciously offered some training tips. Mike's tips on swimming were particularly enlightening. Mike explained the beginning swimmers often take 20 - 24 strokes to swim 25 meters. However, elite swimmers swim that same distance with only 7 or 8 strokes! That was a huge revelation. I have been telling people that when I see good swimmers swim, it looks like they are barely even moving. It is almost as if the water is moving them. And they look like they could swim like that all day. At the end of last summer, I was able to swim about a mile and a half but it was not easy. It absolutely wore me out. After long swims like that, I would often come home and take a 2 or 3 hour nap.
A lot of the triathlon training information I see is geared toward people improving their times. That is great but at my level, I am not concerned about my time. I am concerned about my endurance. A lot of the swimming videos and tips prior to this were about swimming faster. I have largely been ignoring those because I am not sure that I need to swim any faster. At my current speed, (assuming I can maintain it for the entire distance) I will be out of the water in plenty of time to continue the race. However, I do not want to expend all of my energy in the water. So faster isnt really that imprortant to me. BUT if I can do the same distance with much less energy, that could be very important for me.
After the presentation, they had a PT test. When I saw it on the FB page, I thought that they were just joking around but I am learning that I should know better than that. We did a little test, as many sit-ups as possible in a minute, as many push-ups as possible in a minute, and finally a plank for as long as you could hold it. On the sit-ups and push-ups, I held my own, especially considering that I am one of the oldest guys there. I managed to do 42 sit-ups and 48 push-ups. But on the plank, I was completely outmatched. I did about 1:15 while the overall best plank was a whopping 6:00! Initially, I thought that the test was a little extreme but actually it was a lot of fun.
Today is my off day and I am really enjoying it. I am learning how important rest is. It is critical to take a day off and it is critical to get enough sleep. Like I said, there is a lot to learn.
Tomorrow 10 to 12 miles to run and about 25 miles to bike. Hoping for good weather.
Have a great weekend!
David
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Official Membership Day
I got my official USA Triathlon membership card in the mail yesterday! I was surprised how excited that made me feel. Somehow it made me feel legitimate.
I signed up as part of the sign up for the Louisville Ironman back in January but the card just came. Really I signed up because most endurance events require some sort of insurance for the day of the race. If you are a member of USAT, that covers their requirment and it saves you some money for the sign up. I figure it only takes about 4 events in a given year to break even.
I am also finishing what I am calling my 6 week prep training. There is nothing special about this other than it was sort of a ramp up for the main training program. The purpose of this 6 week prep was really nothing more than to work on getting my bases up for all three sports. I've been doing some sprint work both in the pool and while running and getting outside on the bike.
Distances are coming along but I am concerned a little about speeds. NOT that I expect to win anything. My main concern there is the time limit I have to complete the competition. If I do not finish by midnight, it does not count. Right now, my average speeds are just barely good enough to finish on time. Any minor setback could potentially prevent me from finishing. So there is work to do there.
This weekend is the Papa John's 10 miler in the morning. That afternoon I am supposed to do a 40 mile bike. With those distances, I am around 40% of the Iron Man distances. The weather is supposed to be awesome. Should be a great weekend.
Side note: You may have noticed that I have gotten away from reporting every workout every day. I could continue that I suppose but I got to thinking about this blog and it occurred to me that what was more important was really the trials and tribulations of the training. I am not a trainer and am really not qualified to tell people how to train. Also, it is not all highs. There are times I get really discouraged. It seemed like those were the things that were more important to share. If you find this blog and want to know some of that info, I am happy to share it but I didn't want this to become just a bulletin board of statistics and basically a "Rah, me!" site.
Have a great day!
David
I signed up as part of the sign up for the Louisville Ironman back in January but the card just came. Really I signed up because most endurance events require some sort of insurance for the day of the race. If you are a member of USAT, that covers their requirment and it saves you some money for the sign up. I figure it only takes about 4 events in a given year to break even.
I am also finishing what I am calling my 6 week prep training. There is nothing special about this other than it was sort of a ramp up for the main training program. The purpose of this 6 week prep was really nothing more than to work on getting my bases up for all three sports. I've been doing some sprint work both in the pool and while running and getting outside on the bike.
Distances are coming along but I am concerned a little about speeds. NOT that I expect to win anything. My main concern there is the time limit I have to complete the competition. If I do not finish by midnight, it does not count. Right now, my average speeds are just barely good enough to finish on time. Any minor setback could potentially prevent me from finishing. So there is work to do there.
This weekend is the Papa John's 10 miler in the morning. That afternoon I am supposed to do a 40 mile bike. With those distances, I am around 40% of the Iron Man distances. The weather is supposed to be awesome. Should be a great weekend.
Side note: You may have noticed that I have gotten away from reporting every workout every day. I could continue that I suppose but I got to thinking about this blog and it occurred to me that what was more important was really the trials and tribulations of the training. I am not a trainer and am really not qualified to tell people how to train. Also, it is not all highs. There are times I get really discouraged. It seemed like those were the things that were more important to share. If you find this blog and want to know some of that info, I am happy to share it but I didn't want this to become just a bulletin board of statistics and basically a "Rah, me!" site.
Have a great day!
David
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