Catching Up: The Condensed Version

Do you ever feel like there are too many things to fit in? Anyone training for an Ironman has days, weeks, even months, where just getting by takes monumental effort. These are the weeks where dishes pile up, a stack of mail forms, every pair of shoes I've worn are hanging out by the door having a party, my personal appearance slips and my clothing choices might not be my finest. The last two weeks have been like this for me, an endless balancing act between life and training where blogging became the least important thing for me to focus on.

So here I am with the brief version of where I've been and what I've been up to.

Thank God For Rest Weeks

The week of April 25 was a rest week at the end of my first build block. I needed it. My body was handling the training well, but I was tired and had a very busy week of work ahead. I had back-to-back events, one in Cincinnati that led me on a detour to DC wearing the same clothes for two days and getting about 4 hours of sleep the entire time. Luckily my sister lives there so the impromptu visit with her made it feel special.

I did another three-day cleanse with BluePrint over the weekend, which allowed me time to unplug, sleep and catch up. Nothing beats a night with 10 hours of sleep when you're exhausted. That, plus the jolt of energy from all the green juice, had me feeling like a new person come Monday.

Training numbers:

• Swim - 1,200 yards, 24:42
• Bike - 41.4 miles, 2:48:51
• Run - 8.5 miles, 1:19:04

I did everything as scheduled and rested as scheduled. I felt great by Sunday night.

The Week That Fell Apart

Filled with optimism I jumped into my next build phase, but there have been some challenges along the way. Monday went as scheduled when I did a late-night swim despite my desire to sit on the couch and watch Mad Men. If you know how much I enjoy swimming you know it was a big deal for me to suit up and go to the pool at 9pm. Tuesday was fine and included a lovely dinner with a friend. Wednesday was a day trip to Cincinnati so a rest day training-wise. But it all fell apart on Thursday when I was too exhausted from the 19-hour day Wednesday to get up at 5am, so I opted for sleep (my coach always says extra sleep is better than extra training) and planned my workout for evening, but evening turned into 10pm again and I just couldn't do it. I had a slight meltdown, ate some dark chocolate chips and went to sleep.

Now that Friday is here I'm aiming to just ease back into the schedule and make up the missed workout sometime this weekend. I'm looking forward to some quiet time if I can find it and starting next week anew. In the end I likely won't have missed any workouts, but it's the frantic juggling that creates stress and the stress takes a toll. It's important to find ways to manage it during training so we have every opportunity to heal and recover. Dark chocolate chips really help with that.