Changing the Approach

Things still aren't looking up for me right now. I went to the pool last night and walked out of the gym after only completing 3 of my 7 reps. My times were dropping and I felt like I was working way too hard to be going that slow in the water.

This morning, I did manage to run 6 miles prior to work. I kept the pace right around 9:00 miles and solidly in zone 1. It helped that it was a nice, cooler (relatively) morning. I didn't feel too taxed. My body was tired but the slower, steady rate came a bit easier than I thought it would.

Coach Dan and I are mixing things up this week. I am to not look at my power numbers on the bike. Instead, I am supposed to just go ride a couple of times. My effort should be solid but not hammering and not sandbagging. There are no interval sets this week. There are no long runs this week. Right now, there are no long rides. I might even go for a spin on my road bike this weekend.

The body still feels really beat. It doesn't help that I have been sick the last few days. I came home from work early on Monday. I can only assume it is some form of heat exhaustion from the weekend. I feel like I have hydrated well. But I am suffering from a piercing headache, suppressed appetite and a chronic feeling of being run down. I took some sinus medicine last night and that alleviated some of the problem but it returned this morning. I can't recall a time in my life when a headache lingered this long.

I am, however, still racing this weekend. Indian Springs Sprint. I don't have too many expectations for the race other than just having fun down there. It is always fun to catch up with people that you only get to see at races.

On Saturday, I will do what the body will allow....which hasn't felt like much lately. I am often pondering the notion that I asked so much of my body last year between Duathlon Worlds and Ironman Florida that it is taxed to the max. Sure I took some down time to recharge but not really. And probably not enough to overcome a really long season AND an injury. And then I stacked the early season.

I am working hard this season to listen to my body. And I think it is talking. Part of me says shut it down for the rest of the year. The other half just says back off from the HIM distance and focus on Olympics and Sprints. I am going to give myself until next week to make a few decisions about what I want to do with the rest of my season.