Life has fallen into a very mundane routine since training has ended. I have started my marathon training. I knew it wasn't going to be easy but to be honest, it's turning out to be harder than I expected. Training for a 70.3 certainly took up a lot more time and effort. And towards the end included close to 30 miles of running in addition to biking and swimming.
So what gives that this plan seems so hard right now? I ran fourteen miles today, pushing this week's mileage to 29, and I was definitely riding the struggle bus. These long runs the past few weeks have been among my slowest-paced runs in a long time. My mid-week shorter runs are the fastest pace I've been able to keep up in ages, however. Either way I'm not getting discouraged about it, especially considering my long runs are on the hilliest route I know. I'm trusting that I am building a lot of strength on those runs.
I'm definitely excited to continue training and pushing myself each week. Although it's hard, my life does not feel consumed at all by this training. It is still enjoyable, despite how hard it is. I am unsure my body fully recovered from the 70.3 before jumping into training, which sort of has been a domino effect of feeling constantly fatigued. Who knows.
I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to jump back into my old gym routine, but I'm not worried about it. The prospect of losing muscle tone isn't something I want to be a concern or obsession of mine. I know that I will eventually be able to fit that back into my life again, but adding that to my training right now will make me feel consumed. So for now, I am happy with where I am at.
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Friday, July 15, 2016
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Ironman 70.3 Thoughts, Part 2
When I signed up for the 70.3 in October, at the time it seemed so far away. A little over eight months was plenty of time to prepare. I kept myself in pretty good shape over the winter-- running several days a week, going to spinning classes, and every Saturday morning doing a swim/spin/run session. I stayed dedicated to this in order to be "ready" when the training began.
Around the beginning of February, I began to write out my training plan according to a 16-week one I downloaded from online. Six days a week of training. Two moderate run/swim days, 2 shorter bike days, and one long bike/run day followed by one long run day. One rest day. Yikes. As I wrote it out on a calendar along with my work days, it began to really hit me just how challenging this was going to be. I knew I could do it, but I don't think I had really thought about what it would be like (plus when I signed up in October, my work schedule at the time was much more triathlon training-friendly.
Training started out pretty light so although I was tired and occasionally lost a little extra sleep here and there, it was ok. The long bike rides at that time were long for me, but they weren't difficult to fit in. Long runs weren't all that long in the beginning.
Gradually over time as with any training plan, the intensity and duration began to increase. Sleep between shifts was sporadic, short, and very poor quality. I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to be eating, or fueling around and during workouts. I wasn't halfway through the plan before I began to feel extremely burned out. I would wake up after only four hours of sleep, if that, to go on long bike rides that I struggled through.
During that time, I started to realize first of all that working night shift was no longer working for me. I also began to recognize that my body was not going to continue to do well if it couldn't sleep well. Things had to change.
Once I got my sleeping habits under better control and then switched to days, things did improve somewhat. But I was still finding myself feeling tired of this training, tired of having very little social life, and tired of being tired all the time. I think one of the things I am proudest of out of all of this isn't necessarily related to race day. But to the mere fact that I didn't give up when things got hard. I came close to it. There were days I wanted to quit entirely, days I cried because I just felt like I couldn't keep going.
For me to cross that finish line knowing I had done my absolute best to train and prepare for this race was the proudest moment of them all. I have seldom ever found myself overcome by emotion, but after finishing I was completely overwhelmed.
I don't know if I will do this again next year, but I know I will do this again. I gave up being able to travel, go on social outings with friends, getting good sleep (this will be better in the future I can assure you), among many other things. I'm simply not sure I will be ready to give all of that up again next year. I've definitely learned ways to not it for the next time which may help.
As for right now, I am training for the Leavenworth Marathon on October 1st My first marathon, and I am so excited! Four to five days a week of training with two whole rest days is so much nicer. Don't get me wrong: the long runs are long and this is definitely not going to be easy. I am not and never will be a fast or really good runner. But I love working toward goals, and this one I am excited about!
Around the beginning of February, I began to write out my training plan according to a 16-week one I downloaded from online. Six days a week of training. Two moderate run/swim days, 2 shorter bike days, and one long bike/run day followed by one long run day. One rest day. Yikes. As I wrote it out on a calendar along with my work days, it began to really hit me just how challenging this was going to be. I knew I could do it, but I don't think I had really thought about what it would be like (plus when I signed up in October, my work schedule at the time was much more triathlon training-friendly.
Training started out pretty light so although I was tired and occasionally lost a little extra sleep here and there, it was ok. The long bike rides at that time were long for me, but they weren't difficult to fit in. Long runs weren't all that long in the beginning.
Gradually over time as with any training plan, the intensity and duration began to increase. Sleep between shifts was sporadic, short, and very poor quality. I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to be eating, or fueling around and during workouts. I wasn't halfway through the plan before I began to feel extremely burned out. I would wake up after only four hours of sleep, if that, to go on long bike rides that I struggled through.
During that time, I started to realize first of all that working night shift was no longer working for me. I also began to recognize that my body was not going to continue to do well if it couldn't sleep well. Things had to change.
Once I got my sleeping habits under better control and then switched to days, things did improve somewhat. But I was still finding myself feeling tired of this training, tired of having very little social life, and tired of being tired all the time. I think one of the things I am proudest of out of all of this isn't necessarily related to race day. But to the mere fact that I didn't give up when things got hard. I came close to it. There were days I wanted to quit entirely, days I cried because I just felt like I couldn't keep going.
For me to cross that finish line knowing I had done my absolute best to train and prepare for this race was the proudest moment of them all. I have seldom ever found myself overcome by emotion, but after finishing I was completely overwhelmed.
I don't know if I will do this again next year, but I know I will do this again. I gave up being able to travel, go on social outings with friends, getting good sleep (this will be better in the future I can assure you), among many other things. I'm simply not sure I will be ready to give all of that up again next year. I've definitely learned ways to not it for the next time which may help.
As for right now, I am training for the Leavenworth Marathon on October 1st My first marathon, and I am so excited! Four to five days a week of training with two whole rest days is so much nicer. Don't get me wrong: the long runs are long and this is definitely not going to be easy. I am not and never will be a fast or really good runner. But I love working toward goals, and this one I am excited about!
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