IMMT Training Week 28: It is what it is

If you thought that taper was cruel, imagine what's it to taper for 6 weeks. Week 28 was the 4th week of doing less than 10h of workouts (due to being injured, not by choice) and you cannot imagine how damaging to the psyche that is. When everyone else was piling up monster workout after monster workout and solid 16-18h weeks, I barely managed to accumulate 7.5h, and that included 1h of ping-pong at the office. Yes, at this point everything helps to get the legs moving and keep the mind distracted from exploding into a million of pieces of self damaging thoughts. Two more weeks to Ironman and at this point, I'm just trying to ramp my body back up with minimum of pain. I was looking for a 20h achievement badge, but maybe I'll get to 10h after all. I am constantly on the verge a breaking up in tears and wanting to punch a hole in a wall. Having friends around helped a lot and being an extrovert, I've been looking for any opportunity to get social. Just don't leave me alone with my thoughts, PLEASE.

Swim

Only one swim this week, but a quality one. I could have swum more if I had put the effort into getting my ass to the pool, but bouncing between walls with no distractions was not going to keep my bad thoughts at bay. Instead, I decided to swim another 3.8km in the lake on Thursday and I enjoyed every second of it. I even got lost in the lack of thoughts so to speak, the 5 loops went by in a blink and I came out of the water with the biggest grin that my face could make without getting a cramp. It also happened to be the fastest Iron distance swim this year and seeing a time under 1h20 always gives me a mental boost for the big day to come.
The second OWS that I had planned got cancelled because of bacteria in the lake, but it didn't bring me down. If I keep swimming long every week it should be enough to keep me BELIEVE.

Bike

Coach told me to add 15min to my bike workouts this week and turn up the intensity a tiny notch, while remaining within the "easy" realm. So on Tuesday I set up a trainer workout for 1h15 and gave myself the goal of keeping the legs spinning above 90rpm and the watts above 100. I watched the last episode of True Blood and stayed on target.

Then on Saturday (drum roll)... I went outside!!! It had been 2 full weeks since I had rolled my bike out of the garage and it made my heart sing!! We only went for a quick 1h15 loop, but I loved feeling the wind on my face and ALL THE SPEED! Zin knows me so well. On our way back, he told me to draft behind him on a speedy Strava segment and said that he was going to help me get a QOM (fastest woman on this section among all Strava riders that had done it). I didn't get the QOM, but I moved in 4th overall with a 40kph average (up from 33.9kph on my own!!). It was glorious!

Was it a silly exercise? Maybe, but I can's say no to speed induced euphoria, especially assisted by hubbs. It was a beautiful team effort and sometimes it's good to remind ourselves how much we can do when we push and trust each other. Sucking someone's wheel at 40-45kph takes guts and I'm trying to build a good reserve of courage to bring with me on the Ironman course. #Win.

On Sunday our tri club organized a simulation day (without the swim because of the poopy lake water - it's all the birds' fault! PSA: stop feeding them, people!) and Marlene decided to join us. I couldn't wait!! It's been so long since I've seen her in person... And she's such a bundle of positive energy to have around you, that I couldn't pass on the opportunity. The day before we talked "race strategy" and decided to do the 40km bike course and run as many loops around the lake as our legs felt like. So that's exactly what happened. We hopped on our bikes and made our way through the residential area and onto the long stretches of pavement that divide the Caledon countryside, and we had an awesome time.

Run

Oh the dreaded 3 letter word. The RUN. What used to be my solace, it's now a leap of faith. I was told that I have two choices: avoid running altogether until the Ironman, and wait to see what happens, or keep trying and work with my mind to make it stay put in the right place. The hardest mental exercise has been to go beyond the disappointment of feeling pain when I run since it's showing me that it's too late to "fix" my legs now. I have to start the Ironman knowing that sooner or later I will be in pain and the way I will tolerate this pain will be the key to MY success in this race. No kidding, everyone says that the Ironman is mostly mental, but I will have to start with a deficit on the pain threshold scale and that is quite is frightening.

Anyway, enough with the doom and gloom and back to the actual workouts. Tuesday I did 45min of elliptical, pretty intense I should say, given the amount of sweat produced. I don't sweat a lot, so maybe it was too hot in the office gym? It didn't feel like it, so I'll stick with the intensity explanation.

Then on Sunday, during the simulation day, I ran with Marlene a loop around Professor's Lake. It was very hot and muggy and I forgot to drink before starting the run. Not a good race strategy for sure. But I powered along her, keeping the pace high enough match the length of Marlene's legs and the pain in my knees away. I knew at the end of the first 3km loop that a second one would not be wise and I returned to the "transition area" to join the rest of the people that had finished their workouts.

So if you're following along with the 2 choices that I had for running, I went with "B": HTFU.

In a nutshell

I'm moving (forward), I'm sweating (hard), I'm still improving (my swim time), and I'm still a work in progress in everything else, especially when it comes to my mind. But I will prevail. And I can do this!