Lots of training...

Tuesdays are usually busy training days to begin with, but when you also add Monday's missed workouts to Tuesdays,  it becomes a long course triathlon and then some.

I woke up this morning with sore kidneys. I'm not sure if it was from the 8.5 hours of sleep and lying on my back or from the two big bags of popcorn I ate at the movies last night. If I was a betting man, I'd say it was the popcorn.

I planned on doing a session in the morning but couldn't get out of bed. This meant everything was going to have to be done at lunch and after work. I also had to fit in a doctors appointment at the end of the day. My doctor is retiring and I need to find a new family doctor, so they require me to come in for an interview. 

The doctor was from Egypt and moved to Canada. It took him a few years to get his license in Canada even though he practiced for 20 years in Egypt and Kuwait. Prior to coming to Canada he specialized in Internal Medicine, now he is a general practitioner. 

It works out well that he used to specialize in Internal Medicine because he was very familiar with elevated liver enzyme levels and causes. He seemed very knowledgeable when I asked him about them and I'm to drop off my recent blood work results and ultra scan to him. Then we will meet and go through the findings and set a game plan. In addition to him, I have one other doctor working with me who will also be reviewing the scans. If either of them don't figure out the problem, I may go to the Mayo clinic in the U.S. to get it figured out.

The one thing the doctor said was that the rise in enzyme levels is definitely not due to endurance training. He also didn't think I drank enough or long enough for it to be alcohol related, although he did say I drink to much. He told me I need to limit my beer intake to 14 per week. Which I'm going to attempt to do. I may start at 20 and work my way down, but I'll get there. 

He also told me I'm a little overweight for my height and weight. He said my BMI was 27 according to the chart. On my scale it says 21 - 22. Alice and Alyssa think I have a false sense of body image, like an anorexic, when I tell them I need to lose a little more weight. Now at least I can tell them that my doctor agrees with me.

I got all the training sessions done and I was tired mentally, but not physically. It was a good decision that I missed my long run and speed session run last week, my leg is feeling 100% now. I did notice that my Achilles soreness may be from my bike not my runners. Either way it's all injury management and prevention until the end of this racing session.

At the end of the week I start a 12 day taper for my first race of the year. Today was my last weight training session until I race. I'm looking for the next two weeks of tapering, it's not easy workouts but it is different than my normal routine and I get the odd day off. 

I find that once the race session starts, the tapering weeks help keep me mentally fresh and avoid burn out. Last year this time I was in major burnout mode before my first race. This year I'm not. I think it is because this year I'm used to doing the mileage and I'm spending less time in the pool, which I dread. 

Now that I'm finished training for the day I'm going to shower, put on some warm clothes (it was cold and rainy on tonight's ride), get some fruit and yogurt and watch the movie "Ironman" with Robert Downey Jr. Jamie Grant borrowed it to me and said it's great. Maybe it will help me relax and perk up.

Swim - 1:00:35 / 3000 meters

Weights - 45:00 minutes

Run - 1:00:27 / 7.26 miles / 8:19 pace / 132 avg hr

Bike - 1:55:05 / 57.38 km / 29.9 kph