Pure Exhaustion

I was wondering when this would arrive. It's been 13 weeks since I've averaged 8 or more hours of sleep a night. I didn't have any of those "I want to sleep all day" days after IMLP. I didn't understand how I was maintaining on (for me) such little sleep.

The corner was turned yesterday. I headed out for a maybe 3-hour ride. It was cool and overcast--perfect for riding. I rode easy for about :45 and then I cranked up my power to about 85% of FTP. It felt good. I figured, hey let's just keep riding like this for as long as possible. I managed about :45, and then it hit.

First it was mental--I didn't really need to ride 3 hours today. And then I felt a bit underdressed and chilled. So I headed for home. And then my power dropped. At first, I thought it was because I was cold, so I just let it be--an easy ride wouldn't be a waste. But then it turned into this feeling of just needing to give up.

I got home and put on my running shoes and headed out. Even though I was holding a good pace, I didn't feel right. Was I bonking? No. Did I feel muscularly tired? No. It just felt wrong to keep going. I almost bagged it after about 1/2 mile, but I thought let's give it some more time. Things didn't feel any better. I polished off the small bottle of Gatorade, just in case it was a bonk. It didn't make me feel any differently. After a little over 1.5 miles, I turned around to call it a day.

I ran home slowly, thinking this must be it--what I've been waiting for for a few weeks. I ate a good lunch. I got in bed and turned on the TV and read a bit. I felt tired, so I turned off the TV. I fell asleep! I don't remember the last time I napped on a weekend. I woke up after about an hour and assessed the situation. I got back in bed and dozed off for another 1/2 hour.

I felt groggy upon awakening. I didn't attribute this to not sleeping enough, but rather waking up during the wrong brain wave cycle. Oh well--now I had time on my hands and wouldn't feel rushed with the rest of my day.

It ended up raining most of the rest of the day, and I hoped for less rain today, but that was not to be. I slept 8.5 hours last night, even though I had napped. Something is happening...this is good.

I got a bike set up on the trainer, thinking I'd do 3-4 hours. I got on, and that same weird tired feeling came on. After 5 minutes, I stopped.

I'm exhausted. Finally! I'm going to have another nap today, and when I wake up, we'll see if I feel like doing anything. Maybe it will dry up for the 3:00PM bike race and I'll amble down and watch it. That will have to qualify as my bike action for the day.