Woof!

On Saturday afternoon Mel & I went to the last class of our dogging training with Sammy. Throughout the week Mel does the training with him so during the Saturday classes I don the treat bag and take over. During the orientation, before the classes began, we were warned to NOT let the dogs great each other during the class while on leases as it is not natural thing for them.

Since we got Sammy back from the kennel, after our Vegas trip, he seems to have developed a bad habit with this. He howls when he can't get to greet other dogs while he is on his lease. During this last class we did a lot of drills with the other dogs in close proximity...I wanted to crawl under a rock. He howled non-stop and the instructor continuously corrected me on what I was doing wrong. It was embarrassing at the moment but after wards, I was happy with the corrections/feedback I was given as I think they will help us reduce the amount of barking he does during these situations.

Later in the evening we met up with Keith & his wife Linda, Susie, and Jill for Indian food in Susie's neck of the woods Cochrane. The food was great and the company was even better. We are discussing the possibility of doing a greek restaurant next month.

Rode, ran, swim over the weekend. Modified my workouts to accommodate my knee. Things are slowly getting better which is a positive sign. I back off when it flares up, icing it a lot, and bought a knee support brace which helps a little bit. Big week this week and next so we'll see what I can get completed.

DIY!

I have a problem sitting still unless I am in front of the computer playing Battlefield 2, watching a favorite TV show of mine, or at work building out websites with the latest & coolest web technologies. With the exception of the last, neither are really that productive so I went back through my list of house projects I have neglected since training and racing season. One that caught my fancy was the bathroom fan in our master bathroom. It is too small for the area and as a result too much moisture builds up in there. The original fan was install by the builder I presume and was 50 CFM's and rated 3.0 sones. The new one I put in is 110 CFM's and 1.5 sones.

CFM stands for cubic feet per minute and refers to how strong the fan is. Obviously, the higher the CFM's the better. Sones refer to the noise level of the fan and I believe rate from 1.0 - 7.0. The lower the sones the better.

Installation has been a little tough. The old fan was put in an awkward place in our attic which required me to crawl on my knees to access it and work in the same position. (probably part of the reason my knee is so shagged at the moment...haha.)

I'm no expert but I know a shitty job when I see it and the builder took a few shortcuts putting the original one in there. I started on Sunday, took Monday off, and finished the fan installation on Tuesday night. This weekend I have to get back up there and replace the vapour barrier around and over the fan.

Anyways, it feels good to knock something off the project list. Both Mel and I have...well mainly Mel, have been going through our list since we took possession last spring. The previous owners were a little negligent in keeping certain things in working order.

Since I have been swimming everyday to keep some aerobic fitness, I have started doing flip-turns. I sucked up the nausea for the first while and it eventually went away after a week. I not that great at them but it does add a new element to the workouts which makes things interesting. I really need to hit up YouTube and watch a few videos on proper technique.

Been to the gym everyday doing strength and stretching exercises for my knee. No pain over the past several days so I am taking that as a good sign. When I wake up in the mornings it is a little sore but that may be the way I am sleeping. I plan on taping the mofo tomorrow morning and trying it out on the treadmill for 20 - 30 minutes.

Swim, Swim, Swim

I feel like a broken record every time I sit down to write a blog entry:

Despite taking some time off from dry-land running (3 weeks now) my knee has somehow gotten worse.

Despite the stretching/icing/heat applications to my knee, it somehow has gotten worse.

And despite seeing a physiotherapist twice, and athletic therapist my knee has gotten worse.

I had a private melt-down over the weekend to release both stress and frustration. The problem probably started with my IT band but now it has something to do with either the tracking of the knee cap or some of the bursa in/around the knee. No one can pinpoint the exact cause as I pass all of the range of motion tests they perform when I get tested. However, put me on a bike or treadmill for 5 minutes and I start limping.

So I haven't cycled/water ran since last Thurs/Fri and will lay off until the weekend. Swimming doesn't seem to bother it so I am swimming a shit-ton in the mean time, still stretching, incorporating some strength exercises, icing, and taking ibuprofen.

For me the hardest part of this has been watching my run fitness go down the shitter. I switched my running program up for this race and was riding a great wave until things went sour. Anyways, I have switched my goals up for this race and now I am focusing on just getting there somewhat healthy and being able to finish it.

I try not to think too much about the missed training but honestly it is really hard not to for this race. I am sure there are few lessons I am being taught here but I'm not realizing them yet.

Anyways my friends, that is about it for now.

Happy Tuesday!

Pushing through it

Well, this past week has been a lesson on keeping positive during a tough situation.

After my appointment with the Athletic Therapist (AT) last week I decided to get a second opinion last Friday regarding my knee/IT band pain. Not that I don't trust my AT's opinion/advice but I like to exhaust all avenues. Saw a Physio at my old clinic up in the north end of the city. He pretty much confirmed what my AT already told me - IT band is chronically tight and that I have to back off of running for a week. He also ultra-sounded the knee area where the IT band crosses and performed IMS from my hip all the way down. IMS is where they basically jab needles into a tight muscle, and wiggle it to get it to release. Finally he gave me a couple of additional stretches to perform.

