Drop Dead Legs

I'm in an absolute daze on my couch right now. These past five days of training have felt particularly challenging, capped off by tonight's two-hour run that featured nearly an hour at tempo pace.  My legs felt so heavy and tight that I almost quit the run altogether after the first 30 minutes.  My stomach acted up again too, which I'm thinking has more to do with running in the evening after eating all day rather than in the morning when my stomach is closer to empty.  But the session turned out to be much more of a positive experience than I could have anticipated.

I really do think the best workouts stem from the worst workouts.  It's that moment when you're about to give in to your body's whining and whimpering that something special starts to happen.  In this instance, I found a way to manage a 51-minute 10k and an 8:15 mile pace after running feebly for an hour while keeping my heart-rate largely in heart-rate zone 3.  That is encouraging because if I really push hard I should be able to break back into the high 40s for my upcoming Olympic-distance race.  I've never broken 50 minutes in an Olympic tri and I now think I'm capable.

And to think how close I was to quitting tonight and starting my rest day early.

Speaking of rest days, I can't wait to apply the ice packs, take a hot shower and slather myself with Dragon Ice recovery balm.  And then, after I slam this protein shake by my side, I'm going to pass out.

166 days and counting.