Progress

Here we are, almost a month since we returned from camping and I would have to say it has been the hardest month of training I have had for quite some time (as in years). As such I am almost the fittest I have been for a couple of years (not quite, but well on the way). For those playing at home and that like TrainingPeaks, my CTL has increased by 28 in the last 4 weeks. That is hardly rocketship, but it is at the upper end of what Joe Friel and his TrainingPeaks posse recommend. In case you were wondering they don't recommend a CTL ramp rate of greater than 10 for more than a week or two as it is a pretty good way of burning out. My ramp rate has been an average of 7 for the past 4 weeks, which is sustainable but pushing it.

Given the intensity of the training, I am happy with how I am been holding up. Sure there have been the odd hiccup like the recent trip to Darwin and 3 hours of sleep on Thursday night, but generally it has been quiet manageable. The tracking I have been doing of HRV has backed up the coping so far. The HRV hasn't been all thumbs up every day (having 3 hours sleep doesn't help HRV apparently), but generally the HRV score has said I am good to keep pushing, which is a nice bit of re-enforcement for what TrainingPeaks and my body have been telling me.

While the past 4 weeks have gone well and the fitness is certainly returning I am not exactly feeling out of this world. Tired is probably the best word for it, with a persistent level of fatigue that I haven't felt for years. Probably not surprising I guess. The fatigue means I often don't feel like I am smashing sessions out of the park, although on closer analysis I usually find I hit the marks. What I have noticed though is a good build of stamina and I think an increase in strength too. The one frustration in all this training is that I haven't been able to shift the weight that I gained during camping. The optimistic part of me says it is because I have been hitting the gym so much that I am getting massive and the additional weight is because of that. The realistic part of me thinks it might be because I am nearly 40 and shifting weight is one of those things that apparently gets harder as you get older (so I have heard). Perhaps it is a little from column A and a little from column B.

At FrontRunner we use a rule of thumb that it takes 6 weeks to see significant physiological change and so I guess I am 4 weeks into that. Given that I think the gains in fitness etc that I am feeling are in their fledgling stages. Keen to see how things are in another two weeks. Then of course the weeks after that.