Recovery Week

I've just completed my first Recovery Week of the training season. It was so great! I still did my 6 days of working out and about 10 or 11 workouts over those 6 days, but it was all just a little bit shorter and little bit more laid back this week. All in preparation for another few weeks of ramping up again before my next recovery week. Don't get me wrong, I do love the feeling of utter exhaustion, working out till I want to throw up and literally eating, breathing, sleeping, working all things ironman related, however a wee break is always greatly welcomed. It didn't exactly help that I worked 6 out of the last 7 days, but for the most part I'm feeling rested and ready to go again. A couple of highlights from my recovery week:

My mom and I have been swimming together ever since I started Ironman training, it's great to have a training partner in that area. It's not like we chat and have a visit, like if we were out for a run together, but it's a good motivation to have someone join you, and it's nice company on the drive to the pool or during the ever tedious hair drying process. My mom swims with me usually 2 out of my 3 swims in a week (plus she packs better snacks than I do!). I did discover something this week. My mom is officially a faster swimmer than I am. I don't like it. I don't like it at all! I can admit it, I have an ultra competitive edge, and I totally feel like my ego is being stomped on every time I gag in a mouthful of chlorine from my mom's wake. The funny thing is... she would NEVER admit that she is faster. I'm sure like most mom's, my mom likes to think that Alison and I are perfect princesses in every possible way and that everything we do is better than everyone else in the entire world (when is someone going to let her in on the truth...?). She honestly thinks that I could take Michael Phelps in a race, and I probably would have a chance at beating him (then again, I don't smoke pot... so I do have that on him). That's what makes it so funny.... my mom introduces me to all her friends at the Y as her hard core swimming daughter, "I'm SO embarassed to even be swimming with her!!!" yet she's actually faster. Then I see her purposely choose a lane away from me because deep down, I know she knows the truth. Oh well... it's good to have a challenge, my ego can take it, and who doesn't love a mom who's your biggest fan. Maybe this week I should be the one to brag about my ultra-fast swimming mom to all her friends at the Y, even at 50 years old!

Alison and Leon officially commenced their P90X workout, you may or may not have heard about it, a workout series, for 90 days, meant to seriously build some muscle. They started it Tuesday, exactly 6 weeks post baby (and therefore post surgery) and it's a very exciting new challenge. Alison has been keeping me well updated on the daily workouts (they sound pretty intense) and after doing a certain ab workout, insisted that I must try it! So I popped over yesterday (as I do most days thanks to their extremely well stocked fridge... "ummm... I was just in the neighborhood...") and I gave it a try. I do an ab/core workout every day, usually 10 - 15 minutes, at home or at the gym, I like to think it's pretty challenging, and I definately appreciate the importance of keeping those core muscles well conditioned. I had already done my daily ab workout before heading over to try out Ab Ripper X (the name of it is so fitting when you see the guy who does the video... total white-man-beef-head-in-spandex), this was my first mistake. My second mistake was forcing myself to complete the entire 17 minute workout without breaks and trying my hardest to do all the "advanced" positions (there's that competitive edge again, I'm starting to see a problem here). The final result, which I discovered this morning when I rolled out of bed, was some seriously extreme muscle fatigue (aka side-splitting pain!). If you know me or my family well, you will know that there is a lot of humor involved in our lives. We like to laugh, a lot. This may be because we are extremely happy natured people with a positive outlook on life, or perhaps it is because we use humor to cover up our mass amounts of disfunction (maybe a combo of both), regardless we share lots of good chuckles, snorts and sometimes peeing-of-pants, on an hourly basis (well... not the peeing-of-pants, thats more like a once a year thing). Today, this has changed for me. It hurts so much to laugh, its not even funny (no pun intended!). I've spent the majority of my day trying to think of negative and sad things to ward off any laughter in hopes that I won't have reason to laugh, all to save myself from pain enough to cripple me! I can't even look at Craig (he's easy to laugh at), and I'm nervous about tomorrow (2nd day is always the worst!). Please refrain from any jokes, funny stories or humor in any sort of way for the next 24 hours while I allow my poor precious abdominus musculus's (or whatever they are called) to heal. The lesson learned from this experience: no more Ab Ripper X (even that name makes me want to laugh!) the day before rest day (what a waste!!!) or at least before any funny movies. I think I'll go rent Schindler's List tonight.

I guess that's all for recovery week. This coming week has another 150 km long ride, a 3200 m swim, hills, a long run (my favorite!!!) and pretty much everything else inbetween.