Intensity Block
· Aug 13, 08:33 PM
My first focused and planned intensity block in a couple years is coming up next week, which means I’m getting a couple days of rest right now and have time to blog. It’s not that I haven’t had the time recently, it’s been more of an issue of motivation. But it just so happens that men’s synchronized diving isn’t exactly holding my attention right now, and even if my posting window spills over into beach volleyball I’ll probably survive.
I don’t really want to go off on NBC for the problems in their coverage, because they’re the same problems they always have, but last night they exceeded expectations. If the TV hadn’t insisted I was watching the Olympics, I could have sworn that the piece on the Panda Nursery was straight off the Today Show – or maybe Animal Planet. There was nothing particularly wrong with the piece, except that it was obviously broadcast as part of the wrong program. But enough of the Olympics, back to training.
The last block was a bit abbreviated at only 16 days, and it wasn’t the best one I’ve had this summer. The Ashland Hill Climb came on the first Saturday, and it’s safe to say it didn’t go as well as last year. My legs were never super, and after about an hour I’d pretty much run them off. I fought it for a while, then spent a solid half hour at somewhere around the top of Level 1 with no ability to go faster. I know it’s bad when telling myself to reach into the suitcase doesn’t inspire any extra hurt. I managed to salvage a bit of the effort on the climb up the mountain – and held off Evelyn by two and a half minutes, which is a lot closer than is comfortable!
Ashland inflicted a similar amount of damage on my system as it did last year – save the knee and groin pain. I had a few days of exhaustion followed by a couple of uninspired training before I finally pulled out for a good OD roller ski with Marshall. We picked the first rainy day of the summer (always a welcome change from the searing afternoon sun) and skied around Bachelor. For a long skate, most of it was actually pretty mellow, but the final 10 miles were filled with plenty of climbing from Elk Lake up to Bachelor. That came after 3+ hours of grinding it out on wet, slow, chip-sealed roads. But the ski itself was actually really good. 4:45 might have been longer than the design, but we had to get back to the car!
(Mary Carillo – of the Panda Nursery – is back, tonight she’s eating Chinese street food … my next bit of writing is going to be an angry and irate letter to NBC if she keeps this up.)
I had a really good ski on Monday, just under 4 hours of double pole for one of my best sessions of the season. Then I learned yesterday morning that going and doing bounding intervals 20 hours after the OD on not quite enough sleep isn’t going to make for a great showing. Chalk that one up to a learning experience and hope I remember!
So anyways, we’re off to Corvallis on Sunday morning for the start of the intensity block (I’m doing two weeks worth of MWF intensity sessions – which is a lot compared to where I’ve been!). The goals are to manage my energy, pay attention to how I respond, feel better as I go and come out with some good fitness to get me going this fall.
I’ll check back before it’s over. Promise.
Commenting is closed for this article.
Angry AND irate… Whoah.
— ZC Aug 14, 01:16 PM #
I lost motivation (this post got too long), but next time…
— Brayt Aug 14, 03:56 PM #
I’ve been watching the Olympics a bit while I’m here in Sweden, and even with the sound off the coverage is so much better and so much more complete than NBC’s—and there is no doubt that I am watching the Olympics—offerings that it is actually just sad. NBC doesn’t need angry and irate, it needs pity.
— William Heller Aug 15, 04:04 AM #