Thursday, August 30, 2012

Quick little update....

For some reason I just haven't found the motivation yet to write up the bike and run race reports from Mont Tremblant yet. I even haven't written up a 2 mile swim race report I did in early August. They will get done. I have the time to write them, just no motivation.

I guess I had such a satisfying race at Mont Tremblant that I don't feel like I should write a race report. They will get written.

Now that I am ~10 days post Ironman, MAN does life feel liberating right now! I have ran 3 times, done leg strength 2X, biked easy twice, and otherwise have sat on my ass doing a whole lot of nothing.

AND.IT.FEELS.GOOD.

I have written about this in the past, and I will write about it again. Most of my motivation through the first 4 years of my triathlon "career" have been all about discovering new distances and the excitement associated with that.

Now that I have experienced every "standard" distance (basically NON ultra distances...) more than once, that "excitement" had and has and still does continue to wain.

It is all about reprioritizing my goals in this hobby. I think this is why I am not as enthusiastic about writing another race report. I remember I couldn't WAIT to write up race reports because it was either a new distance, new venue, or new PR.

Those days are mostly gone and its now, "How did I place?"

And, for the first time I am NOT chomping at the bit for an aggressive Fall running race campaign. Those three runs I have done have been for 30 mins each, at a 9:14, 9:06, 8:58 pace. Slow, yes. And on two of those runs, I felt some pain in my left knee.

Yes, that SAME left knee. It wasn't bad. It was subtle. But it freaks me out! And recall this is how it started last year after Placid.

So! No more running. No idea how this is happening a second time, but unlike last time, I am NOT going to run. I am going to do my PT exercises until this thing goes away.

Which brings me to some goals I have for this Fall "off season". Knee permitting, I would like to break the 20 and 40 minute barriers in the 5K and 10K. I have broken 20 twice before, but unofficially as part of a 4 miler and 10K. I would like to have an "official" sub 20 though.

Otherwise, I want to do strength training. And lots of it. Strengthening my legs brought me back from injury last Fall, brought me back faster than ever before, kept injury at bay, and helped me recover a LOT faster.

I know a lot of people say "strength training has no place in triathlon. You should be spending that time doing S/B/R instead..." But I don't buy it. My coach said to me last winter:

"Jon, Ironman isn't all about endurance. It is about strength. At hour 9 you will thank yourself for doing all of that strength training because that is the time when your body starts to fall apart. Strength training will hold your body up, allowing your endurance to do its thing."

I didn't know what to say at first, but at exactly 9 hours (or at ~13.1 miles into my marathon), my form was still great. I felt great! I even powered up the last two hills of the marathon! I owe it all to strength. Not long run training. I only ran 2.5 hours, or 17 miles as my longest run the ENTIRE season.

I also want to get leaner. I put on weight this season. I was as heavy as I was 2 years ago, and yet I was still PR-ing everything this season. (Again, thank you strength!) but if I can get leaner, that is less gravity working against me going up hills on the bike and running in general.

Which brings me to my next point: DIET. My diet the last 3-4 months SUCKED. I haven't cook myself a healthy dinner since April, I think. I basically lived off of high glycemic cereal to fuel my workouts and deal with stress while working overtime at work. I felt.just.gross.and.disgusting.

Already within the last 10 days I haven't touched cereal once. I have eaten 4 slices of bread total. I have eaten quinoa, black beans, lots of avocado, TONS of green things, lots of fruit, and just plain old healthy things. I can already feel my blood sugar levels coming back down from the stratosphere. I feel "whole again".

I have been craving this feeling all season long, and I finally have it! Work has calmed down. The weather is getting nice. I feel NO pressure to train. Hell! I am no longer training. I am *gasp* working out, or even *gasp* jogging! (sorry folks, won't be running in place at "don't cross" signals)

To a wonderful, STRESS FREE Fall!

8 comments:

  1. No cereal?!? You must be starving. It is the only food on the planet, of course.

    To help you through this transition, I will allow you to come visit me and cook me healthy delicious meals for 5 days. You are welcome.

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  2. Strength training is so important. Mi laugh at those that say it has no place. I lift 2x per week for a total of 90 minutes and still manage those 4-5-6 hour rides and 1-2-3 hour runs. If it weren't for strength training I would never get through the training as it is also a mental break.

    Enjoy the down time as you have certainly earned it.

    Your book will go out tomorrow and when you get it you can start power training again. Haha!

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  3. Ah, strength training. Some day it will make it onto my schedule.

    Enjoy your offseason!

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  4. Maybe its distance, maybe its season, I dont get as excited as I use to about racing, sure, I still enjoy it, I still live to see the improvements. We are not rookies any more, we are seasoned veterans, we are now the ones that have "the knowledge" and "inside tricks" that we once were dying to learn.

    Maybe you should do a Muncie 37.2?

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  5. 'Those days are mostly gone' says Mr. PR all season! :) Right that damn report for newbies like me that want all the details!!

    I agree with you on strength training.. you have to have a strong base to power the long endurance workouts.

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  6. Man, for all that writing you just did, you could have cranked out both the bike and run reports! Don't leave us hanging! :)

    I'm afraid that I will do my first IM and then have the same feelings as you. I don't want to be "bored" with triathlon. Maybe I should just hold off on going Iron... JUST KIDDING!

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  7. Seems like since you have been to the top of the mountain in distance sports (doing an Ironman extremely well), you probably think - what else is there to do? Maybe not having any goals or plans is the way to go. Seems like always having a goal or plans is the way to get burned out with anything.

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  8. This post made me thing of something - Did you notice how when we were all together none of us talked all that much about upcoming races? And that is quite odd considering that is what drew us all together in the first place?

    Thinking you are not alone right now buddy!

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