So I’m almost done my first week of my thirty week plan training for Ironman. I am doing the competitive program . The first phase of this program is base training which lasts for about 10 weeks. The first week only starts off at 6 hours of training with 2 hours allocated to each sport with a focus on training in very low heart rate zones. These were my random thoughts from training.
- Bodies in motion stay in motion. Bodies at rest stay in rest. Before I started this training plan, I was on a two to 3 week break. Around October, I started winter maintenance training and focused on swim and cycling with an approximate 10 hours in training each week. During the winter holidays, it got harder to stick to the plan. After New Years, the inertia of not working out stuck with me. I knew that my training plan was going to start soon and used it as an excuse to not workout because I’ll be on this plan soon. The two weeks prior to the start of this plan was like the last chance to do other things before I devote all my time into training. I developed other uses for my time such as discovering new hobbies ( painting and cooking). The first week has been hard for me to get into gear. Because I made training for IM my priority, I had to forego painting some nights just so I can make my workouts. It’s day 5 of my workout and I got myself out of bed at 4:30am for swim training. This has been my first early morning workout in a month. After about 4 days of training, my body remembers being on a schedule and training. It’s not so hard anymore to follow the schedule.
- My major source of motivation is fear. It would be nice to say that I workout because I enjoy it and I love the endorphins that come from working out but that’s not true. Although I do enjoy the high that comes from working out, what truly motivates me is fear. My goal to complete the Ironman distance race is so hard that I’m afraid to screw up by not completing my training. DNF is a huge possibility but I want to give myself the best fighting chance by following the training plan as closely as possible. In my training book, there’s actually a sentence that states “ 7 or more days missed: Possibly reconsider the time and redesign your training program accordingly.” which means to me, that I have a very small margin for error. If I even dare miss 7 days of working out, I might not make it. When I look at my training plan, I hear a cheesy Arnold Schwarzenegger voice that says “ follow me if you want to live.”
- Heart rate zone training in Z1 and Z2 is no fun. The whole point of base training is to get a stronger aerobic capacity before the real training starts. Pre training to train. Training in Z1 and Z2 prepares the body by stimulating more capillaries and vascularization to the muscles. Training at a lower rate will make me go faster, but it’s so annoying to go so slow. Part of my brain and my body wants to train at a faster pace. I’ve been watching my heart rate monitor like a hawk and slowed down when necessary. Slowing down my training will result in big gains and #2. I guess it all boils down to patience to tolerate at moving at a sloth’s pace during training.
4. Injury prevention and preparing my body for training. It’s been two years and I still haven’t fixed my running problem. I have a tendency for ITB issues and plantar fasciitis. I have naturally flat feet. Those issues got me injured during my first marathon and I had a hard time with training. I was hoping that these problems will go away with rest, but they are coming back with a vengeance. It’s only been three days of run training and my right foot is a bit achy. It’s not hurting to the point where I can’t walk/run, but I know it’s something that requires immediate attention. I’m trying all sorts of methods to cure it, including stretching,massaging, running with maximist shoes( Hoka Clifton 2) and seeing a new podiatrist (famous doctor to the Blue Jays Team). I must resolve this issue if I want to run. Looking back at the past year, I’ve been avoiding running too much because of the fear of injury. I would like a second shot at a marathon ( injury free) and eventually run an ultramarathon. None of this is possible until I fix the source of my problem. This week has brought back a lot of sad repressed memories of my injuries and lost hopes and dreams. I’m not giving up my IM dream because of an achy foot.
5. Swim training with toys and body awareness in relation to handedness. I tested out some new training toys. Tried on my fins today in an attempt to strengthen my legs and fix my kick. Seems to be working. I have other new training toys to test out. One thing that I noticed when trying to fix my stroke is that my non-dominate side correlates with worst technique and less body awareness. I’m a lefty and I just learned to breathe on my left side last year. In my swim analysis my right side breathing is not as good as my left side. My head comes up too far, which is strange considering i’ve been breathing from my right side for years! Also when I’m trying to fix my S-stroke in the water, I’ve been more cognizant of trying to keep my elbows higher in the water to get a bend in the water to generate better force. I’m spatially aware of my left hand when it moves through the water, however, I have no sense of how my right hand is moving. Even though I want my elbows bent and my arm in the optimal position, I don’t really know how it moves. I tried looking at it when I swim, but I still don’t really get how my right hand moves through the water. I just thought this was a really strange observation between handedness and body awareness.
