A Small Battery

I usually look forward to skating the Hamilton Beaches Trail every Sunday morning despite the early wake up time. However, my body had a mind of its own today and it told me it was in no mood to work, loud and clear. I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed, fighting off sleep as I drove to Hamilton, and just wanted to stay in my car at the parking lot instead of skating on the trail. There're a million excuses to justify slacking off but of course they are just excuses.

The condition on the trail was a little unusual today with a fantastic tailwind one way and a brutal headwind the other direction. It may sound obvious but since the trail hugs the shoreline, the typical condition is crosswind/headwind every direction you go unless there's no wind. Before he left for Europe, coach AA left me with an advice to work on my technique using tailwind or downhill repeats. Lately I've been paying close attention to my left leg recovery and driving my knees forward. So that was the agenda of the day.

As soon as I began skating, I knew it would be a tough workout. My legs were sore within seconds of settling into skating position and I was feeling very sluggish even with the assistance of tailwind. Perhaps this fatigue is related to my new training program with my rest day moving from Friday to Monday. I skated with SaH, JaS, JB, and GN in the tailwind focusing on technique. I did not feel fast at the time though a post-workout GPS data analysis showed some pretty impressive numbers so go figure. On my way back, I skated by myself into the headwind. I knew I was slow but it was more of a training for mental toughness. Rolling and taking a rest was not an option. This is the kind of situation I will likely deal with in a race so I need to toughen up. To be honest, my mind went blank pretty quickly. I could curse about the brutal headwind but shifting my attention away from the less-than-ideal condition made it easier to handle. I felt the way the wheels hit the ground with every setdown and the sound they made when I pushed, keeping all the wheels on the ground as long as possible.

After 60 minutes of skating, I was very tired and hungry. Although I originally planned to train for 90 minutes, I was so distracted by hunger that I had to cut my practice short. Note to myself: I MUST MUST MUST carry food in my skate bag. I learned from past experience that I need to refuel in a marathon to keep my energy up. Naturally, I need to do the same for training as well (duh)! Shortening my training session because of bad planning like this simply does not make sense. With the help of a few trial-and-errors, I recently found out that my body has about 60 minute worth of energy for a hard workout (preceded by a reasonable pre-workout meal). As soon as I pass this 60 minute mark, all the hunger signals fire off left right and center and I can no longer concentrate on the activity on hand. This seems like a rather short "battery life"...hmm.

Comments

[Michael]

Hmmm, indications of over-training:

- >> lack of motivation <<

- rest heart rate jump of
10bpm over normal

- repeating old mistakes

- fatigue that continues
over multiple days

- getting sick easily

Maybe you should take a rest day :)

(^_^)/
mike.

[Candy]

:) Well, I guess I am in transition to my new training program. I'm so used to having Friday as my rest day for the last year (OMG). Now that my rest day is Monday, it means Sunday is likely gonna feel more tiring than usual until my body makes the adjustment.