The Brick Foundation

It has been more than a month since that fateful day when I received an email invitation that would change my life forever. Today I made it official, I am registered for Kona!

My training in the past month has been very good. Nice and steady. You see, I am in what I like to call "Phase One" of Ironman training. I am getting my body used to doing all three disciplines. Focusing on building a solid base, making sure that I am being consistent with my workouts and listening to my body for any aches and pains that I might be feeling. I've been a bit sore here and there, but so far so good.

Here is a little snapshot of what I have been doing for Phase One. You might think that this looks a little crazy, but I promise you it's not. This is just the beginning. I have some friends that are doing Ironman Coeur d'Alene in a few weeks and if you saw what they are doing for training right now your mind would explode! It's absolutely nuts. But in a couple of months I will be doing that too.

What the heck is a Brick? Glad you asked. A brick workout is a very important aspect of a triathlete's training.  It's where, like shown above, you do two disciplines back to back with little or no interruption in between just like you would in a race. These workouts are key. As you switch from one discipline to the next your heart rate is going a million miles an hour and your body needs to efficiently prepare for the next exercise while at the same time recover a bit from the previous one. One thing is to be able to swim, or bike, or run but another is to do all of them. Trust me, you don't want to have that "my legs feel like jelly" feeling during a race and brick workouts during your training will help your body handle the demands of a triathlon.

Physically, I feel as though I could push myself more. My body seems to be cooperating for the most part and on the days that I'm not so tired I always feel like I could swim, bike, or run longer. Mentally, I am not going to lie, I feel nervous. I psyched myself out a bit by watching a whole lot of YouTube videos last week of Kona races in years past like 2012 Ironman World Championship. Just hearing that cannon go off and seeing the mass of bodies thrashing in the water had my palms sweating and a knot in my throat. Not to mention all the talk of the winds. In my family, talking about the wind is usually a good thing. As an avid windsurfer my dad has been scheduling his days of fun around big winds for a long time. But I have a feeling that come race day he won't be enjoying the wind gusts as he tracks me on the bike wondering if I have been blown off the road or not.

Time is on my side. If I start out now with a strong foundation, as I make my way through each phase of training I will be just fine. Trade winds and all.

Just Keep Swimming

Whooosh! Stroke, stroke, dive. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Dang, I can’t seem to catch my breath. My heart is beating too fast. Must slow down heart rate. Ouch! Was that someone’s arm smacking me in the face? Get into your rhythm, Linda! One, two, breathe. One, two, breathe. One, kick, oops! Sorry to whoever that was that I'm sure I just kicked in the face…

---

I wasn't really planning on doing any extra races this summer but, when a friend of mine said she was no longer going to use her race entry I figured, why not? I have done this race before, and I've done very well. I am familiar with the course and every year the ladies of my Triathlon Training Club come out in full force and take home lots of hardware. Sounds like fun! I discussed it with Coach and he gave me the green light as long as I went into it with no expectations in terms of time and that I used it for "training purposes only." 

My heart is pounding, as per usual before the beginning of every triathlon. No matter how many I have done I always seem to get nervous before the start. I literally have adrenaline rushing through my entire body as I stand in the sand, in the front of the pack, listening to the announcer count down the seconds 3,2,1, Go!

The approach that I take at the start of every race can be classified as: aggressive. We have a joke in our club “don’t swim next to Linda, she’ll kick you!” I can’t help it. I purposely position myself in the front so I can run out into the water before I get swallowed up in the sea of flailing arms and kicking legs and when I feel someone’s hands touching or grabbing my legs I can’t help but kick. It’s a reflex really. 

The swim portion of the triathlon is my favorite because it's the shortest part and I just love being in the water. The temperature of the lake is a very warm 70 degrees which makes me really happy because I am not wearing a wetsuit. Honestly, I just hate the things. They make me feel constricted and they are a royal pain in the ass to take off.

After the initial chaos I am able to find a good pace. I pass a few ladies here and there and before you know it I reach the first buoy. I repeat my mantra over and over  "just keep swimming, just keep swimming." I draft a little off of the girl in front of me as we reach another buoy. My form improves a lot as I keep my head in the water and follow the bubbles instead of picking it up every few strokes. I feel strong. As I round the last buoy and spot the SWIM FINISH sign I start to go through what I hope will be a smooth transition on to my bike.

I get out of the water and run through the transition area trying to spot my bike. I remember I left it on the left hand side on the rack that had a red shirt tied to it. Gotta love those crazy type A people that think of everything. At this point every second counts and I am so happy that I don't have a stupid wetsuit to take off. I spray water on my feet, then stand on my towel as I put on my socks as fast as I can. Helmet on, glasses on, remove my bike from the rack and I'm off running with my bike towards the bike out exit. 

