IMMT Training Week 16: Restful rest and time with friends

You know that a week promises you rest when it actually starts with a rest day. That was a good change of pace, thank you coach. It made a whole lot of difference as it allowed me to make a mental pause and reflect on the previous week's meltdown. In reality, maybe this was all I needed because on Tuesday, I was itching to start working out again. I wonder if I should change my rest day to Monday from now on... I am going to give the upcoming 3 week block another try, then reevaluate.

Swim

Two swims this week, one on Tuesday on my own and the masters swim on Thursday as usual. Both times I could see intervals times going down. Fast 25s, fast 50s, fast 100s. All better than the month before despite feeling sluggish sometimes. There are only 2 weeks left until the end of the group swim and for once, I don't feel burned out or willing to kill my coach. Seeing progress keeps me in a good mood I guess. I don't expect these times to necessarily translate into torpedo speed in the open water, but I am looking forward to finding my bubble of bliss again in the middle of Professor's Lake a month from now. It puts me at peace with the world and myself, and I need those zen moments during the triathlon season as they remind me why I love this sport so much. Plus, putting on my wetsuit makes me feel invincible, just like a superhero suit.

Bike

I took it easy for the first workout on Wednesday, but on Saturday, brace yourselves, I unleashed the BEAST! Don't get too excited now, I didn't FLY my bike, but I went OUTSIDE!! Yeah, baby!! Wind in my hair, coasting downhill, pushing hard up on Mt. Wolfe, fighting the wind - oh how I missed the elements that make biking outside so damn awesome. I was leading a group of folks from the tri club and this was a "no cyclist left behind" type of ride, so we took a few breaks, even had coffee after 50k, but in the end I rode 70km in 3h and that was truly memorable. I came back home with a high that lasted long enough to make me enjoy another hour and a half on my trainer afterwards, for a total of 4h30 and 105km for the day, longest time spent on the saddle this year. I know, I know... these times only go up from here... and I already sound like a broken record.

I WANT MORE!! I'm sure that I'll be crying after the 5h30 ride that I can already see on my schedule at the end of the month, but I'll leave that for The Meltdown 2.0.

Run

Running has been kind of "meh" despite all the time spent outside. Ankle/post tib is still achy after 8km and I chose not to push it, thus I did not run farther than 10km this week. I really need to know what's making it tick and more important, how to fix it, so I'm going to speak with my massage therapist on Wednesday and maybe go back to physio for a bit. Calves in general have been super tight and they may have a lot to do with my tendons acting out.

But back to the recap, after the Mississauga half I waited until Thursday to run again and I did 10km of fartleks (only for the first half, then I took it easy). On Saturday I ran a 3k as a brick after the 3h ride, then today I went on the Etobicoke Trail because it was good for the soul. My friend Orville joined me and we ran 9km, half of what I had on the schedule. But as I previously said, it may be time that I stop pushing through the pain and deal with it.

In a nutshell

Less than 10h of workouts this week and all of them were rather enjoyable. Spent time with friends (Carol came home to ride and run with us on Saturday), saw a bunch of lovely folks from the FMCT tri club, then Orville surprised me by joining me on the trail run. Friends make everything better. Next week is back to the grind, and while I am still worried about my ankle/calves/tendons, I have a much positive outlook on the next building block than I had a few weeks ago. I am aware that there will always be ups and downs, but at least racing season is starting and I'll be using some of the endorphin high to keep the tears at bay. Plus I'll get to chase more of this girl, so all is good in the world.