Monday, June 17, 2019

Journey to Kona Day 133: Listening to my Body

My mind has been excited about jumping back into my training this week.  I'd already thought about riding my bike every day for at least 1 1/2 hours.  Yesterday, I rode 45 minutes, albeit pretty solidly, I probably leaned a little more in the direction of going harder rather than just getting volume in.  It's a little hard not to do that because of the hills in my neighborhood.  Plus, it really did feel good to push a little bit.  Yesterday ended up being a pretty long day and when I woke up this morning, I just wanted to go back to sleep.

Instead of working out this morning I got some paperwork done and started cleaning up my study.  I'll probably take a short nap before my massage today.  I also noticed that when I woke up early this morning, that I was having some negative thoughts about my health.  8 days after an Ironman, having negative thoughts about my health? Hmmm, sounds familiar.  Rest is the key recovery tool at this point.  Another day of rest not only won't hurt, but will probably do me some good.  Pushing too hard, too soon, can have untoward results.  I still might ride later today.  We'll see.

This is always the most fascinating part of ironman training to me.  There is a fine line between taking it too easy and pushing too much.  I'm fortunate to have a coach who trusts my instincts, and that over the years, I've learned to pick up on signs that my body sends me.  The fact that I'm already tired today and I actually got in a decent number of sleep hours last night should tell me that I might need a little more recovery.  Not only did I do an Ironman 8 days ago, I then drove most of the intervening days.  Driving is tiring in and of itself.  So, I will listen to my body today.

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