May 7, 2009

Rebound

When I woke up this morning, I was sure I was getting sick. I had slept 7 solid hours and still didn't feel ready to get up. I was stuffy and had a headache so I decided to get some extra sleep and do my bike test tonight after work. Even with the extra 1.5 hours sleep I was tired, which didn't help at all with the slump I've been in. I realized today that I may not have been eating enough this week, and that might be contributing to the sluggishness. I've been struggling to get a grip on nutrition but have yet to find the right balance.

Today was my repeat bike test. It's pretty simple. After a warm up you ride as hard as you can safely maintain for 30 minutes. This is not about speed, it's about maintaining a hard effort so I rode fast in an easy gear for the warm up to get my legs ready and then gradually switch into harder gears for the test. I was able to push pretty hard and stay at a higher heart rate than my previous test, which made me feel good considering my low energy levels recently. My bike fitness has been slow to develop but I think I've made progress.

I was supposed to do a 10-15 minute easy cool down but I shortened it to 5 so I could quickly get ready and meet a friend for dinner. She called just as I was getting started with the ride and was cool with waiting for me to finish. I can't tell you how great it is to have a friend like that. Most people would have just skipped it. I got ready is just under 20 minutes, a record for me, and met her in the neighborhood for a late dinner. After feeling pretty low all week, it was a really nice boost. Hopefully the slump is coming to an end.

Biking
Distance - 16.21 miles
Time - 52:00

3 comments:

  1. I'm noticing there's definitely an ebb and flow with the energy levels. I've been running pretty low this week myself. (Thanks for lending my your energy by the way) I think all the training just wears down the body - plus the external forces too. And it's just a matter of recharging.
    Those are some nice swim and bike times!! Keep at it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was getting a little low also - I had to add some more fun into the training. I challenged some friends to some friendly competition (100 pushups, diet, EPIC day!). It has done the trick so far.

    I have to keep it fun – that is why I am doing this after all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Geez, sure sounds like a nice friend you have there in the neighborhood. She sounds awesome!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...