Last Week’s Workouts

on July 15, 2013
in All Posts

First week of Half Ironman training!

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Week 1 of training is an “intro” week so I can get used to the structure of training. Coach Marni says that more experienced triathletes could probably skip this week, but I wanted to complete it.  My plan is 12 weeks long and – trust me – I want every single week to prepare!

 

Monday: 3 mile run

Tuesday: 1 hour bike (indoor trainer)

Wednesday: 30 minute swim + Strength

Thursday: 1 hour bike + 15 minute run

Friday: 1 1/2 hour bike (indoor trainer)

Saturday: 30 minute swim

 

Totals: 3 miles of running, 3 1/2 hours of biking, 1 hour of swimming

 

Monday was really supposed to be a rest day, and Sunday was supposed to be a 1 hour run, but my week got a little flip-flopped because of the Ramblin Rose Rock Hill event.  I was up at 4:30 and at the event site by 5:30 – the race didn’t start until 8:00, but there was lots of work to do, like putting up signs, organizing cones to mark the course, and helping the athletes get situated in transition. Once the race started, I ran around like a crazy person photographing athletes and running our Facebook and Twitter pages.

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I was beat by the end of the morning, but it was so much fun!

 

So… the issue that I encountered this week is FOOT PAIN.  I’ve had enough experience with injuries to know when NOT to push it, so it was good that I had Sunday off anyway, because I know I needed a break.  What’s the issue?  Well, I think my cycling shoes don’t fit me anymore!  Isn’t that funny?  I’ve had them for years but post-pregnancy – they are terrible for my feet.  We all know pregnancy changes your body forever, but I didn’t account for changes in my FEET!  Geez.

 

I’ve noticed similar pain in some of my other less forgiving ‘regular’ shoes, too. But just to be sure…  I’m going to see if I can find a friend in Charlotte who can loan me a pair of cycling shoes for a week or so; this will allow me to really decide if it’s the shoes or something else.

 

I’ve also been doing a lot of stretching and IT band care because I know my IT band is tight, and that’s certainly not helping my feet.  Additionally, Coach Marni sent me this article – How to Prevent Common Running Injuries – which was a helpful read. My feet are feeling totally normal today, so I think I just needed some time out of those damn cycling shoes. 

 

How was your training last week? Anyone complete a race over the weekend?

{ 38 comments }

 

  • Victoria July 15, 2013, 7:18 am

    If your feet hurt while cycling, check out the position of your cleats, too.

  • Liza July 15, 2013, 7:21 am

    I already wear a size 10 shoe, so I am terrified that I won’t be able to find shoes after pregnancy! I’m curious, did Marni tailor your plan to include more cycling time because you consider that to be your weak sport? I think that leg will be my relative worst, and I definitely need to step up my training in that area.

  • Kristi July 15, 2013, 7:40 am

    I think my feet changed a lot after I was pregnant as well. Shoes didn’t fit the same after I had my daughter and never really changed back.

  • Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat July 15, 2013, 7:51 am

    I’m so excited for you and this race Caitlin! I experienced some horrific achilles tendinitis last year that conveniently struck about 3 months prior to one of my planned half marathons, and as a result, I only managed to do about 3 weeks of pain-free training just before race day. I’ve definitely learned to listen to my body as a result of that!

    Ooh also, I’m not sure if you’re into podcasts, or if you have time to listen to them now that you’ve got Henry to entertain, but one that I absolutely love is Zen and the Art of Triathlon. It’s by a guy named Brett and even though I don’t do tris (yet), I find them super inspiring! He talks about everything from nutrition to bike cadence (sometimes while he’s in the middle of a workout or driving to work!) He also does really interesting interviews (like one I just listened to on the use of ‘Iron’ in any races and the brand protection etc around Ironman) and on-location race coverage. Check it out on iTunes if you get a chance!

    • Kerry July 15, 2013, 5:27 pm

      Thanks for the podcast recommendation, Angela! I listen to This American Life on my long runs but the episodes are shorter than my runs, unfortunately! I am adding this to my queue!

  • Lauren @ The Highlands Life July 15, 2013, 7:58 am

    I love that sign about “Your mom runs marathons? How cute.” Totally great. I want to be that mom one day!

