Mental Shift

Last week was my first truly back from vacation, hitting the workouts hard. The week started out great. My attitude was wonderful. My body was refreshed. By the end of the week, I could have tattooed a big question mark on my forehead. 


MONDAY: Crazy stupid day. 8:30 am taught PUMP. 4:30 taught ZUMBA. 5:30 went RPM. 7:30 pm TAUGHT PUMP again. Argh. So tired....


TUESDAY: After teaching FLOW, I ran on the Morton to East Peoria  4 miles out, 4 miles back. I hit 5 miles and felt great. The final 3 miles were AMAZING!!!! I picked up my speed. I felt great. I felt strong. I felt like an Ironman. 


WEDNESDAY: I took Dolce out for a 30 mile bike ride in the morning for my first ride with my aero bars. By the time I finished, my shoulders felt like I had knots in them, but I know that's a situation which will improve as I spend more time on my bike. I came home and took a 1 hour power nap and woke up thinking:  Ummm, do you think you should go to the pool? I was still working through my Total Immersion drills. I did a 1000 yards of drills and felt like I was making improvements in my technique.  I taught FLOW and PUMP that night. 


THURSDAY: I taught FLOW in the morning. My legs were tired, but I felt mentally prepared for my 12 mile run....and then discovered I was wrong. I went down to Coal Miners park and started off fighting traffic and stop lights. I hate not having a planned route because I'm constantly searching for the next turn. My legs felt sluggish. No power. No umph. I finally get to two hours (10 miles) and decide enough is enough. The two additional miles was going to do nothing for me except give me a pat on the back. I was done. 


FRIDAY: I taught PUMP in the morning. Because I was going out of town for the weekend, I needed to get a trainer ride in before taking off. I came home and jumped on the trainer. Unfortunately, due to timing, I was only able to ride 45 minutes. 


SATURDAY & SUNDAY: Unintentional rest days?? I planned to take a rest day one day over the weekend, but somehow that rest felt so good I took the weekend off. 


With Thursday's tough run, I started letting Diablo come back into my life. I heard his negative voice. He started plugging doubts into my mind about whether I could do this Ironman. I think that's the number one thing people don't realize. Every day is a battle. It's not just about August 26th. It's about every day you put in leading up to that day. To me, Ironman Louisville is just the Grand Finale to a year's worth of hard work. I'm just hoping to enjoy the Grand Finale with a smile on my face and maybe occasionally a slight snarl. 


The two days rest gave me time to reflect on my training, my goals, my purpose. As I start this week off again, I keep focusing on my mantra: "I am strong. I am an Ironman." (insert "wannabe", but I will get there).