Stubborn

Anyone who knows me probably knows that I'm stubborn. It's definitely my achilles heel. But sometimes it's also a good thing.

My coach has great advice about listening to your body, and I know a lot of other triathletes, some of whom listen very closely to what their bodies are saying, and some that turn a pretty deaf ear. Listening to your body means different things to different people- some are just self-aware (in the good way), others tend, when they listen to their bodies, to dial it down, or dial it off. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Downtime, especially downtime when your body is telling you to take it, can be a good thing.

I think though, that sometimes there's a value in being able to get out the door and stay on your plan when you feel less than optimal. Sometimes it's the days where you just don't want to be out there, but you are anyway, and you get done what you want to get done, that you build the experience you need for those long races, where you may not feel your best. Been there.

Today was one of those days. My plan was to do a hard, hill focused workout yesterday (ended up climbing Mt. Lemon, or the first 14 miles- more or less). At the end of the workout, I was planning to run 1/2 an hour. But I was so spent that I decided that was a bad idea. I was freezing, my stomach/bowels were unhappy. That continued for the rest of the afternoon and night.

Fast forward to the next morning- swim lesson. I was still a little less than 100% but I got through the lesson. Then came the question of what to do. I'd taken the day off for the lesson and my long ride. With the long weekend, I could have reworked what I wanted to do.

The nice thing about a long ride is you can always turn around after an hour and go home- you get 45 minutes into a two hour run, and even if you do turn around, you're a long way from home...

Although it was a beautiful day, it was windy as hell. I was looking to stay aerobic today- I'd worked hard yesterday, at threshold, so I wanted a nice, comfortable ride. Of course, there's no such thing in the wind. You moderate your effort as best you can- I was riding the route 1 area on the shoreline and it was mostly a weird crosswind. It was definitely at my back going out though. My bowels were rumbling the whole time, but it's easy to keep working on the bike.

The ride back was-tough. And slower.

But I got through it, got in the mileage and the time I wanted, even headed out and ran for 25 minutes.

When it was over, I didn't feel great, but I felt better than I had yesterday after my workout, a lot better- I didn't feel like taking a nap, which I did yesterday- and that was kind of scary. Now I can relax and take it easy tomorrow...