Endurance Build Weekend
Monday morning - a time to reflect on the training efforts of the past weekend over coffee. With a full-time job, the weekends present themselves as the best time to log those long grueling hours of endurance training. This type of training may be a little lower in intensity but that doesn't make them any easier to power through. I went into this weekend hoping to achieve three long distance workouts. In short, I failed. Friday, with the excitement over my recent website purchase, should have been a swim but turned into a wash. Instead of swimming 3 km, I sat stationary in front of a computer screen while my dog and fianceé looked at me with utter confusion. In my opinion, the swim was a sacrifice I was happy to make.
With that initial "rescheduling" out of the way, I revamped my plan for the weekend. A solid long distance run at a higher intensity on Saturday morning followed by a low key swim (if time permitted) on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday morning, I planned a long distance bike ride. In order to keep ourselves sane, Tiff and I had also planned some social events including a nice catch-up dinner with one of our couple friends on Saturday night and I had planned to meet up with my old flag football team to watch some of the afternoon football games on Sunday.
Upon waking up on Saturday morning and taking the dog out, it was one of those days you hate to see: cold, rainy and just absolutely miserable. After eating some oats with almond milk and blueberries, we gathered our miseries and got ready for a long run. Not two steps into our run, we pulled the plug on the great outdoors and opted for the much warmer, and seemingly more pleasant, indoors. I decided the run should be challenging and on a treadmill you can always push your pace because the numbers are right in front of you. After a short warm-up, I decided for a 7.5 mph run for 60 mins at a 3% incline. Slightly slower than what I consider my 6-8 mile run pace to be, but with the increased incline for some more muscle recruitment. This was followed by 20 mins at an 8.5 mph pace and a 0% incline to close out. This totaled 10 miles in close to an hour and 20 mins. I can honestly say that my mind quit at mile 3. After that, it was one of those workouts that was a constant struggle. For nearly 50 mins, I had to push past that mental barrier that so often results in us quitting workouts early. Legs burning, sweat dripping, nipples feeling like they had rubbed off (sorry, that may have gone to far), the only thing I can picture is my legs giving out, my face hitting the conveyer belt and my body being sent five feet back into the row of ellipticals. The moral of the story is that I pushed through, for the whole workout. If I hadn't set that goal prior to starting my workout, I never would have made it. It is so important to know your destination in order to achieve it. If you haven't set that destination, you will end your workout when your mind says "I'm beat" lets go inhale a domino's medium pizza (which, sadly I did Sunday night but more about that later). After this workout, I could barley walk to dinner, let alone mustard up the energy for a swim... sorry swim, but you got benched again.
Headed over the G.W. Bridge on a crisp October morning.
Sunday morning I woke up feeling good and ready to go, in spite of the 2-5 glasses of wine and glass of whisky I had with dinner. I know, not what you expect from a guy training for an ironman but it gets worse, keep reading. I donned my cycling gear with a little extra layer of clothes for added warmth. I threw a vega sport bar in my back shirt pocket, filled my water bottle with water and some simple carbs and hit the road. Gorgeous crisp October morning. Nothing but me, the open air, the pollution of NYC and the noise of thousands of angry people. Time to bike my way out of the city, over the G.W. bridge and onto Henry Hudson Dr.
Looking at some of the stats after my ride. One thing I love about Tri training... the toys and data.
Biking up the Hudson river in Manhattan comes with it's own risks: tourists, strollers, children, dogs... you name it. As the biker, you are typically viewed as the villain and I get that, but when you are on that bike, your head is on a swivel. The tourists, not so much. After successfully maneuvering my way 100 blocks north, I pull off the path and head into the heart of West Harlem, happy to have made it there relatively easily. Annnnd, then I hear the sound of a police siren. Yup, a beautiful day was suddenly put on pause while I got a ticket for not fully stopping at a three way T-stop. My fault, deserved the ticket, only yielded, obey the law children. Let's move on. The trip up Henry Hudson drive was beautiful and grueling all at the same time. Up and down the cliff faces on the Hudson river. Looking at the numbers after the ride, nearly 20% of the ride (~7 miles) was uphill with an average grade of 9% and a max grade of 56%. Needless to say, I was satisfied with my effort.
Then came Sunday afternoon football and the start of my downfall. I arrived home, grabbed some homemade chicken soup that my lovely fianceé had prepared and then showered. I threw on my shoes and headed out the door to meet up with my old flag football team to watch some football games. I told myself one beer, famous last words. A handful (or two) of beers later and a shot of Jameson to celebrate god knows what, I was feeling great. My fantasy football team was up, I had a nice glow and all of the sudden I am hit with the hunger that comes after endurance training. My fianceé refers to it as "runger", and did it ever rear it's ugly head. Next thing I know, I have a full medium pizza and 14 boneless wings headed my way. I woke up this morning to the graveyard of empty boxes to wallow in my poor decisions... And the trials and tribulations of training continue... until next time.