When I first saw what was in store for me within my second week of training; I couldn't fathom what I saw in training peaks and what I would write down in my handy dandy Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City training notebook. The thought of 3 swims, 2 bikes, 2 runs, 1 bike run brick, and 1 rest day didn't scare me one bit. The one bit of it that scared me was could I actually somehow fit in ALL my training and NOT miss a workout. Well guess what?
It seemed impossible until it got done. Day by Day and Workout by Workout; I got them done. I had to slow down and take a deep breathe so I wouldn't get overwhelmed; which in turn would have raised my anxiety level by a whole lot. When I first saw my bike workout for Wednesday; I was like "OMG... How will I ever do that". The warm up of 20 mins easy build with 4-6 30 sec pickups was fine and so was the 10 min easy spin cool down. What got me was the main set; 3 by 5 min in zone 4 making sure my cadence (number of times my pedal makes a full revolution) is between 85 and 95 rpm (revolutions per minute). My mouth dropped because NEVER HAVE I EVER been able to hold that kind of cadence. Well guess what happened??? Yep; got it done! Seemed totally impossible UNTIL I actually accomplished it with flying colors.
I had gotten my workouts done with no brain issues telling me I couldn't all week; that was until my bike run brick (run right off the bike to get the legs used to what they'd feel like race day). My 2 flipping hours and 30 minutes on my bike on what was a hot and sunny Saturday would then be followed by a 15 minutes sizzling run. Ugh; my brain wanted to quit once the bike was over. I had gotten out pretty early Saturday and rode the first hour and 30 minutes on my own. It was nice thought; even though my dad (who is an avid cyclist himself) was getting over a pretty bad cold, he kept me company on my last hour of my ride. I had already done a full North and South loop of Beach Drive in Maryland and DC in Rock Creek Park and wasn't sure I could handle another North end loop. But Dad came to the rescue for me. He knew this wasn't an ALL OUT ride, so he just sat behind me and let me set the pace. When we got back to the cars; I traded my helmet for my running visor and my bike shoes for my running shoes. This was the part of my workout where I had to think about what WHY I started this journey in the first place. Between tan lines, finish lines, friends, and just pure joy and happiness; my 15 minute run was somewhat of a stinko kind of run but alas even in the sun and heat, it got done.
As I now go into a so much wanted and needed REST DAY; I think about the following. I am unique and unbreakable and unstoppable. Nothing and I mean NOTHING will keep me from continuing this journey to Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City. I know from past experiences with long course triathlon training; this won't get easier; but i'm gonna do EVERYTHING to keep my thoughts in perspective. Onward to Atlantic City. Onward to another wonderful week of training. Oh and YAY it's less than a week now until I swim the 200 Butterfly, 50 Breaststroke, and 400 Individual Medley at a long course masters meet in DC.
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