Often, in the final stages of training for an Ironman, you teeter on the edge of over training. Always running a knife edge as the volume increases and fatigue knocks on the door every session. A few days ago, I opened that door and jumped over that edge. During a strength training session, the legs could no longer cope and the body raised the white flag. It was an odd feeling, as the previous day and demonstrated a solid day of 6 hours on the bike with a good finish. However, since Sunday, there had been a nagging feeling (the glowing eyes lurking in the dark) that the body wasn't quite happy. A poor food day followed by lack of sleep did the trick to push that edge so much closer. Fortunately, some good advice from Napoleon and a well placed massage therapist, a good dialing back of the training for a few days ensued and recovery is well on the well.
Colorado Springs hinting at me!
I now find myself in El Paso with 97 degrees F outside awaiting the first day back. Not exactly my idea of easing back in, but a gentle run to the pool shall follow to begin the subtle crawl back to work. With less than 3 weeks left to the race a delicate balance is important. The training is essentially done and the fitness is in the muscles. I must now ensure I maintain that fitness with a gentle taper and lots of sleeping. This always creeps up without my notice. All of a sudden there seems to be insufficient time to get everything packed and ready to go. Yet, I see the departure date to Colorado on the horizon, cresting quickly. Time to get the athlete guide on disk and get preparing.
Good luck to us all!
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