Well this week started off well, back home, which meant that time was precious, and I needed to be back into my normal routine, back to juggling work hours with keeping house and training. I am fortunate with my work, as I am able to work from any location, so most of my workdays are spent working from home, which eliminates precious time wasted travelling to and from work. So, no longer being on Noosa time meant no longer lying in bed those extra minutes before heading out for the ride or run. No longer taking that extra look at social media for no real reason, just time wasting, time is now precious again!
I pulled up a little sore in the calf after my run Monday morning, it didn’t feel like I had torn anything, just felt very tight, I massaged the calf that night and hoped for the best. Swam Monday night in the lake at Shepparton, it felt nice to be back home, the water was so calm and smooth, like gliding on ice, and great to be back swimming and training with the regular crew. Tuesday morning, I was planning on doing another run, but my calf still felt a little tight, I headed out, and only got approx. 1.6km before I pulled up and walked home, the calf was not right. I organised some treatment that day, and just did an easy ride that night. Wednesday I was still sore from the treatment and knew I wouldn’t be running for the rest of the week. I have been prone to injury over my 6 years of triathlon, I guess my story is a lot like many other triathletes I have met. A history of being overweight for many years, losing some weight, finding motivation and then finding triathlon, and as a result of not having years of strength behind me, I break easily, even with the best intentions of not overloading my training. My volume of late might seem a lot to many, but it is not like I have been doing nothing for the last few months. I like to think that I train wisely, I am very careful to not increase my run load by more than 10% each week, I would normally only complete 3 run sessions a week, and my longest run has never been longer than 2 hours and 20 minutes (in training), this gives my body enough time to repair and recover before the next session. This is all information that I have learned from my Physio and of course from Jason, who as my coach, has learned these lessons over many years, and after coaching many athletes. I am sure that this tension that I am feeling in my calf is a result of the hill riding that I have done over the last 2 weeks. It will recover, I just need to be smart. I also started my core and strength work from home this week. I have been a little lapse on this, and I am sure that this contributed to the soreness, with my glutes most likely slacking off and still on Noosa time! With my training load up around the 19 hours, and my work hours at about 34, it is much easier to complete these sessions at home. So, with my training week, somewhat altered, there was more of a focus on swimming and riding this week. Wednesday morning, we headed to the pool for swim training, the haze from the smoke was pretty thick, so we decided to swim in the indoor pool, the air quality in the indoor pool was only marginally better than the air outside! Jason and I drove to Dookie that afternoon, in an attempt to ride some hills – Dookie hills are really just a bump in comparison to the Ultraman course hills, but a storm was on its way, and we didn’t even get on the bikes and had to drive home. Thursday evening, we headed over to Violet Town in another attempt to ride, but Jase had left his shoes behind!! So, no riding for him, I rode the 52km back to Shepparton, in record time, thanks to a tail wind for most of the ride. So far, my altered week of training had only achieved the swim sessions and smaller rides! With a check of the weekend weather forecast we decided that Saturday would be the best day for a 6-hour ride. So, I made my energy balls, and prepared our overnight oats in readiness for the ride. We woke early Saturday morning, prepared ourselves for the ride, headed downstairs and could instantly smell the smoke in the house, we headed outside and was greeted with smoky haze, not ideal conditions for a 6-hour ride. We decided to wait and see if the haze lifted, it cleared around 10:30, but this was now too late to leave on our ride, we decided on an indoor bike session instead. We also used the time to check out air purifiers, one of our friends and training partners Helen, had just purchased one, we had all discussed the air quality after our swim session Friday morning, at our regular breakfast, where all the problems of the world are discussed and most often solved. Yes, it was a pricey purchase, but how long is this air quality going to be poor for? I can already feel the scratchiness in my airways.
Jase and I are also lucky enough to have an apartment in Noosa, one that is let out for holiday rental. With the apartment currently vacant, we decided that it would not be a stupid idea for me to head back up there, where at least the air might be cleaner, and I can get out and train, and as I mentioned before, I can work from any location. Saturday afternoon, we drove to Echuca to support our friends at the Echuca Triathlon, prior to the sore calf, I was planning on participating in the event. It was probably the best weather the event has had in years, great for spectating also, I was busy timing the races within the race, keeping a close on the time differences between fellow Thrive Endurance members and training partners, the stakes are high, bragging rights are the prize! Happy to report that Wendy won the McHugh stakes over husband Scott – Girl power is strong at Thrive Endurance!
Sunday, we drove to Melbourne Airport and watched the smoky haze get worse as we drove, this justified the decision to go North for a while. I arrived at the Sunshine Coast, grabbed some supplies, unpacked the bike, and headed out for a quick ride. Not sure how long I will stay up here for, time will tell, just hoping the calf feels good next week and I can try some running.
Week 4
Swim – 12.6 km
Bike – 200 km
Run – 15.7 km
Strength/Core sessions – 2
Training Hours – 13:35
Lesson Learned: There is always a silver lining.
My Journey To UltraMan 