Monday, December 22, 2014

what have I gotten myself into?

After my successful ab challenge in October, and then 30 runs in 30 days in November, I thought about giving myself a new challenge for the month of December to close out the year.  Then I realized that January is going to mark the beginning of my Ironman training.  I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'm going to pick up my swims to twice per week, and work really hard to make every workout, even get in the boot camps and yoga sessions.  So, I thought, I would just take December easy, hit the workouts that I can and enjoy my last month of off-season.  Uhh....

The month started out easy enough, with my first day plan calling for "Run 20-30' Z2 or OFF" .... I chose OFF.  Then, I woke up at 4:30 on Tuesday and promptly reset my alarm for an hour and a half later... I can swim on Thursday and make my once-per-week goal.  I was off to a fantastic start of the month...
This month marked my first outdoor winter ride -- I really thought my toes would never warm up!
Also, holy hills.. I walked a lot of them b/c my heart rate got so high
(also lots of stop signs, hence the super slow pace).  Thanks, Jen M., for the photo.
Enter Tuesday's spin session.  I fell off my trainer.  That's right, I feel off a stationary bike!  Don't worry, Xena is a little traumatized, but we are both OK.  Thankfully, I have been doing my spin sessions on my own in the privacy of my house, so nobody witnessed this!  I jumped back on the bike and kept going, 1 minute left of the Z4 section and then 3 x 2 min Zone 5b... I thought I was going to die on the first one.  My heart just about jumped out of my chest.  Two more?  Really?  Talk about a demoralizing workout. 

Next up, Wednesday morning track.  The world must really be testing me this week because it rained on us pretty much the entire time!  And... mile repeats!!  I'm supposed to run multiple miles in a row?  With increasing heart zones, mind you!  And this is when it hit me, this isn't even Ironman training yet.  This is winter training!!  I've got nine months of even harder workouts to look forward to?  Starting with next week's track workout which includes 1.5 miles.. that's one POINT FIVE!!
My hand looks like a kindergartener's hand after coloring class!
And then..... I decided to go for my PMP certification for work.  I was confident I wouldn't miss any workouts and was even brainstorming where to take a shower after track practice (turns out Fairfax rec centers allow showers for only $2..good to know!).  Turns out, the course was so intense that I did not make one single workout the entire week.  Hell, I didn't do anything that entire week except study study study.  I realized that I am not going to be able to do things like that during Ironman training.  It's one thing to miss workouts now, in December, but it just can't happen once training really ramps up. 

It's a little overwhelming when I start to think about how life is going to change as training really picks up.  I remember being exhausted last summer when I'd hang out with friends after a morning ride...and we're talking only 30-40 miles.   I went with Jon and Darcy to a concert one Thursday night earlier in the month (think it was the week I fell off the bike trainer) and the band didn't go on until almost 10:00 PM.  I actually went out to the car to take a nap because I was just so tired, and then Jon and I left after only 3 songs.  I suppose these are just the sacrifices one has to make when they have Ironman dreams... guess I'll have to stick with day drinking??
One little update is that I re-joined Arlington Road Runners (ARRC) for the winter session.  Since joining Team Z in March, I made it to exactly one weekend run, and I ran by myself the entire time.  Honestly, I have been running by myself at ARRC also, which is fine, but it is nice to be able to see some old familiar faces from my marathon training days.  Also, I just love running around DC versus the boring trails out in the suburbs.  And as a bonus, Paula lives just across the bridge in Georgetown and so it makes it super convenient to meet up for brunch or to tack on some extra mileage when my plan calls for more than the run group is doing. (disclaimer: I actually skipped an ARRC run to go to my 2nd-ever Team Z [hash] run... 10:15 start vs 7:30am?  that's a no-brainer!)
So here we are with just a couple weeks remain in my "slacker" month and then the new year will be here and and Ironman training really begins.  Under 300 days!  Seriously.... what on earth have I gotten myself into??!!!!  The next 9 months are certain to be an adventure, that's for sure.

No comments:

Post a Comment