Eat, Rest and Be Merry

On my recovery day from IM CDA Peak Week #1, Memorial Day, I ate, rested and was generally very merry.  That's partially because I ate a lot of food.  I'm paranoid about keeping my weight up heading into IM CDA.  I'd say I'm more paranoid about that than whether I'll finish the race!  I'm not sure that's a good thing, but my pet theory is that with a little more weight (even fat) on me I may have more energy to burn on race day. And with a little more energy, I may go just a bit faster for longer. For those of you with a medical background, is that sound thinking?

We're talking about 5-8 extra pounds at this point, and 3% extra body fat from where I was at IM AZ in November.  Then I was sporting a rather unhealthy-looking 7% body fat count, and my weight plummeted to 127 pounds on race day.  I'm 5"7 so every pound lost starts to show itself.  I heard more comments after the race than ever before in my life about how gaunt I looked.

So far, I haven't heard any of those comments this season.  While I may not be quite as defined in my midsection, I've kept he weight on and my speed has remained essentially the same.  I think my strategy is working.

Still, I'm quite susceptible  to losing a lot of weight quickly. For example, after the Heartbreak 100 on Saturday, I went from 135 pounds that morning to 132 pounds the next day.  That was with at least two full meals post-race and three snacks -- two of them in the middle of the night.  Tonight, after two chicken breasts, a burger on pita bun, corn on the cob and two well-deserved pieces of birthday cake, I'm back to my goal weight of 137 pounds.

Maybe it's placebo, but because I think I look better, I'm feeling better.  I seem to be recovering very well today and I'm eager to run again tomorrow.  I don't recall ever being eager to train late last October and into November before IMAZ.

The next challenge is going to be resting adequately.  There's a Memorial Day party going on across the hall, a rooftop party.  Lots of drinking, shouting, and laughing.  Should I be the old person who shouts out the window to shut up, or the cool person who turns up the fan a bit higher for added white noise and just take a noisy night.

Maybe it's my full tummy, but I'm in a giving mood tonight.  After all, if I wasn't going to bed early, counting every calorie and analyzing my daily scale check-ins as if I were a boxer before a fight, I'd be right there partying with them.  And seeing as my Ironman is under a month away, I may want to keep that party card in check for a celebration when calories won't really matter at all.

28 days and counting.