Alright. Let’s talk.
Ironman Los Cabos 70.3 is a whopping 11 days away! What the heck, how did THAT happen?
Quick recap: I was feeling awesome a few weeks ago (well,
now I guess it was a couple months ago).
I’ve had some really solid long rides.
I’ve had some less solid long rides, but that’s ok, too. I’ve had some really strong interval work on
the bike. I’ve hit workouts focused, and
I’ve felt myself getting stronger—on the bike side, at least. Running has been a bit of a struggle, mostly
because I keep chasing my old times and old rhythm but I just don’t feel I’ve
really had a super solid, strong long run since way before IMCDA. But, such is life. I always race faster so as long as I race my
little heart out (and you KNOW I will), then all I can do is see what happens
at this point.
A little over a month ago, I started getting sick. Took a day or so off. Got mostly better. Got sick a few days later. Got mostly better. For the last 4-5 weeks, workouts have been
spotty. Yes, I managed to be well enough
for a few good, solid, what I call “real” workouts during that time, but it
just didn’t feel consistent. Then 2
weeks ago I got all-the-way sick. Like,
hold up, lay in bed, don’t do anything.
Suffered through a couple super scaled-down workouts, but that hardly
counted. Went to the doctor, who
concluded it was likely just a cold and I needed to wait it out. A week ago I realized I wasn’t getting any
better, despite everything I was trying (and I was trying! It is so hard for me to bail on workouts, but
I was sitting on the couch like a champ!), so I called my doctor back and he
called in antibiotics for me.
Thankfully, this worked! I immediately
started feeling better, and although I can feel a couple lingering symptoms, I
consider myself all the way better. I
could push myself to go hard.
But Cabo is now only 11 days away.
My coach has been in Kona, so he had just a few workouts
(through Thursday) posted for me this week… day off, swim, day off, swim… not
exactly the high intensity I want in order to make myself feel like an athlete
again! (I very much do NOT feel like an athlete
after essentially lazing around and eating for a month—at least that’s what it
feels like) So I texted him and we
talked and he still stressed I needed to just follow the schedule. And he’s right. There’s nothing I can gain in the next 10
days. I’ve done enough miles. I will be very rested and ready to fly in
Cabo! He assured me I’ll have some
harder stuff this weekend again to work it all out, and emphasized it’s more
important to make sure I don’t relapse.
I suppose that he’s right. I
think my bike legs are there, and they’re still there. I should be about as strong as I can be (this
time) on the bike. The run is concerning
to me, since I haven’t even done a real run in over 3 weeks (some sick, 30
minute “test” runs don’t count). And
even then, running was still not feeling the best. I used to be the most confident in my run,
and now I’m really worried! But, I will
grit it out. If there’s one thing I know,
it’s that I can suffer the best on a run and put up with it and fight through
it.
But of course, there’s always more: last week, when I was
still coughing my lungs up, I felt a pop in my ribs. It was more a minor discomfort while coughing
for the next couple days, but then this weekend (as the coughing subsided) it
started hurting. More. All the time.
Bending over hurts. Stairs
hurt. Basically anything that uses any
muscles around the area hurts. I’m not
sure if it’s actually my rib, or just a pulled muscle in the area, but something
around there hurts. I tried running on Monday,
since I was feeling better. I didn't have
much time, but wanted a really solid, fast run to make me feel better. For 30 minutes, I should be able to easily average
a sub 8/mi pace, right?! Wrong. EVERYTHING felt wrong. I do believe part of it was a combination of
not sleeping the last few days (3am alarm clocks and traveling and race Sherpa-ing
will do that), being dehydrated (the water in Long Beach is gross, and
apparently I refused to get bottled water), etc etc etc…but it was all
off. And more importantly, I just couldn’t
breathe! Taking a deep breath HURT my
ribs, so I was stuck trying to take shallow breaths, which caused me to
hyperventilate and of course I couldn’t pick up my pace or elongate my stride
at all. It was pretty awful. I stopped about a million times in 30
minutes. And it was slow. I can take necessary precautions in Cabo to
make sure I get rest, am relaxed, and am HYDRATED…but I need my rib to be
better.
