The word "build" has a lot of significance in my life right now. It's all starting to pile on. Training, job(s), curve balls, adult responsibilities, etc. I'm having to make choices and play tug-of-war with certain things. I'm also having to be more self-disciplined with my own training (I'm recovering from the "I go-too-hard-too-much" syndrome). Add it all up, and it's scary at times, but I say, "Bring it!" At least my eating/sleep habits are better than ever :)
On the training front, last week was my first real week in the build phase and overall it went great. I stuck to all my planned workouts except one (an optional swim, of course a swim). To sum up the week: I felt strong and happy to be knocking out the miles and reaching intensities I haven't felt in a while. Every session presented a challenge and gave a sense of extreme satisfaction.
I definitely felt terrible at certain points--in a good way of course--because I was pushing the limits/getting into Zone 5 when I needed to do so. But overall I didn't overdo it, I promise! I stayed true to recovery/EZ/moderate workouts and didn't let my HR skyrocket 24/7 just so I'd get a "really good" time/pace.
Here's the thing: As a coach, I can easily dish out "smart training," and now I'm finally starting to practice what I preach. It paid off well on Sunday, when I still felt surprisingly good during all of my 63-mile Bike + T-Run. It even paid off well this morning when I still had the energy and desire to do an hour swim instead of take the day off.
It got me to thinking, "What I was doing last year at this time?" So I busted out the 2010 log. Low and behold: I was already laying down the hammer big time in early Jan '10... arguably going too hard, too often. I think I was training out of the fear of wanting to be good--but that's totally not the case anymore! Now: I want to train because it's fun... and challenging... it's freeing... and I love it... and I want to continue loving it all the way through IMC in August and beyond.
Moving on to the "shit show" part of my life....
Whenever I'm not training/sleeping/eating, it's work work work, but I'm not rich lol. There's some R&R of course, but work can go 'round the clock. I have more jobs going on right now than I ever have had before. Part of that means I'm putting a great deal of time into managing it all. It's not a typical job life where I go to the office 8 hrs a day M-F, get a paycheck every two weeks and that's it. Nope. My jobs = 24/7. That's the life of an entrepreneur/independent contractor!! I love it, but it's tough. There's the scheduling, time management, finances, budgeting, invoices, tracking multiple incomes/expenses, IRS/tax-related stuff, bank accounts, insurance/liability, etc. Then figuring out how to do it all efficiently and not waste time or be lazy. Craziness! I wish I could hire an assistant. Did I mention school starts next week? Saaaaweet.
There's no doubt my work has increased big time since the beginning of last year, and, thus, there's no doubt it will affect my ability to train/recover in the ideal sense. Believe it or not, I love my jobs just as much as I love training so I'm not ready to give anything up yet--i.e. I won't give up "Job X" to spend more time in the pool to potentially shave 30-60 seconds off my race time. It's just not worth it to me right now. Eventually, certain jobs will be axed so I can focus on the few certain things that really matter, but I'm still trying to figure out what those things are. I have a lot of opportunities on the table and 2011 will be spent sifting through them all. Why not try it all? No regrets that way!
In the meantime, it's good to know that no matter what training and racing can be always be FUN, even an escape from reality at times, and I intend to keep it that way.
And with that, back to work so I can get make a good dinner tonight then get up and train in the morning bright & early with my client (not too early, like 8 a.m. lol).
PS - Next post: good food! Yes... recipes for those who saw my Twitter on healthy Spaghetti Stroganoff and Vitamix FroYo!!
good for you for realizing what you were doing last year. Training out of fear of how you want to perform is not the way to go. I'm hoping I can avoid that this year too!
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