Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf

Monday, September 1st, 2014

Bike

With the holiday weekend upon me, this was to be 3 days in a row chock full of cycling!! The goals were: 80 miles Saturday, 40 miles Sunday, and 80 miles today. However, I was having a bit of a tough time mentally heading out on this 80 mile journey today. A combination of being semi-tired, cycling alone, and knowing the route I'd be taking would be familiar and repetitive (as opposed to new and exciting) made me become a bit introspective (translation: why the hell am I doing this?) and in need of a few incentives to get my @ss in gear. Incentives were: I perked myself up by wearing the outfit I'll be wearing at IM Maryland, I promised myself a Snickers break at the halfway point, and I had a bottle of Old Dominion Root Beer chilling in the refrigerator to be consumed upon my arrival back home. I'm definitely a carrot kind of gal!!!

Okay, the ride.....I was 5 bottles strong again since I knew it was going to be a long, hot ride. I figure the extra weight should only make me stronger, right? And, well, all was going pretty well until I decided to take my Snickers break after 5 out and backs of that semi-flat-with-an-up-and-down-grade section of road I did on Saturday. You see, I wanted to take my break by the stream, which was on the left side of the road, but I was cycling on the right side of the road (we do that here)...so I crossed the road, clipped out of my right leg, came to a full stop, then fell very hard to my left....all because my left leg was still clipped in. I landed on top of the Black Cat - specifically, my ribs hit either the handle bar or the arm rest, causing me immediate pain and the inability to breathe.....and in my bit of a panic, my thought process went something like this: OMG!...TURN OFF THE GARMIN!!!....broken ribs, punctured lung, how much time have I got until I'm out of air?.....jackyback....oh god, I can't not finish my ride....just lay still and try and relax to see if I can breathe. So I laid there on my back for a bit, not a single car came by (not many vehicles on that road, that's one reason I like it), and eventually I was able to sit up. But still in quite a bit of pain. However, I managed to eat my Snickers bar and down a half a bottle of Gatorade....and after a bit of a debate with myself, I figured I might as well see what I could do...might as well see if I could continue on. So I did. Long story short, certain movements and positions elicited a good bit of pain, so I tried to avoid them. Crossing railroad tracks and coughing was not a pleasant experience. My breathing was with a bit more effort. My side extremely tender. But once I felt like I was not doing myself additional harm, I made the decision to finish the ride....to finish the long weekend of cycling....and to get 200 miles in on the Black Cat in 3 days. And I did.

There are two Garmin links to this ride because I accidentally "saved" my data after only 3+ miles while at a stop.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/580553554

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/580684093

Actual ride: 83.31 miles in 4:47:58 for an average speed of (you do the math!) and an elevation gain of 3,684 feet

Swim

I really wasn't sure I'd be able to manage this recovery swim due to the bike injury to the ribs....but I went very slow, and it was okay. There is definitely discomfort when I swim, but I really wanted to see how much damage I had done, and I really wanted to shake out the cycling from the legs and body. Not sure where this leaves me with my ribs. Obviously I am hoping nothing is broken, and my gut tells me nothing is. Fingers crossed I've just bruised myself. I suspect I'll have a better idea in the morning if I have cause to worry.

Actual swim: 2,000 very careful yards

pgmcpq wrote: »

Ouch ! That does not sound good. Hope things are better today. So now you have two choices:

Rational mode: I have a lot of work invested. Let me let this heal and not aggravate it, and maybe focus on low intensity work, gentle swimming, recover. A couple of days step back will not make much difference.

or the DD mode:

Yeahhhhh .....let's push this and see how much it hurts, woohooh !

To quote a psychiatrist we knew : Just because it hurts does not mean it is good for you. So allow yourself time to recover this time !!!!

pgibbo wrote: »

It might be wiser to re-read your log and see all the solid training you've done. I think fully recovering is more important than an 18 mile run

Ugh!! There are just way too many reasonable (and very wise) people around here!!! :)

Okayokayokay......there will be no 18 mile run tomorrow night. Agreed. I will def take today and tomorrow easy to give things a chance to heal....may test out a teeny-tiny easy little trot either tonight or tomorrow to assess the damage....then play the remaining few days of the week by ear.

On a side note...(since I was asked about this earlier today, it's now on my mind).....my bloods came back, and the only real issue was my iron - it was low. So for me the correlation seems to be getting stitches while running (which is so uncharacteristic!) and low iron. Obviously I had other clues prior to the stitches (see posts regarding massive meltdowns and hissy-fits ), but the stitches stopped me in my tracks.

