I am 3 1/2 weeks post-surgery to repair my hernia (I have pictures of what it looks like if anyone wants to see it.).
Doctor's orders after the surgery - no activity for a week - can walk after a week and then see how it feels after that. No swimming for two weeks.
This is a process that normally takes 4-6 weeks to heal. "I don't have that kind of time; I have an Ironman to train for!" I said. My body said otherwise. It was slow going one week post-surgery. My brain said that I needed to get out there and catch up. The soreness and pain said otherwise.
Patience, patience, patience. I have learned that I have to listen to my body and what it will allow me to do. I had to remember to try and heal so that I don't cause further injury. Thank you to Ellen and my tri friends for telling me to ease back into things and to enjoy the rest so that I am ready to come back and start training when it's time.
I appreciate that coach Sean has been patient with me and working with me (including listening to me whine about my soreness). I was concerned that I wasn't going to be able to do the race. While it would not have been the end of the world if I wouldn't have been able to come back, I would have been really disappointed. I have appreciated the texts and emails I have received from friends, asking me how I was doing.
Mother's Day morning, Ellen and my friends Jeff and Cathy Smith, walked and jogged with me. Woo hoo! Progress!
Two weeks ago today, I walked briskly (i.e. 12:30/mile pace) while my daughter was at soccer practice. Tonight, I was able to run 6 miles at an 8:45/mi pace...speed work...some soreness...was careful.
While I feel I kept most of my endurance while I was off, I could feel that I needed to get some back after biking intervals with Joe and Ginger last night and running intervals tonight while Katie was at soccer. I am grateful to be back at it. I'm starting to feel tired again, so I know I am ramping up my training.
I took a picture of my biggest supporter, Ellen, and tried to upload it...it's sideways. Once I figure out how to turn it, I will post the picture. She is wearing her "Ironman Support Crew" shirt that I got her last year at Steelhead 70.3. I bought it for her because she supported me as I trained for that race. Little did I know that she would be supporting me as I trained for a full Ironman race.
Next up...Louiville on Saturday, to ride 60-71 miles on the actual bike course. It is an "out and back" course, with two loops of 30-miles. I am going so that I can get a feel for the course so that I am more relaxed about race day. I have joined a group called "iAM TRI". It is a group of people that are doing IM Louisville. This group sponsors group rides along the course, as well as a group swim of the beginning of the swim, and runs on the run course.
I am learning good things from the posts on this website/blog. There is a lot to learn.
Upcoming events for me include MuncieMan Tri on June 9 and a possible 5k swim in Morse Lake on June 23. I am nervous about the latter, as that is a LONG swim!
I was able to do my first open-water swim this past Monday. I actually swam well and was excited about that!
More to follow. I will tell you about my experience from the ride in Louisville.
We are about 3 months away from race day! I am nervous and excited.
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Halfway There!
As I write this update, I am at home recuperating from hernia surgery. Yes, you read it right. I got a hernia. Not sure how. I am focusing on healing and recovering and being able to get back to training. I am going to use this time to heal and rest and be ready for what lies ahead with my training.
I cannot do any running or biking for a week and no swimming for two weeks. I will work with Coach Sean to work through this and be ready to train again.
As such, my streak of 13 straight Mini Marathons will come to an end. Also, I am not going to run the Geist Half Marathon like I always do on the day before that race. I am really okay with those two races, as they really don't help me per se' with my Ironman training.
This past Sunday, I rode 70 miles. On Saturday, I rode 30 miles, followed by an 8-mile run (a Brick workout). A good learning experience in a few ways. I got to experience some fatigue from the Saturday workout as well as realize that I did not take enough nutrition on Sunday on the first half of the bike.
We biked the 36-mile Nebo Ridge bike course. While it was windy on the course, I did not have the energy I needed. I was ready shut it down for the day and chalk it up to a bad training day. Thanks to Ginger for talking me through it. I ate and drank when I got back to the car and was able to bike two more 17-mile segements, so as to get in 70 miles. I felt like a different person for those two 17-mile segments. Still working on the fueling mentality needed to have the energy I need to power through the long training sessions I am going through.
Support has been a big theme lately. Thnak you to my Personal Best Training teammates for riding with me on the long bikes! (especially Joe, Ginger, Mark, Hank, and Ross). Thank you to Ron Stohler for all of the encouraging calls and texts! It has been great to get encouragement from friends on FB who have been reading my blog. Thank you!
Four months and 17 weeks worth of training in the bank. I continue to learn a lot. I learn something almost every time I go out to train, whether it be about nutrition, pacing, or the mental aspect of training for an Ironman triathlon.
We are going down to Louisville this month to ride a significant portion of the bike course that will be part of the Ironman event. I want to be as familiar with the race as I can, so as to reduce race weekend stress and settle in and enjoy it as much as possible. [I am sure there are many of you wondering how one can enjoy swimming, biking and running 140.6 miles in one day]
Thank you to Ellen for her continued support of my race and all that is involved with the training and preparation!
Along with the increase in mileage and duration of my training, I will start doing open water swimming. I want to be able to relax in open water like I have been able to do while swimming in the pool.
More to follow. Stay tuned. Thank you for reading and for your support!
I look forward to race weekend and completing a successful Ironman race, and hearing my name being called out as being an Ironman!
I cannot do any running or biking for a week and no swimming for two weeks. I will work with Coach Sean to work through this and be ready to train again.
As such, my streak of 13 straight Mini Marathons will come to an end. Also, I am not going to run the Geist Half Marathon like I always do on the day before that race. I am really okay with those two races, as they really don't help me per se' with my Ironman training.
This past Sunday, I rode 70 miles. On Saturday, I rode 30 miles, followed by an 8-mile run (a Brick workout). A good learning experience in a few ways. I got to experience some fatigue from the Saturday workout as well as realize that I did not take enough nutrition on Sunday on the first half of the bike.
We biked the 36-mile Nebo Ridge bike course. While it was windy on the course, I did not have the energy I needed. I was ready shut it down for the day and chalk it up to a bad training day. Thanks to Ginger for talking me through it. I ate and drank when I got back to the car and was able to bike two more 17-mile segements, so as to get in 70 miles. I felt like a different person for those two 17-mile segments. Still working on the fueling mentality needed to have the energy I need to power through the long training sessions I am going through.
Support has been a big theme lately. Thnak you to my Personal Best Training teammates for riding with me on the long bikes! (especially Joe, Ginger, Mark, Hank, and Ross). Thank you to Ron Stohler for all of the encouraging calls and texts! It has been great to get encouragement from friends on FB who have been reading my blog. Thank you!
Four months and 17 weeks worth of training in the bank. I continue to learn a lot. I learn something almost every time I go out to train, whether it be about nutrition, pacing, or the mental aspect of training for an Ironman triathlon.
We are going down to Louisville this month to ride a significant portion of the bike course that will be part of the Ironman event. I want to be as familiar with the race as I can, so as to reduce race weekend stress and settle in and enjoy it as much as possible. [I am sure there are many of you wondering how one can enjoy swimming, biking and running 140.6 miles in one day]
Thank you to Ellen for her continued support of my race and all that is involved with the training and preparation!
Along with the increase in mileage and duration of my training, I will start doing open water swimming. I want to be able to relax in open water like I have been able to do while swimming in the pool.
More to follow. Stay tuned. Thank you for reading and for your support!
I look forward to race weekend and completing a successful Ironman race, and hearing my name being called out as being an Ironman!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)