EPC Multisport , Listening to the Body, Finding Fitness

Listening to the Body, Finding Fitness

2.09.2010

Last week I started out still feeling good after the previous weeks 30 hours of training. Four hours of aerobic run, bike, swim, bike day on Monday, followed by my 15 mile endurance trail run (PR’d it again in 2:15 this week with same effort) on Tuesday and another four hour aerobic run, bike, swim, bike day on Wednesday I was beginning to feel the fatigue. Thursday I overslept (good indication of needed rest) and took that as a sign that I needed to drop my planned 6-hour ride in the mountains. I haven’t been planning to much into the future these days rather taking things day by day and really listening to my body and mind on what I should be doing each day. Don’t get me wrong, I have an idea of what I want to accomplish each week, 2-3 key workouts and several general aerobic days, but I’m not being obsessive about getting in a specific number of hours, miles or yards each week. Rather I’m focused on the key workouts and letting the volume come naturally. So rather than my 6-hour ride, I got some work done, took a nap, and took the entire day off!

Friday was another easy day with just an hour run on the trails followed by a course pre-ride and short swim at XTERRA Lory in Fort Collins on Saturday. Sunday I had another local race to test fitness and get in some intensity (remember I’ve done zero intensity, except for two races, over the last 8 weeks). Energy levels were returning by the weekend and I was anxious to test the fitness against a few other pros. The race was an 800 swim + 13 mi mtb + 5 mi run. The bike and run both had a nice climb to help sort things out. My swim went well (1:10 behind Rakita) and I got crankin on the bike right away. By the top of the 2 mile climb I had reeled in everyone and found myself in the lead after Rakita pulled off to the side of the trail to let me by. A mile later on the downhill I caught my shorts on my saddle and broke my seatpost off going over a little drop. I just kept on riding. Standing up with no seat or post, I hammered the remaining 9 miles of singletrack. On to the run I put my head down and continued to push. I knew Joe McDaniel (top 10 at Boulder 70.3 a few weeks back) would be chasing hard. I came across the line with 45 seconds to spare in first place. Solid race despite the seatpost mishap. Fitness is coming.