horrible hills

Horribly Hilly Hundreds 100K Bike - 4:51, 68 miles of grueling hills

Splits
-----------
Miles 0-20 1:12
Miles 20-30 41:58
Miles 30-40 34:15
Miles 40-50 46:28
Miles 50-60 49:52
Miles 60-68 46:29
-----------
TOTAL 4:51

It was 87 degrees, humid, and windy. I knew that I would be riding in these conditions and was prepared. It turned out to be a good ride, but a really tough one. The longest training ride I had done on this course was about 2 hours long, but I had practiced most of the hills at one point or another. I walked on a few of the major hills when my cadence got so low that I just couldn't push the pedals around anymore. An easier gear configuration (triple/compact crank) would have helped but I chose not to change my gear setup for this ride. I felt no shame in walking my bike and I usually quickly caught up to the people that passed me while I was walking.

I used the ride to practice my nutrition and did a better job with it than I usually do. I knew I could not wing it in the heat for 5 hours so I had to have some strategy. I drank a bottle and a half of my Sustained Energy mixture, a bottle of Gatorade, a bottle and a half of water, and ate a Clif bar. This probably was not enough because I felt at points like I was eating and drinking the bare minimum to keep away a lingering headache. I usually get that after I ride in the heat. I'm not sure if it is lack of electrolytes or dehydration that does it. I felt like I was drinking a lot today. Nutrition on the bike is something I have to keep working on.

It was an exhausting day. I gave it all I had.

[6/16/06 Friday]
Run - 7 miles, 1:02

you know you're busy when...

You know you are busy when you don't even have time to update your workout blog. Ironman training really has a life of it's own. It is a complicated game of juggling to get the workouts to fit into an already busy schedule. I feel like I am constantly running between workouts, always needing to be aware of what gear and food I have with me so that I don't starve or end up driving around needlessly. I am feeling unsure of what I am doing, and especially about how my running is going. I think I need to be running more.

This post is nothing but the basics - just the workouts I have done in the last week.

[June 15]
Swim - 1.2 miles, 44 min - Lake Monona

[June 14]
Run - 8 miles, 1:15

[June 13]
Swim - 1.3 miles, 50 min - Verona quarry
Bike - 13 miles, 54 min - Horribly Hilly course

[June 12]
Mega Brick:
Swim - 1.8 miles, 56 min
Bike - 13 miles, 49 min
Run - 5.5 miles, 53 min
2:38 total

[June 11]
Bike - 71 miles, 4:34 - Monona Terrace to Verona via Ironman course, one loop of course and back

[June 10]
Bike - 23 miles, 1:24, Ave Speed 16.2

[June 9]
REST Day

[June 8]
Swim - 1.2 miles, Lake Monona
Strength training
Yoga

lake mills triathlon

[6/6/06 Tuesday]
REST Day

[6/5/06 Monday]
Run - 10.5 miles, 1:42 - easy pace
Swim - 2.4 miles, 1:09, Lake Wingra - including .75 miles with resistance

[6/4/06 Sunday]
Lake Mills Sprint Triathlon - 500m swim, 15 mile bike, 5K run - 1:21:40
Bike - 33 miles, 2:12

This was my first triathlon of the year and I was really nervous. I have been training so hard since January and I was nervous about testing my training. What if I was still slow despite all my hard work? What if after all of this, I did not improve over last year?

When I got to the race in the morning and saw the other triathletes, people of all abilities, I started to feel better. I knew I was well prepared to race. I put all my time goals way in the back of my head to keep the pressure down. My primary goals were: 1. do not go out so hard on the swim that i run out of breath and have to backstroke - have a nice hard pace, but not too hard in the beginning, 2. have awesome transitions, 3. put out a very strong effort on the bike.

I accomplished exactly these goals and that made it a good race. It was the first triathlon that I managed my swim pace well, my transitions were 2nd (T2) and 3rd (T1) place overall in the female division (faster than Nicole Deboom, the pro), and I flew like never before on the bike. It fell apart on the run for a few reasons. I was so busy thinking about the swim and bike that I didn't mentally prepare for or visualize the run. I didn't drink enough on the bike and my stomach was delicate from nerves, so I got big time cramps about 1 mile into the run which made it hard to go fast. I haven't put in comparably as much run mileage or speedwork that I have done in the other two sports this year. I was 11th in my age group, and the 35th female. In my age group, I was 8th on the bike, 9th on the swim, and 20th on the run. I know I can do that run 5 minutes faster than I did, so that would have taken me up considerably in the rankings. These are all good things to learn from and use when I do the Pardeeville sprint triathlon in a few weeks. Overall, Lake Mills was not my best race ever in terms of my time, but I made some great progress in learning how to deal with major pre-race anxiety, swim pacing, and bike effort. Now I have to get out there and start doing some track workouts to get my running back in shape.

