Bringing the Pain

With one month of Ironman training behind me, things seem to be going well. I've found a groove with getting workouts done each day and have gotten used to eating dinner somewhere around the 9pm hour at night. My desk is full of healthy, energizing snacks and I find myself getting sleepy earlier and earlier with each passing day. Needless to say, I totally feel like an old lady.

April ended up being a strong start for what's to come. Sure, I missed 3 days because of the flu, and one swim workout because of lifeguard training taking up the time slot, but all in all I'm proud of those 11,400 yds in the pool, 25.5 miles biked outdoors, 34.4 miles ran, 2:24 lifting weights and the mind-numbing 8 hours 24 minutes and 33 seconds spun on the wretched, evil bike trainer.

I've caught a glimpse at what May has in store for me...and my first thought was...

Holy $#*&...
...I'm gunna die.

I have to admit, I'm a bit overwhelmed and nervous. From the looks of it, each week is either adding in an extra swim, bike or run workout. No more 2 days of rest each week for me. I'll have my highest swim volume in a single week ever, pushing 7,000 yards. And some insanely long bricks...like a 3:20 bike ride + 45 minute run (at least we're not at a RBRBR...yet). I mean...I expected this in training...just not so soon! I remember last year when my longest ride maxed out at 3:30 with a 30 minute run...and now it's going to be part of the standard norm of base building. So to the insanity I say...BRING ON THE PAIN!! ...and then cross my fingers that I make it to the other side in one piece...

Needless to say, it's all very intense. But I'm still excited (mostly) and looking forward to being outdoors much more now that spring is starting to rear its head in the windy city. Let's just hope it isn't too windy.

Given the time requirements needed for the upcoming training on top of my everyday 9-5, I can say with near certainty that by the end of the summer, Mike is going to completely forget what I look like. I should really start looking into creating a life-sized cardboard cutout of myself as a reminder...

In closing, as we go into the weekend, I'd like to offer up a little public service announcement to all my friends out there...be careful when texting after a few drinky drinks...you never know where your text may end up.