Hay in the barn?

That's what Todd said...that "the hay is in the barn" and that I shouldn't be worried. Yet, I still do. I worry that I didn't put enough hay in there...that I didn't train hard enough. Argh!

Focusing on the positive tells me this: I swam 55 mins this morning and felt like I could've kept going. My arms were tired but not that bad. This is a good sign.

I ran an hour yesterday and felt like I could've run longer. This is a good sign.

Then why do I not feel more confident???

One more week...I'm very excited and looking forward to it. Just hope I can finish with a decent time is all I want.

I think I'm a bit down because I spent the entire day in front of this darn computer. Had a ton of school work to do. Graded exams, prepared Monday's lecture, worked on Tuesday's exam, and need to grade a discussion board on Blackboard too. Ugh.

My kids are orphans right now. They have heard me say "no, I can't play right now" too many times and its been more because of school work than IM training (although there's obvious overlap there!).

I know tapering is the right thing to do, yet I feel like I didn't work hard enough to warrant a taper...so will just maintain until next Saturday so that I don't overdo.

My hip is a bit better but I better not run, will only ride tomorrow and swim easy on Tuesday - decided not to do Master's on Monday. Just maintain...and then Weds we leave! I think I'll be more excited when i get there.

Back to grading...

Good news, bad news

Like everything else in life, there's always the good and the bad. I'm trying hard to focus ONLY on the good right now. But I do have a bit of bad news: a possible injury (that is very painful today).

OK, the good first. I ran today (instead of swimming, which I'll do tomorrow) and despite the awful road conditions - and they were worse than I expected - I ran for an hour and barely felt winded. I felt like I could have easily run another hour. This is a good thing, esp one week before an Ironman (mentally, at least).

Another good thing: I'm feeling much more confident about the swim. Jim Fuller told me "it's only a half mile to the first buoy so you're never out there that far". That really helped put my mind at ease. To think of it as only a half mile out and half back in (with 1/10 between the buoys) sounds relatively easy to me. YAY!!!!! Can I say that again? YAY!!!!!

And my bike is on it's way to Florida - woo hoo! That feels very good. My transition bag with all the stuff I listed in my last posting is with the bike.

Now for the bad: I have acquired severe hip pain in my left hip. It hurts very bad today. It hurts so bad when I first stand up, after sitting for awhile, that I can hardly walk. Yes, it hurt when I ran today and yes, it is worrying me quite a bit.

I've trained for a frickin' year without a single injury and one week before the event I get an excruciating pain in my hip!

Trying to stay calm...at least it's not my knees or feet, I think that would be worse. But it really hurts when I walk.

Off to class....hobbling, of course.

So close!

I can't believe the IM is this close....8 days away! So much to do, so much to think about, and so much to pack.

Yesterday and today were a bit stressful. I had planned on picking up my bike after getting the kids (my bike was at the Bike Peddler getting tuned up). But due to the snowstorm that cause us all by surprise, Andy shut down the shop for 2 days and Marshall is taking the bikes to Niwot on Friday morning. Yikes - how do I get my bike out of the shop before Friday???

Long story short, I was able to get ahold of Andy (thanks to Jim Fuller!). Andy met me at the shop today (but he was 15 mins late and that was the longest 15 mins I've ever experienced!). He found a small nail in my back tire and removed it, but it made me nervous wondering if the tire was going to be ok.

Dropped my bike off at Marshall's along with my bike bag. It was surreal packing my bike bag. I hope I remembered everything! This is what I packed:
helmet,
gloves
sleeves
body glide
running clothes
biking clothes (except shoes and jacket - want the shoes so I can ride my trainer before I leave)
bike tools
C02 cartridges
Powerbars
CarboPro
Ensure drink (generic brand)
wetsuit
race number belt (2 of them)

I think that's it. I'll bring everything else when we fly down next Weds. I hope the guy driving the truck doesn't run into any problems!

I decided to go with CarboPro instead of EFS. CarboPro doesn't have any magnesium in it and I've heard magnesium can cause diarrhea. Jim Fuller was kind enough to give me powdered CarboPro and I will just add it to my water bottle. But it will be very concentrated - if I mix it the way he told me to. Wish I had tried this on a long run!

