Rest Week

My son checking my live results w/his coffee
during the R&R AZ 1/2 marathon.

So last week I only logged 5.45 hrs. The 1/2 Marathon really tore me up more than I thought it would. The next day I woke up and had to hobble around and I even had night sweats a few days later. This is a sign of over-training. The fact that I hadn't been running combined with hammering out 13.1 miles on the concrete took a major toll on me.  So I took the week as an opportunity to rest, heal and recover. I haven't had a week under 7 hrs since I first started training for triathlon, last June. I took Monday and Tuesday off, swam on Wednesday and felt absolutely horrible. Thursday I did a Rehab United session and still felt really drained so I took another day off on Friday. On the way home from work that night, it was at that point that I decided to just relax about training for the week. Amy knows that when I miss a session or have to take the day off, I get really grumpy and/or depressed. Training really is a drug to me -and it's proven that it can have these kind of effects if your body is so used to training. It's kind of like not drinking coffee if you always have some---you might get headaches. So on my way home I just kinda put things into perspective, I bought some beer and just enjoyed family time, football and friends over the weekend. I just figured if I feel good or not Saturday and Sunday I'll just take whatever my body gives me.

How do you guys coupe with over training?



This thing literally is a piece of crap.
I long for the day I actually have a
bike that has the right size handlebars
and can actually shift quietly. You
only rock that big of a saddle bag if
you own a Forge!

Saturday morning I set out on Blue Steel, planning to go 2 hrs but realizing it could just be 45. Before I took off, I raised the seat post a bit -just to see if it would help me generate a little more power. 10 minutes into the ride I was just cruising and checked my GPS and I was rolling at about 23 mph. I know that's not flying, but my perceived effort is what made it so encouraging. It's amazing what a little adjustment can do for you on the bike. If you haven't already, make sure you go to your local bike shop and get sized. I did that last year, but your supposed to do it every year, because things can change (this being good example of that). I was also encouraged because my legs finally felt like they had some life in them. They felt fresh, rested and recovered. Finally! I still held myself back for the most part and just tried to get back into a training rhythm. I rode down to Escondido and back, covering about 35 miles and 3000 feet of climbing. Of course with 3 miles to go I get a flat -changed it, find out my CO2 cartridge was bad, had to wait for a rider to come by with some air, found a guy I rode with about 3 months ago and he hooked me up.


I highly reccomend this IPA
from one of my favorite
breweries-Deschutes.
It's only out for a limited time
so jump on it!

The next day was going to be interesting because I was due for a run. I told Amy that I'll either be gone for 30 minutes or two hours. The first four miles my heart rate was really high and my legs weren't responding very well. Finally around the one hour mark, they starting coming around and I ended up having a decent 10 mile run. I rolled past this guy that was probably 6'4, 230 - he had a camel back and an Arrogant Bastard shirt on. I came up to him and asked him, "How far you going today?" He looked at me, looked at his GPS and said, "I'm on mile 16 right now, one mile to go..." It surprised the hell out of me -but I believed him, he was working. I told him to go home and enjoy an Arrogant Bastard, he earned it. He replied, "I have two of them waiting for me, along with the playoff games." It was cool to see a big triathlete (he had spandex and shaved legs) out there hammering. We all know that the triathlon isn't necessarily suited for big guys. It's kinda like when you see a 5'7 guy on the football field (kinda like Darren Sproles) and you say, "Ahh, bless his heart, look at that little guy go...Hope he doesn't get hurt!" I see it the same way when I see big guys on the bike all awkward or huffing and puffing all of that weight around on a run. There are some studs  that are on the bigger side (Matty Reed), but they are few.

This week it's back to business. The week off allowed me the opportunity to re-evaluate my season. I'm self-coaching myself this year (unless my income drastically changes---races are expensive!), but I'm getting a lot of help from Joe Friel's books. I already read The Triathletes Training Bible, but his new one that just came out, Your Best Triathlon compliments the training bible and really helps you lay out your season if you are self coached. I highly recommend it if you are. It helps you phase out your season, gives you workouts, drills and a schedule to follow so that you can accomplish all of your goals.

~Cheers!