I don’t mean to be overly dramatic, but Ironman Florida training has quickly changed my life for 8 reasons. Well, there are more but I can’t think of them right now.
1. I catch cat naps whenever possible (this was in the car waiting at Target for my family, not while I was driving, but that might happen too. Don’t read this, mom). You can call me chicken neck if you want. I won’t be offended (if you do it behind my back and I don’t know):
2. I have a car that at any given time is littered with banana peels, apple cores, empty Ziploc bags, 45 water bottles, empty Starbucks cups and half-sucked on Altoids (I like an Altoid, but the taste can get to be too much, so I spit them out and clean them up at the end of the week. Weird habit that my family finds disgusting).
3. On average, I am 10-15 minutes late wherever I go.
4. I smell like chlorine ALL day no matter how much I shower. Come to think of it, my car smells like chlorine too.
5. I also have raccoon/goggle eyes all day and look 10 years older than I really am.
6. I eat all day, everyday
7. I have become the queen of organization – all of my stuff for the next day’s workout is laid out by 7pm, so I can go sit down with a glass of wine and popcorn and not think about it anymore (I’ve started training with Powerbar Perform because it is the drink they will have at Ironman Florida. I really like the light taste ((lemon lime)). It has 70 calories a scoop, so if I put a few scoops into my water bottle, that is about an hour of calories on the bike – I got this huge tub from Amazon for about $15).
8. The biggest, most significant change, however, is attitude. I’ve decided it’s much more productive to be positive than pissy. So, even when I wake up feeling pissy about an upcoming workout, I don’t feed the pissiness. I just do it. Also, every difficult training session (and they are all difficult) I view as a chance to become stronger and better. So..
- If it is windy – I think “GREAT, prefect training for that head wind I’ll have in Florida!”
- If it’s a 5 hour bike ride and I’m alone and annoyed and tired I think “GREAT! This is the perfect training for being alone and tired when I’m out there for 12+ hours at IMFL”
- If it’s hot, I know it’s nothing compared to the heat and humidity of Florida. I tell myself “GREAT – you need to get acclimated to the heat.”
- If I’m climbing a mountain on my bike and my legs are toast and ready to fall off, I think “GREAT – these hills are priming you to kick ass on that flat Florida course.”
Okay, I’m lying. I don’t say GREAT with a big smile. I say GREAT gritting my teeth and cussing, but my point is – when you reframe the negative into a thought that might benefit you, your attitude kind of turns around. Every training challenge is an opportunity to become that much stronger mentally and physically.
So, I’ve put in 8 hours of training so far this week, and it’s been do-able. The true test comes this weekend.
Tomorrow morning I will ride for 3 hours followed by an hour run. I have to be done by 9:00 a.m. due to a prior commitment, so I don’t really want to think about how early I need to get going. I think that’s a 4:30 a.m. wake up call. Better have my wine now.
Sunday is a 5 hour ride.
If I complete all of this in one piece I will be able to say I had a 17 hour training week – my first ever.
Wish me luck.
SUAR
