Week Twenty-Three

This weekend was Ironteam Bootcamp. FIfteen hours of training. Oh my God.

SATURDAY

The Santa Cruz folks met to carpool a little before 6 in the morning on Saturday. We were headed to San Francisco to join forces with the North Bay Ironteam. We got to Aquatic Park just in time to put on our open water swim gear. I knew what I was in for. We had just swam in the ocean last week, and I have had several opportunities to practice dealing with the cold water.

The whole team first went in the water to "warm up." This is such a funny concept to me. In reality in open water swims, you don't "warm up," but rather, you "get numb." And the amount of time we were in the water was not enough time to get numb at all. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and that quote could not be more true when everyone was standing in the water during this time, trying to pee in their wetsuit to warm themselves up. Yes, pee. It didn't matter how close you were to another teammate. Everyone was trying to pee to warm up. Sounds gross, but really, when it's that cold, you'll take your comfort however you can get it.

So, we got out of the water to simulate a real race start. Everyone ran in and started swimming. I don't know how they do it. Each time I tried to psych myself up to just put my face in the water right away, but the cold was just so unbearable. So, as is usual for the start of my open water swims, I doggie-paddled, my breath taken away by the feeling of ice cubes resting on the back of my neck. As I approached the first buoy, I heard Coach Mike yell, "Put your face in the water!" By this point, I was one of the last swimmers out there. I finally took the face plunge, and started actually swimming.

This was no ordinary open water swim. After swimming around the first buoy, we swam back to shore, where we were instructed to do 50 jumping jacks. Then, back in the water! I swam out to the second buoy (ah! a nice numb face now!). Back to shore for some plank push-ups. By this point, I was actually glad to go back into the water because my body perceived it as being warmer than the shore (funny how that happens). I started swimming more comfortably and confidently, and even passed several people! This time, when we came back to shore, we had to partner up with whoever exited the water near us. That person was Bindu, and we had to take turns doing "wheelbarrow races" for a short stretch before we went back in the water. After the wheelbarrow races, we hopped in again, this time swimming across all of the buoys, back to the beginning. When we finally returned to shore, we had to run the length of the beach and back again (probably only about 1/4 mile, but boy it felt long!).

THEN...

We changed into dry clothes and drove over to Sports Basement, where the rest of our workout would (mostly) take place. We got on our bikes, received very wordy and confusing instructions indicating what our route was, and we headed out on the road. Not knowing San Francisco well, and not understanding the directions, I just did whatever I could to stick with people who knew where we were going. I barely looked at the scenery or views for fear of losing the bright green jackets in front of me. The route was even confusing to those who had done it before; we had to turn around at one point and backtrack as we ended up on the wrong street. We met up with some other Iron Teamers who were equally confused, and we finally found our way home all together. There must have been 30 of us riding together. It made us go a little slower, but it was actually a lot of fun being in the middle of all of that group energy. The ride was 14 miles, and took us about an hour.

THEN...

We changed into our running shoes and got even more confusing directions. We were supposed to run through the presidio to the Lyon Street stairs where we were going to do some core work. We turned the wrong way on Lyon St, however, and probably ran an extra 1/2 mile downhill before we turned and went back uphill. We finally got to the stairs, much later than everyone else. I didn't bring water with me, because it sounded like we were just going to run a mile, do some core work, and run back. That was a mistake. The stairs: Lyon Street Stairs. 300 of them:



This picture doesn't do the stairs justice, since it goes so high that you can't even see half-way to the top from the bottom!

So, on the stairs, we did 6 repeats:

Repeat one: We ran up the 300 stairs, one stair at a time, and ran back down. It was hard, for sure, but I managed it without much complaint.

Repeat two: We ran up the 300 stairs skipping steps, then ran back down. I think that I technically didn't "run" about half of that. By this point, it was definitely getting hard.

Repeats three and four: We repeated numbers 1 and 2. By this point, I was really wishing I had brought water with me, and started feeling very dizzy and dehyrdrated.

Repeat five: We jumped up the 300 stairs, feet together. I was determined. I started slowly, but picked up speed. I pushed through it as hard as I could, and then all of a sudden about 30 steps from the top, I got a huge wave of nausea. I fell over to the side, sure I was about to vomit. I felt tears coming on, and trying to suppress them made my asthma kick in. I know this is ridiculous, but what was going through my head was disappointment in myself that I was showing weakness. Not physical weakness, but mental weakness, which is the worst kind. I knew that this was a test of mental toughness, and I really wanted to pass. Of course this happened to be the exact moment that Coach Mike saw me. I hated the idea of him seeing me in tears, out of breath, like someone who might give up when it gets hard. I took a hit of my inhaler, and hopped straight up to the top of the stairs. A woman named My from the San Francisco team talked with me on the way down, calmed me down a bit. The nausea was starting to subside, and I was starting to catch my breath.

Repeat six: We were supposed to hop on one foot halfway up, then switch to the other foot. This was just a ridiculous exercise, and a few of the south bay coaches encouraged us not to do it if it caused any knee or hip pain. I did just one flight of the right let and one of the left, and then ran the rest of the way.

I was relieved when we were told to run back to Sports Basement for the next part of our training.