After the race, I went out and did a nice 2 hour bike ride at an easy pace. Not bad for a day's work.

[6/3/06 Saturday]
REST Day

[6/2/06 Friday]
Swim - 20 min, Lake Wingra - sprint start practice
Bike - 30 min, 8 mi

messing with my head

[6/1/06 Thursday]
BRICK
Bike - 80 min, 21 miles - a relatively flat aerobic ride
Run - 30 min, 3 miles easy

Racing is messing with my head. I am really nervous for the Lake Mills triathlon. Today's brick workout was supposed to build my confidence. The bike was good. The run was harder than I would have expected it to be and that worries me, though I know I can push through pain for a 5K.
It will be my first triathlon of the year and based on the online participant list, there is a very strong women's field this year. I have not made my goals in both of the running races I have done so far this year, and I don't want to continue the pattern. I think my only hope is to forget about my competitors, reassure myself about how strong I have gotten this spring, and just go out there and race as hard as I can. I know that there is no way I could have prepared more carefully than I have.

race prep workouts

Bike - 60 min - warm up, sprint ladder: 3-3/4-4/5-5/4-4/3-3 (min on-min off), cool down
Swim - 43 min, 2100m - main set: 2 x 400@ 7:22, 7:16, 2x[100@1:30 on 2min, 2 x 50@45 on 1min, 100easy]
Massage

I rarely get up early and go for a bike ride before work but I always enjoy it when I do. It is fun to see the sun rise. Getting in a workout before work always feels so satisfying.

Both of today's workouts were very strong. I wanted to get in some hard effort intervals in preparation for the Lake Mills sprint triathlon on Sunday. My legs are still sore from the half marathon so I am easing up on running this week. The bike ladder workout gave me 19 minutes of race pace effort. I made myself stay above 20mph for the entire length of each interval regardless of terrain. The race itself will be about 40 minutes... it is going to be challenging to hold that pace for twice as long as I did today but I always go faster on the bike in races than in training. The swim ladder gave me three times the race distance at just above or at race pace. I was able to draft off a fast swimmer in my lane for one of the laps and noticed a big difference in the feel of the water. Besides the workout race prep, I also cleaned my bike today and removed all extraneous accessories that aren't needed for a short race. I went to a bike tech clinic on deraillieurs and cables, and am hoping I can do all my own drivetrain maintenance from now on... in other words, when something is clicking or rattling, I will be able to fix it without going to the bike shop.

I am eager to have this first set of races be done so I can get back to my real Ironman training. I haven't done much long slow distance in a while since I have replaced much of it with speedwork and structured workouts. I guess this has been a good mental and physical recovery. Coming out of it, I don't feel that lingering fatigue in my body, and I am excited to start something new. Perfect.

half marathon recovery

Strength workout - push ups, assisted pull ups, ab throw, ab twist - 5 min each w/ 15 sec on, 15 sec off

I decided to make this mostly a rest day since my leg muscles are sore from the half marathon. I took a much-needed 2 1/2 hour afternoon nap.

[5/29/06 Monday]
Swim - about 2 miles in Lake Wingra, 1:20 - easy pace
Bike - about 13 miles, 60 min - easy ride including 3 x 2:15 single leg drills (each leg)
Transition practice - bike mounting and dismounting with shoes attached to bike

race day heat acclimation

Mad City Half Marathon - 13.1 miles, 1:54
14/285 in F25-29 age group, 80/1133 female

It was a hard day to be out attempting to set a PR. The temperature was over 90 degrees, and it was humid and windy. This heat wave came out of nowhere and I didn't plan on racing in the heat so I didn't prepare for it. Sweating while standing at the start line is a bad sign for a long distance race. I was hoping to do a 1:40 but was far from it today. My time at this race last year was 1:46, so I was pretty far from that too. I was on pace for the first half but had a tough second half. That's when it started to get really hot. I was continuously pouring water on myself and running through hose sprays of water put out by spectators, but I still felt like my skin was going to burn right off my body.

