Not a straight line…
Its freezing and I am well and truly over it. Ugh. I shall stop whinging at that but yep. Bring back some warmth! Winter is disgusting. Outside of that, here we are, blog time again!
So, this last week has been interesting. I have put together months of consistent, building training now since being under the guidance of Luca my coach. We started around 100k a week (roughly four months ago) and have steadily built week by week. The last three weeks I have done 220, 215 and 230km so we are getting up there. That being said, I haven’t had any drop back weeks or reduction in volume (my lowest in that period 100k) to adapt and let the body/mind recover. Not the way I would normally train but I am following the guidance diligently…until this week.
I had a knee niggle a couple of weeks back and that was rectified quickly. The last week however, I have had some building issue in my left hip. Now, this probably would have sorted itself out but I got tattooed (reducing healing to the hip), didn’t sleep well for about a week (due to getting tattooed, hot and cold with the weather and blankets!) , and all that combined, probably took away some healing power to the slowly escalating hip drama. On Monday it was bad. I had a massive day of training planned and I aborted due to it being very sore. Tuesday I did an hour…ok, yesterday two hours and it still lingering….what to do.
On top of the physical beatings building, my mental state late last week started to diminish a little. My excitement for training and getting out was a little flat and I just lacked a bit of kick. This is important to note as the mental game is everything. I need that to be in check or all else suffers. So, what to do? I didn’t want to let Luca down and I despise missing training sessions. But, something had to give.
My hip is sore but not terrible. However, looking at it in the mirror, it is VISIBLY swollen. Like two to three times the size of the other hip. That, trying to get my headspace back and along with the knowledge I have some massive weeks of training ahead (next week is scheduled to be 36hours!), I made the decision to have an easy week, let my hip settle, get some extra sleep and then punch on. I emailed Luca, came at peace with my decision quickly and here we are.
It is interesting. I don’t like taking it easy and not sticking to my program. However, training is not linear and things happen. If I am well and able, I WILL do my training. Sometimes though the smart thing to do is a short re-set and then rock and roll again when things are repaired. I know this is the right decision. I am very excited about the challenging weeks before me and the final run into the big RUN starting in just over two months. I will be ready and I will be running 100k a day for 50 consecutive days! This is just another step in the journey!
So, all else is good and tracking well! Life is exciting, the shops are good and many things are happening and I am doing my best in every area, its all I can do. I am picking up some great product sponsors and there are awesome things happening there but we are still a little short dollars wise if we don’t get a vehicle or fuel sponsored. My crew have been encouraging me, much to my not wanting to, to set up a Go Fund Me page for the event. So, after much hassling, I have done that. IF you feel led or know anyone who might want to, please feel free to throw a few bucks at the link below.
Thank you for the love and support guys! It means the world! I can’t wait to continue to share with you and keep building this hype as the event drawers closer. Much love, Consistency + Commitment. Chat again next week! Mat
https://gofund.me/e4eee2cb