The Ironman Journey Part 5 – Phase II complete: The good and the bad… it’s all just training

The Ironman Journey Part 5 – Phase II complete: The good and the bad… it’s all just training

Phase II was the Aerobic phase. Of course since I was also marathon training, there was no real build on the running miles, but there was on the bike, swim and bike/run bricks. The weight gain is still something I don’t like, but Jeff told me his trainer told him girls who ironman train gain weight, guys lose…so you just have to deal with it…keep an eye on it, but don't cry over a few pounds. Even with that, you better believe my annual no sweets over lent is being extended into May (and Julie is suffering through that with me- thanks Jules!).

The end of phase II & Recovery week landed on the same week as the Boston Marathon. I went ahead and manipulated the schedule so my recovery was Wednesday-Tuesday with the Marathon falling on the Monday, and then I had to bounce back from the marathon with Easter Weekend (which was supposed to be my recovery weekend) being previous weekend’s workouts of 3hr bike/6 mile run brick and 2500 meter swim.

I found classes at the Gold Coast gym I really like. Last phase, I started to go to the Wednesday morning weight training class with Tracy, and I love it so much, I’m hoping I can keep it in training even when the schedule doesn’t call for weight training. I’ve found Ann who teaches Tuesday night spin is a fun class to go to with good music and a good workout. I also like Saturday morning spin. That class has a bunch of dedicated spinners who go to the gym when it opens in the morning to claim a bike, leave to get errands done and then an hour and a half later they show up for class. I’ve also made a new friend at the gym, Heather who isn’t training for the Ironman but is dedicated going to the gym. We have the same taste in instructors and her cheerleading me and my goals is extremely motivating.

I’ve become more and more tired as training goes on. 8 hours of sleep is a big requirement to make it through training. If I get less, I pay for it. I get a little sleepy in the afternoons at work. I started to up the diet code red mountain dew and red bull. And then, something happened- Coffee. Coffee and I have a history. I LOVE coffee and all coffee flavor things. In highschool Irisa and I used to make it half chocolate milk and half coffee- yum. Then… I went to college. In college, I would have coffee to study, but I couldn’t study. My fingers would swell up, my sinuses would get real bad and I’d get way too fidgety to concentrate on school work. I stopped coffee drinking early on my freshman year. I didn’t really realize it was the coffee doing it, but I had a hunch there was a connection. Sophomore year, I was at starbucks studying, and I decided to have one of those yummy coffee Christmas special drinks. When I sat down to study, it happened again. I had to stop studying until the coffee was out of my system, and that’s when I swore off coffee. I actually have a coffee maker but I think it only gets use when Becky's in town. Recently, I got curious if I still had the same allergic reaction. To date, I have had 3 skinny vanilla lattes and I am no longer negatively affected. So I have decided coffee will be added into my training. It might be a bad addition to training, but sometimes we need our guilty pleasures to get through. I take pride in my white teeth so I don’t plan on drinking too much- I must keep these pearly whites happy.

I decided to cut out a marathon this year; I’m not running one over memorial day weekend. This means I’m going to fall into the Ironman Training schedule with less additional running miles. I say less additional running miles just because I don’t think I can quit double digit weekend runs cold turkey. If it fits the weekly schedule and I feel like I haven’t run enough that week, I’ll still add more running miles, but I won’t require it.
The American Triple T is in 4 weeks. I am a little nervous because our weather still hasn’t allowed for outdoor rides. We have had a few days of opportunity but most of those I haven’t been in town. I’m really hoping for my 45 miler next weekend to be out in Barrington. Sheila tried to convince me riding indoor is like running on a treadmill. You can do it all training long and be fine with an outdoor race. I don’t think that necessarily holds true with biking, but I’m hoping I’ll actually be stronger on my bike after being stuck on bad spin bikes all winter long. Alejandro is great! So once I get back on him- we’ll rock the road.