Though I am disappointed in my time overall, I still managed to improve in my age group ranking (14th this year, 18th last year). It seems like most people around my speed were about 10 minutes slower than what they would do on a cooler day. I can not blame my results on the heat completely though. I made a few mistakes training and racing that were contributing factors. First of all, my longest run before the race was 13 miles and I think I should have done maybe two more longer runs maybe a 14 and 16 miler. I think I overestimated what I was capable of and therefore starting off at the faster pace was detrimental to my endurance in keeping that pace at the end. My training up to this point has prepared me well to race a fast 10K. Mile 8 is about where my high performance endurance breaks down. Another mistake I made was relying on the pace team leader to run even splits. Our pace was supposed to be 7:38 and our first mile was 7:10. I was trusting the pace leader to keep me on track when I should have been watching my watch and listening to my body. Next time I need to remember to only rely on me like I usually do. Today was a useful experience in learning how race in heat, how to not give up when I feel physically and mentally demoralized by my late-race mile splits, how it is crucial to have realistic expectations and listen to my body, and how going out too hard can be disaster in distances longer than 10K.


[5/27/06 Saturday]
Run - 2 miles easy, 27 min
Swim - 16 minutes, open water

athlete foods only

REST Day

Yesterday's massage has helped my legs immensely. They are starting to feel back to normal. My massage therapist always tells me that she has her work cut out for her when I am on her table. This is no surprise because by the time my monthly massages come around, I am always sore and knotty all over. She says my forearms feel like tapioca before she works on them.

I had a few days last week where my eating was not so good. It is so easy to slip back into eating too much bread and cheese (i.e. pizza, lasagna, etc) and sugar (ice cream, popsicles). My recovery sucks when I do that. Right now, I am strictly restricting myself to athlete foods only. In the past day, my diet has included oatmeal with flax meal, eggs, sweet potatoes, lentils, beans, banana, grapes, carrot-beet-spinach juice, broccoli, tortilla with pb+j, odwalla organic energy bar, and water, water, water.

I read that Natascha Badmann drinks carrot-beet juice as her recovery drink so I am all over that. It sounds strange, but is actually very sweet and delicious.

jitters

Run - 3 miles, 27:08 - easy with 10 strides
Swim - 2000m, 41:02 - easy
Massage

This was my last real workout day before the half marathon on Sunday, and both workouts were easy. Even so, I am not feeling fully recovered yet. I drank four bottles of water today, hoping to flush out some of the lactic acid buildup in my legs. Personal issues have started to mess with my head and I know I have to try my best to put it aside and not let it ruin my confidence. I need to make sure the next few days are restful and rejuvenating.

just a ride

Bike - 32 miles, 1:57 - UW Campus to Paoli and back

Nothing special about this ride today. I didn't have any specific workout in mind, I just rode at a comfortable pace. It was warm, humid, and windy and felt like summer for the first time this year.

no time to go to work

Swim - 3000yd, 1:03 - main set: 2 x [25hard/25easy, 50hard/50easy, 75hard/75easy, 100hard/100easy, 75hard/75easy, 50hard/50easy, 25hard/25easy]
Run - 5.4 miles, 45:58 - including 4 x 400 @ 7:15 pace, 4 x 200 @ 6:40 pace
Strength workout

Some days there is too much working out to be done to go to work. I took the day off today and became a professional triathlete. This all took from 7:30am - 4:30pm including eating, an afternoon nap, and giving a friend a swim lesson. Of course, most days I have to squeeze it into a work day but I don't get the good recovery food and nap on those days.

I loved that swim ladder workout this morning. Two sets of 800 were perfect for training for a sprint triathlon. The hard efforts totalled 400, the same distance as the race. Going back and forth between hard and easy with no rest allowed me to really understand the difference in what I am doing to go hard. I need to focus on not simply kicking as hard as I can, but also to pulling faster and harder and maintaining good form. It is easy to get sloppy. I am seeing that kicking hard is more tiring than it adds speed. That might be part of my problem in going out too hard in races.

I am addicted to the song Passive by A Perfect Circle and listened to it during my entire run. I had a great speed session thanks to that song. It's funny how a 7:15 pace isn't feeling killer hard anymore, and even 6:40 is do-able.

