Week Twenty-One

Week 21 was technically a recovery week. I'm starting to laugh at the idea of a recovery week, however, because we do more in a recovery week than I would ever do if I was exercising just to stay in shape.

The week in and of itself was just fine. The weekend was, well, really, really hard.

Knowing that the Sunday swim was going to be cancelled, I decided to take a swim class on Saturday morning. It was a great class. The coach gave me my own lane and a personalized workout on my own whiteboard! I ended up swimming 2900 yards that morning, and it felt great! After the swim, I changed into my run clothes, ate a powerbar, drank some water, and donned the infamous "fuel belt." I felt strong and the weather was 60 degrees and sunny, so I started running really fast (for me). I was averaging about a 10 minute mile until my 5 mile turn around. (On the way there, I passed some kids cleaning up the beach, and I happened to see a student from my school! Cool...)

But, I realized (too late) that I had gone out too fast. I had no energy left for the return trip. I ate a package of sports beans and drank more electrolyte, but I had hit the wall. My stomach started to hurt and I was a mess! I even started wearing my fuel belt around my sternum (under my armpits) to make my stomach feel better. I definitely looked like a dork, but I had to do whatever I could to feel good enough to run. I had slowed down to a 12 minute mile pace, giving myself an overall average of 11 minute miles. In and of itself, it's a good average, but it would have been way better if I was more consistent overall, or if I was slightly faster on the return. I'm going to blame this poor workout on 1) going out too fast and 2) not fueling myself properly. A 10 mile run, I have to remind myself, is very different after a 2900 yard swim than just going out fresh, and I can't just rely on the nutrition I would have used during a regular run season.

So, Saturday behind me, now it's Sunday's workout. I think I already somehow started with depleted energy, after that sad run.

The plan was to do a 3 1/2 hour bike ride followed by a 20 minute run. It was another beautiful, warm, sunny day. Of course, my favorite kind of day to ride. I was really excited to get going. I folded the route/directions up, slid it under my shorts leg, and started off. Things started off okay. I couldn't really tell which way the wind was blowing (which, as Coach Wasserman says, means it's behind you). I would say the first quarter of the ride was quite nice. I was feeling strong, and the views were unbelievable: green rolling hills, beautiful flowers everywhere, blue skies... At some point, though, we turned left, and everything changed. The winds were blowing in our faces so hard that it was difficult to look up. The aerobars seemed to make no difference at all. I think it was much harder for me than for others because I slowly saw the bodies in front of me start to get farther and farther away. I just kept cranking on this road that felt like forever, telling myself that this was going to make me stronger. After, I don't know, maybe 15 or 20 minutes of this grueling opposition, I finally got to make another left turn. The winds weren't as bad, but they certainly weren't tail winds. We had a small hill to climb, and then we got to do the whole loop a second time! (After I fixed my chain that had fallen off.) By the second time, Kim and I had caught up to each other, and we were able to draft on that awful stretch (which is illegal in the triathlon world, but neither of us seemed to care today). Turning back towards our starting place, we pretty much had headwinds all the way back to the school.

I don't know if I'm describing it well. Let me just say that this weekend's training was hard on me mentally, because on both days I hit the wall. When this happens, it should make me just want to work harder (and it does, but...). I can't help but also allow thoughts of doubt to enter my head, too. Am I not getting strong enough, fast enough? Is this a challenge I can really tackle? I think right now I need to do a lot more research about my fueling. I know that I'm not getting enough calories or liquid in to even come close to matching what I'm burning. I burned about 1700 calories on today's ride, and maybe took in 500. I'm losing some pounds, which at first sounded like good news, until Richard (teammate) pointed out how easily one can lose muscle if they are at a calorie depletion. I definitely have to research this a whole lot more.

So, I know my thoughts are par for the course, and I expect to feel positive again soon. But right now, I'm feeling just really exhausted, so I'm probably not even thinking clearly.

I wonder what next week will hold.

THIS WEEK'S SUMMARY
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Spin 45 minutes
Wednesday: Swim 2600
Thursday: Run 50 minutes (5+ miles: mile 1: 10:04, mile 2: 9:47, mile 3: 9:49, mile 4: 9:52, mile 5: 9:13)
Friday: Swim 2000
Saturday: Swim 2900, run 10 miles
Sunday: Bike 50 miles (3:50), run 20 miles (probably not quite 2 miles)

BODY CHECK: No major injuries or pain to report, thank goodness. Just an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion. I hope to be sleeping tonight by 8:30!