I will have another crack at over-distance endurance in the near future. For this week, I had an MRI to confirm no fracture and no evidence of torn ligaments. EXCELLENT NEWS!!!
So, I spent this week with more doctor appointments and was able to get in a few swims. I also worked with my trainer on upper body strength - yeah since I couldn't stand on my left leg. I have not been back on my bike since I fell, but I am hopeful to get on it this coming week.
I'm still icing, elevating, using anti-inflammatory creams and hope to start physical therapy soon so I can work on re-building my VMO (the muscle that helps the patella-tendon track correctly). My patella-tendon is definitely not tracking correctly. ouch
Here's to a week ahead full of continued healing with some more light regular workouts back in there.
Have a great week.
Cheers,
Dana
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Week #19 - Half-Way-To-Iron-Weekend
I was all pumped for my half-way-to-iron-weekend. I knew that cutoff times will be enforced to ensure we have the support you need out on the course and we finish up with plenty of time to get ready to chow down at an all you can eat BBQ dinner back at camp. These cutoff times were selected by the coaches because they represent exactly half the time for the real cutoff times at Ironman.
I mentally and physically visualized my day going like this. We will start promptly at 7am with the swim.
The swim cutoff time will be at a total time of 1 hour and 10 minutes, which is a 3:18/100 yards pace (8:10am).
The bike cutoff time will be at a total time of 5 hours and 30 minutes (12:30pm) . If you just make the swim cutoff and have a 10 minute transition, this equates to an average bike speed of 13.44 miles/hr.
The run cutoff time will be at a total time of 9 hours (4:00pm). If you just make the bike cutoff and have a 10 minute transition, this equates to an average run pace of 24:34/mile.
What I wasn't prepared for was falling directly onto my kneecap on the Marin Metric Century route the weekend prior. in the days leading up to Half-Way-To-Iron-Weekend, I had an x-ray to make sure I didn't break my kneecap. The x-ray came back - no fracture, but due the trama this knee has already endured, my doctor wanted me to see an ortho. Fortunately, I was able to see an ortho this week too. I knew I was only going to be cleared for swimming and that was exactly the case. I traveled down to the Wildflower course and I was able to complete the 1.2 mile swim in 50 minutes. Not bad for only pulling. This was the first activity I was able to do all week so I attempted to kick and it didn't feel right, so I just pulled. Then after my swim, I stayed in the cold water to complete some range of motion movement to get my knee moving. I had been icing and elevating it all week, taking anti-inflammatory meds, doing everything I could to get the swelling down.
Then, I went and worked the first run water stop. It was great for me to be able to cheer on my teammates. Sure, I wanted to be out there with them, but since it is better for me to recovery completely now so I can complete my main goal in July, cheering on my teammates was the next best thing. After the last runner came through my water stop, I went back into the cold water for round 2 of range of motion, only this time I was without a wetsuit. This REALLY helped loosen my knee up so I was really glad I did it. Of course, my knee tightened up again on the 4 hour car ride home from Lake San Antonio, but it was worth it!
My week ahead is supposed to be a recovery week, which is great because my week will be filled with doctor appointments and an MRI to make sure everything is ok with my knee.
I mentally and physically visualized my day going like this. We will start promptly at 7am with the swim.
The swim cutoff time will be at a total time of 1 hour and 10 minutes, which is a 3:18/100 yards pace (8:10am).
The bike cutoff time will be at a total time of 5 hours and 30 minutes (12:30pm) . If you just make the swim cutoff and have a 10 minute transition, this equates to an average bike speed of 13.44 miles/hr.
The run cutoff time will be at a total time of 9 hours (4:00pm). If you just make the bike cutoff and have a 10 minute transition, this equates to an average run pace of 24:34/mile.
