Back in the saddle

Rode the trainer for an hour today, cadence 90 average, Ave HR 117, ave speed 15mph. No shaking in the foot, no real effort. A good day!

Spinning my wheels, selling bikes, AWAD

After spin yesterday, I wanted to throw my bike away. My leg wouldnt stop shaking when we were doing out of the saddle stuff and my knees kept hitting my gut reminding me of two things: I eat too many cookies and my aero position is far too extreme. I know I need to get a new fit done but my money is better spent elsewhere. not that the fit will cost money but the parts needed to bring me to a better position will not be free. Or will they....... ?

I have not been motivated lately to ride or run or especially swim. Technically, the six month program I wanted to follow for IMC starts tomorrow, Monday, so Im not really behind. Stacey wants me to try yoga and/or pilates but I am thinking that hour would be better spent on the bike or stretching on my own. Then again, I might really benefit from it and get rid of this pain in my hip. I think I have a good base, even though the last two weeks have been slow for me, so maybe decreasing my riding/running, and increasing my stretching/yoga thing might be a benefit for me overall. YEAH, thats it!!!!

I put my Bianchi up for sale last week. No calls on it yet but then again my phone has been disconnected for a few days. No emails either and that seems to be working fine. If I dont sell it soon, I will sell my Zipp wheels to my buddy Mark. I can always get new wheels through the store or even borrow a set for IMC.

Got my impairment rating done a couple of weeks ago. I was rated at a loss of exactly 15%. He said he might go as high as 18% but I was solid at 15%. That means technically, I can compete in the AWAD category in triathlon. I would love to go to world's in Vancouver in June but it would cost a bundle and I have the opportunity to go to Utah for soccer and make money instead of spending it. I could also be in Philly for a bike race and make money there too.

Some of my team mates are going to Boise for the 70.3 race there. I would love to go to that as well but again, money makes the world go round and currently, my world is at a standstill.

So, there are my rants, raves, blathering for the week. TTFN
DS

gettin started on the plan

IMC is just shy of six months away so I dug out my old IMF training plan from 2006. It brings back some great painful memoriesI think I am going to be able to run some of the marathon this year, not sure how much but thats my plan. Then again, lots of things are in my plans but dont always turn out the way they should but for now, Im optimistic. So far, today is a day off but I will likely take the dogs for a long walk if the weather holds out. No running, just a good walk to shake the cobwebs off the dogs or at least off Sadie's fat butt.

Back to Saturday group and riding alone

Yesterday, for the first time in months, I got up for the Saturday AM group swim. Im always up at 5am anyway, might as well get used to swimming again at that time in preparation for Ironman training. We usually get between 2000-2500m in 45minutes. I swam with my Tuesday/Thursday swim buddy, Jeff, and I think I damn near killed him. On the last few laps, he was way back. On Tues/thurs, we swim at his pace, around 1:50-1:55/100m. I usually pick it up when I take my turn at the front, to about 1:45 or so. Im thinking that next Tuesday, Im going to push him a lot. I need the training and he is very capable of keeping that pace, he just needs to warm up first. Not bad for a guy more than 10 years my senior. Then again, there are lots of guys in their 50's that can kick my ass all over the pool.
Right after the swim, I got dressed for an outdoor bike ride. Something a lot of folks in my swim group dont want to do unless it is 65+ F outside. I tried to convince a few people to go but there were plenty of excuses and no takers. I left about 750am on my rain bike, fully fendered, and was immediatly glad I put my extra jacket on. My head was chilly from having my new "aero" hair cut, but overall, I was toasty. Note to self, need new booties, my old ones are plumb worn out. I was having a great ride, testing myself on all the hills, some short ones, some long ones. I even did a 3.5 mile offroad ride on the same trail I run on. It started raining right about the time I was looking at going back to the club but I decided to try and stay out for longer. It only rained for 15 minutes but that was a long time as I got colder and my legs felt really tight. I put it in an easier gear and began trying to spin at 90+rpm to keep my legs from totally siezing up. I took it easy for the last 15 minutes except I chose to go back a shorter way, and took a very steep hill, probably 10% grade, back to the club. I ended up with 2:10 for time, unsure about the mileage as my rain bike doesnt have a computer, but my HR Average was 139. I didnt do any specific workout today, just wanted to get some saddle time outside. I want to really thank the inventor of Chamois Butt'R, its a Godsend.

