Protecting My Recovery

I hadn't realised how much this season of racing had taken out of me. I get it, this is like the fourth post about this season, but I was looking forward to a couple of weeks off to relax a little and recoup, and nearly two weeks in I still don't feel human again.

Taking time off after a race isn't something I have ever really done. I've always been straight back to it, with a half marathon meaning a couple of days before I'm out again and a full perhaps three or four. My first 70.3 was followed two weeks later by the Robin Hood Half, and of course I gave that a good crack too. It has taken this year to make me realise that I don't protect my recovery anywhere near enough.

My training is protected in a way that my recovery never has been. Every session sits in my calendar alongside work and family, and gets ticked off once it is done, whereas the days after a race and the easy weeks on a plan have always been treated as spare time to fill with more training.

All the coaches' plans I have followed include a taper going into a race and recovery coming out of it, which is the coach protecting it for me, yet I usually do my own thing or end up doing more. Mainly this comes down to ego, or the fact that I'm never happy with what I have done. Doing hard things is my enjoyment in life, so a week where I purposely do less has never been in my vocabulary.

Since deciding to take some down time, I have realised just how tired I actually was. I'm suffering with a cold, I have aches and pains, and a few other things have appeared that I can only put down to finally taking a step back. Being constantly in training seems to have been covering all of this up, and it took stopping for my body to let me know about it.

I'm 43 now, so perhaps it's time catching up with me, and my body simply needs longer to get over things than it once did. Whatever the reason, next season is going to have to be structured much better to avoid ending up here again, and that means protecting the recovery in the same way I protect the training, with the taper and the easy weeks done as they are written.

2027 going to be my busiest year yet, and it forms the first half of a two year plan that finishes with a full Ironman in 2028. Getting there is going to take some real determination, but some intelligence and understanding too. Which I struggle with at times.