Speaking of Alejandro. There is the whole changing tires thing. Cinderella got a flat at the end of last year when I was riding home from the Chicago Marathon. I’ve changed that tire twice and both times it has gone flat. Spending Alison’s Birthday evening with my Ironman Heroes and super awesome biker Mark- I asked him to walk me through changing a tire and help me figure out what I was doing wrong. He told me to check the actual tire for holes…and oh sure enough...Cinderella needs new tires. The question is- do I love her enough to spend the money on her or do I sell her and get an upgrade on my road bike (or sell her and just have Alejandro?). I finally got the right tubes for Alejandro and sometime over winter, the front tire went flat. So, I went ahead and changed that one, and it was a success. That makes me feel a little better off – one step closer to being Ironman ready.

I worry I’m actually getting weaker in the swim. I had completed the swim cooper test on Wednesday (the 2nd test of training). I still ranked in the hot damn category but was 75 meters shorter in the 12 minute testing period. Luckily I get redemption on Phase III day one. I hope it was just because it was so close to after a marathon, that I was tired. A guy I see at the pool every now and then even commented on my slower than usual swimming - embarassing. The pressure will on when I complete swim cooper Test #3. As the distance increases...It’s about time we can swim outside. Anything more than 2500 meters in the pool just isn’t fun.

I’ve enjoyed training. It might consume a lot of my life, but I have my training friends, and while most of the time I am serious and in the zone, I have my moments where I let the workout be social hour- you know to make sure I don’t burn out and keep on loving it.

….and the Journey Continues!

Take your passion and make it happen…What a Feeling!

Take your passion and make it happen…What a Feeling!
State 23 – Boston, Massachusetts (The Boston Marathon!)
3:49:18

I sometimes have difficulty picking out lyrics or a song name to fit the mood of a marathon. For Boston, I had issues narrowing it down. While running, my decision was made on: Unbreak My Heart (Heartbreak Hill). The title that won out fit the overall sentiment to running the Boston Marathon.

If you have followed my write ups you know I once upon a time never imagined Boston was within my reach. An 8:26 average marathon (or faster when you don’t run the tangent) was something I didn’t think I could hold. But then, I dropped below 4 hours by a significant amount. I was still in doubt that it was within my reach, like I didn’t want to try for it because I feared failure…just like the flash dance lyrics go “First when there’s nothing but a slow blowing dream, that your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind.” I was asked “How do you know what you can or can’t do if you don’t try?” And that’s when I thought, I need to just work for it to achieve it. I needed to stop fearing the failure of not getting it, and just go for it (even if it took many tries).

Boston is perceived to be an elitist race because of the qualifying times. It was never meant to be for people to run it and feel superior to others but it was supposed to just be an individual defining moment. It was the first organized marathon and as popularity to run it increased; race directors wanted to make sure it remained well organized and enjoyable to run. Rather than a lottery, they decided to make it a qualifying race. The higher the demand to run the race, the tougher the qualifying times have become. They don’t make the qualifying times faster because they think it’s too easy, they are just trying to control the number of entries (maybe there is some elitist with this, but not to the level that some take it). Once again, after 115 years (2011) with a record sell out period in less than 8 hours, they will be once again reducing the qualifying times. And once again, if I want it, I’ll have to work for it and figure out how to train, eat, recover and race to shave another 5+ minutes off my current PR.

So…the training and race experience itself.

Boston Marathon training was midst Ironman Training. I think I ran a few less 8 milers on the weekdays but thanks to my friend Jeff, I managed to train long runs at 8:30s and the 18 & 22 mile runs were in the Hilly Morton Arboretum. With my long runs being completed in an 8:30 average, on hills, in icy conditions, and with many layers weighing me down, I thought a P.R. could be possible.

Caitlin got me a great book on the Boston Marathon. This book told you how to race it because it might not seem daunting when you drive it/look at the elevation profile but how and when the hills hit, it will kill. I compared it to Pocatello, Idaho and decided it had less pounding down…so I should be fine. Umm….Ha.