What I wasn't prepared for was falling directly onto my kneecap on the Marin Metric Century route the weekend prior. in the days leading up to Half-Way-To-Iron-Weekend, I had an x-ray to make sure I didn't break my kneecap. The x-ray came back - no fracture, but due the trama this knee has already endured, my doctor wanted me to see an ortho. Fortunately, I was able to see an ortho this week too. I knew I was only going to be cleared for swimming and that was exactly the case. I traveled down to the Wildflower course and I was able to complete the 1.2 mile swim in 50 minutes. Not bad for only pulling. This was the first activity I was able to do all week so I attempted to kick and it didn't feel right, so I just pulled. Then after my swim, I stayed in the cold water to complete some range of motion movement to get my knee moving. I had been icing and elevating it all week, taking anti-inflammatory meds, doing everything I could to get the swelling down.
Then, I went and worked the first run water stop. It was great for me to be able to cheer on my teammates. Sure, I wanted to be out there with them, but since it is better for me to recovery completely now so I can complete my main goal in July, cheering on my teammates was the next best thing. After the last runner came through my water stop, I went back into the cold water for round 2 of range of motion, only this time I was without a wetsuit. This REALLY helped loosen my knee up so I was really glad I did it. Of course, my knee tightened up again on the 4 hour car ride home from Lake San Antonio, but it was worth it!
My week ahead is supposed to be a recovery week, which is great because my week will be filled with doctor appointments and an MRI to make sure everything is ok with my knee.
Week #18
My week started off great, but ended on a sour note. I went shopping this week, not for the fun of it but out of necessity. I did a Sports Basement run to get gear for swimming in the cold water. I bought different booties, a skull cap, and was looking for gloves but they only had the webbed kind - they are illegal. So, I decided to try REI. They didn't have them either, but they did have Kayaking gloves. So, I decided to give them a try. I got the ones with velcrow in the hopes that they would be secure.
Well Saturday morning came and my first swim in SF's Aquatic Park was on. The new gear did really well. The water temp was 52 degrees. The gloves weighed me down some, but they did their job and kept my hands warm(er) than being exposed to the water. I had a really good swim. So, we had to swim one lap around the boyie and then come back into shore for a surprise. We had to do that three times which equaled a mile. On shore, we did push-ups, crab walks and something that I don't know the name for.
After the swim, we drove to Sports Basement where we got into our run gear. Now, I knew we had a 60 mile bike ride scheduled for Sunday and that we were in SF so that meant hills, so I decided to walk a majority of our run. We did a loop all threw the Presido. It was absolutely lovely - hilly - but lovely. We did 5.3 miles.
When we got back, the team met up inside Sports Basement for an Iron Univ on Goals. Did you know that there are seven distint types of goals:
1. Long Term Goals
2. Yearly Goals
3. Race Goals
4. Feeling Goals
5. Training Goals
6. Lifestyle Goals
7. Filfullment Goals
Goals #1, 2, and 3 can be categorized as OUTCOME goals because they describe specific results you want to achieve. The importance of outcome goals is that they provide the destinations of your goal setting program. Place these goals in the distance as what you ultimately want to achieve.
Goals #4, 5, 6, and 7 are PROGRESS goals and should be your primary focus in your day-to-day training efforts. By focusing on your progress goals, you will ensure that you do what needs to be done to reach your outcome goals. Pursuing your progress goals will make attaining your outcome goals more manageable and enable you to focus on the enjoyment of triathlon and ensure you get the most quality out of your effort.
The Goal Formula - Vision + Motivation + Goals = Progress
Finally, we completed an exercise where we wrote a letter to ourselves expressing whatever it is we wanted to express and it will be given back to us the evening before our race.
Sunday - the plan was to complete the Marin Metric Century route. I did this as an event before and I REMEMBERED all the hills that were part of the course. This was my day this time:
The Marin Metric Century route begins on flat to rolling terrain before you are greeted with your first challenge of the day, a 1.5 mile and 430 foot climb to Big Rock Summit of Lucas Valley. This is followed by a thrilling descent through the redwoods into the ranches and grasslands of West Marin. The route then winds north through relatively flat terrain past the small town of Nicasioand along Nicasio Reservoir.
