Kansas Recovery Week

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: speedwork, RUN 3 miles 30 mins, 12x300's
Weds: OFF
Thursday: RUN 6.5 miles in 53.5 mins
Friday: OFF
Saturday: BIKE 51 miles 3 hours
Sunday: RUN 11.6 miles in 2 hours

For a grand total of 51 miles on the bike and 21.1 miles on the run in 6.5 hours.
Now that's what I call a recovery week!

I struggled Mon and Tues to get past the fatigue from the race, which was especially hard since I was also tearing into the house. So I'm worn out in all directions! On top of that the heat is wildly hot right now making it all the harder to recover.

Tuesday I ran with group 4 instead of the usual group 3. I figured I'd have a weak g3 run or a strong g4 run. Would I rather hang on the back of g3 struggling to keep up? No. So I did building 300's with g4 and still struggled, I just struggled at the front of the pack instead of the back. I didn't lead each interval but since I was building speed during each one I was usually up towards the front. Running with g4 was a learning experience. They are running at the speed I started at years ago and doing the best they can while I easily kept up. Good eye opener. Wonder if that is what group 2 thinks of me.

Thursday was the usual group run. One of my running mates made a comment about how we all have the same amount of time, it's just how we use it. This has been on my mind a lot the last few days.

Saturday was the last of the NT group events. I wanted to swim, but got out there too late. By the time I showed up I was a bit cranky and had plenty of drive time to stress myself out. So much going on in life right now! Isn't this supposed to be a vacation? I just checked my work email for the first time and found 34 emails waiting! Anyway, I started off and rode with the group that I most wanted to talk to. But in the end I didn't talk to any of them. I split off after 10 miles for PdS. I didn't feel like riding, I didn't have the spark for it that day, but I think deep down I did want to ride. Why else would I stick around for 51 miles in 101F heat index weather?

Right off the bat, my feet hurt in the Mavic shoes. I think the cleats need to be moved. No numbness, just hot pain between toes 1,2,3 on both feet. I handled the pain pretty well until mile 40 or so, then I just lost all concentration. It's not form, it's the shoes. My feet continued to hurt the rest of the weekend too.

I drank all 4 water bottles in that time and the stomach handled it pretty well. It didn't handle a Balance bar so well, left a heavy feeling in the tummy (lots of protein in those). I had purchased cashews to test but they didn't make the trip with me. I did have a too-carby morning, leaving me all the more tired and stressed by the afternoon. I need to work on my recovery meals too, they are hit and miss right now.

Sunday was a long run, planned 1:50. At 1:20 I was supposed to up the HR to 75-80%, but keep it low otherwise. The plan stressed IM pacing of 70% HR. Easy enough, with the heat so bad I wasn't going all that fast anyway. I decided to keep it very easy. The Heights, Lafa Park, Benton Park, then TG Park. Slowly meandering through the 'hoods and past old houses. They are so pretty, but so many are run down and abandoned. The parks were nice too, but not enough water fountains! I went through 2.5 fuel belt bottles in the first hour (not enough!) and tried to refill in BP with a stupid fountain that didn't fit my bottles. Long story short, I had a bit of a rest at 1:06. By the time I reached 1:20, I was actually able to push the pace! I decided that this interval should be done at just above comfortable (wasn't wearing HR monitor to gauge) and at a pace that had a slight push to it. It felt great to pick up the pace, but it wore me out entirely. The last 2 miles home were tough, and even after I got home I didn't feel all that good. It took hours for me to recover from this run, which shouldn't be a suprise--90F weather with a ?? heat index! My stomach is still upset.

Speaking of the tummy, being on vacation has disrupted my usual meal schedule. I'm eating breakfast late, much fewer veggies, grab and go foods to eat in the construction zone. This week should focus on getting back to normal.

This week should also focus on getting past some specific stressors from this last week. Tuesday's appt brought some Mx issues to the surface, they need to be dealt with. But do it later, I can't worry about that too right now.