Seriously? It only gets tougher?

So after our excursion to the back roads of Garret and Allegheny Counties this past weekend it was time for a little down cycle in the training program.  Yes it was really only two weeks of high volume then one week back so far (versus 3 forward and one back as is usual in these training programs, but hey we were jumping in halfway into a training program so we figured it was fine.  Of course life and training are sometimes like oil and water but at least the oil known as "work" this past week was sporadic, but constant and somewhat annoying.

For the past two weeks a particular government agency has had questions about a proposal that we submitted.  The questions in question, he he, are about items that they didn't ask for in their request for a proposal of course, but if we don't answer them then we are non compliant and they throw us out.  This wasn't the annoying part...the annoying part was that they had 10 question in total and they would send us ONE question each day...with the answer being due a day and a half after they provided us the question.  The other annoying part was they sent the questions out of order with the first, and toughest question, coming last.  The date on the question was August 1st and the date they sent the question to us was August 12th...so they had the question for a full 11 days before they provided it to us and then they give us less than 36 hours to respond...welcome to government contracting!  They make you jump through hoops and when you meet their deadline and submit your answers via email...no one is there to confirm receipt and when you call no one answers...until the next day!!!  All in all, very annoying!  So that was my week in work, along with some ridiculous requests from a project site that involved making copies of items they already had electronically and could have printed themselves but expected me to do it while I was busy answering question for this proposal, and then hounding me about it...anyway that is another story all together...

So Monday Kirsten ran in the morning and I slept in with the intention of running at lunch.  Well the individual questions from the government kept rolling in so I had to miss the lunch time run and ended up just swimming at the DC Tri Club Masters Swim with TJ.  Kirsten decided not to swim so he and I flew solo.  We ended up doing about 2300 yards with some team relays at the end in celebration of the US 4x100 relay victory.  I guess I was sprinting pretty hard because I was sore for three days afterwards!  It was a tough swim but I felt strong at the end but extremely tired.  I need to get into the pool at least 4 times a week to make a difference in my swimming.  Kirsten is solid in her swim no matter how much she swims, but after swimming 4 times a week last year before one of my races and posting a 1.2 mile swim PR and then falling off and then going slower at Timberman it just shows that I need to get into the water more often.  Even if it is shorter swims, getting and maintaining a feel for the water is extremely important for me to have a solid swim.  Notice I said solid...not fast ;)  Anyway...

Tuesday morning was my first bike test in over a year.  This bike test is used to determine your threshold power (foreign words I know!) and the resulting number is the basis for every bike workout and your Ironman Specific Pacing strategy on the bike.  You are supposed to test at least every month, but I hated this test so much last year, and was just having fun until we recently buckled down in our training, that I hadn't done it since July of last year.  I was dreading every moment leading up to it but also had high expectations since I knew I was stronger this year than last year.  The test involves 2 twenty minute all out sets with a two minute rest in between.  The test HURTS!  The last 8 minutes of every set is an eternity and is so uncomfortable that I would rather crash going around a turn just to end the test.  Maybe I am just not mentally tough in that regards, or maybe I push too hard, or maybe I just can't take it (isn't that the same as not being mentally tough...maybe!), but all I know is that it is the most pain I have ever known and is worse than any discomfort I have ever felt...save kidney stones...even compared to any day of the week in wrestling in high school...

So I did the test and it hurt.  I luckily had a cycling acquaintance pacing me the 2nd set but that didn't help me cracking three or four times and stop pedaling, at which point he would yell at me and I would start up again, but I had given up by that point and probably should have bagged the test...but I trudged on.  At the end I was dry heaving, felt like crap, and was cursing like a sailor...but not really in a negative mood per say...just tired and groggy from the discomfort.  A cool down lap helped clear my head but I was a little miffed when I got home and saw the results.   I compared the results from my test back in July of last year to Tuesday's test and was disappointed on all fronts.  Apparently my number was 10 watts lower, my overall miles per hour were slower (but it was windy on Tuesday so that number is not good to compare) and my Heart Rate was higher.  

Having been at this for 4 years now and having been self coached to using a formal training plan, being coached by a real coach, and then just doing what I wanted and having fun, I have a pretty good sense of what works for me and how things should be structured within a training program (this does not mean I think I can coach someone though as most coaches out there aren't qualified to coach potatoes to grow!).  So I started to mull over everything and analyze every aspect before, during, and after the test.  I concluded a number of things:

1.  Residual fatigue definitely plays a part so early on in a recovery week which results in the inability to hold your effort level throughout both sets.

