5.31.2006

In Therapy

...Physical Therapy that is.

I had my first PT session this afternoon. She poked, prodded and popped my back. At one point she wrapped me up and twisted me until my back made the most amazing sound I have ever heard. Ahhhhh. I left with a handful of exercises and some confidence that I'll be ready for BSLT.

The coolest thing (besides the most amazing back-pop ever) was the fact that my therapist, Ariel, competed in the CapTexTri this past weekend.

I have appointments pretty much every week until BSLT.

After PT, I headed over to LTF and put in 3500M in the pool. Very nice. I took a page from Steven's blog and swam 300 warm up, 6 x 500 steady with 15 seconds rest; 200 cool down. Great workout. I was beat afterward - a really good sign.

Ariel said I should wait until this weekend to start up running again. So, I'll be religous with my exercises in the meantime and start running on Saturday morning. Hopefully on Sunday I'll get in 3000M - 4000M at Barton Springs (wetsuit swim!) and a short run on the trails afterward.

I suppose I'll take my (pregnant) official sponsor out for taco's afterward. ;-)

WooT!

See ya out there...

As Promised...

Let's start with the fun stuff... CapTexTri!

I didn't get to compete in the race this past weekend. My sports doc said I'd be in for a rough time trying to recover in time for BSLT if I reinjured my back. BSLT is the "A" race this year so it made the decision easy. I also found somebody wanting to buy an unused registration, so I ended up getting away without loosing any dough. My official sponsor was pleased with that!

We met up at the race expo to square everything away. It also gave me an excuse to peruse the race expo. I also mad a quick stop at the ATC expo. Very cool.

I got up early on Sunday and made it downtown in time to see the second wave start. I stood on the bridge and watched as the swimmers made there way up town lake, under the bridge and back to the swim exit. It was very cool.

After about 20 minutes of watching the swim I made my way back up to first streetjust in time to catch a glimpse of Desiree Ficker. She blew by me doing about 30mph on her bike. Unbelievable. I never saw her again. Turns out she went on to win!

I crossed first street and walked back up to Congress. There were very few bikes on the course, so I decide to walk all the way to the Capital building to take some pictures. About half way up Congress I saw Andrea Fisher walking with her bike. She was talking to a race volunteer and had a big smile on her face. We exchanged smiles and I heard here say "It's OK, I was having a great time." Classy. I wanted to stop her and talk for a while but she looked like she was trying to make her way back to the transition area. As I kept walking north toward the capital, I was suddenly overcome with the presence Andrea had. She is pretty tall and VERY muscular. She has a $1M smile. Even though she was out of the race she was smiling. I was really impressed.

Check out the the pics here (Yes, Carrie, use 'em!):

Next year I. WILL. DO. THIS. RACE!

See ya out there...

The Return

Wow. It's been a while. Too much to post about now. It's amazing how much junk I let back into my life during my 2-week recovery. I'm getting all the cobwebs out and I'll be back to posting regularly soon.

I'm back to full swim and bike workouts (which is *very* nice). I have a PT session scheduled for this afternoon. If I get a good checkup, I'll hopefully get in some running miles by the end of the week.

I have a ton of stuff to post from the CapTexTri this past weekend. I'll do it tonight. I promise. Here's a preview:
  • DNS - Almost, I transferred the entry to another person who hadn't registered in time. No race for me.
  • Pictures - Lots of 'em
  • Congrats to Carrie and all the BT'ers on great finishes!
  • Props to Desiree Ficker on a big win.
  • Thoughts on gear breakdowns minutes after I saw Andrea Fisher drop out.

Swimming on the schedule after PT this afternoon.

See ya out there...

5.23.2006

Roid Rage

Quick update before bed:

Day one of the roids is over. 6 pills today, 5 tomorrow, etc. I feel MUCH better already. In fact, I spent some time tonight going over the plans for the CapTexTri. I really want to do this race.

I did another short ride tonight. I pushed a little harder on my muscles with no problems. 2 weeks of rest does wonders for training! Tomorrow I'm back in the pool.

See ya out there...

What's up doc?

I made a visit to a sports doc yesterday to have my back checked out. Came away with a PT appointment and a prescription for some steroids.

The PA I talked with said it probably would not be a good idea to race on Memorial Day. Arg!!! We'll see.

