A New Beginning

It's New Year's Eve; this is always a time of reflection for me. This year has been a whirlwind to say the least. I've traveled a bit with work; seen places I'd never see (Clayoquat Wilderness Reserve), stayed at places I'd never stay at (The Saint Sulpice in Montreal) and experienced things I wouldn't normally get to experience (flying on a float plane). In that regard, it's been a very interesting year.
Physically & mentally, I took most of the year off. I did one race at the end of the year. I'm glad I took the break as I don't think I would have even contemplated another Ironman if I raced most of the summer. I started off in a good head space when I started my training. I've now hit a speed bump so to speak. Especially with my swimming. I have had very little motivation as of late--mainly over the holidays. All I've wanted to do is sit on the couch and read or play scrabble. I was starting to feel a little burnt out. The last 2 weeks have been really hard in terms of workouts; especially in the pool. I don't think I've ever done this much speed work in the pool. I don't like it. I don't like pushing myself in the pool. This is odd for me. Normally I am pretty hard headed when it comes to my workouts. I will push myself just to get the "I can't do it" out of my head. For some reason, I just don't do it now. I am not feeling motivated. I knew this was going to happen at some point, I just didn't figure it was going to happen so soon and I don't have a plan B. I guess the best course of action for me right now is to put my head down and just do the work, knowing (or at least hoping) that all the hard work will pay off. I know if I want to swim faster I have to work harder in the pool. I just don't like the discomfort of swimming hard. Probably because I am not in my element. Pushing myself when I'm running is easier. It still hurts but I'm more inclined to do the work. Hmmmm.....
Goal for next year: Stop whining and just do it. ha ha ha. Probably not going to happen. But I will make a concerted effort to get in the right head space to do the work.
Happy New Year!

The Week From Hell

I really shouldn't be surprised at the mayhem that always ensues at work around this time of year. Really. It always seems to catch me off guard. One minute I'm sipping a latte, leisurely working on a quote, the next thing you know I'm working 12 hour days and going a mile a minute. That's what happened this past week. 5 shoots in 4 days. Talk about losing my mind. I had a feeling this week was going to be bad when it started off with my clock being incorrectly set. I woke up 45 minutes later than I wanted to on Monday so I wasn't able to get to the gym. So I ran instead. Wednesday I had to swim at the Olympium. What a nightmare. Wednesday afternoon, my stomach was feeling funny. Wednesday night I was feeling pretty ill. I didn't eat dinner and went to bed early. I hardly slept. Thursday was difficult. It was also another 12 hour day. I missed a workout on Wednesday night, missed both workouts on Thursday and was still feeling crappy on Friday so I didn't do anything then either. I FINALLY started to feel better yesterday afternoon. Gary thinks I had mild food poisoning. I had sushi at lunch on Wednesday and he seems to think that was the culprit. No one else got sick though so I'm not sure. All I can say is THANK GOD I only have 4 days of work left.

Stop the Insanity

I have been a whirlwind of activity this past couple of weeks. Work has gone from zero to HOLY CRAP in a matter of days. I had an easy week this week which made the insanity a little easier to deal with. I only managed to miss one workout and that was the only swim I was supposed to do this week. Oh well. This week doesn't look much better in terms of work. I have 5 shoots happening this week; 2 on Monday, one on Tuesday, one of Wednesday and one on Thursday. AHH!! Thank GOD, the Christmas holidays are coming. We're closed for almost 10 days. I can't wait. I'm counting the days till I can sleep in.

Sunday Mornings

Some people choose to go to church on Sunday morning to worship. I choose to go outside. There is nothing more uplifting or spiritual to me than to head outside for a run on a cool fall day, the air crisp and clean, the sun warm on my face. The feeling of my body moving forward, the sound of my feet hitting the pavement, leaves crunching underfoot; there is something so gratifying about that. A "good" run can transport you outside your body. A good run for me is when I am on autopilot. I am in "the zone" where I am not thinking about anything in particular but I am aware of everything around me. I feel no pain but yet I know I'm working. It's moments like that, that keep me heading out the door every Sunday. It's moments like that, that make me grateful to be alive and able bodied. Going out and "doing" is my form of worship, my way of thanking the powers that be for my ability TO go out and "Do".

