Rest Days and Crazy Thoughts

In P90X, Tony Horton asks "How do you know what to do, if you don't know what you did?" He asks this to stress the importance of writing down your workouts (weight used, number of reps, etc). With my Garmin, all I have to do is remember to charge it and put it on and it takes care of the "writing it down" for me (sport, distance, time). 

I am so thankful to have this information, especially when my mind starts playing tricks on me. I was actually convinced that I had been doing less this year than last year. After comparing my training calendars for June 2013 and 2014, this is definitely not the case. So far this month I have covered 187 miles and trained for 33:50 hours...and I still have a few days left in the month. Last June I covered 142 miles and trained a total of 28:29 hours.

June 2013

• Orange = Swim
• Red = Bike
• Blue = Run
• Grey = Other (strength training & transition times) 

June 2014

One thing that stands out when I look at the two calendars is the lack of cycling I did last year. I was obviously concerned with the swim and that took precedence. This year I have tried a more balanced approach, although I have backed off on the running a bit because of my Achilles issue.

Rest Day

Last week my days got off a bit. I took Wednesday off to go see Steve Winwood with HS and made up for it by working out on Thursday (my normal rest day). Because of this switch, I have seven straight days logged...I am ready for a break. I am actually feeling tired today! Tired and really, really hungry for peanut butter.

However, taking a break can be tough...mentally. Like I mentioned above, I really thought I had been doing less training than last year. Whenever I have a rest day, I am convinced I am sliding back into my chubby, out of shape self. Yes, I know that is totally crazy and that I could probably take two weeks off without losing a significant amount of my fitness, but I'm just telling you what goes on in my head.

My way to deal with these crazy thoughts is to classify non-working out tasks as part of my race preparation.For example, not snacking after work. If I come home and head out for a run or a swim, there's no problem. However, today I won't have that diversion (I'm so glad we are out of peanut butter!). Anyway, I tell myself that by not snacking, I am working towards my goal weight. By going to bed early and getting some extra Z's, I'm helping my body recover. By going to the gym and sitting in the sauna, I'm helping with heat acclimatization. 

So, even though I'm technically not training, I am doing something proactive that at least keeps the "crazies" at bay until Friday :-)