The second climb of the day (1.4 miles and 380 foot gain) rolls up to Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Rd. over a summit and past the famous Cheese Factory before turning north onto Hicks Valley Rd.
The ride continues out Hicks Valley Rd. This is remote West Marin at its best. Rolling hills and sparsely traveled roads bring you through ranch country and and open space to where the 100K route turns east (another route turns west) for the biggest challenge of the day - Wilson Hill. This climb is steep, 700' high and the descent down the east side is exhilarating. The route rolls out through relatively flat terrain into the outskirts of Petalumato McNear Park at mile 32.
And here is where my day changed! I'm not exactly sure what happened. I think I thought I unclipped and my teammates said I then stood up to get off the bike and apparently I did not unclip and I fell directly onto my knee cap. I layed on the ground holding my knee for a good five minutes without moving. Then I was finally able to kinda straighten it out and someone gave me some ice. Coach Dave rolled in and looked at it. Good thing I was wearing my leggings because that probably saved me from some road rash. He called the SAG (Support and Gear) car for me and Belinda, our nice volunteer, picked me up to take me back to the start. Along the way back, we picked up Helen who took a wrong turn and went miles out of her way.
I had a teammate, who is a NP, look at my knee when she got back. She advised me to get it checked because my knee cap was crunchy. She was worried about a broken knee cap.
So, today I got an appt with Dr. Tim and she sent me for x-rays. The great news is that I did not fracture my knee cap. However, given this is my bad knee that has already had three knee surgeries, she is referring me to an ortho for follow-up. Yep - this is not the way I wanted my week to end nor begin with Half-Way-To-Iron-Weekend in a week.
My week ahead will be nothing but elevating, icing, and anti-inflammatory medications and creams.
Have a great week.
Cheers,
Dana
Well Saturday morning came and my first swim in SF's Aquatic Park was on. The new gear did really well. The water temp was 52 degrees. The gloves weighed me down some, but they did their job and kept my hands warm(er) than being exposed to the water. I had a really good swim. So, we had to swim one lap around the boyie and then come back into shore for a surprise. We had to do that three times which equaled a mile. On shore, we did push-ups, crab walks and something that I don't know the name for.
After the swim, we drove to Sports Basement where we got into our run gear. Now, I knew we had a 60 mile bike ride scheduled for Sunday and that we were in SF so that meant hills, so I decided to walk a majority of our run. We did a loop all threw the Presido. It was absolutely lovely - hilly - but lovely. We did 5.3 miles.
When we got back, the team met up inside Sports Basement for an Iron Univ on Goals. Did you know that there are seven distint types of goals:
1. Long Term Goals
2. Yearly Goals
3. Race Goals
4. Feeling Goals
5. Training Goals
6. Lifestyle Goals
7. Filfullment Goals
Goals #1, 2, and 3 can be categorized as OUTCOME goals because they describe specific results you want to achieve. The importance of outcome goals is that they provide the destinations of your goal setting program. Place these goals in the distance as what you ultimately want to achieve.
Goals #4, 5, 6, and 7 are PROGRESS goals and should be your primary focus in your day-to-day training efforts. By focusing on your progress goals, you will ensure that you do what needs to be done to reach your outcome goals. Pursuing your progress goals will make attaining your outcome goals more manageable and enable you to focus on the enjoyment of triathlon and ensure you get the most quality out of your effort.
The Goal Formula - Vision + Motivation + Goals = Progress
Finally, we completed an exercise where we wrote a letter to ourselves expressing whatever it is we wanted to express and it will be given back to us the evening before our race.
