The Road to the Ironman – Something new happened

Has anyone ever had an exercised induced migraine? I had my first experience with one on Sunday night. I never had a migraine before, so I am assuming this was one and let me tell you I will try my best not to go there again.

First how it happened. Now that I am at ground zero for the Ironman training, the time and mileage are starting to increase. On Saturday and Sunday I rode 50 miles on each day, so I am going into unknown territory. Saturday I felt fine and I knew Sunday was going to be a bit more rough but one’s gotta do what one’s gotta to do. I finished both rides, but the difference was Sunday night. I ran a fever, any light was too bright and I spent a good portion of the evening making a new friend I will call Mr. Porcelain. I was death warmed over. I didn’t want to see food let alone eat some. Advil did nothing to help and the pressure behind the eyes was something to experience. As Monday came around I was better (about 75%) but the pressure behind the eyes was still there. I bought some Excedrin Migraine and 20 minutes later it was gone. GOOD STUFF! I still feel a little pressure, but I decided to go out for a short run this morning and the result was no pain. I am guessing this means I made it past this hump. Now if I could only get that right hip pain to go away (there is always something.)

Now what do I do in the future to prevent this from happening again. Well the answer is easy either don’t ride so far (not going to happen for obvious reasons) or it is time to learn how to feed myself on the bike. Why is the answer so simple? Well according to my Polar watch I burned 2600 calories on the Sunday ride. I brought one bottle of water (0 calories) and a bottle of Gatorade (500 calories), you do the math. So as I began my physical journey towards the Ironman back in September. Then in January I learned there is a mental journey to the Ironman. Now in late May I learn there is also a nutritional journey to the Ironman.

You know maybe I should have taken up a different hobby? Fun Fun Fun

Running totals:

Running miles treadmill: 206.10

Running hours treadmill: 31:15

Running miles outside: 152.60

Running hours outside: 24:18

Biking miles: 817.20

Biking hours: 43:00

Spinning hours: 7:00

Swimming laps (25 yard pool) : 3,082 lengths or 1,541 laps

Swimming distance: 80,050 yards or 45.5 miles

Swimming hours: 17:00

Weight lifting hours: 20:30

Stair Master miles: 86.22

Stair Master hours: 10:50

Stairs in Cancun 1:05

1 pathetic game of volleyball: 1 hour

TOTAL HOURS – 160 hours and 56 minutes