Mental Fortitude

One of the rules of training is that every training session should have a defined purpose - building endurance, working on form and increasing speed are some standard goals. I've also spent training sessions working on learning to run slowly, increasing my running foot-strike cadence and testing my nutrition plan.

At this point in my Ironman training (with exactly 21 weeks to go), my training session goals are generally focused on building endurance or working on form. However, another very important goal throughout race preparation is training the mind and acquiring mental strength - for example, the strength to believe that your goals are attainable, the strength to focus on the physical goals you're trying to achieve and, of course, the mental strength to endure the hours and hours of training required to compete in an Ironman.

This weekend was a good one for that final mental conditioning goal of simply enduring. This winter has been very mild; we've had some pretty cold days and some rain, but we haven't had any snow worth remembering. On Friday though, New York finally got hit by a big snow storm of the year. The snow started falling in the morning and before sunset we'd gotten about six inches. Then, for the rest of the night and into early Saturday, there was off-and-on rain and sleet. It is New York City and the streets were clear of snow long before I got up Saturday morning, but it was still wet, icy and just plain nasty outside. I had a 3:30 ride planned for the day and realized that if I rode outside I'd just be asking to get hurt. So, I set up the trainer, put "Inside Man" in the DVD player and got to riding. After part of "Sportscenter", all of "Inside Man" and half of "Blood Diamond", I finally got off and went out for a short run.

It really wasn't until about the end of "Inside Man" that I started begging for mercy. The first 2:45 was fine and I pushed through the next fifteen minutes, but that last half hour got exponentially more excruciating as each minute slogged by. My legs were tired, sure, but worse than that, my brain was tired. Normally, when I get on the bike or go for a run or start swimming laps, the physical motion of propelling myself forward is natural and I don't need to think about the next step or stroke. Riding the bike, watching the seconds tick by, I put my brain into overdrive to keep up the intensity and even to just will myself to continue turning my legs over. I wanted nothing more than to get off that damn bike. But then I remembered feeling that way in the final miles at Lake Placid last year and I knew that this training session was a key moment in my base training - if I quit on the trainer after just three hours, what would happen after nearly twice that much time on the bike at Lake Placid in July?! I finished the ride - though not quite as strong as I started it - and finally got out for a nice run in the cool and fresh air.

This morning, I got up and dug deep inside that well of mental strength and put the bike back on the trainer for another 2:15. It was a beautiful morning and I probably should have gone outside, but the goal for today's ride was "recovery" - a nice easy spin to get the lactic acid out of my muscles. So, I decided to stay in, watch the morning news shows and teach myself a little more about how long I could last on the trainer. I can't describe how happy I am that those five and a half hours are done!

Back update: I'm feeling much better and once again thinking very optimistically for Boston and the triathlon season beyond. I had more good days than bad ones this week and in general, my back didn't "hurt". It seems that as long as I remember to get up out of my chair at work at regular intervals and to stretch often throughout the day and to ice and use the trigger point ball at night, I can keep the discomfort away or to a minimum. I think I'm going to get a massage this week and I have a physical therapy appointment on Thursday evening. Barring a setback, Boston is solidly back on the calendar.


Bike - February 17
Distance: 36.8 miles
Time: 2:00
Average heart rate: 122
Course: Sag Harbor, Southampton
Conditions: High 30's (real feel low 30's), overcast, some wind

Run - February 19
Distance: 9 miles
Time: 1:15:30
Average heart rate: 160
Treadmill - hill workout (total feet climbed: 701)

Swim - February 20
Distance: 3,000 yards
Time: 1:00

Strength - February 20

Indoor bike - February 21
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 129

Run - February 21
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 138
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Cold (low 30's), clear

Swim - February 22
Distance: 1,700 yards
Time: 30 minutes

Strength - February 22

Brick - February 23
Indoor Bike
Time: 3:30
Average heart rate: 118
Transition: 5:35
Run
Distance: 2 miles
Time: 17 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Course: Washington Square Park
Conditions: Low 30's, cloudy

Indoor bike - February 24
Time: 2:15
Average heart rate: 121

Kona Lottery

The 2007 Ironman World Championship (Kona, Hawaii) was on NBC today. It was an amazing race with male and female first time winners (that's Chris McCormack, the men's winner above; there's an amazing picture of Chrissie Welllington, the women's champ here). So it's an appropriate day for me to announce that I've entered the lottery again. In April, 150 names are chosen at random from the lottery pool. My chances are really, really slim, but it's worth the price to play. Of course, I'm also going to do my best at Lake Placid in July, but part of me thinks that my odds of getting in through the lottery are better than my chances of taking nearly two hours off last year's Lake Placid results.

Thursday evening I met a blogger friend from Fire in the Belly. She and I have been corresponding via our blogs for a number of months and both ran at the JFK50, but have never met in person. She was in New York for work. It was great to meet her. She's got a full race schedule ahead of her for 2008, and I look forward to following along via her blog.

