24th week of the 2011 season

153

The less I have to do, the lesser I do.

Starting the week with a huge load on Tuesday as always, I bricked in the morning before work. 30min on the bike and 45mins jog. This week there weren’t too many people up working out because it was colder. Then After work I biked for two hours, and then I went to the swimming pool for 30minutes. I skipped 45minutes of training because I had to commute and pick up and do some chores.

Wednesday was a tough day for me because I had to choose whether to watch the game or train and sleep. I ended up training while I could and then I watched the game but first I swam in the morning and I biked after work. The decision came after biking, should I swim or should I watch the game? I chose to swim; when I got home I decided to watch the game, which unfortunately FCB lost against our archenemy. I went to bed very late. And I also missed 30 minutes of training.

Then on Thursday it was a little harder to get up but I was able to put a solid 1 hour swim and after work I went for the long run of the week, 75 minutes so far. Solid run and fairly fast, nearly 4mins/km, but even though I took sports drink with me I had a hard time finishing because of my stomach, after the run my stomach was upset for the rest of the day. I don’t know if it is because I did not hydrate enough during the day or because I am not too used to running any more or I had something to eat too late and it upset me. Then since I will be borrowing a car for the next ten days I had to take someone to her friend’s, because of this I had to skip my afternoon swim.

On Friday I only had two sessions planned, it took me forever to get to the swimming pool, I was almost late too, I did not need to go to work so I stayed in bed or laying around much longer, with no determination to train like when I have to work. Then in the afternoon I went for a bike ride, I only worked on my speed skills forecasting what was coming over the day after.

Saturday was my favorite Catalan festivity or at least one of them but I did not get to enjoy them as much as I liked to. Once again I woke up late and the day was a bit weird and since I did not trust the day, I did not want to get wet, I decided to ride at home. The session was long, 5h on the trainer watching movies and playing around. My average heart rate did not spike as much as went I ride outside, 7bpm difference, but my max heart rate was higher. During that time I drank over 3 liters of sports drink and I enjoyed 10 gels. After that I made a quick transition, not a record one by far, and ran for 15 minutes. I started too strong and I got a little scared, 3.40mins/km, and I ended up averaging about 4.10mins/km. During the run I felt upset, and it wasn’t a normal abdominal pain, it was more like I had to puke instead I needed to go to the bathroom. That worried me a little bit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmm72B4TwpI

Finally on Sunday, I went to swim, it might have been my last time in the local swimming pool, and then I went for a 1 hour run. The swim was good, 3200m feeling very well. The run was something different, again I started very strong and I did not realized I had tail wind so I decided to slow down a bit because I did not want to wear myself out too early, but when I turned around I realized about the wind and how windy it was. I enjoyed being faster than most of the cyclist on the bike lane. Since it was windy they had a hard time, so did I but I had my strength, determination and the will to go fast, so at the end after 50mins running I was overtaken by some cyclist who I managed to pass them again on the hill to finish my run even stronger than when I started.

During this Easter break I have met with an old friend of mine and seeing him makes me happy. We have had dinner a couple of times and we had great times like we used to have. I enjoy his company and it was nice to see him again, although he is not doing as well as I wished for him he looks very much in love and he is mainly happy.

I have also had time to think a lot about friendships lately and I kept on asking myself this week, why do we spend tons of hours talking to someone, building somehow a friendship and then all of a sudden without a big reason this friendship just disappears and you rarely hear from them again. We fade from one each other’s world and we don’t even miss it that much. What were we doing all that time? Is it because we did not have anything else to do or we were just exploring their personality? How come is this friendship s fragile that it can just disappear out of the blue? Because at some point I had waited for them to come and talk and all of a sudden we are both gone, like we both meant it at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vyUGTPGpFQ

23rd week of the 2011 season

153

I nearly nailed this week; I was only 2h short of training or a 10% short.

It was Tuesday when I started the training week, nothing out of ordinary. The difference this time was the amount of training, second longest day of the week, and the number of sessions; 3 sessions but one of them was a brick so we could considered that I almost had 4 sessions. I started the day with some 30mins bike ride followed by a 45mins run. Then I went to work and when I came back I biked again for 90minutes and finished with a 45mins swim. I had to change the original schedule because I am still sharing the car and I need to do some chores if I take the car.

On Wednesday I was only 10minutes short on training so it could be considered that I trained alright. 50minutes swim in the morning followed by a 100minutes bike ride in the afternoon, then the chores and then 50 minutes at the pool again.

Thursday is supposed to be a shorter day; not for being shorter it is easier. So I started with the morning swim and then in the afternoon I ran my first 75 minutes in a very long time. I took some sports drink with me but I felt the lag of habit of such a long run. After the run I went to the swimming pool for 30minutes only (500m warm up, 3x 75m easy, 25m fast, 100m cool down) and then I went to the gym to do some stretches.

