5 Weeks of Crazy

So! I've made it 5 weeks with my new BatShitCrazierThanMe Coach... Haven't seen my plan yet for this upcoming week and not sure I even want to look... I'm just tackling one day at a time right now but so far so good. Thought I'd jot down some things I've learned/observed in case you're interested. :)

~I am capable of a hell of a lot more training than I thought.

~Coach loves the bike. For the past 2 weeks in a row I've ridden more than my biggest bike week of 2012. And I feel the best I've ever felt riding! 55% of my total training volume in the last 5 weeks has been on my bike.

~I always thought- in my heart- that I would thrive on volume. I was right.

~I actually haven't had any seriously big/long training days. But I don't have many short days either. It's really been more about backing up a solid day with another solid day tomorrow and another solid day after that. Frequency is high and therefore total volume is high but no single session has been overwhelming.

~I am generating a lot of laundry.

~Not once have I altered or moved or modified a workout. A+ for following the plan! :)

~The key to nailing hard sessions is making sure your easy sessions are easy. I know we've all heard this one before but right now I am LIVING it and can vouch. Nalani saw it this weekend too- yesterday we rode HARD. Today we rode EASY. La la la... Just some chit chat catch-up time while pedaling a bike today.

~I used to hate easy recovery days. I am learning to love them. Seriously. LOVE.

~This might sound crazy, but I think I always resisted rest/recovery before b/c I was never really working hard enough to feel like I needed it. I distinctly remember at the end of that training camp I did with Hillary Biscay last March thinking, "I do not work hard enough in normal training..." This year so far every week is like a training camp week. Seriously. So when I do happen to have an easy session, I cherish it. :)

~I thrive on seeing a schedule that makes me think No Way can I do that... but then doing it anyway.

~Those Recovery Pump Boots are worth their weight in gold to me. I am testing their limits and very pleased so far.

~I've been eating a mostly plant-based diet for the last 3 months or so. Not quite 100% vegetarian, but close. I don't feel the slightest bit deprived. I have not been able to give up eggs. I love hard boiled eggs. I'd really like to find a local source where the hens are not abused.

~I don't feel fat anymore. I'm not weighing myself often but I weighed myself some over the fall and managed to put on quite a bit of weight (like 8-10lbs!). OK so I was never really 'fat' but I was too heavy to run well and I just generally felt like a cow so that wasn't good. Pretty sure that's all gone now b/c I just don't feel fat anymore. That was one of the things Nalani and I chatted about today while we were soft pedaling- given that I feel awesome and am hitting great numbers in training and my pants fit loosely again, I don't feel the need to see a number on a scale to validate what I'm feeling. It's all good.

~I am pretty surprised that I haven't cracked yet. I keep thinking that one of these days I am going to CRAAAACK but so far I've been ok. I've had a few runs that could be called UGLY for sure but not like to the point of sitting down on the side of the road and calling it quits.

~Sometimes I wonder if coach writes a week schedule in for me and thinks to himself "I wonder if THIS will crack her??" Lol.

~When I ride in the rain a lot, like for 2 weeks straight, I find myself incredibly happy when the roads are finally dry.

~Coach is more into effort than numbers (HR, pace, power, etc) but I have not yet given up my training data. Seeing objective evidence of improvement (vs just thinking 'I felt stronger today') is highly motivating to me (yet I don't need to see objective on a scale? Interesting.) And when the numbers aren't there I just think Duh, I'm trashed and don't stress about it.

~Ok I just checked Training Peaks and saw the schedule for the upcoming week... Had a hot flash. Here we go again! 8 weeks 'til Cabo!