#68 A cautious return to the starting blocks

This was my favorite caution sign

With "official" training scheduled to start on March 1st, last week wasn't exactly the blast out of the gates and big-entrance to the training season I was looking for.....a torqued left heel and the subsequent ripple-effect "you'd be wise to leave me alone for a bit" messages from my body combined with a crazy kid activity weekend became a down training week pretty quickly......these things happen I guess.....well they do to me anyway.....but it's a long road.


So, this week, it was time to get back into the starting blocks for me, a metaphor that, with the increased presence of NJNYTC* speedsters going after their dreams in our area ,  I found myself thinking a little bit about the mental toughness required for this aspect of higher level training; the need to push yourself hard and bounce back when things don't go your way.  


To me this is one of the defining characteristics of a champion (current or eventual).  We all take lumps, no doubt we've all experienced the stun of life smacking us in the mouth, but the question of whether you stay down or brush yourself off and get back up is a choice......


This week was a little bit of that for me.....after putting in what I considered a measured, but very productive winter and saw some improvements, I took my eye off of the ball (or the road in this situation) and just like that (snap your fingers here if you want the full effect), I was set back by 1/3rd.......


*(check out NJNYTC and hit this non-profit with a donation if you have the means.....hard working group of athletes building a framework for East Coast track excellence....but like most pioneers.....they need help funding their journey)


Shake it off and refocus the lens


This week, I tried to get my mind right....to not stress over time lost (it's minimal), to not worry about the potential of a nagging injury (being a PT is an advantage) and let my body do what it needed to do. So it would just be a bike-swim heavy week and practice the skill of every long-course athlete....patience....a skill that isn't in the "strength" column for me.  


After today's ("long") session, I'm feeling like I got mostly there.  2.5 hours of swim work and 6 hours on the bike.  I was able to get in about an 1.5h of running in (2 short bouts + a brick today) with no significant pain and the heel issue seems to be moving in the right direction.  This puts me just under 10 hours of training time for the week, which is still a bit lower than I had hoped, but with the abbreviated ability to run, it's tolerable.


Goals?


So at this point in my training, the shift goes from solely reflecting on "how I did" to equal emphasis on "where do we go from here?".  It's so important for me to have clear objectives not only long-term, but mid-term, short-term, near-term, immediate and even present.  For me it's too easy to get into the trap of losing sight of the little things that matter.


Long-term goal (at some point): Simple:  Qualify for Kona.  I'm not putting a timeframe on this.....I think it's dumb to do so.....long-term goals are by definition for the long-term.  Rather, I'll rest assured that I'm on the right trajectory and if I stay focused, I'll achieve it.


Mid-term goal (within 2 years):  Have a tactically perfect Ironman Distance race.  This, to me, means cross the finish line at the exact moment the reserves run out.  Have enough energy to muster an arms-up finish and know that, short of injuring myself, I have raced hard and raced smart at the 140.6 distance


Short-term goal (this year):  Break the 11 hour mark in Ironman.  This will take a confident and smart race and getting the details right. When I do quick-math my high-level analysis puts me around the 11.5 hour area on a good (but not necessarily great) day.  FOCUS in training and a very good race could get me there so a solid goal for me.


Near-term goal (90 days): Now it gets tougher.....what in the next 3 months will put me in line to break 11 hours and still set me up for near perfect tactics?  Hmmm.....that puts me in early June, which is when my training plan really begins to ramp up from an intensity perspective.  Consistently average more than 18 hours of high quality training per week with no less than 3.5 hours in water, 9 on the bike, 5 on the run and 1 hour of cumulative stretch & strengthen.  Whew.....this is a lot and I'm glad I spelled it out to keep it in perspective and the realistic workload in front of my face.


Immediate goal (30 days): This is a little easier for me, because it seems obvious to me....it's technical, technical and more technical work.  Need to continue to refine my swim stroke to the point where I am at least 10% faster in my next 1000m time trial than last; Need to get outside on the bike A LOT and work on my gearing and fueling to the point where I am able to maintain 20 mph at a reasonable heart rate for at least 50 miles on a moderately "rolling" course; Need to continue to build endurance back up on the run, would like to be able to do at least 13 miles in a 7:35 pace with a heart rate average below lactate threshold.  I don't usually put specific times/pace goals down at this point in the season, but I'm confident committing to these.


Present goal (7-10 days): This of course should be a relatively easy goal to set because it's right here.....and in general, it is:  I need to get my training volume up to 12-13 hours with continued improvement in the L foot and no signs of overtraining.


OK, so I've got my work cut out for me for sure.......but that's what I signed up for.


Gettin to work,


Mike E.

#67: Tri Training for Dummies? Watch out for speed bumps

That'd be me folks

The week started out with a few obstacles that I knew were coming down the path….and a few that were unexpected.  The first (expected) was that my swim training was going to be thrown off a bit with my normal "Y" doing some pool maintenance for the week.  Although this was a little bit of an inconvenience, with some planning, not a huge deal, something I could overcome by dropping-in somewhere nearby.  The next was that my weekend "long" sessions were going to be tough to get b/c this weekend was to be one of the peaks of winter-season kid-activity craziness, which meant my sessions during the week would have to be nearly perfect.  It was supposed to end there……but as you might suspect, it didn't.

Monday = planned day off, but it was gorgeous outside and I had to drop my car off for service.....why not ride home from the service station right?  Save a little gas and someone from having to follow me there....win-win.  So I got about an hour of rolling hills in and felt GREAT to be outside.....an unplanned (extra) hour making it even better.

