The past week and a half has been an attempt in assimilating back into the training schedule after spending 10 amazing days in Silverton. It’s amazing how fast our muscles lose strength when we haven’t done any resistance training for almost two weeks. I’ve been struggling with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), during the latter half of last week. Maybe, it’s due to increasing the weight by 2x on my back squats.
Last Friday, which is technically always a rest day for me, entailed going to the gym in the early morning and making an attempt at doing an interval workout (1/2 mile repeats) on the dreaded treadmill that I bagged earlier in the week. My legs were still stiff from the Wednesday leg workout and when I looked at the pace target on my chart there wasn’t much excitement about what would, obviously, be a challenging run. Of course, aren’t the true quality runs we do always challenging? If they were fun or easy, everyone would do them, but, they’re not, and too few people take the time to complete true quality runs and then wonder why they’re not improving. In my case, it’s not so much about trying to improve as it is about trying to hang on to any speed left in my legs as the years click by, seemingly, at a faster rate each year…
After a very easy 20 minute warm-up, which entails stretching different muscle groups about every five minutes, I began the first interval on the treadmill. The first one is always the worst and this one lived up to expectations. Afterwards, I was ready to go home and seriously thought about it, but know the second one always seems “easier”. I managed to talk myself into one more interval to make it three for the day and then go home for breakfast. The gym seemed warm and I couldn’t breathe the ridiculously thick sea-level air after spending 10 days at 9,300 to 13,000+ feet. Somehow, though, I managed to continue talking myself into the “just one more” mentality until I had completed all six intervals. This stuff really is truly mental!
The weekend runs were good, with a progressive pace long run on Saturday, followed up with a hard shorter run the next morning. Thankfully, the biggest challenge I faced were the deer flies. But, if you keep the pace fast enough they will leave you alone. This morning entailed another interval run on the treadmill which, again, was mostly mental.
On another note, I’ve managed to drop some weight over the past month by doing nothing more than cutting out sugars, lowering my grain intake, saying “goodbye” to the daily mocha/hot chocolate, avoid raiding the snack machine at work, and, generally, trying to ensure I eat quality calories each day. The results have been good with 8 pounds shed, a few percentage points lowered in body fat percentage, and a newfound belt notch. I still hold quite a bit of fat on my frame, however, although most people don’t see it. It’s apparently hidden between the layers of muscle—think of me as “gristled”!
1 comment:
Oh, the deals we make with ourselves...lets just stroll to the track...lets just do 2 repeats, then one more, body, I promise, just one last one...heck, I am almost done, might as well...
Your efforts are noticeable. Stay on track. It is surely hard at times. Most of the times, in fact. It never gets easier. The alternative is not attractive though, after we get used to a certain way we look, feel and physically perform:)
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