The day following Patriot I felt pretty darn good. I was given the "day off" after already completing my 20 min recovery run. sweet. Monday I did a nice 60 min on the bike. I entered my week feeling pretty good. It's amazing what I have been able to train my body to do. Tuesdays and Wednesdays workouts went well. I felt more tired than normal, but maintained my normal pace. I felt good going into my off day on Thursday. Ready to take on my final 6 weeks (gulp) of training before Vineman.
Friday I woke up at 4 am to do the following: 1 mile run, 400 meters lunges, 2 mile run, 400 m lunges, 3 mile run, 400 meters lunges, 4 mile run. 100 squats. yikes! All went surprisingly well until the last 1.5 miles of running. My R Achilles started hurting and my R oblique cramped. The debilitating type of cramp. What is with all these cramps!?! I have not lost fitness in one week. Fuel? Hydration? Tight muscles? Tired body? I should have taken a Clif Shot to consume mid-workout. Sometime, I underestimate what I need in regards to nutrition. Stupid mistake. I made it home, though at a slow pace. My legs were a mess for most of the morning. After LOTS of stretching and PT love my ankle and legs felt better. My afternoon swim at Walden left me feeling refreshed and ravenous! I ate like a fiend for the rest of the day.
Yesterday I struggled through my brick w/o though it was only 135 min total. I felt sluggish all day despite 10 hours of good sleep the night before. I ate well that day and again got a good nights sleep. Today, Sunday, I woke up feeling more refreshed. My friend Becky and I swam the perimeter of Walden, plus some totaling ~1.65 miles in 60 minutes. I swam freestyle the whole time. We stopped 5 times for less than 1 minute at each stop. I felt tired at times, but muscular vs fatigued and drained. After we did a 60 min mostly trail run. I cramped again, but my legs felt better. I drank a lot today including some powerade zero. I fueled well post workouts and the remainder of the day. I am finishing my day and weekend feeling way better than on Friday. I am hoping my body just needed some more time to recover. Maybe I need to hydrate on my >45 min runs now that it is warm. I will try this. Starting tomorrow on my 90 minute run.
The race is 5 weeks away. One day I feel more ready than I could describe, the next terrified and doubtful of my success. Sometimes I fluctuate during my day. I know this is normal. The fear I mean. Or at least I think it is. I expect that when I stand in that water or sand waiting for the horn or the "go" my heart rate will be through the roof and I'll be shaking. A lot. But, I hope, when I dive into the water and start my first full ironman the fear will dissipate with each stroke and I will have the time of my life.
"Facing truth and admitting weakness is what will ultimately free you to find your strength, your power, and your dreams. Of course, that magnetic force called ego tries to keep each of us from opening our eyes to embracing our frailties, but like the weak link in the chain, unless we find it and fortify it, we will fail when tugged on by life's biggest missions." Forward by Mark Allen for I'm Here to Win by Chris McCormack
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