Had been feeling decidedly under the weather most of the week (and continued to feel so until Tuesday this week) but still managed to get to the tan at 7.30 on Saturday morning for the monthly time trial. It was a handicap run being the first week of a new season, and I went off with the last group after 14 minutes. There were three of us: a veteran who finished ahead of me in the last race I did and a young (15?) kid I hadn't seen before.
The kid and I took off at 3:20s. I was feeling very comfortable and was pretty confident that I'd take it out because he was already breathing hard after 1km. The perfect time to drop him would be up the Anderson st hill, so I tried to pump up the intensity as we rounded the corner. It soon became clear though that I didn't have the legs for it, and he was still with me as we got to the top, actually gapping me quite convincingly on the downhill (I was impressed - I'm usually the one taking advantage of downhills). Managed to catch him pretty quickly and got back in front for the rest of the lap, but it didn't last. After going through 4k in 14:05, my legs decided they'd had enough. Aerobically I felt fine, but the pounding I put my quads through on Tuesday was obviously still there because I just couldn't generate any power. Tried to keep him in sight, but he drew away, having a much stronger second half than me to finish 30 secs ahead of me in 28:40 (29:12 for me).
Not quite the sub 29 I was going for, but still a 13 second PB is nothing to complain about.
Focus from now on is staying healthy. Can't afford to have many weeks where I take 3/4 days off due to illness. Hadn't been taking my multivitamin, so that's the first thing on the list. Am going to the doctors on Friday to get my serum ferritin (iron), vit B12 and Vit D levels checked out. Haven't had a blood test for over two years now, which is a bit negligent of me. Vegans (and I think all athletes really) should get one every year to make sure everything's in order. Have been feeling very tired lately, so wouldn't be surprised if my iron comes out low.
1 comment:
thank you very much
Post a Comment