I started freaking out at the thought of riding my trainer, solo, for 4+ hours. Eek! I know there are folks out there doing this kind of thing, but I was overwhelmed by the thought this time around (I think my record is 3 h, but I was in a bit better condition then and had the summer olympics to occupy me, where here the winter olympics coverage would not start until after noon).
Anyway, I emailed coach J and asked what I should do. I mostly wanted to know how to occupy myself on the trainer for 4 h and what to focus on/think about since a "group ride" it was not. What I got back from J was something completely different:
90 min on trainer with 2x20 min at ironman watts
60 min run, building into ironman pace
60 min on trainer with 2x20 min at ironman watts
30 min run, at ironman pace.
This all looked like an abbreviated version of Linsey Corbin's super duper birthday workout from last week. And while it was not 4 h on the trainer, it had me intimidated. About this time, E's work schedule changed, giving me a partner for at least part of this suffer-fest... I mean "growth experience." If we got up early, on a Saturday, that is.
The alarm went off at 5:15 and we were on the trainers not long after (quick breakfast and some drink/gel prep). The legs were stiff and heavy after last night's high RPM/big-gear work. A 30 min warm-up helped get them moving, but that first 20 min piece of ironman-watt work was tough. I was also struggling to get comfy on the bike as my current saddle position feels ready to launch me off the front, requiring a lot of arm, back, and glute strength to stay put.
Soon enough the first bike portion was finished and we were trading sweaty shorts and t-shirts for long-johns, poly-pro tops, jackets, hats, gloves, and screw shoes for the first run. E's hand is still bothering him from his fall a month ago, so I got to hang on to Izzy. We all headed out the door and quickly were settling into ironman-pace (a bit slow from a true pace perspective with the soft footing from the fresh snow, but the effort was in the right spot). Then, right at 15 min into the run, the strangest thing happened (again). I say again simply because it became the norm last year during our bricks for this same thing to happen to me.
No matter how long the bike, 2.5 h, 4 h, today only 1.5 h, the same thing always seemed to happen on the run, and like clock-work, it always seems to hit at 15 min into the run. It is kinda-like a bonk, the legs get heavy and numb, I get groggy and have trouble focusing, there is a very strong desire to lay down and nap, and my hear rate falls off at least 10 beats per minute. I feel helpless when this happens. I try and focus on "quick feet, quick feet" but usually it does not help. Usually, at this point, I take a gel and start to feel better in ~15 minutes. Today, I let E go, then I started to panic, got the gel out of my pocket, but just held onto in in my hand.
At about 22 minutes we met a runner and dog who was off-leash. Izzy sniffed noses and then something switched and they were going at it, having a bit of a tiff. Izzy was "protecting" me, keeping herself between me and the other dog, but that made it very hard to get them separated. The whole thing spiked my heart rate pretty well, but didn't last long. Izzy and I continued on our way, but E had turned back to help us out so the whole family was running together again. And I felt fine. Totally normal. Groggy-heavy-numb feelings were gone. I put the gel away again. I kept a steady, strong sustainable tempo for the rest of the run. My heart rate rose to "normal" for this type of effort, and it felt challenging but sustainable, like an ironman training run should.
What is going on? As this has happened before, often even, I am pretty sure it is not all in my head but is physiological. I also know that I can't will it away by focusing or thinking happy thoughts. But today, I finally saw a glimmer of hope, realizing that if I keep moving and wait it out, it goes away and I can get back to business as usual and run strong, on pace, and with good turnover. Without any gel or calories. Now I just need to figure how to prevent it in the first place.....
The rest of the workout was tough, but not too eventful. E got called in to work right about the 3 h mark (after the 1st ironman-watt segment of the second bike portion) so I continued on solo from there. The last two bike efforts were mentally tough. I am not sure if I am just tired from last night, or what, but I couldn't help wondering "how in the world am I going to ever be able to hit target watts for an entire ironman bike? 20 minutes is tough enough!" Hopefully today helps some growth and development down that pathway, May 1st is coming fast!
The same running phenomenon hit me again during the second run segment, but not until 18 min and not until after my heart rate had risen to "normal" levels for the effort. It took a little longer to work through the second time, but everything did come around again eventually. Two good snow-runs in the books!
Izzy was filthy when we finished, so she got toweled off quickly. Then I jumped in the shower, grabbed some leftovers to heat up, and plopped down in front of the TV for some olympics recovery time in the NormaTec. Unfortunately, the men's 30 k pursuit did not air then, like I had expected. I did get to see some interesting arials prelims, but had to wait 3.5 h for the pursuit. It was good motivation for getting the weekend chores started while I waited.
Happy Weekend!
-A
No comments:
Post a Comment