Friday, December 19, 2014

The Fatigue Fog

I just re-read my Race Report (for the hundredth time) and I realized I missed 5 HOURS on my time!!!) Real race time 16 hours, 18 minutes 20 seconds).... Now that's a testament to fatigue fog and wishful thinking. Oops - perhaps a Freudian slip?  I have corrected said entry, sorry to have mislead everyone!!

It's been a month since my race (Nov 16).  I haven't turned into a pumpkin or gained a hundred pounds b/c I've taken time off (thank GOD), but I was really surprised at the amount of fatigue I dealt with - a lot of it not recognized until after the fact.  There was certainly the post race high that lasted for well over a week, which I think is pretty normal and exciting.  I accepted congratulations from many which was great.

The revelations about my fatigued didn't come to me until about a week ago when I went to my Sat bike class and thought - oh, my legs are back.  I thought back to the previous weeks - multiple missed appointments, late for work b/c of sleeping in, not having much motivation to get to the gym, completing an hour or so of a coached work out and then can't get out of my recovery zone (E1).  Just wanting to sleep and not have to set my alarm.  I certainly had training days like that, but I seemed to recognize those and be able to talk with Elmar and adjust my workouts.

The mental fatigue was there too.  Didn't seem to be able to accomplish a great deal at work, but struggled through the days.  At least I was leaving work on time....

Coming home at 5-5:30 pm is weird.  I have all this time and can't seem to occupy myself with much beyond the TV and computer.  I think it's a true sign that I'm ready to go again.  Looking forward to having some time off between Christmas and New Years.  Was hoping for some snow to get in some cross country skiing or snow shoeing, but a brown Christmas is what it appears to be at the moment (YUCK!).

My goal for the new year is to continue to chase a podium finish in a triathlon (hee hee).... Changing tactics a bit and I'm going to complete an Exterra triathlon (swim, mountain bike, trail run); haven't decided if I'll do a sprint distance or olympic distance, but I'm going to focus on mountain biking a bit more this year.

You know what that means??? - a NEW BIKE!!!  (hang on - there's some debt to take care of in there too..... better not forget that - being a grown up is not always all it's cracked up to be).

Ciao and happy training,
Cindy

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