Journey to Kona Day 200: Boy, I'm Tired

17 1/2 hours of solid training this week, and a 20 mile run coming up tomorrow.  On one hand, it's really good to know that I'm not concerned about my ability to complete tomorrows run.  In fact, I'm looking forward to it.  When I got up this morning, I was tired.  Despite feeling tired I went for a 45 minute bike ride, which is never completely easy in my neighborhood.  It wasn't simply an easy ride, but I kept it pretty mellow.  From there, I went to the pool, with the initial idea of swimming another 4,000 yards.  As soon as I got in the pool, I realized how tired that I was.  I decided to just swim continuously for as long as it felt ok, focusing completely on my form.  500 yards became 1,000, which became 1500, and I finally decided to stop at 2,000 yards.  I could have kept going, but I was definitely tired, and I'd proved my point.  I was slower today than I was earlier in the week, by about 5 seconds per 100 yards, but my form was intact.  The lost time was due to fatigue, pure and simple, which was both ok and expected.  For good measure, I immediately swam a solid 100 yards in 1:39, about 7-8 seconds slower than usual, but again, par for the course. 

A major part of ironman training is the ability to train when fatigued.  I found out today that I could swim continuously for half an hour despite being quite tired. If I keep my form solid, I need to focus on my lat strength.  Ultimately, that's what is going to allow me to swim faster.  Of course, on race day in Kona, I'll be rested, and all the training will have an opportunity to pay off.  When I got home, I realized how tired I was.  I made sure to eat.  Fully restocking those muscle stores is key to every day of training.  Tomorrow's run will not be effective if I go into it without adequate glycogen in my muscles.  Last night I kept eating, and today I'll make sure to keep grazing.  The next thing I needed was sleep, which I got from a really solid nap.  Sleep is so important when it comes to recovering and training.  When I look back over my years of training and competing, taking naps is one of those things that I've never really been good at making sure I do.  

I'm already tired this week, but it seems like I've been able to recover with just a good day of rest.  I felt really tired on Thursday, and rode my bike for nearly 7 hours on Friday.  I'm really tired today, and I'm sure that tomorrows 20 mile run will be just fine.  Fatigue is part of ironman training.  Boy, I'm tired.