Been biking/swimming lots since then but now the pain is starting to cross over from running into cycling. I'm not sure what to do now...I have been icing it, applying heat, stretching, foam roller, applying the STICK, tennis balls...you name it and I have been doing it 2-3 times per day. Each time it takes me roughly an hour to run through the gamut of exercises. I have been eating ibuprofen like candy to help with the inflammation as well which is something I never do.

I am not sure what do else at this point. My AT and Physio both sent me off and said there is nothing else they can do. My benefits don't cover massage so that is out at the moment. I think I am going to back off some of the stretches b/c they seem to irritate the knee area...Friday I am suppose to start running again but I'm afraid I'm screwed in that dept.

Really I need about 3 weeks of solid rest but unfortunately I am racing in a month...lol. I am going to have to suck it up even more over the next little while and try push through it. I can't even begin to think about the worst case scenerio...I can't even let that thought in.

Anyways, thats it...my current struggle is not with the workouts, with eating, motivation...it is my body saying it needs a break.

Happy Hump Day

Bit by bit...

I stretched and iced/applied heat like a mofo yesterday and last night. This morning I was up at 6am and trotted off into the basement. 10 minute warm up on the trainer before hopping onto the treadmill. Switched out my old runners for some newish ones, and also had my compression tights on. One of the recommendations from my AT was to wear tights no matter how warm it is.

So I had a major sweat going due to that and also the heat starting to kick in...and I wasn't even doing any work...good training for the Florida heat I guess.

I got 35 minutes of continuous running before stopping due to the ache flaring up. Don't want to aggravate anymore. Overall I am pleased as that is 15 more minutes than what I ran on Sunday so I'm slowly gaining back the time. Followed up with more stretching and ice/heat after wards. Everything is feeling fine so that is a good sign things are getting better...fingers crossed.

I'm water running at lunch, swimming after work for an hour, then biking home in time watch our Wednesday night line up of TV shows.

Tomorrow is a relatively easier day...more water running during lunch and a brick workout in the evening. I am hoping to do the run in the high aerobic range. Friday is my EDO so Mel and I are off to Banff for the day.

Windy Tuesday

So this morning Mel, I, and the dogs were up early. I had my appointment at 8am with the Head Athletic Therapist on campus and I did not want to be late! Mel was coming down to do a workout at the campus gym...free ride...score!

Met with Kim and went over my background and when I started having the issue. She is super thorough and I really appreciate that. In the end, she told me that my issue is with my IT band being obnoxiously tight - therefore causing referral pain in the side of my knee/leg. The cause was probably threefold:

1.) Running last Wednesday morning in freezing cold weather with shorts on. Knees were super cold by the end and aching.

2.) My runners are absolutely trashed. Same ones I have been training/racing in since last Feb. This I know better but were being cheap and trying to hold off buying another set until later this month.

3.) Not enough of the "correct" stretching.

She gave me a couple of new stretches to do. One of them is for the glutes on the foam roller and holy fark does it ever hurt...in a good way. So I am stretching 2x day now and as well as applying ice/heat 2x daily.

Also switched out my runners for some lesser worn ones but still have to get a new pair. And no more running outside in shorts - out come the running tights this evening.

As for running, well she believes I should be able to hop right back into it but I am not so certain. I am scheduled to run tomorrow for 80 minutes. Will stick to the treadmill for now and go as long as I can before the aching starts to arise. If I don't make it beyond the time threshold I was at last weekend, then I am laying off running for a week.

And today is our 5th wedding anniversary! Love you Mel!

35 one word responses

Our buddy Julie tagged a few of us for this one.

1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Your hair? short
3. Your mother? amazing
4. Your father? good
5. Your favourite food? sushi
6. Your dream last night? weird
7. Your favourite drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? kona
9. What room are you in? office
10. Your hobby? training
11. Your fear? flying
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren't? unaware
15. Muffins? yes
16. Wish list item? bike
17. Where did you grow up? labrador
18. Last thing you did? bike
19. What are you wearing? gray
20. Your TV? 40"
21. Your pets? family
22. Your friends? terrific
23. Your life? great
24. Your mood? fun
25. Missing someone? yes
26. Vehicle? crv
27. Something you're not wearing? watch
28. Your favourite store? ebgames
29. Your favourite color? orange
30. When was the last time you laughed? sunday
31. Last time you cried? june 20th
32. Your best friend? mel
33. One place that I go over and over? tim hortons
34. One person who emails me regularly? mel
35. Favourite place to eat? living room

Had some great swim/bikes last week and weekend. Started having some knee issues while running - about 25 minutes into a run it starts to ache. Not debilitating,but enough to notice and realize that it is something that will get worse unless I get it looked at. Thankfully, the Athletic Therapist for the sports teams on campus has agreed to see me. She is also a hardcore competitor in her sport of choice and I have a feeling has a no nonsense approach to rehab and training. I can' wait to start working with her tomorrow morning and get this fixed!

