Recovery Week!

Finally its recovery week! I have been “craving” for one of these for the last 10 days or so and starting today I am finally going to get it =)

Its been a while since I posted last, which in combination with my “need” for a recovery week must hint that the last couple of weeks have been tough to say the least. If I remember correctly last time I posted I was water running as well as getting back into jogging/running to test my foot. Basically that was the first week of my “at home” training camp... During the camp I still worked full time every day, still lived in my house, was still subject to Vancouver weather, but I logged a substantially higher amount of training hours from the regular (which some say its pretty high already).

Week 1: 25 hours. Some of the highlights were my 2 hours of water running and 2hours of actual running / jogging achieved in 6 healthy doses of 20 minutes. The foot felt alright by the end of the week so I kept on going as planned for Week 2.

Week 2: 26.5 hours. It started off with a “no intensity” day on Thursday and then Friday I did a Threshold test with the Powertap. In 7 weeks my threshold went up significantly (partly because I had a better starting point for the test but partly because I trained hard) so I was quite pleased to see psychologically motivating numbers. Some other highlights were a 3:15hr ride in the pouring rain with the Speed Theory athletes, and the 3 hours of running / jogging. These were once again achieved in 6 healthy doses this time of 1/2hr each. Not pushing the pace, not hitting the slopes, just getting on the treadmill and keeping 100% alert for any negative feedback coming from the foot. Water running was really getting to me so I only got 1 hr in.

Week 3 (ending yesterday): 28 hours. Fatigue from the previous week was evident at the start of the week despite a full day off between weeks 2 and 3. All 6 days were between 4 and 5.5hrs of training and had some intensity either in the pool or in the bike. Still no intensity running and I plan to keep it that way until I am sure sure sure that it wont set me back another 2 months. Some of the highlights of this week were a 1hr ride around Stanley Park were I set substantial PBs for the lap and climb, 3.5 hrs of running with no pain and very very mild discomfort once the following morning, and a 2:40 trainer ride in which I burned 2700calories (and I ate like a pig after). Actually, surviving was kind of a highlight this week.

So, today is my first day of recovery. I am tired, sore, fatigued, and psychologically depleted, but I am also very happy with the work done, the outcome/achievements, the progress running, the consistency, the willpower. As a side note, I lost 6 pounds over the course of these 3 weeks which was carefully planned and monitored; it wasn’t like I weighed myself after 3 weeks and found out “I did not eat properly/enough”. I was very aware and careful and got lots of protein in, just cut back a bit on the carbs and cereal. When the season finished in Australia last year I let myself loose and gained a few pounds, then Christmas at the office was ridiculous and kept putting on weight, and then I went down to Mexico to all this yummy home made food and 5 days in a AYCE resort. I needed to get back into my regular weight sooner or later and this was kind of a good opportunity. During next month I will slowly fall back to my “training weight” without much effort.

Everything else is going well. This week there will be fewer hours of training and barely any intensity to recover. This combined with our “Olympic” schedule at work (6.30am-2.30pm) will leave more time in the afternoons to hang out with friends and check out some of the Olympic venues/shows/pavilions around the city! Tomorrow the Torch relay passes 150m away from my place; I don’t think many people around the world are that lucky!

Facundo