This is a recovery week, although I have been recovering a few weeks now. This just means the the intensity on the workout calendar is low. It is also a time to reconnect with my fundraising plans. I am participating in Ironteam to raise money to find a cure for cancer!
I completed my 2000 yard swim marker. I was alittle disappointed with my time because I was 2 minutes slower than when I completed that distance before I was injured. Then my swim coach put it in perspective for me. Sometimes set backs make us work harder for the things we want and anything that's worth anything requires hard work and determination. Once I completely get back into the swing of things, my speed will come back.
I attended a spin workout on Wednesday in Walnut Creek and that was my first spin workout since I fell. My knee did pretty well so I was pleased. Thursday I saw the ortho doc for a follow-up. I waited 45 minutes after the scheduled appointment time for a 5 minute appointment that ended with a hand shake and smiles so it's all good.
Saturday I swam 1 hour in Aquatic Park in SF. The water was cold, but not as cold as last time. I still covered every part of my body and wore my gloves. Salt water makes me thirsty, so I prefer to swim in fresh water. There were alot of people out there. Then again, Wildflower and Escape from Alcatraz are just a week away.
There was a run marker scheduled for this week, but I am not running yet. Instead I attended the 5K run to honor and remember Brenda Donato, as a spectator. I worked the water stop and cheered teammates on. After the run, we got to shop at Sports Basement, since it was right across the street. Then we went to our head coaches' house for an honoree potluck and that's how my day was spent - with great people, connected by a cause to change people's lives.
Here's to the week ahead.
Cheers,
Dana
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Week #23 - Bike Focus Week
Well, this week was the first time I was back on my bike in about 4 weeks. WOW did it feel great to be back out there with my teammates and just back out on the road cycling. Now my teammates either had a century weekend (50 miles on Sat and Sun) or some folks even did 100 miles each day. It was Cal Day on Saturday so I was working, plus my knee wasn't ready for back to back rides.
Sunday we got to ride the Vineman course. Now, this was my first time back my bike since I fell so I wasn't sure how the day was going to play out. I had a plan - to do an out and back ride that was either for mileage or time. Then I spoke to my coach and he gave me some options for cutting the course shorter, cutting out some climbs, so I decided to attempt that option. My coach road with me to show me the route I was going to be taking since it was different than the maps. When the whole team made a left hand turn and coach and I made a right, I appreciated how two SAG vehicles came to tell us we were going the wrong way. For us, we were going on the different route than others.
For a quick minute, I was in the lead. That didn't last long as the faster riders passed me at the SAG stop. Coach caught up with me again and led me back on the course after cutting out a loop section. There was a HUGE 7/8 mile climb up Chalk Hill, but since climbing hurt me knee, the SAG vehicle advanced me to the top of the hill so I could finish the ride. I completed 42 miles!!! First time back on the bike and completed 42 miles. I was EXCITED. As soon as I got back to the parking lot, I went to Safeway to grab a bag of ice because my knee was swelling. I brought back a 20lb bag of ice so other could ice if they needed. It was a beautiful day and just amazing to training again with teammates, even if it is modified.
A recovery week is ahead so I look forward to more physical therapy sessions so I can continue to heal.
Have a great week.
Cheers,
Dana
Sunday we got to ride the Vineman course. Now, this was my first time back my bike since I fell so I wasn't sure how the day was going to play out. I had a plan - to do an out and back ride that was either for mileage or time. Then I spoke to my coach and he gave me some options for cutting the course shorter, cutting out some climbs, so I decided to attempt that option. My coach road with me to show me the route I was going to be taking since it was different than the maps. When the whole team made a left hand turn and coach and I made a right, I appreciated how two SAG vehicles came to tell us we were going the wrong way. For us, we were going on the different route than others.
