One of Wolfpack Joey’s favorite things to say is: “you can’t improve upon what you don’t measure.” Consequently, this was testing week in my Ironman Arizona training plan. The only problem here is my absolute dislike for intensity and testing. It’s not just a sports thing either: SATs, GMATs, final exams. I panic and become dumb. Things that I know how to do don’t come out effectively.
I didn’t pay too much attention on the speed tests for Ironman Florida because I wasn’t too concerned with time. Finishing was good enough. But because I have a time goal for this race, I need to be more aware of my speed and hopefully my improvement. As ugly as it was, I did the run and swim tests. My bike FTP test is scheduled for Monday with Andreas at the Ultrabikex Computrainer Studio.
I was disappointed on all accounts (I was slower than usual on both tests), but being the quintessential cheerleader he is, Joey told me not to worry. There are about 22 weeks left to Ironman Arizona, and I have not been doing any speed work. It takes our bodies a little time to respond to training and to fire up the way we want them to. This was just a baseline. Lip service or not, it was enough to get me feeling good again.
I have stuck reasonably close to the plan, but had to be creative on getting it done. So on Thursday, while my boys rode their skateboards to the park I ran next to them. If they rode their bikes, I wouldn’t be able to keep up but they are not as confident on their boards. We found a good pace until half a block from our house where I stepped on a coconut.
I live in Florida and the street we live on is lined with tall, beautiful coconut trees. This is great except that sometimes they fall on the side walk, and this time there was a baby one about two inches wide and I stepped right on top of it.
I felt my ankle twist, I felt a “crack” and I went down. I felt a sharp pain and for a split second I thought I broke something. I sat on the grass while Fearless sat next to me not knowing exactly what to do. But it was that moment that things still hurt, and I couldn’t really tell him anything. I just held my ankle and waited for the pain to dissipate a little bit, and it did. I couldn’t believe a small coconut brought me down.
I still had to finish walking home, so I got up and limped around a bit. I was pretty sure it was a sprain and not anything broken. I immediately took Advil, iced my ankle and raised it while I watched the Brazil world cup game. Though the ankle was still swollen, stubborn little me still went out for my long ride on Friday as this weekend’s training was dicey due to father’s day. However, I am skipping the run, and letting this heal before this little nothing becomes a something.
I keep remembering: it’s still early and if I was going to twist my ankle on a coconut best for it to happen now, and not in the middle of the heavy training. Therefore, this week came with an added dose of gratitude. Here was the training:
Friday – Bike: Ultrabikex Studio computrainer session. Hill repeats.
Saturday- Swim: 40 minutes open water … met up with a large manta!
Sunday – Bike: 3 hours on easy gear with high RPMs
Monday – unintentional rest day
Tuesday- 5k run test and Monday’s missed swim test
Wednesday – 50 minutes, open water at a lake
Thursday – Run: 40 mins recovery run and sprained ankle
Friday – Bike: 2.5 hours on easy gear with high RPM
How about you? How was your week?
