Well here we are again at the end of another week and I am disappointed to say I have picked up yet another bug.
The week started well with some 750’s that I was reasonably pleased with. I set out looking for an aggressive session and held it well until the legs wouldn’t function in the final rep. I knew in the final rest period I wouldn’t be able to keep the split on target as I couldn’t shift the heaviness out of my quads. Happy it was a case of local muscle fatigue which can be fixed with a taper I went away happy enough.
Tuesday however I woke with the glands in my throat swollen and found it hard to swallow. Though I felt fine I decided to sit the day out and do nothing to prevent any further damage. Yesterday it had turned into a sore throat but again I felt fine so cracked on with a 30 min recovery piece. Now this felt absolutely awful. HR through the roof, slow split and just a real effort to pull on the handle. I sat it out through sheer stubbornness more than anything and wound myself up so much I think I would have been better off putting the handle down and walking away.
Yesterday I was due back on the red and to be honest I didn’t think anything other than getting it done. Again I felt fine but was suffering with what felt like sleep deprivation and had to do a morning session as it was my only window of opportunity. In hind sight I shouldn’t have done a red session and should have used this warning sign as keeping it light or even sitting it out. The problem is that it is so so hard knowing whether or not you should train, rest, push, get on with it etc. You never really know until after the session and how the body reacts. I can’t be accused of pushing too much and anyone saying ‘you should have rested’ and ‘you push yourself too hard’ because I felt fine and am in this game to perform. Had I sat it out I would have been going insane beating myself up for missing a red session and not only the chance to improve but the possibility of going backwards. That is who I am. I work bloody hard and know how to bury myself to the extreme – that is one of my strengths over others.
Anyway I rowed out a 6km warm up and felt great and was geared up for a speedy piece. Legs felt much fresher than Monday due to the 2 days rest and I set off on the classic 8x500m with 90 seconds rest. As early as rep 2 I knew I was going to be working incredibly hard early on to keep the pace on and compromised a slight drop in target pace. By rep 4 I was beginning to question how hard I should go and what damage it may have as my throat gave me a reminder every time a swallowed.
So after rep 5 I decided to do 1 more solid rep and then call it a day – so not a HD as such but more of a compromise and change of session. I am happy I could have completed the session on the target pace I was on but would have had to destroy myself in the process – I wasn’t willing to do that and now know that was absolutely the right decision to make.
That evening I felt rough and admitted defeat heading to bed early. A decent sleep and another enforced rest day today which included a 2 hour nap this afternoon as I try and shake off yet another bug. I will see how the weekend goes before flying out to Boston early next week. Ideally I want to get another red session in as the final maker before the taper but with limited work this week maybe only a short taper is needed. To be honest I feel reasonably relaxed about everything as this is what I have a coach for. I’ll let him worry about what to do and what pace is required in 8 days time – I’ll just get on the machine and row.
So it looks like this is what I will be bringing to the party and by the time race day comes around a clean bill of health as I will shake this off in the next few days. The seeds come out next week and I envisage a top 6 seed for me with enough pace to be kicking the heels of those in front of me whilst looking to put some distance between my chasers.
Thanks for reading.
