This particular week was again filled with some “ups and downs”. The intensity of the training is really difficult to put into words and I’m very sure that most people can’t fathom how intense my week was unless you have trained at this level before.
20 hours of training in a week is not that daunting, but I can say that combined with the intensity and focus required was starting to show its hand. There were times this week in which I misread parts of a training plan, forgot which lap I was on in the pool or even leaving a watch behind and swimming by feel which is never a good thing. Your body tends to get into a comfortable zone, and its important to always keep and track good data so that you can really see if you are improving or are stagnant.
I felt tired and had some miscues with sleeping and eating. My moods were gray and I know it was all a function of the intensity. It was great being warned that this would happen, but it did frustrate me a bit.
Hills
For the past four weeks I’ve been given a running drill-set that is extremely hard. I’ve come to love doing this set because it completely pushes all the core systems and I can tell from my subsequent runs and bikes that this drill-set has helped my performance. The people who live on this hill see me once per week at 6:00AM and think I’m insane (judging by seeing then look out their windows). The hill’s grade is like a Batman scalable wall! It is called Hill-Bounding.
Here it is:
Bike all-out, every thing you have, with the maximum resistance you can tolerate barring falling off your bike from failure. They are called Tabata’s.
1) Warm up for 20 min
2) All out 8 times for 20 seconds
3) Warm-down for 20 min
Jump off your bike and head for a run in the hills
Run for 35 minutes to your killer hill
Sprint up that hill 9 times and each time you are at the top of the hill jog around for 3 minutes then fast tap down the hill.
Every 3rd time down the hill, complete an all-out wind sprint and then run back up that hill.
Run home for 35 minutes with your legs hanging off.
That is the thrill! I’m flying up the hills now!
Here is the PILL.
After completing the above, for the first time with this protocol, I injured myself. My cranky foot started hurting badly three days later. I was panicked, because I was sure I broke it again like I did last year training for the Boston Marathon. I spoke to my coach and he thought it was something really acute and was not concerned as much as I was. The feeling of the foot was exactly like Boston. In my mind, not only was there a chance I would miss some of my thresholds and goals, my season was in jeopardy. I was really concerned so I went about finding a foot doctor who worked with Ironman athletes.
After a quick search on face book I was referred to Dr. Neil Feldman. I later learned that Neil was actually a teammate of mine, completed Lake Placid and reached the World Championship, which are all this years goals of mine. In the past, with other injuries, the doctors I see come back with the standard answer that I need to stay off my feet or something to that effect. This is not an option for me at this level and it is critical that I stay with Qt2’s plan and protocol. A broken foot was not going to make this any easier. My heart sank leading up to my visit with Neil. I’ve put so much of myself into training to this point. My family has made many, many sacrifices for me. Was it all gone?
To my delight, Neil spent a lot of time with me. He X-rayed and watched my foot strike and explained my x-rays to me like no other doctor has ever done. My diagnosis; bad Newton shoes for my foot type, nerve pinch, and overly tight muscle in my calf picking my toe up. It was also explained to me, that in Neil’s opinion I was overly tight and did not have the elasticity in some critical spots that would keep me healthy. Neil went on to say that I have to pay attention to rolling, self-massage as if it were my religion. I received two cortisone shots to take away some of the pain and was told I could run the next day. I decided not to run and I was heading into a slower recovery week.
My foot still felt weak and funky, so it was with great disappointment that I decided to miss one of my stated races, the Disney half marathon. It’s a long season and I want to let my foot mend well. My conditioning and weight is better than it’s ever been and I was excited to see what I could do on a flat course. I have another half marathon in four weeks, so we will see. This week, as in life was very informative. I firmly believe you cannot appreciate all of the “highs” in life unless you have the privilege of comparing them with the “lows”. The valuable lessons are the ones that cost you something. I’m confident I learned some great tips as a result of getting hurt this week and I’m thankful I was able to get some great feedback from Neil and other teammates and Jesse. I’m extremely well supported.
I decide to go to the race anyway to see my sister run her first half. I invited Bella to come along with me for a 4-day get away. The lows cost me racing this week, but in the end it gave me my greatest gift. Bella when asked to come with me, said, “Dad, I’m so proud of you for all of your training and marathons, but I miss you and I’m happy to spend time with you more than going to Disney”. That tore me up instantly, and again, there are always silver linings to any cloud. I now have more than a race finish; Bella and I will both have memories that will last forever. I miss my little girl too!
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