A necessary recharge - taking a break.

Going into IM 70.3 Chattanooga race week, our coach told us that we would be taking a week break from triathlon training before getting into our training for Ironman Canada. Karel and I were really excited for this break. While we love training, we aren't injured and we aren't burnt out, we know that a physical and mental removal from sport is a necessary part of being an athlete. Certainly, it's much easier to enjoy a planned and intentional break than a break that is forced and unplanned due to injury, sickness, life or burnout. In other words, a necessary recharge is a way to help the body better adapt to training stress.

We were told from our coach that we could swim, bike and run (since these are great activities for overall health) but the goal is to return to training on Monday the 26th feeling excited to put in some hard work for the next 8 weeks. We were also given guidelines as to what we could do IF we did swim, bike or run in terms of duration per workout and total duration spread over the week.

Here's what my recovery week looked like:
Monday - planned 65 minute ride to spin out the legs from the race/travel
Tues - 20 min outdoor pool swim
Wed - 70 minute EZ spin
Thurs - 30 min strength + massage
Friday - 28 min outdoor pool swim + dry needling with my PT
Saturday - 2 hour kayaking
Sunday - 80 min bike + 18 min run
Total: 7 hours and 15 minutes of "exercise"

This break was just what we needed - mentally and physically. Campy got to go on a lot of walks, I swam outdoors twice in my mom's neighborhood pool (without lane lines and a lot of current flowing around) and I rode my road bike three times.

Throughout this week break from training, I enjoyed living a slightly different lifestyle. One week of minimal exercise does not result in any change of muscle mass, strength and endurance so I never felt the need to do more exercise to maintain fitness or significantly alter my nutrition because I was worried about weight gain. If anything, I've worked my body so much over the past six months that it deserved a break and lots of nourishment to help with recovery.

I also liked having a bit more time and energy to get some extra things done around the house and some to-do's that have been lingering on my to-do list. I also enjoyed having more free time. I enjoyed not having to wake up with an alarm and having a workout plan for the day. It was nice to have a normal appetite throughout the week and to have a more low key evening - with a bit more time relaxing on the couch. I don't believe that athletes should have massive changes in the diet between peak training and off-season eating for the foundation of the diet should always be a healthy and nutritious diet and then when training increases, it's supported by additional calories/carbohydrates and sport nutrition. In other words, there is always wiggle room in the diet when an athlete increases training volume but you shouldn't feel like your diet needs to be restrictive when you go from 10+ hours of training a week to less than an hour a day.

If you are feeling unmotivated to train, training feels like a chore, you are constantly feeling flat, you are a bit more moody than normal, your appetite and sleep habits have dramatically changed and you struggle to put together quality workouts, you are in need of a break. If you have been struggling with health issues, remind yourself that training breaks the body down. If you are already broken, it's very hard to adapt to training stress. Let the body repair itself before you start training again. While exercise may help improve your health, if you continue to train with compromised health, you may be putting in double the work for half the (or no) results.

There will be times in your season when you need to train in a fatigued state. You must still do everything possible to support the training (nutrition, sleep, fueling, hydration) as your body will be tired, training may not always be "fun" and your muscles will feel sore and heavy. But if your body is unable to recover from sessions, you feel like it takes a lot more work to experience performance gains, you train through sickness/health issues or you are no longer seeing positive adaptations from your training investments, you've crossed the line from quality training to haphazard training.

Every athlete needs a break - mentally and physically. Don't be afraid to temporarily step away from structured training so you can maintain longevity in your sport. Physical overload is good to a point but too much progressive training without proper recovery does more harm than good. Most of all, if you do take a break, make sure you really enjoy the break so that you return to training feeling recharged.

The break was just what I needed. I started the week feeling exhausted, sore and enjoying a break from training and now I'm rejuvenated, healthy, rested and excited to train again.

Feeling flat post race - embrace the recovery

It felt so good to be back on my tri bike for a structured training session with Karel on Saturday. It took a full week for my legs to feel full again after the Lake Logan half Ironman as I was left with a "flat" feeling in my legs for several days post race.

