I sprained my foot this week. Actually, that's the good news. I first thought it might be a stress fracture. But, it appears to be easing. The pain and swelling are on the top of my left foot, just behind the toes. This set me back on the training a little, but I am going to come back strong.
I did get in three good runs this week. My foot actually didn't hurt too much on the runs. It seemed to gradually increase in pain and swelling as the day wore on. So, on the days that I ran, it loosened up quickly on the early morning run being pretty much pain free for most of the run. That's the strange part about this injury, it didn't hurt much during the run but gradually got worse during the day.
Tuesday and Thursday were three mile runs. Wednesday was a five mile run. I missed the planned 10 mile run scheduled for Saturday because I decided to give my left foot a chance to heal. Instead, I celebrated Father's day with three of my four children and all four grandchildren by having a breakfast picnic in the park near our house. It's always a special treat when the family can be together.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
91 days and $1565 to go!
I started this past week with a 3 mile run on Tuesday. Remember, according to my marathon training schedule, Monday is always a "rest" day. After I ran, I received an email from my TNT coach for the Nation's Triathlon asking if anyone on the team was interested in a 6PM bike ride starting in North Chagrin Reservation. I thought this might be a good opportunity to meet some of my team mates, so I emailed back that I would be happy to join. Biking is not on my schedule right now but I thought, "What the heck!"
Well, I met up with the group that was planning to ride. None of the TNT people showed up, so it was the coach, 3 other people from the Cleveland Triathlon Club and me. In other words, 4 - 20 or 30 somethings, and me! Well, I ended up chasing the other 4 for about 38 miles up hill and down dale on my bike for a rather gruelling couple of hours. Actually, they spent a good deal of their time waiting for me to catch up with them. One very nice young woman who was on a "rest" day in her training schedule spent much of the ride keeping me company in the back of the pack. Don't get me wrong, there were moments when I was able to charge ahead for brief periods of time, but I was definitely outclassed.
This was a very nice group of people, and I did have a good time, getting together with them at a nearby bar after the run. Anyway, back to the ride. I was able to more or less hold my own for about the first 30 miles before I really ran into trouble. I found myself completely out of energy and barely able to pedal. I was talking to the coach about "collapsing" on the side of the road and waiting for him to come back in his car and pick me up. It was that bad! Instead, he gave me a power bar and asked me to hang in there for a little while longer. I don't know what was in that power bar, but 2 or 3 minutes after finishing it, I found myself amazingly re-energized and planning to finish the ride with the rest of the group (who were doing just fine).
I ran into trouble once more as I started up the final hill back into the park. Both quads suddenly developed a charley-horse. Both! I didn't know what else to do, so I hopped off the bike. Bad move! Very bad move! At least when I am on the bike my legs are bent most of the time. When I try to walk, my legs are mostly straight and that's when the very painful charley-horse kicks in. Note to self: Stay on the bike when fighting a charley-horse! So, I hobbled along for awhile until my coach came back and gave me a bottle of his water. I made plans with him to come back with the car and pick me up thinking that this time I was really "done-for". He rode on ahead. Amazingly, after downing the water in a couple of minutes the charley-horse eased up. I quickly hopped back on the bike and rode the rest of the way up the hill. Sometime after reaching the top of the hill, I passed my coach in his car going in the other direction and cheering me on and finished the ride.
Seems I still have a lot to learn about nutrition, electrolyte replacement, and hydration for these long runs. And, this is just the group from which to learn it. I took the next day off, ran about 3 miles on Thursday, and about 9 miles today. All in all a good week. Now I'm shopping for salt pills and power bars!
Well, I met up with the group that was planning to ride. None of the TNT people showed up, so it was the coach, 3 other people from the Cleveland Triathlon Club and me. In other words, 4 - 20 or 30 somethings, and me! Well, I ended up chasing the other 4 for about 38 miles up hill and down dale on my bike for a rather gruelling couple of hours. Actually, they spent a good deal of their time waiting for me to catch up with them. One very nice young woman who was on a "rest" day in her training schedule spent much of the ride keeping me company in the back of the pack. Don't get me wrong, there were moments when I was able to charge ahead for brief periods of time, but I was definitely outclassed.
This was a very nice group of people, and I did have a good time, getting together with them at a nearby bar after the run. Anyway, back to the ride. I was able to more or less hold my own for about the first 30 miles before I really ran into trouble. I found myself completely out of energy and barely able to pedal. I was talking to the coach about "collapsing" on the side of the road and waiting for him to come back in his car and pick me up. It was that bad! Instead, he gave me a power bar and asked me to hang in there for a little while longer. I don't know what was in that power bar, but 2 or 3 minutes after finishing it, I found myself amazingly re-energized and planning to finish the ride with the rest of the group (who were doing just fine).
