I Was Spineless, But Now I’m Back

2021 IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA TRAINING

WEEK 11 – May 16, 2021

To “throw your back out” is an interesting phrase. To me, it’s somewhat of a dumb way to describe a strained lower back because it doesn’t make any sense. How does one “throw” his back anywhere? Can you throw out your ankle? Can you throw out your wrist? Would the younger generation of today say it differently? “Bruh, I yeeted my back.” I guess it’s just one of those things people say and everyone gets it.

Anyhow, I’m not sure exactly how I threw my back out but here is what I think contributed to it: On Sunday I drove seven hours to Nashville to pick up my kid from college, packed up her junk, slept on a hotel bed, drove seven hours back home on Monday, unpacked her junk, mowed the grass, slept on own my bed, and yet the old back was still with me.

I started my run on Tuesday feeling fine, not even a twinge or hint of what was to come. About a half-mile into it though I could sense my back starting to ache. At a mile, it was bugging me, but that didn’t stop me from adding the five 1-minute pace pick-ups. Why would I do something sensible like skipping those? But I didn’t do any particular thing to cause it to hurt, I was just running.

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When I got home it was aching pretty badly. I did the typical things to make it feel better, but it was hurting. On Wednesday, I was hoping to be able to get my workout in, but after a rough night trying to sleep the old back was not doing so well. I took a pain pill that I had kept from when my kid had her wisdom teeth pulled, and that definitely took the edge off. But since the dog needed to go to the vet, and the fact that I couldn’t even put my socks on meant that I should probably rest it. So I skipped the Wednesday bike/run brick workout.

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Thursday I went ahead and did my bike ride and felt okay with it, although I thought I might also be throwing out my calf muscles because they were cramping up like crazy on that ride. Why do I do this dumb sport?

Another restless night preceded a Friday in which it actually felt worse than it did Wednesday and Thursday. Why does throwing your back out hurt so bad?

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I struggled through work but did a little back and leg stretching, as well as some hanging from the workout machine in our workout room, as my coworker Tom said that would work. And although my back was still hurting a little, I felt like I would try to do my 60-minute run.

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And as I ran it seemed like the run wasn’t making it worse. Matter of fact, I actually felt very little backache when I finished. I think I just invented a new saying: I threw my back IN!

Interesting… running was the cause of and cure to my aching back!

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Swims: 0

Bikes: 2 rides, 58.5 miles

Runs: 4 runs, 23 miles

Enjoying the Ride

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE 2020 TRAINING

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WEEK 11 – May 25 > May 31, 2020

IRONMAN TRAINING IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC – PART XI

The weather was pretty awesome this week. I was in upper Wisconsin at my lake home at the end of last week and the beginning of this week. I was able to do a long ride and long run last weekend and began this week with a Tuesday run on the Bearskin Trail that runs through town before heading back home. We would have stayed longer but the in-laws have sold their local home and were leaving for Florida so we needed to be back home to say goodbye.

Swim training began this week! And although boring, as usual, it didn’t suck. Well, it had its moments. I only got in the Thursday swim because we were traveling on Tuesday, and I only did 30 minutes. I tried using my Garmin 935 watch in the past for swimming in my pool, but it never read the distance correctly. Garmin must have updated the pool swim feature for the watch as it now lets me customize the pool distance to a more realistic 15 yards for my pool. Still a little long, but more in the ballpark than 18 or 25 yards, which were the only options before. Anyway, here’s proof that I was swimming:

Look out, Mark Spitz! I’m coming for you!

The Saturday long ride was interesting. I saw a lot of interesting things on this ride and thought I would share some photos. These photos are screenshots from my Fly12 bike flashing light/camera.

Screen Shot 2020-05-30 at 5.07.24 PM — 15 minutes into the ride and I had to wait for Mama Duck to get her ducklings across the road.

Screen Shot 2020-05-30 at 5.14.41 PM — This trucker gave me a nice wide berth on Hoff Road. Thanks for sharing the road, trucker guy!

I caught up with the local cycling club that I follow and rode with them for a while, and I made a new friend. Hello, Angela!

Screen Shot 2020-05-30 at 5.19.25 PM — This white 1967 Olds Cutlass 442 was parked off of Hoff Road in the Midewin Nature preserve and rumbled by giving me a smile.

