Swings & Roundabouts

am: Easy 40mins
pm: Accelerating Lap of the Lake [5.56mi] (6.38, 5.56, 5.55, 6.00, 5.32, 3.10)
13.5mi

I slept ok last night and was wide awake at 0800. After yesterday's possible depletion I had a bowl of cornflakes and a strong cup of coffee to kick me off. We went to Pyrenees 2000 and tried a different route. This was a weird run. I felt a little tired but nothing major; this was only for the first 10 mins. We then started running through a boggy trail that was awkward underfoot. Bizarrely, beams of light were coming through the trees and making me feel dizzy. It was really frustrating me up that I kept stumbling and having hit my knee on a log I stopped and just walked to the car park for a few minutes, cursing the ground. I then decided just to run up and down the flat road and trail. I was ok, still not 100% more towards normal. Back at the car the lads were concerned that there may be something wrong, considering my nose bleed and previous dizzy spells. I genuinely wasn’t too worried – I’d discussed things in depth with Phil last night - although I’d be lying if I said this reaction to beams of light wasn’t unsettling as it isn't something I've suffered from before. Reluctantly, I booked in to see the GP as soon as I got back. I had a big bowl of porridge, an orange juice and a cup of tea ad felt fine. The Doc did all his checks and asked me plenty of questions. I told him about dizziness, nose bleed etc. He came to the conclusion that really there is not a lot wrong with me! He thinks that the combination of early dinner, no breakfast and food being locked in Jonny’s car has depleted my glycogen stores – this was what I had said to my Dad last night. He just said to smash the carbohydrates today, especially in the 30 mins post-exercise. He doesn’t see a problem with running this evening but said to make sure I run easy if I don’t feel great. In short, it is fantastic to have a Doctor on site, especially one that gives you a license to eat! I read Charlie's book for a bit then popped down to Super-U to buy stuff for Vince's leaving BBQ this evening. I finally remembered to buy a big mug as the cups in the apartment are tiny! I dropped on a huge tuna-mayo baguette (Dr's orders) and washed it down with yoghurt, fruit and a Jonny Mellor-made cup of tea. The latter took a good while to polish off as my new mug is more like a soup bowl. I quickly got changed and headed to the decking for a flush-out massage. My legs felt really good except for my quads - I think I can put that down to yesterday's gym session. Duncan commented that my legs seemed in much better shape than Tuesday so that has got to be good news. I was much sprightlier this afternoon after hitting the carbs hard and headed into the evening run spirits lifted. For the past 2 weeks I have been drinking coffee for the caffeine and hating it. To get my fix this afternoon I gambled on adding sugar and suddenly I enjoyed it! At reception I was almost took the cautious approach which was drills with George at the track, including a little warm up and warm down - boy am I glad I decided to go to the lake. The human body is an amazing thing. From the first strike of my forefoot this afternoon I felt like a different person. My legs were fresh; I was happy and most important for me there was some bounce to my stride. We started off the quickest we have on any run this trip and it felt encouragingly easy. I decided to just run with the boys but make sure I stayed below anaerobic threshold; especially up the hills in the 4th mile. The pace picked up gradually and quite unbelievably I had gone from feeling the worst I have done on the trip to the best in only a matter of hours. I felt like I could run all day but didn't want to overcook it so just did 1 lap, an easy 2.5mi and some strides. I found myself thinking, how much of this change is psychological and how much is physical? Did the fact Dr Rogers told me I was fine somehow kick me out of a slump or was it all that bread and porridge I ate? All I know is that I felt great. I had a jam sandwich during the drive back in the Dr's car and thanked him for his input. I grilled him a little for a bit of info and as a brief summary: vitamin C is a waste of time and can actually be harmful, vitamin D is not, 'Go' & 'ReGo' are worthwhile, use common sense. I got back and cracked on with preparation for the big BBQ. It took an age and we ended up going to bed at close to 1am but it was a great evening. I had a lot to eat to make sure I kept the glycogen stores topped up but stayed away from the death. Everyone mixed well and there was a very competitive food fight to end the night on a high. At midnight I was really tired and looking forward to the first lie in of the camp.