Week 19
May 16, 2016
Day 120
Exercise: Swim
Time: 1 hour
Distance: pool
I thought today would be easy since I took three days off last week, but it's almost like I moved backwards in those three days. I got tired faster and wanted to quit more often. Needless to say, I now understand why I should not take multiple days off in a row.
Day 121
Exercise: Run
Time: 2 hours
Distance: 10 miles
This was the hardest day I've had yet. I think I've written about how there is a point in every workout where I want to quit, but I have to just push through those moments. It's usually a matter of mind over body, but today was different. Today was the first time where I truly didn't think I was going to physically be able to finish my run. I was almost 20 minutes off my desired pace (which is terrible), and I was absolutely dying for the last couple of miles. It became a matter of making myself put one foot in front of the other while I blocked out everything else, which might be a good way to live life at times now that I think about it...
I don't know. I guess I'm still recovering from being sick last week, but I'm happy today is over. I'm often reminded of how difficult this training is at times, but I will never enjoy those reminders.
Day 122
Strength Day
I look forward to these days more and more because I am able to give my legs a break and work mostly on core and upper body. Still no abs in sight, but I know they're in there somewhere.
Day 123
OFF
Day 124
Exercise: Bike/Run
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes/1 hour 15 minutes
Distance: 25 miles/7 miles
Today was only a small increase in my normal two-a-day workout, but it felt huge. Again, I was off pace for both my bike and my run, which is a bit disheartening. However, the new distances weren't beyond what I could handle, so that's encouraging. Some times incremental increases can feel like monumental improvements.
Day 125
Exercise: Bike
Time: 3 hours
Distance: 40 miles
It's a bad sign when picking your leg up to get on the bike hurts. Being sore before you begin is never a great start...While I was riding today, a guy passed me wearing Ironman biking shorts that said Louisville, Kentucky on the back of them, which is cool because that's the Ironman I'm training for. He passed me only about a mile from our cars, so I tried my best to catch up to him in order to talk to him and maybe get some advice/pointers. The problem was that by the time I got back to the car, he had already loaded his bike in his car and turned around to run back down the trail we had just left. . .
So I felt like a huge underachiever today, but on the flip side it was awesome to see the standard that I'm aiming for. This guy looked like he was in his late 50's and he was in killer shape. Hopefully at age 23 I'll be able to keep up with him some day.
Day 126
OFF