Sunday - the plan was to complete the Marin Metric Century route. I did this as an event before and I REMEMBERED all the hills that were part of the course. This was my day this time:
The Marin Metric Century route begins on flat to rolling terrain before you are greeted with your first challenge of the day, a 1.5 mile and 430 foot climb to Big Rock Summit of Lucas Valley. This is followed by a thrilling descent through the redwoods into the ranches and grasslands of West Marin. The route then winds north through relatively flat terrain past the small town of Nicasioand along Nicasio Reservoir.
The second climb of the day (1.4 miles and 380 foot gain) rolls up to Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Rd. over a summit and past the famous Cheese Factory before turning north onto Hicks Valley Rd.
The ride continues out Hicks Valley Rd. This is remote West Marin at its best. Rolling hills and sparsely traveled roads bring you through ranch country and and open space to where the 100K route turns east (another route turns west) for the biggest challenge of the day - Wilson Hill. This climb is steep, 700' high and the descent down the east side is exhilarating. The route rolls out through relatively flat terrain into the outskirts of Petalumato McNear Park at mile 32.
And here is where my day changed! I'm not exactly sure what happened. I think I thought I unclipped and my teammates said I then stood up to get off the bike and apparently I did not unclip and I fell directly onto my knee cap. I layed on the ground holding my knee for a good five minutes without moving. Then I was finally able to kinda straighten it out and someone gave me some ice. Coach Dave rolled in and looked at it. Good thing I was wearing my leggings because that probably saved me from some road rash. He called the SAG (Support and Gear) car for me and Belinda, our nice volunteer, picked me up to take me back to the start. Along the way back, we picked up Helen who took a wrong turn and went miles out of her way.
I had a teammate, who is a NP, look at my knee when she got back. She advised me to get it checked because my knee cap was crunchy. She was worried about a broken knee cap.
So, today I got an appt with Dr. Tim and she sent me for x-rays. The great news is that I did not fracture my knee cap. However, given this is my bad knee that has already had three knee surgeries, she is referring me to an ortho for follow-up. Yep - this is not the way I wanted my week to end nor begin with Half-Way-To-Iron-Weekend in a week.
My week ahead will be nothing but elevating, icing, and anti-inflammatory medications and creams.
Have a great week.
Cheers,
Dana
Monday, March 8, 2010
Week #17 - Build #2 Starts
I am getting stronger. I feel great, both mentally and physically, and I am looking forward to the Wildflower Half in just two weeks. Personally, I've never done the Wildflower course before, but have been down to Lake San Antonio and know MANY folks who have attempted to complete it - most of them have. I do know that it is one of the most challenging half ironman courses around. As I continue to prepare for this milestone in my training, I'm surprised I am not nervous. Now, maybe that's because it is still 2 weeks out. We'll see what happens as time gets closer.
I was very proud of this week's workouts. Specifically, Saturday's open water swim and double brick. The recent rain cause the water temp to drop a degree or two. The water was about 52 degrees and felt colder than 2 weeks ago. As I was getting in the water, I could feel the water cold through my booties and wetsuit. That's when I knew it was gonna be a tough swim. It took me a good 10 minutes before I could even put my face in the water and even then could only swim about 5 stokes and had to raise my head. The returning lap was much better as my hands and face were numb and it didn't hurt as bad. This was the first time in a while that when I stood up to get out of the water, I was little dizzy. It went away within the walk back to our transition area.
There we got into our bike gear and on our trainers for some interval work. Why is that important? - to get blood flowing back into the feet. It worked and after 40 minutes of trainer work, I was feeling pretty good and getting warm. At that point, it was time to go on a 20 minute run. I actually walked it with some teammates because on one of the intervals, we were in our hardest gears and I could just feel the tension on my knee. Needless to say, my knee didn't like it and I knew I had another bike and run to go for the day. I made a good decision.
