... "Crash and Burn" pretty much describes the majority of my training over the last couple of days!
On Wednesday I did a 10-mi run with the LifeTime Fitness Run Club. Only myself and my friend Bobby did 10-miles and the run started off very well. We kept the pace around an easy 9min/mi but something I did not prepare for was the return of the 90 degree day. Yep, it was 93 degrees when we began our run at 6pm. The humidity wasn't bad but 93 degrees is still pretty darn warm. By about mile 8 my body was beginning to feel some fatigue. By mile 10 I was extremely happy their would be no mile 11. It was hot.
Thursday I woke up at 4am to go to Master's swim and my legs felt like hell. I immediately turned off the alarm and went back to bed - rest was more important that a swim at this point. On Thursday afternoon I jumped on the trainer and did an easy spin for a little over an hour while watching, "Red Dawn" - which this movie deserves a separate post because of it 80's awesomeness!
The spin really made the legs feel good so I figured it was time to go for my scheduled tempo run. Well, the tempo run started out decent but did not end that way. I like to do a one mile warm-up before the tempo and did my first mile split in 8:32. Then I kicked it in and did the second split in 6:40. The third split in 6:42. The fourth split was a complete BONK and the fifth mile split was a slow jog back home with my tail tucked between my legs.
The weird thing is that I was not struggling aerobically at all. My heart rate was barely even in the anaerobic zone when my legs just said, "Stop, Now". Frustrating.
So what is going on? Well, it is pretty obvious that the 10mi run in the heat took more out of me than I expected. Also I think my body is having trouble acclimating to last weeks 21 hours of volume and the entire 17 weeks of hard training. Because of this I have decided to back-off and give myself some time to recover. Normally I would try and push through this wall but with my race in 15 days that would be unwise because the chances of being flat on race day would increase. So, I am skipping today's bike ride and just doing an easy 2000yds in the pool after work. Then I will begin full taper on this coming Wednesday as opposed to next Sunday. Hopefully these little fixes will get the spring back in my step!
I'd like to thank Jon and Scott for their sage advice. Jon helped me decide on the appropriate day to start tapering and Scott told me to back the hell off or I was going to get hurt - Thanks Guys!
Ramblings:
- Would like to wish a BIG GOOD LUCK to KC who will be competing in her first 140.6 Iron Distance tomorrow at the Great Floridian. Let's all come together and send KC positive race vibes through out the day tomorrow! She is going to do so awesome! Go to her blog because she has posted ways we can follow her throughout the race.
- Election day is almost here! If you support the current administration and believe the congress has been doing a good job, please stay the hell home and don't vote. HAHA, just kidding (not really). Back in 2008 I wrote THIS about politics and this blog:
"Election Day: This isn't a political blog so I will not express my personal opinions about the candidates but whoever you like get out and vote. Many have fought and died for your right to vote - do not waste the opportunity!"
- Considering the vast number of political issues that have been blogged about since 2008 I'd have to say that at least my blog has undergone some significant CHANGE from that post 2 years ago!
- Speaking of issues: Hows 'bout NPR firing Juan Williams over some comments he made about Muslims on airlpanes. Here is Juan Williams quote from his appearance on the O'Reilly Factor:
"I mean look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country, but when I get on an airplane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they're identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."- The Pres and CEO of NPR released a statement saying that Juan Williams should be expressing his opinions to his Psychiatrist. Wow, IMO, that is a lot more offensive than what Williams said about Muslims on airplanes. Whether you agree or disagree (75% of Americans polled agree with Williams comment, btw) he should not have been fired for expressing his opinion on an opinion show on another network. The Politically Correct police are completely out of control in our country to the point that special interest group appear to have absolute power. We need to man the hell up and quit being a bunch of thin skinned wimps. Election Day is coming people and shit like this has become common place. Remember that when you vote.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff
