This training makes me nuts!

So after the great week I had last week, I had trouble falling asleep Sunday night. Not sure why, but I just tossed and turned and I don't know how much, if any sleep I got. To make things worse, I woke up with a kink in the right side of my neck, bad enough that turning to that side hurt. So no swimming. I knew the neck thing was just trigger points so I started working on them.

I thought I'd give my legs a break so I went to the Y and got on the treadmill. Legs felt dead, and still was experiencing some tightness from my low back leading to sciatica. So I did 1/2 the workout on the treadmill.

I thought I'd try and swim Tuesday morning, but the neck still hurt, which meant I could try and catch up on some sleep which was a good thing. I got a good 1:45 ride in, though, and I am supposed to switch my schedule around this week and run long on Thursday, so Tuesday is now a slightly longer ride (what the hell was I thinking--not sure if I can always get in that much on a work day).

Wednesday I was feeling like I still needed more sleep so did not swim again, although the neck was significantly better. But I thought I'd give outdoor running another shot, and after about a mile, man things hurt, so I backed way off and ended up doing some walking and then some run/walking. This was a sign that I guess I just needed to back way off on running this week, and given that all this messed up stuff is on the right side of my body, it's a signal that I am training really, REALLY hard and need to let this stuff resolve.

Yesterday I finally felt like getting up at 5AM to swim and wanted to run or do elliptical, so I did the elliptical first, which causes me no problems, and then I had a pretty good swim of 3100 yards. And I got a massage in the afternoon which was sorely needed.

I have to say over the last few days that even though I know I need some amount of rest, it just makes me crazy when something hurts. Or you can call it "overuse." Whatever. I have made it pretty far into this training regimen without completely shelling myself, and am always feeling like I'm on the verge of it. At the same time, getting in the training I want to get done is a trick, and getting the rest of my life in is also a trick. I know that I am very fit, but I am also very stubborn, and when I have scheduled training and I can't do it, it takes awhile for my mind to catch up and realize all will be fine. Next week I am doing a PLANNED recovery week, so it sucks even more to have this week be a sort of down week too, but again, I think things will work out.

I am to the point now where I just look at what I had planned for training for the coming week and think about how much of it makes sense considering where I have come from, and then since I'm introducing recovery weeks, does that mean I can still do what I had planned for the following week? Actually, when I look at things on a macro scale, the recovery weeks are fitting in there very nicely after some brutal weekends I have planned. THOSE I intend to do!

In my head, I wanted to get in another easy ride yesterday, but bagged it and finished up my strength work. I wanted to get in over 2 hours of training so I was set up for today's long swim with a good day of work the day before. Why? Because all of this toughens me up.

Last night I ate pasta to the point of being overstuffed, slept really well, and woke up just minutes before the alarm went off at 4:45. I bounded out of bed, had an obligatory cup of coffee (which I don't really need to wake me up anymore since I am sleeping what my body needs) and a toasted English muffin, got my swim stuff together, and was in the pool swimming at 5:33. I could shorten my lead time a little bit, but hey--I'm proud of the fact that years ago I would need like 1.5 hours after waking up to get going on a workout, and now I'm down to :45. That's a hefty 50% improvement!

I sort of decided before I fell asleep last night that today's swim would be 1500's. Although months ago I had written out these workouts for Fridays, I just ignore them and make something up. It's not like I'm going to get faster at this point, so I have made the point of these swims to not slow down and practice my nutrition. So I did 8800 yards this morning, and maybe it's because I have hardly run this week (in my book anyway), but I have felt great all day! And that 8800 included 5200 yards of pulling! And my arms are not sore at all! So this tells me I am indeed adapting to this, and next week I will do a 2.5 hour swim before my long ride and see how that feels.

I also asked my boss for a hiatus from some special duty at work for May-July. I might get it or not, but somehow I felt I might as well ask. The special duty is just something that adds that extra bit of stress for a week, and my schedule can't be too flexible those weeks. It is the first time I have ever made a request like that, and probably the last time. We shall see how it goes.

Now I am going to enjoy a starch free dinner (since I had oatmeal right after the swim and rice with lunch), sleep in tonight and work out for 4 hours tomorrow, and I am actually looking forward to it. As much as (and I guess I should admit it finally) I like to run, I had been on another 9 week serious run build after Goofy, so a little breaky-poo was probably in order. I will try and realign my back and acclimate to running outdoors, and as it warms up, it will be so great!

Right now as I write this, I'm thinking that there are these major training blocks and I need a certain amount of focus to get through them, and I think my focus muscles were getting a little tired; but I think I am recharging them and ready for the next assault.

Change

I basically did the same training week this week as last, except that all the running was RUNNING! 37 miles worth, which is a good week, I think.

I seem to have gotten a slight "breather" this week, in that some work stress decreased, and it has (mostly) warmed up so I got in 2 outdoor rides and a few outdoor runs. Working out outdoors has a definite impact on my outlook on things, except that now I realize I have a good amount of garden cleanup to do! But, the difference in working at home and being able to take a short break and go outside into the sun is huge vs. just doing something inside the house.

My right side is still a bit messed up, but at least I know it's my QL (quadratus lumborum) that is at fault, and I know that I have injured it a few times in twisting falls so when I start to pile on the volume, it is susceptible to trigger points, which is all this is. It also made me realize that I need to change up my stretching/yoga/trigger point routine, as my muscles get used to being stretched a certain way and then the stretches become almost useless, so I need to change the stimulus.

Remember this--the body requires change to adapt to increasing load and maintain or increase fitness. It is maddening, but true--if you keep doing the same thing all the time, you will lose fitness/flexibility, so you need to be aware of the need to change things up every so often. A normal, periodized training plan already has some change built in, but even in the constraints of one, you still need to mix things up quite a bit. For example, change the route/terrain you run/bike on, perhaps change where you swim or play around with your breathing patterns (something I like to do), change the order of body parts in your strength training or change the exercises. A lot of what is classified as overuse injuries is, I think, a lack of change. For me, I have been doing a helluva lot of biking and running indoors, which puts me mechanically in nearly the same position all the time, so I need to break the pattern.

I am starting to feel almost able to cope with my planned training for the next 6 weeks, which is a good thing. I will be building in recovery weeks, but now is the time when I am "training to train" which in Ironman lingo is preparing your body for the final period of super high volume that builds that final fitness you need to do well. Looking forward, I even think I will be able to manage some 22-25 hour weeks out in July. Isn't that crazy? It will be mostly biking, though, as that is still the biggest part of Ultraman. THANK GOD!!!

I am just really happy it is spring, even though we had some snow yesterday. But it's still March, so that is to be expected. Soon enough, it will be beautiful, gorgeous spring weather, which I have come to love so much! There are tons of birds here now, and it appears the recovery from West Nile virus continues. Lots and lots of robins, a decent amount of cardinals, and even (strike me down for saying this in a year or two) crows. The resident pair of red-tailed hawks alights in my backyard every other day or so to take a break from cruising the neighborhood for hapless squirrels and other prey, and I am always happy to see them! The onset of spring is always such a wondrous time to me--I forget about a lot of the plants I have and yet there they are coming back to greet me and put a smile on my face.

Oh and the first day of UMC shall henceforth be known as "Frabjous Day!" I can't wait for it!