I ran into trouble once more as I started up the final hill back into the park. Both quads suddenly developed a charley-horse. Both! I didn't know what else to do, so I hopped off the bike. Bad move! Very bad move! At least when I am on the bike my legs are bent most of the time. When I try to walk, my legs are mostly straight and that's when the very painful charley-horse kicks in. Note to self: Stay on the bike when fighting a charley-horse! So, I hobbled along for awhile until my coach came back and gave me a bottle of his water. I made plans with him to come back with the car and pick me up thinking that this time I was really "done-for". He rode on ahead. Amazingly, after downing the water in a couple of minutes the charley-horse eased up. I quickly hopped back on the bike and rode the rest of the way up the hill. Sometime after reaching the top of the hill, I passed my coach in his car going in the other direction and cheering me on and finished the ride.
Seems I still have a lot to learn about nutrition, electrolyte replacement, and hydration for these long runs. And, this is just the group from which to learn it. I took the next day off, ran about 3 miles on Thursday, and about 9 miles today. All in all a good week. Now I'm shopping for salt pills and power bars!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
97 days and $1835 to go!
This weeks training was uneventful. Monday and Tuesday I was traveling. Home from Las Vegas on Monday and down to Florda on Tuesday. So, I had no time to train at all on those two days. My first run this week was on Wednesday. The three miles went easily after several days rest. A four mile run on Thursday and another three mile run on Friday finished out the weekday training. So far the gradual build-up in the mileage appears to be giving my leg muscles time to acclimate to the running. There is little sign of the leg cramps that plagued me off and on last year. My back also seems to be doing quite well. That's good news for my training.
Yesterday, after three straight days of running, I switched to my bike for a little cross-training. The weather has been perfect this weekend for training. A tem mile ride took me from home to Mentor Beach State Park. I love riding the path near the beach. It's really a beautiful place. When it warms up a little more, I can do some open water swimming there as well. A headwind on the return trip made for slightly slower going, but a really good workout. This morning I finished the week's workout with a five mile run.
Next week, I should be able to stick closely to the scheduled runs. The plan is to step up the distance of the longest run to nine miles. I'm still thinking adding about a possible marathon (the Akron Road Runner Marathon) after the Nation's Triathlon in September. But, I still have a lot of work to do.
Yesterday, after three straight days of running, I switched to my bike for a little cross-training. The weather has been perfect this weekend for training. A tem mile ride took me from home to Mentor Beach State Park. I love riding the path near the beach. It's really a beautiful place. When it warms up a little more, I can do some open water swimming there as well. A headwind on the return trip made for slightly slower going, but a really good workout. This morning I finished the week's workout with a five mile run.
Next week, I should be able to stick closely to the scheduled runs. The plan is to step up the distance of the longest run to nine miles. I'm still thinking adding about a possible marathon (the Akron Road Runner Marathon) after the Nation's Triathlon in September. But, I still have a lot of work to do.
Monday, June 1, 2009
104 days and $1835 to go!
I can't tell you what I did over the weekend because I was in Vegas (for business, not pleasure) and we all know that "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas". :)
In any case, I wasn't able to train at all from saturday through today. I knew that was coming. So, I shifted my schedule to complete the weeks running by friday. It worked out very well and I was able to finish the four scheduled runs, including a 7 miler on friday, with a little yoga thrown in for good measure. Monday, tuesday, and wednesday were each 3 mile days according to the plan. Thursday was a rest day. So, I did a 20 minute yoga routine but no running. On friday, my 7 mile run went very smoothly. My right calf stiffened a little about 4 miles into the run, but it loosened up a little while after that and I finished the run without further incident. I am very happy to report that I am having no problems with my back these days. That's a wonderful feeling!
I will tell about one thing that happened in Vegas. I met a young lady who is an ultra-endurance athlete. My hero! :) She has competed in "double" ironman races. Yes, that would be a 4.8 mile swim, 256 mile bike, and a 52.4 mile run - an over 30 hour effort! She is currently training for the bicycle "Race Across America". All that, and she's smart too!
I'm looking forward to running in Florida this week. It is a relatively easy week with two 3, one 4, and one 5 mile runs.
