After finishing LOTOJA in September, I of course started thinking about what my next challenge would be. I have talked about my desire to do an Ironman in the past, but never very seriouisly. I only said I would like to do it at some point in the future. It’s a huge rush to hear your name called when you cross a finish line, but I can only imagine how awesome it would be to cross a finish line and be called an Ironman.
Riding a bike for 12 hours and 10 minutes accelerated my desire to complete an Ironman. I am committing to doing it, but I haven’t set a date for it. I have some work to do before I’ll be comfortable setting a firm date, at which point I’ll need to find a coach to help me train. Up to this point, the longest triathlon I’ve done is Olympic distance, and that was 3 years ago.
An Ironman is going to be incredibly challenging, but the running part is downright intimidating to me. So I’ve decided to face that head on first and I’ve signed up for a half marathon on January 17th. (I can almost hear my mom’s voice saying, “You really are an idiot.”) I’ve also made a decision to stop speaking negatively about running, and it has helped me a great deal psychologically. Running is still painful, but I don’t despise it any more.
I’m still riding my bike on weekends, and running during the week. I’m up to just over 5 miles, and my plan is to increase a mile each week and a half until I can run 10 miles at a time and feel comfortable doing it. Each experienced runner has told me that as long as I can run 10 miles, I’ll be fine in a half marathon. It makes sense, as I train similarly on the bike, rarely riding the actual distance that I’m training for until race day.
I feel like I’m starting from scratch with figuring out how to hydrate, how to regulate my heart rate, how to recover, and how to fuel properly. But it’s fun taking on something new, and I really am starting to have fun with it. And as soon as I can find a Garmin Forerunner 920XT watch for a decent price I will be a data-collecting fool while cycling, running and swimming. I’m holding out for a Black Friday sale, but may have to resort to selling a kidney instead.
As for staying in ketosis, I feel like I’ve finally figured out what my body responds best to. If I fast for 12-16 hours, I feel really good, and my ketosis levels stay pretty high. I’ve even experimented with doing some training rides and runs while fasting and have not noticed a decline in performance. In fact, a few of my PRs on the bike were while fasting. I am really starting to enjoy not being dependent on food. I am finally starting to understand what many people who have been keto-adapted for years meant when they insisted they were rarely hungry. It took me a while, but I’m getting it!!