Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.
Oh boy do I need to update my blog.
I learned a few lessons from my half-marathon row on April 18. Live & learn, indeed. Considering that the prior week I’d done 15,266 meters in one sitting, with no ill effects, it’s pretty incredible that the addition of just another 5k was enough to mess me up as badly as it did. Or atleast, I’m guessing that something about that row is behind the effects I experienced, mainly having to do with energy levels.
Well, it was to be expected I’d be a bit wiped out the day following a 13-mile row. So on that following day (a Sunday) I did nothing exercise-wise, just hung about my apartment & enjoyed a well-earned vege-out (complete with the consumption of plenty of veggies). After that — let’s see, I’m looking at my little spreadsheet on my Palm — I got the equivalent of 9K to 15K steps over the next five days, but rowed on only three of those days, & that at fairly low levels — a max of 3k meters. And I felt kinda yucky every time. Which is, of course, why I didn’t row more. Nor did I have the oomph to do any of my Turbulence Training workouts. All of this was accompanied by an abrupt increase in daytime sleepiness, that whole falling into a drowse mid-typing at my computer, which was remedied only through influxes of caffeine. This in spite of actually succeeding, for once, in getting at least 7 hours of sleep every night that week.
The following weekend (i.e., Apr. 26-27) I couldn’t bring myself to do a damn thing. Slept in, vegged. I was able to pick up the last week, including an increase in rowing workouts, but I didn’t really feel good doing a row until Thursday, May 1. That was a 10K row, a fitting beginning to the new rowing season. (On the Concept 2 website, seasons run from May to April, so even though we still have most of 2008 yet to go, in rowing terms we’re now in the “2009 season.”) I even put myself at the very front of the pack in the rankings for a 10K row in my class (women aged 40- to 49 heavyweight)! Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that I was the only person in my class to record a 10K row for the 2009 season to that point. (As of this morning, I’m now 5th out of 8.)
So, my energy levels seem to have returned, & the daytime sleepies seem to be improving slightly. I also finally got the weight bench & dumbbell stand for the Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells I purchased a few weeks ago put together over the past weekend, so I’m set to get back on the weight training workouts.
Here’s what I think led to all this: I screwed up in how I set up the half-marathon row. First, I did it way too late at night. When it got that late, I should have just gone to bed, & saved the row for the following day or even put it off to the following weekend. (To meet the challenge, I had until April 30). Second, I had inadequate nutrition around the workout itself — preworkout, during workout, postworkout. I did have a protein/carb drink (more protein than carbs) that I sipped at during brief rest periods (such as when I had to stop to give my poor sore bum a break), but that wasn’t enough. You can sure bet that I’ve been doing some research on pre, during, & post-workout nutrition since then. In any case, between the poor timing of the workout & the poor workout-related nutrition, I sabotaged my recovery. That’s what I think, anyway.
Good to have the energy back, though. Starting on May 1, I’ve done four long straight cardio (i.e., not HIIT) rows, & have felt good both during & afterwards, with no ill effects.
Weight-wise — well, it’s been fluctuating a bit up & down by about two or three lbs., but no further weight lost. I’m not too worried about that, though; I think it goes with the absence of HIIT & weight training these past two weeks, & at least there hasn’t been a precipitate weight increase. Now that my energy’s back up, things should improve again.
I have, in virtual “ascent of Everest” terms, reached Everest Base Camp. So that’s pretty cool.