Last week I finally saw a physiatrist for my back. The verdict: he didn't know; it could be any number of things, and is probably related to some muscular imbalance or weakness in my hamstring, psoas, piriformis or something else in that general area. So... he recommend PT. Twice a week for six weeks. Ugh. As much as I despise the thought, I've made an appointment to meet with a physical therapist at the Hospital for Special Surgery uptown. This facility was very well recommended and they take my insurance. BUT, they can't see me until February 28. Between now and then I'm going to heal myself. I bought a book I read about on Slowtwitch - The Pain Free Triathlete and I'm doing the stretches described in the book. I bought a Trigger Point Massage Ball. The TP Massage Ball supposedly works wonders to hit "trigger points" and ease the muscle spasms that cause pain. Hopefully the one trigger point in my right buttcheek with help whatever's going on in my back and rear end. Finally, I'm trying to religiously ice my tush. And you know what, it might just be working. I'm getting ahead of myself, but recently Friday's (after sitting at my desk all week) have been the worst day of the week and yesterday was the least painful Friday in weeks. I'm not "pain free" yet, but I am feeling much better that I was just a couple weeks ago. And, I've gotten right back into training since getting home from Mexico, including a hard ride Thursday and a nice, moderately long brick today.

We're out at the beach for the long President's Day weekend. This morning I got up and rode out to Montauk Point. It was cold and windy, but sunny. It's great riding out here - you get started on the road right away; there's none of the New York City garbage miles. Also, it's a nice rolling course, with some good hills, but nothing too killer. The roads have a wide shoulder. And finally, it's just plain nice to be riding in the "country-side". The lack of garbage miles does make for a more challenging ride than I've been doing in the City - but that's a good thing! I got off the bike after three hours and went for a short run. My legs felt great off the bike, which is a great sign.

Two more days of weekend!


Swim - February 13
Distance: 3,100 yards
Time: 58 minutes

Strength - February 13

Indoor ride - February 14
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 130

Run - February 14
Distance: 5.75 miles
Time: 46 minutes
Average heart rate: 136
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Cold (38 degrees), clear, evening run

Swim - February 15
Distance: 1,700 yards
Time: 30 minutes

Strength - February 15

Brick - February 16
Bike
Distance: 54.6 miles
Time: 3:20
Average heart rate: 125
Course: Wainscott to Montauk, Sag Harbor
Conditions: Cold (low 30's, real feel mid-20's), sunny
Transition: 3:29
Run
Distance: 2 miles
Time: 16 minutes
Average heart rate: 137
Course: Wainscott
Conditions: Low 30's, sunny

Viva Mexico!

We're back. But did we actually go away? Walking off the plane into JFK, we immediatly felt the cold and the anxiety of being back home.

But it was an awesome trip. Every last bit of it: the resort, the beach, the food, the weather, our time together; awesome. We ate chips and ceviche and fajitas and drank margaritas and watermelon juice (mmm!).


The resort, Ceiba del Mar, was really spectacular.

While we were away, I did two ocean swims (swimming outside in February!). The water was nice and warm. They had a roped-off area right in front of the resort that I guessed was about 450 yards around. On Friday and Sunday mornings, I did six laps (four laps, short rest, 2 laps). I did them at a solid, even pace. The water was relatively clear - especially considering that I didn't go very far off-shore. During the first swim, the water was calm; there was a bit of a strong current on Sunday. There were tons of small fish and a few medium size ones. But, about half-way through my first lap on Friday morning, I looked to my left and saw:


A friggin' spotted eagle ray! I nearly jumped out of my skin - especially because just that morning I was reading a little article in "Outside" that mentioned Steve Irwin's death. But then, I realized it didn't want anything to do with me and I looked for it during the rest of my swim. Unfortunately, that was my only sighting. There was also one tree on the bottom that at first looked like a dead shark! It was all bleached out and could have been a shark, it even had a small, thick branch coming off it's middle, looking like a dorsal fin!

We each did a couple of runs on the beach. Running on the soft sand was tough. I ran slow and easy, but couldn't keep my heart rate down. The challenge of picking your feet up out of the sand, while avoiding the tide and holes dug by kids made for a different running experience. But no matter all that, we were on the beach, in the sun!


While sitting at breakfast on Sunday morning, we ran into Jeff and Sarah, friends of mine from college. I haven't spoken with them since our five year college reunion. How random is that? It was great to catch up with them on the beach and over a delicious Mexican dinner.

btw: Have you seen "Yes We Can"? I can't stop watching and re-watching it. They took a speech that brought tears my eyes and have created a song that gives me goosebumps over and over again. If you haven't seen it, or even if you have, here it is:



Obama's won eight in a row. I just listened to his speech from Madison, Wisconsin. Yes We Can!


