Journey to Kona Day 229: Patterns

Being a Geriatrician has taught me how to look for patterns. One of the important things that I've learned over the years is that individuals are just a single dot on a much larger canvas.  From a scientific point of view, whether we're looking at the benefits of medications or treatment approaches, we are looking at an average response.  Every person in a drug study doesn't have the same response to a medication.  Our results are focused on the average response.  The same thing goes when it comes to exercise physiology.  There is no single response to all stimuli.  There is a broad range of responses.  That makes trying to make training predictions for individual athletes all the more difficult.  And so, as one of those individuals, we have to look for patterns.

A couple of weeks ago, I hit a "lull" in how I felt.  It briefly led me to believe that I needed to start cutting back. In fact, it was most likely my body's response to ramping up my training volume and overall stress.  During my rest and recovery period, I certainly hit points where I really don't feel good.  Then, like magic, I come out of the rest period and am even stronger and fitter than I was before.  Now that I'm into my official taper, I'm hitting my first point of that.  Having had another very solid week, in my recovery phase I've had some days where I really feel lousy.  Today became another one of those days, though perhaps for a different reason.  I might  be fighting a short term gastrointestinal bug.  Now, one of the reasons that I might even have such a bug could be a reduction in my immune system.  Or, my gastrointestinal tract might just be compromised as part of my training cycle and it's affecting me today.  It's hard to tell, but one thing that I do know is that this feels familiar.

I've got twenty days to go before Kona.  I have a "feeling" that I'll be feeling better in a few days.  That "feeling" is based on data and experience.  It's important that I work with my coach on these things, although the advantage of having the same coach for 14 years is that I generally know what he'll say before he says it.  Similarly, as an individual, we may not always be objective, and that's where having an objective second opinion is important.  Still, we must both look at the patterns.  So, I've spent the balance of my day resting, taking two naps, and limiting my food intake (an unfortunate necessity that based on previous experience with this type of a feeling will only last 24 hours).  And, continue to monitor for patterns.