    • Anne Weber-Falk July 15, 2013, 2:43 pm

      Me too! That sign made me laugh out loud. Hey Caitlin, my feet grew a 1/2 size with each child. I went from a nice easy size 8 to a 9 – 9 1/2. Sighhhh, no more cute little feet. Love those babies!

    • Carina July 15, 2013, 3:00 pm

      I always laugh when people misspell words on big signs, even better when it’s in pink glitter. Maybe spelling isn’t her strong suit…

    • Jill July 15, 2013, 7:22 pm

      Hmmm. That sign kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I’m not sure why we’d applaud someone for one thing (triathlon-ing) by putting another person’s training (marathon-ing) down…

  • MIZ July 15, 2013, 8:04 am

    is it sad I NEEED that common running injuries link—and Im not a runner.
    Im a …misfit 🙂

  • Nora J July 15, 2013, 8:15 am

    My feet grew from a 9.5 to an 11 post pregnancy. The hormones that cause your hips to widen – I think it’s called relaxin? – also cause the ligaments in your feet to loosen and your feet can get bigger! I don’t have any more trouble really finding 11s than 10s (9.5 are rarely available) – especially online. But losing my extensive shoe collection was really sad. My mom has the best shoe collection in town now. It’s worth getting refit and even having a new analysis done for running shoes to see if your gait/feet have changed. I also had to switch from a neutral to a stability shoe!

  • Sarah July 15, 2013, 8:20 am

    AWESOME! I look forward to following your training. I begin training for my FIRST full Marathon today!

  • misspipkelly July 15, 2013, 8:20 am

    I hope youre feet feel better soon!

    Thanks for posting the running injuries article – helpful!

  • Alex July 15, 2013, 8:42 am

    My feet definitely grew after pregnancy. A whole size. Eck. Those signs were awesome!

  • Sara @ LovingOnTheRun July 15, 2013, 8:44 am

    I hope you feel better soon! Great week of training there! Today is a rest day for me though I am thinking about getting a SLOW 3 mile run in after work just to keep my legs moving!

  • Corrie Anne July 15, 2013, 9:41 am

    Haha. I love the my mom does tris sign!!!!!!!

  • Kinsey July 15, 2013, 10:18 am

    I for one always find brick workouts to be a killer (yesterday was 20 mile bike +3 mile run), but they are incredibly helpful for race day. One of those love-hate things I guess!

  • FitBritt@MyOwnBalance July 15, 2013, 10:27 am

    Wow! Your training schedule sounds intense. Good luck! Let us know how it goes! 🙂

    I heard that pregnancy can change your feet, including your shoe size. I’m terrified that when I start having children my nice shoes won’t fit anymore! Foot pain is no joke though, I hope you get some new shoes!

  • Katie July 15, 2013, 10:49 am

    You can always freeze golf balls or tennis balls to roll underneath your feet 🙂

  • Grace @ Grace Dishes July 15, 2013, 11:32 am

    Great job with your training and have a great week. This reminds me that I need to go swimming soon! I have been meaning to but the weekend always ends with me not going to the pool.

  • Johanna B July 15, 2013, 12:35 pm

    My post pregnancy feet were a whole size larger than before. Good thing – all new shoes.

  • Brandi H July 15, 2013, 12:55 pm

    What size cycling shoes are you looking for?

    • Caitlin July 15, 2013, 1:33 pm

      7 1/2?

  • Rachel July 15, 2013, 1:58 pm

    I had an old pair of running shoes that I tried on the other day, and they were way too small! When I wore those shoes I ran 3-4 miles, but now I run marathons and it really has changed my foot shape.

    I have foot problems if I overtrain, and it sucks because you need your feet for everyday activities and its hard to completely rest when you have to walk around, etc. Hopefully you’ll get your issue resolved and it won’t be a constant problem. It probably will turn out to be your feet have changed.

  • Sonia the Mexigarian July 15, 2013, 2:13 pm

    I did the Jungle Run 1/2. I was coming back from hip injury and uh, well, came out of this race hobbling. I tweaked my right knee stretching before the race and it flared up around mile 4 or 5. it went down hill from there. my left IT band and bottom of foot hurt and my knee is very unhappy with me. there goes my return to running for a week. we’ll see what my PT says. BUT i was in an overall happy mood during the painful race. i loved being back out on the trail and enjoyed what I could do and listened to my body forcing myself to walk and slow down when I just couldn’t run anymore. injuring myself again only made me think I needed to take care of myself more and come back from stronger training.

