Hey Hey! Well, I'm feeling back on top of things and will resume normal transmission of my road to Ironman training blog. I had a chat with my coach about how things were going and my concerns about my injury, he was positive about things, which helped. Often if you use someone else as a sounding board for your problems and take a step back it all comes into perspective and you can get back on track. As you are probably aware, training for Ironman or any athletic event for that matter can be fraught with high and lows. The nature of Ironman training and the time, energy and financial commitments it requires, make it easy to get into a slump if things don't go your way. Physical and mental fatigue can lower your coping resources. In this situation the supportive people around you are extremely important assets for getting you back up and charging on. I'm feeling energized and ready to go a few more rounds.
Yesterday was the first day in two weeks that I did pretty much what was on my training program. The morning held a 1:25:00 run with some 5min and 2min intervals. I had little to no pain in my quad which was promising. I iced it and relaxed with my feet up until midday when I had what was planned to be 2 sets of run throughs with 50mins of intervals in between. I ditched the run throughs on my coaches instructions to avoid any over-running and did the intervals only. Again there was no pain, just some fatigue which is the point isn't it? I finished off the second run with a hot/cold treatment in the shower, which involves a couple of repetitions of about 2min hot water and cold water. The idea being that it increases the circulation, flushing the waste products from your legs. It's exhilarating, and it helps to keep certain parts covered during the cold intervals....
This morning I went for a 3hour ride in the pouring rain. It was miserable, but I try to tell myself at these times that I'm training up my “mental toughness”, if its pouring with rain on race day, sleeping in is not an option. So if its pouring with rain, training is still on. My quad was playing up a little whenever we stopped at lights, it felt very tight, probably due to the cold temp and/or yesterdays running. I find its not too bad riding in the rain as long as you have the right equipment. I decided today I need some waterproof booties, as the only part of me that felt annoyingly uncomfortable was my squelchy feet. Basically, cycling in the rain is about trying to keep your core warm, this means a good water/windproof jacket. Though in a down pour you wont stay completely dry, if you can break the wind you should stay warm. After that, keeping hands, feet and head warm make the ride more bearable. Cycling in the rain requires that you ride smart, safe and stupid. Smart, in that you should be prepared with the right gear and ride a suitable route that is safe. Take care to ride in a safe fashion as road surfaces can be particularly slippery if the road is greasy. The stupid part is the being out riding when its raining in the first place, this is what people in cars or still in bed will think of you. Just remember if your in bed, the athlete you really want to beat next time will be out training, and about 5mins after you get home and you are standing in the shower it will all be a distant memory.
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