I did manage a 45-minute ride this weekend. It felt great!! No pain. I am going to take the first to two days of the 'roids easy, then start back up with regular swimming and cycling. I throw in running once I am pain free.

Work has me tied up like crazy. I'm really looking forward to a three day weekend.

See ya out there...

5.18.2006

Kryptonite

Remember in the Superman movie (c'mon you know you saw them) where Superman marries Lois and gives up his powers? He walks around like a real person and gets his butt kicked?

I'm starting to feel this way. I haven't donned the training gear for about a week and I've started the descent down the slippery slope into my regular joe life. Awake-Work-TV-Sleep-Repeat.

It. Sucks.

Yesterday I found some great articles for "treating" my self-diagnosed Piriformis Syndrome. It involved laying on a tennis ball for about 45 minutes every few hours. Well, raquet ball, because my dog has eaten all the tennis balls in the house. Well, actually, it started as a golf ball, but apparently I still have a rather padded rear end and it didn't work too well.

It has worked wonders. For the last week and a half I've spent the first 4 hours a day in mind numbing pain. Today, about 2 hours. A significant improvement. By 10 AM I was able to walk and sit without pain. A significant improvement.

I'm starting to take control of this. I'm planning to ease back into the exercise plan with a 30 minute swim and a ride this weekend. It may require a 2:30 AM wake up to allow for some stretching and kickin back with a raquet ball under my right butt cheek. But, I. WILL. TRAIN.

You heard it here first folks. Here's to ball sittin'. It's time to jump back in that ice chamber and reclaim the superpowers. Now where did I put that cape?

See ya out there...

5.17.2006

Sacre Bleu - Piriformis Syndrome

I did a little searching on the web last night and I think I have found a name for my pain - "piriformis syndrome". It's somehow related to the sciatic nerve. Great. The article says it can take weeks to months to recover. Great.

I found a couple good articles on home treatment. Anybody know anything about this stuff?

See ya out there (soon)...

5.15.2006

Withdrawal

5 days without bike shorts, running shoes and goggles. This is the longest I've gone without training since the end of the season last year. Being a triathlete feels like a beautiful dream I had last night and can't recall the details. I saw my running shoes in the closet this morning and looked at them oddly like a friend I hadn't seen in a while - happy memories struggled to register in my brain. They looked slightly familiar, but forgot their names. My sleeve got caught on my aerobars as I walked through the garage tonight. The bike misses me - I miss it.

My back is getting better day by day, but it is pretty slow. The morning pain is the worst.

Insult to injury: The weather here has been, well, nicer than what they get in heaven this time of year. I should be training - I want to be training. Instead, I spend about 90 minutes a day stretching. It seems to make some difference. Who knows if I'm doing it right or contributing to the problem. I've also been walking with the family every night - trying to keep as active as possible without wildly cursing at the ever present pain running up my leg and into my back. Ug.
Stress: The CapTexTri is less than 2 weeks away and is starting to become a question mark on the calendar. Big picture: I need to be fully recovered for BSLT in late June. Can I fully recover and race on Memorial Day? We'll see.

I read about something called athlete's depression. Turns out injured athletes all go through common symptoms during an injury or extended lack of vigorous exercise. The author seemed to think it was a chemical imbalance caused by the drop in regular endorphine levels in the body. Sort of a side effect of chemical dependency withdrawal. Apparently, it can lead to all kinds of things - illness (colds, aches and pains), acne, attention deficit, trouble sleeping, etc.

I most certainly don't feel like my old new self. Depressed - no. Stressed - yes. I'm not known for my patience. I think that is the source of my stress - impatience.

OK. Sorry for that Blogorehia.

The good side:
  1. I'm losing weight. 2lbs this week. How is that possible?
  2. I'm all caught up on chores. Ok - mostly caught up.
  3. I've seen TV shows that I had forgotten about.

See ya out there (soon)...

5.12.2006

Cheering Section + 1

For immediate release:

Baby on Board. Details to follow...

5.11.2006

Stupid Body

I have the will to do every single workout and more. How come my body won't keep up?

