* First of all, out of curiosity, I asked the Life Guard if the lane distances are in yards or meters.  The answer I got was, 25 yard”ish” and all the lanes are different – some are longer and some are shorter.  hmmmm. ok, thanks -not the specific and exact answer I was looking for…but ok.  So, all my measurements will be yard”ish” from now on.

* Swimming at 8:30 AM at the Y is a bit different than swimming at 5:30 AM:

5:30 AM -Nice and quiet, usually only 1-4 people there.   I always get a lane to myself and everyone is pretty much doing their own thing. On Wednesday’s I am usually the only one there – me and the Life Guard.

8:30 AM – I get there and no one is there..Great I thought, a lane to myself.  I comment on the lack of people to the Life Guard.

Me – “Not many people here at this time”

Life Guard – “Yes, but Water Aerobics starts in about 15 mins.  You should swim in that lane (pointing to furthest lane)”.

Me – ” Ah, ok sure”

And then I get into the water…the warm bathtub water. Yikes, I think – this is pretty warm.    I start to swim, already feeling pretty suffocated in the really warm water.

One by One the ladies are showing up for the class.  And about 8:45, the water starts to get a bit wavy.  I start to smell different smells – someone has some really strong perfume on!!

And then at around 9:00 AM, when the class starts, it gets really wavy – I feel like I am swimming in open water!  And still smelling different smells – some of them not so great .

But all in all, I had a great 8:30 AM swim – I got in one full hour  (2600 yard”ish) because I didn’t have to rush home to get the kids ready for school.  And I still got my own lane .  I am just going to have to get used to the differences.

And just when I had all my workouts planned  – time, location, etc…..EVERYTHING CHANGED.

Yes, I do not deal with changes very well and I am a baby about it.  But my work schedule changed and I have to support clients in both Europe and Asia Pacific.  So that means really early morning 5:00 AM calls (during my early morning workout time!!).  I have had to rearrange my entire workout schedule.  I really love getting up early and getting at least one of my workouts done. There are so many things that come up during the day that it’s always a possibility I won’t be able to work out (like Tuesday when I had meetings get scheduled all day long).  And that stresses me out.

But, I need to think positively about this.  I have blocked off time during my workout schedule to workout after I drop off the kids, so 8:30 AM.  This gives me the opportunity to run during the day (trail running!), go to spin classes at the gym, get a tan while swimming.  Positive thoughts, right?  Also, I am very lucky to even have a job right now, so who am I to complain?

Like my husband said, there will be obstacles along the way…I need to learn how to deal with them.  And that I am.  But a girl needs to vent every now and then!

Wow – what a week!  I did all my workouts…quite an accomplishment for me .  I am getting into a routine, but still need to figure out how to get all the double workouts in.

I got to admit, I am so excited for the Ironman.  I love this stuff..I love the the challenge.   Here is my workouts for week 35:

Monday – Day Off

Tuesday – 5:30 AM run.  My body is getting used to waking up at 5 – not as tough to get up anymore.  Only taken like 5 or 6 months to get used to…yikes.

Wednesday – 5:30 AM swim.  I did 2050 yds today in 45 minutes.

2:30 PM – strength for 30 mins.  My plan for strength training is to get it done during the day at home.  I have weights at home and I work at home. Often times I find myself not taking breaks from work during the day, but if I put a  30 minute break on my calendar, I will take the time to lift weights.  The meeting notifications make me feel guilty if I don’t do it!!  Working great so far.

Thursday – 5:30 AM – 45 mins on the bike trainer.

5:30 PM – 45 min run once my husband got home from work.  Went around the neighborhood 2X…nice little trail run.

Friday – 5:30 AM – swim 2300 yds.    That afternoon I was supposed to ride the trainer for 30 mins…but I literally forgot to do it.  I remembered about 8 PM and was too tired….so I decided I had to get it in – I would get up early on Saturday.

Saturday – 4:30 AM – yes, that is right – 4:30 AM.   I rode the trainer for 30 mins then did a 7 mile run!  I was so proud of myself for getting up early and getting it all in – even the trainer ride I missed on Friday.  I had baseball at 9 and soccer at 11, and soccer pizza party at 12:30, so it was a busy day. Early morning was the only time to get it done.  The run felt great, even after riding the trainer.  I just love to run .

