Halloween

Saturday: Bike 34 miles

Sunday: Run 4.5 miles

So here's dedication for you: Up at 6:15 on a Sunday for a high-intensity run, ready for Sunday school by 8:45, done with church at 11:30, and back in the car by noon to drive to Cody, Wyoming, for a family gathering at 2.

And here's where the dedication falls apart: a cookie before getting on the road, a cookie and piece of apple cake with whipped cream for dessert, another cookie just because, and then a minor raid of the children's trick-or-treat bags after dark. It could have been worse, but I have to say I'm not proud of how I handled my first scheduled break from the Ironman sugar fast.

So here we are at dinner and my husband's cousin says, "Oh, you're training for an Ironman? Besides working out, are you doing anything else to prepare?"

And here's me, mouth full of cake: "Well, I gave up sugar…"

Cautiously optimistic

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Run 8 miles

Friday: Swim 3,200 yards

I got a weird glimmer this week of what it might be like to actually be in shape, and a hint that I'm getting there. First off, I was extremely disappointed that I ended up being glued to my desk all day Wednesday—because I'm starting to miss my actual family, but also because I was stir crazy after two full days of rest and wanted to get the the gym. Those hard workouts I dreaded last week sounded like just what I needed.

I know! Weird, right?

Then I went to physical therapy on Thursday, and Dan told me I was ready to "graduate" if I wanted. I still need to work on strengthening my hip and stretching my IT band (and I still have to refrain from sleeping on my right side), but I can handle it on my own from this point, and I'm basically cured. As if to prove it, I immediately headed to the gym for a wonderful, pain-free nearly two hours on the treadmill. I felt fabulous afterward. Like I had maybe 4 more miles in me before it was going to feel like a "long" run (slash walk).

I seem to remember from my swimming days that being in shape is its own reward. If I can just get my life to cooperate with my workout plans, I think I can make it happen.

Busy busy busy

Tuesday: Rest

I have literally not left my desk for more than 2 minutes at a time this entire day, but rest assured that if I had, I would have headed straight for my bike. Tomorrow will be more of the same. Hmm. This week is looking downright deja vuey.

Not a nice day for a ride

Sunday: Swim 2,500 yards, yoga

Monday: Bike 17 miles, run 2.5 miles

The nine-day extravaganza of work and stress and pain that was Week 5 is FINALLY over, and it ended with an utterly miserable bike ride in the freezing, howling wind. It was blowing so hard that I was afraid to ride on my normal roads for fear that I'd get blown into traffic and run over by a truck. So in addition to miserable weather, it was also a miserable (but safe) route: a loop around my neighborhood, a couple miles down a nice wide bike path, a loop around a different neighborhood, and back. Lots of times.

Never again. I have been a wuss about setting up the trainer and trying it out, but the next riding day that's like that, I will have to. (I have never ridden on a trainer before, ever, but I've always known the time is coming. This is Montana.)

The run afterward was actually really nice. The wind was still howling (plus it started raining on me), but it was all much easier to deal with on foot, and running just felt good. I am starting to realize that running on a treadmill is only loosely related to running outside, and if you want to get better at running outside, then you have to actually go run there. Obvious, maybe. But it feels like a breakthrough to me, and it seems like I'm improving now that I've ventured outside a few times.

Probably the physical therapy is helping, too. Everything we do there is torture, but it's nice not to have hip pain.

That wasn't so bad, considering

Friday: Swim 3,000 yards

Saturday: Bike 36 miles, run 2.5 miles

Despite saying I was going to take this week one day at a time, I'd been dreading today's workout. The main biking set was to hold a 75% heart rate for 11.2 miles (one-tenth of the race distance). Twice. It was supposed to be timed, but since I was biking outside, I scrapped the whole 11.2 idea entirely and just did it for 42 minutes. Twice.

I've calculated that my 75% maximum heart rate for biking is 131 (141 for running) but I actually find it really hard to get there and stay there. For most of this ride I had to settle for upper 120s (and a voice in my head screaming, "Faster! Faster!"). I spent the whole ride trying to figure out why it's so hard for me to maintain an aerobic pace on the bike, and the only thing I could come up with is that my saddle is so darn uncomfortable that I'm in actual pain even when I'm not working that hard, so it raises my perceived exertion.

That's just a fancy way of saying that I'm going to try to convince my husband that it's a great idea to drop $150 on a new saddle.

But seriously, I'm going to be biking a lot more miles, and there's a limit to how much more pain I can "get used to." As soon as I got home I started Googling, and here's what I think I want:

Isn't it pretty? See that cut-out area? That's the part that's not going to hurt any more!

I've also been researching biking shorts, and it turns out there's a whole universe of $130 high-tech shorts that apparently feel like you're wearing fluffy clouds, but I really think the saddle is the place to start.

Back at it

Thursday: Run 8 miles

Wow, that was a long one on the treadmill. Technically I was supposed to run for 1:10 and bike for :50, but I've been turning the bike into a walk so I can do it all at the gym during "Project Runway." Next week is the show's season finale, so I guess after that I'll be doing my workouts properly.

Or not. I've actually been thinking of taking my long run day and occasionally turning it into a super-long hiking day—like just setting out sometime I don't have anything to do (it happens!) and walking for six or seven hours, and then building up from there. I just want to get used to being up and moving for as long as it's going to take to get through an Ironman. (Not that I'm expecting a death march or anything. But if I end up with one, it might be kind of awesome to be trained for it.)

Today I was supposed to record the time for a 3-mile run done at a 75% maximum heart rate. It was strange—when I started out, I could go 5.6 mph at 75%, but my heart rate kept creeping up, and I had to take my speed down until I was running at 4.7 mph by the end. (I guess that's the type of thing I'm trying to improve with training.) Anyway, my 3-mile time was 36:58, which is a 12:19 pace.

A few words about my day

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Rest

Just stepping away from work for a second to say blearkjasf.

Glaufawej.

Bluvhhhw.

Muhrrhp.