As I am writing this blog, I have reached the mid-way point of my training for the upcoming Tough Mudder. I have also just woken up and am feeling sore and worn down. To some, the feeling of being worn down and sore can be downright miserable, however, in order to sufficiently prepare for an event, you need to break your body down so that it can repair, recover, and return stronger than it was previously.
After I finished one of my training runs the other day, I made a comment to my wife that I feel like I am in the best overall shape I have been in my life. I wasn't lying either. I am training multiple body systems at once, while maintaining my strength and endurance, not to mention eating quite well, sleeping well, and maybe most importantly, enjoying my training thoroughly.
One downside to being in such tip-top shape, and something high-end athletes must watch out for is overtraining. I am by no means comparing myself to high-end athletes, but whenever an individual reaches new highs in their fitness progress, overtraining becomes a very likely scenario.
The trick is, to be able to push your hypothetical "line", or fitness level higher, but not to cross that line, as overtraining can cause setbacks or injury.
When I woke up this morning (Sunday August 5th), I definitely felt as though I needed a day of recovery, so I took one. Today is exactly 2 weeks until my event that I have been training for, and feel as though I am in great shape, so I have no worries that the next week and a half of training that I have left on my schedule will be used to push my fitness even further.
Having said that, recovery days, at this point in the game, can be just as important as training days because my body needs that time to recover so that I can come back for these last 11 days of training as hard as I can.
So, below is a list of my last 11 days of training before I taper for a few days prior to Tough Mudder.
August:
5 - Recovery
6 - AM: 14km Run, PM: Hockey
7 - Asylum Speed & Agility and Overtime
8 - Asylum Game Day and Overtime
9 - AM: Asylum Vertical Plyo and Overtime, PM: 8km Run
10 - Yoga/Relief
11 - Asylum Strength and Overtime
12 - 10km Run
13 - AM: Asylum Speed & Agility and Overtime, PM: Hockey
14 - Asylum Back to Core
15 - Asylum Final Fit Test
16 - Recovery
17 - Recovery
18 - Recovery
19 - Tough Mudder
Quote of the day:
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed."
~ Theodore Roosevelt
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