In the meantime, I have to cut my run times, cut out speed work, and run only on the treadmill. Also will start water running this week. I got out an old pair of runners last night and washed them in the washer. Was reading somewhere you should wear runners while water running so you don't cheat and point your toes downward. Haven't tried it yet and I am not sure if the lifeguards at my pool will allow me to use...I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy Monday!

Crazy ride into work this am

When I ride into work I use a mixture of roads, pathways, and sidewalks. My bike is a old 1998 Trek mountain bike that easily weights 50lbs plus another 20lbs in my backpack along with yours truly. I don't ride the entire way to/from work on roads for the following reason:

1. Some roads are barely wide enough for vehicles, let alone bikes and vehicles
2. I can't ride nearly fast enough to keep up with traffic on the "tank".
3. I don't trust any of the drivers...too many people are half asleep, on their cellphones, smoking/drinking coffee & driving a stick at the same time.

When I ride, I am very cognizant of my surroundings, use my hand signals when appropriate, wait for the cross signals, give right away to traffic, etc. For the most part this serves me well but this morning I ran across quite a few terds.

First up was a bus driver about 15 minutes after leaving the house. I had to turn left at a 3-way intersection....waited my turn, signaled and went. The bus driver was merging into my lane and had a yield to traffic sign but decided he wasn't waiting for a cyclist. So I manage to squeak by him about about 2 feet. He was so on my ass that I felt violated. Instead of giving me room on the side of the road he runs me into the sidewalk!

I was fuming...and I almost caught him at a stop light, to give him a piece of my mind, before it turned green and he sped off. He had a bus load of kids so I was going to keep it G-rated nonetheless.

15 minutes later I am riding along the bike path coming up to an intersection. I get there as the walk signal appears and so I slow down to cross. Two cars turning left across the intersection and are not stopping for me so I stop to let them go. After that I am going. As I do, a mini-van comes flying through the intersection and lays on the horn for an eternity. I look up at the signal, look back at the driver, and point at the walk signal. I get the finger in return. Yes, you have a wonderful day as well I say to myself.

A short time later, I am coming up to a pedestrian on a sidewalk. They see me and decide they are not moving over so I have get off my bike and walk it around them.

Fuuuck me this morning.

I am saying to myself...I can't ride on the roads, I can't ride on the sidewalks, there are not enough pathways in this dam city. Everyone hates cyclists.

Do any of these people realize I am one less car on the road, one less car they have to wait behind at the lights, one less car polluting the environment...heck, one less car they have to wait behind in the Tim Horton's drive-through!!!

LMAO.

So I get into work, get a coffee and some breaky...blood sugar level rises, happiness ensues, and I have since forgiven the people from this morning.

Its lunchtime, I am due for a swim.

Happy Friday folks!

Realizing what doesn't work and making changes

I have set up three basic blocks of training geared towards Clearwater. I was a little too ambitious with what I wanted to get accomplished in Block 1 in terms of training volume. With the unrealistic volume, lack of quality sleep, and some poor nutritional choices I was starting to feel run down. Throughout my recovery week I did not feel like I was recovering well at all - in fact I felt like I was digging the hole deeper. Clearly I was beyond overreaching and starting to step into overtraining territory. In someways it was good I got sick when I did because it forced me to take several days off completely from training. Not one to sit idly all day, I reviewed the past four weeks of training.

Going over my schedule and my training notes I discovered a couple of areas where I was stretching myself a little too thin. So I modified my schedule for Block 2 and things feel much better this go around compared to the last block of training at this exact time.

The one big thing I changed was cycling 6 days a week. On top of my 95 minute (round-trip) commute to work, I was also trying to cycle on Tues/Thurs/Fri evenings and on Saturdays as well. My core bike workouts were starting to suffer because I was already tired by the time I hit them. Not too mention this fatigue was carrying over into swim/run workouts.

I know back in May I was gun-ho about cycling to/from work everyday but in reality it wasn't working for me. So I dialed it back to just 2-3 days of commuting which seems to be just the right balance.

Some other changes this go around of training:

• Finished up the strength training component of my tues/thurs gym workouts. I spent the last 1.5 months doing weights to build some muscular endurance.
• Strength training workouts have been replaced by dedicated stretching sessions.
• Going to bed slightly earlier every night.
• Eating helluva lot better and have dropped 10lbs in the past 5 weeks. Granted, the process was slightly expedited by food poisoning.
• Setting smaller and more immediate goals with each training session

Outside of training, Mel and I have been going to training classes with Super Sammy on Saturdays for the past 4 or 5 weeks. Things are going great so far.

We also have our wedding anniversary coming up on Oct 6...5 years ago from that date we were standing on the cliffs of Santorini during sunset getting married. Dream come true on many levels. Our other anniversary...the one in which we first met is Feb 5...that one will be our 15th anniversary! Yes, it took me 10 years to propose...

Happy Thursday