Super Bug

I don't really have much to write about since I spent the last week with a nasty cold. The second one in 6 weeks. It hit me Tuesday evening and I was out of the training loop for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Saturday I did a 2 hour easy indoor ride and I felt pretty good. I felt like I was on the mend. Sunday I did my 1 hour 15 minute long run and I felt great. We then went downtown for the Santa Claus parade to see Julia on The Brick float. What an epic afternoon. We got downtown at around 11:00 but the parade didn't pass where we were sitting until 2:00 pm! Then we went for dinner. It was 6:30 by the time we got home. I had been on my feet for several hours. I was exhausted. Monday morning I woke up coughing and sniffling AGAIN! AHHHH!!! So, I went to bed early on Monday night, skipped my Tuesday morning swim so I could sleep in. I rode last night and I actually felt pretty good. I had an hour long run scheduled for this morning but I only ran for half an hour as I was still not feeling 100%. I think I was just tired because I feel fine now. I feel like whatever was lingering is starting to let go. Thank GOD. I really want to get back to normal. This just reminds me that I really have to take extra care of myself when I'm training because I seem to be quite susceptible the slightest things out there. Looks like I'll be stocking up on oranges when I grocery shop tonight!

3rd time's a charm

Finally!!! A good training weekend at last!! We went out to Bolton again on Saturday to ride. It was chilly but sunny out. The first 15 minutes were pretty uncomfortable but once we started climbing, I started sweating. After the first few hills, I had to remove a layer. Good thing I did as we did a slightly different route--a route that had a monster hill in it. By the time I got to the top of that hill I was pretty drenched. And, I actually felt pretty good. Cardio seemed to be fine and my legs actually felt good! I think I'm finally getting used to the new bike. The ride was tough but I didn't bonk. I felt great! I pushed the pace a bit on the way back and still felt great. WAHOOO!
Yesterday Gary and I went to do our lactate testing with Tara. I had this done last time with Richard. It helps to determine the best aerobic heart rate you should be working at in each discipline. Richard tested us on the bike the last time so this time Gary and I got tested on the run. I know that I have a pretty high lactate threshold on the run. It takes a while for lactic acid to build up in my legs. I hopped on the treadmill and started at an easy pace. They kept increasing it until I was working hard--on a scale of 1 to 10 my exertion level was an 8. Then they pricked my finger to take a blood sample. They kept doing that every 4 minutes for the next 35 minutes or so. Apparently I clear lactate most efficiently when my heart rate is at 150. My lactate balance point for the run is 160, which means that it's probably about 150 for the bike. Funny, because with Richard's test my balance point was 137.5 for the bike. Usually there is a difference of 10 beats per minute between the bike and the run (the run being higher). So, I think Richard's test was off because there is no way I've improved that much over the last year considering I haven't been doing THAT much.
I had a 2 hour run scheduled but I figured there was no way I was going to run 2 hours after pushing myself like I did on the treadmill. Since the testing was over at Mississauga Road and Lakeshore I decided to run home. I ran with my heart rate slightly higher than normal and I felt great. I motored home turning over sub 6 min km's. My average for the run home was 5:42 km's. NICE!

False Alarm

Whatever it was that I had on Sunday was gone the next day. As it should--I think I slept for almost 12 bloody hours!!

This week has been a tough week. I've started a new weight program and I've been hurting for the last 3 days. My run this morning was awful. I had no spring in my step whatsoever. Funny though, my legs actually feel BETTER now than when I woke up. I hope they're better by tomorrow as I have a 3 hour ride to do. We're going to Bolton AGAIN. We've gone there the last 2 weeks in a row. It's freakin' hilly there. Maybe this week I'll manage to get through the ride without blowing up or having a meltdown!

Next week is an "easy week". I'm going to try to get in for a massage--I'm SO due for one. I'm actually kinda scared because I know it's really going to hurt. But I'll feel a million times better afterwards--the pain is almost always worth it.

I've started putting together a little "Ironman Inspiration Board" in my office. I have an article about my friend Pat from Ironman Live, an article about Lisa Bentley, a note my friend Sue sent me about why people do Ironman and the top 10 reasons I do Ironman. They are as follows:

10) I get to hang out with ripped guys that don't mind wearing spandex

9) All the fancy gear

8) I can eat almost anything I want and not gain weight

7) When I'm training I become a very cheap drunk

6) Keeps me from spending my weekend shopping (not that I have any money left after spending it on fancy gear!)

5) Gets me outside

4) I love the smell of chlorine in the morning

3) The camaraderie & friendship

2) I could just as easily become a sloth

1) Discovering I could push myself farther than I ever thought.