Recovery week blahs
As I mentioned this week is a low volume recovery. I’ve been averaging less than an hour of training a day; I’ve been eating a ton; trying to stretch and rest; and even though I’ve stayed up a bit late most nights this week, I’ve getting a decent amount of fairly good sleep. So, why have I been so damn tired and low-energy all week? Earlier in the week, I blamed it on the Cherry Blossom race, combined with the little amount of sleep I got over the weekend and all the driving. But, even today I was tired. My swim this morning was pretty lame – I won’t say “bad” because I swam well – when I was actually swimming – but I spent an unusual amount of time standing around and not swimming. Normally, I get in the pool, do my training and get out, nodding a hello or saying a couple words to the regulars. Today though, I took the opportunity to make friends with a guy I see in the pool a lot but have never spoken with, I stood around between sets and generally didn’t have the “oomph” I normally have when training. Last night, I felt the same way when I was trying to psych myself up to go for my run.
I’ve heard about this happening to people during their 
taper weeks. I remember reading an article once – or maybe it was adiscussion thread on Slowtwitch – about people feeling a let-down during the taper. I did a little searching on-line today andlooked in the training bible, “Going Long” by Joe Friel and Gordon Byrn, and found articles about people having pre-race panic feelings or phantom injuries but I didn’t really find anything that addresses the way I’ve felt this week.
I think it would best be described as “exercise withdrawal”. My body has gotten so used to (read: addicted to) the long, high intensity, exhausting workouts, that on a week when I should be enjoying the rest and time off, I’m having a hard time getting energy without the training. I’m not jonesing for the training like you normally think an addict might, but perhaps these symptons are just another way of an addiction showing itself. I guess. That’s my new theory, at least. I get to thinking that maybe another workout or a more intense one would help energize me. I’ve resisted doing that all week, but this afternoon I succumbed to it. The only training scheduled for today was the swim I did this morning. And as I wrote above, it wasn’t a very rewarding one. So, I got out of work at a reasonable hour; Elizabeth was still working and Charlie was at daycare, and it’s pretty cold outside – what else was I supposed to do but go to the gym and get in an extra not-very-inspired strength training session? It did feel good to sweat, but I still didn’t really want to be there. Now that I’m thinking about it, there’s another problem – I got out of work at a good hour on a Friday and couldn’t find anything better to do than go lift at the gym? Man. On the other hand, I was still home before 6:30, so it’s not like I sacrificed the night to do it. While I could sit here and justify this and the rest of my other excessive training all evening long, wifey just called and she’s on her way home, so I’ll spare you my blabbering and am going to spend the night with my very understanding and tolerant wife.
Bike – April 5
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 108
Indoor ride with isolated leg training
Run – April 5
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 134
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Cold (high 30’s), super windy
Strides run
Swim – April 6
Distance: 2,000 yards
Time: 48 minutes
Strength Training – April 6
Time: 35 minutes