Meltdown: #Mingsanity Week 19

It had to happen sooner or later.  I'm actually amazed that it took so long, although I think the events of this week had a lot to do with it.  Yes folks, I finally had my first training meltdown.  I usually have at least one of these per training cycle and it usually happens during a huge block of training.  Which has been the case for me over the last couple of weeks.  Coupled with what happened to G the other day, and the high crap factor of yesterday's ride and well, everything just seemed to be a bit too much for me.  I haven't been feeling very confident as of late.  I feel like the decision to do a 70.3 only 8 weeks after a marathon was maybe not the greatest idea.  I feel like I haven't had adequate time to prepare the way I would have liked to (lots of open water swimming, long rides followed by long runs).  I also feel like I've lost a lot of strength.  That seems to be the kicker for me.  I felt it yesterday on the climbs and in the wind and I can physically see it in the way my body looks.  I'm no longer the super lean athlete I was last year.  My body has changed.  I'm carrying more weight around my midsection and thighs than I have in the last 2 years.  I can only chalk that up to not lifting like I used to.  I'm also carrying 4 extra lbs that I somehow managed to put on after Boston and that I haven't been able to shake.  I know 4lbs doesn't sound like a lot but when you're already slim, 4lbs makes a difference in everything.  It can slow you down.  I feel and perform my best when I'm in the low 120's.  I'm hovering around 125-126lbs right now.  Anyway, all of this came to a head yesterday and after my ride, I sat on the couch and cried.

I touched on some of this with Mike yesterday (another coach & owner of Real Deal racing).  He gave me a pretty good pep talk.  Ming has also reassured me that things will turn around.  I am full of mixed emotions right now.  I'm questioning my reasons for racing as well as my desire to do so.  I was miserable on the bike yesterday.  If it wasn't for my friend David, I think I would have thrown in the towel.  Since G can no longer ride, I have also lost my main training partner for my long rides which sucks.  To top it off, my friend Heather and I went into the water yesterday and it was positively FRIGID.  I'm not sure how much open water swim practice I'm going to get before I get to Luxembourg.  Pretty much all the open water in Ontario is colder than normal.  My first triathlon of the season is next weekend and I can't even fathom getting into the water and actually swimming. 

But...things could be worse....every time I look at G with his arm in a sling, I am reminded of that.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's look at the week that I had.  It was a high volume week but some workouts were shortened due to lack of time on my part + due to water conditions.  As usual, I'm linking up with the Bestfoot ladies to recap my week of training.

Monday:  2000m swim followed by a 50 minute bike with intervals

Tuesday:  10 km run.  Was supposed to be 12-15km but I got stuck at work late and got to run club just before they started.

Wednesday:  OFF

Thursday:  35 minute hard bike (probably should have done a longer warm up) followed by a 7+km run with 1km repeats.  Holy tough.

Friday:  2050m swim, followed by a 60 minute bike.

Saturday:  95.16km ride followed by a 5km run.  100km day baby!

Sunday:  A amazing 20km run followed by a 30 minute weight workout and then a 10 minute dip in the lake.

Totals for the week:

Swim:  4050m
Bike:  163.98 km
Run:  42.39 km

Total time:  11h 25 minutes

Thankfully this is a low volume week so I should have some good recovery time built in to my program.   I had a really hard workout today so I've asked Ming to give me tomorrow off.  Fingers crossed he does.

How was your week of training?