Humbly not knowing

My blog may give the impression that I think I know it all about triatlon. In fact, I know frighteningly little about how my body works or how it responds to training.

Example: This week is my recovery week. At the end of last week, I was feeling fresh and ready to go, despite having just completed a half-marathon and century ride within two days of eachother. This week, I have felt tired, slow, crappy, and winded even during slow, short workouts. Last night, I went out for a recovery week 6 mile run (in place of my usually 2 hour long run). I was struggling to hold a 10:00/mile pace, when last week I was plucking off 9:00 miles during a monsterous thunderstorm. This morning, I woke up, and I felt 100%. I got to the pool and felt like I could swim faster than I've ever swum before. This is within 12 hours of my struggle to run 6 miles.

Why is my body responding so weirdly? How could I change my training so that I always feel as fresh as I did at the pool this morning? Why did I feel better right after the half-marathon/century sandwich? I have no idea.