My Ironman training plan started almost 7 weeks ago, and 6.5 weeks ago I could hardly walk due to sciatic and glute injuries. Things are getting better.
To start on a positive note, swimming is going very well. I’m using a buoy for all of my workouts to avoid using my tush which needs time to heal. Kicking is not my strong suit, so it’s not much of a disadvantage. I’ll be swimming the race in a full sleeved wet suit, so I’ll need strong arms and shoulders as it’s more difficult to get shoulder rotation with the wet suit. I don’t know why I’m surprised, but my lap times are getting faster. For previous races, I trained by swimming straight yardage with only occasional structured workouts. That type of training gave me the endurance that I needed but I never got any faster. I don’t know if the faster pace will translate to the open water, but it’s nice to see my efforts in the pool paying off. Speaking of open water, some friends and I made it into the lake this week to check out the water temperature. It was chilly but definitely warm enough to start some outdoor workouts.
Running and biking are a little more complicated. While I was rehabbing my left sided injuries, I was biking every day. While that allowed my left side to heal, I ended up with pain in my right hamstring and glute. I can’t catch a break! So now my left side feels fantastic and my right side hurts. Biking every day was probably not a great idea. I’m now up to running 4 miles and adding a little bit more with each run. I hope to catch up with my plan next week. I’ve also cut back the biking to only what it says on my plan. The pain hasn’t gotten any worse, so I’m hoping that time, ice, and Ibuprofen will do their magic. If it’s not better soon, I’ll have to take a break from riding for a few days. Even with the latest injury, my biking is going well. I’m riding in the right zones and I’m starting to see an improvement in my power output. I still have a lot of work to do in this area, but if I can get over this latest pain in the butt I’ll be happy.
Overall, I’m enjoying Ironman training so far. The workouts are still short enough to be manageable, and there are only 2 days right now that have 2 workouts. When I get to Week #11, I will pick up a couple more days with 2 workouts. With the kids in school, I’ve been able to manage the training and my other responsibilities by moving some of my training to the afternoons and being more conscientious of how I spend my time. When the number of workouts increases and the kids are out of school, things will get more complicated.
What have I learned after 7 weeks?
1. A bike trainer is essential. Riding on the trainer takes less time than gearing up to go outside, and it’s easier to target the right type of workout. Need a ride in Zone 1 or 2? There is no better way than on the bike trainer. Need a brick workout? Just jump off the bike, throw on running shoes and head out the front door. Riding a spin bike isn’t the same as riding your own bike with it’s own specific geometry. If you are training for any race longer than a sprint, a bike trainer is a great investment.
2. Believe in your own plan and ignore what everyone else is doing. I’ve said this before, but I often have to remind myself that it doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing. Others are training for different races or are training in different ways. Others have different bodies and different philosophies. It doesn’t matter what is on the schedule for any particular day, but how the schedule works together as a whole. I believe in the underlying philosophy of my schedule and that is what counts.
3. The ability to mentally entertain yourself for hours helps.On the bike trainer I like to watch Mad Men, and in the pool and on the run I listen to headphones. Even with those distractions, there is a lot of time that it’s just me and my own thoughts. Luckily I find myself amusing and entertaining. I love working out with friends, but the volume of training means that a lot of the workouts are solo. Sometimes I think about my training, sometimes other areas of my life, sometimes nothing at all. I’m enjoying the time by myself and luckily I still have workout times with friends which is a wonderful gift.
4. Ice is magic.
I’m looking forward to my 2 hour ride this weekend. It will be clear afterwards whether I need to take a short break from the bike or if I can stay on schedule. I vote for stay on schedule, please.
While it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, the doctor gave me permission to walk with running breaks. The limit is two miles total every other day to strengthen the glute and to avoid re-injury. There is some actual running involved so I shouldn’t complain. Over the next week or so, if I stay pain free, it will become more of a run with walking breaks. After getting the news, I immediately threw on my running shoes and headed out to give it a try. The walk to run ratio was 1.3/.7 and it was over before I knew it. From the trail I headed to the gym to lift followed by a stint on the bike trainer in the afternoon. Even though I didn’t get to really run, the combination with the other workouts was pretty tiring. While the walk/run went okay, I could feel it just a little bit today and that was enough to know that I’m doing the right thing by taking it slow.
There are only 5 more weeks until my first triathlon, Liberty Olympic distance on June 9th. Luckily it’s just a practice race for me because I can’t imagine that I will be running my best by then. As long as I can do the race I will be satisfied. I’m looking to getting used to race day jitters, practice transitions, and try out race day equipment. Still, it would be nice to at least be able to run the whole 10K without worrying about hurting myself again. Time will tell. Right now I’m glad to be making progress and I probably won’t know if I can do the race for a few weeks yet. Next weekend I’m going to bike the Liberty race course which is new this year. It’s very hilly which is the exact opposite of Florida. It’s hard to know how to train when the practice race is so different from my target race. I don’t want to do terrible in the practice race, but ultimately I have to train with the Ironman race in mind.
