Training for an IRONMAN 70.3

There is a reason I haven't spent much time writing lately. This is why:  Boise 70.3 Half Ironman. Just add that to my 40 hours a week at work, helping John with the team (which thankfully slowed down after nationals), church, and Wednesday church activities with the youth. This kind of busyness I am not used to. 

^^ not my tan hot bod

We started swimming in November. Longest swim so far in a pool was 50 laps (100 lengths) in a 25yd pool. That's just about 1.5 miles. It took months to get there, let me tell you. Pretty soon thereafter we started going to 5:30am spin class, which we have been on again off again with, especially now as days are longer and warmer which allows for rides after work. Running started mid January, and it has been slow. 

Without too many details about training, here's basically where I am now.

Course swim length: 1.2 miles

Swim #1 went like this: ease in very slowly after other people already had so I knew I wouldn't be eaten by something, try to swim, open my eyes under water (goggles on), freak out, head out of water, froggy swim, yell at John for being too far away from me, try to keep up with group, and repeat. 

Swim #2: slide in slowly after weighing the pros and cons of swimming and dying one more time, freestyle head above water, froggy swim, try to keep up with Julie, headinthewaterswimasfastasIcaneyesclosedandoutagain, deep breaths of relief with my head above water, repeat, repeat, repeat. Made my goal of doing a whole 20 strokes with my face actually in the water and swam to the first buoy and back.  Eyes stayed closed. Still scared.

Swim #3: slide in less slowly, embrace the cold water going down my neck, immediately put face in water with eyes open to embrace the green scary stuff, out of water, feeling freaked out but more confident, swim from buoy to buoy almost the entire way to the other lake and back with my eyes open, swimming in a straight line, and trying not to focus on the scary monsters that could pop up at my at any point (I am the scary monster, dammit! keep swimming!). Way better, but still not totally relaxed. Was okay with being alone in the water. Swam past the first buoy and then on past several more and all the way across the lake. .8 miles there and back. Progress.

Swim #4: tonight. Goal: swim a mile, keep swimming, find John's wedding ring. 

Side story: on swim #3 John lost his wedding ring to that lake. 45 minutes of searching and we came up with nothing. But I'm so determined to find it. Luckily, the ring bounced off the dock and into shallow water near the shore, so there's still some hope. Sob.

Course bike length: 56 miles

I've had my roadbike for just about 10 years now, and am only now really stacking the miles on it. Since January I've logged almost 650 miles on it, which isn't too shabby. I'm definitely more comfortable with biking than anything else. I can tell I'm getting stronger because I like to push it more than I used to, which means I can go faster on flats, and I enjoy a good hill, and even am able to keep up with the guys on the hills (not John yet, though). Spin class the other morning was a good half hour warm up followed by 20 minutes of climbing out of the saddle with hill sprints, followed by the last ten minutes of flat sprints. It was brutal and lots of fun. Yeah, stuff like that is definitely more fun with some good leg muscles.

Course run length: 13.1 miles (half marathon)

With past IT band issues, I tried to get into this sport again slowly. I went from wearing 12mm drop Brooks with lots of support to various 0mm drop (barefoot) shoes, and now to running in some shoes made by Altra. Definitely a big fan of the shoe, because the toe box is wide which allows my toes to splay naturally. I was doing pretty well and able to do my 9 mile run one week, but the next week, after a 60 miles bike, was only able to make it 3 miles before my feet started killing. I walked the last 8 miles that day, and was limping by the end. I totally overdid it, and the next week I did nothing. John was having knee issues about that same time (he's mostly better now). So the shoes have been great, but haven't been supportive enough for my long and flexible arches, which has resulted in some foot/ankle pain from the long runs. The other night I had some insoles made specifically for my feet, though, and stuck them into my shoes and had a good run this morning. I ran 4.6 miles with John (without stopping or walking) at a 9:08 per mile average pace, which is slow for John, but a miracle for me. Feet are definitely sore today, but I think I might be able to finish the race! 

Update (5/21/14): Feet and ankles are SO SORE today. Drat.

Summary: 

Swim = hard and scary. Bike = fun. Run = sometimes painful and will be walking most of it.

18 days left till race day, and then I will not be opening up my eyes in any more water, and I will be giving my feet a rest (mostly) and focusing on the biking while getting ready for the STP (~200 miles in one day!). 

Was it totally ridiculous for me to sign up for a Half Ironman? Oh, totally. But can I do hard things? Definitely. So we'll see how this goes.