This next trick is going to blow your mind, Coach taught it to me. Notice that at this point I have not put on my bike shoes, why you ask? Because they are already clipped on to my bike pedals. Ok sure I've heard of that before, but what you haven't seen is that my bike pedals are perfectly horizontal and my shoes are steady waiting for my feet to go in them. How? I have rubber bands holding them there.

             

I put my left foot into my shoe as I take my first stroke on the bike, then the right foot. I strap them both in as I am moving and in a mere seconds I am off on the bike course. Genius.

Throughout the two 8 mile loops that I have to bike I pedal as fast as I can, the only problem is that my legs are not moving very fast at all. I drink water and eat something hoping that will help. No luck. On the flat parts I do pretty well, I even pass manage to pass a few people, and on the downhills I am flying, but each time I hit even the slightest incline boy oh boy do I slow down. It's very frustrating.

As for my second transition it goes by in a flash. All I have to do is remove my helmet and bike shoes, put on my running shoes and grab a hat. Done.

Here is where my race unravels a bit. It's hot, like really hot and I am grouchy. My feet are soaking wet and my legs feel like lead and will not move. I try to remind myself that today was for "training purposes only." That it doesn't matter how many people are ahead of me, it doesn't matter that I will end up with a slow time, all that matters is that I just keep swimming. One mile at a time I begin my five mile trek to the finish line. I grab water at each station, some goes in my mouth but most goes on my head to cool off. A little trail run here, some hills there, asphalt you name it we ran it. It seems like an eternity since my friend passed me and I know it's only a matter of time until the Running Sage passes me too. Sure enough I hear a friendly voice. I complain about the heat and how my legs have failed me today. She listens for a bit and then says "let's focus on the good things.We are doing great!" That put a smile on my face and was just what I needed to finish the race.

At the last water station they inform me that I have less than a mile to go. I can do this. In less than 10 minutes I will have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my hand. Just keep swimming. I speed up as much as my legs will allow and hit a good stride as I approach the finish line. Out of the corner of my eye I can tell that someone is speeding up and trying to pass me. Really? Trying to pass me at the end? No way. I am not letting this person beat me to the finish line. I speed up and so do they. It's a game of cat and mouse as I run as fast as I can straight to the finish line.

Did I race my best today? No. Are there things that I can improve on? Absolutely. Does my training need to increase ten fold? Um, hell yes. But overall today was a very good day. I had a great training session, I was surrounded by and encouraged by my fellow triathletes, and I know that this is a step in the right direction as I prepare to cross the finish line at Kona.

Car Trouble

What happens if you don’t have enough gas in your car? The car stops, right? Ok now what happens if you put too much gas in? It most likely spews gas out all over the place. Ok good, you’re with me. Now picture this, you put the wrong type of gas in your car (think diesel instead of unleaded) what do you think will happen? I’m not a car expert but, according to Google, the car won’t work well or even at all. Well this week I am the car and the diesel fuel is sugar.

One of the things that I was most looking forward to during my training for Kona was to become a human garbage disposal. I was already conjuring up a Michael Phelps style diet: thousands of calories, French fries, pizza, being able to eat all the Oreos that I wanted to, while at the same time achieving amazing athletic results. But this week has been a HUGE wake up call. If I want to make it to Kona my workouts have to be on par, my nutrition has to be in check, and my head has to be in the game.

Even though I have done my workouts this week to the satisfaction of my Coach, I feel off, like I've been walking around in a fog. My efforts have not been 100%. Shoot, they haven’t even been at 50%. My performance at work has been mediocre at best. I have been distracted, extremely anxious, moody and unmotivated, not really the qualities that make up an Ironman. So I made the wise decision to seek out some help, I figure if I am going to have someone helping me with my workouts then finding someone to get my head on straight is a MUST.

The visit with my… my new… let’s call her my Nutrition Guru/Jack of all Trades was amazing! We discussed my completely normal reaction to a diet filled with crap. How it’s not necessarily my lack of “will power” but the foods themselves that are causing me to crave and eat more craptastic junk. These types of sugary foods are actually altering the communication pathways to my brain and therefore causing me to be moody and lethargic. You eat junk. The junk messes with your brain. You crave more junk. Fantastic.

                “So what you’re saying is that I can never have any more sweets again?”

This was one of my main concerns because I am the type of person that as soon as you say that I can’t have something then that’s ALL I want, hence the state of my mind this week. So we made a deal. On the days that I work out hard, like 3 hours or more of training, then I can have a “treat” and it can be whatever I want. But on the days that aren't that intense then I have to stick to the good stuff. This should keep me from feeling deprived but at the same time insures that my body is getting all the nutrients that it needs in order to keep me going. I can definitely live with that.

For those of you who are rolling your eyes at me just remember that sugar affects people in different ways. I consider myself a full on sugar addict and I am making the decision to not waste this opportunity on account of some stupid cookies.