A literal pain in the ...

Ass! I started running and about 1 mile in to it I got the most unbelievable pain in my right buttocks (as Forest Gump would say). the pain was radiating down my leg, I seriously felt like I was going to cry. I had two choices; I could continue to run and see if it got better or I could quit, I decided to run and hope for the best. Well as you can see, I couldn't run fast but I could run, slowly and deliberately. I did have a couple of 11 minute miles but couldn't sustain the pace because the pain would increase.

I had the most unbelievable Coke Classic craving at about mile 10, thank goodness that Bogey's was open at the golf course and I had hidden money in my shoe, I pounded a Pepsi (you know how much I wanted soda if I drank a Pepsi), I seriously felt like I had died and gone to Heaven. That final mile was like running on a cloud (not at all, it was a serious struggle) but I made it home. Only to find that Maggie had stolen 4 out of 5 steaks that had been BBQ'd. As if food isn't expensive enough these days, she ate my lunch for the next 3 days and will likely gas me out of my own bedroom tonight--I swear that dog was punishing me for not taking her on the run!!!

What the heck have I done?!?!?!

Ironman, are you kidding me?!?! I am having a "you have got to be kidding me" moment, I feel like I am way to slow and I am going to be devastated if I miss one of the cut offs. I am taking a little comfort in the fact that I am doing the "Intermediate" work out rather than the "Just Finish" program. I know that I am not the first person to feel this way, but I have had very few moments where I felt this way so it disturbs me a little. Maybe I am just really tired.

Here is a really huge positive. Nobody outside of my immediate family knows that I am training for Ironman, I am sure people might wonder why I would spend 3 hours and 30 minutes on my bike in one day, but nobody has asked and I am not ready to tell. I just really don't want to hear about how crazy it is, I know it is crazy but I have committed to it and even though my confidence is a little shaky today, I WILL FINISH! Anyway, the point of my story is that I told a co-worker (who is also a good friend) what I was doing and she was sooooo supportive and excited for me. It was an awesome response and so very encouraging. I wish everybody had that kind of enthusiasm for sport and physical fitness.

Okay, I am off to fold the mountain of laundry that is washed and dried but not folding itself!

my treadmill

Well, I am not sure what the incline percentage is but my treadmill won't go down all the way, I would guess it is maybe a 2.5 or 3% incline but man that makes a difference, especially when you are kind of already tired at the end of the day. I am really trying to start doing the morning workout but morning kicks my ass! I am really not a morning person but everyday I am going to bed a little earlier and getting up a little earlier so hopefully by February morning workouts will be part of the routine. Oy!

Tomorrow is 3 hours on the bike I think, dang, I better find something really good to watch. Right now I am really looking forward to riding outside but then I go outside and it's 22 degrees, I am happy to wait a while!

Ironman Training Week 2 Day 4

Busy week, hard to find time to blog! Yesterday, I was at the rec center and was running on the treadmill, I was about 16 minutes in to the run and decided to check my pace, calories etc. I toughed the keypad and got a static like shock and the whole machine shut off! So I restarted and again about 14 minutes in, I decided to check the same stats and again shocked and the machine shuts off, very strange. So I start all over again, this time keeping my hands to myself and not touching a thing and I am able to successfully run for 15 more minutes without shutting the machine down, I have decided that I won't be using that machine in the future, it just seemed a little bit sketchy.

Ironman Triathlon Week 2 Days 2 & 3

I missed posting yesterday, I was kind of busy! Things are still going really well, I biked for 30 minutes and ran for 15, I felt great! Today was a "spinning" day, 30 minutes at <100 rpm's in z1. I stayed in high z1 to low z2, I couldn't find the right balance of tension but I will work on that. I am amazed at how inspired I feel and how on occasion I have wished that I had a little bit more to do, I know that once I add the swimming back in that will likely no longer be the case :)

I will say that it felt weird on Monday not doing anything because so much had gone on the week prior. 4 Hours over 6 days, that is pretty good, it is kind of hard to believe that I am only in week 2, over the Christmas Holiday it is going to be difficult to stay on track!

Ironman Training Week 2 Day 1

Another great day! 30 minute run, 16 minutes in to it, I was really wishing that I had eaten lunch prior to the run, oh well, lesson learned.

I am still hesitating getting back into the pool, I have a cut underneath my left baby toe, it is very similar to the injury that left me with strep toe last year so I think I am going to let it heal completely before going back in, the ear infection has me a bit spooked!

Other than that I will have my first business trip next week, it will be a challenge to make sure that I get the work outs in, especially after having dinner with potential donors!

Ironman Training Day 5

I decided to put the "Ironman" in the title to make it more real. I had a great ride tonight, one hour on the trainer, lucky for me ABC Family is playing all of the Harry Potter movies, that makes the time fly by!

I can't figure out my Schwinn bike computer, maybe that's the problem. Jeff seems to like mine but I am not sure he knows how to use it either, but why would he?

Tomorrow's training will be interesting, hopefully I will be able to get to it, there is a big winter storm rolling in, could make the road trip north a bit trecherous--oh well the Disney Princesses await!

Triathlon Training Log- day 2

Well, another excellent workout! It was kind of hard because we had dinner with some friends and since I was at a seminar all day again today I had to work out this evening. I rode my bike for 30 minutes and briskly walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes. I am going to try to follow the intermediate program when possible but I am not going to feel bad if I have to revert to the "Just Finish" program since that is all I really want to do anyway! I just want to feel ad good as I can in June :)

Official Training Day 1

Today's scheduled workout included a swim workout and a 15 minute zone 2 run. I had a seminar all day and was unable to get to the pool during open hours so I ran for 30 minutes. I felt great and right now I am extremely excited about the training program, hopefully this attitude will continue :)

New Biking shorts and pants

Alright, I am so very excited about my new biking clothes from terrybicycles.com. 3 new shirts and 3 new bottoms; the spinnaker a "Lightly padded, in/outdoor relaxed bike capri", a pair of women's T-Short biking shorts, and finally my favorite of all the cool weather tights "Primo all-in-one padded tight for 40-60 degrees". They are so unbelievably comfortable, now if I only looked like the gals in the photos of the products I bought I would be ecstatic!

On to other things, I think I am done with my Christmas shopping, that is so excellent!

The bike saga

I am feeling mucho better about my bike, I actually like it now, yea!!!

I got a new angled stem so my handlebars are about 2 inches higer than they were before and I got a new womens gel seat which is taking the pressure off the butt. I am still thinking about the seat that I talked about in the previous post but I am going to ride on this new one for a while.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and on Tuesday of next week we are officially 30 weeks out from Ironman, yikes! The official, official training program begins. I was doing so well with my swimming until th ear infection, that rally derailed me, I hope I don't drown in the pool next week! I know that the lifeguards don't really want to get wet so I will be careful.

Training Diary
Last night I rode 8 miles in 35 minutes on the trainier, I think I need to get ALOT faster if I am ever going to complete the 112 mile ride!

awesome!

I know I am a dork but I don't care, my work outs have been awesome this week! I have felt recently that my conditioning wasn't quite as good as I wanted it to be, so I have resorted to my "ladder" training. I run in one minute increments increasing my speed each minute for 5 "rungs" then i go back to the first and start over. It makes the workout go much faster too! I am sure that there is a much fancier name but ladder works for me :)

I will be swimming again tomorrow, we will see how my ears do, they are still sore but hopefully the antibiotics will knock whatever it is out soon, I really hate taking antibiotics