Light at the end of the tunnel! Only one month until Ironman Arizona! I haven't hit serious burnout on this training cycle, probably because I took 3 weeks worth of vacation during the 6 months of training (without biking or swimming those weeks!). What I'm looking forward to the next few weeks is being DONE with 6+ hour trainer rides. The weather has gotten too cold/stormy to ride outside. I'm a fair-weather cyclist and have no interest in freezing my butt off outside. However, 6 hours on an indoor trainer is a major mental strain. When you ride 100+ miles outside it's hard, but you have downhills/flats you can coast, scenery to distract you, and a lot of movement in and out of aero position.
6+ hours on the trainer is sweaty. It's uncomfortable. You ache, you sweat a lot, you doubt yourself... a lot goes through your mind.
The mental breakdown of 100+ miles on the trainer:
:30 - Warmed up. I can do this. I'm an IRONMAN! Anything is possible! I'm a superstar! I'm an ATHLETE! GO KALEE! eat all the snacks and drink all the nuun!
1:00 - Ok, this is a normal trainer ride time. I can do this 5 more times right? Totally. I'm amazing.
1:30 - Ugh. I'm not even halfway - I'm halfway to halfway. Don't think about the time. You got this.
2:00 - 4 more hours to go... I haven't even ridden a half ironman distance! Legs still feel good, 1/3 of the way there!
2:30 - how am I not halfway yet?
3:00 - halfway. holy shit 6 hours is so long. why am I doing this again?
3:30 - more than halfway. I got this. keep eating. how am I almost out of liquid? this is so long!
4:00 - my back hurts. I can feel some chafing on my _______. why am I so sweaty? does everyone sweat like this? is my fan even on? i don't want to eat, nothing sounds good. jk i'm starving.
4:30 - ow. this is close enough right? this is almost 6 hours. why do I do this? do other people do this? why do all my playlists suck? why do all tv shows and movies suck? what will make this hurt less?
5:00 - How big are the puddles under me? Can I change my clothes? do I really need to hit 6 hrs? where am I?
5:30 - "just keep spinning, just keep spinning". repeat all the mantras. "you are a badass. you are strong. you are extraordinary. you are powerful". don't look at your bike computer... speed doesn't matter anymore - just keep pedaling. every minute feels like 10 minutes. is my watch broken? i think the seconds are delayed. must be, time doesn't move this slow.
5:45 - YOU CAN DO ANYTHING FOR 15 MINUTES KEEP GOING
6:00 - OMFG $%#^@*$^%*#&@%$&$
END - Wrap myself in a towel and shuffle to the washer. Put dripping bike clothes and towels in. Find new towels. Lay on the floor. Lay there until life makes sense again.
OR - change into my running clothes! Time to run off the bike!!!
Oh, the glory of Ironman training. I cannot describe how delirious I feel by the end of 6 hours on the trainer. But somehow, I'm still able to run off the bike. I have already ridden more long rides than I did in all of Boulder's training block - and I still have two 100+ rides to go. I can't say I'm super looking forward to them, but I am hoping this will set me up for success off the bike. I have yet to put together a good marathon after the 112 mile ride.
I've realized that's my main goal. Have a marathon I feel PROUD of. Where I don't let my brain win or where I don't start walking to let Chelsey catch me... where I have a sub 5 hour marathon (and honestly - I know I could run a 4 hour marathon if I perfectly fueled and rode at a good pace and the weather wasn't too hot...)
Cheers to the last month - 2 more weeks of ramp, two weeks of taper. Let's GO!!!!
6+ hours on the trainer is sweaty. It's uncomfortable. You ache, you sweat a lot, you doubt yourself... a lot goes through your mind.
 |
| The setup. Towels underneath and all |
The mental breakdown of 100+ miles on the trainer:
:30 - Warmed up. I can do this. I'm an IRONMAN! Anything is possible! I'm a superstar! I'm an ATHLETE! GO KALEE! eat all the snacks and drink all the nuun!
1:00 - Ok, this is a normal trainer ride time. I can do this 5 more times right? Totally. I'm amazing.
1:30 - Ugh. I'm not even halfway - I'm halfway to halfway. Don't think about the time. You got this.
2:00 - 4 more hours to go... I haven't even ridden a half ironman distance! Legs still feel good, 1/3 of the way there!
2:30 - how am I not halfway yet?
3:00 - halfway. holy shit 6 hours is so long. why am I doing this again?
 |
| I don't have a lot of pics of me ON the trainer... Isaacs insta stories have to suffice |
4:00 - my back hurts. I can feel some chafing on my _______. why am I so sweaty? does everyone sweat like this? is my fan even on? i don't want to eat, nothing sounds good. jk i'm starving.
4:30 - ow. this is close enough right? this is almost 6 hours. why do I do this? do other people do this? why do all my playlists suck? why do all tv shows and movies suck? what will make this hurt less?
5:00 - How big are the puddles under me? Can I change my clothes? do I really need to hit 6 hrs? where am I?
5:30 - "just keep spinning, just keep spinning". repeat all the mantras. "you are a badass. you are strong. you are extraordinary. you are powerful". don't look at your bike computer... speed doesn't matter anymore - just keep pedaling. every minute feels like 10 minutes. is my watch broken? i think the seconds are delayed. must be, time doesn't move this slow.
5:45 - YOU CAN DO ANYTHING FOR 15 MINUTES KEEP GOING
6:00 - OMFG $%#^@*$^%*#&@%$&$
END - Wrap myself in a towel and shuffle to the washer. Put dripping bike clothes and towels in. Find new towels. Lay on the floor. Lay there until life makes sense again.
OR - change into my running clothes! Time to run off the bike!!!
Oh, the glory of Ironman training. I cannot describe how delirious I feel by the end of 6 hours on the trainer. But somehow, I'm still able to run off the bike. I have already ridden more long rides than I did in all of Boulder's training block - and I still have two 100+ rides to go. I can't say I'm super looking forward to them, but I am hoping this will set me up for success off the bike. I have yet to put together a good marathon after the 112 mile ride.
I've realized that's my main goal. Have a marathon I feel PROUD of. Where I don't let my brain win or where I don't start walking to let Chelsey catch me... where I have a sub 5 hour marathon (and honestly - I know I could run a 4 hour marathon if I perfectly fueled and rode at a good pace and the weather wasn't too hot...)
Cheers to the last month - 2 more weeks of ramp, two weeks of taper. Let's GO!!!!
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