Here's how my week of training went after the race:

Sunday - AM 90 min EZ road bike spin on the Swamp Rabbit Trail w/ my friend Meredith
Monday - PM 90 min EZ road bike spin on the Swamp Rabbit Trail w/ Karel
Tues - AM 3000 yard interval swim w/ Karel, PM 30 min outside EZ run with Karel
Wed - Day off (private camper in town)
Thurs - AM 90 min skill focused ride on tri bike (private camper in town)
Friday - AM 40 min treadmill run
Sat - AM 3.5 hour ride w/ a 20 min strong effort at 2 hours followed by a 30 min treadmill run w/ a 20 sec surge every 5 minutes.
Sun - AM 11 mile long run w/ a 6-mile interval run on the track. Late afternoon 2800 yard interval swim.

With my big season race approaching in just 4 weeks, it was critically important that I was respectful of my body during the recovery of this race. Although my muscles felt recovered by Wednesday, I was sleeping great, eating well and my motivation was high to get back into training, come Thursday, I could tell that my legs were still empty. They just didn't have that "pop" that I was hoping for.
Because the recovery from this half Ironman was a bit longer than what I have experienced in the past, I contributed it to my big training load at Lake Placid and then going into Lake Logan a bit fatigued. Although this was all planned, the unknown was how long it would take me to recover from the half Ironman. 

After a race, most athletes are eager to get back into training because the endorphins are flowing and the excitement of racing brings a lot of motivation to work on weaknesses and improve strengths. While this can be viewed as a positive, it is important to respect the recovery process as feeling "flat" is one of the worst scenarios to push through if you are seeking performance gains. Because most athletes will be able to tell when muscle soreness has subsided (you no longer feel the ache in certain body parts), it is important to be mindful of the "flat" feeling that is often ignored after you ease back into training. Because it's natural to have waves of high and low energy when you are progressing through your development, we must embrace that you will be low in energy following a race but the goal of recovery is to regain the energy that was used during your race so that you can continue to build fitness going into your next race. If you ask your body to push through the "flat" feeling soon after a race and it's likely that you will dig yourself a deep hole that will be tough to get out of - in other words, you may end up overtraining, getting injured or feeling stale and burnt-out for the rest of your season. 

Here are some of my tips to help you embrace the recovery phase and to be overcome the flat feeling post race:

1. Don't rush back into training by being strict with your training. While it's important to exercise to help with blood flow, don't put too much pressure on yourself that you have to be diligent with checking off your workouts. Adjust workouts so that they assist with recovery.
2. Don't worry about losing fitness by not rushing back into training. You'll gain fitness when you let your body properly recovery so that you can push hard again.
3. Don't be hard on your body. Avoid the tendency to rush back into training because you worry about gaining weight or because you feel "fat". At the same time, don't restrict food just because you are not training as hard/long. Respect your body during recovery by focusing on a balanced diet to help with recovery.
4. Prioritize sleep to help with recovery. While you may be use to sleeping 6-7 hours per night, your body may need 9-10 hours to help your body heal from the damage that occurred on race day. Don't sacrifice sleep for an early morning "recovery" workout.
5. Resist the temptation to train in a group setting as this may cause you to push harder than you should during the recovery process.
6. Continue to use sport nutrition during your workouts, as well as fueling before/after your workouts as this will help protect your immune system.
7. Don't isolate yourself from things that make you happy, like friends, family, pets and your children. Get outside and surround yourself with people who make you feel happy, healthy, alive and energetic.
8. Focus on a feeling, not a metric. While you can use power, speed and heart rate to give you some awareness of what your body can do in the moment, you will know when your body can or can't push through a given effort. Certainly, if form is compromised, don't push through fatigue.
9. Address other contributing factors that may be affecting your post race "flat" feeling, like hormones, poor sleep, poor appetite, life/work stress or a difficult race experience.

Although pushing through fatigue can help boost performance, it's important to be strategic with the timing of when you train when tired. Understanding that a race will deplete your energy levels and will compromise your muscular and cardio system, not to mention the added stress on your hormones and bones as you are asking your body to give its best, the goal of training is to improve your fitness so that you can perform on race day. Embrace the recovery and respect your body so that you can stay healthy and well, as you train hard, throughout the season.