Ironman- The Journey- Part 7 - Phase IIII Complete: If You Are Gonna Jump…then Jump Far!
I’m a little behind schedule with this write-up as recovery week has passed already by a week. But Phase 4 has come and gone. Part of me wonders where did it go, part of me think it’s supposed to be harder and I did something wrong and I’m not prepared for the ironman. But I have stared at my training schedule and rechecked it to see I somehow I missed workouts, and I didn’t. I’m not discounting how much time ironman consumes of your life, I think I had a few reasons for not realizing the intensity. 1) Up until June, I had added a lot more running miles, so the increase in how much time I put into training wasn’t as significant for the ‘normal’ person. I mean yes, 16 hours in one week is a lot more than my 10 hours a week, but the majority of that is on the weekend. 2) I had a big life event go on during the competitive phase, so it provided a sense of balance- it just meant everything was intensified and my adrenaline must have gotten me through it.
Natasha Beddingfield has a song that defines me in Phase 4. The first verse and part of her chorus is this:I got a short attention span, can’t sit around couch potato land, I wanna do all kinds of stuff, talking about it’s not enough. I want to go to the extreme, I wanna stretch my limousine, I wanna take it way off road, go where I’m not supposed to go. (Life is music play it louder) If you are gonna jump then jump far fly like a sky diver.So where to begin? I guess a little more detail of my move.
About a year ago I decided I wanted to leave the Midwest. I Love my friends, I Love my family, but it’s just one of those things I wanted to do. I decided San Francisco was where I wanted to be, and I made it happen. Phase 4 started and I didn’t have a job yet, but I had a timeline. I would move out of my place when my lease was up in June, live with friends who had offered it up in July, and leave Chicago in August. So this means on top of ironman training I had to: Move out of a place, be homeless for a bit, wrap up my current job so I don’t leave others with a mess to pick up, find a job across the country and then move across the country. Got it :)
Oh- to keep with tracking weight gain- this phase was a little special, I was so busy- I was very bad at my nutrition- as in I probably didn’t eat like a normal ironman. I probably should have had more food, but luckily, I haven’t gained weight this phase- I’m pretty content at this point.Phase 4, the competitive phase – the toughest phase, the one I was told would take away all my energy and I’d never be any more exhausted than in this phase- started on June 20th.
Week One: Knowing I was moving soon, I decided to spend a night with my parents. So I completed my 50 mile ride by mapping out a ride from their house, through part of Racine, almost to Lake Geneva and then to Waukesha and back to their house. It was a pleasant ride for the most part, a few climbs and then flat parts. I then made my way back to Chicago so I could get a swim in. Sunday was gay pride parade day. My Madison friends were having a party for it at Nancy’s and well; they are probably the number one neglected groups of my friends. So, I figured I would go to the party that started at noon. So I first had to wake up at 5am to get a triple brick in of 15mile bikes and 30 minutes running. All went well and I managed to be to the party by 1:00ish. Did I imbibe on a few cocktails? Yes. I have yet to sacrifice alcohol for the ironman; I’ve just learned a sense of balance which is difficult for someone who is a Badger. Badgers tend to only know Binge- you know “if you are going to jump, then jump far, if you are going to drink, then drink lots!”
Week Two: The 4th of July Weekend. During the last week, I managed to move out of my place. With a going away barbeque my last night with Nancy, Jim, Alison and Keri – it was a blast even if the next day Alison and I struggled on the bike ride. I then moved in with Jen and Jess. Jen Jess and I planned to go up to their family’s’ lake house for the weekend. I told Jen I had to get my workouts in and she told me how perfect it would be up there. So Saturday Jen kayaked next to me as I swam, and then took the moped and went the whole 45 miles. It was pretty fun doing it that way; she would moped ahead and then guides me through the intersections. The next day, my long run was real hot and horrible- more walking than I would like.
Week Three: Well I guess you can’t do it all sometimes- I got sick. REAL sick. A fever, sweats, dehydrated and missing a day of work and my throat was so swollen I couldn’t talk for awhile. This put a damper on training. I missed quite a bit during the week, which was an intense week. I managed to recover enough by the weekend but the 80 mile bike was cut short to 72 miles when it was weak and I got a flat tire. One I couldn’t change, it broke my lever and the outer tube also had a hole so I called Emily up (as i knew she was on the course) and she drove me to get the flat fixed at a shop (that’s where i lost 8 miles). Once I finished that ride, I had to drive straight to MN as my niece’s baptism was the next day. Sunday I managed to find the energy to go swim and run after the baptism.