too long between postings

Now that my triathlon calender is officially on, its time to start training and writing more about it. Today was a great day, pounded out a 32:40 5K. Right after that, the damn dog tripped me and I landed on my knee on the concrete garage floor. Oh well, its not the first time, wont be the last. I did start the week off great, if you consider Sunday the start of a new week. I did the Jack Frost TT, a 20k effort on a flat, USUALLY windy course. This year, the Gods of wind were kind to me and it didnt pick up til after I was done. I averaged just over 21mph for the course and had an average HR of 178. I attribute it to my new aero hair cut but whatever the cause, I had a PR time of 33:11. Very proud of my achievement since the last time I was close to that time was in February, the year of my infamous injury. Next week is Stacey's birthday and she will be spending it with our sister in law at McChord AFB at a fancy schmancy dinner in honour of Andy who is still in Iraq. He is getting a couple of awards and obviously isnt there to accept them so Tammy is going to do it for him. Only 3.5 months to go until Mexico.
I got a job this week with a womens pro cycling team. I will be working with them for around 4 races, the first one being in New Mexico. I have never been there and I will be able to add two more states that I have visited as I will fly into El Paso TX then drive to Silver City NM. I guess that makes a grand total of um, 10 states I think, I have been to, flown through...... oh, wait, I flew through Houston TX before but didnt actually leave the airport so that doesnt count right?Anyway, more news...... I will be interviewing for a chiro job next week, not sure if I want it as it will only be twice a week and I need more. I emailed my employer in ATL to say I cant afford to work for her anymore but she has yet to get back to me. I cant get her on the phone or email, not sure whats up. I had an offer from her to be manager for the western states but she wanted me to do cold calls for new business and I had already told her I wouldnt do that. Maybe shes upset with me. Oh well, whaddya do?
More news. I hope to be representing Canada at the World Triathlon Championships, Olympic distance, in June. The only problem being that I have not been assessed as to the extent of my injury and they require a percentage of loss greater than 15%. My HMO doesnt have anyone in their system that does those ratings so I have to go elsewhere and have to pay for it. Kind of sucks since I dont really have extra cash for that. I have to sell one of my bikes as it is to pay for some bills, like my licence to practice, my malpractice, my cell bill, and the list goes on and on. Good thing I have lots of credit built up with a bike store I trade with, I can get a new bike.
OK, thats really it, cept if my sister reads this, "dont be afraid to call once in a while" is what I would say to her. Love ya sis,
DS

2008, a slow start for training

I got a cold from Kelton on December 20th. By mid day, I was feeling chills, hot flashes, and just all round feeling crappy. I called Stacey to come home and help me take care of the boys and went upstairs to bed. For the next week, I felt absolutely horrible and was unable to do much of anything. It wasnt fun for our house guests Im sure but what could I do. Anyway, this is the first week I did anything other than walk to dog. Last week I tried to go for a hard walk with the dog and every time I got my breathing rate up, I would start coughing to the point where I had to stop walking. So, for almost 15 days, I didnt work out at all. I just sat at home and got fatter.
This week, I did bike rides of 45 min, 1 hour, 1:40, and 2:15, all on the trainer. My butt is sore. I try to stand up but I cant do it for long because my left calf starts to twitch and the bike shakes and its hard to maintain pedal momentum. Today was a good trainer session. I met up with about 15 others at a church gym in Portland and we watched the 1997 and 1998 Ironman worlds on a big screen. The time goes by quicker, I have found, when you play a cycling or triathlon video or an action packed movie. A movie might be good but if it doesnt have a lot of stuff exploding or a high body count (Die Hard 4 for example), the time in the saddle drags on and on.
I had a great appointment with a physical medicine specialist this week. She spent over an hour with me and I learned a lot of new things about myself. I got a 5mm lift for my left shoe and tried it out yesterday on a 2hr hike. I felt no hip pain at all on the right which is something I had not experienced in a long time.
This coming week, I will be trying to get back into my regular routine of swimming 3x/wk, running 3x/wk, and riding 4x/wk. Wish me luck

best run in 5.5 years

Today I went out for my prescribed 50 minute endurance run. My HRM was being a PITA so I put the read out on min/mile. I know it needs calibration to be a little more accurate but I calibrated it for walking before I was able to run for more than 3-4 min at a time. In general, it is pretty close because when I run on the Heritage Trail, I have mile markers to guage things by. Anyway, I got adjusted just before my run and I had a massage last Thursday and I think that made all the difference in the world. I busted out my first sub-12 minute mile in years and was able to keep up the pace for another two after that. I was able to do 3.9 miles in 50 minutes. Not bad if I might say so. I actually did a 10:50 for my last mile. I must admit, I was "husky assisted" on that last mile as I let the leash out a little more than I usually do and Koda pulled me to my fastest mile ever, or at least since 2002. I think my best 5K was around 29 minutes in a sprint triathlon. I must check the results to verify that. Anyway, Im happy to report I am getting faster and I might be able to do Beaver FReezer in around 1:18 or so, Im hoping.