But I think I'll be ok. I tried the Ensure-like product and it worked fine. I also ate Powerbars and drank Gatorade and those worked great too. And of course, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich - which I'll get when I'm there (sorry too tired to write this out more clearly!).

The other issue is weather. I just checked the 10-day forecast and up until Saturday, it was a picture of a bright sun. On the day of the race, it was a picture of rain clouds and said "showers". I hope it doesn't rain on the bike course! I won't mind the run so much because it will be warm but the bike could be a problem. The high will be 63 - not nearly as warm as I expected - and very humid. Ugh. Hoping the forecast will change by then!

Yesterday I did Master's swim. We did a ladder of 1200 yards. With the warmup, I did a total of 2000 yards. Not bad. Today I ran on the treadmill for 30 mins (boring!) and tomorrow I will swim again. I think I'll do 50 mins nonstop.

Too sleepy to write more. But will write more for sure because there's a lot more to say.

Whew - what a week

Well, I'm almost a week behind in this blog! I've been really busy with prep for the classes I teach at UNC. I have not had a spare minute between teaching and class prep, meetings at church, kid stuff, and training. The class prep has been the most time-consuming part this last week as I had two exams to prepare (from scratch), 5 lectures, 3 assignments to grade, and numerous emails from students. I enjoy it all but it's been more than the usual amount.

Anyway, recap of the last week's training:
Friday: swam 50 mins at the Rec Center. Intended to swim an hour but didn't have time. I had to stop to use the restroom and also talk with Tom M. re technique tips (which are always good from him!). It was a good swim but I didn't feel as tired as the week before.

Saturday: Last training brick: 2 hr ride and 1 hr run. Didn't get out on my bike until 12:03 (to be exact) due to K's soccer game and other activities. I rarely ride in the afternoon and NEVER run in the afternoon so wasn't sure how I would feel. Surprisingly, I felt great! The weather was nice - mid 60's with no wind. I had a lot of energy and when I got to Windsor I was tempted to keep riding past the 2 hr mark and just make it a long ride. But decided to just stick to the plan and headed back. Instead of going back on O street, I went up 257 hill to highway 34, out on 34 for a few miles and back on 20th. Got back home exactly in 2 hrs (2:03).

Jumped off my bike and threw on my running clothes. Headed out and felt the old familiar "tired leg" feeling you have after biking. But kept going - ran about 45 mins, cutting it short to have juice left for the run I had planned on Sunday.

Sunday: Went to Jenny's with Daisy and had a nice group run. There was a good size group there: Brenda, Kevin, Jenny, Marshall, Jim, Todd, and Duane. We all ran to the stop sign and everyone but me, Jim, and Duane ran on for a longer run. Since I had Daisy, I ran back with Jim and Duane. Really enjoyed running with them! I felt a little jealous of Marshall doing the longer run but by the time I got back, my legs were ready to stop and I decided it was ok - we did 7 miles at a good pace and that was ok (I hope!).

Monday: Master's swim. Felt tired and not very strong. Did most of the workout but used pull buoy and fins. Just didn't have a lot of energy. Worried that I wasn't doing well...but pulled myself out of it later on.

Tuesday (today): Ran with Kurt out to Lowe's and back (6 miles), plus an extra mile around my house. Felt pretty good but could tell my legs were tired.

So, one week from tomorrow we leave for Florida!!! I can't believe it's this close...yet, it seems like it has taken forever to get here. I go back and forth between feeling very confident to feeling total panic...but I know that at this point, there's nothing I can do about it. I find myself second-guessing myself a lot...I should've done this, I should've done that...but trying not to do that.

The hard thing this last week has been how busy with work I've been. I work on my classes early morning, late at night, and every spare minute I have. I'm constantly making slides, reading research papers, grading student's papers, and working on my lectures - seriously, every spare minute I ahve. I'm wondering if I'm a little obsessed with it.

Anyway, tomorrow is Weds and Master's swim. I want to do a hard workout and it will be my last hard swim before the IM. I think that's a good idea (and I should look at the plan but I go more by how I feel than anything else).

Too tired to write more...one more week and I'm outta here!

Oops

I ran harder and longer today than I should have....but it felt so good! Finally recovered from last week so I was feeling fresh. Dropped off the kids at school and ran from there - out to Fun Plex, up the big hill, back down and around to Monfort. Held a fast pace almost the whole way so it was one long tempo run. Now, my legs are sore!

