Bulletproof calves and staying in the zone.

If I go crazy then will you still

Call me Superman

Three Doors Down - "Kryptonite"

In this episode, the protagonist does an endurance run and endurance ride, freaks out, gets reality checked.

I feel VERY unsatisfied today. I had a 45 minute endurance run this evening with the goal of staying in zone 3 for my heart rate. (I'm going to make an assumption that if you're reading this, you grok HR zones.) Did my stretches and a walking warm up, I got to it.

Ok, let's rewind a bit. I was tired today. I didn't sleep so well last night, and today,my tail was dragging. Felt like I was just in slow motion. Sleep is so important. It was one of those days where I just didn't want to run. But a little Unicorn encouragement (in all caps lock of course, Unicorns are like that) and I hit the gym.

Don't let the rainbow fool ya, Unicorns are bad ass

So I got going on the treadmill. No shin splints, but I noticed my right calf was tightening up. Not just a little tight, but hard like a rock tight. I could have stopped bullets, Harpoon missiles and even an asteroid headed towards earth (Bruce Willis, relax, my calf has this).

Leavin, on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

I had to stop a few times to stretch it out, massage it and loosen it up. After about 20 minutes of the 45 minute run, it felt fine. I annoy me when something like this happens. I start focusing on the issue and it seems to make it worse. If I just relax and run, it'll work itself out.

Speaking of mind games with myself....

I had an endurance ride last night, 1 hour. I did it no real problem at all. Actually it felt like I was going really slow. I was averaging about 95 RPM and 100 watts. I started wondering if I was going to be competitive enough in my races. I'm pretty sure I can finish what I have scheduled this year. But I don't want to just finish, I want to compete in them.

I emailed Heather about it. Am I not working hard enough? Are my stats where they should be? Am I going to be competitive? Do I need to go to 2, 3, 4 sessions a day? Waaaaah-bulance.

Dial 1-800-Waaaaaaah

This is where having a coach is SO important. She emailed me back and told me that yes, I am doing fine. I'm just starting out and she can't take me from zero to four sessions a day. I'm doing all the right things, working on keeping my HR in the zone, my form and training my body for the long haul.

Reality Check received. After reading that, I was able to breathe easier. Ok, I'm not a total gimp at these things. I'm getting better. Slow is fast. Build the body slowly. Miracles don't happen overnight. A duathlon or triathlon isn't measured in meters or minutes. It's measured in miles and hours. It takes time. Just like building myself up to it.

So tonight, I'm going to relax, read a book, and get my head back in the game. Tomorrow is a new day. I've got a brick workout to do and I'm going to go into it knowing that each day, each mile and each minute brings me one step closer to my goal.

Never Lose Sight...