Rally Time!

It's 6:45 p.m.  I'm still at work.  I've got a swim at 7:30 p.m. and then I need to drive to Simi Valley to switch cars once again for a smog check.  I won't be home until 10-10:30 p.m. tonight. I'm tired!

I've slept plenty the past few nights, but I'm a little wiped out right now to be honest.  Last night, I could have fallen asleep at 9:30.  And the past two nights, my alarm woke me up out of a deep sleep, which never used to happen.

Welcome to Ironman peak training.

Fortunately, I'm getting great notes of encouragement from fellow triathletes and friends such as Derek, Liana, Anton and Caleb.  I'll take every bit of energy and support I can get right now as the training hours continue to mount, along with my fatigue. Luckily, through these notes I'm reinforcing that everything I'm going through is normal.  It's OK to feel tired.  It's OK not to want to work out.

But I must continue.  Like I did this morning, when it was cloudy and chilly at Griffith Park.  There, alone, I found myself lapping back and forth on the bike path once again for another 45-minute time zone 3 mash fest.  Though I was on my road bike this time as I discovered my tri bike has a front flat. Ruh-roh.

Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow morning before work.  I'm so slow at changing tires it will probably take me around a half hour!

I was pleased with my riding this morning.  There was a fairly brisk head wind and still my pedaling remained strong and consistent.

But the real highlight came at 8:30 tonight.  All that bitching in the above few paragraphs came to a halt in the water.  For whatever reason, all that fatigue drained right out of me once I jumped in.  Once Coach Gerardo reminded me to relax and hold my stroke longer, everything clicked into place.  My timed sets were smooth and relaxed.

And my timed 100 at the end of the night gave me a new PR - 1:22.

I teased Gerardo that he told me not to expect to get any faster.  That's all he needed to tell me apparently!

I'm not sure where my energy surge came from.  The cookies I ate today?  Or the birthday cake?  It didn't come from a desire to get back in the water, that's for sure.

But I did know it was time to rally.  That one thing my Ironman training has taught me is that all this is in my head.  If I write that I am tired, then I will act tired. If I ignore the fatigue and power through, then that's what will happen.

That's going to be my mantra the next several weeks.

Rally time.

59 days and counting.