Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Rare Things Are Happening

This past weekend was a pretty busy one as far as workouts go. On Saturday, we did our Team Epiphany run as usual. I ran just shy of 9 miles with my team and felt pretty good. I even had a pretty strong sprint at the end to simulate the end of a race. After the run, we fueled up and rested a bit before heading to the pool for our 1-hour swim. Following the swim, I did a 1-hour mountain bike ride in the park. It was very windy so I decided riding in the woods might be a little easier as the trees usually break up the wind. I had not been to the trails in a while and it felt good to get into the peace of the woods, rocks, logs, and dirt.

Sunday we slept in a tad and then went to the late church service and then straight to the pool for another hour swim. After the swim, I did something I very rarely do. I took a nap. It was not a very sound nap but I did manage to doze in and out for a while. Often I feel like taking a nap but I usually fight the temptation. This time, I was pretty beat so I succumbed to the siren that is my comfy, warm bed.

I am not sure how long I was in bed or how long I actually slept but I did finally pop up, fuel up with a shake, and then hit the road on my road bike for an hour ride. It was still a bit chilly and there was still some wind to contend with so I felt like I was working pretty hard the whole time. When I got back from the run, I did my 3-mile easy run and then called it a day.

Sunday night something else very rare happened. I had trouble getting to sleep. You would think with all the exercise, I would just drop off. For whatever reason, I tossed and turned for a while and did not end up getting nearly enough sleep. On Monday, I ended up being pretty tired all day at work. When I got home from work, I did manage my 5/1 run with the last mile run at a 6:52 pace. I was pleased enough with that but I had to skip the post-run P90X workout because I was so tired. (see below for details about the run workout).

Split
Time
Distance
Avg Pace
Summary00:43:055.0108:36
100:36:114.0009:02
200:06:531.0006:52
300:00:000.00--:--

On Tuesday morning another rare thing happened. I slept through my alarm. I usually get up around 6:30 but at 7:00, I was awoken by Melissa's alarm. I can't remember when the last time that has happened. Luckily I had a busy day at work which kept me distracted from my tiredness. On the way home from work, it was a big yawn festival.

And since things happen in 3's, yet another rare thing happened. Tonight, I skipped a workout. Tonight's workout was supposed to be a 60-minute tempo run. I decided that napping on Sunday and then not being able to sleep, and then sleeping through my alarm on Tuesday was a sign that I am slightly over training and that I need a rest. Next week is supposed to be my recovery week but I decided to go ahead and work in an extra day of rest. I am not too worried about missing out on a workout. If I had to run the 10K this Saturday, I think I could beat my goal of 46 minutes.

It is important to listen to one's body and pay attention to the signals. There are occasions where I may feel a little tired but am still be able to push a workout. Sometimes I may even get energized by a run. This time around though, all the signs point to a need to slow down and take a break. Thankfully, Melissa is there to step in and help me out. She graciously offered to make dinner and let me steal some bath time from her so I could relax and listen to some peaceful music. I could not train this hard without her support and she deserves a shout out. Thanks Melissa!

Tomorrow morning is our Pro K swim followed by work and then an after work easy run. I have not been paying close enough attention to my training schedule and have shorted myself some mileage. Tomorrow calls for a 6-mile easy run. Hopefully, Melissa and I can run 3 together and then I can tack on my extra 3. Then if I am feeling up to it, I can get in my P90X workout.

Regarding my physical. The doctor went over all my blood work numbers. Most of it does not mean that much to me as far as the numbers go. He explained that my liver function looked good, my electrolytes were good, my blood sugar was good, and my cholesterol measurements were also good.

Again, I do not really understand all the numbers and am too tired to google it. But the doctor said that they like to see Total Cholesterol under 200-mine was 171. He said they like to see Triglycerides under 150-mine measured 58. They like to see HDL cholesterol greater than 40-mine was 52. There was also a measure called LDL Cholesterol Calc that the doctor said they like to see less than 130-mine was 107. There were a lot of other measurements given with my blood work. Without going into all the gory details, the doctor said it all looked good. In addition to the blood work, my blood pressure was 112 over 68 which is also considered good. Finally, I had an EKG while at the physical which also turned out well. My heart rate was 55 while lying on the table with the wires connected to me.

Everything else also looked good. He examined all the essential parts of my body that you normally think of when being examined by a doctor. We also went over my history a bit. He asks about stuff and I tell him. Alcohol-no. Drugs-No. Smoking-No. Caffeine-No. Apparently my history indicated that I had about 1 soda a day. I updated his records. Soda-No. Before I left he said that they like to see a person my age for a physical either every year or every 2 years. He said that I am a two-year person. Overall I was pleased with the whole thing although I was not expecting bad news.

Tomorrow I am hoping to be back to normal and rested. Thanks for reading.





2 comments:

allenq said...

Sounds like that nap was more of a hindrance than a help!
I think you have read it right. Just back up a bit on the intensity of the workouts until your system feels better.
Great doctor's checkup!! Most people would die for results like that!

Rachel Chieppa said...

I think you're absolutely right to listen to what your body is telling you. Sometimes you do need to rest!

Congrats on the good results! Keep up the good work!