I'm a new man, I think..

I still can't believe what a difference 48 hours of rest makes. I feel 100% better than I did on Monday. My energy and spirits are high again. It's like I filled up the gas tank to 80% full.

I was reading in "The Triathletes Training Bible" about over-training. It said that performance will actually start to decline if you over-train. It looked like a bell curve. That decline is where I'm feeling I'm at. From last year to this year, my long runs and tempo runs are a little slower. At first I thought it might be an extra 3 - 5 lbs of body weight, but now really thinking it's over-training. Actually, I'm certain it's over-training.

I learnt an important lesson this week. "Rest is not failure. Failure comes from not knowing when to rest". For the first time, I've noticed I've become stronger by resting. I also know that I was on the verge of getting injured and taking the 48 hours off, helped me avert disaster. I no longer have any Planters Fasciitis phantom pains.

I did weights at lunch and my running speed work after dinner. I ran around a high school track in complete darkness. I was a little nervous about the run. I tend to go harder than I should when I do speed work and become vulnerable to injury. I always think that if I don't go 100% I'm not got to gain. The risk of going 100% all the time, is you are much more likely to get injured.

For this session, I started the intervals slower than normal. I did 8 x 400's and the first was around 1:36. I kept it at that level for most of the run. Of course I had to open it up a little on the last 400 and I focused on leg turnover and running light. I was shocked to see the final lap at 1:23, that's a 5:24 per mile / 3:21 per km pace. The highest my heart rate got up to was 169 bpm. I was pretty happy with that.

I was running so smooth and light, I felt like "Steve Austin - The six million dollar man". Not Steve Austin "the wrestler" - for those young ones who read the blog. "The Six Million Dollar Man" is a 70's T.V. show. It's what a real TV series should be like. It even has theme music that sets up the story before every episode. You can check it out here. Enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woOLEEu8RLI

Weights - 45 minutes

Speed Run - 50:24 / 10.25 km / 4:55 pkm / 169 max hr.

183.2 lbs / 22.6 BMI