With no running, my butt has been on the bike seat 13 out of the last 14 days. Thank goodness I like biking and that I don’t mind sitting on the trainer. Mad Men has been keeping me company via Netflix. This last Sunday we were able to head outside. Mike and I drove 75 miles to the Lake Wobegon Trail for a ride. It’s a beautiful, paved, completely flat trail through beautiful fields and quaint towns. It was cloudy and a little windy, but the flat trail, beautiful scenery and absence of cars makes it hard to beat. Since I’m still in the base phase of training, the rides are all reasonably short which makes it a lot of fun. For this ride I only had to go 1:45 which felt pretty short on such a flat trail.
I’m planning on going back to the trail this weekend to ride. Once the kids are out of school for the summer it will be hard to find time to drive that far to ride, so I’ll try to get up there a few more times while I still can. The flat trail is perfect for keeping my heart rate in zone 2. Riding a lot of hills makes it hard to stay in the right zone and is frustrating.
It’s strange training for a late season race while everyone else is training for earlier races. Most people are riding a lot longer than I need to, and I just keep reminding myself that November is a very long time away. I’ll be riding long for many weeks after their races are done and they are headed into their off season, so it makes sense that I’m still in the base building phase of my training. I’m also older and injury prone, so I don’t think my body will take 6 full months of 3-4 hour rides along with running, lifting and swimming. Better to get to the start line in one piece than to ride be riding well in July only to flame out in August. If I get to the end of the season healthy and I feel like I trained too conservatively, then I can try it again and go after it a little harder. Right now, it feels about right, I’m having fun and I look forward to each day.
by Beth on April 25, 2012
The most interesting part of my Ironman training so far has been negotiating the pool. Up until a month or so ago, I swam at a pool that was always busy with individual lap swimmers as well as swim teams and lessons. This was frustrating because sometimes I would be ready to swim and the pool was unavailable. Other times it was so crowded that I worried about getting a lane. The pool has 8 lanes so most of the time it worked out fine, but it didn’t work out enough that it would make me nervous. I decided to switch gym locations and try the pool there. It only has 2 lanes but no classes or lessons and gets much less use. The first several times, no one else was in the pool and everything was fine. Word must have gotten out that the pool was empty, because the next two swim sessions almost ended in violence.
The first incident happened a couple of weeks ago when I was swimming merrily along in one lane and a woman who I’ll nicely refer to as a “non-swimmer” was in the other lane. A man walked out onto the pool deck and I invited him to swim in my lane. I figured the other woman would be hard to swim with and I don’t have any problem sharing a lane. He thanked me and jumped in. He started swimming down the middle of the lane. At first it was freestyle and we hit hands and exchanged a head nod. The next lap he was swimming breast stroke down the middle of the lane. We met up at the pool end and I asked him to scoot over a little. He looked confused. He continued to swim down the middle. I asked him again. Again he swam down the middle, and this time I told him that he was going to have to move over. He still didn’t get it. I asked the woman next to me if I could swim with her. She said no because her knee was hurt and she didn’t think she could share. I gave up and got out. The lane hog asked me if I was done and I told him no, but that it wasn’t working out and that if we met up again he would have to swim on his side.
The very next time I went to the pool, both lanes were occupied. I put my stuff at the end of the pool and both swimmers flipped turned and didn’t acknowledge me. I stood at the end of one of the lanes. He flipped and ignored me. I squatted down and tried to yell to him. No luck. I sat on the edge and dangled my feet in the water by his head. This time he flipped and it appeared to me that he moved to one side, so I took that as a signal that he wanted to swim on that side. Apparently not. As I swam toward him, he put his head up and yelled at me that I could have at least told him that I was getting in his lane. When I said that I had tried several times and even put my feet in by his head, he just growled in frustration. In retrospect, I should have gotten in all the way and stood at the end of the lane until he ran into me. That is what I would have done next had he not moved over, but I honestly thought he saw me. He got out and was very angry but at least I got to finish my workout.
So now I’ve made two enemies at the pool and the whole purpose of switching pools was to lessen my frustration about it. I think because the small pool is generally less crowded, the swimmers aren’t used to sharing a lane. There is a sign that clearly states that you have to share, with up to 3 people in a lane. Two is plenty and I’ll wait if there are already 2 or if it looks like someone is almost done. Other than that, many people swim an hour at the pool so I’m not waiting an hour to give someone their own personal lane. It’s a gym, not a private back yard pool. After the 2 incidents, I started swimming closer to noon time because it works better with my schedule and I’ve swam alone each time. I would have thought the pool would be crowded with lunch time swimmers, but so far that hasn’t been the case. I hope the new pool works out because it’s a little warmer than the old pool and I’m enjoying the quieter atmosphere. Going back to the crowded 8 lane pool doesn’t sound good to me right now but I’ll have to see. If I make any more enemies I may not be allowed in!
It’s week three of Ironman Florida training and my sciatic pain is gone. Yeah! It’s become clear, however, that my glute also suffered some damage. Boo! Although it’s going to take a some time until I’m 100%, I’ve been given the green light to ride the bike which makes me very happy. I can ride totally pain free and it is the discipline that I think needs the most attention at this point, so it is a relief to be able to ride. I rode on the trainer yesterday and today and I’m excited about heading outside tomorrow even though the weather won’t the best. I see the doctor again tomorrow and I’m hoping to get the green light to run. I’ve never gotten in an altercation while running, so maybe running will be a safer activity for me than swimming. Keeping my fingers crossed!
