Sunday, November 05, 2006

Another Week Bites The Dust

I think I'm starting to understand the rigors of Ironman training. I just finished a week with increased volume (1500 extra yards in the pool and 20 extra run minutes) and I'm tired. But there's really no room to be tired. This week I have 9 workouts on the agenda:

Swim: 3 x 3500 yards (will probably be about 4 hours)

Bike: 1 x 1:15, 1 x 1:00 drills, 1 x 2:15 (for a total of 4:30)

Run 1 x 50, 1 x 40, and 1 x 90 minutes (for a total of 3 hours)

And 1.5 hours of strength

And it all starts at 6am tomorrow morning. Sheesh. But of course, you know I love every second of it.

I went to a great sports medicine injury prevention clinic today on the other side of town. It was free and it was so worthwile. During the 2 hours that I was there I:

Saw a podiatrist who taped up my toe. He said he wasn't sure if it is broken, but I'll be able to know by how long it hurts. If it's just badly bruised it should heal up in 7-10 days. If it's broken it will be 6 weeks. But he never told me I can't run! His wonderful tape job got me through a pain free 8.1 miles on the towpath today!

I also saw a massage therapist. I told her that my lower back has been killing me from my trainer workouts. Within about 10 minutes she had me all stretched out and I felt like a new woman. I was starting to feel very old gimpin around holding my lower back! Now if I can only come up with $60 per month so that I can visit her for an hour every month I'll be set!

And I also learned some great yoga poses. I can't wait to get to a yoga class. However, with 9 workouts per week it's going to be very hard to fit into the ole schedule. I'll try to make it work.

Finally I got to see and chat with TriSaraTops . Her hubby was in line for the podiatrist as I was getting my toe taped. Always great to talk to her! I'm sure I'll be asking her a lot of questions this year.

Now I have a question for you HRM trainer peeps out there. Any idea what affects your workout heart rates? Some days I can run much faster than others and stay below 156. Today was a slow day. I'm thinking it might have something to do with working super hard on the trainer yesterday, but who knows. I am starting to make peace with the slow running though. It keeps my knee healthy and my recovery is very fast. Can't argue with that.

13 comments:

Charlie said...

Sports medicin injury prevention:Nerf bumpers on trainers and dumbbells. You did suggest it,didn't you?
The photo session with the bike was at the top of Berkshire hill in Gates Mills.

Ellie80 said...

Hiya JT - just discovered your blog and love your crazy training!! Slow running is a particular favourite of mine - of course that isn't so much voluntary...

:)

Wes said...

Slowing down on the run, eh. Wuss!! LOL. You are such a great athlete. Hope the toe heals in 5 days! I've learned that your heart can be affected by LOTS of external and internal factors. Here's to a great week! You ROCK!!

The Blights said...

Hey Chica! Sorry about the toe! Ouch!

Wow, reading your blog is like a training prequel. I was commenting last week that there's not much on the schedule yet. I better enjoy it now!

Hope you had a great weekend.

LoneStarCrank said...

Good luck on the toe...let's hope it's a 7 day hiccup! Impressive that you bang it up and don't think twice about cranking up a killer workout!

qcmier said...

Sorry to hear about all your bumps and bruises. Hope they heal fast. Keep at it, but if you really feel tired or sore or burnt out, grab a little extra rest. Remember your race is not for a few more months. Better to take time off now than later. That's just my opinion coming from my own experiences. =)

Deirdre said...

Hello! Hope you're healing just fine!!

Heart rate bumps up with oncoming illness, hydration and lack of recovery from the last w/o. Temps affect it as well.

I had to go through that "getting used to running slow stuff" last season and eventually came to peace with it. But I loved that I didn't beat myself up as I trained. Keep with it and by spring, you'll be amazed how much faster you can go in the same HR.

Cheers - :-)

Trisaratops said...

Hey!

I second Deirdre and Joe's stuff!

For me, dehydration, stress, and lack of sleep were the three biggest culprits in the HR going ape. In that case, I just went by RPE so I didn't drive myself nuts! :)

Rachel said...

I hate toe injuries! One time, I broke my pinkie toe. I knew it b/c I couldn't walk w/o excruciating pain. I hate when you have a silly blister, and it just obliterates your run.

You're training so hard-core! It's putting me to shame. I just hope I'm doing enough too.

I like to fit in 15 min of stretching Yoga poses 1-2x/day when I get up and before I go to bed. That's how I sneak it in.

Anonymous said...

this is how tired i am.. when i read "I also saw a massage therapist" my brain said "I also saw a message therapist", i actually thought "whats a message therapist" then i re-read and said "duh" lol, just thought i'd share.

Lance Notstrong said...

We spend money on shoes, and gel and bike tune ups and sometimes ignore the "engine". Find a way to get the massage money, it will be worth it.

TriSonq said...

Good to hear you're healing. Forget about heart rates and massages.

Two words for you to decrease your chances of injury and increase your improving health:
Dance Lessons (Ha!) ;p

Have a Good Day,
Patrick

Anonymous said...

Whats up with Britney dropping K-Fed? Something to ponder during those looong workouts of yours.

Stay classy