The Power of Perception

As my training mileage increases, particularly in the pool, I'm amazed at how my perception of "long" and "short" workouts has changed.  40 laps in the pool used to feel long.  This week, I completed three swims of 50, 80, and 70 laps each.  The 50 laps felt short and the 80 (a little over 2 and a quarter miles) felt long.  I worked my way up to this volume gradually, so the change was subtle.  But now I'm proud to say I can swim about twice as far as I could in December.

There is no denying that the sweetest lap is the last lap, though.  There are only so many flip turns you can do before you get bored of staring at the black line at the bottom of the pool, and the occasional Band-Aid.  I got a waterproof iPod and it helps, but I can't help getting bored during the swim workouts.

Another thing I've been tinkering with is my hydration options during my swim workouts.  I've noticed that, as soon as I get to 45 laps, I start bonking unless I put some Gatorade or something in my water.  I switched over to Ironman Perform (by Powerbar) since that's what they have on the Ironman course.  So I'm trying to get the concentration right.  I find that the prescribed concentration of any carbohydrate drink is too strong for me, so I usually dilute it.  I tried 1 scoop in 20 oz last time and it was too week.  1.5 scoops on Friday was too strong.  1.33 scoops might be just right.

The perfectionist in me has some cognitive dissonance regarding my sports drink during the pool workouts.  There's a little voice that says "you won't be able to stop and drink during the Ironman swim."  But I also know that I will be pretty much eating and drinking everything in sight pre-race.  So the pre-race situation will be different than my pre-workout situation.  So I've decided that anything that gets me through my workouts bonk-free is a good move.

Yes, Yes I Did Run in the Snowstorm...

...Okay, to be fair, I ran BEFORE the snowstorm on Thursday, with the final half of my run happening during the beginning of the snowfall (and that only happened because the storm was three hours ahead of schedule, according to our local weatherman). 

And before you say, "You're nuts" (believe me, it's not the first time I've heard it), let me explain why.  I HATE the treadmill.  I loathe it.  I often fantasize about giant treadmill bonfires.  Although I understand that they can be beneficial, they are essentially human-sized hamster wheels that lie about how many calories you actually burned in a workout.  I can run on one for about a mile.  And then I want to bash my head into the dashboard and let the treadmill belt roll my unconscious body to sweet, sweet freedom.

So when the weather forecasters were predicting our super fun snowstorm on Thursday, I had a choice.  I could:

1. Resign myself to the tedium of running on a conveyor belt of human tears and sorrow, or
2. Get up at 4:30 am and run outside before the snow hit.

I'm sure it resonates with you how much I hate the treadmill since I chose option 2.  I was not happy about it, but I did it.

Someone asked me later, "Why didn't you just skip it and take a rest day?"

Secret option 3.  Hmmm...

To be honest, that hadn't even occurred to me -- and I felt very proud.  Because a mental change is happening.  Why not skip the run that day?  Because I would not have been at peace with myself knowing that I'd missed a training session.  Would missing that run have affected my ability to do Ironman?  No, probably not.  But it would've messed with my mood, and that would have carried over into other things.  So, ultimately, I did not run in a snowstorm at 4:30 am for Ironman.  I did it for me.  And I would do it again.

But let's hope I don't have to.  I'm sick of winter.  I'll take spring anytime now, thank you.

Pool Tips and Observations

Here is a list of random suggestions and general musings that I've accrued from all my swim workouts.  Hopefully they'll help in the pursuit of being a happy and courteous pool user.  Or at the very least be somewhat amusing.

1. Like we learned in kindergarten, sharing is a good thing.  Make your peace with having to share a lap lane.  If you are heart-set on having a lane to yourself, you'll be waiting a LONG time to swim.  If you still insist on waiting for your own lane, please have a seat and do not stand at the end of the lane you want, tapping your feet.  Thank you.
2. If possible, do not pick the lane next to the open swim area.  Otherwise, you will be dodging escapee fun noodles and beach balls all workout.  Unfortunately, this can't always be avoided, so just treat it like an obstacle swim.
3. The most respectful way to enter an occupied lane is to announce your presence in some way to the existing swimmer (a wave or verbal greeting is fine), and politely enter on your half of the lane from the shallow end.  The least respectful way to enter an occupied lane is to jump in from the deep end and announce your presence by colliding with the unassuming swimmer who still thinks they have the lane to themselves.
4. If you are sharing a lane, it is poor etiquette to swim the backstroke.  Unless you have internal sonar and can dodge your lane partner without looking.
5. Accidentally whacking arms with your lane partner happens from time to time.  Once or twice is normal.  If it happens twelve times, you need to re-evaluate your trajectory in regards to the big black line at the bottom of the pool.
6. Floating on your back in the shallow end without moving is an activity best suited for the open swim area, not a lap lane.
7. If you swim in a chlorinated pool without goggles, you WILL look like you spent the day smoking pot in the back of your older brother's rusted-out Chevy Astro.  Just sayin'.
8. One of the grossest things you'll ever see is an old Band-Aid lying on the floor of the deep end.
9. Believe it or not, there are dust bunnies in swimming pools.  Or maybe they are aquatic tumbleweeds.
10. If you observe a mother rapidly yanking a crying child from the open swim area, something very bad just happened in the water.