In any case, I wasn't able to train at all from saturday through today. I knew that was coming. So, I shifted my schedule to complete the weeks running by friday. It worked out very well and I was able to finish the four scheduled runs, including a 7 miler on friday, with a little yoga thrown in for good measure. Monday, tuesday, and wednesday were each 3 mile days according to the plan. Thursday was a rest day. So, I did a 20 minute yoga routine but no running. On friday, my 7 mile run went very smoothly. My right calf stiffened a little about 4 miles into the run, but it loosened up a little while after that and I finished the run without further incident. I am very happy to report that I am having no problems with my back these days. That's a wonderful feeling!
I will tell about one thing that happened in Vegas. I met a young lady who is an ultra-endurance athlete. My hero! :) She has competed in "double" ironman races. Yes, that would be a 4.8 mile swim, 256 mile bike, and a 52.4 mile run - an over 30 hour effort! She is currently training for the bicycle "Race Across America". All that, and she's smart too!
I'm looking forward to running in Florida this week. It is a relatively easy week with two 3, one 4, and one 5 mile runs.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
112 days and $1885 to go!
"Back" on track! Pun intended. :)
I restarted the 18 week marathon training schedule and completed the first week. I was in Florida this past week and was able to run the 3 miles on each of tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. My back was feeling good through that effort. According to the schedule, monday and friday are rest days, so I did nothing on monday since I was travelling to Florida on that day. On friday, I did a 20 minute Yoga routine. It felt good to get back to the Yoga. Yesterday was my first run this season of any real length, 6 miles, and I completed it feeling pretty good. According to that marathon schedule, today is a day for "cross-training". So, I hopped on my bike for 6 miles then planted four azalea bushes, two hydrangeas, and layed down 10 bags of mulch in our front garden. Some "cross-training", huh? Guess my back's doing pretty well. All-in-all an uneventful week, pretty much to plan.
The usual weekly schedule has monday and friday as "off-days", saturday as a long run day, and sunday as a "cross-training" day. But, I will have to shift the schedule a bit this week since I will be travelling next weekend. So, thursday will be my "off-day" and friday will be my long run day (7 miles is the plan). I'll just do some walking and some Yoga next weekend while I am out of town.
I restarted the 18 week marathon training schedule and completed the first week. I was in Florida this past week and was able to run the 3 miles on each of tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. My back was feeling good through that effort. According to the schedule, monday and friday are rest days, so I did nothing on monday since I was travelling to Florida on that day. On friday, I did a 20 minute Yoga routine. It felt good to get back to the Yoga. Yesterday was my first run this season of any real length, 6 miles, and I completed it feeling pretty good. According to that marathon schedule, today is a day for "cross-training". So, I hopped on my bike for 6 miles then planted four azalea bushes, two hydrangeas, and layed down 10 bags of mulch in our front garden. Some "cross-training", huh? Guess my back's doing pretty well. All-in-all an uneventful week, pretty much to plan.
The usual weekly schedule has monday and friday as "off-days", saturday as a long run day, and sunday as a "cross-training" day. But, I will have to shift the schedule a bit this week since I will be travelling next weekend. So, thursday will be my "off-day" and friday will be my long run day (7 miles is the plan). I'll just do some walking and some Yoga next weekend while I am out of town.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
119 days and $2060 to go!
I had some trouble with my back again this week. I started the 18 week marathon training schedule. But, it looks like I will have to start it over this coming week, provided that my back cooperates. Here's how it played out.
After my long ride last saturday, I took it easy on sunday. But, my lower back was feeling a little stiff. According to the marathon training schedule, monday was supposed to be a "rest" day. So, I did my yoga routine hoping that would help to loosen my stiff back. Well, it might have aggravated things a little. Tuesday, determined to start the training, I ran the prescribed 3 miles. My back felt a little better. Another 3 miles on wednesday and my back was still feeling ok. However, on thursday when I had another 3 mile run scheduled, I bailed because my back was feeling worse. Darn!
I spent a little time on thursday researching online to try to understand the cause of my pain. The symptoms actually don't feel like a bulging disc this time. So, I have decided that the problem is stress on the facet joints from too much, not too little, arch in my lower back. My fear of causing discs to bulge posteriorly has me arching back too much and putting pressure on the facets, the vertebral joints which limit this backward arching. That's my diagnosis. It actually does make sense, at least to me.
Turns out that a healthy back is the result of a balance between abdominal and paraspinal muscles that keeps your spine within reasonable limits of its proper curve. It is important to maintain this balance (posture) when sitting, standing, walking, running, and bicycling. The only time that you get a pass is while swimming. It's probably really hard to have problems with your back from swimming.