When I got to Boston, I started getting excited. Being submersed in the Boston Marathon atmosphere made me so proud to run it. This wasn’t just crossing a state off the list, but as Hal Higden said (see the end of write up with some quotes), this is the holy event of Marathons.

Boston Marathon starts 26.2 miles outside of Boston in Hopinkton, MA. You are taken out there, and have to run back. Boston supplies school busses to drop you off and then spend 3 hours outside waiting for the race to start. This can be no fun when windy and cold, but you can find (pay for) other busses that stay put so you can sit on a heated bus and wait for the race to start. CARA has 2 busses, so you better believe I was on one of them.

There were lots of first time Boston Marathoners on my bus and we shared the same excitement and fears.
Now Alison always says big races like this are the victory lap. You work for it, and then you enjoy it. BUT deep within the enjoyment, I had set two goals within my plan. I planned to start with a slight warm up and fall into a fast pace, leaving room to slow down if needed at the end, which would result in a PR or crash & burn. So the two goals were 1) PR or 2) if crash & burn, just stay under a 3:50.
The thought process here is, how do you know if you have faster in you if you don’t try? BUT this technique goes against all experienced Boston Marathoners warnings. I just figured, I would try it out anyway. I have consistently stayed under 4 hours for the past few marathons (minus Vegas where I drank and ran) so I figured I would try to defy the experienced and if I failed, I would still fall within a decent time.

Around 9:30 am we left the bus to gear check and walk from Athlete Village to the start. By the time we got in the corals (I was Wave 2 Coral 8), the race started right away and we were off…. The Boston Marathon!

My throw away jacket was off in the first mile. Mile 1 was in Hopkinton and my split was 8:20. Miles 2-4 were in Ashland, with Harley bike spectators at the 2 mile marker. The crowd support came and went. Water started at mile 2 and was at every mile almost always staggered on both sides. The water volunteers knew what they were doing and water handoffs were seamless without slowing down. Miles 2, 3 & 4 splits were 8:02, 8:02 and 8:05 respectively. At this point, there was some flat road, but from miles 1-4 we started at 490 feet and ended at 180 feet.

Miles 5-7 were through Framingham. We had a small climb and then went back down a little more. Thoughts as I was running: 1) A T stop was in the middle of the woods how weird that it’s not an actual city but just kind of coming out from the dirt. 2) This was so scenic for being so close to Boston- Chicago would not have this beauty if you ran 26.2 miles from suburbs to get to the city center. My Splits were 8:08, 7:55 and 7:59 respectively.

Miles 8-11 were through Natick. At this point my legs were already feeling it. Down kills hams! I was thinking back to the book, “Run to Overcome” (By Meb Keflezighi). Either him or his coach said if it hurts, run faster. I thought, alright Meb, I’ll give it a try! In this section my splits were 7:57, 7:57, 7:58 and 8:11. Most of this part was either flat or small climbs which after the down, it felt great…kind of.

Miles 12-16 were in Wellesley where the guys get Kisses from the screaming girls. What did I love about Wellesley? The newly paved blacktop. The soreness was slightly mitigated with the wonderful road. As this was the race to enjoy, there as a news reporter so some of us decided to slow down and get right in camera shot waving our arms like crazy just to be on the news. We all laughed together and continued moving on.

I knew the hills were going to get worse just after the half way mark. I thought all I needed was to get through heartbreak hill. My splits for 12-16 were 7:57, 8:07, 8:07, 8:15 and 7:57 respectively. I had my parents to look for somewhere between 15.5 and 17. Around 15 the difficult climbs started to take place and there was a long climb up so I concentrated on finding my parents. The fact I had my parents to look for helped me get through that climb but I knew I was reaching a point where I would start to slow down.

Just before mile 17 I saw my parents and we exchanged cheers as I passed. I had told myself if they were in arms reach I’d make it an excuse to stop and hug them, but, as this was a popular area, they were standing on a rock or something behind the first layer of people and were out of reach. I was just so glad we saw each other.

