Work vs. Fun

I must be recovered from the 1/2 IM, and from all the yard work I've been piling on the last few weekends, as today I nailed my bike workout the way I'm supposed to.

It was this workout: 15' wup, 3' spinups, 3x(2'Z3, 1' CD), 3x8' (2') FT, cd 5', 8 x 30/30's, cd 7'

I figured I'd be prepared to hit the FT stuff dead on today, since I was extra careful to hold myself back while running yesterday. OK, let me back up. Sunday I ran 13.2 (possibly more) miles in 2 hours. I had done a 1:40 long run the Sunday before, and the week before that was Miami Man 1/2 IM. So that's pretty fast to ramp back up to a 2 hour long run. I increased my total training hours to 15 from just shy of 10 the week prior, which is not something I'd recommend to someone else, but I had "extra" recovery in that I did not work on Thursday or Friday (or Wednesday afternoon, thanks to an early dismissal by my manager). Plus, I know myself pretty well and have made volume jumps like that before, so I figured I'd be OK. I've increased my strength training a bit, and am back on my periodized regime that will get harder soon enough. My bike workouts have sucked donkey balls the last 2 weeks, because I have let them. Saturday I didn't get on my bike until after I had already swum and then raked for 3.5 hours. I had decent power, but not as much as I'd like. I was fried. And I had considered running afterwards, too, but wisely dismissed that idea, thinking that maybe I'd be able to run 2 hours on Sunday rather than my planned 1:50. The ride I did on Thanksgiving was preceded by a 5K race plus about 3 miles of warmup and cooldown, and my legs were toast when I got on the trainer (but not too badly toasted as I still managed to get in a decent TSS/IF for the ride).

So now back to yesterday. I was sufficiently tired after my long run on Sunday, but managed to do another 2 hours of yard cleanup (cutting down and covering 17 rose bushes and removing assorted perennial plant debris) to complete shelling myself for the week. Yesterday I had a swim and run on my schedule--I've been self-coached for a few weeks, no worries, and my goal for this week is to bring up my running to 5.5 or more hours, and to get back on my bike workouts. I could tell yesterday morning that I was expectedly fried, and now I know that when I really do not want to do a workout it probably means I am pretty tired. But I figured some time in the pool would be good for recovery, so I went anyway, and held myself to 2500 yards, mostly easy stuff with a good dose of drills. Side note: This fall I have taken to bringing a commuter mug full of coffee with me to the pool rather than Gatorade or water. I LOVE MY COFFEE! After the swim, I was still tired, but wanted to get outside and run while the weather was still good (it's been near 60 here for 5 days). When I began running, my legs didn't feel so much muscularly tired, but just this general fatigue of having ramped up my training. I told myself I could turn around and go home and skip the workout, but I've been in this position before, and knew that I would feel great the next day as long as I held the intensity down. So on I ran, and I had to force myself to take walking breaks to keep my pace low.

When I finished working yesterday, I even managed to do :34 of abs/core work. I didn't want to have to do my full strength routine today so that I could have a good bike workout. I finished up with a good :35 of stretching and called it a day.

I slept 10 hours last night--usually I let myself stay up a little later on Mondays because I don't have to get up to swim, but right after 8:30PM last night, my body was saying lights out, so I did. I felt really refreshed this morning, and knew I had done the right thing by going ahead and getting in that run workout yesterday.

I was going to ride outside today, as the weather is still good, but it was raining a bit, and something told me I didn't want to go all rooster tail on wet roads, and my outdoor hoses are put away for the winter, and I didn't want to have to wash my bike! So I put my Bitch back on the trainer (I did ride outside on Saturday, which was a total treat--at one point I had some dork sucking my wheel after I passed him, which didn't bother me one bit) and got ready to rock 'n roll.

Right away I could tell I had "legs" today. I was able to generate good power in a low gear during warmup, and as I moved up to the Z3 stuff (which is basically HIM range), things felt great. I looked at the SRM and had a chuckle, because the power I was putting out was near my FT power just a year ago! How f'in cool is that?

I started on the first FT interval, and I knew I could hold it for 8 minutes. 8 minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but when you're on a trainer and there's no terrain or wind or just air, it requires focus. It's WORK. I got this perverse smile on my face remembering that I need to just settle in and do the WORK. It's not fun, but I don't expect it to be fun. In a flash, I realized I was recovered from the 1/2 IM and that I was ready to do some serious WORK, not just today, but for this new training season. How many of my 2005-2006 training season bike workouts were like this? At least 95%. So they were all tons of WORK. But I could see before me in plain numbers how all my hard work has paid off. Sheesh, the numbers on the SRM were things I only DREAMED about a year ago. Hell, being able to run 13 miles in 2 hours in a TRAINING RUN was not something I had thought I'd be able to do a year ago, either. My running improvements have also come at the expense (or as I think of it, pleasure) of lots of hard WORK.