  • sara July 15, 2013, 3:14 pm

    I just wanted to say I love reading your blog. It’s nice to see someone else from North Carolina. I’m just now entering the running world. Maybe one day I’ll start triathlons too! Keep up the awesome work. you’re so motivational!

    Check out my blog.. its a work in progress :/ theworkingathlete.wordpress.com

  • Ellen @ Wannabe Health Nut July 15, 2013, 3:18 pm

    I ran the 10K leg in a NYC Triathlon relay for work – it was awesome! I really enjoyed seeing how a triathlon worked behind-the-scenes, even though I wasn’t doing the full thing. I didn’t, however, come away from the experience wanting to do one. I’m a strong swimmer and runner, but I am fearful on the bike and frankly, I just don’t have a strong desire to work on it – nor do I want to invest the money in it. But I PR’d with a 8:40 mile average, which was really surprising because I was really struggling in the heat. It made me realize I could be a much stronger runner than I ever thought. It was a great feeling.

    Re: the foot: Make sure your calves are always stretched well and roll the bottom of your feet with a frozen water bottle. It really helps! I am prone to plantar faciitis and do both those things when I feel a flare coming and it always gives me relief. Good luck with training!

  • Ashley July 15, 2013, 3:28 pm

    Love following training plan! A half (and maybe a full..) Ironman is on my dream race list next year so it’s great to see what I could be looking at. Keep up the good work!

  • Kim July 15, 2013, 4:04 pm

    12 weeks to a half iron man is intense! I’m a pace leader for a training program here in Dallas with the Dallas Marathon being the target race (in December). We start our training on Saturday and it is a 20 week plan, so 12 weeks seems insanely fast! Although, I am training for the Chicago marathon before the Dallas marathon, so I guess I have a relatively short training plan for that one as well.

  • Julie July 15, 2013, 5:09 pm

    My shoe size went up 1/2 a size after pregnancy & hasn’t changed since (& my daughter is 13!).

  • Kerry July 15, 2013, 5:24 pm

    My mom’s feet grew half an inch with each of her three children 🙂

    I am so excited to “watch” as you train for this race! It is my dream to someday complete a half ironman and you are such an inspiration to me!

    Also, my first triathlon is two weeks away and I am so nervous! I have been training for it but I found out this weekend that I won’t have anyone come with me because my boyfriend has to go out of town for work. So, I still haven’t registered because now I am so nervous about doing all of that on my own!

    • Caitlin July 15, 2013, 6:56 pm

      You can do it!!!!

  • Julie @ RDelicious Kitchen July 15, 2013, 5:55 pm

    i love all the signs!

  • Sarah @ Yogi in Action July 15, 2013, 6:34 pm

    That is an impressive start up week! I look forward to hearing about your workout weeks as you up the quantity.

    My workout week was: Yoga, yoga and more yoga. One day I figured out I did 6+ hours of yoga! But that’s what happens when you go to yoga teacher training 😛 Definitely worth it!

  • Kyla July 15, 2013, 8:43 pm

    I’m running a half this coming weekend! RNR Chicago, so excited to do a race near home.

  • Luv What You Do July 15, 2013, 11:20 pm

    Random question…do you think that you need an indoor trainer to train for a half ironman???

    • Caitlin July 16, 2013, 6:35 am

      I don’t think you have to have it but I think it makes it a lot easier (what if you need to ride when it’s dark out or raining super hard?)(

  • Marni Sumbal July 18, 2013, 9:52 am

    So happy you started with the intro week. Many athletes progress too quickly with training and don’t allow time for the body to physically adapt. You may have a few tight areas which are causing tendons/nerves to be inflamed during activity so we will be mindful of how a proper warm-up, good form and recovery techniques will keep you consistent and injury-free during this journey. We never want to train through pain or an injury so whenever you are questioning an ache vs a pain, focus on what you can do pain free to be proactive with your healthy and strong body. There is always another option if you can’t run such as the elliptical, water jogging, hip/glute/core work or walking as you continue with bike/swim training. We will keep an eye on this as we move forward. So happy to see you balancing training w/ life and inspiring others as you inspire yourself! Keep up the great work…1 week down!
    -Coach Marni 🙂

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