As I look back at the first section of a season that started January first I see some holes that need filled in. I also see some positive changes that I’ve made. First off, I should be on the bike more. 2.5 hours a week is not enough. However, last season I didn’t bike that much either. My peak week was 125 miles, my secondary week was no more than 80. I think that will come together after I swim the Potomac. In By June I will be out more probably rolling 100 miles a week and will jump up to 150 quickly. Right now I am swimming 12-13 miles a week. After the Potomac I will drop this down to about 7 miles a week in 3 workouts. My running is getting better. I am by no means a good runner. It is my weakest link. The good news is that I seem to have injury under control as long as there is ample time to stretch with some “luxury icing” during each day. I spent a good portion of the pre-season doing some core work and strengthening all the assistance muscle groups and that seems to be working out. So all together I am happy where I’m at for now.
That being said…WTF?
I wake up Friday morning with a pain in my neck. No big deal, I know I’ve slacked a bit on upper body stretching lately so I figured I ca just stretch more. Saturday it was worse but, bearable. I went and ran the St. Malachi 5 miler. I actually held back on this race. I never do that, and in the end it backfired on me. I still went anaerobic in the last mile and blew it. 32:05 that day. I should be running in the 30’s. oh well. Anyway, Sunday morning, again a little sore but, bearable. I went and lifted for 45minutes and tore the shnot out of my new 10 medicine ball. I then biked an hour and ran 4 miles. Monday morning. Here it was. So much pain I had to cut my swim to 3400. I was planning on 6500. Today I wanted 7000, I laid there in bed in pain. I’m wondering what caused this. I’ll roll with it though. This changes my plans completely this week. I wanted to get a big week in before I left for vacation. Looks like I’m starting a little early. As one can see, I’m desperately looking for a positive spin on all this. Here’s a training lesson…ready…stick with the plan, just because I’m not swimming for a week doesn’t mean I have to pound the miles on my feet. Right? Lets see if I can hold that true. I can also write this with a smirk on my face, that’s because I just took a cocktail of prescription muscle relaxers and pain killers. So right now it doesn’t seem to bad.
That being said…WTF?
I wake up Friday morning with a pain in my neck. No big deal, I know I’ve slacked a bit on upper body stretching lately so I figured I ca just stretch more. Saturday it was worse but, bearable. I went and ran the St. Malachi 5 miler. I actually held back on this race. I never do that, and in the end it backfired on me. I still went anaerobic in the last mile and blew it. 32:05 that day. I should be running in the 30’s. oh well. Anyway, Sunday morning, again a little sore but, bearable. I went and lifted for 45minutes and tore the shnot out of my new 10 medicine ball. I then biked an hour and ran 4 miles. Monday morning. Here it was. So much pain I had to cut my swim to 3400. I was planning on 6500. Today I wanted 7000, I laid there in bed in pain. I’m wondering what caused this. I’ll roll with it though. This changes my plans completely this week. I wanted to get a big week in before I left for vacation. Looks like I’m starting a little early. As one can see, I’m desperately looking for a positive spin on all this. Here’s a training lesson…ready…stick with the plan, just because I’m not swimming for a week doesn’t mean I have to pound the miles on my feet. Right? Lets see if I can hold that true. I can also write this with a smirk on my face, that’s because I just took a cocktail of prescription muscle relaxers and pain killers. So right now it doesn’t seem to bad.
So get this….I had secretly planned on buying a tri bike this spring. I was shooting for a Specialized Transistion. I claimed 1 on my taxes knowing I have that little bit of savings. Well things changed, more important issues needed dealt with. I don’t want to be one of those 8% that 92% needs to bail out. And surprisingly, that was OK….but I still had the itch. I looked and looked and looked for a perfect deal. Finally something popped up, oddly though. I was on ebay and found this company in San Diego called Leader. They make aluminum frames out of Taiwan and sell them, lets say, cheap. I took a few minutes for due diligence and what did I find? Only positive glowing reviews. How can this be? The frame I’m looking at closely resemble the geometrical specs of a P2. So I give Leader a call. This dude’s chatting it up with me like we went to High school together. I told him that I’m strapped for cash. So this guy was like “Let me check our demo’s out and some of our team trade ins and get you a good deal” Service with a smile motha’ Sucka’! I know some will scoff at this. Some already have. However, some don’t have 3 kids and expensive tastes in microbrews. How does $500 sound? Like a tri bike to me... minus the zipps.
One last thing o here. A little rant. Why is it that athletes such as ourselves are persecuted on a regular basis? Whenever I’m in a meeting, someone (usually a chubby someone) must bring up that I run at lunch. Today, I went to the site doc to get a shot in my neck to get this pain under control. Nope, not allowed. He figured I would feel better then go running. Well, Duh! That’s why I want to shot. The comments are endless. I rarely talk about it at work but, I’m asked whenever I leave the office. No matter what happens around here it’s because I run. If I sneeze, I hear “All that running must be making you sick”. I f I come in early, “You must be planning a long run lunch” If I’m late for anything…Again, “You must have been out running”. Ok sure, Ironman training apparently eats up a lot of time. I could do the minimum but, why? Use what you got until it’s gone. Exploit the gifts God gives you. In the end I think I figured it out. Those people that criticize us, the ones who always have something sarcastic or borderline negative. Those are the people that wish they do it, the people who are to scared to try. An excuse…like “Running ruins your knee’s”, or “Your heart only beats so many times…” I heard sitting on the couch being a fat ass ruins your knee’s. Maybe I’m just jealous of them?
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