Weeks 3 and 4: SICK.

Day one of week 3 I awoke with a little scratchiness in my throat, dreading what that meant. I mostly ignored it for a few days -- feeling a little run down, a little more sniffly, but able to continue. There was an interval run with some fun, short bursts of high intensity, more bike drills and one goofy ride where I wasn't feeling up to riding on the highway so I just rode back and forth between all the resorts... all was well. The Hilo to Volcano Ultra run was on the docket for Saturday, as part of a 3-person team for a total of approximately 10 miles each.

What happens when I play bicycle tourist

Thursday's swim gave us some hiccups. Sean and I were going to try out the master's swim at the pool in Waimea (at HPA), but by the time we got there and found the pool on HPA's sprawling campus we were 25 minutes late and too embarrassed to start. An let's be honest, it was incredibly cold at 6AM and the pool is outdoors. We then decided to go to Hapuna, but only had 10-15 minutes to swim because it was so late. "Oh well," we said. "We'll drive to Kona Aquatics after work tonight and swim." The joke was on us, however, because after driving 40 minutes to get there after a long day of work we found the pool closed for maintenance. Whomp whomp.

Eager to get back to it on Friday, I did my long bike ride on the trainer despite feeling more and more run down. My work day afterward was miserable and I resorted to drinking coffee (a very, very rare occurrence for me!) to keep myself going. I knew that the Hilo to Volcano race was going to be a push in my condition, but I headed home planning to quickly pack my bag, eat, and go right to bed for as many hours of sleep as I could get.

As soon as I arrived home I knew something was wrong. Sean's truck was in the driveway but the house was mostly dark and still locked. Bent over and wrapped up in every blanket we own, he staggered over from the couch to let me in and mumbled, "I have food poisoning."

And it was, indeed, very bad.

I'll leave out the details for everyone's sake, but suffice it to say we both ended up staying up all night and at 3:45AM, when I would have had to leave for the race, I was standing in our yard in the one tiny area that gets cell reception, googling "food poisoning treatments" and pondering whether or not I should be taking him to the hospital. Much to my chagrin I had to tell my teammates that I couldn't leave my husband in that condition and thus wouldn't be able to do the race. Here I would like to give a big huge shout out to those two amazing women, Barbie Nakamura and Melissa Schad, who completed the race without me (adding 50% more miles to their distances) and killed it!

Around 5AM Sean started being able to keep electrolytes down, but he was very, very sick all of Saturday. I had decided to forgo my workouts for the weekend and start again on Monday. On Sunday we relaxed together at the house, still trying to help him recover, then went to sleep. Early in the morning of Sunday-Monday night, I was woken up by a horrible pain in my stomach, along with nausea. I went to the bathroom three times before it got light, but given that I am prone to stomach problems, I didn't think much of it. That is, until 9Am when I started feeling so sick that I couldn't do anything but lie down. Then the vomiting started. Mine was not nearly so severe as Sean's, but still no cakewalk. I had to call out from work and miss yet another day of training, and I couldn't even think about eating or moving. By evening the stomach symptoms subsided but I was hit with awful body aches that made me feel like all my joints and muscles were on fire.

Kona Aquatics

It took until Wednesday for Sean and I both to feel ready to start training again. I started out with a very gentle jog on the road that runs from Honokaa to Waipio Valley -- gradual hills, and unique and beautiful views of eucalyptus forests on one side and blue ocean on the other. It was quite pleasant, and it felt good to be outdoors and moving again. Then I did a 30-minute swim at the Honokaa pool, which went well except for when I tried to perform the "fast 50's" called for in the workout schedule. My body was not having anything remotely "fast," so I let it go and just swam at a relaxed pace. I did my long ride for the week outside starting from the Mauna Lani resort area, and we finished up week 4 with a long swim at Kona Aquatics. It was the first time I've attempted a 1000 yards set in a pool, and although I've swam much longer distances in the ocean without stopping, the repetitive nature of the pool created its own challenge. It didn't help that there was a large group of people smoking cigarettes right outside the gate so that every time we breathed we got a lungful of secondhand smoke. Overall, though, it was a success and we got to see that lovely little notification pop up on our Garmin watches: Longest Pool Swim to date at 2500 yards!

Now that we are finally back to 100% or very close, so Week 5 is starting strong. I promise a much more interesting post for next week!

The First Two Weeks

It's official: it has begun,

Chilly on our first day!

