Olympic Distance Triathlon Training – Week 4

Most training programs have you taking a rest week or a scaled back week about every four weeks or so and I guess my body decided to make this week one whether I wanted to or not.

I went out for my workout Monday night and as I steadily got slower and slower during my speed workout, I chalked it up to not having done speedwork in awhile. And when I felt like I was going to throw up, well I just figured I was too hot and had overheated. I drove straight home and hopped in the shower to cool off. However, even that didn’t work and I came out of the shower still hot and still feeling terrible. I couldn’t even imagine drinking water or trying to eat something. About 30 minutes later, I found out why. I spent the next 6 hours or so getting up every 15-30 minutes to throw up all the contents of my stomach and then some.

GROSS WARNING: Fun fact, when I throw up, I headbutt my hand, resulting in this lovely bruise

Tuesday came and even though I didn’t throw up during the day, I felt delirious and like I was on a different planet. That evening, the Beast told me I had a raging fever, which is something I almost never have. I laid in bed for most of the day Wednesday too, trying to recover. Thursday, I thought things might have been better, but I still felt weak and couldn’t stay awake for very long. Friday, I slept in until the afternoon, which is something I haven’t done since I was a teenager.

However, once I awoke from my coma, I felt so much better. The Beast and I headed to our gyms that night since I figured that working out with a ton of people around me was the best idea in case things went south really quick, but besides being tired, I felt fine. And my legs were beginning to get antsy from laying around for four days.

So, overall this week was a very odd training week, but now, I am rested and ready to dive back into training again.

Monday: 4 mile speedwork I did a half mile warmup and then 12×400 repeats trying to get faster, but as I mentioned this plan didn’t work out very well and I got slower and slower as time went on. I hit my marks for the most part for the first 6/7 but the last ones were not great. At the time I was proud of myself for pushing through when all I wanted to do was quit, but now I realize, maybe that wasn’t the best option. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.

After my speed workout, I managed to snap this photo.

Tuesday-Wednesday: Sick This consisted of chicken and stars, popsicles, rice, and gatorade.

My cousin got me this adorable running socks, which I am obsessed with

Thursday: Recovery

Friday: 40 minute bike; 1 mile run; weights – chest/triceps I pushed it a little bit, but I just wanted my body to move. I dropped my weights down a little bit from where I normally am , but just wanted to get my arms moving as much as my legs were able to. The brick was pretty miserable, which was a combination of recovering from sickness, not running as much, and being on the terrible treadmill without wifi (I had planned to watch a show while running and biking).

The dreaded indoor bike

Saturday: 90 minutes bike outside I went out a little later than I planned at around 11:20am, but the ride was amazing and felt so good to push it. Also, I almost did an even split on the bike even though the first five miles are all downhill and the last five are all uphill, so I felt really good about this bike ride. My only problem is finding a good bike route that either has good hills and is not super flat (like Mount Vernon trail) but also doesn’t require you to stop for traffic/road crossing ever mile or so (W&OD Trail). The quest continues as I try to push myself out of my comfort zone and into exploring more.

Ready to go on a bike ride in my American jersey, courtesy of the Beast

Sunday: 8 mile run I was dreading this run all day. I haven’t run 8 miles since the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in April. Yes, I have been slacking on my long distance runs, but I just was tired of spending so much time running. Then I started running and the course I plotted out wasn’t as long as I thought so it required taking on an additional 3 miles in another direction, but I did it. It was slow, but not too painful, and I actually feel somewhat decent sitting here typing. It is only a start, but I am ready to get back to it.