A day in the life of a Team TBB'er...

Ever since I started working with Team TBB and Doc I've had a ton of athletes asking me what the training is like, and what a "normal" training day looks like (the pic is NOT a normal training day!)

A day in the life of a Team TBB'er...

1. Eat
2. Train
3. Eat and drink a lot.
4. Drink more.
5. Train
6. Eat
7. Eat and drink a lot.
8. Train
9. Eat and drink a lot.
10. Sleep (or attempt to anyway!)

That's it in a nutshell, with all the nuts and bolts. We train at the track, on the roads, and in the pool, but the truth is we never know what we are doing until we see Doc next. I joked to Chuckie that he and Doc would get along great for this reason; their plan is really only known to each of them! But I like it this way because it keeps you on your toes. Just when I'm thinking a rest day is coming up, Doc gives me a session where I thought my legs were literally going to fall off.

So I'm realizing what "beat up" feels like and last week I was in a funk of having very sore quads, little niggles and playing head games with myself. I had my legs basically turn to two bricks in a few recent workouts. I've never felt them like that before, and never had the feeling that they would stop working in the midst of a run. The first time it happened was when Tereza and I were duking it out during a quick burst down a hill. Both my legs shut-down and my quads felt as though they turned to solid rock. I kid not; I almost went head first in the pavement! I finished though, wobbly and worn, using what some on the team called the "Ironman shuffle". Tereza said that's exactly what Ironman running is like! Yikes!

That same night, a workout that should have been an easy 8-minute/mile jog turned into a 35-minute gramma walk, with legs that could only waddle. My roommates were amazed when they saw me in my running clothes after 2-hours of lying lifelessly on the couch. I couldn't move, and thought to myself, "there is no way I'm going to be able to continue doing this." I finally mustered the strength to hobble to the shower and into bed.

Lo and behold though, the next day came and my legs managed to find themselves again, though tattered and torn. I couldn't complain though. I did not die! My legs were functioning and I could walk semi-normal looking. I had thought I was going to be bedridden for days!

And then Doc gave it to us again on the track that day. My quads held up but a nagging pain in my right calf felt like it was going to give out. I did just a 1/3 of the workout and felt beaten. I thought if I went any further I'd be crawling home this time. I was told to run in lane 6, a lane you don't want to find yourself in when no one else is there. My head was slung low. I felt like I didn't belong on the squad and the pity party began. Doc pulled me aside and gave me a donut. A donut? WTF? I then got the lecture that finally made me realize my stupidity and the lack of confidence, and that I should run in lane 6 and listen to my body.

My lesson for that last week: Be patient. I'm learning the art of patience ever so slowly. All this training, ability to work with your body and what your capable of on any given day comes down to having the patience and strong mind to continue trudging forward. Doc woke me up from my own pity party with a wallop to the head and a donut. I don't really like donuts but the wallop to the head was very helpful!

And my lesson so far this week: Don't think. When I ride my bike and the workout calls for some hard pedaling I just go for it. I'm not afraid to push myself. I'm confident in my skills and if I blow up I know I'll have another day to try again. In running though, I tend to worry and over-think what I'm doing rather than to just run. I feel a lot more aches and pains when I run and always seem to worry that they'll turn into a full-blown injury. And in swimming I think more than I swim! Injury isn't the worry but I think about how my hand enters the water, how I catch it then pull, push, and prod – which gets me nowhere fast! I need to swim and run more like the way I ride, without much thought. When your focus is not to have focus you actually get the work done….and FAST!