Please Don't Take This the Wrong Way

We each have events or accomplishments that we get totally excited about, right?  Is sharing those achievements bragging or boasting? Perhaps. Is it OK to do it? Perhaps. Do we sometimes take it too far? Perhaps. Am I guilty in this arena? Most definitely.

When I share part of an achievement or something I am excited that I have accomplished it is in NO WAY supposed to make anyone else feel less about themselves. I compete with myself. Let me repeat that, I compete with myself. And I applaud all those who are doing the same - who are striving to be better today than they were yesterday, in ANY arena.

 I started this higher level of competition two years ago. And I will say, without feeling ashamed, that I am thoroughly proud of how far I have come. If that is seen as boasting, then so be it. I could not even swim when I began this triathlon escapade. Do you hear me? I could not swim. Sure I could stay afloat, and I swam in the ocean growing up, and had what I thought was a marginal freestyle. Get in the water with a coach and be humbled. That is what happened to me. And now I am consistently in the top 25% of the swim times. I could sit back and say, look at me, look at how far I've come. But really what I am thinking inside is, how can I get faster. That's my personality in a nutshell.

In the last 8 days I have had two very different Wednesdays. 

Wed, Jan 25th - 9am - Goal: 3 hour bike/13 mile run

I set out on the bike feeling great. I was trying out some new nutritional products and was just coming off of a pretty nasty head cold, but felt good enough that I wanted to do the brick workout. This was to be the first larger brick of the season for me, and the first 1/2 Ironman distance brick of many to come in the next 9 weeks before my first race of the season. Everything went according to plan. Nutrition was on, heartrate was in my zone 2 (approx 140-150bpm) and the ride felt easy. I rode 48 miles. I arrived home a little after noon and took about 10 minutes to transition to running. I changed clothes, used the bathroom, etc. As soon as I started running I noticed my heartrate was at 140. Unusually high after a relaxing 10 minute transition. I was a bit concerned but felt ok so I kept running. This was supposed to be a zone 2, easy run; get through it slowly to build my endurance base. Zone 2 is a place where you feel  the exercise is almost too easy, like, "I'm not really getting a workout here." If your breathing is labored at all, you are going too fast. An easy and talkative conversation should be possible the entire time.

Right off, my heart rate was too high, even though I felt like I was in my zone 2. What felt to me like my HR was at a 145, was registering on my monitor as a 165. Was the monitor off? Was being sick the few days prior causing my HR to increase? Was I dehydrated? Any of these could have been the culprit. Since I felt ok I kept going, and disregarded what my HR monitor was saying. I was running at a pace that for me should have been in my low zone 2 and I felt ok doing it. The first 5 miles were uneventful and I felt pretty good. Right about mile 6 I ducked into the local McDonalds to use the restroom, my stomach was churning. That helped and I kept going, though I no longer felt ok. I felt as though I might vomit at any moment and anything I ate or drank (liquid shots and water) tasted awful. I trudged through 3 more miles - only because that's how far out  I was and it was the fastest route home. I went a total of 9 miles, my average pace was 10:52, which included some walking in the last 3 miles, and my heart rate was in my zone 3 the whole time (avg 163). Way too high for the pace I was going. I came inside and wanted to colapse. I forced myself to drink my recovery drink (which I really thought might not stay down - fortunately it did). The next couple hours I was exhausted, but then oddly, I actually felt pretty good later on that day. SO WEIRD!!

After a discussion with my coach about the day. We decided to take a break for about a week to make sure I avoid getting over trained (crashing my system of sorts, from which it can take months, or more, to recover). An easy week followed.


Wednesday, Feb 1st - Goal: 1.5 hr bike/4 mile run
Today was originally supposed to be a 3 hr ride followed by an 8 mile run. Because of last week's crash though, it was cut in half. 1.5 hr bike/4mile run.

Again I started the day feeling great. The whole bike ride I found myself smiling and thinking how lucky I am to be able to do this. It is a beautiful day today in Denver and was warmer than I thought it was supposed to be. Sunny and 40's, no wind. Dress appropriately and it's a great riding weather. I went from my house to the top of the hill at the Chatfield Reservoir, and back. Approx 26 mile round trip. I stayed where it was pretty easy (HR-wise) and it took me 1 hr 40 min with an average speed of 15.2 mph - nothing to boast about there ;) My bike strength needs improvement for sure, but slowly and surely it is coming.

The part of today's workout that I am very excited about came after the bike. I took about 5 min to transition to running and started out with a smile on my face and feeling great. I wanted to try to push this 4 mile run, if I felt I could. The first 2 miles of the run are mostly uphill, but with some relieving downhills mixed in. mile 3 is a wonderful down, and 4 is up or flat. I ran the loop at a 7:47min/mile pace. I've never run that loop, that fast, stand alone, or after a bike ride. And I felt great doing it. I could have kept going (maybe not too long at that pace), but at least for a little longer. ;)

I love good days!

And that's the end of my boasting, for today.