04.04.11 - 10.04.11
I haven't been looking forward to writing this blog as this week has been awful and I can mainly blame it all on myself and my stupidity.
I recently had a short chat with my mother where she asked if I was following a nutrition plan and I assured her that I was, however last week saw my food intake falter and badly. I didn't eat very healthy, I didn't eat enough and I didn't drink enough water... I struggled to get through work and then once home I just just wanted to go to bed, I was extremely grumpy through out the week as I was lacking enthusiasm and energy and was just generally tired. The swim session that I went to was exhausting even though it wasn't a tough set and I ended up doing less laps than the previous week where we had the same set list. I went for a run and barely lasted 20 minutes before I had to stop and walk home, WALK home... But for some reason I just couldn't see what I was doing wrong. I must thank my girlfriend, Laura, for pointing out the obvious on Thursday eve when she asked what I had had for lunch and I hadn't had lunch or even breakfast, but not as a conscious decision, I was just not concentrating on eating properly.
So Friday came and I had a small bowl of porridge in the morning and then at lunch time I had a chicken wrap, some salad and an apple. I had signed up for a swim session and was determined to make up for the slack week. However mid afternoon approached and with it came really bad stomach cramps, nausea and a headache... I managed to leave work a little early and as I was driving home I had to stop and the chicken wrap, some salad and an apple all found itself on the side of the road. I was feeling awful and as such cancelled my place in the swim session. I spent the rest of the day sipping water and sulking... I made a decision to take my own lunch in from now on as I would know that I had food to eat and that it wouldn't give me food poisoning.
Saturday and I was feeling a little better and so set off on my bike for a short ride (after a large bowl of porridge), I had a great 2 hour ride and for the first time I managed to finish with an average speed of 30km/h. This is the speed that I want to complete the bike leg of IMUK in and now knowing what that feels like I can aim to do longer rides at that speed. I had also mounted my clip-on aero bars onto my bike and so this was the first ride in the tuck position.
Sunday was my long run day and after the awful run on Thursday, I was a bit hesitant, however after a few slices of toast with strawberry jam, i was off. I took a water bottle with me as the sun was already quite warm and it was only 8am. The run was fantastic, I loved every minute of it and I managed to do 11 miles , however as I haven't run much since the Half my pace was way off what I want it to be, but this can be fixed.
So with yet another lesson learnt I close the chapter on this week and move on to a productive week with enough nutrition and hydration to see me through all my sessions.
W
That was a very valuable lesson that you learnt this week, better now than during the actual IMUK. Thanks to Laura for enforcing what I had said. I know you most likely think we are nagging but we really do have your best interests at heart. Glad your training went well over the weekend and that you are back on track.
ReplyDeleteFood,hydration and sleep.Comforting that you learnt this very valuable lesson now that the physical side is only one part of the iron man.Seeing as the end of next week will be the halfway point perhaps you could compare week 1 with week 15 and where you will be on week 30.Note the "will be"and not "want to be".Still interesting reading.
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