mental fortitude

Stats from today's workout:

time: 6:12
distance: 105.3 miles
speed: 17.0 mph

30 min run = crap.

I need to work on running better in the heat. I need to bring water with me even on 30 min T-runs. It was the hottest part of the afternoon and I had just ridden for 6 straight hours in the sun. I'm an idiot.

I got mega sunburnt. I even wore a jersey in order to keep my shoulders covered and I was roasting the entire ride. So now I have a farmer's tan. Awesome. Parts of my body that are sunburnt include: nose, quads, forearms, hands. Sunscreen just doesn't last that long.

See?


That's my Garmin strap tan burn line. Not sexy.

Anyways. Putting the bad run aside for the moment, I am very happy with today's ride. Firstly, I hit 100 miles again (and maintained a 17 mph average!) and it was much hillier where we rode today. And more importantly, at around 4.5 hours we stopped at the good ole Hess Station in Canandaigua to regroup and refuel. We being Ken, Kim, and myself. We were stopped for a good 20 min. Then I went right into a 20 min tempo block. Probably not my smartest move but I had pushed it back because I didn't know if I could fit 20 mins in before getting to the Hess Station once I hit 4 hours. Once we got onto 5/20 heading back towards Rochester, my quads melted. There are some pretty big rollers there and I just couldn't ride them. I am not great at rollers as it is and I watched Ken and Kim get farther and farther ahead of me. It was discouraging and I got upset that I continue to die more than an hour before my ride is over. I didn't know if it was the stopping for so long, or that the hills were just besting me today. Then I realized I had 2 options, give up right then and have a hellish rest of the ride and feel terrible about myself, or suck it up and push through it. I chose #2, and it worked. I spun through the rollers, not very quickly, ate a mini Snickers, and then I turned onto 444 to head back to Fairport, and my legs came back. I finished the ride feeling strong and at my normal speed.

The hardest part is mental. Ironman is long. It is tedious. It is slow. It is difficult. And if I can't push away the negative thoughts I'm never going to be happy with how I race and I am never going to be able to race well with bad thoughts in my brain. Everyone deals with self doubt about SOMETHING. I KNOW I am doing the appropriate training. I know that I am fit. I will have a race plan, a nutrition plan, and a coach on course in case I have issues. The hardest part is getting rid of the mental demons. If something bad happens, so what? I need to be able to assess a situation and deal with it the best that I can. I can't just freak out and give up. So today was a big testament to overcoming a challenge. So.. my legs got jello-ish up some hills.. Well I spun up them and I got my rhythm back. Coming back from a low point in a ride to riding strongly is more important to me than nailing a 20 min tempo segment. I succeeded. :)



On a lighter note, I realized that Kim and I talk about our crotches way too much. Maybe this is what we were doing at the Hess Station for so long.

Kim: my crotch hurts
me: so does mine
Ken: mine is good (probably some eye rolling here because I know Ken thinks we're ridiculous)
me: I don't think guys have crotch/saddle issues like girls do
Ken: ya think?
Kim: it's surprising because they have more stuff down there
me: well they can move their stuff around!