Fingers crossed it’s just popped out and can be fixed! If it’s actually cracked or broken… I’m out
of luck. I sure as heck will push through
a painful 13.1 miles with a broken rib, but I know it will slow me down even if
I try not to let it, and it also doesn’t sound fun. I’d rather have it not hurt, but still suffer
the same amount because I’m pushing to go faster. ;)
Anyway, I can finally think about times. Kind of sad:
I am a slow swimmer.
Honestly, a 40 minute swim would be great for me. Yes, I want it to be faster, I desperately
hope I can push it on the swim..but I can’t seem to push it in open water. I’m getting faster in the pool and I know it,
but open water is just different. There
will be a couple practice swim times in Cabo so we will for sure try to go and
check it out. It also may not be wetsuit
legal! Rumor is that the water was in
the 80s this weekend…. So Heather leant Mac and I a couple of Orca swim skins,
just in case. The thought of a
non-wetsuit swim is kind of terrifying, but on the other hand, I’m swimming
better in the pool without a wetsuit soooo maybe it wouldn’t be so bad?! Salt water would help with a bit of buoyancy
and supposedly it’s relatively calm water in the little bay. Not sure. But 0:40 seems like a pretty reasonable “ok
fine” time, and I will just really, really try to beat that. 0:35 would be way more ideal. But I’m not holding my breath (hah, hah, get
it?!)
I know I can bike.
But, of course, there’s always a catch—and this time, the catch is that
we still don’t really know what the bike course is! There is so much conflicting information,
even on the official website. All I can really
be sure of is the part out along the coast, which is “rolling hills” but let’s
be honest—what does THAT mean?! Rolling
hills can mean so many different things.
Again, it will be good to get there and see what the terrain is really
like. Either way, I know I’m kind of
intimidated. I keep harping on it, but
after that less-than stellar CDA bike time, I’m worried. I know
I can bike strong, but still! Need
redemption. Even in training I don’t
think I really hit 56 miles in under 3 hours…so we’ll see. 3:00 is a guess but obviously I want to be
closer to 2:45. Will really depend on the
day, and the course, and the weather (winds?!) and so much more. But one thing I do know—I am RACING this
thing. The full ironman was about conserving energy on the bike. I am going to risk it and take chances in
Cabo. I think I can eke it out. I will push that bike and ride as fast as I
can. This is a race, not just survival. If I blow up on the run because of it, well,
at least I want a good bike split out of it :P
Ah, the run. I want a
1:40 half marathon. That really shouldn’t
be too hard. But let’s be honest, that
kind of is hard for me these days :P much less at the end of a 70.3. But, I will run it as best I can. If I’m running faster at the beginning, so be
it! That’s how I always manage to PR in
half marathons, anyway—get as much time in the bank at the beginning as
possible, then hang on until the finish.
Still, 7:38 average, so more like running 7:30s to be safe. Now that I type that out, I really hadn’t
been running that fast lately. UGH. Well, I’ll shoot for it. 1 :45 would be
8:00/mi which I think is way within reason so I can fall back on that. Luckily I don’t think the run course is that
hard, since it’s in the city, so fingers crossed. Thankfully, I never stop at aid stations or
really eat or drink anything on half marathons (wait, “thankfully”??) so in
theory I’ll be more “used” to it, and as long as I do eat and drink on the bike,
and maybe grab a gu from my bag in T2, I should be able to get through it without
dealing with all that..and just run.
When I add that all up, it’s not fast enough. Like 5:25ish.
That’s annoying. I need to get
faster. I WAS feeling faster.
One thing is for sure though—I will be rested. I’m finally feeling some pent up energy (I
was too sick before to care). I know I will
be losing precious minutes on the swim, and I know the run may be more
difficult than I’m expecting. So guess
what, bike?! It’s up to you. Did I mention I’m gonna race my little heart
out? Because that’s what I’m gonna
do. Get ready, little Argon…
