Thursday, March 17, 2011

My Training... Random Thoughts

Random thoughts... In no particular order...

~I picked up my bike from the shop today. It's got a brand new chain and new aero bars (they said the old ones were so corroded they might just snap themselves off)... and it's so clean... like so clean... I cannot wait to ride it on Saturday! The handlebars turn really easily again and the brakes don't stick when I pull on them. Ahhhh. What a pleasure it will be to ride a machine that functions correctly. Oh, and Ryan said he was pretty sure there was something living in my bottom bracket. He was like, "I don't know how so much stuff gets stuck up in there through that tiny little hole unless something was in there pulling it up?" Lol. Maybe it was a leprechaun. They're known for pulling tricks like that, no? Anyway, I'm pretty sure my bike is a good pound lighter now and probably a mph faster. At least. :)

~This morning I hosted a little ocean swim clinic at the boat ramp in Kailua. There were 7 of us there and it was good fun. Most of them were marines so they are pretty hard core and didn't even flinch when it started raining just as we were about to get in. The sun wasn't up yet, the wind was howling, but they dove right into that white water chop like it was nothing. I love coaching marines. What bad-asses. In the end though, the conditions weren't that bad this morning. I've been in a lot worse. See? That's the beauty of training in tough conditions- most of the time you can say, "I've been in worse". That breeds confidence. And I have to say, while we were warming up I could see the sun cresting the horizon with every breath and it was just awesome. That's the way to start the day, you know? It almost didn't even matter that I swam right into a man-o-war and felt my whole neck and upper back go numb. Welcome back to da ocean, huh?

~The best part of the swim was the ~10 minutes of race pace effort we gave running into the water and swimming around a couple buoys then running out of the water, 100M across the sand then diving back into the water at full speed to repeat the loop two more times... Greg and I were racing pretty good... on each other's feet... trading off the lead on each lap... I felt nauseous starting each loop again after running in that sand but there was no way I was going to let Greg go so I was working my tail off. That is hard, you know? Getting out of the water and running and then straight back into swimming fast again... triathletes should practice that because it's not uncommon to have to do that in races... but yet we almost never practice that and then are shocked in races when it is so hard.

~Speaking of running... did you catch that?? I ran in the sand today. Not only that, I put running shoes on after the swim and actually ran along the road! No pain. Yep. Mama's back in the game. Kim and I jogged together and chit chatted the whole time and before I knew it time was up and it was like this huge sigh of relief that whatever spasm was in my calf has finally been released and I can run again. Cross my fingers I've got this figured out now... all I have to say is that eccentric calf dips are the bomb and I'm doing them obsessively. Because they work. Yep.

~Did you know that calf injuries cause saddle sores? I didn't know that either. But it's true. Injure your calf and sit out of running for ~10 days and you end up with these nasty little sores on your ass and find yourself stealing your not-yet-potty-trained toddler's A&D Ointment. Thankfully I finally had a day away from riding today to let this thing try to heal.

~I am infinitely more effective at work when I have a good training session in the morning. I accomplished more today than I did in the previous 3 days combined. I think if bosses required their employees to start their work day with a solid ocean swim and then an hour of running they'd find their employees to be way more engaged and effective. Just sayin'.

8 comments:

GoBigGreen said...

AWesome news. I was just gonna check on you:)
KEep up with BOTH the ecc calf work AND the rest. I know you hate it but the proof is there, you can do as much magic as you want but rest is the key. Oh and try an epsom salt soak for the calves, very helpful as well.

Molly said...

I don't know which part of this I loved more! So happy to hear you have a shiny clean bike again and that you RAN (woohoo!) and I totally hear you on the tough training days giving us perspective thing :-)

Anonymous said...

I've only had one "confidence building swim" in Aquatic Park and was told by the veterans that "oh, this is nothing." Really? ok. Need a couple more of those. :-)

Awesome news about your calf! I'm slowly learning to strengthen what's tight, which is very counter intuitive but seems to work (hello hamstring.)

momo said...

i had a cyclist friend that used to work on my bike and he used to say the same things about my bike... something along the lines of... you dang triathlete's and the buffets you take along when you ride, it goops everything up. :)

Running and living said...

So happy to hear you are running. And you made me laugh about the saddle sores (sorry!).

Regina said...

Good news! I have been known to dip into the A&D myself from time to time. I would love an ocean swim if I wasn't so afraid of what lurks beneath. Watching Monster Fish on Nat'l Geo channel isn't helping matters.

Teresa said...

I love the last one!! Great idea..sending to the boss now ;)

Glad your calf issue is OVER...more because of the saddle sores. ha!

I can hear the excitement in your post reflecting how much you accomplished today...way to go girl!

N.D. said...

this sounds like such a creative workout !