miscellaneous off-season ramblings

OK, I'm not going to lie.  It hasn't been all blood, sweat and tears since I finished with my last big event in San Diego.  After a nice weekend in Key West, there was some laziness and lounging around... quite a bit of it actually. 

That's us with Eddie Montgomery (from Montgomery Gentry) and his wife in Key West!

But, as the coaches say...

"don't sleep on fall training. Without it your winter and spring will involve a painful 'restart' process!"

So, after about a week, I dragged my lazy butt off the couch...

30-day ab challenge

I tried and failed to get partners in crime for this challenge...but I decided to do it anyway.  Hoping it will make riding in the aero position a touch easier...???

...and I am happy to report that I completed every single day of this challenge! 

To sum up, that's a total of:

• 1610 situps (actually, I did tuck-ups instead of situps)
• 2120 crunches
• 904 leg raises
• 1397 seconds of plank

All in all, I spent a total of 3 hours and 23 minutes doing abs during October!  And one of the best things about this was that I could do a plank even on my bad foot!

Also known as the foot torture chamber...

When I finished PT, I knew I wasn't completely healed, but had hit a plateau and my therapist didn't think she could do any more for me.  She did put me in touch with a colleague of hers who designs apparatuses for injuries similar to mine.  I haven't been as consistent with using it (10 min x 6 times per day) as I should be, but still... progress!

I was so happy about completing the ab challenge that I gave myself a new goal of 30 runs in 30 days for November.  The rules are simple: each run [or walk] must be 1 mile or 15 min (whichever is longer), and multiple runs per day must be separated by an hour.  So far, so good, and I have even done more running than walking (hoping that forcing the activity will also help my back).

moving on up!

...I'm talking about swim lanes.  I actually postponed this as much as I could, but the coaches finally made me.  I really enjoyed my lane-mates in lane 3 and knew swimming wouldn't be the same without them. 

One of the few days I got to the pool early :-)

Not that I ever disliked my new lane-mates.... it's just different.

But then Linda moved up a lane also!!  And honestly, my new lane-mates are super nice as I start getting to know them, and [at least] one of them is even signed up for IMMD!

And, moving up does mean I'm getting faster though and that's a good thing!  Jon is right, I may bitch and moan about my alarm going off at 4:30 AM, and fighting the bats to get to my car (OK.. full disclosure, that only happened twice.. random!), but once I get there, I put in the work (well...usually).

This is completely random, but it made me think of the time Dan and I were in Spain (2009) and
thought we were getting attacked by bats!!  (might've been bats, might've been birds, we'll never know)

My goal is to get to the pool once per week until January when I'll start doubling up again.

more whining about my back

For the past few weeks, my back has really started acting up again.  I feel like it's stuck in some kind of catch-22.  I was OK during the summer when I was training a lot.  Then get to the off-season and my training goes down and my back hurts worse than ever.  Except.. it hurts too much to actually do anything!

One of the best things about the off-season is getting to do some different types of activities.  On one of the nicest days of Autumn we have had, Sweeney and I set out on a short hike in the Shenandoah.  We (I) couldn't make it to the top.  This hike hurt more and more with every step, and it was frustrating to have to turn around early.

I made an appointment with Dr. Mazahery to see what I can do.  I've gotten an ESI.  I've done physical therapy (twice), I've been to the chiropractor (three of them).  I have tried spinal decompression therapy, electrical stimulation, traction therapy, massage, foam roller, ice, heat, epsom salts.

More x-rays, another review of my MRI scan from last spring, and Dr. Mazahery suggests that I get another cortisone shot.  This one went in a little higher than the last one, and I don't think quite as deep (this one hurt, but not quite in the same way as the last time). 

I have lost the ability to be optimistic about this, but it seems like there is no further treatment plan.  Yeah, I could do physical therapy again or go see another chiropractor, but my back is not surgical (yet).  Fingers crossed this works.

I told Sweeney that we are going back to that hike and I will make it to the top of the mountain!!  I've been doing the stair-climber thing in my office gym to help train my back to that climbing motion.  It really bothered me that I caused us to turn around that day... I am not a quitter!!

I made it to track practice!

Track is the one type of group workout that I have been nervous about attending, simply because I am not a runner and have been nervous that I won't be able to get through the session.  I would periodically glance at the training plans and see 3 x 1200m or mile repeats, and realize that in my normal run/walk style, I don't necessarily run 1200m in a row... I'm supposed to do three of them?!

