Saturday, March 03, 2007

training round-up, week ending 03-04-07

this was a recovery week.

at least, it was supposed to be. following the rule i'd made this year of "3 weeks build, 1 week recovery," i'd scheduled this as an easy week.

but one of the hard parts about training--and i think it's not just for triathlon, but for all sports in general--is that when you're really in it, and i mean really in the middle of the training cycle and going hard, it's really hard to not go gangbusters all-out all the time. you develop a certain level of paranoia, neurosis, and obsessive-compulsive disorder that just drives you to (and through) workouts, even ones you shouldn't be doing. it's accompanied by waves of guilt, worry, anxiety, and uncertainty over whether you're training enough, or training right, or that you're becoming underprepared, or worse, that you're losing all the conditioning that you've worked so hard to attain.

it's weird. people had warned me about this when i first started. i'd read about it often. and i'd taken to heart all the things that you're supposed to do to avoid it (or deal with it)--basically, ignore it, have faith in the training and yourself, and just let things go. that, and remember that the other part of training is recovery--with recovery being just as important as building.

but dealing with it is entirely different. you just...have. to. train. and if you miss a workout, it's the second coming of sherman's march to the sea. and if you find yourself unable to finish a workout, it's the arrival of armageddon and the final judgement of humanity.

i think i kind of overdid things this week. and a lot of it was because of the trepidation i got from my struggles in february. i probably should have just allowed my body to recover and rest.

as it was, i took 2 days off, and then felt so bad (hey, i had the mindset it was 5 days of easy workouts, if you consider the days at the end of the previous week) that i went in on thursday and did a hard 3-hour session on the stationary bike (which would have meant a 4-1/2 hour road ride, if the conversion formula from triathlon mag is right). that left my legs sore. and me very tired. and most definitely in the overtraining fog (figuratively--i was just out of it and not thinking very clearly) for the next 2 days.

i'm on the edge of overtraining, and maybe a little bit over. i'm going to have to modify my training schedule a bit, even if it means going in to Ironman with whatever it is i've got. because i don't want to repeat my experience at IMAZ last year ever again. i went into that race feeling tired. this year, i want to go into Ironman feeling rested, and restless. as in ready to go.

i'm going to have to watch it for the next few weeks, even if they are build weeks.


sunday, feb. 25


rest day

monday, feb. 26

morning
  • swim (intervals, 8x200), 2600 yards, aerobic & anaerobic conditioning (zone 3 & zone 4), mcdonald's swim stadium, start time 6am
  • weight training (chest, abs), 30 minutes, immediately following
evening
  • kung fu (active rest), 60 minutes, loker track stadium, start time 6:30pm
tuesday, feb. 27

rest day

wednesday, feb. 28

rest day

thursday, mar. 1

morning
  • stationary bike (build), 180 minutes, muscular endurance (zone 3 & zone 4), lyons center, start time 6am
evening
  • run (maintenance), 45 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 3), loker track stadium, start time 5:30pm
  • weight training (abs), 20 minutes, immediately following
friday, mar. 2

morning

  • swim (technique & pull), 2800 yards, muscular endurance (zone 3), mcdonald's swim stadium, start time 6am
  • weight training (chest, shoulders, & lower back), 30 minutes, immediately following
saturday, mar. 3

morning

  • kung fu (active rest), casuda canyon park, start time 10:30 am

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