A Biggie

I’m ridiculously hungry.

As I sit here writing, I can feel my tummy starting to growl (and I just finished eating!). I suppose it is my body’s way of reminding me of the weekend that just past. This is pretty typical for me, two-days after a big set of workouts is usually when I get the deep hunger. You’d think it would happen sooner, but for some reason, two-days after is always when it hits me the hardest.

If you haven’t guessed by now, this past weekend was a biggie. In fact, the whole week was pretty big ~ a good solid 15-16hrs of training.

By the time Coeur d’Alene actually hits, I’ll probably look back and laugh at the fact that I felt like this was a big training weekend, but right now, at this time of year, as I build back my base and get reacquainted with my bike seat, it feels pretty large.

And it was – in comparison to the fall and the holiday season (where I may have slacked off a little).

My body feels a bit tired, and as much as I wasn't super keen to sit on my bike for 40km on Sunday, after having spent 80km in the saddle on Saturday, I'm enjoying feeling the strength come back into my body. As cheesy and cliché as it might sound, through the heavy legs, I can feel a nice foundation being built.

Last week, while on the higher volume side, was fairly typical. I spent a few mornings in the pool and followed up most swims with a strength session. I spent my lunch breaks running and busted my ass at trainer class. I ate. I worked. I slept. I even sat on my butt and logged some good ol’ TV time.

The weekend was mostly spent on my bike. 

Even though the fog had engulfed Victoria, I am pretty dang thankful for the dry, warm days we've been having. It's so nice to be able to get out and ride for a few hours without having to worry about snow or ice (like the rest of the country) or being soaked to the bone by a deluge of rain (usually accompanied by massive wind gusts).

Saturday was a pretty comfortable ride that saw Shane, Kirsten, Dale and I cover 80km from the Westshore, through Saanich and the Peninsula. The fog was thick and there were definitely a few times I was kicking myself for not having a light on my bike (it was sunny and blue sky at our house when we left that morning ~ amazing what a little elevation can do) but there were lots of other cyclists out on the trails and the roads and we all made it back, safe and sound.

I'm really trying to work on my fueling this year, and I felt like my nutrition was good during the ride, although my refueling post-ride could have been better – which I think I paid for a bit on Sunday.

Sunday's workout was a 40km bike, followed by a 10km run at race intensity (+ 3km cool down). It definitely took me a bit to get going on the bike. My motivation was a bit low, and my body was just a bit sluggish out of the gates (this is where the bad post-workout fueling on Saturday came in). Not to mention, we were riding around Shawnigan Lake, and while I love our neck of the woods, I've ridden that loop so many times that it is not my favourite anymore.

Anyway, I got into a better rhythm by the second lap, and even though I was lagging behind the group a bit, I was happy to stay working at my own aerobic pace and wasn't too worried about the sluggish feeling. I was in a good head space, even if my body wasn't totally doing what I wanted it to do.

Shockingly, the run off the bike felt great! Shane and I stuck together at the start, but my legs were itching to go, so we strung out a bit as the run wore on. My pace picked up as the kilometers ticked off, and before I knew it, we were into the cool down and back at the truck.

It was good. Finishing such a big weekend with a solid run definitely left me with a pretty positive feeling heading into a new week.

Monday was a glorious rest day! And now the new week picks up right where we left off. Another biggie is ahead.