[5/24/06 Monday]
REST Day

race dress rehearsal

Bike/Run - 43 miles bike/1.5 miles run, 2:45 total - 3 x (15 miles bike, 5 min transition run) including 6 x 5 min max bike effort, 2 reps on Lake Mills triathlon course, last lap through Arboretum

After the race specific preparation yesterday, I got in the mood to practice my transitions some more. I built it into this workout which was primarily supposed to be a long bike. It was great to get on the Lake Mills course and after doing two laps of the out and back route, I feel like I know it really well. I practiced my sprints out there and that should come in handy on race day. My goal was to go 2 miles in each 5 minute interval. For some of them I came close, for others I had trouble staying focused. It is a flat course, so unlike all the hilly routes that I do, it has to be a consistent hard effort. This means not letting up and not letting the mind wander. It is a different kind of challenge. The route goes on back roads through local farmland and there were lots of tractors out there today. I had to ride slowly behind a few. There was also gravel on the road on the curves in the road, and dirt around tractor entrances and exits. I hope that gets cleaned up a bit. I felt hesitant to take the turns at full speed for fear of wiping out on gravel.

I got new tires to start the racing season - Michelin Pro Race in yellow to match my bike, and I used them for the first time today. I had Vittoria Diamante tires before, but these seem very similar. I used my race season during-workout-nutrition-mixture today for the first time. Nothing brings me into race mode like a perfectly mixed chalky concoction of calories in a water bottle. My mix includes Hammer Sustained Energy, Hammer Endurolytes powder, and raspberry Hammer Gel. I also wore my race outfit to complete the spirit of race dress rehearsal.

I lost it mentally after the second lap and wanted to be done. I drove back to Madison and did the last part on my familiar route through the Arboretum. I was planning on doing a cold water acclimation swim but didn't feel like dragging on the day any further (it was already 3pm) so I skipped it.

swim starts

Run - 8 miles, 1:12 - flat route, easy pace with 38 min/34 min negative half split

Strength workout - 3 x 8 minutes circuit style: agility ladder, med. ball throw, jump rope, deadlift ball swing, skaters, side lunge with resistance, forward sprint with resistance

Swim - 26 minutes, Lake Wingra - 1000m??

Today's swim was more of a race preparation than a real swim. The water was in the mid 60's and I am glad I have my new neoprene cap because the covering on my ears really helps me stay warm. It took about 5 minutes to get used to the water temperature and then I was fine. I swam some easy laps of a set course near the shore and practiced my sighting in order to swim straight. Then I swam some laps at a hard effort. Then I got out of the water and did a running start, sprinted one lap (probably about 150m), ran out of the water and sprinted about 100m on land while taking off my cap and unzipping my wetsuit. I got some funny looks from sunbathers and picnickers on shore as I sprinted in and out of the water, but I wasn't paying much attention. This was transition practice at its finest. I feel really good about my preparation today.

My biggest concern about my upcoming sprint triathlon (Lake Mills) is the swim start. I am worried about the point where I have just started my stroke and gotten into oxygen debt by going hard. It seems to happen about 50 meters in. In all sprint triathlons I have done, this has been an issue. I end up having to turn over onto my back to catch my breath for a moment before resuming my stroke. This wastes valuable time in the already short swim and gives the other swimmers a chance to get ahead of me. With some practice in running sprint starts, hopefully I can fine tune the effort I should give in the beginning of a race in order to not run out of air.


[5/19/06 Friday]
REST Day

As I was moving a chair on my porch today, I klumsily ran into a brick post and hit the side of my face. I didn't notice it at the time, but I must have really slammed into my eyeball because the white part is now bright red like blood on one side. It looks pretty gross but doesn't hurt at all and I can still see normally. My eyeball is the same color as the Ironman logo.

walking 4 miles in bike shoes

Swim - 3000yd, 1:00 - main set: 2x200@2:59, 3:06, 3x100@1:29,1:28,1:28, 5x50@41,42,42,42,42 (hard effort)
Run - 8.5 miles, 1:13 - 1 mile warm up, 2 miles hard@14:23, 3 minute recovery walk, 1 mile hard (uphill)@9:15, 9 minute recovery jog, 1.5 miles moderate hard@13:05, 1.5 miles cool down

These were some intense workouts as both included some near all-out efforts. I had an hour nap in the middle of the day to try to get some recovery and I think that was key to making it through the run. My legs were pretty trashed to start. I am in week four of a four week training buildup instead of the typical three weeks because of the scheduling of the Mad City Half Marathon. This would normally be a rest week and my body is definitely ready for that.