I also had the flash today of that adage, "the training doesn't become easier--you just get faster." SHIT YEAH!!! So I did the same workout today (or close to it) a year ago with almost 30 less watts on the meter, but it's just as hard now as it was then, only now I go faster. There will come a time when the work will only get me to maintaining speed or even some decline, but I'll know when I'm there, and I ain't there yet.

What about FUN? To me, it's not so much about FUN, as it is about the realization of the fruits of the WORK that I enjoy. Do I enjoy the WORK? Yes, because I know that my gratification will surely come. The FUN happens because of spurious details like wearing eye-catching clothing while training or racing, or being able to be light-hearted at points during training or racing when I'm already dialed into my effort level. To me, fun is an emotion that can be present during hard work, but I don't feel at all compelled to experience "fun-ness" in order to enjoy something. I am puzzled by someone who says they are racing to "have fun." Fun is jumping around in a huge container filled with bouncy balls. It does not require you to be engaged or make much of an effort. Racing is work, and sure it can be pleasurable, but I tend to put it into perspective and believe that if I am executing the way I should, then that's plenty of enjoyment for me. I have the same view of training. If you don't view training as WORK, then how will you be 100% engaged during racing when it's all about the WORK?

As my coach likes to say, "Work is speed entering the body." I am back on my game, and I'm ready for some serious work. Last season is so OVER. It's time for me to get faster and stronger. I feel like I've got that spark back that I had last fall when I had decided that changes were in order. Those changes worked like a charm, and I've added some new challenges for myself this year, and I'm ready to go to WORK. I better be, because I have another marathon in 6 weeks that I want to PR at!

Weekly Workout Totals 11/20/2006-11/26/2006

I thought it might be time for me to start being more accountable to the blogosphere again, and perhaps to provide some motivation to myself and to others.

How am I doing on my goals for the season?

• I'm maintaining my weight, and I assume my body fat percentage. I won't take any measurements for another month, which will be interesting to see how a big uptick in running affects the old body.
• I haven't scheduled my follow-on medical appointments. BAD GIRL!
• I'm doing a good amount of stretching. I keep finding new stretches and adding on to my repetoire. Plus I have more time now that I'm not training so much, and yard work season is coming to a close (yeah!).
• I bought a 12-lb. medicine ball for my ab workouts and have been using it for 2 weeks now. I haven't caused any DOMS by moving up from 10 lbs., so it makes me think I could go heavier, but this is enough for now.
• I have been doing an extra delts/lats workout weekly. I am not sure whether it's doing any good, but it doesn't seem to be hurting anything either!
• I had arranged for some private swim coaching, but it hasn't come together yet. No worries--I have found a Plan B, and until I get the privates, I'm doing a 4th swim workout of primarily drills, and I think it is helping me.
• Biking is taking a minor back seat to a current swim and run focus. I don't think I can improve my FTP much between now and Goofy Challenge; at best I hope to maintain it. It sure is nice to be spending less time monkeying around just to go biking.
• Despite my disappointing 1/2 mary time in Miami, my running is still holding well. I ran 2 hours yesterday and covered 13.2 miles, so I am not losing any fitness there. And I feel prepared for 5 straight weeks of 2+ hour long runs to be ready for Goofy Challenge.
• Still, I've kicked off my 2006-2007 season with a first in AG win at Miami Man 1/2 IM, and set a minor PR at the 5K distance. Not a bad way to kick things off!
  

So now the focus becomes to not get injured while putting up some serious running time. What will that take? Continued attention to stretching, sleeping plenty and good nutrition. I didn't really go crazy with food on Thanksgiving, and now I'm at the point where I need to make sure I'm getting enough calories with all the running I'm doing.


Weekly Totals 11/20/2006-11/26/2006
Swim: 11000 yards (6.24 miles) in 3.93 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1377 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 79.92 miles in 4.57 hours; 30% of weekly workout time; approx. 2297 calories burned
Run: Approx. 33.46 miles in 4.97 hours; 33% of weekly workout time; approx. 2407 calories burned
Strength: 1.53 hours; 10% of weekly workout time; approx. 383 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 119.62 miles in 15 hours; approx. 6464 calories burned
Sleep: 8.93 hours avg./night
Stretching: 3.6 hours. Massage: 1.67 hours