On Friday I was another hour short again. I started the day with the morning swim as always and then in the afternoon I had a course in Girona, it was the last day and we were catching up on a missed day so I had to go and the 2h bike ride that I had planned I only did 1h of easy riding just to get comfortable from Thursday’s run and getting ready for Saturday’s ride.

On Saturday I wasn’t feeling too good, well I haven’t felt too good the whole week but on Saturday I was feeling a bit worse. I had 4h and 30 minutes on the saddle and 15minutes running ahead of me. It was a day with weird feelings. I felt very good on the bike. Riding a lot of time aero and feeling pretty good, I have just started the plan, but then I transitioned to run and that’s when I felt awful. I had to run for 15 minutes only and that’s what I did  I couldn’t get much further plus I felt like stepping on eggs for 15 minutes I was not able to use a good running form or at least it did not feel like it. It was the first time it took me that long to start running properly, even though I ran pretty fast.

On Sunday I woke up a bit late, feeling slightly better than Saturday but not perfect. I went for a swim, 3000 meters and most of them being able to complete them without extra help, and by extra help I mean fins. I only used my fins at the end of the session for 450 meters. After the swim I went for a run, surprisingly it took me about 5 minutes to feel good and not weird as Saturday. In the afternoon I played 18 holes of pitch and putt but I don’t count them as training although it should be some kind of endurance training.

It is quite hard to get up at 6:20h every morning except for Mondays, although I have been very good to go to sleep not after 23h so I usually get at least 7h and most of the days I get 8h sleep which it makes it easier to train.

I am not quite sure if it is because I go to sleep early or because by the time that I get to work I have been up for nearly three hours but I feel like I have heaps of energy at work.

I hope to move out soon, but I need one big thing so I will be able to go to work it is a vehicle. I know what I want, I have put a lot of thought in to it and I need to be realistic on what I can afford and what I can’t. Hopefully I’ll have a deal soon.

Training nearly 20h a week, working 40h and commuting other 5h and sleeping about 56h a week don’t leave me much time to do much stuff, but the best is that I am enjoying what I do.

This week I have signed out of my local swimming pool and I’ll be joining a different one, closer to where I work. I am sad because I was able to swim very well in that pool but if I can save some money and gain some time it is always worth it, the longest weeks are yet to come.

Finally I will say that I am not putting much thought in to anything else. I do have time to think during a four hours bike ride but surprisingly I don’t think about it as much as I used to do and I don’t miss it much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFEUXzd5XOk

22nd week of the 2011 season

153

First week of real training towards Ironman Wales and I am already behind schedule.

The week started on Tuesday as usual. I started feeling string and also was the last day of holidays. I went for a swim in the morning and then I did a brick session in the afternoon. Two hours on the bike and then a thirty minutes run. I ran pretty well, 4mins/km which is very good for being the first day of the plan.

Wednesday was a tougher day. I started swimming at around 7am; I worked on my technique because my shoulder is not feeling great yet. Then I went to my first day of work. After work I biked for two hours.

Thursday was somehow similar to Wednesday’s schedule, swim in the morning, work and then instead of the bike ride I ran for one hour. I ran as fast as Tuesday so that was pretty good and over time I will make this run longer.

On Friday, I swam for a longer time; I started to introduce some endurance to the technique work in the swimming pool. Later I went to work and then I did some bike riding. Friday’s bike ride was slightly painful because of the saddle and the sweat but I think it will get better.

Saturday and Sunday I had to take them off for different reasons. On Saturday I went back to the scene of crime, where I played University games in Spain. This time I was going there for a different sport, I went there to attend my mandatory one day attendance course to get my ITU L1. Even though I don’t enjoy much traveling to the capital of the country next to mine I have to say that it did not feel as awkward as other times. Mainly because I met some Catalan people and I did not meet many Spanish people.

On Sunday I wanted to train, do the long ride of the week, most important session of the week, I wanted to add fifteen minutes of jogging to get my legs ready for some T2 but I was sick. I haven’t been feeling good since Wednesday but today was the worst day so since I usually have Monday’s off I decided to start recovering today so I have two and extra day and then resume as normal.

I have started to work in Sant Feliu the Guixols. It is not my dream job but I don’t really know what I will be doing because so far we have not been able to do much. The company is not very big but it is funny how many languages are spoken in the office, we look like a translation company or a tour operator than a phone operator software design company.

I have also been thinking on what kind of vehicle I should get and I think I will get the one that everyone is trying me to forget about. I think my best option is not a car right now.

It looks like my life for the next 5 months will be something like, sleep, train, work, train, sleep. I have been trying to go to sleep at 10pm and it has been a little bit hard to do but I am getting better at it. It is very important for me to get some good rest so I can be fully awake the next day.

I have also been cutting my protein intake for a week and it looks like I am not losing much muscle either. I have been eating a lot of energy and maybe my body has not been depleted enough so it has not been able to break any muscle. I will need to take care of that in the following weeks.

