A Conversation With My Coach

As a self-coached athlete, I sometimes have discussions with my coach (me) about macro and micro issues. Today, I consulted him about whether I should do the long run I had scheduled.

“Hey coach; wake up!” (apparently, despite my two hours more than my usual 7 hours of sleep last night, he was still dozing.)

“Mpmph”

“Look, I’ve filled all the water bottles, brought my salt pills, got some Gu and Shot Bloks, strapped on the HR monitor, primed the Garmin, slathered the sunscreen on, and driven down valley [2000′ lower in elevation @ 6400′], and don’t know if I can do this.”

I was getting out of the car for a planned 2 hour long run. The EN plan said 2.5 hours, but since I was just three days into my 12 days at altitude, and I was planning on doing only one more run over 2 hours this IM cycle [week 7/12], I thought I’d switch weeks 7&8. Last week, I’d included a full race rehearsal on Wed, and then on Sat, a 2 hr 20 min run @ my quickest pace ever. On Monday, I did not have the energy to complete a 3 x 1 mile run session, on Tuesday, I spent all day traveling to Colorado, and then on Wed and Thurs, I’d ridden up and down the valleys here for a total of 8 hours, with 1.5 hours of running as well. On one of those rides, I’d fallen off my bike (not a crash, but some skin abrasions on my R elbow, knee, and hip, as well as a little muscle soreness.) Yesterday from 3 thru 8 PM, I spent practically the entire time eating and drinking, and still my weight this morning was down 1 pound.

I checked my Performance Management Chart on WKO+, and found that while my Acute Training Load was not that “high”, my Chronic Training Load was at the high point I had reached in my previous training cycle, for IM CDA, 3 weeks before the race, at the end of another Colorado training camp. And my Training Stress Balance had plummeted from +6 to -26 in the past two days.

My arms were sore, my legs felt tired, my left quad felt a little tweaked. But, since I had to go down to the grocery store to pick up some things for my sister, who would be arriving in the afternoon, I decided to at least try and run and see what happened.

What happened was, I got a mile up the path, saw my speed was slow, my HR was stable, but I did not feel like continuing. Since I was going uphill, I turned around to see what happened downhill. I didn’t go much faster, but my HR was starting to shoot up, and I did NOT feel like running another step. So I walked the mile back to the car.

During that walk, I consulted my coach.

“You know, I don’t like to take days off; it makes me feel guilty. Convince me I shouldn’t continue this run.”

“Can you please re-read what you just wrote above [what I’d been thinking while walking] – why are you even asking!?”

“What about those pros who can do 3, 4, 5 or more IM’s a year, what about them. I mean, I’m as successful as they are, aren’t I? Shouldn’t I be using them for my model?”

“Well, they’re half your age and train 30+ hours a week!”

“Ok, what about those guys OLDER than me who do 3 or 4 IMs a year?”

“How fast are they going – 12-13 hours for an IM, right? You’re training to race @ 10:50-11:30 times. Look, you’ve been going non-stop since that year you took it “easy” and only did one IM, after your foot surgery, 2007. Since then, it’s been go, go, go, three big races a year, all at peak performance level. Don’t you think you deserve to get tired now and then? And what’s more important, the race result, or this run today?”

“But how do I know I’ll be able to race well in October if I don’t do this run?”

“You don’t, but you’ll have to trust me. I mean, we’ve gotten this far successfully, cut me a little slack. Go grocery shopping, go home, eat and drink some more, pick your friends up from the airport, and enjoy the concerts this weekend. Try an easy bike tomorrow morning, and then get ready for your big tri week starting Monday. Check that CTL – you’ve got a bit of reserve to play with, and can focus on quality, not quantity at this point.”

He was right of course. Despite not running, I drank the entire 32 oz sport drink I’d brought with me, and still did not feel full. While driving home, I started to get fasiculations in my calf muscles, which usually only happens when I have pushed myself to the limit, like after an especially hard race. I’m clearly teetering over the abyss, and do not want to fall in. I may not be able to assuage the guilt, but at least I’ll get rested today