Week 12

Finally week 12 has rolled around, this is the start of the real ironman training!!

Monday morning was core and then 45min run at night.  Tuesday morning was a long run. Whilst I was supposed to do 1hr45 to 2hrs, I haven't done much in the way of long runs lately so decided to start out with 1hr 30 to avoid another flare up of plantar facitis that caused me grief during my half marathon training last year. I enjoyed a nice run through the hills in Bardon and Ashgrove.

On Tuesday night I had a squad swim session which included a 800metre TT. My time was 18 secs slower than previous my PB, but I am learning to accept that fact that I am going to be tired and will struggle at some sessions.

Wednesday was my first Mt Cootha session for a while. I had 4 reps up from the Quarry near the gardens to the roundabout at the top. At first I was a bit nervous as I had never ridden up Cootha this many times( I thought to myself  am I going to be able to get through this session? Note to self need to be positive and confident in my ability. The first rep was tough as the legs started to warm up but after that I felt a lot better. With all the descending my hands were starting to get sore from the brakes so I decided to try out descending on my drops ( it was heaps easier and I had way more control- Brett had told me earlier to do this but I always felt like I need to be up on the hoods.

I had another run Wednesday night and I was starting to feel the pinch from the earlier sessions in the week and 7 hours of riding on the weekend.

I had another swim on Thursday morning. I felt dreadful I couldn't hold the pace in the lane and was off the back the whole way and could barely swim a 50mtr in 1 minute ( normally I can hold 45 seconds without too many dramas). The week was catching up with me!! I had a trip to Warwick and Dalby with work straight after so I spent the day driving 600kms!! I decided to have the night off instead of doing my 60 minute run. ( next week I will be more consistent)

Friday morning was 20km TT out at Nundah. Again my time was a bit slower than my previous PB but I still managed to average 35km/hr.

I was back in the pool again Saturday morning for 3km swim followed by 1hr 30 on the bike. I felt heaps better in the pool and ride was fine.

Sunday was my long ride. We set off with BTS crew from the Valley for Hannah's birthday ride. It was pouring with rain. The group rode with us as far as Redcliffe then turned back ( at this point 2 hours into the ride with still another 3 hours to go I really wished as was going back as well!!) But Jac, Ray and I pressed ahead through to Scarborough and then back to town, finishing with a riverloop.  A total of 130kms over 5hrs 30mins. This is the longest distance I have ridden to date. The body held up ok with a little bit of neck pain and lower back pain that kicked in over the 4 hour mark. I was happy that I managed to get through and finish the ride despite being very wet all day. Jac and I enjoyed a nice warm coffee at the end of the ride it tasted so good. Thanks also to Ray for being our decision maker.

We had a family outing on Saturday night. My Dad loves John Williamson so we got him tickets to the show in conjunction with Qld Symphony Orchestra.  Dad is now finding it difficult to walk any distance so we decided to buy him a wheel chair a few weeks ago to make it easier for him to get around.  We had a nice dinner at Indian before the show. Dad is a very proud man and that fact that he struggling to walk and talk is having a big impact on him.  He is battling to remain positive which is hard to accept. I have memories of my Dad dealing with a number of difficult times on the farm. During the drought in the late 70's before roads and transport were good, Dad used to drive through the middle of the night from our farm at Capella to Mackay and back to buy Molasses to feed the cattle to keep them alive. This at the time would have been a 12 hour round trip which he did several times a week. 

Dad is a shell of his former self and as each day goes by he is losing the will to fight what is happening to him.  I reminded him on Saturday that he has got through many battles and tough times in life and that this is no different.  Mum said that after spending time with my sister Megan and myself Dad had a new enthusiasm for keeping up his exercises. So I hope I have given him some courage to keep on taking each  day as it comes and the challenges that it may bring.

As week 12 has drawn to a close, I am beginning to realise how challenging the training is going to be. My training load has picked up from an avg of 10hrs a week to close 17hrs.  I have felt constantly tired this week and sometimes I worry about Dad and also Mum and her ability to cope with his increasing care.  My Mum is an amazing lady, she is very stoic and positive. She is also a big inspiration. She has never been afraid of challenges and new experiences in life. She just goes about it all in quiet unassuming ways. I want to support her has much as possible.  I find the training is helping me to deal with my emotions regarding Dad.  Dad is one the key motivations for me taking on this challenge. When I question my ability to get through it all I keep on coming back to that.

My goals for week 11 are to get to bed earlier and try to be less grumpy at home (sorry Brett I am working this). Luckily my husband has done a Ironman before so he has some level of understanding of how the Ironman training demons can take hold! I have promised him I will buy him a new TT bike later in the year as a reward for putting up with me so hopefully that will keep him sweet.