Back to the grind

Properly motivated, well rested and with loads of energy, I made it out to the gym on Monday. And it was a good workout as I rode for 45 minutes and even got in a brief bit of weigh training.

So I was happy with how the day went then, right?

Sort of.

I hadn't intended to run or work out pretty hard. In fact, I'd intended for an easy workout, something that would help get me back into the rhythm of working out, both mentally and physically. It had been a week since I last did any sort of physical activity, when I ran the Mission Inn Run 10K.

Did Monday's workout meet my goals? Yes, but those goals weren't ones that I would normally hold for myself. I suppose then that's why I feel satisfied that I worked out but not exactly feeling great over a killer workout.

Perhaps the problem is in my expectations and not so much the workout itself. Every time I go to the gym, I try and challenge myself and while Monday's workout was a challenge in and of itself, it wasn't of the usual I'm-going-to-push-my-body-to-the-limits kind. I wanted to ride the bike for 45 minutes, I did and that's that.

Here are some stats to prove how merely satisfying my workout was:

Time 45:00; Avg Hr 135; Max Hr 160; Cal 525

Compare that to my Mission Inn Run

Time: 52:30; Avg Hr 182; Max Hr 192; Cal 989

Okay, maybe that comparison is a bit unfair. After all, running a 10K is supposed to be challenging, far more challenging than the typical gym workout. But still, when I run my heart rate is typically more than 160 and sometimes is in the 170 range. So when I work out and I only get as high as 160, it's natural to feel it as a bit of a letdown.

Again, it's all about expectations. I expected myself to have a recovery-type of workout and I did, so I need to feel satisfied. My normal expectations are quite higher so I just have to adjust them sometimes to meet my specific demands.

Because I can't run a 10K every day.

Rest, again

Day six of my no-workout week has gone like most of the rest of the week, with me longing to workout. But the dry spell will be over soon as I will pay the gym a visit on Monday. And I suppose if I go I should have a plan.

My tentative plan is to spend time on the bike. I will get to know the intimate details of the bike here in the coming weeks. I've not done bike exclusively for cardio purposes since the early days of my fitness renaissance. But lately I have been using it as a way to supplement my workouts.

My plan is to visit the gym at least twice, preferably three times this week. Since I haven't done anything this week I suspect Monday's session will consist of me pedaling easily in an attempt to get my body back in the workout mode.

Part of the reason I didn't want to stop working out altogether was my fear of regression. I worried that I would start from scratch essentially. But I suppose the bike is good in that sense. It is not as physically demanding as running and will give me a mental break from the rigors of running. Also I think I will be able to ease into the routine in a less challenging manner.

I just have to make it to Monday, make it to the start line. But I am oh so close.

No bounce in my step

So now I'm going on five days with no physical activity, unless you count a half-mile walk on Wednesday which I'm not.

Resting after a race is important as I've been told about and read up on proper recovery. The advice varies from resting one day per every mile you run during a race (thus a marathon would require a month off) to 4-6 days for every hour of running. I just decided to shut it down this week in general and will pick up slowly on Monday.

But this time away from the gym has been, well, idle. I've done nothing and I'm anxious to get back to the gym when the time is right. Now, though, I feel like I'm idling and not really contributing much. Working out gives me so much energy and I notice the lack of a bounce in my step when I don't work out. I've been battling fatigue these last couple of days as not working out is taking a toll.

Usually if I don't work out for three days I feel it and this week has been no exception. However, I'm hoping it will pay off with a strong week and a positive start to my next round of workouts.

The itch

I've sworn off running for the rest of the year. Okay, not quite, but I'm definitely not going to train for another race this year. But I suppose it's ingrained in me. I'm already thinking about running a 5k in January. I've really got to find another hobby I guess.

Anyway, in case I do want to start training for a 5K, I decided to see what sort of training schedule would await me. It looks both challenging and exciting and actually had the opposite effect that I'd hoped for. I wanted to have something so difficult that I wouldn't want to go near a race for much longer than a few months.

I put in some relevant data into a race/training calculator on Runner's World's web site and this is what it spit out:

To train for a 5K in six weeks, I'd have to run three times a week. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays would suffice. Each Monday would consist of an easy two-mile run... not that the run would be easy but that I should run it at an easy pace. The Wednesday workout would be a combination of speedwork and tempo runs - I'd have to run, say, 3 miles at a pace of 8:38 with a warm-up/cool-down mile on either side.

The Saturday runs would be the most difficult part of this training regimen. I'd run six miles on the first two Saturdays, seven miles on the following two Saturdays and eight miles on the Saturday before the race. That's quite a bit of mileage!

Still, none of this is daunting. Now, I've never ran 8 miles before so that would be an obstacle but I've run 7 miles and felt like I could have gone further.

Anyway, I suppose when I don't go to the gym and run I have idle thoughts about running. And this is what I come up with. I really should be taking it easy, both physically and mentally. The physically part I've got down. It's just the mental aspect that needs some work.

Trying to recover

After Sunday's Mission Inn Run, it's not a matter of me thinking of recovering, it's a matter of figuring out how to recover. I scoured the web and found a few bits of advice but only one that really grabbed my attention and made sense.

Here's the link. It seems pretty thorough and the site seems respectable so I'm taking the advice a a bit to heart.

Now, the story is for a 10-point recovery plan following a race and includes steps to do immediately afterward. That ship has sailed but I can still salvage something from the story, mainly what to do in the days after the race.

- The story suggests light training the day after the race. I took today off but was planning on some easy recovery on Tuesday, two days after the race. I'm actually undecided on that right now but the story makes sense and perhaps I will end up going after all. I seem to have been right on my inclination to stay away from running and switch up my work out. I'd wanted to ride a bike and the story suggests doing so would be a good idea. Still, I'm not certain how many times this week I should go to the gym. I'm thinking Tuesday and Thursday would be good, and if I do so I'll be on the bike.

- Stretch. I stretched some after the race and that was part of the post-race recovery plan. But stretching before and especially after the easy recovery at the gym is key. Muscles need stretching and they need to be warm in order to help the recovery.

- Some type of massage is recommended. Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed my visit to the Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa in June, I don't foresee another trip anytime soon.

- Refocus. I have a training plan in place for the coming year. It's not really quite a plan yet I suppose, just some races I'm planning on running. But I will hit this hard on in a coming post. The only problem is the short-term as I am not planning on racing anymore in 2008.