THEN...

We got on our bikes (on trainers) and did a spin workout. This was actually pretty fun! Spin workouts allow you to ride your bike as a stationary bike so that you can focus on your technique and high cadence without worrying about the dangers of the road. I had a view of the Golden Gate Bridge during the workout. Not too shabby! The coaches played some great music, and the team was in great spirits. At one point, we even all sang along to the choruses of "Rock N Roll all night." Tourists, cyclists, runners, and various people on the bike path nearby slowed down to watch. It must have looked weird to see all of these cyclists on trainers, wearing bright green and purple jackets, going nowhere when it was such a beautiful day to ride! A few people even took pictures of us! Anyway, our spin workout lasted for about 45 minutes.

THEN...

We went on a 3 mile run. I ran with Christina who runs a bit faster than me, and I kept up with her the whole time. We averaged 9 minute miles!

THEN...
We had another 45 minute spin workout. I'm really not kidding. We simulated the hills at the Wildflower triathlon.

THEN...

We were instructed to run about 1.5 miles down the path until we hit some monkey bars. Okay.... Christina and I ran together again. It was a pretty good pace, although I doubt it was under 10 minute miles. At the monkey bars, we were instructed to do the following: 25 push-up holds to downward dogs, 25 pushups, sideways squats across an entire field and back, and 25 pull ups (I can't even do one) or hold the pull up position as long as possible. Oh, did I mention we were supposed to do 3 sets of these????

THEN...

We ran the 1.5 miles in VERY strong headwinds back to sports basement.

8 hours after we started, our workout was over. For Saturday, anyway. Read on to see what we did on Sunday!

SUNDAY

We got to "sleep in" on Sunday because our carpool didn't have to meet until 6:40, our training being only in San Jose. Our first thing on the agenda was swimming, but thankfully, we were at Gunderson High School, swimming in the 80 degree pool. Heaven. I was eager to get in the water; in fact, I was the first one in. I did a 500 yard warm up before the official workout began. I noticed that I was actually lapping the other swimmers in my lane, and Coach Joe moved me around until he found some swimmers that were my pace. This was exciting because I really feel I am getting faster and stronger in my swimming. The whole swim workout was 2700 yards in a little more than an hour's time.

THEN...

We got on our bikes and rode on the road for an hour. We climbed Shannon Rd, which is a nice, gentle climb. I noticed that I wasn't too sore from yesterday, but I did have some major fatigue setting in. I took it easy heading out, and then felt stronger on the way back in. It was like yesterday, about a 14 mile ride and an hour or so long.

THEN...

We ran for an hour on the same pathway as the San Jose International Triathlon. I ran with Afi, who really pushed me! We averaged between a 9 or 10 minute mile, and we even accomplished a negative split! We did this with a run/walk combination of 5 minutes running to 1 minute of walking. I was amazed that I was able to keep up with her in our 12th hour of boot camp! She was really fun to run with, too, and a total inspiration.

THEN...

We got on our bikes for a 30 minute "hill simulation" spin workout.

THEN...

We had a track workout. We ran an 800, then did 5 minutes of push-ups, squats, and crunches. Then we ran another 800, this time running up and down the steps of the bleachers, as though we hadn't had enough stair work yet! Then we did 5 minutes of lunges, tricep pushups, and side crunches. Then we ran for another 800, then did 5 minutes of more pushups, step-ups, and reverse crunches. We may have done more, but at this point it's really hard to remember.

THEN...

We had another spin workout for 30 minutes, this time focusing on high cadence.

THEN...

We had another track workout. We ran a 1200, then did 15 burpees, and 15? 30? crunches. Then, we ran another 1200, and did 30 lunges and 15 pushups, I think. Then, we ran another 1200, and we.... (ahhhh!) stretched!!!!

THEN...

We put our bathing suits back on, and.... cannonballed (!) into the water, splashed around, stretched a little, and generally just played like we were kids. It had team bonding written all over it.

We finished Sunday's workout in 7 hours.

THIS WEEK'S SUMMARY:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: spin 60, run 30
Wednesday: track practice (about 5 miles and core)
Thursday: swim, 90 minutes, 3100 yards!
Friday: run 50 minutes
Saturday: swim 1600 (?) yards, bike 14 miles, spin 90 minutes, run 9 miles, corework
Sunday: swim 2700 yards, bike 14 miles, run 11 miles, spin 60 minutes, corework

BODY CHECK: general soreness and fatigue in my shoulders and calves, but it's not too bad! My right knee is tender, but really not painful. Back is tight but pain-free!

NUTRITION: I tried thermalyte tablets today. I think I took too many or took them too often because I was nauseas for most of the workout. I also tried perpetuem. I mixed a 4 hour bottle and sipped it throughout the workout. I liked it, but that could also be the cause of the nausea, so I have more experimenting to do.

Questions that can only be answered by experimenting:
Since I'm not a heavy sweater, should I use endurolytes instead of thermolytes? How many an hour?
When I'm nauseas, is it because I have too much salt in my body? (I think so.)
How many calories is the most my stomach can handle per hour? (I'm thinking around 200, but I'd like it to be 250 if I can get used to it!)