Back in the saddle...

Literally! After spending most of yesterday sleeping, I feel much better today. Don't know that I've completely shaken my flu (still taking the extra Vitamin C), but by early this afternoon by body was saying "get up off your butt and do something". So, I went for a 15 mile ride. I probably could have ridden longer but I started too late and I got dark on me.

125 days and $921 to go!

Life is like riding a bicycle. You don't fall off unless you plan to stop pedaling.
-Claude Pepper

I've been downing lots of Vitamin C since Christmas morning. I think it's doing some good, but it's taking longer to shake this thing than I thought when I wrote this three days ago. What started as a head cold seems to have moved into my muscles. I just feel generally achy and a little tired. Maybe my body is trying to tell me to slow down a little. :-) Think I'll pass on the training for today. I'll keep popping the "C" though.

I was able to do a couple of runs on woodland paths when we visited my brother and sister in-law in Floyd's Knobs, Indiana, a couple of days before Christmas. I love running through the woods.

Since we returned home on Wednesday I have been able to ride my bicycle for 15 miles, 7 miles, and 15 miles on Thursday through Saturday. The temperature was in the 30s each day but a nice warm shower when I returned home thawed me out. :-)

My ride was cut short on Friday when I noticed that the bicycle chain appeared to slip slightly every few revolutions. I looked down and could see that it was badly in need of lubrication. So, instead of pushing it for 7-8 more miles I decided to return home to investigate. I discovered that one link was damaged to the point of almost falling off. If I had ridden much farther I would have broken the chain for sure. After playing around with a spare link and a chain tool for awhile and getting nowhere, I decided to go to the bike shop to see what they had. For $2 I bought something called a "master link". A simple repair using this link and I was back in business.

Happy New Year!

Vitamin C takes on the common cold

As I write this, I am chasing off the last vestiges of a cold I contracted on Christmas. I woke up with nasal congestion. That happens occasionally to me but it usually wears off in an hour or so. When this lasted more than a couple of hours I decided it was probably a cold. The first thing I do when I detect a cold coming on is reach for the Vitamin C. Yes, I know, this sounds more like a cliche than a remedy. But, I'm not talking about a few extra glasses of orange juice or the Vitamin C they sometimes put in throat lozenges. I'm talking about downing enough Vitamin C to saturate my system.

I normally take two 500mg tablets of "C" every morning as a maintenance dose. But, when I feel a cold coming on I up that to two 500mg tablets every couple of hours. So, instead of getting 1000mg per day I am saturating my body with 5000-10000mg (5-10 grams) of "C" per day. This is similar to the daily dose advocated by Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling. Maybe it is just the placebo effect, I don't entirely discount that possibility, but it surely seems to work for me.

Anyway, we spent Christmas morning at my mom's house. When we returned to my daughter's house I asked if she had any Vitamin C - figuring that she probably did. In the course of the evening, I downed probably 5-10 grams of "C". Didn't sleep particularly well that night since my head by that time was completely "clogged". But, yesterday, my head started to clear as I continued the high dose and today I am definitely on the mend. If the weather cooperates, I'll certainly go for a ride. That's my brother's cure for a cold: Just"ride" it off! :-)

Over the river and through the woods...

I love running trails. I had the perfect opportunity to do just that this past sunday and monday. My wife, one daughter, and I went to visit my wife's brother's family in Floyds Knobs, Indiana. They have a nice farm with several dozen acres of pasture, ponds, forest, hills, and of course, trails. So each morning, around 7:30AM, I went for a 40-45 minute run on a trail from the house around a large lake on their property and back. I had company on these runs, of the four legged, furry variety (dogs). "Q" and "Boomer" were only too happy to join me on each run.

Q, being the older of the two, runs at a pace that is closer to mine. But, his huffing, coughing, and hacking can get a little annoying at times. He means well, he just wants some company. In his effort to stay close, he has a habit of dodging right in front of me from time to time, so I have to watch that I don't accidentally trip over him while I am watching for loose rocks, slippery spots, and other things in the path that might send me sprawling. Despite my best effort, however, I did hit a slick spot of leaves the first day and bloodied my knee a little. The second day I hit a patch of ice but managed to break my fall with my hands to avoid hitting my tail bone on some sizeable rocks.

There are some impressive hills on this trail around the farm. Maybe I can find a similar route closer to home so I can better prepare for the Wildflower triathlon next May. Learning to love the hills! :-)

134 days and $1085 to go!

I was trying to introduce myself as America's woman champion, but I said the french word "Champignon," so I introduced myself as a mushroom.
-Nancy Neiman Baranet

What a beautiful day! The sky is clear, the roads are dry, as soon as the temperature reached 40 degrees, I stole a 15 mile ride on my bike. Winters in the "north country" are like that. It's sometimes hard to get out to run or bike. Open water swimming is certainly out of the question. This makes the occasional opportunities like today all the more wonderful. My friends in Florida would say to me that this is the perfect argument for moving to Florida. It's hard to refute them. But I'm afraid I would wilt in the heat the rest of the year. I do enjoy the cold weather - most of the time.

I did spend a good week in Florida, returning home yesterday evening. I was able to get in 3 runs of a little over an hour and 2 runs of a little under an hour. Temperatures in the morning were actually in the 50s and 60s which is a little cold in Florida, even for this time of the year. Had some success avoiding the leg cramps too.

We were in Florida for Mako's Christmas party on Sunday evening. Sunday morning my wife and I drove the 3 and a half hours to Key West, had lunch, and drove back to Ft. Lauderdale.

I found out that one of my new colleagues at Mako is a triathlete! He has been doing triathlons for about 2 years and has heard about "Team In Training". We spent some time sharing "war" stories about our training and racing. He has recently completed his first "Half Ironman". So, I will be looking to him for pointers as the race day nears. :-)

Merry Christmas!

Driving the Florida Keys

Sunday morning, my wife and I drove from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West (about 3 and a half hours), ate lunch in Key West, and drove back to Ft. Lauderdale. Seems a little crazy, but the drive down the Keys is really beautiful and not in the least boring. It's a great way to see southern Florida!

Resolving my leg cramps

I've gathered more evidence this week that the various massage methods work to relieve and prevent leg (particularly calf) cramps. It was a good week to test it out. I was in Florida for most of the week - home now - and was able to run each morning that I was down there. The weather is just about perfect with the morning temperatures in the 50s and 60s. Sunday morning I ran about an hour and 15 minutes. I felt two sharp "twinges" in my right calf on the lateral side. Shortening and slowing my stride each time was enough to allow me to continue to run. When I finished, I could feel a new trigger (tender) point near the site of the "twinges". Three times each day, I massaged both calves by sliding my thumbs from achilles tendon to knee 30 times each. I also concentrated on the new trigger point, putting just enough pressure on the point so that the pain subsided a little with the pressure. I can still feel the trigger point as I write this but the tenderness and swelling is definitely reduced from last Sunday.

Anyway, long story short, I was able to run for over an hour on Monday and Tuesday. I backed off a little on Wednesday and Thursday running about 45 minutes each day. But I finished Thursday's run with a pretty good kick. The great news is, I felt no further pain in either calf after Sunday's run. I am growing more and more convinced that massage will resolve these problems for me, allowing me to really enjoy the training runs again.