Saturday I went out for a 50-mile ride. Admittedly, I was with the boyz, and they have all that testosterone, especially when they don't know each other well and they want to see what each other is made of.
But normally, I wouldn't have been so slow. I was pathetic and it hurt and the slower I got, the more frustrated until I pretty much just gave up.
So I figured, okay, recovery. It's only been a week since the race, and hot yoga on Thursday and Friday kicked my behind, and Friday night we went out dancing and my knees hurt.
But then this morning, I rode in to work on a street I've ridden a zillion times and even raced on. I know what I'm capable of for every section - uphill, downhill, and flat.
And again, I was pathetic. My average speed getting to work today? 12.9 mph. My average last week, on nearly the same route? 15.9 (17.1 before the big hill just before my office).
So...what's up with that?
There appears to be something wrong with my bottom bracket; I have to bike home today, so I can't take my bike to the shop now, but tomorrow I plan to.
I really hope it's the bike and not me. My runs last week were solid; I can't imagine what would affect my cycling but not my running.
So frustrating. I almost cried this morning when I just couldn't get any speed.
I only have eight weeks left. Please let it be a bike problem and not me.
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8 comments:
Hope all is well with you and it turns out to be nothing.
I have a couple of friends also training for ironman.ca and I enjoy following your progress.
A group of us are heading up to Canada to cheer everyone on.
Good luck!
Phil
Jessica,
First of all... don't get down... you're doing amazing stuff, and I know more good is going to come, just remember why you do this.
I've been going through a similar stretch where I felt like my cycling wasn't where I expected it to be. Part of it was probably a little bit of over training/fatigue (which I think is the main thing effecting you right now)... and part of it was that my perception wasn't really synching with reality... which is to say, I was feeling slow, when in fact, when I go back and look at my logbook I wasn't that far off from before...
When I was complaining about losing my cycling fitness, a lot of people jumped on my blog and gave me a lot of "don't worry, you've still got it" type of support. And I'm sure you'll find that to.
Remember (you already know this) that a big part of physical performance is your mental state... your attitude... and even though I'd like to say "I can always rise to the occasion"... the truth is that a cycle commute into work isn't going to really get you going... I know exactly how that feels.
But I guarantee you that come race day, you'll have the passion and you'll do great.
One other thing that I'll suggest... Last year, before my first Ironman, I was really down for the last month before the race. Partly it was because I had crashed and really banged up my ribs and so breathing was hard, sleeping was impossible, etc... (you get the idea). A couple weeks before the race I got to watch the movie "What it Takes". Now, there's all kinds of things you could take away from that movie, but for me, I was moved by the speech that Heather Fuhr gives in the end of the movie...
"There are some athletes that are going to be out here for 17 hours. Out of respect for them, out of respect for this island, out of respect for this race... I was going to finish."
Remember Ironman is all about finishing.
This mantra got me through, and I did great in my race. This year, I've had my dark spots... and I'm sure I'll see some more before my big race. But I'll always tell myself that I can make it.
Good Luck!
Thank you so much to both of you - just what I needed to hear.
Phil, I'll be in pink and a skirt. On the run, I think it's going to be a pink camo running skirt. :-) So you might be able to pick me out. I will also have a big smile on my face (I hope!).
Hey Jessica - so I am the one who Pil was referring too. We are also getting ready for IMC along with Lake Stevens this weekend - not sure what I was thinking when I signed up for IMC AND Lake Stevens when the longest distance I had ever done before was a sprint.
So, in terms of getting slower, that's how I have felt on my run lately - two weeks ago I could jump off the couch and rip off 11 miles with no problem, and now anything over 1 hour is killer!!! And I am not sure why - we are ceratinly increasing our training right now (12 to 14 hours per week) and the bod is certaily feeling it. I think I just need to take a rest, but at the same time the "plan" calls for even more increased distances which I know what we need to do. Arggggggg..... So for this weekend we are actually taking both Friday and Satuday off hoping that our bods will recoup a little and be totally restored for July 8.
Mitch - are you doing a real taper before Lake Stevens, or just training through it? I pretty much trained through Pacific Crest last week and had a fine result, and I guess I'd recommend that - the big goal is IMC, everything you do this season should be focused on that.
But Lake Stevens will be fun; I still kind of want to do it, too, but I don't think it would be best for my training right now.
Hey Jessica,
I think what you are doing is very inspiring. There marathon runner, than a triathlete, although I enjoy the sprint distance tri's.
I always feel like I'm not quite ready or not quite fit enough before a race. I think a lot of it is mental. You have put in a lot of hard work, you've done the training and you are almost there.
I think Zappoman is right, when he said you'll rise to the occassion. Trust yourself.
Hey Jess,
I bet there's something wrong with your bike - as you said, it's hard to imagine that there would be something wrong with your bike fitness that wouldn't affect your run fitness. What kind of cranks do you have? I have FSAs and I'm just about to switch them out for DA because FSAs are notoriously problematic and mine constantly come loose. Not sure if that would cause you to lose so much power, but it might be one contributing factor...
We really aren't "tapering" per say for Lake Stevens, but more just taking it easy on Saturday - this week's plan calls for heavy training again and fortunately fof us, Friday is a scheduled full rest day. For us (and us = my wife and I) Lake Stevens is one long training day before we lead into the next rest week.
Cheers!
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