2.  Spending the majority of your time on your road bike doesn't allow you to physiologically adapt to the tri bike's position and therefore you aren't as efficient as you could be on the tri bike without putting in the time and necessary workouts on the tri bike itself.

3.  Putting a bike test so close to then end of an extremely high volume week (intensity or otherwise and even though you are in a recovery week) doesn't give your body time to adapt and benefit from the actual training cycles you are going through and therefore results in a difficult test that residual fatigue influences (see #1 above) more than what you are capable of.

4. Putting the bike test at the beginning of the following week when your volume picks up again or at the end of your recovery week is a better situation since you allow your body to recover from the high volume week and adapt to the training stresses you have put it through, thus allowing you to be more well rested and have your test results more closely dictate the gains you have made from training and more accurately depict you functional threshold  than a test done on a significant amount of residual fatigue.

So after a lengthy discussion with Kirsten about it and talking with a couple of our friends we viewed the risk of doing such a hard test at the beginning of a training cycle as slight even with a long run scheduled the next day.  So the September test will come after the rest week and at the beginning of the next training cycle and we will see how that test works out.  Stay tuned!

So after dwelling in negative town for awhile I slowly came back to life over the next couple days.  The realization of the points above made me feel slightly better about it anyway.  I slept in on Wednesday morning (as did Kirsten) and then ended up running on Wednesday night.  I ran out to meet Kirsten at the Lincoln Memorial  and had a great run on the way out.  When I met her at the Lincoln there was the Air Force Band performing at the end of the reflecting pool so we stopped and sat on the Lincoln Steps to watch them for a little while before continuing the run.  I was shocked since I was running faster than I had the previous couple of weeks and my Heart Rate was rediculously low.  It was interesting since during the test on Tuesday my HR was so high for so long, but over the past couple of years I have noticed after the first race or test of the year my HR is high and then after the test it is extremely low during all my training sessions.  Not sure why, maybe it is my imagination, but more on the reality of that later.

Thursday was a bit hectic again at work so swimming didn't happen and the lack of consistency with swimming is beginning to get a bit unnerving.  Starting next week there are no excuses and I am going to start going 4 times a week NO MATTER WHAT!  I did ride again in the morning and felt a bit stronger but still somewhat sore from Tuesday's test and the run less than 12 hours ago!  I rode with Kip, Ryan, and TJ and did some short 2 minute intervals with some tempo riding afterwards.  Felt okay, but definitely need more time on that bike.  

So that brings us to today and this morning!  Kirsten and I pretty much took our time this morning getting up to go run and she decided that she was going to run into work.  We got out the door at 7:15 or a little before that and the weather was beautiful!  It seemed like we were taking it easy and from our Heart Rates (at least mine since Kirsten sent her watch in to get fixed) it seemed so.  We were clicking off 7:45 miles and my Heart Rate was only 129!!  Kirsten was looking strong and didn't seem to have any problems holding the pace either.  She is coming around fast with her training and I am sure I will spend 112 miles chasing her on the bike at IMAZ and probably only be right there with her on the run... ;)

We parted ways at the Washington Monument as she continued on to work and I turned around and ran home.  I decided to see what was going on with my HR and just started running according to how I felt.  Pretty soon I was clocking off 6:30's at 144 beats per minute and then started to hit 6:00 flat near the Capitol at about 150 beats...crazy considering that my threshold is 164!!!  I had a lot more left and my legs didn't have a problem keeping up and my breathing didn't feel all that labored.  Was this a turning point?  I have no idea but I went with it.  The run ended up being 6.2 miles in 46 minutes flat with an average of 7:30 miles and an average Heart Rate of 138!!!  That is zone 1 for me...WOW!  I am not going to complain but hopefully it all stays that way!

On the agenda for the weekend is some light biking/running and a couple of swims.  Since it is our first free weekend since our wedding we are going to finally take the opportunity to go see a movie!!!  Dinner and a Movie...such a typical "couples" thing to do, but not so typical for Kirsten and I since we rarely have the time/energy to get to the movies let alone go out on the weekends.  So exciting that we get to do something outside of the normal routine and fun!!!  A relaxing weekend of catch up and some social fun...I can't wait!