In light of the impending season, epic this and that, as well as our natural inclination toward excess, I thought I’d share a recent experience.
For the last three weeks (3/20-4/10) I maintained over 20 hours a week of training. I guess it got nice out and I really wanted to be outside.
On Monday, 4/4 I woke up with a cold of epic proportions and had to can my morning swim. I trained through the week, including an 8 mile run/90 mile bike workout on Thursday, and a 20K road race/65 mile bike workout on Saturday. The cold got worse and worse all week, and by Saturday afternoon I was planning on going to the doctor first thing on Monday.
Saturday night I went to sleep at 8pm and stayed that way until 9am Sunday. Sunday’s workout consisted of stretching in the sauna for an hour. I began to feel a little better.
Slept 9 hours Sunday night and didn’t do Monday’s swim, opting for another hour in the sauna. By Monday night I was feeling pretty good.
Slept 8 hours last night, and I’m feeling pretty darn good again. I attribute this to a couple of things, including sleep, backing off the training, eating lean meat and good fats, and sitting in the sauna; basically, I just needed to get some moderation back in my life. For the first time in weeks I can walk up stairs without my quads burning!
The moral is, if you’re going to do something epic, great - just remember to come back down afterwards.