A Rendezvous with Sneakers

Social media has without a doubt helped give me encouragement and motivation on my “road to IMLP.” I belong to a couple different discussion groups for the race, and reading that others share my own fears regarding the race is reassuring.

However, knowing the amount of training some people are doing at this time, the training camps they are going to, meet-ups at race locations to run/bike/swim together also leave me with some feelings of doubt and concern. Do I have to go to the race destinations and pre-ride the courses in order to be able to finish the races–look at all these people who are doing just that!Are training camps really significant in how well you do in a race? Holy cow, people are spending 16hrs a week training already?!?

Etc, etc.

I found myself up at around one am this morning thinking about race day nutrition. Instead of tossing and turning, I decided to google “ironman nutrition” and found myself browsing a slew of people’s IM distance training blogs. I find these fascinating–and informative– to know what has worked for people and what has not.

After reading these blogs and peoples journeys to completing ironmans, I found myself reassured after doubts had creeped up from the discussion boards. Thousands of people– ordinary people– have finished ironmans with training, and without having to attend these specific race-related training camps. Heck, when I think about it, there are athletes who live across the country, and I highly doubt they will be flying to Lake Placid for a weekend of riding on the course, right? If these people have been able to complete and ironman, then so can I.

My own Training

Last week was supposed to be a recovery week for me, but since I have a wedding to attend to this upcoming weekend, I decided to switch some things around so I can enjoy this upcoming weekend and not miss too many training days. It dawned on me the other day that training is becoming (1) more intense and (2) longer. Once upon a time I used to think swimming 2400 yards was a lot; that thirty miles was a long distance; and running over an hour was a lengthy run. Now, my views of riding/running and swimming have definintly changed. My long rides now are 5+ hours, with t-runs that are over 8 miles. Swims are 2400 yards upwards (today I have a 3900 yard swim planned!! That is over 2.2 miles of swimming). Only in ironman training can include a 18 mile run, and the week still be considered a “recovery week.”

Trail run!

The most daunting discipling, thus far I would say, are the long bike rides, since I do them by myself. In order to keep myself from really “freaking out” about the distance of the rides, I’ve decided to make my long ride/t-runs into little “day trips on the bike.” It sounds less scary that way, right? Last week I did my 72mile long ride and decided for it to be a little tour of the Shwangunks and Catskills (alright, if you are unfamiliar with the area, basically, it had a lot of climbing to go over one “mountain” range, then descend into the valley, and go up into another “mountain range” although they are really just hills.) It was tough riding, but knowing it was my “touristy day” helped a lot! (I stopped a couple times to snap some photos– I know this will not happen on race day, but hey, it is what helped me.)

At the end of the week, I realized I put in over 115miles on my bike. That is the most I’ve done in a week in over a year. It seems like a lot of miles, but in reality, that distance is only three miles more than the “long ride” I will be doing on race day.

Puts a little perspective into the length of an ironman, right?

Anywho, I’ve been putting a lot of emphasis on nutrition on rides/ runs since that has been a weakness of mine in the past. I remember attempting my first HIM distance race without ever really training with nutrition. On the ride (which caused a DNF) this engine lost all fuel and was running on empty. Attempting to refuel with one power bar after a 1.2 mile swim and 40 miles on the bike was no way to get the engine to want to work any harder. Not finishing that race had a lasting impact on me, and I vow for that not to ever happen again.

I’ve read a lot on nutrition with training (this should be a separate post) and from what I’ve read, there seems to be two trains of thought on nutrition during the ironman: those who use liquid nutrition, and those who use solids. Since I am by no means trying to qualify for Kona, I’m sticking with the solid foods for now, and it seems to be working. It’s taken practice to remember to make sure and eat something every 45minutes while riding, and make sure I drink as well (but not to over hydrate!) Nutrition is a balancing act, and I think I am getting there!

Bonk Breakers

On the topic of nutrition, I have realized as training volume/intensity has increased, I have become like a pregnant woman with the munchies. Not that I know what it is like to either be pregnant, or have the munchies. But I am continuously eating, and go through certain craving periods.  Currently, I cannot get enough smoothie bowls or CLAT sandwiches (swiss cheese/lettuce/avocado/tomato). Now that I think about it, any type of sandwich sounds incredibly appealing. With numerous workouts a day, my energy expenditure is ever increasing, requiring proper food replenishment. It’s been quite fun, actually, testing out new recipes. The day after my long training day last week while I was at work, I could not seem to stop wanting to eat. A co-worker joked, “Molly, are you pregnant?” And to that I replied, whilst digging into the french fries she offered, “Nope, I’m just in training.”

Smokey BBQ chickpeas= da BOMB!

Mmmmmm smoothie bowls

No, I have no addiction to this cereal….It was on sale, so I *had* to stock up…

Ofcourse, after discussing sandwiches, this girl needs to go make one right now.

A look at last weeks training time:

Swimming: 1:12hr

Biking: 7:46hr

Running: 2:24hr

Total time: approx. 11.5 hrs