Sunday – I also forgot to do strength training on Friday.  So I did 30 mins of strength on Sunday.

Also, I rode my bike outside for the first time in 2.5 years!  It was a big accomplishment for me, even if it was only for about 30 mins.

Over all about 7:15 hours

This week I didn’t get all my workouts in because of my wrist (see previous post).  I am still unable to swim or do upper body strength training this week.  But I am not going to stress because the “A” race is so far from now.  I also don’t want to burn out before the race…… I want to be  mentally and physically prepared for the really high volume weeks.

I decided to do the Intermediate 30-week plan from “Be Iron Fit“.  I read a lot of good reviews about this book, so decided to give it a try.  I need to be realistic though, I don’t think I can do the Competitive plan, although I’d really like to….I will keep it in the back of my mind though.

I need to do my max heart rate tests to get a better understanding of my heart rate zones.   I also need to get a heart rate monitor.  I have never been technical in my training, but rather just ran/biked/swam.  I would really like to be a bit more technical this time.  I figure now, with my limited time, I need to get pretty technical as every workout needs to be quality.

I am a runner at heart, so my default workout is to run, as you can tell from my workouts this week :

Monday – Swam for 50 mins for 2450 yards.  I have been doing 350 warm up, 3 X 500, 5 X 100.  100 cool down.

I fell and hurt wrist on Monday also.   My wrist hurt so bad on Monday night, there was no way I could workout the next day.

Tuesday -  Went to doctor – REST

Wednesday – Not motivated to workout, wrist was hurting – REST

Thursday - 4.5 mile run in the morning. Wrist started to feel better.

Friday – 4.5 mile run in the morning

Saturday – bike 30 mins on trainer

Sunday - 5 mile run

—————————————–

Total – 3.67 hours

I decided to do a weekly count down to Ironman – so 42 weeks to go until Ironman Arizona (well 41 and 2 days).  I would like to post each Sunday or Monday of this journey to review the week. For some reason, on the bad weeks, I just don’t feel like posting, like I let someone down.  So I don’t post – and I have had a couple of bad weeks. But I feel I should post the bad with the good.  So here is a summary of my last couple of weeks.

- On Friday, January 13th, I woke up with a foot cramp. This cramp caused me to limp around until Tuesday, where it finally went away.  So no, I did not get my planned run in that weekend.  Luckily, I believe it is gone. I feel a little bit in my arch, but I am still going to run.  My right foot has been giving me problems though, so I definitely need to monitor how it feels.

- Later that day, I found out there as a death in my family. I hopped on the next plane to Arkansas go be with them and attend the funeral.  It was very emotional and sad experience. It just isn’t fair when such nice, honorable, hardworking individual has to die.

- On Tuesday, Jan 17th, when I arrived home from the funeral, I was exhausted…mentally exhausted.  And I also had a cold.  By Thursday, I was really sick…couldn’t move sick.  So I missed my workouts..again.

- By Sunday, I was running again.  I. ran. 3. miles.  I was supposed to run 10 that day.  But that’s all my body gave me that day.

- On Monday, I felt good…I felt like myself again. My motivation was back.  I went swimming Monday morning and planned my workouts for the week.
Then the fall………..the fall on my butt…..the butt that just got better about 2 weeks ago.
I want you to imagine the fall being one when I was running, running fast and working hard, but then I noticed a child crossing the street and I fell to the ground while saving this young child from crossing the street.

But…no, I fell from my foam roller while I was on the phone talking to a co-worker. For some reason I was standing on it while I was talking and it slipped out from under me. How. Embarrassing. I can’t imagine what it sounded like to my co-worker when I fell…..

So, my butt didn’t get that damaged, just a bit sore.   Just a bit sore because my wrist took all the impact.  I went to the doctor on Tuesday and it looks like I have a hairline fracture.  So, no swimming for me for the next couple of weeks.  I also missed my workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday.

But today is Thursday and looking better. I ran this morning and felt good.  My wrist is feeling better. I am back…………right?

All I know is, my son “Loves me because he loves me”.  And that’s all that counts

Until Sunday….and yes, I will post..the good and the bad.