Now Entering The Suck Stage

Morning Workout
RUN
54 steps
Heart Rate Zone: Beating. But barely.

SWIM
Main Set: 20 x 100 yards with 5-10 seconds rest in between, if you want to call that rest. I don't really think 5 seconds qualifies as "rest" but...whatever.

Random Comments: There are different stages in training. There's the Base Building stage, the Strength stage, the Speed stage, and on it goes. Right now I'm in the Suck stage. It's called the Suck stage for a couple of reasons. First, because there is so much high intensity exercise that it sucks the energy right out of you and doesn't bother to ever let you rest long enough to get it back. The second reason it's called the Suck stage is because, clearly, it sucks.

I went for an 85 mile ride this weekend with just short of 4000 feet of climbing. I was tired at the end. The funny thing is, though, that I couldn't get my heartrate beyond Aerobic - my legs wouldn't allow me too, even while trudging up that 7 mile hill. Then on Monday I went for what was supposed to be an hour long, very high intensity ride. Once again, my legs didn't really bother to show up. They could push my heart rate to Aerobic levels, but that's about the limit of what they would do. After that weak effort, they seem to just go on strike, holding up picket signs and chanting silly phrases like "hell no, we won't go" and "no more bikey, we don't likey". And they do it all in two-part harmony, which gets me even more riled up. My legs, it seems, are unionizing and, completely candid, I run a strictly non-union body. Clearly we've got problems.

It was all capped off with the disagreement the legs and I had this morning on my 54 step run. When I started the run, I had every intention of going much further than 54 steps. In fact, I had 90 minutes lodged into my mind. I kept this as a surprise to the legs, for fear of some sort of retaliation - a coup d'limb, if you will. Apparently, though, they've got an inside man on the job, because they found out my plans pretty darn quickly. The crumple-inducing leg cramp hit at step 48. I stopped and stretched, determined to not let them ruin my run. Then I took a big deep breath and began running again. That lasted a whopping 6 steps before the "holy shit this hurts" cramp came back again. Enough. Enough, already.

I gave in.
It's time to go to the negotiating table.

And that's what I'm doing this week, negotiating. Better yet, I'm holding out until they decide to work harder. Clearly my body is too tired, I don't have the energy to push myself forward. So this week, I sleep. And I wait. I wait until the legs are refreshed and ready to begin doing some work for me for a change. Cause I know, eventually this isn't gonna Suck anymore.

And then I'll show them who's boss.