The Plateau

flat in training on flat ground

Last Thursday I had a little bit of a breakdown after my easy 5 mile run.  I had slept through my morning workout and had intended to swim AND run in the afternoon instead.  But, storms rolled through (as is typical in Miami during the summer) and I was only able to get in a short run.  Since I was forced to take completely off on Wednesday due to a day in court for work, I needed to do much more than a 5 mile run on Thursday.  But, I didn't do it and I felt horribly guilty about it.

After my run I came home angry.  "At this rate, I'm not going to finish the IM" I told my Boyfriend.  I feel like I haven't been running as much as I need and I haven't been able to do any hill workouts on the bike.  Yes, I understand that work gets in the way sometimes and that one or two missed workouts isn't the end of the world.  Ultimately, though, I broke down because I feel like I've gone backwards from where I was physically a month ago.  I'm not waking up early enough.  I'm not going out hard enough.  I'm not logging enough hours.  

"You're not going backwards" my boyfriend responded as he tried to console me, "you're just plateauing."  

And, after much reflection, I'm trying to convince myself that he's right. Perhaps I'm not feeling myself get any stronger because I'm already as strong as I need to be to increase my training without feeling the effort.  

This past Saturday I went out on an easy 80 mile bike ride by myself.  No drafting.  No chit chat with somebody else to distract me.  Just me, my bike, and 5 hours of pure inner reflection. When I got home I was tired...but not too tired.  A month ago I would have been completely wiped after a 60 mile bike with some drafting.  Now, I biked 20 miles more than that and, although slightly crampy, I didn't feel like I had given that bike 'my all.'  Eighty miles later and I was feeling guilty for some reason.  

Clearly I'm not going backwards because I'm biking farther than I ever thought I could.  I'm swimming more yards than I ever have since college.  I'm running more consistently without having severe shin pain.  So why do I still feel like I'm so weak?  It's because my Boyfriend is right, I think.  I'm plateauing in my training to the point where even long workouts don't seem 'hard' anymore.  

I'm not sure whether or not this is a good thing. I'm trying to think back to my years of college swimming to try and remember if I ever felt so stagnant strength-wise in the pool. And, I think that I did.  I remember that every year after winter training trip, my times would get slower and my body would feel more sluggish in the water.  After so much training, it only makes sense that my body would start to break down as workouts no longer seemed challenging.

It's hard to not get down on myself mentally though.  It's hard to shake that feeling of sliding backwards.  But,  I need to remember that feeling comfortable now is a good thing.  My workouts are getting longer and harder.  But, they don't feel that way because the base training is in the bank and my body is now rising to meet new physical challenges with ease.  I've done the work, my body is strong, and workouts are feeling easy for a reason.  

I've plateaued.  And, I'm pretty sure I need to be okay with that.  What do you think?