This past weekend I had a few setbacks that I haven't had to deal with in awhile. On Friday I got all set to start my workout and felt great after 10 minutes on the Vasa trainer to warm up. As I got on my bike fora set of 3x15 minute intervals at threshold I couldnt have been in a better state of mind. I felt great mentally and was ready to crush my workout. That was until about 10 minutes in when the power just evaporated from my legs. As you can see from the training peaks graphic below I tried to push through it numerous times before calling it a day. I gave it a few minutes, but once I tried and failed and holding 160 watts which is my rest interval, I knew it was time to call it a day. I had a 5 mile run planned which I also scrapped knowing that my body was telling me it needed a rest.     I have been hitting it pretty hard since September 30th and while I haven't taken a full day off, I have had a few days with lighter workouts so I wasn't exactly surprised that my body told me "NO MAS" but it can be mentally challenging if you aren't prepared for it. I knew I had a hard effort coming up on Sunday because I was racing a 10k so I was hoping I would be back in proper form by then. Saturday Morning I headed out for my usual bike ride and while it was a bit cold (32F) I was comfortable and seemed to have gotten my Mojo back. I started the day with my usual 20 minute climb and I was feeling like I was going to be able to ride forever. I had what felt like fresh legs and was looking forward to a nice comfortable 3 hour ride. The thoughts of my legs and their failure to work just less than 24 hours ago had completely vanished. Then all of the sudden out of nowhere I was rounding a corner and I heard pfftsss....boom..BANG and lost complete control of my bike. As I slid to the side I was fortunate to be able to un clip and come to a complete stop unharmed. I've gotten flat tires before but normally you hit something and you can identify where and what it was, there was nothing in the vicinity and for the first time in my life I had an un ride able tire and had to call for a ride home. [caption id="attachment_3638" align="alignnone" width="612"] Abrupt end to my training day![/caption] I was immediately deflated and after waiting for a ride I was unsure if I was going to be getting back on the bike or just calling it a day. This was the second day in a row I was getting handed a setback and I was getting frustrated. I decided that I would finish up my workout although shortened in my basement on the Computrainer. I grabbed my copy of Triathlon Through the Eyes of the Elite and set my erg to 220 watts and just started to ride. The story line kept me motivated and entertained as I did a steady state ride. It was fun watching some of the older veterans chase the Olympic dream and hear about the ups and downs that they experienced on their journeys. Once they entertainment was over I called it a day. After two days of disappointment I was ready to put it all behind me race a tough 10k. I had only broken 40 minutes once on this course which was still 2 minutes off my Personal best of 38:16. I had gone in hoping to break 38 minutes as it is a difficult course and definitely not one where you set your personal bests on. However at the end of the day I not only broke my 10k Personal best, I also laid down a new 5k PR of 17:30! So in the end it worked out, I had a few days of forced rest due to setbacks and I came out guns blazing the next day! Dont let those bad days get you down, because the peaks that come after the valleys make it all worth it! Garmin Data