Thinking about recovery and a plan...

Since I've been doing a lot of reading on training plans, the recovery phase is constantly preached and preached and preached. Today, I planned on going for a run and was looking forward to doing so, but I held myself back.

My body is not injured, but still feels real sore from the aggressive weight workouts I did in Florida. My calf muscles are still tender to the touch, especially my left one. It's not a bad sore, but a good muscle rebuilding sore. It is taking more time than I would like for them to rebuild better, faster, stronger. But if I overdo it, could I end up gaining no benefit or injuring myself?

I'm noticing that my 40's body does not recover as fast as it did in my 20's, which really shouldn't be a major revelation, but it is to me and my psyche. As an example, I had my tonsils out November 21 and just last week was the first time I didn't feel an irritation in my throat. That's just around 7 weeks to total recovery!

All this is forcing me to really look at the variables I can control, such as my training plan and diet. I've been recording my food intake for the past 10 days and the program I use breaks down the calories into fats, carbohydrates and proteins. I'm analyzing what I eat to make sure I have enough protein to repair muscles and enough carbohydrates to replace the fuel in my muscles. This is all new learning to me, even just figuring out the ratios is still a work in process.

I've really decided to focus on racing and performing well and not in just putting in volume without a plan. My goal is to have my 2008 training plan ready by next Monday. I'm finding it is much more complex than I originally thought. Best case is I'll do it myself, worst case is I'll sign up with "Mark Allen Online".

In essence, all I want to do is train, but I'm concerned that if I don't have a plan I may be putting in "garbage" miles. So until I get the plan in place I'm just going to do enough to keep up my current endurance.

Hockey Night in Burlington

It's nice being back home. Today was my catch up on my sleep and relax day before getting back into the daily routine.

I spent most of the day reading about how to set up a training program.

Wow, is there a lot to learn and consider. At one point I figured I should just pay the $35 per week to be professionally coached and be done with it. But if I really try to do it myself I'm sure I'll learn much more. What to do?..What to do?

I've realized how beneficial the weights have been to my legs. With just two hard leg workouts, my legs and calf's are feeling stronger. All the reading I'm doing is saying that weight training is critical, especially for the older athlete and should be maintained throughout the year.

My body was really craving food today. I ate more than usual, but ate well. I'm really focusing on the types of calories I'm eating. I'm using Nutridiary.com and analyzing my fats, proteins and carbohydrates.

Tonight was my first hockey game of the New Year. I took it easy and had a couple beers with the boys afterwards, but no nachos or wings. What willpower! :-)

Home Sweet Home

Today was our final travel day. We made it home safe and sound.

The muscles in my legs are a little sore from yesterdays workout, and when I say sore, I mean it in a good way.

With all the time flying I spent a lot of time reading "The Triathletes Training Bible". What a great book. As I was reading it, I decided to put a training plan together based on the principles in the book.

I realized as I read it (and it described my training style to a tee) I'm old school in my training approach - Volume, Volume, and more Volume.

Rather than logging in as many training hours as possible, I need to work on purpose and be strategic in my workouts. It's also interesting that the book is very focused on making sure you have enough recovery days to avoid injury and burnout. Rest! Something I'm not used to doing and not feel guilty about.

The bottom line is that I've got the motivation to train, but no plan. Now I'm going to put together a plan based on my goals.

It asked in the book if I had a quantifiable goal? Which most triathletes don't but should and is critical to building a plan.

After thinking about it, I decided my goal would be to beat my 1987 best Ironman time of 12:22:01 when I was 21 years old.

There I said it.

I NOW HAVE AN OFFICIAL GOAL!!! GULP!

An almost triathlon....

It was my last day in Jacksonville and the weather was a little warmer in the mid 50's.

I ran to the gym, had an awesome full body workout and really did some heavy exercises on the legs. I did around 9 set of calf raises at different foot angles alone.

When I started to run back to my sisters house, my legs were a little rubbery. In total the run was 40 minutes and the weights took an hour. On the way back I was starting to "bonk" a little.

Once I got home, I fueled up and decided to go for my last bike ride in Jacksonville. I figured I brought it all the way to Jacksonville and even though it is colder outside, it is still better than riding a wind trainer. So I bundled up and off I went for an hour ride. It felt good.

The picture above is the roads I was riding on. The good news was it had a wide bike lane. The bad was the heavy fast traffic and the glass on the road. Not a lot of scenery.

Afterwards it was a mad dash to stretch, pack, eat and get to the airport. My body and mind feel great!

Relaxing, Stretching and Massaging...

It was an easy day. I had an okay sleep. When I woke up my calf muscles were twitching like mad, especially my left one. I did some stretching and massage and decided just to walk through it and not run today. I did some calf raises and it seemed to work well in loosing it up.

We spent the day relaxing at a family friends farm and riding their ATV's. Afterwards I went for a massage and the therapist recommended that I do weights for my calf's. For the past couple of years I've been reluctant to do calf raises because I thought that was the reason for my calf problems initially.

I also have started reading two books. One was recommended by Mark Allen on a website and it is called "The Schwarzein Principle II" and the other is "The Triathlon Training Bible". Both are great. The first one is about diet and metabolism and the second is about triathlon training. The triathlon book also recommends calf extensions for people who are susceptible to calf and Achilles pain. Good diet and sleep is also highly recommended to help repair muscles after training.

A real positive is that I've been eating really well lately.

Tomorrow I'm going to a gym to do some weight training on my legs and calf's.

Taken it easy...and learning

I went for a short 4 mile run today. I couldn't keep my heart rate aerobic and was about 145 - 150 bpm for the entire run which was unexpected. Typically after a hard run or workout it is very aerobic on the next workout.

I'm not sure why it is so high...
a) too much party on New Years?
b)Recovery from Race?
c)Body trying to heal itself of injuries and sickness? or
d) all of the above.

I also went to Barnes & Noble and picked up a couple of books on triathlon training and nutrition and have just started to read them.

I've been eating well from a calorie perspective for the last few days.

It's amazing that after I do my daily logging of food in my log, I don't want to snack because then I'd have to go to the computer and log it in, which is work. It's easier not to eat any more.

Will this year be better than last?

According to my 2007 Training Log, I did a total of 2726.88 miles of training and burnt 240,601 calories.

Of those, I ran 632.84 miles, cycled 2040.52 miles and swam 49.08 miles.

Last night was a late night party. I think I over did it and should have been resting my Achilles. Then today, 8 of us went to the Gator Bowl. My left leg has had no rest.

When I got home I iced it and I'm seriously worried. I noticed that the Achilles being sore has caused me to walk differently and the new walking style is cramping up my calf. I'm wondering if this is how I've hurt my calf over the years.

Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come for 2008. Mentally, other than the Achilles and calf, I'm ready to have my best year ever.

My New Years resolution for 2008 is to eat healthy 90% of the time. I'm really going to make an effort to learn more about nutrition and limit my beer intake.

The weather is going to be record lows for Florida over the next few days, so I think I'll take the time to rest my leg and read up on nutrition.