I’ve cautiously started my program again now the “Man Flu” symptoms have eased. I’ve had a great run of health for three years, hardly a sniffle. It’s amazing how sensitive to any symptoms we become after a cold.
My Sunday workout was going to be a test of the strength of my immune system. We did a two hour bike followed by a two hour run. I had done a 4,000m aerobic swim set on Saturday, no change in symptoms. I still had a little bit of a tickle in the throat.
Sunday’s workout all went well, I hadn’t lost a thing in the legs by having a total week off training. The real test would be how I woke up Monday morning, all good.
We’re always fighting off something. So often we have minor battles going on inside us, and we don’t even know about it. Having a strong immune system before an Ironman training build up is so important. The work load is always going to test the strength of our immunity.
When I look back through my notes, I can see when I have stepped across the invisible line which separates good healthy recovery from too much work load and inadequate recovery. Even though I’ve prepared for many Ironman races over the years it’s still possible to make mistakes.
The whole way through a build up, we push up to that invisible line, and back away before crossing it. Sometimes an extra sleep in and a few zinc lozenges will save the athlete. Sometimes it’s too late.
The workout which pushed me over the edge was not hard enough or long enough to push me over the edge. I simply did it a little harder than I should have. I set myself the time base of 10mins for my 2km run backs. Had I stuck to that pace I would have most likely been right. I was feeling so good that I gained a little time each one and ended up finishing two minutes ahead of the total time.
Improvement comes from stressing the body just enough to let it bounce back stronger and fitter. I stressed myself 2-3% too much. I’ve done it before, it’s been along time, but it is sad to have to learn the same lesson again.
The interesting thing is, often it takes three or four days after crossing that line for the eventual results to show up. In my case I stepped across the line on Sunday, and was tired enough to have to abandon my Thursday workout. Had I taken Friday very easy I may have gotten away with it. But Friday was spent driving for eight hours. It is only driving, but stress is stress. Eight hours on the highway is stressful, especially on a tired body.
In the past I have had several athletes training in the squad who were Uni students. At exam time, I reduced their training by 30% and still half of them got sick. Another time we often time trialed up Mt Nebo twice in a workout (an 18km climb). After a few weeks of this we time trialled up three times in one workout, I felt the guys were ready for it. Five out of twelve in the group got sick during the next week.
Each individual athlete has a different tolerence level to training stress. Sometimes outside influences add to the workload and it just get’s too much to carry.
In my own case I am usually good at knowing when you back off or rest a little more. This time I made a mistake. At least I’m well now and I have six good weeks of training ahead of me.
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