Random Thoughts

This week started on a low point.  First off my leg hurt like hell.  I cannot imagine what I did to it.  My first thought and the scariest scenario is that I have a stress fracture.  Stress fractures do not heal overnight.  They take about two months to heal,,, Two months is exactly what I have left to prepare for CDA.  Sucks,,

I read up on stress fractures.  There are some exercises to help strengthen the muscles.  In addition, I am now taking calcium and vitamin D.  That should help the healing process.  If it is not a stress fracture then the calcium will help me develop kidney stones.  I love getting old.  I have an appointment with Dr. Spears next week.  In the meantime, I am not going to do any stress exercises like running. 

Second low point was that I am on the road all week, this means,, lot’s of temptations for bad diet and making time to train.  This is the first week in a three-week build period.  We will be ramping up the mileage over the next three weeks and it is important for me to make all the training hours.  The hotel has a pool.. a “baby Olympic” which means it is 20 yards long. A sign on the wall states “1 Mile = 44 laps”.  I swam twice while I was there, each time for an hour.  Therefore, I estimate I swam a total of 4 miles which means 176 laps…I probably spent more time turning than I did swimming.

Fun part of working out at a hotel,,, you see several people come and go,, while you are still working out.  Several times I would start out on the stationary bike or elliptical or when swimming,, several people would come alongside and start working out,,, then leave.  Meanwhile,,, I am still working out… That pretty much tells you who the smart people are.

Well,, other than the leg pain, I did well.  I really watched what I ate.  I stayed with seafood, fruits, vegetables, and an occasional drink.  I did manage to get in all my training.  The weekly goal was 15.5 hours,, I did 15 on the nose.  For the long run (18 miles), I did 2:45 on an elliptical trainer.  2 hours and 45 minutes stuck in a gym,,, it was not all bad but it was 2 hours and 45 minutes.  I could have done more but I needed to get home.  

Bike ride on Saturday was 90 miles from Austin to Johnson City and back.  It was in the hill country.  Lot’s of work getting out there.  Many hills,,, most of them going up and a wind,, mostly in our faces.  On the way back,, it was another story. It was mostly downhill and with the wind in our backs.  I rode with Jen and Maurice.  I was as usual, behind them but they were always within site and I usually caught up with them at the lights or major intersections.  I probably should say that they waited fro me at the lights and major intersections but it sounds better the other way. 

Highlight of the week,, being out of town and really focusing on my training.  I had fun too,, it was not all training and eating right. I went out and “indulged”.  Which,, by the way, I have to say I cannot handle drinking much anymore.  I felt like crap the day after. 

This is a recovery week and I only needed to put in about 8 hours of training. In an effort to over-achieve, I really rested and actually put in about 6 hours. We had a Time Trial out on south Mo-Pac. I did one loop for warm-up and then did the TT. I averaged 22.5 MPH on the route. It was fun going fast. I kept my HR at around 145 so I finished feeling strong. http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/53421_61034_2006.html.

My body is finally back to normal after screwing it up nutritionally last week. It is amazing that you can deplete your body so much that it takes several days to get all the glycogen stores back to normal. I did my long run on Wednesday after work. I ran up to Mt. Bonnell and then back via Exposition and 35^th street. My shin is continuing to bother me. I finished the run but it was painful each time my foot hit the ground.

I was up at the lake for the weekend. I tried to get a good run in before I left. I ran about 7 miles and had to cut it short due to the pain. This sucks. I am not going to panic just yet but I am concerned. I really do not want to get within 8 weeks of the triathlon and have an injury. I have some time so I am going to work at this and get better. I am out of town all next week so I can use the hotel gym and rather than running, can focus on other things like weights, swimming, and cycling. My hope is that the hotel gym has an elliptical trainer, that would be close to running, without the impact.

Did I mention that this sucks….

After yesterday’s 105 mile bike ride, I did something stupid. I did not eat enough. Who ever thought that would be a problem? It was dumb and I am paying for it. When I got home, I had a sandwich. We were slated to go out for dinner last night so I was trying not to eat too much. I wanted to save room for dinner so I just ate a sandwich. Then when I finally did get around to eating, I had a steak and a salad. Now,, today,, I am exhausted. I tried to run and could not. My legs feel like concrete. I was only able to run for about 10 minutes and then I just walked for about an hour. I am so tired right now; all I want to do is sleep. I am pretty pissed at myself for letting myself get into this situation. I should have known better and I do,,

The bad part of this incident is that it has thrown me into a mental downspin. I know that this is minor and that it is correctable but for some reason, my thought processes have thrown my ability to complete the IM into a shadow of doubt. The mental demons are the hardest part of the training.

Training for an IM is all about learning. Unfortunately,, some of the learning is the hard way,, by making mistakes. This week’s blunder was about electrolytes. Staying hydrated is one thing,, staying up on electrolytes is another. Today we rode 105 miles. It was a warm day. At about mile 97, I ran into a problem with muscle cramps. My thigh muscles turned rock hard and just locked up. There was not much I could do but try to let them relax. My food and water intake was good but I missed the mark on electrolytes. When I got home,, my jersey and shorts were covered in salt stains. Luckily, I was close to the car and did not have to deal with the pain very long.