Welcome to the jungle!
No, not really. Seriously, is this the longest f'ing winter ever, or what? I feel like I have a major case of the SAD's lately (that's seasonal affective disorder in case you didn't know) but Greg assures me that basically everyone decided winter 2018 was the season to veg on the couch with Doritos and have no ambition whatsoever. Which is cool if you...didn't drop $700 on an Ironman. Yikes. HTFU, Rae.
All jokes aside (what jokes, I really just want to wear my jammies and eat goldfishies, as Biz calls em), training is going relatively well. I've bailed on about half my swims (who swims at 5am when you have to get to the pool at 5am??) but my pace and effort are...surprisingly decent (for me).
Run is going well, until the treadmill broke (busted board..thank god we got the warranty but still). Bike was going well until...the computrainer broke (I have no clue here). PEOPLE. As luck would have it, my pal Mary asked a "Question of the Day" on facebook a few days ago (right before this campaign of breaking technology happened)...to define an ultra. In one word.
One word. Well. Wow. As luck would have it, I was out the door for a run that day (see above regarding treadmill)....in the biting cold. This was day two of my runneth outside in shitty weather. I was supposed to bike (see above). After I threw a well deserved thirty second tantrum at the computrainer, I went for my run tights to shift my Thursday run to Wednesday. And....my tights were in the washer. Being washed, as we spoke. With my fleece headband. Greg...."borrowed" my gloves. So there was that.
Come. On. I grabbed capris. And compression socks. Same thing. Cut a hole for my ponytail in an old skull hat. And dubiously looked at Robs gloves, which featured characters from "Inside Out". Which...oddly fit, though they might not make a
fashion statement. Five minutes after bitching at my bike, I was out the door. I spent the first mile letting off steam and warming up (talk about a catch 22)...and then my MP3 player died.
COME. ON.
Know what happened next? I ran the best hill workout I have in 6 years. And it occurred to me. All of the words that Mary had collected made sense. What defines an ultra? Long. Hard. (shut it, you). Crazy. Tenacity.
All good. But you know what defines it for me? Adaptability. Yep. You got it. In my opinion, its what makes race day. Ultras (in this case Ironman) is such a long day. Its not a question of if something will go wrong, its when. Goggles kicked off in the swim, stung by a jellyfish, bike crash, throwing up on the run course....all could happen (and have to me in in my Ironmans). You have to learn how to adapt to your present situation and turn it into something to your benefit, whether its swapping a workout based on how you feel, the tools at your disposal, or life (includes kids, job, etc.). You have to learn how to adapt your race fuel and your diet. You have to deal with equipment malfunction.
And then you turn it around to make it your benefit. In this case, an awesome run workout. With everything on the planet going wrong.
And there's your lesson for the day.
Of course....on Thursday....the computrainer broke again. And our tacx software wouldn't update. So I did what any wife would do. I zwifted as Greg. And got one hell of a hill workout as I rode on a setting that pretended I weighed 90 pounds more than I do. O.M.G.
Of course, I am happy to report that this morning for my swim - the pool had water, my swimsuit had no holes, and my goggles had no leaks. And really, that's all anyone can ask for, right?
Also, regarding that one word, if you want word #2 to define an Ultra....humor is definitely it. :-D
No, not really. Seriously, is this the longest f'ing winter ever, or what? I feel like I have a major case of the SAD's lately (that's seasonal affective disorder in case you didn't know) but Greg assures me that basically everyone decided winter 2018 was the season to veg on the couch with Doritos and have no ambition whatsoever. Which is cool if you...didn't drop $700 on an Ironman. Yikes. HTFU, Rae.
All jokes aside (what jokes, I really just want to wear my jammies and eat goldfishies, as Biz calls em), training is going relatively well. I've bailed on about half my swims (who swims at 5am when you have to get to the pool at 5am??) but my pace and effort are...surprisingly decent (for me).
Run is going well, until the treadmill broke (busted board..thank god we got the warranty but still). Bike was going well until...the computrainer broke (I have no clue here). PEOPLE. As luck would have it, my pal Mary asked a "Question of the Day" on facebook a few days ago (right before this campaign of breaking technology happened)...to define an ultra. In one word.
One word. Well. Wow. As luck would have it, I was out the door for a run that day (see above regarding treadmill)....in the biting cold. This was day two of my runneth outside in shitty weather. I was supposed to bike (see above). After I threw a well deserved thirty second tantrum at the computrainer, I went for my run tights to shift my Thursday run to Wednesday. And....my tights were in the washer. Being washed, as we spoke. With my fleece headband. Greg...."borrowed" my gloves. So there was that.
Come. On. I grabbed capris. And compression socks. Same thing. Cut a hole for my ponytail in an old skull hat. And dubiously looked at Robs gloves, which featured characters from "Inside Out". Which...oddly fit, though they might not make a
 |
| Run Fashion. |
COME. ON.
Know what happened next? I ran the best hill workout I have in 6 years. And it occurred to me. All of the words that Mary had collected made sense. What defines an ultra? Long. Hard. (shut it, you). Crazy. Tenacity.
All good. But you know what defines it for me? Adaptability. Yep. You got it. In my opinion, its what makes race day. Ultras (in this case Ironman) is such a long day. Its not a question of if something will go wrong, its when. Goggles kicked off in the swim, stung by a jellyfish, bike crash, throwing up on the run course....all could happen (and have to me in in my Ironmans). You have to learn how to adapt to your present situation and turn it into something to your benefit, whether its swapping a workout based on how you feel, the tools at your disposal, or life (includes kids, job, etc.). You have to learn how to adapt your race fuel and your diet. You have to deal with equipment malfunction.
And then you turn it around to make it your benefit. In this case, an awesome run workout. With everything on the planet going wrong.
And there's your lesson for the day.
Of course....on Thursday....the computrainer broke again. And our tacx software wouldn't update. So I did what any wife would do. I zwifted as Greg. And got one hell of a hill workout as I rode on a setting that pretended I weighed 90 pounds more than I do. O.M.G.
Of course, I am happy to report that this morning for my swim - the pool had water, my swimsuit had no holes, and my goggles had no leaks. And really, that's all anyone can ask for, right?
Also, regarding that one word, if you want word #2 to define an Ultra....humor is definitely it. :-D
Props to you for adapting to the $#!* that always seems to happen at the most inconvenient times - I've been there. A few weeks ago I practically attacked my husband as he was leaving the gym so I could borrow his Garmin to record my run - since I absentmindedly left mine sitting on the charger.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm in total agreement with you that all I want to do this winter is hide out on the couch in my jammies and binge watch crap on Hulu! Spring needs to come soon!