Oh The Torture – Recovery Week

Maybe my friends are right, maybe I totally bat sh*t crazy and a sadist. I FREAKING HATE RECOVERY WEEKS. Yes by the end of my 70 mile ride and 10 mile run on Sunday my legs were toast, and yes my wind was weary from 40 hours of training over a two week period. But you know what, I love that feeling, I love being run into the ground, I love having my mental fortitude tested, not to prove anything to anyone, just because I love that challenge, it's what I crave. This week however my volume has been cut way down as Coach Orton is giving my legs a week to rest before a huge ramp up before Cali 70.3.

The past few nights I've felt jumpy as I've tried to fall asleep because my energy level is sky high. I've tried to maintain my food intake so that I cover any carbohydrate deficits that built up from the previous two weeks but when you go from 4 hours a day of training to an hour you simply aren't as hungry. Additionally, my blood sugars always get a bit whacky during recovery weeks. Normally I work out in the morning and then again mid-day but with just one workout per day I've been trying to get some extra rest. This has caused my blood sugar from 10am to 2pm to need about 1.3 times the basal rate it normally does. I need to create a new basal profile for recovery weeks and light training days but creating one on my Medtronic pump is way less efficient than it should be. So I've been managing my blood sugars with additional boluses throughout the day.

So yes, it's torturous for me not to have that burning in my legs, the ache in my back and the thrill of an all out crazy workout to look forward to each day. I can't wait for this recovery week to be over and really get after it over the next two weeks. This weekend I'll finish up my Q3 finals then head to Portland for some interviews on Wednesday, out there it's mainly a run camp but upon my return it's training week hell. The second week in March I decided not to go on Spring Break with my friends, some are headed to Egypt, Bahrain and Costa Rica, to train. The decision was two fold, without a firm job offer yet I didn't want to add additional loans and my main focus for the year is on IMCDA; I had an incredible time in Stockholm last year but at this point additional loans would be a tough pill to swallow. So for that second week in March Coach Orton has promised me all the pain I can handle – I can't wait!