overtraining while sick (training notes 1-18-08)

well, so i came back from the holidays with the best of intentions for a solid build phase. but things became a little bit rockier than i expected. you can see the training plan at:
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=jonathanstarlight%40gmail.com

while i hit my major milestones, things got a little fuzzy in terms of peace of mind:

• i did my 6-hr. ride on Dec. 28, except that the people i rode with got tired and bailed out at the 5:40 mark--no big deal, except i had to pick up something from one of them, forcing me to bail out as well. my coach said the difference in 20 minutes is negligible in terms of aerobic benefit, but i'm still left with a distinct mental unease about not meeting my goal that's now festering in my mind. remember i told you that this sport makes you neurotic? this is a perfect example. all i can say is: i have another 6-hr. ride marked out for later this month, and that one for damn sure is going 6 hrs.
• i got sick, courtesy of the 6-hr.-turned-5:40 ride. it think it was a cold, but i'm not sure. it pretty much knocked me out for 3 days while i hedged my bets and rested to make sure i nipped this thing in the bud. of course, that eliminated a run and some core work i had planned. not a big deal. it went away. but it left me feeling a little weak for the rest of the build phase. workouts became a lot harder than i'd expected...or wanted.
• i got in a 4400 yd. swim. sounds good, right? well...i still felt so weak from the cold that all i could do was muster intervals of 200. not the long aerobic swim i'd wanted. still, better than nothing and i still hit my goal, so nothing added to the neurotic paranoia.
• i got my long run on sore legs. i had planned on a 3-hr. run on sore legs to 1) simulate race conditions, and 2) get my aerobic base. the 1st part worked fine, since i got in a hard simulated hill session on the stationary bike on Jan. 1, with a heavy leg weight training session for good measure. the 2nd part, wellllllllllll...still feeling weak from the cold (or whatever it was), i ended up having to stagger along on an 11-minute mile pace, doing a run-walk strategy. talk about painful. it was embarrassing. my only consolation is that i kept my heart rate up (courtesy of the Rose Bowl Arroyo Trail, i was in zones 3 & 4 the entire time), and so technically got my 3-hr. aerobic run--small victory, i know, but any victory is a victory, small or big, and i'll take them however i can get them.
  

if i hadn't gotten sick, i don't think i would have felt so worn out. as it is, i finished the build phase this past weekend (Jan. 13) feeling definitively tired. and not the i'll-be-fine-with-sleep-and-food tired, but the i-need-a-vacation tired. as in weak. lethargic. unable to perform, and unable to care. as in the shell-shock 10,000-yard stare. as in the inability to do anything more than a 100-meter run before crawling to a very painful, very hard, and very weak walk. as in a body that suddenly looks very puffy, very flabby, very sore, and very drained.

as in the dreaded word no triathlete (or athlete) ever wants to hear: overtraining.

ugh.

i've dealt with this before. and i know the treatment is rest. immediate. and the sooner the better. the longer it goes on, the harder it is to get rid of it. and it can ruin your entire training schedule.

i should have taken a few days off, with no exercise. especially since this was a recovery week. but my neurosis drove me to maintain my regularly scheduled reduced workout volume. i guess i just got paranoid.

i'm going to take this long weekend to do nothing, and then see where i'm at on Tuesday. if everything's good, then no worries and no loss in training and i'm full-on for the last build phase before the taper into Ironman New Zealand. if things are still iffy, then i'm going to have to seriously alter the training plan--and there's only 6 weeks left to race day.

goddamn cold (or whatever it was).

all i can do is hope my body responds to rest.

positive thoughts. positive thoughts...come on, body, you can do it. you can do it. heal! heal!

just a little anxious. can you tell?