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014

Swim

Was originally planning on doing my two recovery/easy runs and a swim that I normally do on Mondays, but with the blatant peer pressure gentle guidance of my boards peeps (who needs a coach??), I settled on a lunchtime swim with the hope of an easy tester-trot followed by another swim this evening. Ambitious, ain't I? However, when I found the effort to breathe during my lunchtime swim enough to make me want to stop swimming, I knew then that I was probably being too optimistic about my planned evening activities. Crap. And let's just say that after that my fertile mind started to get pretty creative about all the ridiculous things one can start thinking up when they are only 2 weeks and 4 days away from their first IM, dealing with a stupid-stupid injury (who the hell doesn't clip out??), being forced to nix planned sessions, and staring down god awful taper. :eek::( Toxic mix to say the least. So, I did what any red-blooded, neurotic IM wannabe with an imaginary collapsed lung and a full set of broken ribs would do :rolleyes:, I hauled my @ss over to the hospital for x-rays. I mean, if I can't train, I might as well put my mind to rest. And the good news is....drum roll please!....no breaks!!! Whoop whoop!!! However, the doctor qualified his diagnosis of a chest contusion with the statement that there could still be a fracture, but none showed up on the radiographs. Until proven otherwise, we're going with no fractures. Yay me!

So, I'll take it easy another day, then we'll see how I feel after that. I'm hoping with Marthastew's Child of Prague and epic magpie chasing, that I'll be fit as a fiddle and ready for a long run by Thursday.

Actual swim: 2,000 not so wonderful yards

pgmcpq wrote: »

**Sigh**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikssfUhAlgg

Oh god...it hurts to laugh!!

Oryx wrote: »

If you lived in ireland youd still be waiting in a&e right now.

90 minutes from the time I left my house to the time I arrived back home. I guess small town living does have its benefits.....except for the fact that I knew just about everyone in the hospital (including the doctor who saw me), so there's nothing private!

So yesterday I emailed my very bike savvy and mechanically inclined brother who has a fleet of bikes that would make you weep (3 of which he built himself) (my dad was an airplane mechanic, so my brother gets it honestly) to tell him about my fall on the bike...and the sum total of his response to me just now is this:

"The only relevant question here is 'Is the bike okay?' Ribs heal, bruises fade, but dings in the carbon fiber don't fix themselves."

Brotherly love. :)

Thursday, September 4th, 2014

Bike

A hot date with the Black Cat for a little lunchtime fun. This was my first ride on her since my unfortunate entanglement with a clip, a handlebar, and an Almond Snickers. It was an okay ride...felt a bit sluggish, to be honest....but it was fine. Of course with the big event getting closer and closer I am starting to feel like I haven't been working hard enough. I mean, just look at my power. I cycle easy...I swim easy....I run easy. I'm just living training on easy street. Ugh. Taper neurosis begins. At least I've got 17 hours on the day to finish the event.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/582666283

Actual bike: 18.87 miles in 1:07:52 for an average speed of 16.7 mph and an elevation gain of 1,189 feet

Run

This short little post-work field jaunt was somewhere between a gentle glide and a perky prance on the pace-o-meter. I mainly wanted to guage how my ribs are coming along with this run, and they are coming along. They're still quite sore, but they're better than last night. I'll take it!!!

Actual run: 4.2 prancy-gliding field miles

Swim

A quick transformation from field-runner to pool-swimmer, and tonight I decided to don the wetsuit just in case the IM is wetsuit legal. The most time consuming part of this session was putting on the wet suit. Good god, you should have seen me trying to shimmy into this rubber contraption still hot and sweaty from the run. Not. A. Good. Mix. And yes, I managed to put even more gouges into the suit in spite of trying to be very careful, and in spite of trying to pull it up from the interior. Sheesh!!! And once I got the wetsuit on, the only thing the ribs didn't appreciate more than the extra pressure the suit applied to their tender bones was trying to take the wetsuit off. !!! I may need to give the ribs more time to heal before I try wearing the wetsuit again.

Actual swim: 2,000 yards

Izoard wrote: »

Looks like a nice spot for a race - flat n' fast!

This the first year they are running it?

It's supposed to be flat, but we've been cautioned about the wind. :eek: It's on the eastern shore, so the breeze could be brutal. :eek::eek:

This is the first year for IM Maryland, yes. In previous years, there was an event held there called Chesapeake Man, but that was organized by Tri-Columbia, and Tri-Columbia went under earlier this year so IronMan swooped in. I have no idea if the courses are the same, but from what I can tell, IronMan is drawing a much more competitive field than what Chesapeake Man drew!

And...um, why are we doing this?? :eek:

Saturday 6th, 2014

Bike

Today was dreadfully hot...ungodly hot...horribly hot...crazy, insanely, freakishly hot. In other words, it was miserable out. Thank goodness this was only a 40 mile ride, otherwise it would have been more yucky than it already was. And my lower back was complaining...as were my shoulders, neck and derierre. ?? Not sure why all that started so soon into the ride, usually I've been pretty ok physically up until the 50 mile mark.

The ride itself was ok. My speed is low, but I'm fine with it considering I had a few "issues" along the way in the form of being chased by 3 dogs (stopped once to stare down the black lab who was snarling at me), and the slightly confused Bambi from last week who once again I scared out of its skin so I stopped (twice) and eventually turned around (once) to give the fawn space.

