Those who know me in real life know that I am highly, highly competitive. The person I am most competitive with: ME! I take every workout very seriously and want all of them to be successful. I was having a GREAT week of workouts peaking yesterday with an awesome swim. I was cranking 200s in the same interval as my last swim test 100s. I was rolling!
Today was to be my long ride. I was all ready. Dave and I got together our nutrition last night; wrote down our intervals; and set our alarm mighty early. We had dinner with some friends Friday night, but did not stay out late and did not drink. We were taking this seriously. Around 5:00am Sloopy woke us up. As we tried to go back to sleep we both turned to each other and said, "I don't feel very good." We both had headaches and some serious heartburn. We both took an Advil and a Zantac and decided to do the ride later in the day. After some good family time, we finally got on our bikes around 4:30pm.
Dave must have felt better after taking the pills in the morning than I did. As we got on our bikes, I had very little energy and my stomach was still very crampy. I tried to put it out of my mind as we cranked our intervals and watched a little Mythbusters. Around the one hour mark things started to unravel for me. I couldn't get comfortable at all. My belly felt pudgy and drinking and eating was just making it worse. My stomach cramps kept me from getting aero which made everything feel longer. Side note: The OCD me must do everything with counting and times. Therefore, I ride one minute in aero, 30 seconds with my hands on my aero elbow pads, and 30 seconds with my hands on my handlebars. Seriously I have problems. :) Back to the point, I was starting to lose it. I stopped at around 1:07 and told Dave I couldn't make it anymore. I hopped off the bike and took off my shoes. He said, "just try to spin it out and then see if you can fall back into the intervals." I got back on the bike and tried to spin. I couldn't even get my RPMs to what would be considered spinning. My heart rate was high. I was just feeling awful. At an hour and 11 minutes into the ride, I called it a day.
Frustrated with myself, I sent Coach a note about my disappointment and my woes. She sent me a great reply that could have been interpreted as "good, I want you to fail every once in a while." But really, I think she was saying that it's best to listen to my body and to know when to fold. I have a tendency to push, push, push and either getting hurt or wearing myself out to the point of sickness. In my 8+ years of endurance sport, I am still learning and evolving. Although I'm not happy with the way this workout turned out, I learned something new about myself and am ready to start fresh again.
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7 comments:
I struggle with the same thing! It's so hard to feel good about leaving a workout--even if YOU KNOW it was the right thing to do... so hard.
Last year when I was training for Ironman, I'd have disappointing workouts, which led me to being incredibly frustrated about my performance. But it happens. Not every day is your best day. I am also very, VERY competitive with myself and one thing I realized last season was the joy that training and racing brings when I listen to my body (during training and racing) and when I just enjoy the ride.
As a newbie to the HRM training, I am amazed at the effect that stomach issues have on the heart rate. I simply cannot stay in the recovery zone in those cases. So, I guess my point is, don't shrug off the crappy feeling stomach. It apparently can have quite an effect. You were smart to listen to your body.
Sorry to hear you had a crappy workout. I know EXACTLY how that feels. One day in the middle of a long bike ride I just pulled over, sat down, and 3 minutes later was on my way home. I really couldn't explain it. Coach said "sometimes you just don't have it on any given day". Better to listen to the bod.
Yes, that is exactly what I meant! When your body says NO, the best athletes respect it and know that fine line between when to push it and when you call it a day.
There will be many "fails" during Ironman training - and that is ok because you are going places you have NEVER been before. You are taking huge risks. It is ok to fall short every once in awhile. It takes many successes and failures to get to the IM finish line. The athletes that focus on success and let the failure go, get there.
Yea - what Liz said. :)
I love Zantac... relieves my heartburn, hope I can also take it to relieve my heartache! LOL Got it online at www.medsheaven.com
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