After a 10 minute out and back on the run trail, we got back on our bikes. This time we were heading out on the road for hills repeats. Now, two weeks ago, we climbed out of the park and the hill was a few miles long so this was what I thought we were doing. Good thing I was wrong. We went the other direction and repeated this much shorter hill. We road up and down this hill for 40 minutes, practicing good technique with climbing and descending the hill. It was actually kinda fun and because it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be, I had a smile on my face the whole time. After 40 minutes of hill repeats, it was time for another 20 minutes run. Again, I walked this but the important piece is that I was on my feet for that time.
Sunday was a nice long/easy run for 1 hr and 45 min. It was such a lovely day with the sun out shining bright. It was great to just be outdoors to enjoy it.
Have a great week.
Cheers,
Dana
I was very proud of this week's workouts. Specifically, Saturday's open water swim and double brick. The recent rain cause the water temp to drop a degree or two. The water was about 52 degrees and felt colder than 2 weeks ago. As I was getting in the water, I could feel the water cold through my booties and wetsuit. That's when I knew it was gonna be a tough swim. It took me a good 10 minutes before I could even put my face in the water and even then could only swim about 5 stokes and had to raise my head. The returning lap was much better as my hands and face were numb and it didn't hurt as bad. This was the first time in a while that when I stood up to get out of the water, I was little dizzy. It went away within the walk back to our transition area.
There we got into our bike gear and on our trainers for some interval work. Why is that important? - to get blood flowing back into the feet. It worked and after 40 minutes of trainer work, I was feeling pretty good and getting warm. At that point, it was time to go on a 20 minute run. I actually walked it with some teammates because on one of the intervals, we were in our hardest gears and I could just feel the tension on my knee. Needless to say, my knee didn't like it and I knew I had another bike and run to go for the day. I made a good decision.
After a 10 minute out and back on the run trail, we got back on our bikes. This time we were heading out on the road for hills repeats. Now, two weeks ago, we climbed out of the park and the hill was a few miles long so this was what I thought we were doing. Good thing I was wrong. We went the other direction and repeated this much shorter hill. We road up and down this hill for 40 minutes, practicing good technique with climbing and descending the hill. It was actually kinda fun and because it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be, I had a smile on my face the whole time. After 40 minutes of hill repeats, it was time for another 20 minutes run. Again, I walked this but the important piece is that I was on my feet for that time.
Sunday was a nice long/easy run for 1 hr and 45 min. It was such a lovely day with the sun out shining bright. It was great to just be outdoors to enjoy it.
Have a great week.
Cheers,
Dana
Monday, March 1, 2010
Week #16 - Well Earned Recovery Week
This week started with my knees alittle swollen due to all the work I did during Boot Camp weekend. I'm not big on popping pain pills, so I just iced the knees down. I got some good info from my training captain about some natural anti-inflammatory pills that I'll start to incorporate into my nutrition plan.
Just as important as paying attention to my body, I need to pay attention to my bike and other gear. It was raining all during Boot Camp weekend so I took an extra day off from training to rest the knees and spent a few hours cleaning my bike from head to toe. It's amazing all the gunk the chain picks up.
Wednesday I met up with my mentor and completed a run workout. Although, we both walked the 3 mile workouts because we were still sore. I completed marker sets in swimming, biking, and running to see how my fitness and strength is improving. I was pleased with my time for each sport.
I am progressing in the right direction and the Wildflower Half-Ironman is only 4 weeks away.
Here's to the week ahead.
Cheers,
Dana
Just as important as paying attention to my body, I need to pay attention to my bike and other gear. It was raining all during Boot Camp weekend so I took an extra day off from training to rest the knees and spent a few hours cleaning my bike from head to toe. It's amazing all the gunk the chain picks up.
Wednesday I met up with my mentor and completed a run workout. Although, we both walked the 3 mile workouts because we were still sore. I completed marker sets in swimming, biking, and running to see how my fitness and strength is improving. I was pleased with my time for each sport.
I am progressing in the right direction and the Wildflower Half-Ironman is only 4 weeks away.
Here's to the week ahead.
Cheers,
Dana
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