Trainer tonight, massage tomorrow

Today was a good day. Sara and I drove to Charlotte today to take care of a few things. She took me to the infamous "Wolfman Pizza" for lunch. It was really good. Once we were finished, we drove back to Greenville and ran a few more errands together. It was a rare, yet nice time together. Since we were so busy during the day, I decided to hop on the trainer this evening. I got in a good ride in the big ring. Went for about 45 minutes and 13 miles. Legs were burning towards the end, but felt great. I was planning a longer brick tomorrow, but might just get in a good ride instead. We'll see how I feel when I wake up. I have an appointment with my massage therapist, Becky. She's great and can really loosen up and tight muscles and get rid of knots- Granted sometimes getting rid of the knots involves tears coming to my eyes. I'm going to have her work on my legs and maybe go back in a couple weeks for a full body massage.

Workouts continue

My workouts have been going pretty well. I have put in some really good rides, runs, and swims. I did a 2K swim on Tuesday and felt real strong. On Monday, I had a good ride of 29 miles and my runs have been around the five mile mark. I got the okay to participate in my first tri of the year on April 25. It will be my first olympic distance race ever. This is a 1500m lake swim, 24 mile ride and 6.25 mile run. The bike and run are about half of the distance of my HIM. Tomorrow is going to be another run day. The weather should be pretty good. Friday will be a swim or bike day. I might have to throw the bike back on the trainer as the weather is supposed to get more winter-like over the next few days with highs only in the 40's on Sunday. This means, I will think I will try to get outside on the bike on Monday and Tuesday and run on Thursday and Sunday and swim Friday and maybe Saturday. The great thing about this is that I feel like I let myself down when I don't workout (like today) even though, I've only taken off four days in three weeks. I guess I need it now and then. Next Tuesday, I plan on doing a good brick workout (20 mile bike followed by a five mile run). I am going to do two in March as well to get my legs used to being fatigued while running.

It's Getting Warmer Outside........

We had some pretty crazy weather during the past week in SC. This time last week, it was in the 30's for highs. Tuesday and Wednesday barely reached 30. This past weekend it was in the upper 70's and has carried forward to today as well. This means, my bike workouts are shifting outside again away from the trainer. I rode 25 miles last night after work and I did 16 miles last week. I plan on riding again tomorrow as another nice day is in store. My goal is for about 30 - 35 miles. Running has been going along just fine. I have had some pretty decent runs. I have back off my distance due to an ITBS flare up. I have been getting in between 3-5 mile runs every time. They are getting to be pretty easy. I took it a little longer today and did 6.5 miles. I felt pretty good during and after. With a 50 degree temperature shift from my run on Wed. to today, my body was not used to the warmer temps. I'm sure that will change with time. My swimming is getting boring. I found doing flip turns hurts my ability to do a good distance. It takes quite a bit of energy to do them, so my total meters is down significantly. Tomorrow I am going to do open turns and not pushing off (as I used to do) and try to get back up to my 2500-3000 meters. I'm due for a good distance.

A few minor injuries

One thing I knew from the beginning and starting to experience is the aspect of injuries that come into play when training. It can be very frustrating because 99% of my body feels great, but that other 1% is pulling me down. My birthday was Monday (The big 33) and it was full of injury prevention / healing tools for my training. Sara bought me a foam roller my Illiotibial Band. I received a gift card to Sports Authority from my dad, which I used to purchase an ice pack / ace bandage combination and a yoga video. When I read the name, I immediately knew it was for me~ Yoga for inflexible people. That is me to a T. I will say, since I have had some leg and shoulder issues, I have taken stretching more seriously and I can see some improvement in flexibility. Before stretching, I could not even come close to touching my toes keeping my legs straight and now, it is close. I'm not there, but it is much closer. It has been confirmed... I do officially hate the foam roller. I've only used it four times now and can't stand it. I say that because it hurts so much. At least I know it's working. It is that love / hate relationship thing going on. I have had the strength and will power to take off a few days from running and biking to let me legs heal. They are on their way. I tried running on Wednesday on a treadmill and had no issues. It was a short 3 mile run. A few days later I hit the road again and did another short and slow 3.2 miler. (I think I averaged 10:32 per mile). I did not have any pain following. Last night, I jumped back on the bike and rode for 30 minutes on the trainer and had no pain this morning. I'm just going to take it slow, stretch, and be patient.

Another week of training in the books...

I had another good training week.

Run: 20.76 miles Good runs this week (4.72, 6.72, 9.25) I had a problem with my run yesterday. After finishing, my illiotibial band started flaring up. Major problem with a large majority of runners. I may have pushed the run a little too far after biking with a high cadence the night before. Someone mention tight glutes for a possible reason and it makes sense b/c of biking the night before. Hopefully that is the case and I can stretch it out.

Swim: 3608 yards Worked more on technique and interval training this week instead of distance training. Ran into some shoulder issues. I have not been bi-lateral breathing, but need to get back to it. I think that is why my shoulder hurts. I have also incorporated flip turns into my swims. I read the amount of distance you save by not doing them is not as important as it is to learn to hold your breath that extra time when doing them. (Greater aerobic benefits).

Bike: 27 miles (all on trainer) Working on proper cadence as opposed to total distance. Trying to keep cadence above 90 rpms on all rides. I found trainer rides to be more difficult than road riding because on the roads, you can coast and have to stop, but don't on the trainer. I guess you could, but I feel like I am letting myself down if I do.

Good training week

I have had a pretty solid week of training this week, covering all three areas. I decided to throw in a second swim workout and will probably do another today. Running has felt really good. I did my long run last Sunday and have run three days since. I've had a couple good bike trainer session as well. I was going to ride outside today, but with the upcoming week being cold, I decided to keep my trainer tire on the wheel instead of switching back to the road tire. Unfortunately I have yet to find another wheel to put my trainer tire on. Most cheap wheels average around $100.00. That is too much to spend for what I am using it for.

In addition to the regular workouts, I have also started incorporating strength training following my swim workouts. I typically work my shoulders, lats and core. I found some great core exercises that I really seem to like.

Some really good news regarding my running.....Since I got my new shoes (thanks SB), I have not had any IT Band issues. It seems like this is posted several times on tri websites asking for suggestions on how to relieve this issue. Most recommendations are to not run for several weeks. I had my right ITB flare up with my old shoes, but nothing yet from the new ones. (Currently knocking on wood.)

I did make my decision regarding hockey. I am semi retiring (more than likely Brett Favre style w/o all the crying. I'll be back. It's just a matter of when.) The way I see it, I could completely negate all of the training I have put in, in one second, by getting hurt. It was definitely a difficult decision considering I have been playing for 10 years and with many of the same people. I might have to go cheer on the guys and drink a beer with them after the game.

Personal best run

After finishing my last keystroke of my last post, I decided to try something. Lately I have been experiencing things that have really mentally knocked me down. Therefore, I decided to try to pick myself up. I set a short term goal to do a 10 mile run. And.......I did it. I almost made it 11 miles. That is a personal best for me.