So, I have this silly shoulder thing which turned into a silly shoulder/back thing. It's one of those nagging, slight twinge everytime you walk kind of things. Just enough to really mess with my mood around 5 PM everyday. Actually, its more than just my back it's, well, actually my back and my butt. Can you strain your glute? It feels like a strained muscle that runs down my back over my butt and into the top of my right leg. I feel tired after just standing for 10-15 minutes. (Darn Starbucks line!)

I finally had enough and left out for a 2 hour brick last night about 7 PM. I thought: "I'll just run it out." The brick was fantastic thanks to a light cool front and a clear sky. I took it easy and turned in 17 miles on the bike and 7 miles of running. A good nights' work.

My back was a little sore afterward, so I got out the cold pack and iced it for a couple of hours. Woke up this morning ready to turn out 3500M in the pool and my back felt like crap. Crap! Swim cancelled.

OK. So, enough. I'm going to shut it all down and heal up these nagging injuries before they turn into season long problems. Hopefully all will be well for my long ride / run brick scheduled for Saturday morning. Hopefully. I need to complete this session.

I need help from you Tri gods out there. Any good stretches or thoughts on how to deal with a strained muscle in your back/butt? Ice or Heat? Any magical potions that will get me back in my running shoes / on the bike / in the pool faster?

===

Just wanted to give a shout out to my official sponsor M. She's one beautiful lady and the greatest wife. She's been really supportive lately with my heavy training schedule and whining about my strained muscles. Also, she and I will be giving a short press conference (read: blog post) on Friday afternoon to announce something special. Stay tuned.

===

In other news, the house hunt has begun. M and I have been scouting out several neighborhood on the north side of Austin as potential places to move. We've just about outgrown our house. Let's face it we have too much crap and not enough house. We have some planning to do in the short term, but my guess is that we'll be in full house hunting mode in the next few weeks. More to come.

So, there's the update. Hasta.

See ya out there...

5.05.2006

Off Day

So, it's an off day. And, it's Cinco de Mayo. I think that's spanish for "Eat 5 times too much Mexican food", which we gladly did.

Ok, so I figured on my off days I should try to round out the sharp triathlon edge of this blog and post about something that is *GASP* not triathlon training related.

*Sigh*

Somehow, I found my way to E! tonight. I watched The Soup and the Chelsea Handler Show. Both hysterically funny. I'm not much of a TV watcher anymore. Thanks to the DVR, I rarely watch a show "live"anymore. Most of the time I turn on a recorded show for background noise while I'm logging a workout or catching up on reading in the blogosphere.

In related Entertainment news...

The Da Vinci Code movie is due out in the next few weeks. I absolutely loved this story. I hope the movie is as entertaining.

And on a Da Vinci note...

Some bike porn:


A biking buddy rode one of these Da Vinci tandems on the Red Poppy ride last weekend. It was really cool. Most tandem bikes have a setup where both riders have to pedal the exact same speed (I forget what that's called, anyway...) - not so on this bike. There is some serious engineering going on that allows each ride to pedal independently. Very cool. And check out the emblem:
Notice the joints on the frame? Turns out the whole bike comes apart and fits into a suitcase. He's planning to take it on a cycling trip to Europe this summer. How cool is that?

Anyway, back to it tomorrow.

See ya out there...

5.04.2006

The Long Way

I had a race with Mother Nature tonight. You see, it's May and she's all about cooking up storms during prime training hours. She seems to have figured out that if she starts rolling the storms in from far West Texas they are good and cooked by the time they arrive here.

I left out for a 1h:45m mile run about 7 PM. I watched the sun set across the "lake" at Brushy Creek Park. By the time I cleared the park I saw it - a quick flash in the corner of my eye. Either my papparazi were at it again or the storms were arriving. I was at least 5 miles from home. A long, hilly 5 miles.

How the heck did those come up so quickly? Whatever. Let's throw down Mama Nature. Bring it.

First there was wind. No Problem. The lightning started to get closer. Thunder. Sprinkles. 4 miles out. More Thunder. Flash. Flash. 3 miles out. Flash. Thunder.

Will I make it before she gets really pissed?

2 miles out. No problem. I got this. FLASH. The street lights went out. No. It wasn't a power outage - the bright flash caused the lights to automatically turn off. Ok. This is starting to get nuts.

Still no strikes on the ground. I'm close enough to book it to the house now if I need to.

The watch says I still have 20 minutes of running to go.

