Now I know what people mean when they say "the struggle is real". Ironmom training is hard. I was hanging in there, with my workouts going pretty much according to plan, but the last few weeks have been quite challenging.
The first bump in the road came after my glorious 91 mile bike ride July 24. My friend Dot followed me from NELHA all the way to Hawi and back. We left about 8:45am and didn't get back until around late afternoon. It took me 6 hours, 2 minutes and although it was hot, windy, rained, and intense with traffic I felt great. I was ready to ride further or run, but I had to get back to the family. I had also swam 2.4 in the pool in 93 minutes and had a good run that week.
After the ride I noticed a crack forming in the fork of Baby Blue. As I looked closer I read the sticker on the fork. I showed the crack to Oliver and he suggested I take it in to BikeWorks to get it inspected. Perhaps there was a warranty to replace it, since it looked like more than a crack in the paint.
Farren at BikeWorks confirmed Oliver's suspicions. Unfortunately with no Trek dealer on the island, and since it was used when I bought it, the chance of getting it replaced under warranty seemed slim. Farren pulled through however, and Trek sent a new fork to replace the damaged one. Fantastic news and really awesome for BikeWorks to coordinate the repair. In the mean time I still had Betty to ride for the week Baby Blue was out of commission.
I was supposed to ride 4-5 hours again the next weekend, but on Betty my hands and feet kept falling asleep and my back was really uncomfortable. I cut it short at 90 minutes and ran 10 miles instead. The run felt fantastic. I stashed bottles at both ends of NELHA, where I was riding, and did a big lap from the parking lot out to the airport back to the end of the road and to the parking lot. I used the water fountain at the airport and took my gel there, and really enjoyed running on the new pavement.
My back was tired the next day so I was very careful not to do anything stupid like carry a full Costco box up the stairs or push it in a workout. I did a short swim and was very proud for taking it easy. The next day Jeff and Jason went with Al to Oahu for a procedure, so Susan and I were in charge of Evan and the dogs for 4 days. I was careful lifting Evan and not trying to pack every bag to the car at once that we would need for a full day of work at the gym. But once we got to Susan's at 5:15am to drop Blue off he spotted a cat in the yard and proceeded to bark at and chase it. When I grabbed his collar to take him up, trying to keep him quiet, my middle back tweaked. So I have now officially thrown out all parts of my spine: lumbar, thoracic, and cervical. I was glad to have backup to help with Evan in the gym. Training really took a hit while I recovered.
It's not necessarily the Ironman training or distances that have been messing up my back. Doing the workouts feel great, and breaking down the body to stimulate bone and muscle growth is the whole point. But if you have to use your body during your recovery period, lifting kids, grocery shopping, carrying garbage cans, cleaning the house...those are the moments that trigger the tweaks. My lumbar trauma happened two days after great workouts when I got an awesome massage and then tried to put Evan in his crib right after. My neck went out two days after my first 80 mile ride, while I was flipping over in bed. And now my middle back grabbing the dog, two days after my 91 mile ride. Advice to an Ironmom hopeful...you have to be able to rest and recover for longer than you think, and activities of daily living put you at a higher risk of injury than the actual training can.
Luckily the latest trauma to my back has been manageable, and I've had a new massage therapist, Jamie, come to the gym once a week for the past few weeks to work on me. She is great, and we are working only on keeping me injury free, not trying to "fix" anything until after the race. The conservative approach, along with her intuitive nature has made the massage a lifesaver keeping me moving for these workouts.
With all of this going on, I have felt in a rut for the last couple of weeks. My workouts were feeling sluggish, and I wasn't feeling as well as I thought I should. My motivation was waning, although I was still excited for race day. With Jeff's help I was able to push through and get my workouts in, but barely.
It turns out, all of this mental tiredness is normal for any Ironman in training (as well as for any mom in life), and I was also developing a chest cold. This week went much better, and although my training wasn't perfect, I was able to get back on track and get a solid week in with the mileage. I also started eating more earlier in the day, to make sure I had enough fuel by the end of my long workouts.
This weekend was my best yet for training. Yesterday I got a 1 hr ride (16 miles), 2 hr run in which turned out being almost 11 miles, then turned around to do my first 100 miler on the bike today. More details about that HARD ride tomorrow.
I am on the right track and am excited for the next few weeks as all of the Ironman participants begin to arrive. I am glad to say, the training is going very well. Especially to those who are asking with concern in their eyes, having done the race themselves. Because at this point, it's now or never. It better be going well, because we are running out of time to prepare. I will be having laser focus, because finishing this race is so important to me, and everyone has worked so hard to support me getting here. If I can pull it off, it will be amazing. Keep on swimming!
