The Endurance Pig: From Demoralized to Motivated

Well, it's official, my Ironman training has completed consumed my life. Yes, you heard me correctly, I have no life outside of work and swimming, biking, and running. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining - in fact, I'm enjoying it. Normally, I start my weekly updates with a few paragraphs about what all went down, outside of my training life. So, as I sat down and started to think about what I was going to write about, I drew a blank. "Why can't I remember what I all did this past week?" I pulled up my Google Calendar and found out why I couldn't remember what I did this past week. I didn't do ANYTHING - nothing, nada, zero, zip, zilch. Pathetic, right? My work week all started on last week Monday. Sarah and I were kept up all night with Maya who either ate too much Orange Leaf frozen yogurt on Sunday night, or came down with some short lived bug. From the time that we gave her a bath and put her to bed she was complaining of a belly ache. Then it happened, around 11 she threw up all over our bathroom. She was up until about 3 vomiting. I was scheduled for SWAT training on Monday morning and Sarah was unable to stay home from work due to being short staffed, so it was daddy's turn to call in sick and stay home with the girls. Maya didn't eat a lot on Monday, but by the end of the day, she was feeling nearly 100%. I then went back to work Tuesday night and Rock USA began on Wednesday. Rock USA is the rock & roll version of Country USA music festival. The only difference between the two events (other than the music) is Rock USA is 4 days as opposed to 5 days. I was still out there for 11 hour shifts from 7pm-6am. I was fortunate that all 4 days of the festival fell on my regularly scheduled shift, so I did not have to work on any of my off days. My weekend fell on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and spent the entire weekend either training for the Ironman or at SWAT training. I did reach an exciting milestone this cycle though. I reached 100 total miles of swimming since I started my Ironman Training in Mid-December. Exciting stuff, right? Haha

Brief Recap

I planned this cycle to have less training volume while I was working out at Rock USA due to the added stress of being on my feet all day/night and working 11 hour shifts overnight. One of my key workouts of this cycle did fall while working at Rock USA, however. I had my 5th Swim Fitness Test on day 4 of this cycle. Without going into super detail about the test, I killed it! I swam my 400m time trail swim in 6:19, 10 seconds faster than my previous best time. My 200m time trial swim was completed in 3:05, which is actually a second slower than my previous best. But, a second is negligible and I was happy that it was remaining constant. After my last swim test, I made it a point to improve my 400m swim time, which I did, by a lot. I was extremely happy with where my swim fitness has come, not only over the past 8 months, but since I first started swimming 7 years ago. The remainder of my work week was relatively easy, but enough training stress to not loose fitness. I did swap out a workout from my original plan. I was scheduled to bike 40 miles the morning after my last night out at Rock USA and then catch a quick nap before heading back out for a 16 mile run. To be honest, I was just too physically and mentally drained from a long and busy 4 days at Rock USA. I swapped out that workout for the workout I had planned for day 9. So instead, I did a short 15 mile bike followed immediately by a 6 mile brick run and did the long brick workout after SWAT Training on Tuesday night.

My second key workout was my trip down to Verona, WI to bike 100 miles on the Ironman bike course. I was anxious to see what all the hype is about. The Ironman Wisconsin bike course is claimed to be the most difficult full Ironman bike course in North America, if not the world. I headed down to Fireman's Park in Verona early Monday morning. I started riding around 9:30 and was taken back by the difficulty of the course. It was a humbling experience. The temperatures were hovering around 90* throughout majority of my ride and there were winds averaging 12mph with gusts up to 27mph, which obviously had a direct impact. The course is extremely hilly and technical. There are hundreds of turns and bends and you are never on a single road for more than 5 miles, with most stretches of road being in the 1-3 mile range. The course is extremely picturesque, as most of the course is set in the rolling farm fields of northwest rural Madison. There were about 3 hills that left a lasting impression in my mind. One of those climbs seemed to go on for miles, even though it was probably only 3/4-1 mile long. I finished the ride after a total of 101 miles in 5:26 with an average speed of 18.6mph. That speed and time does include me getting sort of lost for a little bit and stopping after each lap to refill my water bottles and grab more fuel. My honest guess is that my speed of actual riding was right around 19mph. To say the least it was rather demoralizing. I had hopes of being able to ride the bike leg of the Ironman at 20mph. I was beat down, sore, humbled, and exhausted after my first attempt at the Ironman bike course. To be honest, I was rather taken back and was left wondering what the hell I got myself into. Below is a link to my Garmin Connect info from my ride.

