Slotting back in

Trainity, train, train.

A bit of training today, just slotting back into routine

The training this morning was a nice little ride about on the bicycle. Just a couple of hours of spinning, some of it spent with the BYL boys and some just on my lonesome. Not a bad morning to be out, not perfect, but better than yesterday. Yesterday it was furnace hot in Perth. I think officially it hit about 42 degrees C. Windy and hot, not the sort of weather you want to be out and about in. Luckily I wasn't. I had been planning on going for an easy jog yesterday, but when I got home and the thermometer still read 37 degrees I thought I would take it easy instead. Caution is the better part of staying alive sometimes.

Today the weather is significantly nicer. Perth often seems hung over after a really hot day and so it was today. This morning it was much cooler, but still windy and very overcast and humid. Hence my comment earlier about it being not a bad morning for riding, but far from perfect. A bit too windy for that.

Despite the wind, the ride was a good one though. The legs are feeling a lot more lively now with the body able to produce power levels more in line with what I would expect. The power requires more effort than I would expect though, which I find interesting, but I am hoping that will improve as I continue to recover.

Really that has been the main impact that I have seen post-Ironman, high heart rates. Riding can feel okay, but then I will check my heart rate and realise that I am actually working quite hard. Same with running. Actually it is a little depressing how high my heart rate gets for the pace I am going when I run. As I have said, I am hoping that will continue to improve as I recover. The higher effort may also be due to a bit of lost fitness, but I don't think I have actually lost all that much, I suspect Ironman exhaustion is the main cause.

The high heart rate factor was really hit home when I went for a jog on Tuesday. I started the run going by my usual paces, but quickly realised that I was working way to hard at those paces. In the end I just had to slow down and base the session on how hard I was really working, rather than how hard I thought I should be working. I am hoping to go for another run today and I think it will be more of the same. Basing the session on what the body is really doing, rather than what I wish it was doing.

I have been reasonably happy with how recovery from Ironman WA is going, but I am finding the running a bit frustrating. It is still feeling far from great. The running is slow and it feels hard. The legs are tired and always feeling heavy. I don't have much experience recovering from an Ironman, but I suspect what I am feeling is normal. I have been told it will take at least three weeks to get over the race and could take as many as six, so I am not too bothered that the body isn't feeling great. I would like it if it felt better, I would love to head out for a run and have it feel easy again, but I am not expecting miracles. I just keep reminding myself to take it easy, keep the heart rate under control. This Sunday will be three weeks post race and I have been told that I should be keeping the intensity low until at least then, so that is the goal. Luckily there are a few days of sitting around, hanging out with family, eating pudding and being generally merry between now and then to help me out.