Status

I did not run at all last week, but managed to bike 225 miles and swim 17,000 yards. Not a bad week! On the weekend, I rode 82 miles on Saturday (3 hours inside and 1.5 hours out), and I got way behind on my calories, although I was full after dinner. Sunday the plan was for a 3 hour ride, and 1.5 hours in I was bonking like a champion. Luckily, I found a gas station that had lots of sugar, and got a brownie, a Carmelo bar and a bottle of Gatorade. I finished the brownie and half the Gatorade while resting outside, and the Carmelo got eaten about 1/2 hour later.

Yesterday morning when the alarm clock went off, body said "Nope." Even though I didn't really sleep much more, I stayed in bed for awhile, and when I got up and moving around, I felt really, really tired, so skipping the swim was a good idea. Later in the day, I began experimenting to find out if there was a way I could run without my foot hurting. It seemed I could prance around barefoot in the house, but the minute I went outside on pavement it was a no go. I contemplated some more and thought oh well, another week of no running while I wait for new orthotics.

I did lift for about an hour yesterday, and this morning I actually felt some DOMS while swimming. It was a tough swim workout, but still... When I finished and got home, I still felt depleted, so I decided I just needed to keep eating a little every hour. It was a beautiful day, and I wanted to bike outside, but I felt tired and weak. I had some leftover Infinit, and that combined with wearing my pirate kit was enough to get me moving pretty well on the bike.

Before I had gone biking I decided to put my old (fucked up) orthotics into a pair of running shoes, and voila! Foot feels a whole lot better. So one thing is that my arches said they needed the additional support, so maybe this will help reset the muscles in my foot that are causing me some pain. Meanwhile, I still have crap going on in my right lower back, but it's a chicken and egg thing--did the foot cause the back or vice versa? I don't know, but it is a good idea for me to take a couple of weeks off running. Looking back at my training log, I should have done this like 3 weeks ago, but I am a dumbass and tried to work through some pain issues. Never again! Guess that's what comes with old age.

So this week will be another big bike week and maybe a whole lot of swimming, too, although I don't need to swim 17,000 yards. But it couldn't hurt. Depends on whether I feel like getting up at 5AM for the next 3 days.

Whereas yesterday I was getting a little down about the not running thing, I think now I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel, and won't retest things for another 2 days, and will see how that goes.

I forgot how tired tons of biking makes me! And I'm pretty sure that's the earliest I have ever put in so many miles in a year! If I can equal that this week, I am for sure moving in the right direction. Just the fact that I did it at all tells me my bike fitness is pretty good. I haven't done a century ride yet, but it's only a matter of a few weeks now.