Comfort Zone/Danger Zone

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 6 WRAP-UP – APRIL 13, 2025

I put in some good work this week and was feeling pretty good about it. I had not had any nagging issues or pains to deal with for a few weeks now, and I knew better to tempt fate by declaring myself back to normal. What is normal, anyway? I’m not sure if people who put themselves through this type of training for this dumb sport are ever normal. But, I was feeling good and taking notice of it.

I have a usual running route that I take almost every time, and I had noticed that someone had painted little mile markings on the trail. I later realized that these markings were for a local 1/2 marathon race that I have run a few times in the past. As I was running my 6-mile run, I was feeling good and started to think that maybe running that race again might be a good test for myself. I began to push pace, and as the run was winding down, I could feel myself tiring, and the hamstrings started to bark at me, reminding me that any “feeling good” effort could lead to bad things. I decided that pushing myself at this stage of training was not in my best interests. Stay in the comfort zone and avoid the danger zone.

I was tempted to swap my long Saturday ride and long Sunday ride as that Sunday group ride was becoming a fun time for me. But I thought the best riding conditions would be Saturday, so I stuck with that. I was glad I did, because Sunday was a windy day, to say the least.

I overdressed a little for the sunny ride, but I wasn’t uncomfortable. Since the ride was a three hour, fifteen minute ride, I figured I would ride to the west and add on out there if I needed more time/distance. I realized that 3:15 would be a time near that 70.3 bike of 56 miles, so I decided that 3:15 or 56 miles would be a good ride and might be a good way of telling me where I stand at this point of training.

I felt great, and the miles were flying by. I don’t know if riding the gravel bike as I have been doing lately was just harder for me and I didn’t realize it, or if the tri bike was just that much faster. It seemed effortless. Most of the ride felt great, but the comfort zone of the first 2/3’s of that ride started dipping into the danger zone in the last 1/3. I made it home with a 56-mile split of 3:16, not too far off of where I thought I could be, and I think that there is time to get a little faster. I’d like to be somewhere near three hours for the bike portion of the race in June.

2-hours into the ride and a little stop for a nature break and a stroopwafel. Nice day for riding!

The plan called for a run right after the ride, so I changed into running gear and was out running within 5 minutes. The bike was causing numbness in my left foot, and I hoped that it wouldn’t affect my running, but it did. But it seemingly didn’t affect my pace. I felt labored and couldn’t believe that I had an 8:40 first mile split. I pushed on and could sense that I was definitely entering the danger zone again, feeling like I was about to run out of gas. I made it home with a 3.25 mile run and a need for some Gatorade and nourishment. Seems like I went a little too far into the danger zone. The 59-mile day was a wake-up call, letting me know that I am not quite ready to tackle the half-iron race distance. But I’m getting closer. Back at it next week, and back to the comfort zone, I hope.

Week 6 Totals: Swims 0 – Bikes 3 rides/85 miles – Runs 5/27.6 miles

I Can’t Remember

2021 IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA TRAINING

WEEK 6 – April 11, 2021

I am fortunate to have supportive family and friends who take an interest in my pursuit of my Ironman goals, but I have one friend in particular that I call my Number 1 Fan – Carl. Carl is the one friend that takes the passing interest to a much higher level. He not only wants to know what workout I did but needs to know the details as well. I’m glad to accommodate him as it allows me to brag about myself for a few minutes, except most of the time I can’t remember.

Carl: What did you do yesterday, Ironman?

Me: umm… a bike ride? Yeah, a bike ride.

Carl: How far did you go?

Me: umm… I rode for an hour.

Carl: How far is that?

Me: umm… let me look it up.

*My Number 1 Fan Carl wondering why I can’t remember the details.*

I don’t mind providing the details, but it’s interesting to me that once I get the workout done I kind of move on from it. It’s not that I don’t want to remember what I did as I train, but during a 30-week build to a race, it just all blends together somewhat. I certainly make an effort to document it. The workouts all get recorded by my Garmin watch and phone app. And I write a summary each week so that I can look back and spark my memory of the journey I am on. But sometimes it’s just a workout, nothing more and nothing less.