Miles 17 – 20 were in Newtown. These were the rolling hills that kill leading up to heartbreak hill (which isn’t so bad on its own, but after the hill before it or I should say the entire course before it….ugh!). Even though the hills were helly, the course was alive! Spectators were filled with energy and you could tell I was not the only one running who felt pain. As I was slowly dying, my splits were 8:35, 8:56, 8:43 and 9:11 (which hurt a lot).

I was exhausted & knew heartbreak was coming up. I didn’t realize when I was on it at first, I knew I was going up but it wasn’t as bad as the previous hill. How did I know I was there? The chalk drawings: ‘Thump’ ‘Thump’ ‘Thump’ …my heart was beating and breaking as I was losing steam. Heartbreak was my first > 10 minute mile at 10:08.

We were in Brookline now, so mile 22 was time for down and the cheers from Boston College. I regained some energy, slapping hands with all the spectators, trying to use the slaps on the and to control the pounding back down another steep hill. This is when I had my last sub 9 minute mile split. It was an 8:58.

Mile 23 was when I started to shuffle and already full out count my steps. I also started to take a few steps of walking every now and then with some stops to try to stretch out the cramps. Part of me thought ‘how can you walk when you qualified for this?’ The other part of me thought – whatever- it’s the victory lap, enjoy it…it’s Boston!

Mile 23 was 9:56; 24: 9:16; 25: 10:04 and 26: 10:35 and the .2 (or .3?) 9:54.
A lot of this was downhill. By the time I got to the Boston University section, I was drained. Fenway Park and the Citgo sign was a blur and at the underpass with < 1 mile left, I stopped to stretch. I couldn’t run well and my walk was a limp with cramps moving from my calves to inner knee to quads. I knew I’d get to the finish, I just didn’t know how. I slowly made my way and finally turned on Boylston St. I could see the finish! Slowly but surely I made it (and I could official wear my gear). :)

I might have crashed and burned, but I still gave it a try, and now I at least know I can rock the faster pace if I can just learn to hold it for another 6 miles. Everyone has their own technique on how to tackle the marathon. I have no clue if I would have done better or worse if I would have kept all the splits above 8. If I ran the 2011 Boston Marathon all over again, I would do the exact same thing. Each race is different and not just because of the course, but because of those around you letting off energy, and most importantly it’s just about the day you are having – mentally and physically.

I love running even though it can be painful to push through final miles of a marathon. I love marathons and love working on achieving my 50 in 50 states goal. This is my thing and I always thought it’d be great to qualify for Boston, but not until I was actually there, did I realize how big of a deal it was. It was less than 40 years ago that women started running marathons….and that started here...in Boston….what a feeling to be part of the Holy Event of Marathons!


…..Recently I’ve been reading a lot of running books which I wanted to share some quotes from them.

“I know I ran well today, but it wasn’t my best. The pressure was on. The first time (at Boston) is a challenge and you get a feeling for it, but I’m excited about next time” ~Meb Keflezighi (Run to Overcome)

“It was once said ‘Personality is born out of pain’ If that’s accurate then we runners are quite the personable bunch of characters” ~ Bob Schwartz (I run, therefore I’m Nuts)

“New York, Chicago, London & Berlin are merely marathons. The Boston Marathon is a holy event in the sense that the Masters in golf and Wimbledon in Tennis are Holy Events” ~Hal Higdon

“In the long run, life is a collection of moments that matter, the ones that you will remember for the rest of your life. In April, your moment is in Boston, on Boylston Street, under the Finish Banner. The moment is yours, celebrate it from that moment on, you are a little more special. You are a Boston Finisher! Congratulations and Welcome to the Club” ~Raymond Britt (Legendary BM Course Guide)

***Reminder: 2011 is a big year of racing for me with Boston and the Ironman. So I'm raising $11 per mile raced for ACS. To donate, go to:

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/DetermiNation/DNFY11IL?px=4909726&pg=personal&fr_id=35207