Once I decided to start coaching myself I knew the biggest challenge was going to be not completely shelling myself and allowing myself to recover. After 3 solid weeks with a lot of riding the last 5 (today being the 5th) days have been all about recovery.
Recovery weeks are not fun. I really have a tough time getting up for a "recovery" run or ride. I like working hard and the thought of spinning up the coast for an hour is not my idea of fun but I know the importance considering how I feel the next day. This is also where having a heart rate monitor and power tap really help. On my Tuesday recovery run I was able to successfully keep the HR in zone 1 which even included having to walk at the top of a hill as my HR started to creep. Then on Wednesday I had another recover workout planned. This time it was just an easy spin up the coast and having the instant feed back from the power tap was key. Keeping watts in my "recovery" zone makes all the difference.
I have also got in some swims and yesterday hit a little bit of instensity on the mountain bike in preparation for the Mountian bike race this weekend.
more geeky training crap:
One of the new issues of Inside Triathlon (the Xterra edition) has a good article on the the PMC (performance management chart) that is used in cycling peaks. Below is mine for the the last month of training all the curves look like about what I am aiming for considering I am in a base period right now. Right now I am doing some research to learn how to add swim/mtb/run workouts that don't use power. Basically you just have to assign them an IF (intensity factor). We'll see how it works...
One more thing. Check out these videos from Xterra Japan. Gnarly stuff. There is chance I might try to do this race next year because my cousin is in the Navy and just got orders to Japan!
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4 comments:
Site is impressive, love the feel. Training is amazing, thanks for sharing. Looks and sounds like you are completely in your groove! ~j
JAMES! Come out to japan! We can do the Xterra together... you'll whoop my ass but how rad would that be!?
I agree. I hate recovery weeks too. It's so much more fun to just go hard!
I have mixed feelings about recovery. Sometimes I like the mindlessness of an easy workout... but most times I get bored and antsy and wish I could do some intervals. :)
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