As I sit here getting ready to leave Clermont, I can't help but feel good about all that I have accomplished over the last several weeks. Building off the big bike and swim mileage I had started in Gainesville, I progressively increased the volume and intensity with one purpose in mind. Not to get faster, but to get stronger. Transforming my body into the efficient machine it needs to be in order to handle the massive training loads that will be required to reach that professional level.
And for the majority of it, I was not getting any faster. I was steadily doing more and more than I ever had, yet my swimming was at times slowing down. And on the bike my legs always felt worn down, like they wouldn't have any power. Yet, they always did. And though I didn't know it, my swimming stroke was getting better and better each day.
Though since I didn't know it, I just had to trust that if I kept at it, I would see results in the form of speed increases. Even though I was already seeing the only results that really mattered for the moment in the increased ability to do work. And, on less and less calories and fluids. After awhile I noticed my body seemingly start to adapt to the training load. I got comfortable with the routine of working hard all day, (almost) every day. My overall food intake seemed to be back to a relatively normal level, and had even developed into a routine, designed to get as varied and complete a diet as possible each day.
I started to get a bit faster. If only just a bit. Then a slight change in my swim stroke from a Master's swim drill that kept me from overrating my hips. Big increase in speed! And with that the motivation that led to even faster swim workouts and more increases in speed.
On the bike I was starting to feel invincible. I was keeping up a lot better with the pro triathletes when I went riding with them, even doing an interval workout where I was able to stay on their wheels throughout each interval!
But as the training block was coming to a close, it was time for something big. It was time to keep pushing and see what was possible. It was time to attempt to bring my body into what some call "functional overreaching". Which is just a fancy name for being slightly overtrained. Just enough that a quick recovery will yield huge fitness gains, while avoiding accumulating too much long-term fatigue.
So for my last week, I simply continued to go as long and as hard as I could on the bike. Except there were no days off. Just a couple moderate days, just soft enough to allow me to keep going hard. The other 5 days were all extremely hard. The intent was to blow my legs up. The day before the last hard day I thought I had done just that.
Instead, my body responded. Adapted. Took up my challenge and one-upped me. It got stronger. Faster. Before I even gave it the recovery it needed. On the last day I was not only riding faster than I was at the beginning of the week, I was riding faster than ever before. For much longer too.
The week's totals hit 418 miles on the bike at an astounding average of around 20 miles per hour! Incredible! Considering how much of it was done alone and pulling, I couldn't believe it! Physically, I felt like I always did. Hurting like hell after each bike ride and always like my legs wouldn't be able to work. But they always did and now I knew that they would.
I even thought maybe I could keep going. That's when I realized how so many professional endurance athletes end up severely overtrained. Gradually, over time, your body can adapt and get used to anything and the symptoms of overtraining just become part of everyday life. Luckily though for my body, my mind was done.
Mentally, I couldn't take any more. I had hurt myself too much that week. Seemingly, my mind was more ready for that planned rest period than my body. And so as I leave Clermont for a quick stint at the beach and some downtime in the Tennessee country I will rest. Big time rest.
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