40 Winks

Think I have had about 100 but who's counting? I'm certainly not. My body has never required so much rest and sleep, it has actually taken me by surprise.

I thought last night after going to bed at about 7:30pm and leaving hubby with the kids that I would have a decent night's sleep and I did up until 11pm. And then I kept waking up crying. Not just a little boohoo kind of cry, but a full on wail. I can't even remember what I was dreaming about to make me cry like that, the only thing I remember is waking up and being all chocked up and my face was wet with tears. This happened about 4 times and it would take me a a while to get back to sleep and then the process would begin all over again.

But when I finally got up this morning I surprisingly felt refreshed. My eyes didn't have that burning feeling anymore and I was feeling slightly back to my usual self. So I took full advantage of what energy I had and did the usual morning routine with the family, did the grocery shopping and then came straight home and rested some more.

The couch and I have had a close relationship over the last day and it's not often we spend quality time together - so it was nice to snuggle and just be at one with another whilst the kids were at school. Once again I found myself dozing in and out of blissful sleep and making the most of this recovery process. I must have really needed it.

So as I write this post I find myself feeling sleepy again and know that I should really get a set of fasting bloods done tomorrow. A good set of baseline bloods will pick up any deviations in blood chemistry, and it will help me in the future should I start to feel fatigued again. I need to pay close attention to my body inside and out.

Tomorrow is also my first Track Session with TopNotch. Should be interesting to say the least. I am afraid that Chris will have his work cut out for him. It will be like trying to teach a giraffe to run like a gazelle - never going to happen. But maybe this giraffe could get close.....

I also want to give a shout out to one of my blogger buddies Dawn at Puzzle Pieces, her postings always put a smile on my face. She has such a unique way of viewing the world and life in general and as such pieces it together beautiful in the written form as well as visually through her pictures. Jump on over and enjoy her blog.

Energizer Battery anyone???

I am sleepy, sleepy, sleepy. Haven't felt this tired since becoming a new parent. I was tired when I woke up this morning but put it down to waking up at 5am for my pre-dawn run. Which I am pleased to say I completed a new distance for me - 5km. But I was still so very tired. The fatigue is ridiculous - my eyes are burning like I haven't sleep in I don't know how long. Didn't know how I completed it really.

I am also struggling a bit lung wise, as after this run I was coughing for about 10 minutes post run. Not sure if it was the cold air - which is was quite chilly this morning or my exercise induced asthma playing funny buggers again. Will have to keep an eye on this cause if it continues may need to go back on my preventer.

This fatigue I am feeling is really unnerving and I wasn't quite sure how I would pull out a 3.6km swim. And the fact is I didn't. I got to the 2km mark and my arms just did not have anything more to give. It was like watching a steam train run out of fuel. The plumes of smoke which were initially nice, strong and consistent were now fading to intermittent little puffs until finally - nothing. I thought I would atleast try to squeeze in a 500m kick with fins but I started cramping too. So the only thing I could do was get out. Not my desired outcome at all, but I had nothing left to give.

On the way home I rang my coach and told her what was going on and the first thing she said was "I am glad you didn't keep going". I was instructed to go home, have something substantial to eat and try to get a nap. Which is what I did. But I must say I still don't feel crash hot. I am still super drowsy and after enduring 30 minutes of physio this afternoon I am also sore. Coach also said that if I wake up in the morning still fatigued to give tomorrow a miss as well. There is no point pushing myself too far or I will just end up caving in and not reaching my goal.

Good thing that happened today though was that I got my bike fitted for some TT bars.
Will hopefully have this baby paid off next week and I can start practising with them. I will also be getting a different bike post as my saddle needs to come closer.

Hopefully this tiredness will settle or I will just get used to it.

Totals for the week.

Have decided to start adding this as a regular section to my blog postings. Will be good to see the km's going up.

• Swim - 10.2km in 4hrs 58mins
  
• Cycle - 50km on road and 2 spin classes in 3hrs 28mins
• Run - 11.9km in 1hr 12 mins

I really should have started this in Week 1 but it hasn't changed much yet so what the heck. End of Week 2 it is. The cycle leg this week wasn't a good representation of what I should have done just simply because yesterday's ride was missed. I would have actually ridden 115km. Next week should be a good number's week.

