Half Ironman Training: 6 Weeks In

The fact that I'm training for a Half Ironman is crazy enough. In fact I truly do question my own sanity. I'm not questioning it in the sense of "Why did you think you could do a Half Ironman and start training for one?" I'm questioning my sanity in the sense of "I'm actually doing this, when did I get Super powers, and with my super powers can I make a pet unicorn appear?"

I started with a training plan. In fact I got the 20 week training plan about 4 weeks before I would begin training. Due to some unfortunate math I'm actually fitting a 20 week training plan in about 19 weeks; oops. I got the plan. I printed it out. I read it over. I got a calendar and wrote each day of training on it for the 20 (19) weeks. It was at that time I realized I was starting on the wrong week, but I had written it out, I wasn't undoing it. 

I did some math. Now, lets be honest, I did just say I miscounted and didn't start the training plan on the right week. If my math of my training plan was right I had 600 planned miles I'd bike. That didn't include any days where the plan said to bike for X minutes. I would run 311 miles. And I'd swim just under 22 miles. If my math was right I had 933 miles of training planned for a race that would cover 70.3 miles. I should never do math because that overwhelmed the hell out of me.

I started my training and it was going well. Then again the first week included running a 5k race and finishing second in my age group, as well as doing an indoor triathlon. I had read about training. I read blogs from people who had done the same plan. I even read blogs from people who had done the race I was training for: Ironman 70.3 Florida.

There's a few things that all of my reading, my math if you will ... there's a few things none of my research had prepared me for. In fact if I'm being honest here ... someone should have been blunt with the facts I cared about. Sure knowing logical things like elevation on the bike ride, the hill I'll have to get up three times on my run; those facts are great. But real life facts. The race is one day. The 20 (19) weeks leading up, they consume a lot of my time.

So what I can say 6 weeks into my Half Ironman Training are the facts I've come to know:

- Laundry. I'm pretty sure on my own daily I produce as much laundry as 6-month old. For instance on swim/run days I leave to go swim. I have my suit on under a pair of sweat pants and a sweat shirt. I swim. I then change into running clothes and run. After my run I get ready and head to work. That right there is technically 4 outfits, and if I have to work my part time job, I'm up to 5 outfits. Now granted my sweat shirt can and is re-worn, but nonetheless you can see how laundry piles up in no time. No one wrote about how before you know it you'll own 15 sports bras, but you know what, I now own 15 sports bras.

- Food. I meal prep once a week. This is a time where I cut my veggies for salads or snacks and get them into containers. It's also the time where I prepare 5 days worth of lunches and breakfasts. It's also the time that I take over the entire fridge with bowls of food. I knew I'd have to eat a lot and often during training, the body needs fuel to keep going and food provides fuel. I read all of that. All of that makes sense. No one wrote about how all of this food equates to a lot of dishes. As someone who dates a chef I'm used to dishes. I'm not used to being the one making all of the dishes. I come home after a day and have anywhere from 7-10 empty containers, but you know what, I leave with 7-10 full containers the next day.

- Time. There are 1,440 usable minutes in everyday. There are days lately where I feel like I'm using at least 1,000 of those minutes. I'm a multi-tasker, I'm a doer. And good thing. Balancing a full time job, a part time job, training, pretending to have a social life; time flies by. I read about people who have come before me and their time flying by. It's different when it's your time, I cherish it all, and each used minute of each day is exciting.

- Conversation. Training for and the eventual completion of a Half Ironman isn't exactly an everyday thing. Well it is for the professional athletes, but me living outside of Chicago it's not exactly a run of the mill thing. Of course the training, the hopes, the struggles, of course they will all come up in conversation. It makes sense, it's only natural. For me it depends on who I am talking to, but my cheer squad, my family, my friends they listen; they ask questions. This doesn't mean that sometimes training is all I talk about. I try to refrain, but sometimes I'm pretty damn excited that I took time off of my mile swim time. I realize not everyone is as excited, but I promise when those who aren't excited take time off of their mile swim ... I'll be just as excited for them.

- Dating and Living with someone else training for the same race. Oh there's been tears. Will and I work different schedules. We train on different plans. In fact we haven't done an ounce of training together. Nope. Not a single lap in the pool. Not a mile rode on our bikes. Not a single step ran together. This is interesting, no one could have prepared me for this. The number of factors that make us and our training different are truly exponential. Will is 6'2" (or is he 6'3"? (there I go with math again)). I am 5'2" (5'3" is if wear the right shoes). I can literally run my ass off, practice daily and my stride will never be as long as Will's ... and yet when he ran an under 9 minute mile last week, I set out to run an under 9 minute mile just to beat him. We each have opinions on how the other should train. We each are wrong. We are different people. We have different goals. We have different strengths. We have different weaknesses. We have different reasons for doing the race. Don't get me wrong we are absolutely supportive of one another when we share our training triumphs. We are in different divisions. We will start the race at different times. We will finish the race at different times. But nothing I read prepared me for the roller coaster of emotions that would accompany training for such a large race with the one you love and live with. Just know, I have plans of beating him in at least one stage of the race, even if it's stopping for extra water; I'll say "HA! I had to stop 3 times." Which will make about as much sense as my bad 20 (19) week math.

- Miles. When I originally started out thinking I'd have to train 933 miles, I thought that was pretty far fetched. In my first month of training I trained 380.83 miles. I went off of the plan. I'm not over training, but each day I hop off the bike I run 1 mile just so my legs are somewhat used to what it feels like to bike and then run. As well I've missed notifications on my watch while swimming and inadvertently swam an extra 250 meters. The days where my plan says to bike for X minutes result in double digit miles. I can absolutely see now how the miles quickly add up. I can also see how depending on where via car in a week ... I'm swimming/biking/running more miles than driving. Let that sink in.

I'm approaching the halfway point of this training journey. I'm learning as I go. As laundry piles up, as I eat every two hours and still lose weight. It's all happening and it's going by quickly. It's going by so quickly. The training itself is an experience and I cannot even imagine what race day will be like. Things change, times go on. But you know what, things also make me laugh. If I couldn't laugh during this journey I'd cry more. A lot of my tears are just tired tears; I promise.

I couldn't tell you the last time I had time to spend on Pinterest, but thankfully Pinterest knows me and tells me what I might like. Those Superpowers I am starting to think I have ... maybe I do, afterall Pinterest thinks I like unicorns, so maybe I'll magically make one appear.