Crying Uncle

I love a routine. And a schedule. And crossing things off lists. While updating Training Peaks doesn't quite give me the satisfaction of crossing things of a schedule as a big, red sharpie, marking a work-out 'complete' is usually quite satisfying.

However, this week, I am crying Uncle.


Leading up to Syracuse, I committed 6 weeks to fully be in the moment with my training. The hard work payed off, and I never felt over the edge. For some reason, leading up to Clearwater, I feel this sense of pressure that there are 'only' 7 weeks between Syracuse and Clearwater. About 1-2 weeks of this was deemed 'recovery' from my race, which still leaves a solid block of training to work on my fitness and some limiters we identified in my race at Syracuse.

I feel the need to make every weekend and every work out 'count' in a way that I didn't feel leading up to Syracuse. Combine this with stress at work, coaching 2-5 hours per week, a long distance relationship, and you have a recipe for me crying Uncle. At 13+ hours last week, I felt GREAT - comfortable on the bike, highest run mileage all year, and my long 'easy' run was at a pace that surprised me.

Monday, not so much. I had trouble getting my heart rate up on a trainer workout. I was a walking Zombie yesterday, and not surprisingly, my easy hour run turned into a walk/jog/stretch slog. I texted coach 'I need a day off.' I realized it had been almost a full two weeks since my last full day off, and that I NEED to listen to my body. I am actually really proud of myself for admitting this, as I have a tendency to just push through in order to 'cross things off the schedule'. I don't want to see any RED BOXES in coach's training peaks calendar!!

But I realized last night, with the help of the boy, that getting every last bit out of the weeks leading up to Clearwater INCLUDES rest. Letting my body (and mind) recovery and absorb the harder efforts is just as important as the mile repeats that I slept through this morning. In the end, this season has been about finding the limits with my training, pushing these limits, but also discovering just how much my body and mind can take before falling over the edge.

So maybe 'Crying Uncle' isn't the best description - I'm not giving up, or admitted defeat. I'm learning more and more about training cycles, my body and what I can mentally handle and I KNOW I'm going into Clearwater more prepared than any race before.