Brown Coyote

Guess who is hurt again? You got it, it's me. I'm so sick of dealing with these pains. Just when I feel like my fitness level is back up, I wake up and can't walk with out looking like Fred Samford (Lizabeth it's the big one.) Today the pain level in my hip reached a all time high, I would say a 9 out of 10. I would like to think because of my past i'm pretty familiar with pain - I mean I did have my achilles cut in half. I have never heard of anyone have as many hip problems or any hip problems anywhere close to my age - even Bo Jackson was in his 30's (i think.) So i've been told not to run or ride the bike for the next few days, and when I do run Saturday to go short and slow ... uh, I only have one speed and that is slow so I already have half of that j/k i've recently added another speed thats more of a "faster slow". If only all my runs felt like the first 3 miles of my Tuesday night run. I'm convinced I was under 9 minute miles and I felt pretty good until my knee quit on me. I actually felt like a runner, it was completely surreal .... then reality hit me with the punch line. I was back to struggling. My right knee needs to get it's shit together, I think it is truly the real thing holding me back.

So since I can't exercise right now, i'm going to spend my time playing the guitar, and facebook, and eating, and reading, and being super bored - I've been told i'm a Jack of all trades, master of none. I hope my legs loosen up soon and things get back to normal because honestly I can't handle sitting around doing nothing. I did get to hang out with one of my best friends seeing a B.O.B. concert (this guy is a pretty good performer). Hopefully tomorrow i'm ready to run "short" without it ending with me being Redd Fox again.

Can montages have hiccups?

So i've been on the shelf since my Tuesday night run. Putting a small hiccup in my montage. Running in the cold and getting rained on, I guess was just a little too much for me. It never fails that when my body wants to quit it starts in the right knee and ends in the left hip. While the knee pain is usually gone in a day or two it usually takes about a week for the hip to be pain free. So from Wednesday to Saturday i've been slacking (I intended on running Saturday but life outside exercising caught up with me.) So I will just think of last week as my "recovery week" and continue pushing on to the ING half marathon. Last week my training looked liked this

• Monday - Swim 2200m (very tough swim)
• Tuesday - TNR 6 painful miles
  
• Sunday - Base ride 23ish miles @ Stone Mountain

Notice there are no midday work outs, early morning swims etc etc... I promise to make this week better (it's depressing looking at that list.) Last week I had more sodas than days I worked out, and that's sad. With better work outs comes a better attitude so everyone wins.

So in my last post I talked about being moved into a higher swim lane and my friend over @ penatpeace commented on her struggles of making it to the pool. Well Pen here is a special call out just for you. Last year I remember you were a far better swimmer than I was (and runner but there isn't a chance in hell of me beating/keeping up/seeing you longer than 30 secs in running) gliding through the water with ease, well don't let me beat you out of the water at Wisconsin. Maybe there should be a friendly wager?

Last night while out celebrating a fellow triathlete's birthday, I had a small conversation about the mental side of triathlon. It's no question i'm much much stronger mentally this year than last, though still very weak. While talking to BR, who is a amazing runner and insanely competitive, it was brought up how I need to find "my thing" I can channel to get me in "my zone". I truly believe that being able to tunnel their vision is what makes great athlete's great. The only thing that matters, is the end. I usually trip myself up with thoughts of pains and any and everything else way before the end of any race. Before the endurance sports, I usually only needed to focus 8 to 10 seconds at a time. Making the switch from fast-twitch to slowtwitch the mental is definitely one of the toughest parts. I think i'm where I should be for this being my second year of doing any kind of races. Al'ls well that ends well. Now i'm just typing incoherent thoughts and blah blah blah so I probably should end this.

Little Fish in the Big Pond

Yesterday I was shown the affirmation that I can actually swim and moved to a higher lane. Once in that higher I was then shown that I can't really swim but i'm close. It's crazy, last year when I started triathlon (and organized swimming) I was in the second to last lane. The only people below me were the people who were learning how to swim, and now i'm in the second to highest lane. Granted i'm the weakest in my new lane, i'm still there (sounds like Celie from The Color Purple.) This really makes me excited because I know it's only going to make me better, and shows i've been doing the right things. Since, my hiatus from blogging i've actually started swimming on Wednesday mornings with a clubmate, yes I wake up before work and go swimming and on Friday afternoons. I usually don't realize that it's 6:30 in the morning and i'm in a pool on Wednesdays til about 100m in. Straight cruise control. My clubmate and I sorta have a deal that if one of us doesn't come we get to talk trash about them in internet world. It's got me out of bed the last three weeks ... whatever works. Shout out to TL for sharing what he's learned in his swim lessons, his pointers have definitely helped my swim stroke.

In other news it's actually snowing in Atl... again. Stopped me from going to my lunch workout today. I think i'm going to regret that later, but I will worry about that bridge when I get to it. The weather in Georgia has been like a bad Roller Coaster (space mountain with the lights on), snowing today 60 on Saturday. I'm getting rather tired of this ride, the General said spring was coming. It has to be right around the corner.

Tonight i'm thinking of braving the elements and running in the snow/rain at least for 3 or 4 miles. I can't really afford to get sick right now with ING so close but I also need the miles. It will be a game time decision.

1/01/10

I'm back. Well the last couple of weeks have been pretty good for me. I have said since new years this would be a great year and so far so good. I mean, I haven't been able to blog about it but if not having the internet is your biggest problem, things are pretty good. In terms of training I have been slowly building my workout volume and focusing on the fundamentals especially in running and swimming. In swimming the results have been great, in running .... well it's still a work in progress but I'm headed in the right direction.

