The Tin Man

Even though I've been resting up in taper mode, my legs have felt pretty rusty and stiff over the past week. I've felt more like a Tin Man than an Ironman, in need of an injection of WD-40 to loosen things up. My 40 minute run on Saturday was pretty terrible... I thought my legs would feel fresh and rested, chomping at the bit to get out for a run. In reality, it was a struggle to turn them over at all following an easy bike. Instead of all pistons firing, they were sputtering at best.

is this stuff on the banned substances list?

My Tin Man status was manifested again yesterday at a family gathering with my parents, my sister, and her husband. If you’ve been following the blog, this is the same guy from the “Ironmen Don’t Walk” post a few months ago. He doesn’t swim, bike, or run, but he’s extremely athletic, especially in what I’ll call an “NFL combine” type of way (40 yard dash, vertical leap, bench press reps, etc). Being around him makes it obvious that I’m not at the peak of my powers anymore. As is always the case, while engaging in a favorite activity of tossing the aerobie, he repeatedly flew up and down the field, sprinting and leaping like a wild antelope. I had no intentions of attempting such maneuvers, and almost tweaked a hammy at just the thought of it. After we recovered the inevitable errant throw that got stuck in a tree and decided to head in, we came upon a concrete ledge at the park. He asked if I thought I could stand flat-footed and jump onto it.... after sizing it up I said “yeah I probably could, but there’s a significant probability I’d pull something.” I then went on to describe to him how the thing that stands out the most from my mid 30’s to my mid 20’s is the concept of warming up and recovery. I can still sprint up and down a field at a pretty good clip, but it’s gonna take me some time to work up to it. I feel like I’d need to do a bunch of warm-up drills in the grass for a good 15 min or so before I’d attempt sprinting full speed for a frisbee. In terms of triathlon, I used to always completely rest the day before a race, and was baffled to see many training plans calling for a short swim and/or bike the day before. Now I totally get it, and I’ve incorporated that over the last couple years as a way to get the aforementioned pistons firing. I’m heading down to St. George Thursday morning, and will attempt to wake my legs up from their slumber with something short on Friday. Game time is quickly approaching!