So we're in week 3 of our 5.5 month training season. The first few weeks of any season are usually exciting. I get to buy more gear (woot!). I start to organize and structure my weeks to get the right workouts in (Type A personality loves structure. Woot again!) I slowly come out of exercise hibernation and start to feel strong.
But yesterday, while limping along on a recovery run I had a brief moment, where I thought, "what have I done signing up for this event?" I can say right now, as I mentally scan my body, about 3/4 of it is aching or is sore. The other 25% is exhausted. This is not necessarily a new feeling for me, but to get to this stage on Week 3 was slightly disturbing. I know everyone said this would be hard. I know Chris warned me. And I fully expected it to be hard, but maybe after 2 or 3 months -- when we're riding 80+ miles and climbing 10,000 feet. Not in week 3 of the season.
I've also had this 3 week unpleasant relationship with biofeedback data, which has contributed to my questioning my decisions. So generally, I love data. I love spreadsheets (Type A personality again). I love maps and visualizations of information. A few weeks ago I went to get my bike fit. The lady who was doing it hooked up my bike to a computer so I could see my power output and analyze my pedal stroke. Turns out I'm left-legged. I didn't know you could be legged, first of all. Secondly, I was astonished to see that I use my left leg to power me about 85% of the time. My right leg limps along at 15% power. Furthermore, all I use is my left quad. Apparently my hamstrings and glutes are completely dead to me.
This was fascinating information at first -- great feedback. I have some concrete steps to work on. I could, potentially improve my cycling efficiency significantly. But then as I started to think about it, and in my own hyper-sensitive way, started to interpret the data to mean that I've been cycling wrong these past 6 years. The basic thing that a child does at play, I do wrong.
So while that is festering in my psyche, Chris starts really getting into learning about Lactate Threshold training. This is a way to train that relies heavily on you monitoring your heart rate and not going above a certain level. He even helps me get his old heart rate monitor set up so I can use it to monitor my heart rate, which was very nice of him. Yesterday, I strapped on the monitor and went for a short recovery jog in our neighborhood. Within in a few minutes of running, the watch is beeping and flashing all sorts of warning at me basically telling me I am training too hard, that I am in the danger heart rate zone. So I slow down. And it keeps flashing. And I slow down some more. And it keeps flashing. So I slow to walk. Still flashing. Then I start strolling, slowly, hardly walking. Finally get my heart rate into the "zone." Turns out, I shouldn't be running at all. Or even walking briskly. And again with the self-destructive talk, I interpret this to mean that I don't even know how to run correctly.
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| Crystal Springs Reservoir. It's pretty but the wind was fierce. |
But I finally got a good nights sleep and am taking a day off with no exercise to rest and recover. And I'm realizing that I always do this. The first weeks of training are always hard, and I always beat myself up about thing I shouldn't especially when the going gets tough. The reason I continue to push myself and train for these types of events is because I like getting through the hard stuff. I like improving.
I may never be a super cyclist or runner, and those damn machines may always beep at me, but I don't really do it to win or even be fast. I do it because I love being outside, being healthy, challenging myself and helping support an important cause.
On to a new week of new challenges!
