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Supplement
At the end of my last post, I mentioned how absolutely drained I was feeling. Unfortunately, the suffering went on and on, even with increasing relative rest. On top of that, my mood was horrible, I was as cold as naked triathlete at the Coeur d’Alene swim, (I guess I could just say at the Coeur d’Alene swim), and my skin was doing something out of The Walking Dead. As luck would have it, I was also due to have my annual check up, and I decided to have my fasting blood work drawn on Friday morning. I figured better safe than sorry before I just tell myself to suck it up.
Even with the rest last week things weren’t looking swell by the start of the weekend. On Friday afternoon, I did a 1000y TT in the pool that felt like I was dragging a buoy behind me. Not a pull buoy….this kind of buoy:
My time was horrible and that was the last straw. I threw in the hat and decided to essentially rest all weekend and eat whatever I wanted. I put in a short jog on the trails Saturday morning at around 8:30 pace. Then I proceeded to systematically shove fresh ginger snap cookies and pasta in my mouth. I even had a straight up Coke….with a side of Lay’s chips (Sriracha flavored!). On Sunday, I felt a little better, but increasingly sore. Hmmmm.
When I woke up this morning, I felt like I had been running all weekend. Drained. Muscles sore. Freezing. Headache. I doused my body with my usual caffeine to no avail. Just when I was about to pull the plug on my training all together, I got my bloodwork back.
If you have ever visited my blog, you know I am no stranger to sharing my medical background. I’ve even talked about my vasectomy. So most people know that I had Grave’s disease and that I no longer have a thyroid gland. I thus have to take thyroid hormone replacement every day. Everyone is unique in how much thyroid replacement they need. Doctors frequently check TSH and free T4 to determine if someone is receiving adequate supplementation. A normal value TSH value is roughly .5-4 mIU/L.
As for me, mine came back a whopping 9 mIU/L!
So in short, I basically have been training without thyroid hormone. It’s kind of important. Fortunately, my dose got adjusted quickly and I am hopefully on the road to feeling a heck of a lot better. This is a much better situation to be in rather than thinking I need to eat more pasta or similar.
I did have a chance to climb back on the bike today, and this went fortunately well:
A good start. I can’t help but think if I could just replace my thyroid with Iroman’s arc reactor, things would be so much better. Anyone have Tony Stark’s number?
TU: Carving
From Z Photo Blog
After last weeks experiment in zombie life, I am finally back on my feet. That being said, I’ve had some energy problems and it’s been tough getting the engine back up. Here’s this week’s homage to the suffer gods.
|
Day |
Session |
| Sunday | Run: 10 miles. 30 descending intervals starting at 1:00 at 6:40 pace. Increasing recovery between at 8:30 pace from 1:00-1:30. Total pace around 7:59. |
| Monday | Run: Hard tempo. 5k at 21:10.
Swim: Finally back in the pool. Started with a horrible 1000y TT at 17:34. Then 100y repeats and drills by TriSwimPro |
| Tuesday | Run: 30 min tempo: 4 miles in 29:10.
Swim: 1500y of drill in the pool. Bike: Revolver. Totally sucked. |
| Wed | More swim: Body readapting and loving the drills. 1000y TT at 17:02. |
| Thursday: | Bike: Sills. Felt decent. Better than a Sufferfest session. |
| Friday: | OFF |
| Saturday | Swim: 1000y TT down to 16:34. Run: 5 miles with 200m repeats between 6:40-6:30 pace. 7:30 pace recovery between with 200m walk/jog between miles. |
|
Sunday |
Bike: Emerson. Was a rough morning getting out of bed and getting started. Middle intervals good. Ended with a battle, but good time spent. |
Overall, I am pleased with the progress this week. The run is coming along and feeling on form. Bike was tougher than expected. I think even though I finished the Tour at my new FTP of 235 watts (this was literally right before the Tour started) setting the intensity between 90-95% made me not quite work at the right levels. In other words, I am struggling with the new FTP. But I do think I can keep it there.
I am most pleased with the swim. I joined up with TriSwimPro.com and the drills and videos have been earth…or water, shattering. It was also nice to read what others in that community are struggling with.
Similarly, Trisports also got a new Facebook group together that mixes the professional team and the champions together. There is nothing like some fast pro posts to give you a nice Newton lug to the nuts.
Diet wise, it was a good week as well. I have cut out all sweets until…well, August. Weight is coming back down, now 137. I had the most incredible home made smoothie today. I highly recommend it:
- ¾ cup of milk
- 3 tbsp of peanut butter
- 1 cup of berries
- 2 scoops of Recoverite
- 3 tbsp of yogurt.
Okay, on to more fun posting!