I am working on writing a post about all the races I have participated in since I started running in the 1980s. It’s taking me a while to go through my handwritten running log and find the entries. I am finding with that trip through the past that I can recall details about some of the long-ago races pretty clearly. It must be something about racing that makes you remember, something that creates a stored memory. I can also remember certain runs when something out of the ordinary happens, like a fall, or getting chased by a dog, getting caught in a storm, etc. But when the workout is spinning on a stationary bike for 60 minutes and thumbing through Facebook while doing it for the 200th time, it just simply becomes part of the day without creating anything special about it. Maybe that will have a cumulative effect in that I will remember doing those workouts as a whole rather than the details that went into them.

I can remember many of the details of running on the Green Bay Trail in the 1990s: where I began and ended my runs, the street crossings, the portion through Ravinia. But if I looked at my log and saw that I ran 8 miles in 60 minutes that day, I will have to take my word for it. I don’t remember it.

I have logged many miles on the Old Plank Trail, so many in fact that I sometimes say that I know every little dip, bump, and distinctive trait of the trail. I know which houses have a dog that barks at me. I know when to move to the left to avoid the divot in the trail as I head north up the path and over the bridge. Those memories are solid, and I rely on them quite a bit. But I guess our brains can’t store every single detail about each workout. I mean, how much of the mundane can you remember? Do you remember what you had for lunch yesterday? Probably not. Do you remember your 21st birthday? More than likely, because turning 21 is a memorable milestone. But do you remember your 22nd birthday? I don’t.

Am I supposed to make each run, bike or swim a memorable one? I’m not sure if that is even possible. Frankly, I think trying to concentrate and remember every detail would most likely wear me out mentally. But I am glad to have pretty clear memories of those workouts that do have something memorable happen.

I guess that I am lucky to have my Number 1 Fan pry those little details from me. Maybe I will remember more of them thanks to Carl. But I can promise you this – although I may not remember every little detail a day, a week or a years later, I will always remember my Number 1 Fan asking me about my workouts. Thanks, Carl.

Swims: 0

Bikes: 3 rides – 63 miles

Runs: 5 runs – 30 miles

*Week 6 is in the books. 1/5th of the way done.*

Runners Are Bad! Dogs are Good!

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE 2020 TRAINING

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WEEK 6 – APRIL 20 > APRIL 26, 2020

IRONMAN TRAINING IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC – PART VI

Keeping in step with my new motto from last week, I gave myself a day to think about what to write today. My personal desire was to have a somewhat angry counterpoint to a few articles in the Chicago Tribune this past week or two shaming runners for their behavior during the coronavirus outbreak. (If you want to read them, I posted some links at the bottom of this post.) But I have decided to address them and then move on.

In essence, the beef with runners is that we are not following the social distancing rules in the minds of those that have swarmed to the places we run to take up space where we had plenty of room to exercise before. When the stay-at-home mandate took effect, we were told that we could go outside and exercise but only if we maintained social distancing. So what did non-exercisers do? They came in droves to the trails with their families and pets. The almost immediate effect of all those people now joining the regulars on the bike and running paths resulted in the complete shutdown of some of those places. Thanks to the non-regulars, we regular users of the paths were forced off.

I read another article about rats starting to move away from their normal hangouts behind restaurants and groceries where dumpsters normally overflow with tossed food scraps in search of food that is no longer being tossed. Funny how animal behavior changes when they are fighting to survive. And just like the rats, runners had to find other places to run since the non-runners ruined our ability to exercise away from the busy streets and sidewalks. And now they don’t like us anywhere.

When did we runners become villains? For the most part, we are some of the most healthy people on the planet. We run for charities, raising millions of dollars for worthy causes. We support new runners attempting to reach their running goals. Many of the running and cycling clothing companies have switched their focus to making masks for healthcare workers and frontline personnel. Some runners and cyclists even do their activity as a way to commute to and from work, helping reduce the impact of driving on the environment. For the most part, we are good, upstanding citizens.

