Are You Crying?

There's no crying in triathlon...

Coming off of the Death Valley 3K Open Water Swim Meet I was feeling pretty good about my training. It was a nice confidence boost knowing that I could do 3k in a murky lake, sight well enough to stay on course and do it all without my binky, AKA my wetsuit. If only that feeling would've lasted.

Mon: 3700 swim - Not such a fun start to the week. Warm-up: 6x75 as odd DPS, even build* Main Set: all on :20RI, 4 x 200 IM race pace,1 x 100@T-pace +2, 3 x 300 IM race pace, 1 x 100@T-pace + 2, 2 x 400 IM race pace, 1 x 100@T-pace +2, Cooldown: 6 x 75 as 25 free, 25 drill, 25 free

Tue: 6mi run - Fartlek. I'm so accustomed to doing bike on Tuesday I hadn't even looked at the schedule. Woke up, put on my cycling gear and checked training peaks for the workout and realized it was a run instead. Nice run since it was unexpected.

Wed: 3400 swim. Managed to get to the team swim tonight. Horrible storms so thought we'd get kicked out but we got it in. Just spaced out for some reason so not sure if I got all of the meters in - lost track and just swam continuous with a rest here and there. Sore shoulder...

Thu: 18mi bike on the trainer. Kicked some old school Rush on the IPOD - Distant Early Warning:

An I'll wind comes arising

Across the cities of the plain

There's no swimming in the heavy water

No singing in the acid rain

Red alert

Red alert

It's so hard to stay together

Passing through revolving doors

We need someone to talk to

And someone to sweep the floors

Incomplete

Incomplete

I admit it, I've got strange music taste. 80s rock and hip hop from the 80s to current. What can I say?

Fri: 10 mi run. Woke up not feeling great. Got to the gym and tried the new honeystinger gel I had bought. Squeezed the whole thing in my mouth before I really tasted it and then had that, 'Oh wow, that really sucked' but it was too late, had to gulp it down. Definitely didn't have a happy stomach. Slugged out 5 miles and then had to walk at the top of every mile for 1-2 minutes and then run the next. It was a long, defeating workout. Kept getting the sweats/chills at work until about 1p

Sat: Epic training weekend! From 11:30a to 4p we rotated between swim, bike, run clinics being evaluated by each other and our coaches. Learned a lot about my form. Thanks to teammate Ann for your run form suggestions and to Katie for your swim suggestions. I think my work is cut out for me on the swim. The videos were great for evaluation. Long day though.

Sun: 30 min Lake Open Water Swim, 59 mile bike on NGA mtns and 1.5 mile run. Was supposed to do 30 OWS, 70 bike and 2 run but it just wasn't my day. I think the 90+ degree heat, bad nutrition and not enough sodium/hydration took me out. Swim went great, got to the bike and started hitting the bike. It was definitely a tough course and I was still feeling a little puny physically so around 40 miles, I had stopped at a SAG vehicle in the shade and was shaking, dizzy, not good. My coach Mary had said I should stop there and SAG in. I started to cry. Yes, I said it, I cried over not being able to finish the ride. Watched that group take off as another group came in with my other coach. I was feeling a little better as I stood there cooling off and taking a break. By the time they were taking off, I decided to try to go on - Mike my coach agreed to stay with me no matter what so I felt safe that he would be there. We took off and I had turned the sorrow into rage so I took off like a bat out of hell. He caught up and was cracking up about my speeding off fueled by anger. We got to mile 59 and I was having really bad stomach pains, was dizzy again. SAG vehicle was there waiting so I got in the car with 2 other teammates as my coach took off. 

It was the first time that I had to SAG in on a ride ever. Sunday I'm not sure how many on our team caught a ride back and couldn't finish the ride but I think it was the majority. I'm trying not to let it mentally get to me and just call it a bad day but that's hard. I tried every affirmation, visualization I could and no luck beating the physical and mental issues. Got back, unloaded all of my stuff and stretched out under a tree for a few minutes. Got up and went for a 15 minute run after a mental battle of whether I was going to get up and do it or not. So thankful that I did. On the drive back with my fabulous teammate Karen, I had some pringles and a diet coke and instantly started to feel better. Maybe that's the secret!

No matter what I go through during this training, it doesn't compare to those battling cancer and their journey through treatment. I hope that you'll continue to follow my training through all of the ups and downs and will consider making a donation to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.