The first bump in the road came after my glorious 91 mile bike ride July 24. My friend Dot followed me from NELHA all the way to Hawi and back. We left about 8:45am and didn't get back until around late afternoon. It took me 6 hours, 2 minutes and although it was hot, windy, rained, and intense with traffic I felt great. I was ready to ride further or run, but I had to get back to the family. I had also swam 2.4 in the pool in 93 minutes and had a good run that week.
After the ride I noticed a crack forming in the fork of Baby Blue. As I looked closer I read the sticker on the fork. I showed the crack to Oliver and he suggested I take it in to BikeWorks to get it inspected. Perhaps there was a warranty to replace it, since it looked like more than a crack in the paint.
Farren at BikeWorks confirmed Oliver's suspicions. Unfortunately with no Trek dealer on the island, and since it was used when I bought it, the chance of getting it replaced under warranty seemed slim. Farren pulled through however, and Trek sent a new fork to replace the damaged one. Fantastic news and really awesome for BikeWorks to coordinate the repair. In the mean time I still had Betty to ride for the week Baby Blue was out of commission.
I was supposed to ride 4-5 hours again the next weekend, but on Betty my hands and feet kept falling asleep and my back was really uncomfortable. I cut it short at 90 minutes and ran 10 miles instead. The run felt fantastic. I stashed bottles at both ends of NELHA, where I was riding, and did a big lap from the parking lot out to the airport back to the end of the road and to the parking lot. I used the water fountain at the airport and took my gel there, and really enjoyed running on the new pavement.
My back was tired the next day so I was very careful not to do anything stupid like carry a full Costco box up the stairs or push it in a workout. I did a short swim and was very proud for taking it easy. The next day Jeff and Jason went with Al to Oahu for a procedure, so Susan and I were in charge of Evan and the dogs for 4 days. I was careful lifting Evan and not trying to pack every bag to the car at once that we would need for a full day of work at the gym. But once we got to Susan's at 5:15am to drop Blue off he spotted a cat in the yard and proceeded to bark at and chase it. When I grabbed his collar to take him up, trying to keep him quiet, my middle back tweaked. So I have now officially thrown out all parts of my spine: lumbar, thoracic, and cervical. I was glad to have backup to help with Evan in the gym. Training really took a hit while I recovered.
It's not necessarily the Ironman training or distances that have been messing up my back. Doing the workouts feel great, and breaking down the body to stimulate bone and muscle growth is the whole point. But if you have to use your body during your recovery period, lifting kids, grocery shopping, carrying garbage cans, cleaning the house...those are the moments that trigger the tweaks. My lumbar trauma happened two days after great workouts when I got an awesome massage and then tried to put Evan in his crib right after. My neck went out two days after my first 80 mile ride, while I was flipping over in bed. And now my middle back grabbing the dog, two days after my 91 mile ride. Advice to an Ironmom hopeful...you have to be able to rest and recover for longer than you think, and activities of daily living put you at a higher risk of injury than the actual training can.
Luckily the latest trauma to my back has been manageable, and I've had a new massage therapist, Jamie, come to the gym once a week for the past few weeks to work on me. She is great, and we are working only on keeping me injury free, not trying to "fix" anything until after the race. The conservative approach, along with her intuitive nature has made the massage a lifesaver keeping me moving for these workouts.
With all of this going on, I have felt in a rut for the last couple of weeks. My workouts were feeling sluggish, and I wasn't feeling as well as I thought I should. My motivation was waning, although I was still excited for race day. With Jeff's help I was able to push through and get my workouts in, but barely.
It turns out, all of this mental tiredness is normal for any Ironman in training (as well as for any mom in life), and I was also developing a chest cold. This week went much better, and although my training wasn't perfect, I was able to get back on track and get a solid week in with the mileage. I also started eating more earlier in the day, to make sure I had enough fuel by the end of my long workouts.
This weekend was my best yet for training. Yesterday I got a 1 hr ride (16 miles), 2 hr run in which turned out being almost 11 miles, then turned around to do my first 100 miler on the bike today. More details about that HARD ride tomorrow.
I am on the right track and am excited for the next few weeks as all of the Ironman participants begin to arrive. I am glad to say, the training is going very well. Especially to those who are asking with concern in their eyes, having done the race themselves. Because at this point, it's now or never. It better be going well, because we are running out of time to prepare. I will be having laser focus, because finishing this race is so important to me, and everyone has worked so hard to support me getting here. If I can pull it off, it will be amazing. Keep on swimming!
I love this! Your pinpoint focus will lead you far. You are an amazing inspiration to many of us! Yay Kelsie!
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