Born Again Athlete:

Rest helps!

80 miles on Saturday - the Fitzhugh/Johnson City route (i.e. hilly) and I felt great. My nutrition is better and the weather was WAY better (didn't get hot until around noon), but my legs felt stronger. Woot!

5 weeks left!

I have Overtraining Syndrome!

I hate self-diagnoses via the internet, but not sure who else would diagnosis this for me. Actually my friend Chrissy did; I think she went through this one year in her training schedule. I mentioned at a party this week "I am always so tired. I am taking naps in my office."  And it's not just regular Ironman training. I've done Ironman training, twice in fact. Actually have trained harder in previous years, yet have never been this exhausted. Chrissy said a very telling fact is that your resting heart rate is 10 beats higher than normal. Yikes! This has been happening to me!

So I look up Overtraining Syndrome:

• fatigue, exhausition, loss of energy
• aches, pains, chronic soreness
• insomnia
• headaches
• decrease in training capacity/intensity
• drop in performance
• loss of enthusiasm for the sport
• decreased immunity
• weight loss
• appetite loss
• moodiness/depression/irritability
• increased injuries
• elevated resting pulse

Well - I don't have weight loss or appetite loss! (Dang, I never have appetite loss, except after a bad breakup.) But other symptoms have been occuring to me. I felt really light headed in core class recently; I've been pooping out at about 70 miles on my long rides. I even thought about saying to someone recently "you know, I'm getting kinda bored with this triathlon thing." !

A more objective indicator is that my heartrate has been higher. Then there is this test, which I did this week:

Another way to test recover to use something called the orthostatic heart rate test, developed by Heikki Rusko while working with cross country skiers. To obtain this measurement:

1. Lay down and rest comfortably for 10 minutes the same time each day (morning is best).
2. At the end of 10 minutes, record your heart rate in beats per minute.
3. Then stand up
4. After 15 seconds, take a second heart rate in beats per minute.
5. After 90 seconds, take a third heart rate in beats per minute.
6. After 120 seconds, take a fourth heart rate in beats per minute.

Well rested athletes will show a consistent heart rate between measurements, but Rusko found a marked increase (10 beats/minutes or more) in the 120 second-post-standing measurement of athletes on the verge of overtraining. Such a change may indicate that you have not recovered from a previous workout, are fatigued, or otherwise stressed and it may be helpful to reduce training or rest another day before performing another workout.

Oh, yeah - I am overtrained and underrecovered.

Not sure why. I think maybe the 2 Half-Irons back to back did it. After Gulf Coast ( in mid-May) I have felt not so great. Maybe it's just chronic training, although I did take some time off this winter.

So the treatment - REST! This week I've done nothing. And it feels GOOOOOD. I've gone to bed before 9 pm every night, waking up at 7 am (really late for an IM athlete!) and I think it's helping. I will go do my long bike and run this weekend and see how I feel.

Of course, there is this balance and worry that I won't be trained enough for Vineman. Hmmm. It's probably best that I'm recovered well? I plan to mainly do more core, yoga and swimming anyone for the next month.

Hooray for rest!

I am not an athlete....

but I do extraordinary things with my non-athletic body!  :)

What I mean by this (as maybe some of you may argue), that I am not naturally gifted physically. I've gotten to where I am because I pay attention, ask lots of questions, do drills, think (way too much) about technique. I train really hard, but still not fast or that strong. But I like it better this way. Tastes better because it's been so hard to achieve.

Wait - does this completely contradict the title of this blog, you know Born Again Athlete?

Look at my Assos!

 

This is a review for Assos women's bike shorts, not just an excuse to parade my ass on my blog. It's actually not the most flattering pic of my butt...although it adds padding to my now flat booty.

Shawda swears by these. She would rave and rave about them. But $200+ on one pair of bike shorts??

All women go through the cycling phases of bike shorts:

Phase 1: Beginning cyclist - what I have to wear those things? I'm gonna look fat! Everyone will see my thighs and butt!

You get over that and get into

Phase 2: Beginner cyclist, but grateful to have bike shorts now that you are doing 20-30 mile rides

Phase 3: Start doing 40-50 mile rides: discover chamois butter - hallelujah!

Phase 4: Start doing 60+ mile rides: it's not the ass that hurts, but the...uh..lady lumps, koochie, va-jay-jay, etc....medically referred to as the pudenda.

Phase 5. Century rides: I can't have sex after this distance.

Phase 6: fuck, I'm spending $200 on bike shorts. 

I guess I've spent around $80-90 on most bike shorts, which when I started this I thought was very expensive. I got them from Mellow Johnny's - had to order them special because of sizing. I felt like a yuppie cycling poser (you know, more money than skills). But gave them a whirl last weekend.

I don't know if it's the chamois configuration, the material, or the high-tech Swiss testing technology - but these work! Good thing because I was more focused on climbing hills and not bonking rather than my nether regions. Don't get me wrong - I love my Sugoi shorts and they work great with plenty of lube, but honestly all shorts about the 80 mile mark started to feel uncomfortable. Not these Assos! I used chamois butter, but might not even need that. Thigh grippers felt comfy, not tight. Waist was comfortable (didn't have one of those stupid stringy belt things which I always just pull out anyway.) My booty looks better in the Sugoi shorts, but hey, it ain't a fashion show.

Yeah, so I approve and recommend them. No, I am not getting a cut or discount (but if any industry people out there are reading this....)

update

Er, I should probably post something....but it will be boring, methinks.

9 weeks until Vineman, so 6 weeks of hard training before taper. I've done okay in training for this, but not great. Since I'm scheduled for IMAZ in November, Mo told me to just have a goal of finishing Vineman, and not training too hard (ha! never a problem). But I'm a little anxious about ...well not finishing, but having a hard race. Hmmm... I hadn't done a century ride yet! This weekend, I was supposed to do 100+ ride. It was hot, really hilly ride; I had to walk up one hill, the shame. I did 90 something, then had to call a friend to pick me up. oh well.

Running is going okay. My left knee is bothering me again, so I'm worried that about at mile 20 of the race, I will be really hurting.

My nutrition has been fucked up too. I'm not eating enough maybe? Someone said that I am going harder now, so need more calories, or different types of calories. More short chain carbs and protein. And I'm becoming a saltier sweater for some reason, so had to amp up my electrolytes.  Oh boy, I'd better figure this out.

I'm still a slow swimmer, but can easily do 2.4 miles.

well, I'll look cute in my running skirt at any rate, heehee