The first week following the Ironman was rough; I had been
investing 2-4 hours per day into training, completed my event, and then I had
to do nothing for about a week. I can’t
get over how hard this was, it was even slightly depressing. My body was so use to the daily grind and now
it had to just wait. I had two massages
during that time which helped me recover a bit more quickly. The Friday following the Ironman I played
futsal for two hours, which was my only recovery hiccup. I made sure to walk a fair amount to keep my
muscles mobile during the recovery week.
I ate like a king during this time.
I ate whole pizzas for dinner, giant burgers, or chicken strips and
jo-jos at lunch. It was the up side of
recovery. And my body just tanked it
away. I didn’t gain a pound, if anything
I got leaner during my recovery week.
During this recovery week I pondered upon what kind of
events to try next. The recovery went
great and I was now aware of how well my body could handle lengthy endurance
adventures. I started perusing the
internet and decided that ultra running was my next feat. I signed up for a 50k (32.6 miles) in mid November
for my first taste of the longer distances.
The other longer races were within two weeks after finishing my Ironman
and I figured that would be disastrous.
By Thursday after the Ironman I had the craving to do it again. I signed up for the Ironman Coeur d’Alene in
June of 2014.
One week after the event I decided to lift, this felt great
after all that time off. My body was
well rested and I felt like I could lift a car over my head. This is the only time I lifted between
events. The second week back I biked
about twice on a trainer; I didn’t run (other than soccer) for two weeks. The second, third, and fourth week I played two futsal
games in a row on Tuesdays. The first time wasn’t
too bad, but after the second time I went home and went straight to sleep. It was pretty common for me to sleep around
10 hours if I worked out that day. On the
weekend I would sleep close to 12 hours.
Since the Ironman I can feel that I have less energy in the
bank. I feel great after rest, but once
I start a workout I can feel it. I
haven’t swam since the Ironman, I’ve kept my energy invested in biking and
running. My diet has been atrocious; I
can eat and eat and eat. I’ve gained
five pounds, which isn’t too bad considering how much I eat. I had a bike date at the end of week two;
this could be the greatest training session I’ve had in between events because
I had a person to keep up with. There
were points where I had the throttle turned up to 11; I don’t think I told her
that, but it was a good push for me.
The reality of “racing” in the Portland Triathlon is pretty
farfetched at this point. I’ll dump
everything I have into it, but once I hit the pavement on the run I don’t know
how solid of a pace I’ll be able to keep.
To place, I’d need to run a faster 10k than I ever have before. I’m going to swim at a solid pace, I’m going
to cycle like I’m being chased by zombies, and the run will be a looming wild
card. I have hopes that the energy of
the event and having people to catch up to in front of me will carry me through
the race. My mind during races is what I
consider one of my largest strengths so I still have high hopes for at least
doing well.
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