What an obstacle!

This morning was meant to be a 65km aerobic bike ride, however yesterday afternoon the winds started and they did not look like they would subside. So I organised with Mel to do an indoor spin. We did a 1hr 30min Spinervals DVD, but cut it short to 1hr 10min as per my coach. It was hard, hard, hard. But I loved every minute of it. After that I was treated to a scrumptious poached egg and avocado on toasted bread x2. Your the best Mel - THANKYOU. We were joking (not really) about downing a T-bone steak at 9 in the morning. When I was younger and in heavy training Mum would make us steak and pasta for breakfast, or pancakes with rice. YUM.

Then when I got home it was time for stretching, shower and time to get ready for the afternoon swim session with TopNotch. Another good session and even though I was feeling tired I still managed a really good, strong set. I am really starting to feel the difference in my strength and stamina in the pool. The longer sets don't seem to bother me as much as I am really able to maintain good form in my Freestyle.

Here's my session:

• 300m Fr/s Warm up
• 200m - (25m Front scull, 25m Fr/s)
• 8 x 50m Fr/s with 5 sec rest between sets
• 400m Fr/s (using kickboard for 50m, then board tapping for 50m)
• 7 x 200m Fr/s on 3:30. 1st one I did on 2:40, rest on 2:55
• 4 x 25m Fr/s sighting every 4 strokes
• 2 x 50m Fr/s swimming blind for 10 strokes, then normal for 10 strokes
• 200m cooldown

I am starting to get really excited about how I am progressing. Loving this strength and endurance I have in the water, just need for this to transfer over to the run. I am definately getting stronger in my legs in the cycling.

This is exciting.

Close call.

Yesterday was another tough session in the pool as it called for another 3.5km, with the 500m sets. I do feel though that I am getting better at the longer sets and seem to fall into a good pattern of breathing by about the second 500m. The first 500m always feels like a bit of a hard slog but once that initial warm-up is done it feels better.

I also had some sprints in there as well just to see if I had some left in the tank, and surprisingly I did. I have noticed that my shoulders are starting to get broad again, like when I was younger. I was a really skinny kid but had these very broad shoulders and my ballet teacher was always making me choose between swimming and ballet. Guess what I chose? Yep, you guessed it, I am a fish at heart.

So here is my session:

• 400m Warm up
• 6 x 50m Drills with 15 sec rest
• 4 x 500m. 1st 100m hard then the rest aerobic
• 8 x 50m Odds hard, evens easy on 50 secs
• 400m Cool down of choice - I chose kick with fins.

Those last 50's were hard and my times weren't to different from the easy to hard. I was kind of finishing them all on about 35-40 secs. When I finished up with it all and was heading to the change rooms my right ear started to ache. Not a piercing earache but rather a deep nagging pain that branched down into my neck. And as the day progressed it got worse to the point that I was feeling slightly deaf in that ear. The glands all on that side of my neck were tender to the touch, so I took some Nurofen, got a gentle neck rub and applied some heat. And this morning - hey presto, all gone. I know it's quite common to get sick when you are in training but I didn't want it to happen so early on in the piece - so I am very relieved that it has subsided.

Next on the program called for another 4km run. I chose to do it early this morning and I have decided that early morning runs are on the list for me. I felt so alive and my breathing was not at all laboured like it has been. It was cool but not too cold and there was just the right amount of humidity to make it okay on the lungs. There was one point at about the 3km mark where I was starting to get a bit tired and my favourite song came on "I am a woman" by Gabrielle Cilmi and it spurred me on and made my last bit feel effortless again.

I followed this up with a 1hr spin class and boy did this hurt. I could tell I hadn't been to a spin class in a while. And the fact that it was a new program didn't help one bit. The 3rd last song was one continuous hill climb with no recovery at all. You were either up and out of the saddle pushing hard or climbing that hill seated. It was murder but I kept repeating to myself - if you can climb the hills at Kiama you sure as hell can do this. And that is what I did. I drank 1.2litres of water during this session - I was dripping like a leaky faucet.