My swim intervals gave me a good sense of where I am at. I am satisfied with the times for my 50yd repeats but slowed down noticeably on the longer distances. Similar situation with my run. I was all over the place in the intervals that I did, and I slowed down at the end. I was planning to do 2 three mile repeats at a hard pace, but my knee was starting to hurt and it just didn't seem smart to try to push my pace through that. I have some challenging goals in my mind for my two upcoming races and I think it will be pretty miraculous if I can pull it off.

[Wednesday 5/18/06]
Bike - 1:05, 14 miles - on Horribly Hilly course
Walk - 4 miles in bike shoes in the rain with flat tire

I had high hopes for getting in a good 30-35 hilly miles on the Horribly Hilly course today, but ended up having to cut it short thanks to a flat tire. I had a spare tube and CO2 cartridge on me and I know how to change flat tires, so it could have all worked out fine. After I got the tire on and inflated, I couldn't get the CO2 pump off and deflated the tire as the nozzle was pressed down. I only had one cartridge on me and no hand pump. I had no choice but to start walking. Soon it started raining and lightening. The weather was strange where it was sunny on one half of the sky and black rain clouds with thunder and lightening on the other half. It was scary to be out there. Four miles into my walk, a guy was getting home, saw me walking my bike and asked me if I needed help. We tried to pump up the tire but couldn't and we figured that it was probably punctured by gravel or something while I was walking. He gave me a ride four more miles back to my car, for which I was extremely grateful. I was already annoyed at having to waste the energy to walk four miles in bike shoes when it was not directly benefiting my training in any way. It was a disappointing day with wasted time and energy. I guess these things happen sometimes.

consistent 800s

Run - 5.8 mi, 1:05 - 2 mile warmup, 4 x 800 @ 3:20 w/ 3:30 rec (on treadmill), 4 x 400 @ 1:42, 1:46, 1:45, 1:43 w/ 2:30 recovery
Strength - 5 min w/ 15 sec on, 15 off : cable shoulder press, squats with weight, body rows, hanging leg raise
Swim - 4500yd, 1:25 - main set: 9 x 75 w/ every third Back, 15 x 125 w/ every fifth with sighting and 15 sec rec

Thanks to the treadmill I was able to push out consistent 800's at 3:20. My 400's on the track weren't quite as consistent.

It was a good swim. Doing 15 x 125 somehow made the long set go by quickly. It has been a few days since I have swam so my arms were feeling fresh.

riding in the rain

[Sunday 5/14/06]

Bike - 3 hours - 1 hour spin class, 2 hours outside (27 miles, ave sp 13.4)

The weather was a bit cold and rainy today but turned out ok for a 2 hour ride. My bike and I were covered in dirt by the end. It was really pleasant riding with a friend who I don't ride with very often. Through all our chatting I hardly noticed the hills. I have said it before, but I continue to amaze myself that I can just keep churning out the long workouts day after day.

workout overhead

[Saturday 5/13/06]

Run - 13 mi, 1:56 - ran Mad City Half Marathon course, moderate pace with some harder intervals
Strength workout - circuit style with 3 x 20 (cable curl, cable punch, cable pull, swimmer, lunges, plank on fit ball @ 40 sec, skater squat)

I knew starting out that my legs were in questionable condition to be running long today. I had to push through some unpleasant feelings in my legs towards the end. I forgot how hilly this course is. They added another major hill in place of a downhill from last year. Today's run was much slower than I intend to race. I am nervous about that since it was pretty challenging, but I hope that fresh legs off a taper and race day energy will help me out. Despite my worries, a few times while I was out there I thought about how grateful I am to be able to run long and how nice it is to just sink into my pace and listen to my music with nothing but the present moment.

post-workout routine:
- eat half a powerbar, finish water bottle
- take warm shower (it was freezing today!)
- eat two eggs and a bagel with peanut butter
- sleep for 30 minutes
- go to the gym and do strength workout
- do stretch routine
- sit in hot tub for 15 minutes while massaging legs and stretching more
- eat second half of powerbar (why do i buy these things? they are sickeningly sweet)
- go home and eat bowl of plain yogurt and cereal with two glasses of orange juice
- roll legs and back on foam roller
- lay around house and finally get on with the day ... this all took from 7-2:30

workout "overhead" can take all day.

