Toot toot! Hard Work Paying off! 149 days, 16 hours until start.

 

Just a quick mid week update because I am super excited about what I did in the pool Tuesday morning. 

I have been attending a swim group since the fall coached by a world champion triathlete, and friend. She is certified in the swim smooth method. Every session we have done time trials to determine our Critical Swim Speed (CSS) which is the 100m pace you should be able to hold in a wetsuit allowed 1500m race, in other words the aerobic threshold.

The time trial is done after a good warm up which includes a few drills and a bit of non-exhaustive speed work. After a bit of rest the 400m is done first. You can see my time was 8:42 which is an improvement from me previous best of 8:50. After resting for 6 minutes I completed the 200m in 4:13 which slower than my best of 4:08.

There's a calculator online that you plug these values into and now my new aerobic threshold pace is 2:14! The first time I did this test in the fall I was 2:22 (even with the faster 200 time). I have been doing my best to swim consistently twice a week and focusing on longer sets. 

I know there is still lots of work I can do on my stroke to make it more efficient, but I am excited that what I have done so far is working. Now to translate that to 3.86km of success!

Week 2 Complete! And What a Week it Was. 154 days, 18 hours until start.

Just like the title suggest it's been quite a week! Monday my oldest told me that in the afternoon he was starting to have a sore throat at school and was starting to cough. We did a test and it was negative. However I could hear him coughing all night and in the morning I did another one when he finally woke up we did a second one and you can see the results! It took two more nights before I could tell he was getting solid sleep, and because his bedroom is right below ours I didn't sleep well either. I spent the first half of the week feeling like I was heavy in a fog. However he is feeling better now and today is his last day of being isolated in the basement.

On Thursday my mom told me that one of their friend lost their battle with pancreatic cancer. He was one of my dad's best friends and they met when we were neighbours, over 45 years ago and as couples they have been best friends for as long as I can remember. I have a million memories of him and I know that he will be missed. 

On Friday the Foo Fighters announced the death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins. The Foo has been my favourite band and I been lucky enough to see them seven times in four different locations and hopefully again in the future. I'm sad for his family that has to live without him. 

Now the training summary!

Monday 

Run - 7km recovery on treadmill so I could ensure I kept the pace and effort low

Tuesday

Bike - 1:00 done on my indoor trainer

Wednesday

Swim - 2000m done as a warm up and then 1500m continuous with a descending pace each 500m

Run - 6km easy pace outside

Thursday

Bike - 1:00 teaching a cycle class and some long climbs were on the schedule today

Friday

Swim - 2000m total with a lot of drills focussing on body position, catch and rolling. It was exhausting!

Run - 7km by feel outside

Saturday

Bike - 1:20 total between teaching a cycle class and then finishing on my own. First part of my first brick workout

Run - 2.4km done around the indoor track as the second part of the brick workout

Totals

Swim - 4000m

Bike - 3:20

Run - 22.6km

I feel this is another solid week of training, although I did feel like lack of sleep made the workouts harder. One more build week ahead!

Week 1 Complete: I'm Training for Ironman!! 160 days 17 hours until start.

 I did it! First weel of a 24 week training program complete. Here are the details of my triathlon focussed workouts:

Monday

Bike - 1:15  I taught 2 classes of :30 and :45 so there was a break in between. Lots of climbs and sprints in these classes

Tuesday 

Swim - 1500m done as 6 x 250m easy pace

Run -  6.1km recovery pace on indoor track

Wednesday 

Bike - :30 recovery done after teaching my group fitness class

Thursday 

Bike - 1:15 I did a :15 warm up before the 1:00 class which was a lot of 2:1 hard:easy intensity

Friday 

Swim - 2000m done as a few drills, 10 x 50. on 1:12 and then 400m moderate continuous. I am in a swim group and on the 29th we will be doing a 400m and 200m time trial to see if our CSS will drop. Mine is currently at 2:19. The 400m I did today was only 3 seconds slower than my best time trial so I am hoping to be faster.

Run - 5 km recovery pace outside

Saturday

Run - 7.3 km moderate pace on indoor track after teaching a bootcamp class. I also went to the climbing wall with my daughter in the afternoon. My hip flexors were toast. Actually everything was sore at the end of the day.

Sunday 

Rest day means legs up the wall and some yoga to stretch the previously mentioned sore body.

