Downhill

So the training camp that intended to give me a super-boost in my winter training schedule turned out to be more of a super-bust.

I was pretty physically wasted after my little back-country adventure. The next day (Thurdsay) was I supposed to leave work at 1 pm to go on a 3.5 hour road ride before dark. It was raining, but not thunderstorms, so it was still considered rideable outside. However, as 1 pm neared the urge to put my head down on my desk and go to sleep kept getting stronger. It's not usual for me to be sleepy at work, but I rarely actually have to fully struggle to stay awake. That morning I actually scooted my keepboard out of the way a couple of times to make room, before I talked some sense into myself.

I decided that I deserved a nap when I got home since I was so sore and fatigued. Just one hour and I could still get my ride in before dark. That turned into the compromise that I would switch the 3.5 hour ride with Saturday's schedule 2 hour "ride how you feel" session. At 3:30 I woke up, decided that today was just as good a time for my scheduled rest day as Sunday, and went back to sleep until 6.

Things didn't get any better the next day (Friday) when I was still sore and fatigued and a little gimpy from when I decided to save my bike instead of my calf. I also found out that I would begin the interview process for a potentially big promotion on Monday. This turned me into a sore, fatigued, gimpy, nervous wreck and I ended up skipping the night's core workout to watch movies and baby myself.

Training resumed on Saturday, which had gorgeous weather for January, and I got in a 4 hour road-ride on my 'cross bike, which I have designated as winter road bike since I feel safer on it in crappy weather and it allows me to leave my road bike hooked to the trainer. The ride went really well; it was a zone 2-3 steady state with a 8 second super spin every 10 minutes. I rode well, but my quads ached enough to tell me that I will need a lot more long rides to get my muscular endurance where it needs to be by the Ouachita Challenge.

Sunday was my 2 hour "ride how you feel" day. I was hoping I would be able to ease myself up into some zone 3-4 "sweet spot" work, but it just didn't happen. After a half-hour, just getting up to upper zone 2 seemed like a chore, so I backed off and soft-pedaled the rest of the way.

So I ended with 12.5 hours for the week and overall pretty decent quality, but the accumulated fatigued, red peely nose, and stress of impending job interviews didn't bode well going into this week. Basically, I had an interview on Monday, a presentation and second interview on Wednesday, was at the vet until 8:30 pm Wednesday night with Mrs. Bigglesworth and her "feline acne", and I have not turned a pedal, done a pushup, or lifted a weight since Sunday. So the subsequent crash completely voided anything I did during the training camp. I didn't get the promotion, either, but after it was all over I found out it wasn't as great as I thought it was, so I guess that's all right.

So after a good night's sleep tonight and good nutrition over the weekend, I think I'll finally be ready to resume normal training. Tomorrow I will attempt a 4 hour MTB ride since the high is about 18 degrees and the trails should be sufficiently frozen. Sunday will be another 2 hour "ride how you feel" on the road and then next week I start my new training phase. Coach Dave has blocked out the next 8 weeks with a basic 13 hour a week schedule of Plyo/Olympic Lifts on Monday and Friday, VO2 or LT intervals on Tuesday and Saturday, easy ride on Wednesday and Friday, tempo on Thursday, and long on Sunday. The long rides are all scheduled at 3 hours right now, so some weeks will be more than 13 hours as I will rotate those days between road, dirt road, and MTB depending on the weather. I will basically be using Sundays to do what I need to do to survive Ouachita and then the Mohican 100 later in the season.

Well, that's my life in the last week and a half. Now that I'm caught up on my rest and blogging, it's time to move forward.