Anesthesia + Training doesn't mix

March 30 (Week 6 day 1) Ironman Triathlon Training Diary

Well its been a while since I've written in here so I'll try and do a quick recap of the past 10 days training

March 19th
Swimming: 3000yrd
Running: 45 min swim
I couldn't eat this entire day I was having a medical procedure the following morning and couldn't focus on working out because of being hungry the entire time.

March 20th
Medical procedure no workout. When I woke up from my nap later in the afternoon I had no recollection of what had happened since I went in for the procedure. I guess this is why they said I couldn't drive for 24 hrs. The anesthesia would effect me for more then a week though and at times when I worked out hard I felt like I was missing seconds. The Dr. said this was normal though and to just limit the amount of intense workouts I was doing.

March 21st
30 minute bike ride about 7.5 miles

March 22nd
45 minutes on bike trainer

March 23rd
55 minutes on bike trainer

March 24th
Rest day

March 25th
6.5 mile run. It was supposed to be a 4.5 mile run at lunch but I got lost and had to run an extra 2 miles. I still managed to finish the run in 55 minutes

March 26th
Soccer game, played about 40 minutes of the game with constant sprinting. Well over 4 miles of running but still felt rested at the end of the game. This was the first time that at the end of an indoor game I was ready to play another one and I played more then twice as much as normal.

March 27th
4 mile run at lunch finished in about 35 minutes.

March 28th
1 hour on the bike trainer

March 29th
This was my big workout day. I had planned on it being on Saturday but decided we needed to get yard work done and it was supposed to rain on Sunday so it seemed a better way to go.

I decided to do my workout in order of the triathlon events. So swimming came first started with a 400 wu, 4x500, 300 kick alternating 50 free 50 butter, finished with 3x100 cd. During the swim I felt tired and like I hadn't swam in weeks which I hadn't at times I felt like the distance was going to get to me and I would need to stop. I powered through it and finished the workout. My one main problem was that I had to wear board shorts instead of my normal speedo jam shorts because they got a hole in them. The difference in drag was amazing and I could feel how much harder I was having to work.

I came home and started my bike on the trainer. My goal was 2 hours at a constant speed on the trainer. At a friends request I added an endurance drink to this longer workout to see how it would effect me (endurance drinks should be used anytime you are going to be working out for more the 2 straight hours at that point if you don't add in some type of protein your body will literally start breaking down muscle to consume itself). He suggested I get Accelerade but when I went to my local bike shop, where many of the people compete in longer rides and full distance triathlons, they suggested Perpetuem they said it was easier on the stomach and in their opinion tasted better. So i got it and used it on this ride. To me the difference was extremely noticeable, my legs didn't feel tired almost at all and even at the end of the ride could feel myself even speeding up (I was trying to resist this because I wanted to save some energy for the run).

After the bike I quickly changed shoes, took a quick swig of Gatorade, and was out the door. I need to start feeling what its like to switch from a long bike to the run because everyone that I've talk to said its a strange feeling, and they were right. I started my run on the downhill to the main street that I normally run on. Now I'm sure its due to the bike I had just done but my stride length was very different then normal and felt like it was almost slowing me down on the run and not that I was tired but because my legs just weren't used to needing to stretch out like that. This lasted for about the first 1/2 mile then I could feel my legs return to their normal stride length. I ran about 2 and a half miles on my run, more because I had to go to the bathroom then because I was tired.

This training really made me feel better about where I was in getting ready for my race in six weeks. The swim I did almost double what I would need to, the bike probably about what I would need to, and the run was cut short because of other reasons then I was tired. I'm sure by the time the big day comes that I will able to push through the run even if I don't get any more endurance before then.

Training back to normal

March 18th (Week 5 Day 2) Ironman triathlon training

Well I waited a day to make this post just to make sure my Monday training wasn't just a fluke and my body does feel back to normal to train.

March 16th
I headed home after work and went straight to the gym to get my swim in. I did a quick 250 WU, 2x1000, 250 CD. I was able to keep up my 1:40 / 100yrd split all the way through both 1000. All in all the swim only took me 50 minutes, which I was pretty happy with.

That was supposed to be my only activity of the day but I came home and after my fiance went to bed I decided to bike for 45 minutes on my trainer. Not too intense of a workout more just trying to get used to the different handle bars.

March 17th
I skipped my work party in order to train, now I know I'm taking this serious.
I got home and immediately changed to go for a run. This was the first time of the season where it was actually warm enough to go for a long run and still light out. Running out doors is very different then from on the treadmill. Normally on the treadmill I"m doing a constant speed with little to no grade change. Here I was going up and down hills and over different terrain. I still managed to finish the 3.5 miles in 30 minutes that I wanted to but it was a big change from the repetitiveness of the treadmill. I'm going to have to start switching all my runs to out doors, I just need to figure out the routes I can take so that I can put water in place to stay hydrated.

After my run I ate dinner and then decided to bike on my trainer again. I was supposed to go for 90 minutes but stopped at 75, I wasn't tired or anything I just didn't have a watch or a clock that I could see so I stopped to check and then I didn't feel like getting back on so I'll just add that extra 15 minutes onto my next ride on Friday.

March 18th
Today is a rest day, not so much from the workouts the last two days but because I'm going to do a 45 minute swim and then immediately attempt a 2hr run tomorrow so I want my muscles to be nice and relaxed for it.

New Bike

My amazing parents bought me a bike for christmas. It was a Trek 7.3 FX, great bike overall but not that great for doing distance ridding (it's a hybrid bike so the ride position is more like a mountain bike but it has more gears and smaller tires). So this past weekend while I was home I took it to the shop that sold it to them and convinced them that they should let me turn it in for full credit because it had not been ridden outside yet, which they let me. I tried out a bunch of different road bikes and could immediately feel a speed and handling difference. I ended up getting a Scott bike it was a little more expensive then the Trek bike but was a much better design.

I also ended up getting clip in pedals and shoes, something i've never used before and was a little scared to try (even the guy that sold them to me said you will fall down at least 4 times so just be ready for that). When we were going over the shoe options he was talking about the starter shoe and then the shoe that I should grow into and then the shoe that he has which is a high performance shoe with a carbon fiber sole. Well as he is saying this I notice that the shoe he has is on sale for only $10 more then the shoe he said I should start with (starter $108 carbon fiber shoe $118 normally $270). I asked why they were so cheap and he said it was because they were the last two they had in house and he didn't think they were going to order any more, lucky for me I have small feet and the two pairs they had left were the two sizes I was looking between. So in the end I got the super high end shoe.

My first few rids have been scary. Now I have yet to fall but let me tell you I have never been going that fast in my life on a bike and at one point I even past a car. A road bike has such a different feel then any mountain bike I have owned, you feel the road more and at least for me I feel less stable on the road bike because the handle bars are so much closer to the stem.

All in all I love my new bike and am very happy that I got it but so far my rides have felt very different then when I was on the trainer. I don't know if its because I feel like i need to go really fast or that I'm doing tons of hills now but the short rides I've been doing have tired me out just as much as the long rides I was doing on the trainer. I fear that I'm not as far along in my training for the bike as I thought. I'll keep you posted.