Steelhead 70.3

November 26, 2011

My original 70.3 race schedule for 2011 was Florida in May, Welland in June and Syracuse in September. Syracuse was my 'A' race for the year so getting in a couple of performances I felt good about in the lead up to that race was important.  The year started off well with a great race in Florida, but I had some major hiccups in Welland that cost me my race and left me near faint when I crossed the finish line.  Following that disaster my confidence was low and I wanted at least one more solid, successful race before Syracuse, and after giving it some thought and chatting it over with my coach, I decided to join a few friends that were heading to Steelhead.

Out of the weeds.

November 21, 2011

This cold of mine completely floored me.  Training has been nothing but light maintenance work (if anything at all) for the past month but it looks like things are finally clearing up.  Things got so bad that I went see my doctor to get my thyroid and iron levels checked because I was so tired all the time, even with training at a standstill.  All of my energy was consumed with getting better and I was left in a constant state of exhaustion.  Numbers are back up on the bike, recovery from workouts has sped up, and running no longer leaves me feeling hoarse.  I'm still feeling vulnerable to sickness and things are still pretty light until I'm back up to 100%, but it looks like training for next year can finally (FINALLY!!!) begin.

Off to a slow start.

November 05, 2011

The hardest part of being sick is your body telling you to go, go, go, while your head tells you to stay right where you are.  I've had a cold for the past three weeks that doesn't want to go away, and I've had to shut down training because of it.  I'm through the worst of it, but it's lingering and still making things difficult.  A few weeks ago I started training with a power meter and have already been exposed to its value.  Last week I was trying to push myself through a tough workout on the bike.  I'd woken up that morning feeling better than I had in several days so I decided to take a shot at the ride.  It was clear during my first set of intervals I was still weak and sick and nowhere near ready for a workout like that.  It took everything I had to hold numbers that were below the bottom end of what I usually push, so I pulled the plug, hopped off the bike, and haven't done anything since.  Not exactly the start to next season I was hoping for.

The most frustrating part is lying awake in the mornings trying to get myself back to sleep.  I'm so accustomed to waking up early to train that most mornings I don't need an alarm, and by the time I'm falling back asleep, it's time to get up.  However, getting out of bed early when you don't have to train does allow time for other things that have been neglected over the past few weeks.  Such as blog posts.  And laundry.  And flossing.