Indian Creek Triathlon, June 12, 2016
With my son, Pat, my coach
After last Sunday’s very windy, two-hour ride with a friend, who is 26 years younger, I was ready for a fairly easy week for training. Fortunately all of my training days were just that, easy!
Monday was another mostly straight 60-minute swim and weights. Tuesday was 45 minutes of running, one minute fast, one walk, which was nice. I rode for a little more than an hour on Wednesday, with another friend. I don’t know where all the wind is coming from, but it was brutal. I guess that will prepare me for the November winds in Florida.
Thursday was a short swim and a short run, which I did on the elliptical. My thoughts were to do some weights, but another friend and I stretched and did a couple of abdominal exercises, but mostly we talked for an hour.
Sometimes it is a good idea to let go of the rigidity of training that I place on myself.
Friday was a rest day.
I am always ready to ask others about their Ironman experiences. We talk a lot about nutrition, during training, during the race, and post race. I will be trying different types of nutrition until I find the best one for me. Some women have reported gaining 15-20 pounds during Ironman training. I am scared to death of that, however, I know I need the right amount of nutrition to complete the race. I plan to use My Fitness Pal to monitor my intake and energy expenditure.
Everyone is different, and I will be experimenting all summer and fall to find the right amount and type of nutrition. So far I have been using ScratchLabs drink mix, Stinger Waffles, GUs, and fruit chews. My workouts haven’t been very long yet, and I realize that I will be adding more calories. Most articles have recommended 300-400 calories per hour while on the bike.
My last sprint triathlon before launching into Ironman-only training - the Indian Creek Triathlon in Alexandria, Louisiana - was this past Sunday. It was hot, 88-90 degrees, with matching humidity. There was not a bit of wind. The swim was 800 meters, which is the second longest distance for a swim this season. I didn’t try to swim real fast and stayed at an easy pace.
My bike, which was 20 miles, felt good, and I dodged a snake on the road. It wasn’t moving, but it wasn’t squashed flat so I wasn’t taking any chances. The run was a slight incline to the halfway point, and a nice downhill shuffle to the finish. I met another lady in her 60s, who came in first in her age group. There are more and more women competing in triathlons who began in their 50s and 60s. I also came in first in my age group.
My coach says I have two weeks of relatively easy workouts and then it is all-out training for the Ironman. I am ready to move on to harder workouts. I hope I keep this attitude throughout the sixteen weeks of IM training.