I made it through the first week of Ironman China training...

I put 208 miles (336 km's) in the training log for the first week. It was nice to get this first week behind me. To be honest I was a little concerned at the beginning of the week. The main question was "do I have what it takes to get through this first week of Ironman training?". After all it has been over a year since I did Ironman training.

What freaked me out the most was Doru's comment about his calculations that my first week would be approximately 19 hours of training. I've never looked at it that way. I'm normally a rear view mirror guy. I like counting the hours after I do them. I like taking it day by day. If you do the days, the weeks take care of themselves. When I heard 19 hours, that seemed like a lot. It was intimidating. Was I going to be able to do it?

The first couple day's of the week I was dead tired. Every day after dinner and before a training session, I had a nap. A couple of people said I looked tired and pale. Although it did feel good to be back into a training routine. It also got me off the computer and back into a Zen like state.

Some of the first weeks highlights were:

- a couple of good swim sessions where I started improving my technique.

- a pair of new runners arriving.

- a blister starting from running.

- a slight bonk after Wednesday's 90 minute ride.

- having to eat after 8 pm. My workouts are later and my body craved food.

- being light headed for the first 4 days of the week when I'd stand up from sitting.

- Having a relatively good week of eating and keeping to my plan of only one day of drinking.

- Setting an indoor record for the amount of time on the trainer at 5:15 and over 100 miles.

- Finishing the week without missing a workout and my legs feeling relatively fresh

One of the areas I need to focus on is my diet. I need to lose weight. I haven't weighed myself but I'm definitely not under 180 lbs. I can see it in the mirror and my pants are a little tight. My runs have been slower and I'm not sure if it is from overworked legs or carrying heavier weight. When I took my jersey off for the last hour of my bike ride I saw too many bulges.

I also need to focus on getting my fat burning system working more efficiently. I'm going to be much more diligent in making sure I keep my heart rate lower. I've got to look at these first 6 weeks as base building and just get through the workouts with a low heart rate and easy pace.

The toughest part has been getting up in the morning. I feel like an old man. My legs are so stiff until I get moving, which takes about 30 minutes. Walking down the stairs is comedy. One stair at a time gripping on to the hand rails. I can't remember the last time I woke up with normal feeling legs.

This morning I woke up after a beautiful 9.5 hour sleep and didn't know what day it was, which confirms I had a great sleep. I finally realized it was Sunday because I hadn't yet done my long run. I was so excited that I hadn't done my long run. I felt doing a long run was more enjoyable than having to go to work. How sick is that?

Today's run was much slower than past long runs. It's been about 3 weeks since my last long run. My heart rate maximum has been increased by the coaches to 143 bpm from 140 bpm. I was hoping I'd go faster because I can take my heart rate higher. When I went slower at a higher heart rate it was a little depressing. I decided to do my hilly run route. Why do easy mileage? I don't want any regrets when racing in China. By the 9 mile point my blister was really bothering me.

Before I left the house I put a blister bandage on the heel of my foot and took extra bandages with me just in case I needed them. Which I did. I put on a second one and it helped a bit. I ran through the pain. I had the option to call Alice to pick me up but decided against it. I figured I'd rather get the blister, let it heal and get it over with. It was a "suck it up" moment.

Long Run - 1:59:04 / 14.16 miles / 8:24 pace / 141 avg hr