A Different Type of Recovery

A few times a year (last time being in May), usually after a big race, I move away from my typical healthy eating habits and "splurge" for a week or so. I refer to this week as my "Week of Gluttony". The Boilerman Triathlon last weekend was my final triathlon of the year, so while I am still training for a marathon next month, I shoveled a bunch of food into my body this past week that I would normally avoid. Some of my indulgences included strawberry ice cream, pizza (courtesy of CiCi's buffet), a couple of Dr. Pepper's, biscuits and gravy, a Kit Kat Dark candy bar, a Chinese buffet, some lots of Jessica's famous banana pudding, Outback's Baby Back ribs, a chicken quesadilla from Taco Bell, a glass of the new Maker's 46 and a few other things that I can't remember.

Towards the end of the week (as in last night), my stomach was telling me to stop with the sweets. It's amazing how just changing up my diet for one week can effect not only how I feel, but how my body responds when I run. I try to view food as fuel. This helps me to make good decisions when eating. If I expect my body to perform what I'm asking it to, I need to fuel it with high-quality foods, not junk. Garbage in = garbage out.

My long run last Wednesday was early enough in the week that the unhealthy food I had been eating hadn't had time to effect my performance. But that wasn't the case on Saturday or this morning. I could definitely tell that my body wasn't feeling as good as it normally does...and not just because of the 5 pounds that I gained last week!

I'm definitely ready to get back to eating right. Stuffing myself full of pizza and Kung Pao chicken at buffet's is out of my system, and I have no desire to grab a candy bar next time I stop at a gas station.

Hopefully my body is on the road to recovering...

SATURDAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

10K (6.2) mile Tempo Run
15 minutes at an easy pace (approx. 7:45 min/mile), 16 minutes at an increased pace (around 7:15 min/mile) and then 16 minutes at an easy pace (7:50 min/mile). My legs felt heavy and I never really settled in. Believe it or not, quads were still a little sore from Wednesday's long run.
Total workout: 6.2 miles in 47:06 (7:35 min/mile)
Avg HR = 162
Max HR = 172


TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

Yasso 800's (800 meter runs at a high intensity, with 3 minutes of easy jogging between each)
Warm-up (ran to the track) - 1.33 miles in 9:51 (7:28 min/mile pace)
1) 3:08 (Avg HR - 155, max - 166)
2) 3:14 (Avg HR - 162, max - 171)
3) 3:21 (Avg HR - 163, max - 169)
4) 3:17 (Avg HR - 165, max - 171)
5) 3:16 (Avg HR - 166, max - 172)
6) 3:16 (Avg HR - 167, max - 172)
Cool-down (ran back to the gym)- 1.33 miles in 10:51 (8:14 min/mile pace)
Total Workout: 7.38 miles in 1:01:30
I hadn't done Yasso's in over a month, so I had my mind set on getting in 6 of them. I really wanted to quit after the third one was so slow, but I sucked it up and pushed as hard as I could for the last three and never fell back to the pace of #3...only feeling like I was going to vomit once. Speed workouts are not my favorite, but they are just as important as the long runs. I've noticed an increase in my "comfortable" pace since I started doing these track workouts...so they are successfully teaching my legs how to run faster!