"Listen to your body". It's a really annoying phrase that EVERYBODY wants to keep telling you. I actually think I'm quite good at it. I'm all "guts and bravado" vocally, I turn up to sessions like a whirlwind saying "YEAH LET'S SMASH IT!!" But after 5 years and doing my first 2 Ironmans off my own training, I do think I heed the warning signs of fatigue and impending illness/ injury quite well.
The problem is, the more you want to get out of your training, and push your body, the more blurred the distinction becomes between "good tired" (you know when you lie on the bed and go"ahhh that feels so good!") and "bad tired" (that "oh my God there is NOTHING in my legs, even though I've rested")
This week was like that. Maybe the first warning sign was not wanting to do the long run last Sunday? On Monday morning, I spun easily (only it wasn't) to the velodrome, did a few sharpeners to flush out the lactic (nope, it didn't) and dragged myself home, hardly able to keep up with my mate David on his great big commuter bike! The rest of the week continued in the same vein. Yes, I had just put together 3 big weeks, but I wasn't recovering the way I know I normally do. My resting heart rate was fine. As long as I just went really easy, I could comfortable complete the sessions, but there was just no "zip" in my legs. I'd also been waking up sweating and just felt really tired and lousy.
If I wasn't a triathlete, training for the biggest day in the sport, I'd just say "wow, I'm a bit tired at the moment". Big deal. Growing up seeing my father having to do a physical job, with a disability, no matter how tired he was feeling created somewhat of a "suck it up" attitude in me, especially when my fatigue is self - inflicted by choice!! But as triathletes we have to be feeling superb, to be able to really get what we want to get out of the quality sessions. So I started self - diagnosing (as vets often do!!) "It could be low iron (I've had that before) It could be a virus. It could be the dreaded phrase God forbid, we don't like to use...... overtraining". No No No!!! Anyway, I did the right things - I talked to my coach (a BIG reason I'm glad I'm not doing my own program now), backed off the training in the latter part of the week, (it was a recovery week after all) got loads of sleep, ate zillions of vitamins and antioxidants plus wholefoods galore. Saw my doc, who ran every blood test under the sun (she's incredibly paranoid, in a good way!!). By saturday I was feeling virtually back to normal. Just as well, as my 11th wedding anniversary was Friday, and we were going out for dinner on saturday night.
Here's where the funny mind games start again, though! So having agreed that I would do an abbreviated, easier session on saturday, I felt really good, and had to have Sean convince me that completing the original session we had planned was NOT going to benefit me at all! I knew it would be difficult to fully relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend if I thought I could have done more! Knowing when to let it go is just as important as knowing when NOT to give up!! It also allows your mind to recover, and lets you refocus.
So here I am at the start of our last big block of training. I feel 100% again, I'm really excited about some of the sessions coming up. I've got a load of Uni stuff to organise before we go off on our acclimatisation camp, but I'm relishing that too! It's amazing how when you start firing on all cylinders physically, everything else falls into place too.
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| Macca |
We finished the weekend with a wonderful anniversary dinner at Little Press (yum!) and then spent a few hours at the Ausbike expo, checking out all the bike bling!! Highlight of the show was standing next to (the somewhat tiny) bike that Chris "Macca" McCormack rode to win the Ironman World Champs last year. What was really cool was that the sticker was still on his handlebars! It gave me butterflies to know that I will be putting one of those stickers on my own handlebars in less than 7 weeks time!! Body - willing, I'll be FLYING up the Queen K highway in a similar style, to him albeit (fractionally) slower ;)
Weeks to go = 7
Total hours = 14.75
Swim = 14.55km
Bike = 179km
Run = 23.17km
Please remember that I am raising money for CMT disease as part of my Kona experience
http://www.justgiving.com/JCoombe
