Where was I? Oh yeah. Back to work. 100% cleared to return. No restrictions. Of course I picked the hottest and most humid day of the year to date to return. Mid 90's and air so thick you could cut it. For those of you that don't know me well, I work in a central Wisconsin paper mill. Blue collar. Manual labor. That generally means hot and humid weather is even worse at work. No air movement. Limited time in air conditioned areas. I think I did pretty good. Lots of water. Made sure not to overdo it. So far so good.
On my drive home tonight after my 3-11 shift I had plenty of time to think. Beautiful night. Mid 60's. A few clouds and a bright, almost full moon. Normally, I would have been on the bike enjoying the picture perfect conditions.I really enjoy my bike commute on a night like this. Usually the wildlife is a bit more active. If the moon is bright enough I'll turn of my lights for a bit and just enjoy the moonlight. But not tonight. No riding for 12 weeks!! At least that's what the doctor is advising. And as much as it hurts, I'm listening. Not that I won't start considering sneaking in a ride after another month, but so far I'm behaving.
That means I'm slowly, key word slowly, becoming a runner again. And that's tougher than I thought it would be. I knew after 3ish weeks of limited activity it would be a gradual comeback. But man, I honestly wasn't prepared for this. I know that fitness declines faster that it is recovered. But again, I just didn't know how much I had lost and how much I would struggle. I started with some easy walking. I gradually added in some walk/run intervals. Slow, but it was running. Tammy and I headed out to the Tomorrow Rive State Trail a couple times. We'd start with a nice brisk walk and after a mile I'd take off and head out for a couple miles of running. Tammy would turn around after a couple miles and I'd try to catch her. Normally it wouldn't take me long. The last time we did this, I really struggled to reel her in. I pushed and just couldn't make headway. If she hadn't slowed I probably wouldn't have caught her. A little frustrating but she admitted she was pushing the pace herself. Okay, I can deal with that.
Monday of this week we did a similar workout with a little less of a head start for Tammy. I pushed fairly hard and caught her quicker than I figured I would. Tuesday was a short run in the heat and humidity before work. I kept the pace light but my heart rate was higher than what it would normally be at that pace. Chalk it up to the weather? Wednesday was a bit cooler so I added a little mileage compared to Tuesday. And I really struggled. I felt slow, sluggish and fuzzy. High heart rate again.Catching my breath was difficult. Even while doing yoga and a bit of mediating afterwards I felt winded.
I don't want this to sound like I'm complaining, at least not too much! I realize one person's slow is another one's race pace. I just am having more trouble dealing with recovery than I ever imagined I would. I apparently need to work on my patience. That means I'm going to back off a bit and ease up. Maybe come up with a walk/run interval and work on improving that way. And realizing that rest is a part of training and recovery. A day off won't kill me, right?
That's where I am now. Hopefully the next update will be a little more positive.
As usual, comments, criticism and questions are welcome. And maybe a few training tips!
Thanks for reading. Until next week, get out there and enjoy the summer. Add a few miles on your next run or ride for me!
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