Week FIVE - 4th to 10th January 2010

I would have to say, one word that has been thrown around this week would have to be RECOVERY. I most certainly had it firmly planted at the back of my mind throughout the week. With each missed training session I reminded myself that the body has a tendency to go through these recovery cycles. That is, every so often you need to back things off and allow the body to recuperate and regain some strength. The alternative is not back off and potentially getting sick or suffering an injury. I have found that getting this balance right is harder than it would seem. Either way, to be honest my decisions were not made based on this training principle (more on training and programs later). It was based on missing alarms, hitting snooze too many times and simply being unmotivated. Returning back to work mid-week also made it very hard to finish off the week with some decent kms.

After finishing last week with some big days and all 3 long rides including a fair bit of riding in the rain, this week started pretty easy.

Monday - PM Swim, 6km.

Tuesday - PM Run, 10km. (v. slow and tough around Woodford Dam solo)

Wednesday - all day excursion to the Zoo, 10 hours, v. tough. PM swim, 3km.

Thursday - AM run on treadmill with The Animal, 10km Build, 45mins. Jump in the pool straight after for about 1.5km.

Friday - PM Ride, 25km Woodford and Back; Run off the bike, Martin's LO return. 21:45 (PB for this run - negative splits, felt good, leg speed quick after treadmill work)

Saturday - AM missed swim session due to Pool not being open until 8am, so got an easy 6km run around home, felt slow. PM was supposed to be some hill reps on H'bury Hill followed by 10km run off the bike. Plans aborted due to flat tyre, played Volley Ball instead.

Sunday AM - early start for Bells Line of Rd with WXS and Dylan (needs a nickname if he is going to keep featuring in my Blogs). Felt fresh due to reduced load during the week, kept pace slow and concentrated on technique. Finished strong down the hwy and after a slow transition (15min incl. toilet break) headed out during the hottest time of a very hot day for what was supposed to be a 90min run. Change in plans after 40mins due to heat, took on some water at Cripple Creek and walked back to the parent's house, Warrimoo. Felt fine as far as energy and strength was concerned, just couldn't manage the heat. HR stayed low but breathing rate through the roof.
PM swim with ST and WXS. Maybe 3km, 10x100m on 1:30, 1x400m and some kicking drills.

The run and ride kms were reduced this week. Some shorter high intensity stuff was chucked in instead.