Week Four: I spent the week in Minnesota with my brother’s family. This week was modified a bit, not sacrificing big workouts, but cut out the extra stuff so it was a modified taper. Monday I still had a 20 mile run, which i was still dehydrated and cotton mouth all day before running it. It was hot, and it was horrible, but I kept thinking “this is what you have to do, you have to be miserable and not have the best run, but you have to fight the mental game to get to the end, because this is what the ironman is all about” I ended up running an extra mile since I got lost in my brother’s neighborhood (seriously the most confusing place alive...Greendale, Wisconsin’s neighborhood streets come 2nd). When it came to the weekend, it was the Racine Half Ironman. You can read all about that in my previous write up.
Week Five: I’m coming down to the final weeks of living in Chicago. I managed to put longer workouts on the mornings and still have celebrating in the evenings. My boss was out of town so I had to wrap up my portfolio and take care of his which had lots going on with it. Efficiency was key- to get everything needed done at work, workouts, and socially. That weekend was a little easier of a weekend. Emily and I went for a 2.5 mile swim on Saturday, which got cut short due to the city opening the sewage into the lake, and bacteria levels were too high to be swimming in. I have to say this- I think the risk of dying from bacteria in Lake Michigan is higher than the risk of me being eaten by a shark in the Pacific- maybe I’m wrong- I hope I’m not. :) I ended up going out a little too hard on Saturday night, where I had to exchange Sunday and Monday rest days, so the Sunday 4 hour workout got moved to Monday night after work.
Week Six: My last week living in Chicago. Wednesday was my last day of work, and I managed to move my weekend workouts to Thursday and Friday. This was also the peak week of workouts with about 20 hours of working out. It didn’t seem too bad? But I also didn’t have work for 4 days, and 2 were focused on working out and 2 were on moving. My feet were killing after the 27 miles run on old shoes within 2 days (and 60 miles biking and 2 miles swimming). Friday I drove back to my Parent’s place and had a family night with them then Saturday I went for a swim and well...I moved to San Francisco. Sunday was my rest day but i happened to walk a good 6 miles all around San Francisco.
Week Seven: Living in San Francisco. So, I left Alejandro in Wisconsin as I have1 month before the ironman and decided it would be okay not to ride him in that time. Moving to San Fran - you learn how to ride hills. I made it through the week (no ocean swimming yet), bought a new bike, Alexander, and then signed up for the Marin Century Ride (106 miles, 7,000 feet of climbing) that Saturday. Training required a 7 hour ride, I ended up riding for 8.5 hours. Now, I have learned that my speed is not the same in San Fran than what it is in Chicago, but its soooo beautiful and Alexander is so great, it doesn’t bother me too much. I had to bike to the start (my car had not yet arrived), which was a headache as the bike directions were not that clear and it was about 24 miles which took almost 2 hours with getting lost. I made a few new friends on the ride which was my goal as I needed new biking friends. It’s interesting because i think the majority of my new friends have some sort of tie to the Midwest. This ride might just be the best thing for my mental game on the 2nd loop of the Madison Ironman bike portion. Marshall’s Wall might just be comparable to doing the 3 bad climbs at the end of the loop in Madison..2 times around! After a long swim on Sunday- I had reached the end of the competitive stage and kind of wondered when I would start working hard.
Recovery week was bliss as I continue to adjust to San Francisco. In the moment, I don’t think all my hard work was noticed, but since living in San Francisco, I have been getting my 8 hours of sleep, I have been drinking lots of coffee, and I have been struggling when the alarm goes off- this is kind of new to me. My recovery weekend included lots of sleep including sleeping in until 10am on Sunday! I think all this has something to do with competitive stage. J - or at least I hope it did because that means I’m almost near ready for the Victory lap: THE IRONMAN!
My jumping far here doesn’t apply to the Ironman Training in general, it applies to life. To maintain a sense of balance in my life, I added not just the obstacle of life and work with ironman training, but I added the element of moving and starting a new job. When I looked at the long term picture a few months ago, I was scared to how it would work out. But I broke it down, week by week, day by day and I made it through. I’m not all the way there, but man; it feels good to be in the Taper portion of training.
If you don’t know my living situation in San Fran, it’s all temporary until October-ish when Julie and I will sign a longer term lease. After the ironman and after we have found a place to live and I’m settled in my new job- I don’t know what I’m going to do. As much as I love the ironman training, I am taking a year off of ironmen so I can focus on my new life in San Fran (but there will be marathons and stories ;)).