easy brick

[Friday 5/12/06]

Bike - 60 min indoor - hill ladder workout: 3 min/5 min/7 min/5 min/3 min hard seated climb with 2 min recovery between each
Run - 1.5 mi, 12:09 - transition run immediately off the bike

This was an easy workout, but that was what it was supposed to be since I am getting ready for my long run tomorrow morning. I haven't done any transition runs in a while so it was nice to remember what they are like. My legs didn't feel tight or dead, and I could go at a good pace right away thanks to my hour warmup on the bike.

Something funny is going on in my left arm. I think I may have pulled something when I was doing pull ups on Tuesday. It hurts on my lat in the area just behind my armpit when I attempt to put my arm straight up. More importantly, that is also the position I use to pull with my swim stroke. I thought I was just very sore, but now I am not sure because my other arm is not sore the same way. Argh. Hopefully it will fix itself.

4000m!

[Thursday 5/11/06]

Swim - 4000m, 1:26 - 50m pool, slow and steady long swim with even 1000m splits
Run - 3 mi, 26:35
Yoga - 60 min

Woo Hoo! I made it to 4000m! Ironman is 3800m and I feel like 4000m needs to be my bare minimum long swim at any given point in time. I had worked up to 4000 before going to Hawaii, but then after a three week break from any significant swimming, it took me a while to work back up. I tend to be overly cautious about increasing swim volume because I am doing some pretty intense upper body strength stuff right now and don't want to get injured.
6000m long swim here I come!

david blaine and ironman

[Wednesday 5/10/06]

Swim - 3200m, 1:15 - 50m pool (300 free, 200 pull, 100 kick, 4 x 100 @ 1:32, 1:40, 1:41, 1:39 on 2 min, 200 pull, 8 x 50 @ 45-49 sec on 1:15, 200 pull, 8 x (25 @ 22 sec/25 easy) on 1:15, 200 pull, 8 x 50 B3/B5/B7/B9 on 50s, 200 kick, 200 pull cool)

Bike - 26.5 mi, 1:50 - on Horribly Hilly route in Blue Mounds area

The goal of my swim today was practicing at paces that I would like to do for the Lake Mills sprint triathlon. For a 6 minute 1/4 mile swim, the 100m pace is 1:30. That is what I attempted for the main set of this workout, but came up a bit short. I put this workout together myself and it was a good one. It helped me to know exactly where I am at with my short distance pacing. I have some work to do, but it doesn't seem totally unreasonable. The long course pool is helpful in preparing me for the lake swims where there will be no wall to push off of every 25m.

I biked a section of the Horribly Hilly route that I have never done before. I am practicing the 100K course in small manageable pieces and increasing my time out there for each ride. It continues to amaze me how strong I am on the hills this year, and this early in the season. Somehow I was able to do all the hills today, even the steep 2 mile Mounds Park Rd at the end of my ride, and still feel like I had some energy left at the end. I was breathing really hard and struggling to get air while still pushing the pedals around (did I mention I have a standard 53-39 gearing?), but I practiced relaxing my body and trying to calm down my breathing. For the long hills, I came up with a mental plan of attack before each one - I would eyeball random markers some distance in front of me like a certain tree or something, and at each marker I would start imagining myself as a different pro-triathlete climbing the hill. I mean, would any hill in Blue Mounds tire out Natasha Badmann or Peter Reid? I don't think so. It kept me going and gave me something to take my mind off my screaming legs and my breathing.

I watched David Blaine's Drowned Alive show on TV where he lived in a sphere of water for seven days and on the final day attempted to hold his breath for 9 minutes. (He only made it to seven minutes before they had to rescue him.) The show showed how he trained himself physically and mentally for it. His will and determination to get through extreme mental challenges like that has been inspiring to me. Triathlon is so much mental and learning how to feel comfortable in times of discomfort, just as David does in this and other stunts that he does. I suspect that his internal psychological reasons for having the need to do extreme things has much in common with the psychological motivations behind people doing Ironman. To generalize, I think it has a lot to do with a desire to conquer physical and mental pain through one's own choosing as a way to compensate and feel control over for serious pain that one has suffered elsewhere in life. Essentially they are alternative spiritual practices.