I can do this. Flash. I made the turn for the long loop around the neighborhood that would give me 2 more miles and result in 10 miles for the evening.

1 mile left. Constant lightning now.

Beep! 1h:45m.

Till next time Mama Nature. 20 minutes later the skies opened and it poured.

See ya out there...

In the thick of it

25 minutes into my 1h:25m run Tuesday night I checked in with the HRM. 131. 131?!?! Holy Smokes! How the heck did my heart rate get so low? My goal was to keep it at 140 and below 145 the entire time. I haven't run in the "slow" gear for a long while -- since the 1/2 marathon training during the winter. Turns out my slow gear is getting much easier. But, I guess that's what is supposed to be happening. According to everything I read, long slow running should result in a lower heart rate. It is working.

It's strange how I can train everyday and be surprised by improvement. I mean, I'm out here 6 days a week - I should be seeing improvement. I'm measuring progress and seeing improvement. But, for whatever reason Tuesday night really caught me off guard. My macho manliness immediately thought "Pick up the pace, Nancy". After training in the 150s - 160s for a few months I've had to make an effort to remind myself : "The Half isn't going to be about speed. It's about lasting the distance."

Last the distance.

It would have been easy (and fun) to blow out the last 4 miles. Instead, I focused on form and hitting a stride that I could hold forever.

===

I'm starting to feel the effects of the increased training volume. I can't seem to eat or sleep enough. It would be so great if my work would enact a mandatory nap time around 2:30 every afternoon. T has one of those at his school. What gives? Oh yeah, and snack time. I'd love a plate of grapes and crackers around 10:30ish. Yeah. That'd be great.

Another side effect: Guilt. Yeah, guilt. I can't seem to escape it. I mean, if I miss a workout I feel guilty and if I spend 4 hours out riding I feel guilty for being away from home for so long.

**SIGH**

It feels like the countdown to Christmas. BSLT is now visible on my calendar and training schedule. I spend at least 20 minutes a day obsessing over the number of training sessions left. Do I have enough long workouts? Will I be recovered enough for the CapTexTri? How many more runs can I get in before it is a hundred billion-gillion degrees outside and my shoes melt? Will Santa bring me those new tri-shorts?

Ok. How's that for a nice rambling post? Enjoy and...

See ya out there...

5.02.2006

April Recap & Pool Time

My workouts are coming so fast and furious. Last week I logged my longest training week ever. 11h:44m!! A drop in the bucket for you Ironman trainers out there, but this is a real milestone for me. This week is a bit of a recovery week. I found a 2 hour error on my training schedule that should have been on the schedule for next week. So, I'm down to a 8.5 hour week this week.

April turned out to be a really good month, considering I lost nearly a week to a pulled muscle in my back:

Bike: 18h 3m 45s (including trainer time) - 260.1 Mi (not including trainer time)
Run: 12h 25m 12s - 71.28 Mi
Swim: 7h 34m 07s - 26,460.59 Yd

The neighborhood pool reopened and I've managed to log two good Swim-to-Bike bricks recently. Pretty cool stuff. BTW -- Does anyone else feel like they just finished a keg stand during the T1 transition?? On Sunday I thought I was going to fall right over on my wet butt. Which would have been quite embarrassing considering I was the only person at the pool besides the 19 year-old lifeguard.

At the end of last summer I was pretty upset with all the neighborhood pool. It was so hard to get in a good workout without running into little kiddees or sharing the swim lane. Of course, last summer 20-minutes was a long swim session. It's been quiet so far this season. We'll see how long it holds. One thing's for sure, this pool is much more convenient. I can save nearly an hour by going to this pool over the one at LTF. This mostly means I get more sleep. On the downside, the shallow end is only 3 feet. Flip turns are a bit scary for me in 3 feet of water. I can just see the headlines : "Triathlete dies in freakish flip turn accident while lifeguard 'texts' her boyfriend.' Sheesh.

Anyway. It feels great to be swimming outdoors again. I'm starting to develop crazy tan lines. My arms, shoulders, neck and face are all golden brown. My hands, back and chest are all white-bread. Maybe some outdoor swim sessions will help fix that. Otherwise, I'll be the talk of the beach this summer.

Here's to kick ass tan lines.

See ya out there...