I'm having a hard time getting consistency with my workouts. After last week's race, I was a bit tired. But instead of doing some easy workouts, I ended up crashing for 2 days. By Wednesday, I felt so guilty that I wasn't following my training plan to a T that I tried to make up for lost time. Big mistake.
I felt totally recharged so I did a 4 mile run with 2.5 miles on the track. I felt a little sluggish during the run but I headed over to the pool anyway afterwards for a hard swim. I had a great swim workout. My endurance and form is coming back, and I can finally swim freesytle sets of 500m without having to rest in between. I slept like a baby and came into lab the next day very sore and tired.
Nonetheless, I brought Bluebell (my precious road bike) and my bike clothes. I took off at 4 since it was a light day and headed north up the coast on Torrey Pines. It was so gorgeous. Traffic was heavy but I had a nice bike lane all to myself. I had to be very catious, however, since all the drivers seemed to me suffering from massive overdoses of road rage. The wind coming off the ocean was very strong, and I had to brake on this very steep descent to 30 mph in order to be comfortable and stay in control. Coming back, that hill kicked my ass. It took my 10 minutes on my lowest gear (and I have a granny gear) going 6 mph to get up that damn hill. My lower back was screaming by the time I reached the top.
That wiped me out so I cancelled my other planned workout for the night since I was so beat. I woke up the next a.m. sore from head to toe. I decided to be wise and rest Friday. (I was going to do an easy run but Oscar got gastric stasis and an emergency run to the vet on Friday evening wiped out any plans I'd had; he's recovering nicely since I caught it early; he hates taking his meds!)
Saturday, I was going to be so good today! I've been tired all day! Part of it is probably because I was forced to pop a Zyrtec last night due to a whopping case of allergies after coming home from the vet. It reacts with other drugs I'm taking and makes me incredibly dizzy and groggy for the next 24 hours! Sucks! So I've basically been walking around like a zombie all day today, sleeping, and getting mad at myself. Grrrr! It's hard to look months down the road and do small, consistent workouts without overdoing it. But I know I'm steadily gaining fitness. I know what I have to do. I just have to be disciplined and make myself do it.
Moral of the story?
Don't be a slave to your workout plan. If you overdo it, back off. Think of your plan as more of a guideline rather than fixed in stone. It may seem like it's holding you back in the short run but you'll make bigger gains in the long run, with less injuries, and be happier for it.
4 comments:
Poor Oscar! I'm glad you caught it early. GI stasis is one of my big fears. If someone had told me years ago I'd get excited to see bunny poop... Well, you know.
It doesn't sound like you're too far off with your training. Chris at http://www.chivalry.net/wordpress/ has some very wise things to say on this same subject. It must be a common theme with all of us these days.
Thanks, bunngirl! Gastric stasis freaks me out too. I never hesitate to take them to the vet nowadays! Thanks for the link on training tips.
It is ok to ease off the training if you are too tired.
For me, there are three key workouts I must do. A long swim (Mon), a long run (Wed) and a long bike (Sat). Everything else I cancel if i am too tired.
Yestesday after a 3.5 hr bike ride, I was pooped. So instead of going for a swim (planned), I did nothing.
Sorry to hear about Oscar's problem and your drug reaction. I do freak out when my pets are sick.
I watched a triathalon on the biggest loser, one in Hawaii. Ummm, props Rachel! That looks killer! I would need someone following me around with a fire, and literally, light a fire under my butt to keep me from quitting!!
I hope Oscar is feeling better!!
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