I've been thinking that even if I don't do well at the Ironman, I've learned a lot about what my body can handle. I've learned that I can handle more than I thought i could. I also learned how to REALLY swim and how to keep going even when it really, really, really hurts. And I like that!

So bring it on! I'm about as ready as I'll ever be.

Richard is killing me!

Today was one of the hardest swim workouts I've ever done.

I got to the pool on time and was in the water by 6:15. It felt great - I hadn't swam since last Friday so my arms were fresh and ready to go. I warmed up, skipping some of the kick portion since I plan on biking later today and want to keep my legs fresh too.

This was the main set: 4 x 25, 4 x 50, 4 x75, 4 x 100, 4 x75, 4 x 50, 4 x 25, and within each set, we were to "build" our speed, which means you start slow and go faster with each one.

Well, I've noticed that Master's swim is a bit like track. No one seems to hear the "slow" part - they bolt and go as fast as they can to beat everyone else. If you're a runner or triathlete, it's just in our DNA to try to beat the person running/swimming next to us. In other words, it hurts like hell.

Marshall and Jade were swimming in the lane next to me and of course, I want to keep up with them so I tried to do that without pull-buoys or fins and quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. Plus, I felt a twinge in my left rotator cuff on one of the fast 50's and Kurt told me to use fins if I felt any pain. On went the fins (wa-la! I can go really fast with fins!).

I used to think fins slowed me down because my legs tend to sink but I noticed that if I actually kick with fins on, I go faster and there's less pressure on my shoulders. So I kicked and was able to keep up but it was still very hard!

I focused on my stroke a lot today. I tried to push all the way through as Tom told me during the warm-up. He said I wasn't following through with my stroke so I worked on that and it did seem to help. Each time I swim I focus on a certain part of the stroke and it seems like I'm getting better. I'm definitely rotatin more now and reaching out further as Richard has told me but not pushing through as much as I should. Having the fins on helped to focus more on my stroke and less on how far behind I was!

But I think I'm getting better. I actually can't wait until Friday when I can swim on my own, doing what I want to do, and going my own pace. Its great being able to say that.

Now, time to get work done and then hopefully have time for 30 mins on the bike with Coach Troy.

The other side of IM training

Up until now I've written mostly about my training. I have not written about the impact it has had on other areas of my life. Since I'm writing this "diary" for anyone who wants to know what it's like training for this event, I feel the need to share the other side of it as well.

The not so fun side of things.

That would be how crazy it makes your life. Right now I am feeling overwhelmed, ineffective, unorganized, and unprepared to teach my classes. I am an adjunct instructor at UNC and I'm teaching two classes, one of which is brand new and I am creating completely from scratch. Therein lies the problem.

It is taking way more time to prep for this class than I had anticipated. It is 9:00 PM Monday night and my class is on Tuesday and I am just now putting my class together for tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do yet and I am very tired. My house is dirty, my yard needs raking and mowing, our breezeway is absolutely filthy, I have cards to write and mail to people, endless emails to answer, and laundry to do. This is what happens when you're spending up to 20 hrs/week on training.

This afternoon I spent creating a new assignment for my class and discussion board questions. I have yet to grade an assignment they turned in and grade their discussion questions from last week. I have to create a 50 minute lecture for tomorrow on a complicated topic and develop a dietary analysis project.

Both of my kids are having lots of homework. I spent 3 hrs with them tonight on their homework and reading logs, made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, zipped down to our church for a 45 min meeting, and because Kurt just got home (and missed all of this fun), he is putting them in bed while I finally exhale.

I'd love to get up early tomorrow and grade papers and get ready for class. But I have to swim and I'd like to ride my bike too. Its the same question I have all the time: what is the minimum amt of training I can do to be ready for this IM and get my classwork done too.

I'm tired and stressed. I'm tired of a messy house and sandwiches for dinner. I'm tired of walking past messy counters so that I can get my work done or my training in. I want some organization and control back in my life.

So, that's the life of an Ironman-wanna-be...at least one with kids and a job. Marshall works full-time and he's busy too. People say to me "I don't know how you do it" and well, I don't! I don't get a lot of things done that need to be done and right now it's weighing heavy on me.

Two more weeks and I'll have my life back.