Sharpening the Knife



Just some random cool bike art

 April ended up being almost a complete wash for me when it comes to training. I was sick for 3 weeks, raced 3 times and had to miss 7 days of training because of that lethal combo. To give you an idea, I only took 3 days off at the end of the season last year! I rarely take them - I usually just opt for "active recovery" days. In this case I had no choice. I was hacking up junk, sinus infections, fevers...you name it. Last week I finally got better and it was all about getting healthy and sharpening the knife....getting those legs back. And what a great week it was. As flat and heavy my fitness felt at the beginning of the week, it turned completely around for the weekend and I ended up having great workouts which boosted my confidence going into Wildflower this weekend. I mean, this is hands down the best I've ever felt leading up to a race. Even though we tapered for Oceanside I still had months and months of consistent hard work. I nailed pretty much every single workout that was thrown at me and I'm not sure if I was completely rested going in...Although, It's so hard to tell because just like how somebody will handle diet/nutrition differently then the next - so it is with tapering. Each athlete is different and certain things may work with some and not so much for others. In my case, taking these "forced" days off I think have been good for me both mentally and physically and whether I race well this weekend or not, I'm definitely refreshed and ready to take on more training again as we are officially in triathlon season.

Here's a little visual to show you what was going on mentally/physically in April: on a scale of 1-10

So as you can see, sickness and burnout kinda went hand-in-hand. A little rest, a little sharpening and I feel like I have made bigger gains physically. No, I don't recommend burning yourself out and getting sick so you can be faster! But I'm a pretty firm believer that the better listener you are to your body, the faster you will become. Knowing when to take days off, when to go easy, what to eat and when to go hard are really important. I feel like I'm finally figuring that out.

Along with the sharpening up I was also able to have some fun this weekend with friends and family. Saturday woke up, hit the pool for an hour - went on a 3 hr ride, 30 min run and then hit up the "Taste of Temecula" with my sister and her boyfriend. It was a ton of fun and I found a lot of new breweries that are popping up in this area. The next day I hit the trails for a 90 minute run and then later attended the Temecula Valley Tri Club Potluck. I'm on the board at TVTC and it's been a lot of fun seeing it grow over the past 6 months. Temecula desperately needed a solid club to train and grow with and so far it's been a great resource, excited for things to come.

Sister and wifey enjoying good food and drinks!

Ladies at Raw2Roasted made great food for all of the members,
check them out!

So I've got a few things to wrap up at work and then it's camping time with the family, can't wait!

Also, good luck to my friend Kendra as she races St. George this week - kill it!