Planning a Big Day

After a reasonably big training load last week (equal 2nd biggest week of the season), I've been feeling quite sore. My hammies, calf and quad muscles have been very tight for while, but on Sunday my knee flared up. After suffering for most of last season with a patella injury, any soreness in the knee is a cause for worry, although this time it feels a little different (lets hope so).

I skipped my planned recovery run on Monday to give my legs a chance to rest and then we missed our usual Tuesday morning swim due to a massive thunderstorm. However I later discovered the squad moved the session to the indoor pool, so in hindsight we should have gone (but we enjoyed the sleep in).

Most of Tuesday I was still quite sore and was very tempted to skip the Run session at the Athletics Track - which would mean 2 days in a row with no training. In the end I decided to run, but cut it down to a small session that included some 100m run thrus and 3 x 800m efforts. My average pace and heart rate for the 800s was 3m42s (160bpm), 3m39s (162bpm), 3m39s (163bpm). These were slower than my efforts the previous week, but a more realistic 5km pace. However despite being slower with a lower heart rate, they actually felt a lot more difficult. I think the stiffness in my legs prevented me from finding an easy, flowing rhythm. Elaine experienced the same problem.

The good news is that despite not being happy with my run form, I actually feel a lot better after the session. It seems to have loosened things up and I'm no longer as stiff and sore (even my knee feels better). The smaller session totalling only 6.9km (including warmup and cool down) appears to have been exactly what my body needed. Hopefully my condition will continue to improve throughout the day, because I have a big day of training planned for tomorrow.

Due to social engagements, we are unable to race the Enduro Triathlon this Sunday. This also means that my availability to train this weekend has been compromised, so I decided to take Thursday (tomorrow) off work and make it a big training day. The plan is a long run (up to 18km), a bay swim (about 1km) and a 60km ride. With a forecast top temperature of 38 degrees Celcius (over 100 Farenheit) I'm hoping to finish all this by lunchtime and then laze on the beach during the afternoon. This is a little on the small side for a big training day, but the plan is to be fresh again for a big brick session with the Triathlon Club on Saturday (100km Ride/10km Run). If all goes to plan, it will be my biggest training week for the season.