We started our Ironman training schedule on December 19th with the coldest ocean swim I've ever done! It was cloudy and dark, and there was new snow on Mauna Kea, which did not provide the most inviting backdrop as we waded into the murky water. But we did it!

The second day was less successful. First I couldn't do my bike workout despite having prepped it on the trainer the night before because the one thing I hadn't done -- pumping up the tires -- wouldn't work with our new pump because the seal wouldn't lock. After  swearing at it messing with it for 20 minutes I gave up and headed out to run. I closed our gate and headed out and within 30 seconds one of my dogs, Jena,  appeared at my side, having dug under the fence. I took her back to the yard, but the moment I opened the gate the other dog, her brother Paco, ran like a shot out and down the road, followed closely by Jena at full speed. Having gotten a taste of freedom, they ran OVER A QUARTER MILE down the road, with me chasing them and yelling "FUCK YOU GUYS!" at the top of my lungs. When I finally caught them, they refused to walk and forced me to drag/carry them all the way home in a half-crouch, my legs burning. By the time I got home and finished burying a bunch of big rocks under the gate to stop the dogs from digging, I was already late to work. Great training day.

Beautiful Christmas Eve morning swim

The rest of the week went smoothly. The second swim was less cold and we got to share our swim space with a beautiful manta ray, a lovely welcome back. I got my tires pumped up and did my first trainer workouts on the bike, which was a new experience for me (with the exception of my one attempt at using our old trainer, which promptly ended up in the trash after the lock slipped and I slow motion crashed to the floor as I madly tried and failed to clip out fast enough). I did bike drills for the first time and via Isolated Leg Training (20 seconds pedaling with just one leg, 10 seconds transition with both, then 20 on the other) learned that my right leg is comically uncoordinated! I actually laughed out loud at the level of my right leg's spasticity when I first attempted it. By the end of the drills, however, it was starting to smooth out.

Curious cow on my beautiful run

The runs were nothing short of wonderful, soaked in the golden morning light with snow-capped Mauna Kea towering on one side and the ocean sparkling on the other. The air was crisp and the only other creatures I encountered were horses, cows, and curious goats. Around each corner there was new landscape to marvel over. Since these early run workouts specify fairly low heart rates, I never felt overly fatigued and was free to enjoy my surroundings.

It was also new to do two sports back to back almost every day. By Friday of that week the activity caught up to me and I got tired. VERY tired. (This could also be attributed to the fact that I had worked out for an hour and half and then danced for five and a half hours). The night's sleep didn't refresh me, and I made it through Saturday's morning swim before crashing and falling asleep on the couch for two hours. I woke up and did my long bike ride for the week on the trainer (yay for being able to watch Dexter!).

My new saddle -- less pain!

Sunday was Christmas, which we took off, and Monday of the second week we took our bikes in for tune ups and headed to Kona, where we did our swim workout in the Kona Aquatics pool. On our way back we picked up our bikes and did a 50-minute outdoor ride, which felt great and we did at a surprisingly quick pace. I also got a new saddle, and discovered with great elation that my nether-regions do not have to feel like they are engulfed in flames while riding! Such a relief! Ladies, if you have wide-ish hips, may I highly recommend a Body Geometry saddle!

Just more pretty running pictures

The rest of Week 2 was enjoyable, with no major hiccups. I weighed myself on Tuesday and discovered that I had lost 2.5 pounds in the first week in spite of Christmas candy. I have rediscovered my love of post-workout oatmeal, the latest incarnation being made with steel cut oats, lactose free milk, bananas, ground flax seeds, and chopped pecans. I also discovered a delicious smoothie made with all the same ingredients minus the oats and sub frozen bananas. Food is such a delight when you're working out hard!

I have also discovered that I really love drills, on the bike and running. Isolated leg drills, gearing pyramids, and variable gearing sets work the muscles like crazy while making the time pass quickly. We've never done a training plan with drills before because honestly I was intimidated by them, but I am so glad I finally made the plunge! It feels purposeful and I can tell that this method of training will lead to bigger gains with less stress on the joints and muscles. Win win.

Our Week 3 plan, proudly displayed

This week I made it until after the swim on Saturday before getting overly tired. Again I took a nap, but this week it actually refreshed me enough to finish the long bike ride feeling strong. Today, our day off feels restful and productive -- a great start to the new year! Sean also had the fantastic idea to put a white board up on the wall where we can post our week's schedule to motivate and prepare us, which was fun to write out and hang up.

So there it is, the first 2 of what I know will be a challenging and rewarding 36 weeks of training in preparation for this race. I'm ready