As I finish up Week 4 of my training plan for Honu 2018, it
is becoming remarkably clear that either doing two Ironmans in a row resulted
in some pretty remarkable strength gains, or allowing myself to train at higher
intensities is simply unleashing the result of last season’s endurance focus.
This week I ran ten miles for my long run, at a pace much faster than the 70%
of max heart rate pace I did most of my Ironman running at, and it felt
excellent! My legs hurt less, I never reached that point where every step felt
like a battle… whatever it is that's happening, it's fun and I’m enjoying it.
Also of note, Sean and I signed up for the Mini Monster 70.3 on February 11th
on a whim, so apparently I’m going to be doing a half Ironman in six weeks. I
always have to keep things interesting...
The first three weeks of my re-entry to structured training
were purely run-focused, getting accustomed to my Run Less Run Faster half
marathon plan while incorporating just two very low key, easy bike workouts to
reintroduce myself to structured training and feel out my schedule. This week
(after missing a week due to a really fun stomach virus), I amped up one more
level, adding a bike workout focused on hill repeats, several power intervals
to one of the other bike sessions, and two swims -- one at the pool and one in
the ocean.
Since changing jobs, I have to get up much, much earlier to
get my workouts in. However, it also means that I am home much earlier and that
I have a lot more time to put toward coaching, both of which make me feel a lot
better overall. I hated getting home at 8pm for the last two years, rushing to
make dinner, eat, and quickly get to bed before getting up the next morning to
do it all again. I am a much happier person when I have a little more time in
the evenings, and it only took a few early mornings to remind me that awful as
it feels when the alarm goes off, I really do enjoy being up to watch the
sunrise. There is something special about seeing starlight turn into a wash of
pinks, yellows, and purples.
Training itself this week went well. My tempo run (6 miles)
felt great and although the speed interval run on Thursday of 5 x 1000 in Zone
5 felt like it might kill me at the time, I made it through and felt great
afterward. Puako is a great place to do intervals as it is flat as a pancake,
and provides a welcome respite from the monotony of the track. Hill repeats on
the bike were actually fun in a sick sort of way (what has happened to me?),
and getting on the bike after the tempo run helped in avoiding sore muscles.
Getting back to swimming was… cold. The Ka Milo pool felt
like there might be chunks of ice floating in it -- something I truly don’t
understand given that it never gets below 70 down there. I jumped in, gasped
for air for a bit, did my 1800 yards, finally finding my stroke after about
600, and then promptly ran to the hot tub to reheat myself before showering. On
Friday I swam in the ocean, and it took me a full 40 minutes to convince myself
to get out of the car and into the water, it was so windy. Indeed, the water
was choppy, murky, and full of weird currents that pushed and pulled me every
which way, but getting back into the ocean always feels good on some level.
I also had the revelation this week, as I took the three
minutes to warm up in the hot tub, that it has been far too long since I took
just a little tiny bit of time alone to just soak up the beauty of my
surroundings and not think. My mind has been so completely taken over by
triathlon -- planning, training, strategizing, analyzing -- that I don’t think
I’ve just sat and thought of nothing but how beautiful it is around me since
May or June of last year. Now, I love thinking about triathlon, that’s
no secret, but I remembered, sitting in that hot tub listening to the wind in
the palms and watching them sway above me, that sometimes it is also important
to quiet my ever-busy mind. I scheduled 10-15 minutes of this into my days the
rest of the week, and it gave me peace like no amount of rest has -- a peace
that has eluded me ever since Ironman training kicked up last spring and my
schedule became packed down to the minute, constantly frenzied and driven and
rushed.
The weekend arrived and I hit my long run: ten miles, eight
of which were to be held at a pace between 10:15 and 10:35 per mile. I had also
decided that I wanted to negative split the last three miles. For my sanity
more than anything else, I ran from Waikoloa as usual but went out the opposite
direction on the highway, away from Mauna Lani instead of toward it. This meant
that when I turned back toward the resorts all I had to run was the hotel loop
(4.75 miles) instead of passing the turn off and running additional distance. I
don’t really know why more people don’t run that direction, because it’s actually
quite pleasant. Gentle grade, nice views… anyway it was a good run and I felt
strong. As I passed King’s Land I saw Sean on his golf cart and after trying in
vain to muster enough breath to yell at him, I chased him down instead, adding
an extra .1 miles to my route. The hug was worth it. (He may disagree, given
how sweaty and smelly I was).
Sunday we are back to doing our “long” ride together,
although for now long is only two hours, which after months and months of
Ironman training feels like a lovely little jaunt. As usual, I told Sean to go
on ahead if he wanted to go faster than me, since I generally like to keep my
long rides in a solid Zone 2. He stayed with me until the big hill, when I
again encouraged him to go ahead, assuming that he would blow me out of the
water on speed. Surprisingly, though, I found myself hanging with him, at which
point I decided that since it was only a two hour ride I may as well push a
little more than usual and see if I could hang with his pace. Sure enough, I could,
and not even pushing big gears to do so! I tried to keep my cadence fast and
light rather than mash the big gears, and I made it through the whole ride
feeling good and averaging 18mph, above my target pace for Honu this year. Most
interestingly, I felt like I got a glimpse of what my cycling can be, much like
years ago when by accident I found my perfect running stride. It’s an odd
feeling to feel exactly what it should feel like, yet to know that you
won’t be able to replicate it consistently quite yet. For the running it took
over a year before I was able to reproduce that feeling on demand. Hopefully
for cycling I can capture this feeling and technique a little faster, given
where I’m at in training compared to back then. Either way, it motivates me to
know that it’s possible, it’s out there. My body is capable of it, somewhere in
there.
Despite the challenge, I am looking forward to next week.
More hard runs, more hill repeats, more (cold) swims, and more learning. Gotta
love this sport.
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