Sometimes when I think how good my book can be, I can hardly breathe.
–Truman Capote
The good news is . . . my IT Band pain seems to be gone. The bad news is . . . I absolutely sucked on my swim tonight.
I realize bad nights are imminent, but this was just an awful performance. I could barely breathe, and swimming three measly laps in a row was kicking my ass. After some serious staring at the ceiling, I have concluded it must be one or a combination of these three things:
1. Horrible eating
2. Too much beer
3. Watching an Ultra Marathon
Now, I’m pretty sure it’s not the last one–although I did spend about four hours on a bike. The bad diet and party train, however, are likely suspects.
I’m not gonna sit here and labor over my transgressions, but I need to realize training is fragile. I put serious effort into strengthening and working through my IT band when I could barely walk, and tonight’s swim is a hard slap in the nuts to keep my diet in check.
An Ironman is no joke and on nights like this, I realize that, not only would I not have finished, I would have likely drowned before the first buoy. And while I am a little pissed about the performance, I’m glad it happened.
Learning and forgiveness are the core of my training. I won’t learn everything overnight and I have to forgive myself when I don’t.
My memory is short and I tend to cheat the present by not being the best I can in that moment. But the goal is to learn a little more every day and the accumulation of those lessons will be the payoff in training, health, and life.
Sorry you had a tough swim. For what it’s worth, they all can’t be easy and efficient; I think of the tough workouts as “character-building swims/bikes/runs,” and even though they are a nightmare to get through, they will help you a ton come race-day. When you hit a bad spot–mentally or physically–you can remind yourself you’ve been here and persevered through much worse. Hang in there!
Thanks for the inspiration. I do agree we have to be tested and overcome adversity a lot to pursue the craziness of something like an Ironman. I’m always a little torn between whether or not to push it too hard (especially this far away). I just want to be consistent and keep getting in the water. That, and learn from patterns leading up to good or bad performance. I’m hangin!
We have all been there, the beers are great liquid carbs. I always remind myself to have some fun and down time, when partying with friends is necessary otherwise I would just burn out.
Thanks, man. Yeah, I agree. I just need to watch my tendency to slide into party time more than I should. Especially if I have a few fun nights in a row and it gets contagious. Keep rockin it!
Excellent news about your IT band – those can be tricky and it sounds like you’ve got it beat. It seems like your off day is paying off – if not in physical training, then in mental preparation and as a learning experience. Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Well, I am cautiously optimistic on this thing, but so far so good. Running tonight again, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m putting together a video of the stuff I’m doing that seems to be working, so hopefully that will be done soon. I hope your ankle keeps getting better.
Good news about the IT band – don’t stress over the swim.
Sorry you had a rough swim. It’s nice to hear it’s not just me though! I had a really bad run on Sunday and there were a few times when I questioned my ability to train for an Ironman. By the end of the run I was doing the same thing you did, though. I looked back over the last week and discovered there were a number of factors that contributed to the crappy run. There is so much tied to the success of a workout and I still have some work to do in nutrition and rest/recovery areas too. What I also reminded myself is that the bad workouts make you appreciate the good ones even more! Hope your next swim goes more smoothly!
It feels so fragile to me. I’m really trying to keep focused on just doing it… it being swim, bike, and run… something every day to keep the muscle memory sound until we really start going after it in January. There are also a lot of little habits that need to change. Getting up earlier… being able to function at that hour… eating a solid breakfast. And as you say, get better rest, which may be the most underrated part of it all for me. Let me know if you discover any little gems along the way.