I am writing this on a rest day from training. Four weeks from today, I will doing Ironman Louisville! I am excited and nervous about the race. I now know I can successfully complete the race.
Yesterday, we had our long training day. Raj, Polly, and I swam one hour, biked for five, and then came back in the evening to run for two hours. We had three hours between finishing the bike and the run. Although we will not do that on race day, Coach Sean wanted us to focus on recovering after the swim and bike and be ready to run. The run went well and I felt good. After training in 100+ weather, it seemed easy to run in 80-degree weather last night. Another reason for running in the evening is that we will be running during the evening on race day. While we were in Indy doing our training, Joe, Ginger, and Mark were riding the IM Louisville bike course.
Thank you to coach Sean and Sam for kayaking for us during our swim!
I feel comfortable with my pace and being able to complete the swim on race day.
During the bike, we rode by Culvers and other restaurants, as well as by houses where people were grilling out. I definitely wanted a hamburger. So, after we completed the run, me and my Personal Best Triathlon teammates went out for burgers and fries (Joe, Rachel, Sean, Kendra, Raj, Polly, and Sam).
One of purposes of the long training is to practice race-day nutrition (drinking and eating). I have been working on that a lot lately. With the help of nutritionist Jackie Dikos, we have come up with the plan of eating every 30 minutes on the bike and run. It's amazing how much energy you require during a race, especially an Ironman. While some may think it pretentious to have a nutritionist, I am so glad I did. Jackie has been a big help to me in determining what and how much to eat and drink and when to do them. I've heard it said that nutrition is the fourth leg of the triathlon. It is true. (Thank you, Jackie!)
When I last posted, I was getting ready to do Muncie 70.3. Due to the extreme heat and humidity, the race was reduced to a 1-mile swim, 30-mile bike, and 10-k run. While I was disappointed with not being able to do the entire race, I was glad they did that. The temperature was 91 degrees when I finished the race at 10:15am. The water temperature was 88 degrees! I had a good race overall, and learned things to take into my next race.
Some of my teammates had signed up to do Cardinal Harbor 70.3 the following weekend instead of Muncie 70.3. Since I wasn't able to do the complete distance at Muncie, I decided that I wanted to complete the half iron distance before race day. (thank you, Ellen, for allowing me to do another race!) Another reason for doing the Cardinal Harbor race was we were going to swim in the Ohio river and bike on the IM Louisville bike course. Due to issues with police and course coverage (we would have had to stop at stop lights in Prospect, KY, because police would not be stopping traffic for us...really?!), the race was moved about an hour away from Louisville (Taylorsville Lake). While I was disappointed to not be able to swim and bike near and on the IM course, the race we completed was hilly on the bike and run, which was good preparation for race day. We had a good race. Congrats to Ginger, Raj, Mark, and Polly for completing the race as well!
You've heard me say that I continue to learn every day (which continues to this day), I recently learned that I need to wipe down and lubricate my chain regularly. It took an hour for me, Mark, and Ginger to get my chain unstuck, due to the "gunk" on my chain and gears. Lesson learned!
I continue to work on my swimming. Mark has been helping me focus on pace and rhythm in open water. I swim faster in the pool...it's easier...no sighting, clear water, can see the lane lines, etc. It's now a matter of practicing in open water as often as possible
Speaking of open water, the latest issue we have come across is the algae issue in the lakes, due to warmer water and lower lake levels. Fortunately, we were able to do the swim portion of our long training day yesterday. The water level is down several feet in Lake Kesslerwood.
Last weekend was brick weekend, consisting of a 60-mile bike/15-mile run on Saturday, and 40-mile bike/5-mile run on Sunday. The challenge was not only the long brick workouts, but also to recover after Saturday's workout and be ready to do it all over again on Sunday. I have found out how important it is to focus on recovery after hard workouts, so as to be able to successfully complete the next workout.
Thank you to Ellen and my daughters for supporting and putting up with me during all of this training! They have not seen me much on weekends due to training and races. Rachel and Katie made me an Ironman poster that I have on my office door. It is a daily reminder of why I am doing all of this training. I love you guys!
While we are now going to taper (reduced training time and distance), we will still have hard intensity workouts. This is the time to let my body rest and recover, so that I am at full strength come race weekend. While I know it will be hard to not want to do more than is on the training schedule, I need to rest and recover. The mental part is the hardest, as you feel you should be out there doing more.
I look forward to getting in to a pool this afternoon. I won't be swimming a lap or wearing a watch to track my time. I will be floating on a raft, having a few cold ones, which I am SO looking forward to.
What a journey!
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