And so it begins

After all of the talk...all of the preparation...all of the worrying, Ironman training officially began this morning. As usual, the anticipated fanfare over my first day of Ironman training did not even come close to the reality that greeted me this morning. For the past few days, I imagined waking up and going down stairs to get on my bike, and everything would be very dramatic (music, people cheering, etc.). As it turns out, I slept like crap last night and woke up not wanting to get out of bed. My first thought of training was, oh great, another friggin bike ride at ass o'clock in the morning. I lay there thinking of the 100 different ways I could get out of it and just put the workout off until this afternoon. But, that little devil that I have grown so accustomed to (guilt) was sitting on my shoulder shouting much more loudly than that other voice (sanity) could muster at such an early hour. So, I got up and staggered down stairs, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and dreading those first few pedal strokes.

For those of you who have never been on a Computrainer, let me describe the experience for you. The Computrainer is the human equivalent of a gerbil wheel. You set your back tire on a computerized roller and lock the hubs in place. The trainer is connected to your computer and there are bike courses from all over the world programmed into the software. The back wheel is the only thing that moves, and the computer takes such readings as how much wattage you are creating, how fast you are going, and how many calories you are burning. So, you ride along, never really going any where, but powering a little video game version of yourself on the computer monitor. Needless to say, it can be a bit boring. However, being a resident of one of the most bike unfriendly cities in the world, this is my best option.

I rode for 45 minutes and listened to the local DJs drone on about who knows what. It was not a stellar workout, but I got through it and I fel good that it is behind me.

This week is all about getting back into the training lifestyle. Karen, my coach, will slowly build me up over the next few weeks to prepare me for the long workouts that will be so essential to success on race day. Until then, it is all about building the aerobic base.

Anne and I made a major diet change this weekend as well. We are trying a completely gluten free diet. Gluten is basically a protein that is found in most breads, pastas, and cereals that we eat regularly. It can cause some serious gastrointestinal issues and it is found in most foods that are made by humans (not natural). In order to be gluten free, we are learning about such things as Xantham Gum, Millet, Quinoa, Potato Starch, Tapioca Flour, Rice Flour. I swear I have learned more about food in the past few days and it is really pretty fascinating. According to a book that we are reading about gluten free living, 50-70% of people are "gluten intolerant." That is a pretty stagerring figure when you think about how much gluten is in the foods that we eat on an every day basis. Anyway, I will keep you posted on our progress.

I have a weight lifting session that I still have to do today, but that is relatively easy compared with the morning bike ride. It's not that 45 minutes is a long time for me...it's just that I had no motivation. An unmotivated workout is always a tough workout.

More to come. Thanks for checking in.