it's been a long, loooonnng time since my last entry, and only because not too much has been going on. training is going well and ever since starting up again just over a month ago, i think i've only missed one workout. maybe two? life has been busy, especially work. the holidays are approaching fast but that doesn't change the fact that project deadlines are looming, so i've been putting in a lot of extra hours at work these days. i haven't been to the gym in a few weeks because i haven't been able to afford the time during working hours, but morning and evening run/ride workouts are going well.
my coach has been giving my leg lots of time to heal before pushing ahead fully with running workouts, and i think i've only done one hard, run-specific workout. all other run workouts have been slow and short, 45 minutes being the longest. needless to say, my running legs are sluggish and i definitely, definitely, definitely am not the runner i used to be. my legs feel heavy, and even a modest pace feels like an effort. i'm struggling to get my splits down to levels i want to be at. however, it's good that i haven't been pushing my running legs too much. for the first three weeks or so, the day after any run done outside (any run not done on a treadmill) my right leg would be bothering me with aches similar to those i had just before my stress fracture. i was concerned and thought i may have to cut out running again for a few more weeks, but now that my legs are stronger and i've been back at it for awhile, all seems well. i've been pain free after all of my outdoor runs for the past couple of weeks, but efforts still remain short and slow.
since running training has been light, that's left lots of time for riding and my bike training has been going great. when my coach and i sat down to talk about what sort of program i'm looking for, i told him i want him to push me, and he definitely hasn't let me down. i've been working harder on my riding then i ever have, and feel like most of my training rides in the past were nothing but unfocussed spinning sessions. every workout feels like it matters and it's making a difference. it's pretty awesome. i don't expect to roll out on my bike in the spring and suddenly be able to push an average of 60km/h or anything, but i do expect to improve my times from 2009. and i'm going to need those improved bike times to make up for the fact that i'm mr. slowy mcslowy out there on the run.
anyways, on to the reason i wanted to do a blog entry today: i've just finished a couple of tough interval workouts on the bike and am feeling completely exhausted today. thursday was intervals at low cadence, high resistance (12 x 2 mins, 30 secs recovery, followed later by 8 x 2 mins, 15 secs recovery). these low cadence, high resistance were extreeeeeeeemmly tough and i was telling tara, that day's group leader, that i don't think i like her any more. i wasn't nearly pushing my full wattage and it still felt like i was pushing about 10 times that because it was so hard.
this morning was another tough intervals workout, which included 6 sets at maximum heart rate. i was practically ready to faint by the time i got through those first 6 intervals, and when they were over i still had nearly an hour of riding left before my cool down. now here i am at home, getting ready to head out for the night with some friends and i'm feeling completely exhausted. and tired. even with a full day off in between those workouts i'm feeling burnt. it doesn't help that i just finished reading an article about how your muscles basically get torn to pieces when doing high resistance, heavy workload intervals and you should give yourself a couple of days recovery time before doing any more similar workouts. tomorrow is another day off and i'm looking forward to it, and i also can't wait for my next recovery ride.