I have been thinking on how is going to look my life for the next five months and it looks like it is going to be tough and alone. I will have to make many sacrifices; I will not be able to keep up with friends and family. The reason is that I have a goal and I am determined to make it happen.

I have not registered myself for IM Wales because I don’t have the money yet, I hope I will have the money soon, and because I don’t know how my shoulder will react to training. My leg seems to be healed, I have drop the mileage for a few weeks, I have been training better and now I don’t have any pain when I run. That is very good, now I just need to build endurance and strength on it.

This week I was also surprised that someone made a move that I have been expecting it for the last 3 years or so. I thought this moment was never going to happen. He had lied to me so many times that I did not expect much from him. I did not have any faith whatsoever.

And I am realizing that everything is over. She does is predictable and she does the same year after year, and she is the way she is. I have never been good enough for her plus we had the distance and nothing to hold on to. Anyway I hope she is happy and someday I’ll meet someone. So far I am good alone and it would be impossible to balance work, training, and a girlfriend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVeB7ACVgO0

21st week of the 2011 season

153

This week I have been to the brand new local pool. It is a very nice 25m pool with a gym attach to it. So far has been great to swim there, it is not too full so I have always had a lane to myself.

Since last week I had a couple of days off and I was very excited because of the pool I decided to train for 8 straight days, it is very rare for me because I usually train only 6 days in a row.

So Monday’s workout consisted of a light one hour swim plus I wanted to know which are the heaviest weights I can lift for my strength training but they did not have all the machines neither free weights so I left before I was done but it was supposed to be my day off anyway.

On Tuesday I decided to ride for two hours in the morning and then I when to the swimming pool for some technique training. Technique training is fairly easy with long recovery so afterwards I went to the weight room to do some strength training. I used my old routine with the rubber bands, the swiss ball and the skipping rope.

Wednesday, one hour and ten minutes of force training on the bike plus one hour swim.

On Thursday I ran for one hour. I start to feel better on the run even though I still have problems with my right shin.

On Friday I went for the long bike ride, three hours on the saddle. This time I went through the same route as last week but I had to stop slightly earlier. The average speed was nearly the same, although I was able to coast downhill at almost 71kph, my fastest speed ever. The reason that I decided to do the long ride on Friday was because I wanted to go to the spin class on Saturday morning to support the local gym.

On Saturday I had to change my plans, I went to sleep late on Friday so I was too tired in the morning and my legs where still a little stiff so I decided to be in the safe side and go for a two hours ride instead of two hours of spin class because I don’t know how hard I can push myself on those bikes anymore and I did not want to get injured. Later that day I went for a swim. First 3000m since the shoulder tendinitis even though much of this distance was done with fins to avoid overusing my shoulders.

I did not sleep much on Sunday either and when I woke up I went straight to the gym for a run. It was the first time since the injury that I ran at an acceptable speed, 4mins/km for one hour. Afterwards I took my swim test and I am quite happy with the results because I thought I would be much slower. My T time for the next month will be 1:45mins/100m.

Since my BMI is so high I have been trying to eat less protein but it seems to be almost impossible. Here is a list of high protein foods that I am being offered all the time even though I have said many times that I can’t eat that: tuna, beef, pork, egg, chicken, fish, ham, salami, … (I know tuna is a kind of fish and I just could have said meat instead of listing chicken, pork, … but I just needed to mention all of them).

This week has been the last week of the prep week. From now on I will be focused on my training schedule because I would like to go big. The next 5 months are going to be extremely had. The weather is not going to help much it is going to be very hot and if I get a job I’ll have a very hard time in front of me. Although it is going to be hard, it is going to be fun as well. I won’t have much time to see anyone, I’ll mostly be working out but the fact that I am planning my own training plan is going to be awesome.

Last Friday I received a call and I haven’t told anyone. I don’t know what to do. Should I take it or should I not? I have pretty much everything sorted out but I am not sure yet.

I have been going to several interviews but nothing much has come out of them yet. I hope something good will come up soon.

I am tired of the situation, the questions, the yelling and the way that I am being treated. I am about to do what I think I have to do to be happier. The way that I am living right now is hard to follow a diet, it is hard to follow a schedule but since the local swimming pool the schedule gets easier.

Surprisingly she hasn’t been much around. She is been with me during the long rides and where I would like her to be.

To get my mind running I dream of the moment to cross the line and it pumps my adrenaline like nothing else. Even though this feeling is only while training because I refuse to race before the IM it helps to keep going and it makes me feel a lot more of an athlete and I think I can relate to Kilian Jornet (4 times Skyrunning world champion) when he quoted "At La Diagonale des Fous (The Diagonal of the crazy), a race in the Reunion island, a 24h race, I started to cry 20km before the finish line: I was so tired that I decided to distract my mind by picturing how I would feel crossing the line. Winning was not as exciting” in a newspaper interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye24cqG8j3M