Energy Bursts & Slow Motions in My EPIC Dartmouth Journey
I’m sitting here, by the warm fire, barely able to keep my eyes open and it’s just after 9pm. These days I have to be sure to get 8-9 hours a sleep a night or I’m zonked but I think the real culprit right now is the time change. No worries, in a week or two I’ll be reset and back to normal.
Well…week 21 was interesting. My body had huge bursts of energy followed with sluggish slow motions. I think the ratio was 1:1 too. Early in the week I was still riding the “high” from last week but come Wednesday I was a water slug. Then on Thursday I got my second wind from that crazy breezy warm weather but I think I finally emptied my gas tank that day as on Friday I was in slo mo fo sho! Saturday’s long run, which I was so pumped to run with my “training crew” (been missing them), was difficult. As soon as I hit the pavement I felt the lactic acid just fill my body and every step required a mental push. I literally shoved myself through a sloppy 17km run. Thank God for my training buds Liane, Karen and Rachelle. They were running well, nice form and strides, big smiles under the sunny skies, and so I tried to breathe in their energy to get me through the run. It worked! Liane and I finished up with a quick spin and then – I was ZONKED! Flat out! WOW, was I ever freakin glad that was done.
Left to Right: Me, Karen, Liane, Rachelle
Riverport, Nova Scotia
For the rest of the weekend, I kicked up my feet. I pushed my long ride and run for Sunday into Monday (today…and the weather was AMAZING…and Karen rode with me…and I sucked her into riding with me while training, I didn’t really have to twist her arm that much, ha!). I think two factors played a key role this week in how I was feeling. 1) The prior training week was the biggest load yet, 18+ hours, and I kept going on right through into week 21 without a full day of rest. 2) I had a huge work week this week in addition to training (3 days of the 5 days were 12+ hour work days) and found that juggling that stress increased my fatigue. Lessons learned: take more recovery after bigger weeks and on busy weeks, skip a workout or two if need be so performance doesn’t suffer. Now…to practice those lessons…that’s the hard part.
Anyway, I’m still fatigued but definitely coming back. Another good night’s sleep and I should be just about back to my usual hyper self. Now I shall mention that this week…well…it’s week 22. Week 22 is a notable week as it’s the last one in my pre-season training plan. Next week I move into the 12-week competitive season training schedule. With that said…if I feel I need extra rest this week, I’m gonna take it, yes I am! I will sleep in, I will be lazy, I may even eat some cake and have a bit of social time too. But if anything, I can guarantee this – I’m entering the next training phase rested and roaring to go!
Responses