My last week went something like this

• Monday - 1500m swim followed by a upper body circuit
• Tuesday - Pilates on lunch. 7.2 mile run in 1:07 that evening (run felt great)
• Wednesday - 1200m swim before work. Lower body weights on Lunch. 500m swim and a hour spin class
• Thursday - Pilates on lunch. 3.1 on the Treddy after work
• Friday - 2000m endurance swim (first endurance swim of the year for me)
• Saturday - 10 mile run in 1:38
• Sunday - 20 mile bike

Since last week I have been having some ITB issues. Hopefully with more biking and cross training my recovery time between runs will speed up. We are a couple of weeks out from ING Atlanta and I would like to break 2 hours in my first half marathon. I don't think thats too outrageous of a goal especially if I can get the pain worked out. A positive attitude will take farther than healthy legs i'm convinced. Let's go March! (the month not a rally)

this is sorta like calling someone and asking them to hold on

I'm alive people. Just been without internet the last couple of weeks. Hopefully that will change soon and I will be able to update things. Hope all is well for everyone.

30 weeks til the showdown ...

Well I have been a bit missing in action due to lack of internet at home. In the last week things have been pretty good. Last Sunday I ran the Red Top Rumble 11.5 trail race. I really enjoyed this race. Coming off a ten day rest my body responded really well to jumping back into it at 11 very hilly miles, well besides the swollen left side of my face. It's probably a good thing I didn't notice the swelling myself before the race - alls well that ends well. I registered for this race in October before I hurt my hip so it kinda just sneaked up on me. My time was 2:07 but that included a few minutes of me stopping at some cabin and waiting to use the restroom-eventually I gave up on waiting and just went around back and watered the grass. If after September I ever want to run again, I will probably do this race again. The biggest part of the day was my father's Saints winning the Super Bowl (the God's accepted my offering.) The people who raced got together that night and enjoyed the game and a roast wrapped in bacon, this thing rivaled my Jeff Ruby's (best steak I have ever had) experience.

I went to the Cardiologist Monday (funny this follows a bacon wrapped roast) and he didn't seem too concern with the findings of the ER doc from a couple weeks ago. He says my EKG is abnormal but it's nothing to be concerned about it, it's just the way my heart operates. We scheduled a followup in six months to monitor the thickness issue, but he didn't seem to concern about anything. So that's nice to not have to worry about.

Club swim workouts have started back up which is really cool for me. I do better with structure so it's nice to not have to go to the pool and make my own workouts, or to not have to worry about going to the pool and sitting on the wall and thinking about swimming (it's seriously happens.) The new swim coaches have really been stressing technique and the basics which I really like. It's almost like i'm just learning to swim. Last year my swim stroke was extremely inefficient. Last week we ended the workout with a 100m (actually 114m) swim time trial and I was first out of my lane. It was really encouraging because there were some really good athletes in my lane. In the coming week there is talk of meeting up before work to swim. I hope this happens, having someone waiting on me at the pool may be the incentive I need to actually get out of bed.

After snowing 2-4 inches Friday in Georgia, Saturday was a beautiful day. I went out for a run and actually had to take off clothes. The temps were in the 40's and there were only a few icy spots that had to be avoided. This was my first run not on a treadmill since last weekend's race and my legs threw a hissy fit just about the entire time. My achilles in both legs were (and still are) on fire. I'm not really sure what I can do to fix this but I do have a appointment today with Dr. Nik. Hopefully he knows something that will provide some relief.

Here's a recap of what I did last week

• Sunday- Red Top Rumble (11.5miles)
• Monday- Swim (1650 m)
• Tuesday- Pilates, Treadmill (3.2miles)
• Wednesday- Swim (1600m) Spin class (hour)
• Saturday - Hour and a half trainer ride
• Sunday- Stone Mountain run (12.5 miles)
  

If you're sick and you know it clap your hands

I don't feel well and I really want to do some kind exercise and making myself not do something is rediculously hard. I haven't gone to any classes on lunch because I sound like Tone Loc's bastard child. I looked online and it said swimming while congested is good so I did do that Monday. It sucked and I was freezing the entire time in the water.

Tuesday I woke up feeling like complete crap. I couldn't get up, my body was completely beat - either somebody kicked my ass in my sleep or a break was really needed. I finally made it to work around 12 and started to feel a little better. I went to Dr. Nik and he exclaimed he's been suffering from the same thing I have. The evil post nasal drip that has developed into a monster. Makes me believe he gave it to me but no pointing fingers. Not running Tuesday was super hard, in fact I had to leave my running clothes at home so I wouldn't do it. Turns out I wish I would have brought them so I could have went to Bikram, but it didn't happen. I did go and hang out with the group for dinner. That is by far my favorite part of the Tuesday Night Run, I don't know if I should let myself experience the dinner without the run could be a dangerous precedent. Not really, i'm dying for the warm weather to get here and the outside training to pick up. The doctor showed me some exercises I can do at the gym, but to be honest I want to be outside without layers not coop up in the gym. I'm ready to unhook the bike from the Trainer.

Wednesday I tried to go to a spin class and I thought I was going to die. I should have just quit like somebody with the initials BR, but I pushed through. I'm 100% team JR this year :-) I hope General Beauregard Lee (Georgia's ground hog) was correct and spring is on the way because i'm ready. Well not quite but this sickness can't stick around for too much longer. Wisconsin, you ready?