Ironman 1, Alexa 0

I just finished up a big 4 week training block. Big for me at least! I finished it up with a 6 hour ride/30 min run yesterday and a 1 hr 45 min run today. All I can say is.. my legs are DEAD. Unfortunately I had to come into work at 11 pm Sunday night so I don't feel like my legs are getting adequate recovery at the moment. I am sitting at my desk and wearing my compression sleeves (I wear them every day at work) and my legs are just ACHING. I'm hoping I can sleep well when I get home. Then I have a 20 minute WALK to do after I wake up, which is very exciting and the start of my REST WEEK! Thank god for the rest week.

I could tell it was time for a recovery week. I just cannot get my heart rate down on any runs. Usually I have no problem running in my zone 2 but today (and mostly the past 2 weeks) I couldn't do it! I averaged 9 min pace on my long run today and my HR was tempo zone the entire time. Alternatively, I could not hit tempo on the bike on Saturday to save my life..

I have nothing inspirational or introspective to add. I am basically a zombie and have been like this since my run. I had to go to Park Ave Bike Shop to get a new tire (to replace the one that has a huge chunk missing from my flat last weekend) and I knew the girl that was working and she was talking to me and I was just staring blankly at her. I lost 5 lbs over the weekend and I am just exhausted. I am sunburnt, windburnt, chafed, sore, and just completely drained in every possible way. Only 6 more hours until I can go to bed. :(

I do have some plans for my rest week. My apartment looks like a tornado hit it (this is the norm) but it's even worse than normal. Clothes, mail, and empty Gatorade bottles are EVERYWHERE. So I am going to clean like I have never cleaned before. Nobody has been in my apartment (except me) in ~3 months until yesterday when I had to let my neighbor in and I almost died of embarassment. I also am going to get my Zipp wheels set up with my new tires. Perhaps I will even venture out of my tri-cave and see some people (or perhaps not; I am quite the hermit).

P.S. I'd like to add that as enjoyable work is on overnights (sense the sarcasm) it just got even better as the smell of skunk is somehow wafting into our lab.