Grrrrrrrrrrr: The Frustrations of Training

So training has been hard. I won't deny it.

Training has made me hate the heat a bit earlier in the summer than I normally start hating it.

And yeah, I've been known to not leave the house (the air conditioning) on the days I don't train (like today).

It's what I signed up for -- an August half ironman distance race.

SO I've been chipping away at it, whether I feel like it or not.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did skip one swim last week -- a 45 minute open water swim. On the Fourth of July. Yeah, I went outside in the morning and watched the parade, and of course I went to the park after dark to watch the fireworks, but just could not make myself go down to the lake and get the swim done.

I was over it, no guilt, no pangs, the second after I made the decision to not go.

So today you are reading "Stef in the middle of a three week build with a bike focus."

Today is a rest day, this week is week 3 of said build.

I've asked myself a lot lately WHY? Why did I sign up for a race that necessitates me to be out there in the triple digits training for hours on end??? And the answer is always the same. My "gut," that "inner voice" that we all have just smiles and says "you know why."

And I do. Training is what is fueling my business confidence right now and my business success is fueling my training. One cannot exist without the other. One success stacks upon the other. And I'm good with that. Training is the path that brought me here and I need the high level of training that comes with the 70.3 distance to keep moving forward.

So yeah, I'll do a 5+ hour workout in the heat. That was yesterday. My front tire was rubbing against the fork the entire time and I didn't know it. I just knew the bike didn't "feel right." But wheels not rolling means the clock stops ticking and I wanted the 4:30 ride to be done as soon as possible!!

Only when we got home and Tony removed my front tire did we see what was going on. And I thought I was getting slower. Whew.

The 45 minute run off the bike was a real treat. NOT. I forgot my bottle of perpeteum for the ride and so was working with a rather large calorie deficit. Realizing that I cannot afford to cut any workouts short, I powered through, relying on the rest of my nutrition, figuring I would at least learn something.

I told myself the workout doesn't need to be perfect but I do need to be present.

Things actually went pretty well, although my stomach was growling at the end of the ride (yeah no kidding right).

And after 45 minutes of running I was out of energy my stomach was screaming where the f*ck is the food?!!! Running a full 13.1 miles like that? I think NOT!!!!!!! A deficit like that would be absolutely impossible to make up. I'll avoid the "death march" thank you. I think Tony was hungry too as he immediately suggested going out for lunch. We got Glenn and Marge and went to the Southwest diner where I started my recovery with spinach omelet and hashbrowns and coffee (yes even in the summer I prefer my coffee hot -- inside an air conditioned building of course).

Yesterday's training taught me that, no matter what you have accomplished before, 70.3 miles is a LONG EFFING DISTANCE! Doing one in the heat presents special challenges. Of course this is not new information and many have done it! But I needed to receive that information, in just the way that I did yesterday. Going through the workout and receiving that information reignited my motivation. And I recovered more quickly than expected given the calorie deficit.

So yeah, it pays off. If you stick with training, with a plan you trust and know works, for reasons that are right for you, it will always pay off. At least that is where I am with it now.

My body IS acclimating to the heat, and my mind is mostly being supportive. LOL. I guess that's about where I should be at this point. This week has 12+ hours of training, including an even longer brick next weekend. Then rest week!

Ahh rest week . . . . I'll probably be blogging daily just to keep myself accountable for doing all the workouts, no matter how small I think they are.