We just finished an intensity week, but I feel unusually fresh. It’s not an easy thing to have a new coach every year because that means a new and different training plan. Luckily, our coaches are constantly in contact, sharing ideas so that most of us are on a similar schedule. Unfortunately, so far this year I feel that the training hasn’t quite been adequate. I made a request in the spring to be allowed more recovery and more responsiveness to the way my body was feeling because I felt like I struggled with fatigue through much of the early 08/09 season. But after “surviving” last year’s training, I’m beginning to realize that I’m a lot tougher now than I thought I would be. And since I’m not attending school this summer and don’t have to juggle training with classes and homework, I notice the difference even more.
While I at first view at the more relaxed plan with a feeling of relief and gratitude, I approach the end of the week feeling as though I’ve cheated myself, like I’m not pushing myself as hard (without overdoing it) as I could be. There’s a line that I want to avoid crossing, on one side of which looms chronic fatigue but on the other, average performance and only small steps forward. But I don’t want to allow myself to be stuck on the latter either. Now, I’m working with my coach and reviewing last year’s plan to find a happy medium where I can progress as much as I would like without taxing my season.