Needless to say when I got home I had a much deserved shower. One thing I have also noticed since upping my training is that my veins in my arms and hands are becoming much more pronounced. Not sure if it's a look I like but I think it may only get worse. What do you think?
I thought I should also post a photo of my Tri Club. Take a look at yours truly - eye's shut. What a doofus.

I LURV PANTHERS TRI CLUB.

The rains are here

The weather has been getting gradually warmer and alot more humid, so it really was just a matter of when- not if it would rain. I have noticed it especially on my last two runs. I leave the house looking all fresh and fine and come back looking like a drowned rat.

This morning I went out a little early, not long after the kids left for school and it was so hard to breathe. I could make out a bit of a haze in the air and knew that the air was thick with moisture. I will need to remember to take my inhaler with me for all my runs from now on - just in case.

My program called for a 25min aerobic run today. Jodie wants me to be able to speak the whole way through my runs for now. I find talking to myself slightly embarrasing and a little one sided really. So instead I choose to sing songs. I can still keep track of my breathing that way and find it far more distracting then listening to my feet pound on the bitumen.

I am still wearing my SLS3 compression socks and really don't know what I ever did without them. My lower legs feel absolutely awesome when I wear them and I don't have that soreness and fatigue afterwards. I guess that's what they are meant to do, but I just guessed that maybe it was all a big gimic. Turns out they work so well on me I now want another pair but in black now.

The rains started this afternoon but only lasted briefly. So it is now even more humid BLAH. Predictions for summer in Australia are wet, hot and humid. Will be a challenging training season for me, but what doesn't kill me will only make me stronger. Atleast that what I keep telling myself.

Started with a bang.

Week 2 has been an eventful week so far and we are only on Tuesday. I am starting to think that this feeling of tiredness will be a part of me for a while, atleast that is till my body gets accustomed to the workload and the new stresses I am putting on it.

Yesterday had me doing 2 sessions in the one day. And in hindsight I should have started earlier but kids were not starting school till today. So I headed out for my 4km run at around 1pm and even though it was cloudy, the bitumen was hot and the steam from the previous night's rainfall was rising up and I was hot. Sweaty and hot. Not the most pleasant situation but I figure we are heading into the warmer months so i just need to get used to it.

Later that evening I went to the local pools and did my swim session. Remind me never to go in the afternoon again. There were swim squads everywhere. So I had to do my 3.6km session in the lane which held the big boys from the Tri Club. It wasn't until I was almost finished my set that the lanes started to become empty.

Here was my session:

• 300m Warm up
• 6 x 50m Drills 15 sec rest
• 8 x 50m Hard on 1 min
• 4 x 100m Tempo on 1 min
• 2 x 200m Easy on 3:30
• 1 x 400m TT with 2 mins rest afterwards. I did it on 6:10
• 2 x 200m Easy on 3:30 with pullbouy
• 4 x 100m Tempo on 1:40
• 8 x 50m Fins (25m easy, 25m hard)
• 200m cooldown
• 3.6km Done and Dusted.

Today when I woke up it was the same ol' same ol'. Kids back at school so the usual rush in the morning began. Hubby got them off to school and I prepared myself for my 2hr aerobic bike ride. In this ride I needed to do 8 x 2min Zone 4 efforts with 5 mins recovery inbetween. This was hard. Everytime I was ready to do effort I would encounter a hill or a long slow insignificant rise which made it all the more harder. But I did it.

I also managed to ride this all on the main road on my own. One thing I noticed that is very different from riding on the weekend to the weekday, is how impatient drivers are. I had 2 trucks turn left right in front of me as I was cruising down a hill. I literally had to slam my breaks on - boy did I let them have it. Where is their brain?

So anyway, I rode 50km in just under 2 hrs and was happy with my effort. I rewarded myself with a beautiful hot shower and loads of stretching as my left knee was starting to hurt and click a little. I think my ITB is getting a bit tight.

Bring on tomorrow.