Totals

Swim 3500m

Bike 3:00

Run 18.4km 1:56:30

Overall I feel this is a good start. I don't think I over did it on the intensity and I made sure that I was hydrated, well fed and got a good amount of sleep. Also, it's exciting to say I am training for an Ironman!

So, What's the Plan? 162 days, 19 hours until start.

If you know me, you know I like to plan. If you know racing, the you also know you need to have a plan. Some people can wing it, and I have done some races with little to no actual training, but approaching an Ironman this way is above my pay grade. Behold what I think is the best book out there! 

This book has plans from the sprint to iron distance as well as off season maintenance and strength. For the triathlon plans there are 10 levels of intensity. The higher the number the greater the intensity in number, duration and quantity of workouts, length  For this race I am following a modified version of level 3. There are 3 workouts each for swim, bike and run. Because of my schedule I am only going to swim twice a week. 

My general plan is as follows:

Monday - run 

Tuesday - swim and bike

Wednesday - run and strength (group fitness class)

Thursday - bike

Friday - swim and run or brick 

Saturday - bike

Sunday - rest

I teach group fitness classes or train clients Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Because I am on my feet already, those will be single workout days of a lower intensity. Eventually Fridays will become a long run alternating with brick workouts, and Saturdays will be the long ride. Swimming may move from Friday to Thursday. There will also be children's activities and vacations to work around, but this is the general idea. I will be following what the book has laid out for length and intensity of the workouts though, even though the days will be shuffled around. 

That being said, I will make taking care of my RA the top priority and if I need to back off or skip a workout that's what I will do. Because I don't like deviating from a plan, that will be hard for me, but if I make deviating from the plan part of the plan then it's easier. Follow that?

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my 2022 journey. As the title of my blog indicates I am registered for the 2022 Ironman Canada in Penticton, BC, Canada on August 28. I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was diagnosed in May 2015 after nearly 2 years of on and off unexplained symptoms. However, I don't let my diagnose define me or hold me back. 

I have been teaching group fitness since 2007 and have been a certified personal trainer since 2019. I love working in the fitness industry and I find it very rewarding. I have been working with others with chronic illnesses and I feel I am a good fit because I can empathize with the struggles they have. I know what it's like to be tired for no reason, or to have your joints ache with a change in the weather.

So why Ironman?

I have finished this race twice. The first was in 2005. I was working full time and I remember the stress of training around a job. I would swim in the morning and then go straight to work as a lab technician. Once a week I would ride the 20km there in the morning and then home. I was taking spin classes and swim club and loosely followed the 13 weeks to a 13 hour Ironman, which was a pretty tall order. I finished in 15:47. 

Training for this race I really overestimated my fitness. I had done a few smaller triathlons, and completed my first half Ironman the previous year. I assumed the energy of the day would help me get through, and to some extent it did. But while on the climb to Yellow Lake on the bike I realized that I didn't do enough specific training, and 145km long ride wasn't going to cut it. I knew I would want to train differently next time.

The second was in 2012, 18 months after having my third child. I had a different approach to this race as I now had to balance time with a family. I no longer was working full time, but instead teaching group fitness classes and working towards being a personal trainer. I still made it a priority to spend time with my family and one day that stands out to me is when I was on a ride by 6 am, clocked over 140km and then took my oldest child to the midway for the rest of the afternoon.

I followed a training plan from Triathlete Magazine: Essential Week-By-Week Training Guide. There are 10 levels of intensity for the Ironman and I picked level 4 because I thought it would give me a good balance of everything and not too many double days. Some days were hard and one standout is when a 3h trainer ride turned into 4h with stoppages to fetch snacks or stop fights. 

I had an amazing training cycle taking a huge chunk of time off all the events I raced that year and the full hour off my Ironman was the icing on the cake. 

It was also nice to have my family cheering on at both events and the energy is like nothing I have ever experienced at any other event  that I have done. 

So why now?

I am wanting to do this race one more time. I have always said that having a chronic illness doesn't define me, and although I don't have to prove that to anyone or myself, I want to check this box. A lot has changed since my last finish and I want to see if I can do it. 

My training will be similar to 2012 quality over quantity, and will be working around what we will be doing as a family. Training for a  late summer race is challenging, but I look forward to the long bike rides, early morning runs and hopefully some outdoor swimming. Follow along!