Screen Shot 2020-05-30 at 5.33.27 PM — This farmer was kind enough to give me space too.

Okay, enough with the photos.

The Sunday 8.5 mile run was interesting too. I was coming up to pass a guy who was walking ahead of me, and as he reached into his pocket for his phone a deer appear not five feet in front of him. He never saw the deer as it bounded right past him! I was shocked that he didn’t see him. Unbelievable how much you miss when you are paying attention to your dumb device and not your surroundings. I enjoyed it though.

Lastly, with all of the turmoil going on in the country and especially in the midwest today, I refuse to let it get to me. Focus on the positive and stay away from the negative. I do my part to be a good upstanding citizen. My best to you all.

TOTALS FOR WEEK 11:

Swim: 1 / 1470 yards
Bike: 4 rides / 128 miles
Run: 5 runs / 26.5 miles

The Uneasiness of Being Comfortable

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 11 – Monday 5/13/19 – Sunday 5/19/19

As I slid into Week 11 I found myself reflecting on being comfortable with where I was in the plan. It has kind of become routine – Monday rest, Tuesday run, Wednesday bike/run brick, Thursday bike, Friday run, Saturday bike, Sunday run – then repeat week after week. But on Saturday I finished my ride, put the bike away and got busy cleaning the swimming pool and mowing the grass and totally didn’t realize that we are now at a stage in training when Saturday’s long ride is followed by a run brick. I had gotten so used to the previous ten-week routine that I didn’t remember that the runs are added to the bike on Saturday. Oops. Oh well, I did have a killer of a Saturday long ride which kind of made up for missing that 15 minute brick run.

Speaking of the Saturday bike, I decided to join a local riding group that is primarily made up of people from the local running group that I have become familiar with. It was supposed to be a 2-2.5 hour bike ride averaging 17 mph. I was comfortable with that pace and length of ride, but I have certain expectations when riding as a group and as we rode a little I started figuring out who was on the same page as me and who wasn’t. I started to get a little uneasy and moved to the front of the group to avoid any issues. There was one stop in which a rider fell over. Not sure how he accomplished that as it didn’t appear that he was clipped in and was wearing running shoes. It has happened to all of us and I felt bad for the guy, but I made a mental note to stay clear of him. It wasn’t long until this group of cyclists and aero riding triathletes were on each others wheel. While training for Ironman, I usually avoid riding on the wheel of another rider because you aren’t allowed to draft at all during the race, but here we were. I was definitely getting out of my comfort zone.

My “Z2” ride was mostly spent in Z4! WTH?

We made it out to Elwood and the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and stopped for a quick restroom break and to refuel a little. I had some good conversations and then we were headed back. That’s when I got dropped. I was fighting like mad to keep up, but I was starting to wonder why I was killing myself. The group did eventually rejoin and I put myself ahead again to help control the pace a little. I was able to keep with them the rest of the ride. But this “easy” pace group ride was killing me!

When we turned around I noticed something was not quite right with my rear wheel. It was making a slight sound and I was sensing a little bit of vibration. I had ridden the bike on the trainer on Thursday and when I switched out the skewer I must not have had the wheel exactly straight. I stopped about 20 minutes from home and reset it the best I could and I didn’t feel the vibration anymore. When I got home I inspected the wheel and found that the tire sidewall was getting pretty worn, had started to bulge a little and it wouldn’t have been long before it failed completely on me. I was way too comfortable in letting that little warning sign of vibration and sound go on for too long. I should have dealt with it as soon as I noticed it. Stop being so comfortable! But I wasn’t the only one who should have been paying close attention to their bike. I noticed one strong lady rider who was about my age whose water bottle cage was wobbling so loosely that I thought it was going to fall off any minute. How do you not notice that?

All in all, I had a pleasant ride, learned that the cemetery has a restroom, learned a new route out to Elwood that bypasses a busy road, met some new people, had some good conversations and made it home in one piece. I will definitely join the group again but will not let the group’s ride influence my training plan for the day.

Next week I promise not to be so comfortable. I need to make sure I am executing the plan in the way I need to.

Week 11 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 4 total / 88 miles > Runs: 4 total / 25 miles