Swim - February 8
Distance: 2,700 yard (estimate)
Time: 45 minutes
Ocean swim at Ceiba del Mar beach

Run - February 9
Distance: 4.5 miles (estimate)
Time: 40 minutes
Average heart rate: 150
Course: Puerto Morelos beach run
Conditions: Sunny, warm (high 70´s)

Swim - February 10
Distance: 2,700 yard (estimate)
Time: 49 minutes
Ocean swim at Ceiba del Mar beach - current was kicking a little harder this time

Run - February 11
Distance: 4.5 miles (estimate)
Time: 45:30
Average heart rate: 136
Course: Puerto Morelos beach run
Conditions: Partly cloudy, some wind, cooler (low 70´s)

Vamanos a Mexico!

We're off to Mexico tomorrow morning. Fun in the sun (fingers crossed), time on the beach and lots of general R&R. We're headed to a resort near the town of Puerto Morelos, which is about 20 miles south of Cancun. It feels like the year has gotten off to a hectic and stressful start and we're both excited to get away from New York, from work, from regimented training schedules, from life, for a few days.

The trip comes at a good time training-wise as well. I'm at this pivotal point in my "season" right now where I have to decide soon what I'm going to do about my back. I've still been able to train (a long brick last weekend, a nice 10 mile run yesterday, a tough ride this morning), but I know that I'm not "OK". In my current state, I'm not sure that I could ramp up my running enough to get ready for Boston. So, I'll take it easy over the next five days and see what happens. I'm going to try to run a little on the beach and will definitely get in some open water swimming (I'm especially excited about that). I'm also going to do a ton of stretching. I will not do anything high intensity. And I'll see how I feel when I get home.

I had an MRI last week and today I had an appointment with Dr. McCormick, the nuerosurgeon who performed my surgery in 2003. After speaking with Assaf the other weekend, I got a little worried that perhaps my back issues were related to the remaining bits of the tumor in my spine. Also, Assaf convinced me that before I started any other sort of treatment, I needed to first eliminate that as a cause of my pain. Thankfully, McCormick gave me good news today. While there is a small growth still in my spinal column, it hasn't visibly grown in a couple years, so it's unlikely that it would be causing the pain that's come up in the last few months. Phew! So, I'll see a physiatrist when we get back from Mexico and see what he can do. Depending on how I feel and how that appointment goes, I'll have to make a decision about Boston. I still have six months until Lake Placid, so I have some time before I have to start worrying about that one. I'm not going to risk my back for the races, but I am also going to do everything I can to have a successful season.

Hasta luego amigos. Hopefully I'll bring home a nice tan and a little bit of sand in my shoes.


Brick - February 2
Bike
Distance: 58.1 miles
Time: 3:37
Average heart rate: 128
Course: West Side, GW Bridge, Route 9W
Conditions: Cool (low to mid 40's), overcast
Transition: 5:50 (better than last week...)
Run
Distance: 2 miles
Time: 16:20 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Course: Village
Conditions: Mid 40's, cloudy

Indoor Bike - February 3
Time: 2:15
Average heart rate: 113

Run - February 5
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:18
Average heart rate: 147
Course: West Side Highway to Central Park
Conditions: Mid-40's, overcast, drizzling, windy

Indoor Bike - February 6
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 124

Monthly Summary - January

Here's January:

Swim: 25,950 yards
Cycling (outdoors): 161.4 miles
Cycling (indoors): 12:40 (hours)
Run: 72.92 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 8 sessions

Approximate monthly total training/racing time: 47.5 hours

Weight: 167 pounds.

If I forget about what's going on with my back, the month was a good one. A relatiely high volume of training and I had some solid sessions. I spent a fair amount of time on the bike and I feel like it's paid off in terms of increased cycling strength and muscular endurance. Given a choice, I'd still rather be out on a long run than on the bike, but there's no real choice if I'm going to do triathlons! I've been swimming twice a week and am making slow, but steady progress in the pool. My running is suffering a little, due to limiting time on my feet because of my back and in order to spend more time on the bike. I'm still comfortable cruising for good long run, but I know that I'm not nearly as fast or as fit as I was this time last year. Last winter, I was out racing nearly every weekend; this year, I'm still trying to decide when (or if) I'll go out for a race. I'm nervous to push myself/my back until I figure out what's going on and I'm nervous that I'll be slow(er than last year). I know that I am and have been training much differently this year, so I shouldn't be upset about being slower, but it's still not so easy on the ego. I don't want to get too rash just yet, but I am beginning to question the wisdom of racing Boston in just about 11 weeks. Not that I couldn't do it, but rather, should I do it? What effect will training and racing have on my back and on the Ironman? I don't have to decide anything just yet...

Run - January 29
Distance: 8.37 miles
Time: 1:10
Average heart rate: 152
Treadmill, hill workout (total climb: 550 feet)

Swim - January 30
Distance: 3,100 yards
Time: 1:01

Strength - January 30

Indoor ride - January 31
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 126

Run - January 31
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 136
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Chilly (high 30's), windy, clear

Swim - February 1
Distance: 1,650 yards
Time: 30 minutes

Strength - February 1