The wealth of knowledge you can collect during triathlon training is amazing.  If you have other words of wisdom regarding the pool, please share!

Training Day 1

So today was my first official Ironman training workout.  Since the holidays, I've been progressively getting back into a training routine.  Logic prevailed in this decision, where I realized it was probably a good idea to slowly build up my mileage so that Ironman training wouldn't break me.

For my training program, I'm following the Ironman Start to Finish 24-week training plan, with, of course, some Barone-ifications.  I'm following the key workouts (swim 3x/week, bike 2x/week, and run 2x/week) with minor tweaks to bring it in line with my own training philosophies and what makes the most sense for my body.

The tweaks I've made are as follows:

• I've included short CrossFit-style strength workouts 3x/week immediately before my swim workouts.  I am a huge believer in strength training and strongly feel that I've never encountered a serious injury because I strength train diligently. 
• I always include a brick run after every bike workout (a brick is when you run immediately following a bike ride in order to get your body used to transitioning between the two in a race).  I did this all last season and noticed a significant improvement in my race transitions (the tired leg feeling didn't last as long into the beginning of the run).  Even if it's only a mile, I force myself to run after riding.
• I am incorporating some of the training philosophies I'm reading about from the Hansons Marathon Method in regards to running.

The Hanson brothers train elite marathon runners and have a very revolutionary and controversial approach to marathon training.  They advocate higher running volume during the week and shorter "long runs" on the weekends.  This flies in the face of traditional marathon training, which is usually short runs during the week and then a LONG run on Sundays, which goes up to about 20 miles near the end of the training program.  The Hanson method only goes up to 16 miles for a long run, but the training leading up to that run creates a simulation of the FINAL 16 miles of a marathon, not the first 16.

They provide lots of scientific backing for their methods, which the traditional marathon methods do not (the only fact-based argument I can find is that "not many people have time to train longer during the workweek," which may be valid for convenience purposes, but does not physiologically mean you will be a better runner).

Another enticing part of this training method is that it is NOT designed to make you feel like you are dying at the end of the marathon.  They want you to finish, but not limping and cursing and taking walk breaks and praying for the misery to end.  That has been how the final 10K of all 4 of my previous marathons have felt.  I do not want a replay of this feeling at Lake Placid.  So I am willing to try a new approach.

Granted, I cannot incorporate ALL of the running volume the Hanson method advocates.  This is an IRONMAN after all, not just a marathon.  I have to swim and bike too, and NOT be dead on my ass for the rest of the day.  But I am finding smart ways to incorporate their techniques, like increasing the length of my brick runs and adding short runs as my warm-up before CrossFit workouts (I was using the rower to warm up before....this was a DUHHHH moment for me).  And I am using their pacing charts to plan my speed and tempo workouts.

So, in regards to today's workout, I feel pretty good.  Everything went well; I'm getting stronger on my swims every time.  I've been including more kick sets since my kicking is pretty sad, and the benefits are showing.  Swimming is definitely the part of the sport that I like the least, but that's probably because it's my weakest area and needs the most attention.

For my CrossFit workout (pre-swim), this is what I did today -- a Satanic circuit that makes you question your sanity after the first round:

• 1/2 mile warmup run
• 3 rounds: 21 cleans w/ 50 lb barbell, 27 burpees, 27 situps

After the first set of burpees, I wondered how I would do two more.  The answer was, as it always is, "one rep at a time."

I think that's more than enough for now.  I'll post more developments as they come.

This Year's Challenge

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged, but I can't think of a better reason to dust off the old Blogger account than to record my adventures in training for the 2014 Lake Placid Ironman.  This will be, to date, the biggest endurance challenge I've attempted.  I have one goal: quite simply, to finish.

If I can finish before the official midnight cutoff time, bonus.

My race isn't until July, so I have ample time to prepare.  This coming Monday marks the start of my 24-week training plan.  I intend to use this blog to post my training revelations, progress, setbacks, epiphanies, and anything else I deem interesting enough to share with anyone who cares to read it.  I also hope to inspire readers to pursue their own "Ironman" goals.  Maybe together we can tackle new challenges and use 2014 as an opportunity to really see what we can do.

More to come as the training starts.  I'm feeling excited and apprehensive, but no truly worthy challenge comes without fear of failure.  Here I go!