And then there was Tuesday

Was able to swim early in the day (sometimes things just workout) and felt like it was a productive session working on form and technique.  The best part about it is this would leave me the time to do a run-strength-run session while the sun was still shinning, a luxury that I don't take lightly this time of year.  So, trying to cash in on the luxury I figured I'd run 3-ish to BaseCamp31, get a 20-30 min strength session in and then run back.  A nice +/-6 miles of running and some strength.  The first 3 went well.....legs felt good, fitness was fine to run a solid pace even keeping it "easy".  Got to BaseCamp31 and got in 20 minutes of strength work......turned the Garmin back on and headed out the door for the last three.  I got to a stoplight where I had to cross the highway and when the lights were in my favor started the watch and made my way.  For some reason crossing the highway is always a little tenuous for me, there's the safety issue of course (pedestrians only have the right of way per the law.....real world rules often have a different interpretation), but also, I hate the feeling that a bunch of impatient people in their cars are cursing me as I scamper across the intersection......I probably shouldn't care, but I know how frustrated I get as the driver, so I try to get across quickly.  As I made my way across I jumped a curb in stride to get onto the shoulder of the roadway.  All was well except that in the next step I landed on a rut of soft soil and felt a bit of a snap as my L heel torqued.  Tenderness but nothing major so I kept moving.  By the time I finished, the heel was stiff....never a great sign, so I iced and popped some ibuprofen and figured I'd have a sore day or so......sort of.

When Wednesday morning rolled around I was looking a little less like an Ironman and a little more like the tin-man as I put my stiff and achey feet down on the floor and gingerly made my way to the shower.  This should have been the obvious sign for me to pay attention, but (right on cue), I muttered to myself those fateful words that every athlete says right before making a mistake "nah, I'm good". I'll just continue to RICE it and move on I figured.....or something.  By Wed midday I was feeling 75% so I figured a swim would be the right choice and it went fine.

Thursday was more of the same, except by the end of the day I was feeling about 90%, without any notable issue....cool.  So I figured what better way to test the heel than to run for an hour.  This probably would have been OK, except I made 3 critical mistakes in my planning:

1. I decided I'd jump in for 8-ish miles with a guy who is a solid runner, who would undoubtedly push me, which on most occasions is a real benefit to my training

2. That run was to be on a very soft trail at night, which a bit counterintuitively actually makes the foot and leg "stiffen" more during impact

3. I couldn't resist a couple of slices of veggie-pizza somewhere around 30 minutes before going out.

So we set out and I was doing OK.....but by mile 3-ish, I could feel that veggie pizza in the pit of my stomach, never a fun sensation.  By mile 4 at the turn, the heel was also starting to talk-back some......and by mile 5, I was fighting.  The next three miles were not pleasant; I was having a hard time deciding what was worse the discomfort on each step or the small alien that I was convinced was attempting to bore through my abdomen.

By mile 6, I'm guessing it was getting pretty obvious that I was battling (even though it was dark outside) as Bill said "You OK?" and I offered back "I'm second guessing my choice of pre-run fuel....veggie pizza" to which he simply responded "oooh".  And taking pity on me (probably b/c every runner has experienced the misery I was going through) he said "we can slow it down if you want", which I wanted to badly, but wouldn't allow myself b/c I didn't want to drag down his session.....I decided to keep after it and see if I could finish the now 2 miles remaining.

Today's Training Objective: RUN IN PAIN

OK, this is just weird

As I was running along, I found myself thinking that maybe this pain was a good thing since it was so similar to what I experienced last year on the marathon portion and such a big barrier for most ultra-distance athletes.....so why not accept it and get better at battling through.  And thus, onward.  At this point my heel was really barking, but the stomach pain was the worse of the two so it kept my mind off the heel at least.  By mile 7.5 I was HURTING.  Bill must've thought I was going to die b/c my breathing sounded loud even to me and I was undoubtedly struggling to keep the pace.  By the time we got to the parking area I thanked him for pulling me through and apologized for the need take off quickly.  He understood and we parted ways.

A lesson in Hurt vs. Harm

Hurt vs. Harm is a concept I often discuss w/people who are seeking out my professional opinion for a variety of aches and ailments......but I guess I needed a personal refresher course.  By Friday AM, I was PAYING for my stupidity.  I stepped out of bed and WOW, pain shot up my L heel and I hobbled to the shower.....'harm'.  I decided right then and there that Friday would be the "off day" I didn't get on Monday....or at least that's how I justified my now forced recovery day, knowing this is not the time to push the pain too far.  

Saturday I got an hour in on the bike of aerobic work and felt no worse for the wear, a good thing, but still pretty achey all day.

This morning (Sunday), I woke up with continued stiffness and discomfort and without much relief in the heel during the day, I decided it would be prudent to sit here and type my blog with ice on my heel instead of trying to squeeze in some training time.  

Do Over?

This clearly was NOT my intended start to the formal training portion of my year and I was only able to amass a whopping 5.25 hours of training time this week.....not great and actually 3 hours LESS than transition week which is somewhere around a 8 hour net loss of what I was expecting; but it's the wise choice if I want this to heel to, well, heal.  

And so I'm calling a mulligan and hoping to not lose much ground on the grand scheme......but I should be able to swim and ride without much issue.....so maybe it's just back to the pool and bike trainer.

No grades to report......just going to get some rest and come back ready to work.

Beware the uneven ground,

Mike E.