Friday, September 24, 2010

The bad beginning

Thursday: Run 5 miles, bike 6 miles
Friday: Yoga, swim 1,800 yards

Editor's Note: I waited to blog until I was in a better mood, so if you want to know how I really feel, you should probably multiply the following rant by ten.

Are the workouts I've been doing this week really that much harder than what I did all summer? Are they? No, really, I'm asking you. Because I am stinking exhausted and I don't know why. And this week has just been one unfortunate event after another. (Perhaps that's what I get for calling it "Week the first," hmmm?)

So yesterday I was supposed to run for 55 minutes and then bike for 30. The idea is to keep your heart rate elevated for a longer time without beating up your legs too much. I figured it would be fine to do the running on the treadmill and then just use the stationary bike at the gym. But it really wasn't fine. It was extremely uncomfortable, more difficult than it should have been, and actually painful in one knee (the other one). I realized the whole thing wasn't just suboptimal but actively counterproductive, so I went back to the treadmill to walk to the end of my time. From now on I'm going to either just walk for the biking time or give up on trying to do that kind of workout in the gym at all.

I woke up pretty tired this morning but was still having a decent yoga class until I kicked up into a handstand and pulled a muscle in my groin. My first thought was, Oh, no I did NOT just injure myself for the SECOND TIME in my first week of training. But oh, yes, I did! I was still able to swim afterward, but without any kicking, and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do tomorrow's run/bike workouts at all. I came home nauseated, starving, dizzy, drained, dejected, limping, and wondering if I was actually sick on top of everything or just allergic to the world. Instead of working I spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the couch watching Netflix crap and feeling sorry for myself.

My heart-rate monitor finally showed up today, and I realized that instead of having bought the practical, utilitarian, no-bells-and-whistles piece of equipment I thought I had, what I likely now own is instead a total piece of crap. It feels cheap and is hard to use, and the instructions are written in a very broken English. It wasn't expensive but certainly isn't worth what I paid. It might make it through the next 39 weeks of training, and it might not.

I might make it through the next 39 weeks of training, and I might not.

1 comment:

  1. Do you want me to send you my Polar HR monitor? It's pretty good, I reckon. I wouldn't mind plopping it in the mail. It's 6 years old but still seems to work fine.

    Question (and it's an ignorant question as I have never trained for an Ironman): Do you have to worry about heart rate? Can't you just train for mileage? I worry about you putting too much strain/stress on yourself.

    I very much understand the week you've had. But please try not to worry too much. Try, try to enjoy the things you're doing. Your exhaustion could be the lack of break you've had and the simple looking ahead to the next 39 weeks. Or, yes, you could just be getting sick. Let your body rest.

    I am so sorry all of this is happening. But you are an amazing woman who has already proven you are capable of anything. This is just the bump in the road that's needed for you to look back 39 weeks from now and say, "Despite all that crap, I did it."

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