Since the team is just starting to ramp up again after the fall "A" races, the workouts are shorter.  I decided I was going to do this.  I set my alarm, packed my bag and was ready to go.... only I woke up to rain, turned off my alarm and said "eff this" - Fail.  But then.. last week, I finally made it!  My workout was 10 min zone 3, which I was able to jog all of, and then 2 x 400m in zone 4.. and I did it!  I'm not sure how it's gonna go when those intervals increase, but I realized that nobody is really watching you all that closely, and if I can't make an entire set, it will be OK.

So there you have it.  My semi-lazy off season is off to a reasonable start.  Though, I do need to get my ass back on my bike (literally).  This is the area that I have been hoping to make the biggest gains in over the winter, but that's not going to happen if the bike just sits there collecting dust. 

Luray Triathlon and farewell Jeep

Bust.

The hard top hasn't been on the jeep since the day I drove it home back in 2008!
Thanks to Jon and Sweeney for helping me with this task :-)

I packed up the Jeep for one last road trip together and set out for Luray on Friday afternoon.  I arrived at the site and set up the tent with no issues, but then I could not open my cot!  The cot was a requirement thanks to my back issues and knowing that the small camping mattress I have wouldn't have worked.  Sadly, I noticed that one of the bars of the cot was bent and it was indeed broken and unusable.  Uh oh.  The tent was set up on grass so I was hoping that it would be OK, but no such luck...back hurt.  On top of that, the temperatures dipped into the 40's that night and I was woefully unprepared, especially since I was sleeping directly on the ground which made it even colder.  By morning, I was a frozen brick that couldn't move and made the decision to head home that day and forgo the pint glass that I would've gotten for completing both races of the weekend.

Thanks Sweeney for letting me borrow the tent!!

I was lying there trying to decide whether or not I was going to push myself to do the Olympic race anyway when I realized that I'd forgotten to pack a sports bra.  Seriously?!  Who forgets that?!! At that point, it was obvious that running, and probably biking, were out of the question.  Then, I stepped out of the tent and realized it was only 50 degrees.  Everyone knows that three makes a fact, and the chilly air temperature sealed the deal that I was not going to race.  I made the decision to do the swim, and then join my mom in the Team Z tents to cheer on the other racers.

I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Team Z tents and took my time putting on my wetsuit and heading down to the lake.  The water initially felt cold, but I quickly adjusted to it.  It was a weird pac-man shaped course and we literally swam the entire perimeter of the lake and then a smaller inside triangle.  The waves were started only 2 minutes apart and I never really got any separation from anyone.  Other than the constant swimming on top of people (and being swum over), I felt pretty strong on the swim.  It was easy to push it a little when I knew I wasn't going to have to get on a bike afterward. 

When I stood up on the beach and ran over what I thought was the timing mat, I stopped my watch at 34:55 and started walking.  But then I crossed over another timing mat, and wasn't sure which one was officially the swim finish, so my time might be a few seconds more than that.  I checked the official results, but they don't have me listed anywhere.  Oh well. I wasn't sure if I should go into transition or not, but there really wasn't any kind of escape route.  There was this weird staircase with the tiniest stairs I've ever seen, and I ran up those and into transition area.  As I stopped and talked to the volunteer about what to do with my timing chip, I found myself wheezing.. and I remember that this happened after the Lake Anna relay when I just did the swim.  I wonder if I pushed myself to the point that I really should've used my inhaler first?  Normally I only have breathing issues on the bike, but it must be that I pace myself different when it's just the swim? Though I didn't have any issues in the Save the Bay swim.  I dunno, maybe next time I'll try using my inhaler before the race. 

I didn't take any people pictures, so I'm doing this throwback style from the camping trip to
Niagra Falls that Allison, Mom and I took the summer before my senior year of high school

I got my wetsuit off and sat down to catch my breath.  Then it was time for a hot shower. Finally, warmth. The air temperature was still super cold and I was more than relieved that I was not jumping on a bike to face the wind. That and the fact that I had been super nervous about the hilly bike course and was happy I didn't have to face that either. Next year.  After I was warm and dry, I made my way over to the Team Z tents for lunch, beverages and to spend time with my mom, cheering on the other racers.  I am so consistently at the end of the pack that it's always a nice change when I am able to watch and cheer others along.  One nice surprise was seeing Allison Medina, one of my best friends growing up who had just driven down to watch some friends and was doing the sprint race on Sunday.  Part of me wished I was staying and could race with her, but I knew it was best for me to head home.

One last drive on the open roads in the Jeep

It shouldn't be too shocking that I ended up with a bad cold for the rest of the weekend.  Luckily, since I was supposed to be at Luray, I didn't have any other plans and was able to spend a day and a half on the couch in my sweats with NyQuil and ice cream.  The only thing I had to do was drive out to Carmax to say goodbye to the Jeep. Time for the next vehicle chapter...