So... if you read the last post, it had a twist at the end. Turns out, I've been overtrained. But, a few weeks of easy workouts, and all of a sudden my energy has returned like the Apollo 11 spacecraft crashing through the atmosphere down into the Pacific. Fast, fiery, and wondering if I should be quarantined for others safety, lest I release too much of it at once.
In comparison to how I felt before, it's as though lightning is coarsing back and forth through my veins looking for a way out. But it can't. It's trapped. And no matter how much I release, it comes right back. Oh, the incredible feeling of being healthy again!
Fitness is coming back as well. Much quicker than I thought. In fact, based off my power data, RPE, and heart rate, it's likely I'm every bit as strong on the bike as when I was fully tapered. I suspect I might have been training this discipline a bit too hard and the forced rest has done me very well.
Along with the prep phase beginning for my first Ironman build, I have also returned to work in another sense. I recently took a contract position in the aerospace industry in Tulsa. I am not sure how long it will last, but it couldn't have come at a better time. I will, of course, now have to fit the large majority of my riding into the weekends now, but what better way to spend a weekend than a solid 8-10 hours of good riding?
The major benefit to this will of course be the replenishing of funds. No longer will I have to cash out stocks on a monthly basis and wonder about how I will be able to afford to go to Kona if I am able to qualify or live and train in the mountains of Boulder again this summer. But the more hidden benefit includes not having the time to train so much that I send myself right back to an overtrained state as well as fully rehabbing a stubborn Achilles. Done right, I should be able to build much more smoothly this time around and be ready and waiting to hit it hard full-time again once I am no longer needed.
So, though I will have to suffer through the cold and wind once again for the time being, I couldn't be more excited about what winter has in store. Ironman Texas will be here soon enough and I will be ready!
Stay tuned for a next installment detailing the training mistakes I made that led to this dark and frustrating period of my athletic career.