100 Mile IM Course Ride - Details

After getting home Monday night, I cooked dinner for the girls and was in bed to get up early for SWAT training on Tuesday. It was a range day. A full day of wearing all my SWAT gear on the rifle range in the sun. Don't get me wrong, these are some of the best days of training and the weather could not have been nicer. It's just not what I would have ideally done the day after biking 101 miles. But I packed my own lunch and opted out of our group lunch at Red Robin and stuck to my nutritional plan to get my 2nd long weekend workout in before going back to work on Wednesday night. After getting home from training, it was back on the bike for 40 miles of riding and right into a 16 mile long run. It was a long ass day but completely worth it...

Favorite Workout

My favorite workout was not my ride on the bike course, even though that was an experience I'll never forget. It was actually my workout the day following my long bike ride. My plan was to attend SWAT training from 7am-3pm, pack my own food to insure no GI distress during my workout, and head out the door for at least 4 hours of training in the evening. I was a little hesitant due to being so sore from my bike ride on Monday and spending the entire day Tuesday on my feet in all my SWAT gear. I was out the door by 4:30pm for my 40 mile ride. I took it easy on the ride with hopes of setting up a strong run following. I did just that, I stayed very relaxed on the bike and finished with a total of a little over 41 miles in 2:02 (20.2mph). I came off the bike feeling sore but good. I got right into my run. My strategy was to run four 4 mile loops and take a short walking break every 2 miles to refuel with gels and grab a sip of water. I stuck to my plan exactly. I finished the run in 2:09 (8:04/mile). I also experimented with refueling with Coca-Cola, which worked really well. I have heard that Coke can be like a drug in the late stages of the Ironman Marathon due to it's high sugar content combined with its caffeine. It is served at the aid stations on the run course. I have never fueled with Coke before, so I want to be 100% confident that it will work for me, in case I opt to utilize it on race day as an emergency pick-me-up on the 2nd half of the marathon. I was thrilled with my run time, considering the breaks and the overall condition of my legs. Majority of my miles between breaks were in the 7:45/mile area. My heart rate rarely jumped over 140 bpm and I felt GREAT. It was the exact type of workout I needed to reassure myself that my training is properly preparing me for the 140.6 mile journey that is an Ironman. Evidently it was the exact workout I needed to go from demoralized to motivated overnight. The weather was ideal during my run with temperatures in the upper 60's-70's. It was one of my first long runs where the temperatures were not near 90. It made me realize that even though many of my previous times from past long workouts were slow, I am putting in the time and effort and my body will be ready to rock Ironman Wisconsin, there is no doubt in my head. I also need to keep in mind the fact that my body is carrying over a ridiculous amount of stress and soreness which is also directly impacting my training times. But that's good, that's what is supposed to happen. The goal of the training plan I put together was to be under a near constant stress from the previous day(s). I am training my body excel and be fast in an extreme state of fatigue. So I say bring it on! I will be ready to kick ass on September 8th!

Moving Forward

It's now right back to training. Coming off a long day of SWAT training and a 4.25 hour workout, I have to get up early on Wednesday morning to get in the pool for a 4,000m swim block and back on my bike (again) for a quick 15 mile ride. After that workout, it's back to short training blocks throughout the work week. My 2 big key workouts this cycle include a "Redemption Ride" on the Ironman bike course. Only this time, I will get to see what it feels like to run after climbing all those damn hills. The next day I will follow it up with a long run brick workout of 40 miles on the bike and 20 miles running. I only have 3 more cycles to get through until my taper starts. I am excited and thrilled to race Ironman Wisconsin in just a mere 45 days, but to be honest, I want my life back and am looking forward to seeing my wife and kids again! Just 45 more days of working my ass off and staying positive, motivated, and crushing it!

Be fast, be strong, and carry on!