Long Day

In doing marathons, I love the event – I hate the workouts, especially the long ones. I suspect the same will be true in the Ironman. Don't get me wrong, a regular day of running or swimming or biking is great, but there is nothing regular about training for a marathon or triathlon. Sooner or later it becomes extreme. That's the part I don't like.

In training for a marathon and a triathlon, the hardest workouts come about 4 weeks before the race. Well, it's four weeks before Ironman and I just had my toughest week yet.

I'd been dreading the week for a long time. The week consisted of a 2 hour and 45 minute run, a 2.4 mile swim workout and a 7 hour brick (2 hours on the bike, 1 ½ hour running – then do it again) I wasn't worried that I couldn't finish the week as much as I was dreading the pain. It's kind of like getting a shot – the anticipation is worse than the actual act. That was the case for me, I was irritable the entire week prior and during. I just wasn't looking forward to it.

I did my long (slow) run on Tuesday without a problem. I put in my 2.4 miles in the pool on Saturday and finished strong. That left Sunday's 7 hour (plus a little more for transition) workout.

Naturally, I overslept and didn't get started until 10:30 – making sure I finished and started in 80 degree heat. I really didn't want or need the added difficulty.

I went into this workout with dread. I was tired. Thinking of doing over 7 hours of continuous exercise was almost too much to grasp. I tried not to think about the entire day and just set off on my bike to do the first two hours. Things weren't much better on the bike (I felt sapped of energy) and I spent most of the time convincing myself to just try and finish the run and then we'll see if I could get back on the bike.

Surprisingly, after the bike ride and after a few miles of running, I began to feel a bit stronger. I didn't run fast but I was able to run without stopping the entire hour and a half – a good sign. I climbed back on the bike and figured if worse came to worse (after I'd finished the bike), I'd walk the last portion of the day.

Well that's pretty much what happened. I finished the bike o.k. and started to run, but I found that my stomach was pretty upset (it felt like I was carrying a bowling ball in there) and I kept trying to throw up to relieve my gaseous tummy. My theory is that I was taking too much nutritional supplements without enough water (I just drank Gatorade along with the supplement on the bike). Hopefully, I'll be able to fix that in the future because my legs weren't too bad – my stomach just wouldn't allow any more jostling than needed.

I finished my 1 ½ hours of running (more walking than running was done) and my wife and kids (who had been helping me through out the day) gave me a chair, towel and drink. We ordered pizza and I spent the rest of the evening slumped in a chair but satisfied that I'd completed the day.