Easy Does It

So, it was a tough weekend for pretty much everyone I know. The heat was on, and it was everywhere. Saturday was a breaking point for me as well where, after what has seemed like an eternity of struggling with training sessions, I finally succumbed to the fact that I've driven myself into a state of overtraining. But, in retrospect, I now realize that my progression towards destruction was not due to the recent heat, but in fact started last week, possibly multiple weeks ago.

Overtraining is a word commonly thrown around in endurance training, and a condition which we as athletes all know to "look out for" during periods of high intensity work. But, at the end of the day, the lines between normal fatigue resulting from training and the early symptoms of overtraining can be so blurred, that by the time we definitively recognize we're in a destructive state, it's too late. Enter Joe, stage left.

Monday - my off-day. I knew things were suspect when, with absolutely zero training load, I was sore and tired before bed.

Tuesday - speedwork at the track in the heat. I pretty much felt miserable the whole time, but pushed myself through regardless. Speedwork is supposed to leave you empty, right?

Wednesday - I was so "off" when I woke up, that I skipped my morning swim, and recognized the need to skip my afternoon workout as well. A scratchy throat and an overall sense of lethargy made this seem like the right choice.

Thursday - I managed my morning swim, and felt pretty good throughout, but the tempo run in the afternoon seemed abnormally difficult.

Friday - the beginning of the end. I had a two and a half hour ride on tap, the first hour of which consisted of some LT pieces. Getting my HR up to LT was a challenge enough, but when I finally did, the power only lasted for a few minutes. Undeterred (and ridiculously stubborn), I finished the ride up and crashed early that night.

Saturday, the realization. I awoke almost convinced the week prior had just been a series of unfortunate events and that the day ahead was sure to be better. And so began the usual conversation with myself:

"Self?" I asked, "We're going to be okay today, right?"

Self responded: "You know it, just get out there and put the damage on"

"But... Ummm... What about this week?" My tone firm, but fair. "I mean, there were all those bad workouts and..."

"Quit your worrying, you just had some tough luck out there" Self was quick to interject.

"But..."

Self, now having lost all patience, responded "What? What's the problem? Are you thinking about Tuesday's speedwork session? It's supposed to hurt! What do you expect? How about Thursday's tempo? Is that bugging you too? Why don't you just go for a walk in the park if you're going to complain about the heat? Yesterday's ride? No big deal! So you had a tough day, now get on with it!"

And with that, my ride began. I negotiated with myself to go easy for the first half of an hour, keep it in zone 1. It was 96 degrees, sunny and humid. After all systems were go, I decided to put the pressure on the pedals and see where I was at. Sadly, it was only two minutes later after an effort at all out pace, that I'd (1) driven my legs to complete exhaustion, and(2) managed to get my heart rate up 9 beats. Nine. An all out effort in a blast-furnace produced a HR spike only up 9 beats. It was official, I was overtrained.

"Self? I told you something was wrong, and I told you we should have quit sooner than this. Self? Self? Bhaa, blasted self. Fine, go hide and away in your corner!"

Anyways, we're always trying to extract positive things from bad training or racing days, and really the best thing here is that I finally observed a definitive sign that it was time for a serious break. So, with that, it'll be an ultra low-key week as far as training goes. I'm going to be doing my swims in the morning, but all runs and bikes are on hold until late week. Nothing but physical and mental relaxation. Oh, and ice cream-eating.

Thanks for reading.