Maybe it’s envy. I get that from time to time. Because I enjoy running or biking mile after mile and they don’t, they want to make sure that they think it is a dumb endeavor. “That’s crazy.” “I wouldn’t even want to drive that far.” “What’s wrong with you?” “Run, Forrest, run!” (That’s a put-down, not a cheer most of the time.)

Who knows really why there’s a division being drawn? I certainly don’t know. I think people just like to bitch about stuff. What I do know is that I’m not going to let some non-regulars keep me from doing my activity.

Anyway… here’s a picture of our new family dog! He’s a good boy! And he takes my mind off of the stuff that gets me riled.

GH2eslgFSL+17nhjS8sQrQ — He likes sticks. And leaves. And fingers. And rocks. And anything that moves.

TOTALS FOR WEEK 6:

Swim: 0 / 0 yards
Bike: 4 rides / 70.2 miles
Run: 4 runs / 22 miles

Here’s the links to the articles. What are your thoughts?

The Comparison Trap

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

WEEK 6 – Monday 4/8/19 – Sunday 4/14/19

I’m on a few Facebook group pages devoted to running, triathlon and some of the races I’ve done, and I have seen people post training and racing results that others will compare themselves to. I have done that in the past as well, but I learned that when you have a large group of athletes, there are going to be some that are really fast and some that are at the other end of the spectrum. I usually warn people, especially beginners to avoid comparing their times to those of others who may have been high school or college athletes, or who are twenty years younger than they are, or just simply more gifted athletically. But this week I kind of fell into that trap as well.

There was a guy who posted on a local cycling page that I was recently added to who claimed that he was going to ride on Saturday and asked if anyone wanted to join him for the two-hour ride. I was tempted to join in until I saw that he intended to ride at 18-20 mph. Really? Is your name Lance? Last week I rode very hard and out of my planned Z2 heart rate zone and could only barely manage 16 mph. Then others were commenting on his post like they would join him if they hadn’t already ridden earlier. I was taken aback by these people and their apparent ability to ride fast. I commented, “You all can go that pace?!” I really had trouble believing that some of these people could average that pace this early in the spring. I’m a 3-time Ironman dang it! Why can’t I do that too? So I got on my bike again and tried to see what I could do on a pretty windy day. My results were pretty much as I expected, 33 miles in 2 hours, averaging right around 16 mph, and way out of my Z2 training zone.

I looked up Mr. 18-20 MPH on Athlinks, a website that basically will show the results of races for anyone who has signed up and raced. Although he didn’t have any cycling results on Athlinks, he did have some running results. Those results were what I expected; a couple two hour half marathons and a nearly 5.5-hour marathon. I now doubted his ability a little more. But I know another guy on that page that struggles with running but can definitely kick butt on the bike. I reminded myself that generally cycling doesn’t make you a better runner, and running doesn’t make you a good cyclist. However, it did make me wonder what I am doing wrong that I can’t do that tempo as well. Then I realized that I fell into that comparison trap where I am comparing myself to someone I really have no idea of how fit he really is on the bike. I need to just worry about myself and progress slowly for 30 weeks to complete my goal. His goal isn’t mine, and I just need to remember that.

3OP3yT+oSFis7WPCg%A — I took a road I never use and ended up getting turned around a little. I took a quick moment to document my dumb self.

The weather this week was crazy. Some of the days were very spring-like and yet old man Winter would remind us that he’s not done yet and dump snow on us again. My Sunday run was forced indoors due to a crazy mid-April snow storm. Summer needs to get here fast!

Week 6 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 3 total / 61.6 miles > Runs: 4 total / 23 miles

One of my favorite running quotes: “Comparing our performances to the performances of other runners is not nearly as constructive as comparing our performances to our own potentials.” – Jack Nelson