Yep, it definitely sounds like you're building too fast too soon. There's a lot of training still to come, and really, a five hour bike ride plus all that running and swimming? I was wondering ...

Not that I can talk, and if I'd just taken a break after my first marathon this year I might not have spent the second half drowning in the mire that was my mind. We're amateurs, and we don't rely on doing this stuff to earn a living. If it's not fun then what's the point?!

That said, I'm looking forward to the day this week that I feel well enough to go sit on a stationary bike for half an hour or so. I don't do recovery well!

Ann maybe you are just over-training and it doesn't really matter how much of mental strength you might have if your body cant take it.

I do remember when you started talking about taking another Ironman, I've tried to test myself with a couple long distance cycling just to have an idea of what I could do, I even wrote about it, 130 km I've done, and at the time I was cycling 200 to 240 km per week for several months. When I finished the 130 km I was completely wasted, theres no way I could run or swim, I had no energy left, and I did it by the book, drinked every 15 min, eaten every 30 min an energy bar and every one hour 1 banana.

For sure if you did several Ironman, you know the importance of eating while running...

So you said in one of you posts, that you where going to cycle for 5 hours, run for one or two hours and swim for one hour ... I just imagine, If id do that I would need at lest two to three days to recover, recover water, energy ...

If you are in such a pain you are doing it wrong, have some rest to recover. I remember cycling in pain too, usually meant I was out of energy, or needed to rest a bit.

Remember to respect your body, if it tells you to go easy, go easy it won't worth fighting against it...

Any way I've read this book and think it to be very good "THE TRIATHLETE'S TRAINING BIBLE" and a bunch of others ...

Go easy for a week or so, try to figure out the recovery time you need in between training, and eat and eat and eat a lot ...

If you have no time to eat properly you have no time to exercise. If you are driving and you have no time to stop for petrol, or you never put oil in the car or have a service or buy new tyres you will find yourself immobile at the side of the road.

Just recently I found myself hitting the wall very hard on long runs, then not even on long ones, I hit the wall hard on a 12miler. I went from 9minute miles to 11's over about a mile, and that was downhill, it was all I could do to finish the run without shortcuts.

The culprit? not enough carbs. Blame my gluten intolerance, not enough appropriate carbs that I could eat. So I got baking, and freezing for the future. So before and after a long run it's carbs, carbs, carbs complex if possible but all are good. Think fuelling and refuelling.

You may also be in the place I am where I have to think about eating to eat enough because my appetite is insufficient. It happens when you are working really hard. You can burn fat of course, but that takes more oxygen per unit energy so you can't work as hard on fat as on carbs. Also you hit the wall not because you have no carbs left, but because your brain is worried that it won't have enough carbs left if you continue (the brain cannot burn fat, only glucose) so it makes you slow down. Glucose gels fool it by keeping blood glucose levels high rather than fuelling you per se.

And all that is before you get to micronutrient levels, and that you are a vegetarian, someone, who like me has to work harder than normal to be well fed. The one thing you cannot afford to let slip is your diet. If you do not get it right and keep it right you may as well not bother. So if you don't have time to eat you don't have time to exercise so you have to cut the exercise.

The maths on this is inescapable, you can only borrow from Peter to pay Paul for so long. Also, get your iron levels checked or just take the supplements.

Just because some training programme says you have to do it, doesn't mean you have to do it: We all know this is true, but it's so easy to fall into the trap! How much better to train according to your own body's state rather than blindly follow something that doesn't accommodate your needs. You know you can do the ironman, so have confidence in your ability to take control of your training rather than get injured by some inflexible programme.

Don't let it get you down. You'll do great. Hope your rejigged program is a bit more manageable. Be honest with your coach, it is your program and any good coach knows that you need to be happy with it or you won't stick with it/at it. Take one day/one session/one km at a time. It will happen. Are you doing any of the half IM's?

Having read your recent offerings I am forced to the conclusion that you are a fifth columnist for the Couch Potato Society. You do a fantastic job in discouraging people from exercise. What's the point? If you are not going to be bowled by a truck, you have to endure personal comments about your physique.

You get up at some God awful time to bring up the rear in the swimming pool.

Your running life also appears to be that of tail end Charlie and now you appear to be on the verge of total physical and mental collapse. Even I can walk up a hill without the need for oxygen and a defribrillator.

Fat chance you have of completing an Ironman, assuming you do not become strawberry jam on Oriental Parade long before then.

Give in to your baser instincts; become a slob and enjoy life. Make time for the things that a twenty something should be doing; relax.

In order to provoke howls of outrage from your feminist readers, my advice is get married, have kids and forget all this nonsense! Kids will keep you far fitter and as they get older you will get the abuse as well. And if you teach them to drive you can use cyclists as their target. I speak from experience.

Ann, I think your problem is that you don't seem to be enjoying anything... look at the topics and titles of your blogs for the last ages, always something to complain about, very negative.

Start enjoying the small things again, celebrate small successes and make it fun! Treat yourself! As someone else said, if there's no fun in it what's the point?

Ben #6 2:09pm

From the last few posts I thought you'd gone serious on us.

Back on form sir :D

I say take a break from training for a while, spend some time doing other things. Then after a week or so re-evaluate what's important to you. You'll either be refreshed and keen to get back to it, or maybe you'll decide to move onto something else instead. It is ok so say no, I've had enough. You've achieved a lot more than most, having completed several ironman events. Maybe it's time for a change, and a new challenge. As others have said, if you're not enjoying it, what's the point?

I haven't done any training for about six months for various reasons. I never intentionally stopped, just the cold, getting sick, and other hobbies got in the way. I have been working in a hobby business in my spare time for quite a while now and I enjoy it, but it's meant my exercise has taken a back seat. I need to start balancing the two out more, and give more priority to exercising. I made the first step today, by biking to work. I'm doing the Otago rail trail in two weeks, and realised it was time to stop talking about it and start doing it!

Hi Ann, there is lots of good advice above for you apart from Ben's of course. Still I think you know what to do yourself really. Time to back off and recover properly, get on top of the food you require to train and be well, and rediscover the fun side of what you are doing. Maybe it might help to have a training buddy for the long bike rides as well. It sounds like you enjoy the camaraderie that exists in your running group. Anyway I am sure your mojo will be back in no time.