But on a fashion note, I finally succumbed to peer pressure by our very own darling-slip-of-a-lad catweazle and purchased a new helmet. It's not one of those pointy ones (I feel I have to earn that kind!), but it is very aero and weighs nothing! In fact, when it arrived in the mail this week, I honestly thought the box must be empty! I love it! But I sort of wish I had gotten a different color. Oh well. I don't have to look at it. My competitors do.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/584378493

Actual ride: 40.1 miles in 2:21:39 for an average speed of 17 mph and an elevation gain of 1,818 feet

Run

I knew I'd have some extra time today to maybe do a little something off script, so I decided I'd like to run a bit after the bike. After a very l-o-n-g T2 :rolleyes:, I headed out into the field with the hope of getting in a few slow miles to see how the legs and body would react. Well, let's just say that I went slow, but I honestly couldn't have gone any faster. Ugh. I hope this isn't how I'm going to perform in 2 weeks. 26.2 miles is quite a haul to be battling a body that isn't feeling the love.

Long story short, I called it quits after a measly 2 miles. I certainly had thought I'd go much further than that, but between the soul destroying heat and humidity, and the understanding that I can't afford to do anything stupid at this point in the process, stopping was the smart thing to do.

Actual run: 2.05 miles in 20:14 for an average pace of 9:52 min/mile

catweazle wrote: »

High time, you may be as well off without the pointy hat anyways unless you can hold the neck position, I would say to the spectators (my fans) my Kronos helmet looks like the pyramid of Giza coming over the horizon as my eyes are buried into the gutter most of the ride

Are you not supposed to make no eye contact with an aggressive dog - what a great taper........you are even taking on rabid dogs

Keep an eye out for the rte online player - I see young Imelda may now has a chat show on rte on Sundays.

Yes, yes, yes....pointy helmet and neck position - I read a passage about that when browsing through some aero helmet options and ideas, and that gave me yet one more valid reason to add to the 1) fashion horror and 2)"embarrassing-moment-when-you-get-passed-by-a-non-pointy-helmet-cyclist" reasons not to go the pointy route!

Oooo....I'm impressed you know not to make threatening eye contact with crazy dogs! But when in taper, you really just don't give a damn. It's more like, BRING IT!!! :eek:;)

And I am assuming young Imelda is Imelda May!! ??

Monday, September 8th, 2014

Run plan: 3 miles recovery

There was a nip in the air and a bit of a bluster this evening, which made for a welcome change from the hot and humid weather we've been having. We've also got some leaves coming off the trees, and the air is starting to smell like fall. Time, she is a-movin' on.

Actual run: 5 revolutions around the field, so we'll call that 3.5 easy breezy miles

Swim

After plucking a young frog out of one of the scuppers, this easy swim was a nice way to finish off a Monday. I didn't get to see any of that full, red, amorousness-inducing moon Kurt was chatting about - too many clouds above - but it was still a lovely evening and sky all the same. Oh, and I suspect that frog is already back in my pool - the air temps have dropped and my pool heater is running!

Actual swim: 2,000 cloudy evening yards

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014

Run plan: 60 minutes easy

This was done sneaky lunchtime style under a fairly hot sun. The temps weren't bad today, but the sun made for an unwanted dynamic, and it got me thinking about the weather on race day - let's hope for 70 degrees (or a little less) and cloudy. !!!

The run was okay. The legs felt heavy, but I concentrated on keeping the body relaxed and loose. I don't know what happened on mile 4, but that was my slowest mile, and I don't even remember that mile feeling any slower than any of the others. ??

9:08, 9:01, 9:00, 9:11, 8:52, 8:54, 8:44

Actual run: 7.09 miles in 1:03:40 for an average pace of 8:59 min/mile

Swim

Two quality sessions in a row and I started to feel like I was back doing some proper swim training! Oh, the good old days....<sigh>

400 yards warm up
5 x (5 x 40 yards on 50 sec, 2 x 100 yards on 2 min)
400 yards cool down

The 40 yards' target was 30 seconds, and the 100 yards' target was 1:20....and thank my lucky stars above, all targets were hit tonight. Whoop whoop!! Okayokayokay, between me being a sprinter and the generous rest provided, it wasn't a big ask to hit these targets tonight...and, well, some may argue that I really didn't hit all my targets since I went faster than I should have on some of them...but I'm happy.

In a nutshell, all 40s came in between 28 and 30 seconds, and all 100s came in bang on 1:20 except for the first 100 of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th sets, and those were closer to 1:15. And even though this session wasn't a big ask, there was a bit of effort behind it....however, I think considering the fact that I ran at noon under the hot sun, the effort in the pool was reasonable. Oh, and I breathed every 3.

Actual swim: 2,800 yards of quality work