The little things...

There is trust and honesty you have within yourself of both your mind and body, and a trust you have within your coach. Without it things might not ever "click" but with it...well with it everything just seems to fall into place. The thing is, the "falling into place" might not be the big and obvious but really all the little things that bring you to the big moment. 

It's been a long time since I've last written. I've stopped and started so many posts at this point it seems why write about the past and all I've wanted to update you on. I'll just tell you what's happening right now.  This past weekend I went away to OST training camp, my first of 3 different training camps leading up to Ironman in July. It was my first big volume weekend. I've only officially been back to training as of March 8th. That's when I got the all clear from my doc that my stress fracture was 95% healed. My coach gave me my cycling plan for March. Same workout each week on the trainer 3x per week. Each week I felt a little stronger. April began my PT sessions and for the last 3 weeks now I have started run/walk program, trying to figure out the right combination of run/walk ratios that I can stick to.

I've felt leading up to this weekend that I've been improving. I still have a very big fear of re-fracturing my leg during these last 2 months before the big day. I'm trying my best to not let it get to me. More importantly I'm learning to listen to my body. Aside from the obvious physical challenge, it's been more of a mental challenge dealing with an injury that affects a plan you've had in action for over a year.  A few days before I left for camp I thought I felt something in my leg. I panicked. I called my doc. I spoke to my coach. I backed off running. Both my doc and coach didn't think I had re-injured. I didn't think I had re-injured because we have been slowly increasing my volume. Nothing has been rushed. But I thought I felt something. I told my coach that I was "aware" of my leg and "felt traumatized" by this stress fracture. It's scary. Simple as that. However, I went to the camp and did lots of riding and swimming - my two favorite sports.

Superheroes!

I learned a few things at the camp:

1. How to site in open water and continue to swim. 
2. Things clicked a little more with what my coach has been telling me over the last year about base building. 
3. I also figured out which heart rate I can continue to ride in and feel as though I can keep moving with little effort.
4. My biggest take away is that everyone is different. Triathlon is a sport that is great fun with a group but it's also a sport where you need to train on your own in order to get YOUR workout in.

 I loved being out of the city, with friends, training and eating healthy. However, I got extremelly frustrated with myself at the camp. I kept thinking how could I possibly do Ironman if I feel so tired after 3 days of riding. I didn't even ride for hours on end either. 1hr on Friday, 3:30 on Saturday along with 1hr OWS (open water swim), and 1:30 on Sunday with 1hr pool swim. Despite having to ride in the pouring rain on Sunday that was the day I felt the best. At the time, what I did over the weekend didn't seem like a lot. But I was also comparing myself to others I know who had been training all winter. It took my very good friend Denise to point out to me that I did a good job. That it had been MY first big volume weekend. I haven't been training all winter like everyone else.

I get caught up in my head sometimes with the mental aspect of it all. I need to focus on the bike. The bike will carry me through Ironman. I know I can do the 2.4 mile swim with time to spare since I just raced a 2.4 swim 2 weeks ago, you can check out my recent race report here. I know the marathon will be very long and it'll be run/walk. As long as I feel good on the bike and stay consistent I'll be ok. Brings me full circle back to trusting myself. Trusting my coach. I'm a greenhorn when it comes to this stuff. My coach isn't. He knows what he's talking about. All I have to do is keep reminding myself that I AM improving. I AM feeling better. Stop thinking so much. Follow the workouts. They are the little things that add up to the big picture making everything "click". My success in last years 1/2 IM proved that. I already trust my coach. I guess I just have to learn to trust in my own ability.


Denise sent me two links to think about when I was beating myself up over the weekend and I wanted to share with you: Minimalist Ironman Training & How To Nail the Ironman Marathon. Everything in those articles are things my coach has told me. I know I must sound like a broken record to him and I fully appreciate and acknowledge his patience with me. This IM journey is pretty spectacular and despite everything I am loving it.

I gotta go so I can hop on my trainer. Remember it's those little things...