Michigan was really an awesome place to grow up. Lots of land, incredibly nice people, strong sports teams, great community, and of course family and friends nearby. Moving to Connecticut was both one of the easiest and one of the hardest things I have ever done, and because of that, every few months I will get a little homesick and in need of a taste of Michigan. So thank goodness a trip home is only 4 days away.
Training hit a bump in the road last week when this hellish cold showed up. Wednesday I knew something was wrong and tried overdosing on OJ and Zinc and yet, Thursday came and I was feeling worse. I had a double workout slated and needed to preview the Madison tri bike course, and I wasn't about to give in to a measly cold. I hit the pool and put in over 1.5 miles and felt pretty good. I then moved on to the bike course, a 13 mile loop that I would do twice to get the long bike in. I averaged just over 17 mph, but by the end, was not at my best. Thursday night the cold had me in its grip and I got little to no sleep both Thursday and Friday nights. Saturday (race day) rolled in and I felt so crummy that I considered not even going. I could not imagine throwing away the entrance fee, so decided to load up and go, especially since Pseuodoephedrine and Afrin had reined in my symptoms a bit.
Call it fate, call it a sign, call it what you will, I got there, registered and went down to take a dip and saw the boats struggling to even get the buoys in the water, not long after this they announced that the chop was too dangerous and they would be cancelling the swim and converting the race into a duathalon. That made me so nervous, I have practiced and built up muscle memory for the bike to run transition, not the opposite. Combined with not feeling even 50% and a 12 hour work shift ahead, I turned in my chip and planned on heading home. In the end, a coworker and I decided to run a relay, I ran, he biked, and we had a good time. At the end of the total day, I didn't feel great, but I hadn't done any damage either and was content. The best news was that Sunday morning I woke up feeling a hair better, and this morning even a little better. I am still not one hundred percent, but at least am moving in the right direction.
So Saturday saw a mini-workout, and Sunday I took to recover and stretch, but today I hit the road hard, running 6 miles in 65 minutes, could have been a few minutes faster if I felt better and had hydrated better this morning and/or brought water with me on the run. Good news is that I am feeling ready for Sunday. I have completed all of the distances multiple times, I have the strength and the stamina, the mental game will likely be more of a player in this longer distance, but that will be Sunday's hurdle. For now I am enjoying the recovery from this cold (probably at about 75% now), and my runner's high from tonight's workout. Stretch, shower, dinner on the docket, perhaps a jump on the trainers with Timmy for some Monday night football spinning style.
Most importantly, the count-down to Michigan has begun. Its a quick weekend with a long race in the middle of it, but I'm really looking forward to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment