I would be lying if I said I were feeling fabulous these days. I've actually been working through a bit of a rough patch since returning from Asia. Training has been OK, nothing extraordinary, but consistent and getting the work done. Motivation has wavered a bit, but for the most part, I have looked forward to the sessions. What I have really struggled with is fatigue. I'm not talking about "my-legs-are-burning-and-I-can't-fathom-running-one-step" fatigue, but more of a "did-I-really-just-sleep-10-hours-and-I-still-feel-like-this?" kind of tired. I returned from yesterday's ride and had to lay down for a couple of hours. This was already after a solid 2 hour post-swim nap. My muscles were feeling fine, so what on earth was going on?! 

I had a meeting with coach Phil last night and we looked through the past couple of weeks, looking for a trend. Even though I had a good block of recovery that first week back, I started training feeling as though I had just stepped off the plane. As the training picked up, so did the fatigue. But, when I was out on the bike, running or in the pool, I was still putting out good sessions so there weren't any alarm bells going off. I was sleeping as much as I could in between sessions, but still not feeling quite right. We did lactate and VO2 testing on the bike and run this week, getting the HR up to max. The bike test went well and we got a lot of useful data, but the run was not so smooth. My HR was up high during the warm-up jog and all I wanted to do was step-off and sleep! Not exactly good timing for a nap..... I got through the test but I don't think my top speed and HR are truly indicative of my fitness right now. We were on the bike the following day for some sprints, 1-minuters and TT efforts. The sleepy feeling was there but I was still putting out some good numbers, so still not seeing any real reason to take a rest. Yesterday was a best average set in the pool. I didn't feel too sparky and felt quite a high HR, but still swam well. 2 hour nap after swimming, followed by some serious pep-talking to get me out the door for the ride. I got through it but was ready for bed, feeling achy and nauseous at 4pm. This prompted the chat with Philippe...

To sum this up, I don't think I gave the travel-racing-sickness combo the respect (i.e. recovery) it deserved. I am taking today as a full-day off and I can already say that I feel better. Sometimes just removing the "stress" of having to train can make a world of difference. I don't like forced days-off, but I was beginning to see the beginnings of a downwards spiral so I know this was the right thing to do. I even had a small inkling to go for a jog this morning...that's a good sign....but I resisted!! Tomorrow it's on!