My back is actually starting to feel better now. I ran 3 miles yesterday. This is shorter than the training plan, but I'm just happy to get back to it. I'll go for a short 7-8 mile ride today. So, where my back is concerned, I will concentrate on the basic set of "core" exercises and stretches I was taught in physical therapy and work on maintaining the proper posture for all my activities.
After my long ride last saturday, I took it easy on sunday. But, my lower back was feeling a little stiff. According to the marathon training schedule, monday was supposed to be a "rest" day. So, I did my yoga routine hoping that would help to loosen my stiff back. Well, it might have aggravated things a little. Tuesday, determined to start the training, I ran the prescribed 3 miles. My back felt a little better. Another 3 miles on wednesday and my back was still feeling ok. However, on thursday when I had another 3 mile run scheduled, I bailed because my back was feeling worse. Darn!
I spent a little time on thursday researching online to try to understand the cause of my pain. The symptoms actually don't feel like a bulging disc this time. So, I have decided that the problem is stress on the facet joints from too much, not too little, arch in my lower back. My fear of causing discs to bulge posteriorly has me arching back too much and putting pressure on the facets, the vertebral joints which limit this backward arching. That's my diagnosis. It actually does make sense, at least to me.
Turns out that a healthy back is the result of a balance between abdominal and paraspinal muscles that keeps your spine within reasonable limits of its proper curve. It is important to maintain this balance (posture) when sitting, standing, walking, running, and bicycling. The only time that you get a pass is while swimming. It's probably really hard to have problems with your back from swimming.
My back is actually starting to feel better now. I ran 3 miles yesterday. This is shorter than the training plan, but I'm just happy to get back to it. I'll go for a short 7-8 mile ride today. So, where my back is concerned, I will concentrate on the basic set of "core" exercises and stretches I was taught in physical therapy and work on maintaining the proper posture for all my activities.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
126 days and $2060 to go!
Thursday a week ago, when I went to the Team in Training kickoff meeting, I met one of my coaches for the Nation's Triathlon. He encouraged, no urged, us to begin running immediately - to start to get used to running for long distances. He stressed that the run can make or break the triathlon for many competitors. I've read this before. And, having competed now in two triathlons and one duathlon, I believe it. Being the last leg of the race, the run finds you at your most vulnerable. In the water you are relatively fresh, on the bike you can coast from time to time or find other ways to momentarily relax. On the run all you can do is stop or walk. You probably can't gain a lot of time on the run. But, you can lose a lot of time, particularly if your energy is spent or you are unprepared.
I have had real trouble on the 13 mile run in both of my half ironman efforts. In both cases I probably walked 1/3 to 1/2 of the distance, losing much time in the process. Largely as a result of this and of the coaches comment about training for the run I am seriously rethinking my strategy for preparing for this next race. What better way to enjoy, and to do well, in this race than to really prepare for the run.
I know I can cover the swim distance. And I don't expect to shave much time off of that effort. I just bicycled about 30 miles yesterday - then cut the grass. So, I know I can handle the bike portion which is 25 miles. What I really need to work on for September is the run.
With that in mind I have found an 18 week training schedule for a marathon (http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/novices.html). Since I last ran a marathon about 20 years ago, I consider myself to be a novice. Yes, I am still thinking about the Akron Marathon which will be held two weeks after the Nation's Triathlon. We'll see how the training goes. I still haven't fully decided to enter this marathon, but I will try to stick to this training schedule and see how I am running after 8 to 10 weeks. Wish me luck! :)
I have had real trouble on the 13 mile run in both of my half ironman efforts. In both cases I probably walked 1/3 to 1/2 of the distance, losing much time in the process. Largely as a result of this and of the coaches comment about training for the run I am seriously rethinking my strategy for preparing for this next race. What better way to enjoy, and to do well, in this race than to really prepare for the run.
I know I can cover the swim distance. And I don't expect to shave much time off of that effort. I just bicycled about 30 miles yesterday - then cut the grass. So, I know I can handle the bike portion which is 25 miles. What I really need to work on for September is the run.
With that in mind I have found an 18 week training schedule for a marathon (http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/novices.html). Since I last ran a marathon about 20 years ago, I consider myself to be a novice. Yes, I am still thinking about the Akron Marathon which will be held two weeks after the Nation's Triathlon. We'll see how the training goes. I still haven't fully decided to enter this marathon, but I will try to stick to this training schedule and see how I am running after 8 to 10 weeks. Wish me luck! :)
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