For a quick minute, I was in the lead. That didn't last long as the faster riders passed me at the SAG stop. Coach caught up with me again and led me back on the course after cutting out a loop section. There was a HUGE 7/8 mile climb up Chalk Hill, but since climbing hurt me knee, the SAG vehicle advanced me to the top of the hill so I could finish the ride. I completed 42 miles!!! First time back on the bike and completed 42 miles. I was EXCITED. As soon as I got back to the parking lot, I went to Safeway to grab a bag of ice because my knee was swelling. I brought back a 20lb bag of ice so other could ice if they needed. It was a beautiful day and just amazing to training again with teammates, even if it is modified.
A recovery week is ahead so I look forward to more physical therapy sessions so I can continue to heal.
Have a great week.
Cheers,
Dana
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Week #22 - Bootcamp Rehab
This week there was back to back days of training with the South Bay Team. Leading up to our second and final bootcamp, I was in physical therapy sessions and working on rehabbing my knee. The patella tendon is still very sore to the touch, the my knee's function is increasing. My range of motion is pretty much back to where it was - finally! All week, I'm been sitting in my office, tucking my rehabbing leg under my chair to stretch the tendon. This work clearly is showing the benefits now. The tendon is back to it's original length and that was the goal. Now, the goal is to get the remaining fluid around the knee out of the area and allow blood to flood into the impacted area and bring nutrients. How is the done? Light and tender massage. It was painful at first, but it is time to move stuff around in there.
Saturday we were at Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton. The plan was to complete 3X swim/bike/run/core at your own pace in 5 hours. Well, I'm not %100 yet so I made created my own bootcamp course. I completed the swim of about 1000 yards. Then saw my back bike tire was flat. Damn how did I get a flat already? Turns out the coaches flattened all back tires so we would have to work on changing the back tire. After all that, I put my bike back on the bike trainer for a very light spin. This was actually the first time I had been back on my bike since the fall. I completed 25 minutes. Then, my swim coached convinced me to get into the 58 degree water without a wetsuit for deep water running. She said it would be better for my knee without the wetsuit. Well, she was right, but it took some time to get use to the water temp. I completed 40 minutes of deep water running. Then I completed some rehab exercises on land as part of my core and rehab plan.
It was time to complete the cycle again. So, I attempt to put back on my wet wetsuit. LOL I couldn't feel my fingers and was having a difficult time pinching the wetsuit to pull it up. My coached asked if I wanted help and I said, "Yes please". He helped me put on the wetsuit and it was a great fit. I had the best swim of the day after that. I went back in the water and completed another 1000 yard swim. I exit the water and have 30 minutes until the open water tester was coming to certify me to swim outside the lane lines at Shadow Cliffs. Well, after all that to get my wet wetsuit back on, I was not about to take it off for 30 minutes just to put it back on. So, I left on the wetsuit. I thought about doing a light spin with it on, but didn't want to rip it. So, I connected with teammates who I hadn't seen in a while and attempted to say warm.
The open water tester arrived and I went back into the water to be tested. Of course, I passed and am now certified to swim outside the lane lines. Apparently, there is a route that is exactly 2.4 miles outside the lanes. After completing all the paperwork for that, the 5 hours was up. We ended our day on the foam rollers. Now, I have not used my legs in the same capacity as my teammates, but that foam roller really hurt! My butt was still alittle sore on Sunday.
I woke up Sunday morning, planning to attend the day 2 of bootcamp in San Jose. The night prior I watched the weather forecast and learned of a bad storm that was headed on way on Sunday. I told myself I would play it by ear in the morning. The workout was going to consist of swim drills (which I can do), then a 30 mile bike ride (which I can not do), a track workout (which I can not do), a bike trainer workout (which I can not do) , possibly another run workout (which I can not do) and end with an endurance swim (which I can do). I woke up, looked outside and just saw dark clouds hovering over in the sky. Needless to say, I decided to stay close to home and swim at the gym. It poured something else that day and my teammates were out there completing the workouts. Now, that's IRON!
The next week ahead is a bike focus week and it ends with us completing one loop of the Vineman bike course. We'll see how my physical therapy and rehab goes this week.
Have a great week.
Cheers,
Dana
Saturday we were at Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton. The plan was to complete 3X swim/bike/run/core at your own pace in 5 hours. Well, I'm not %100 yet so I made created my own bootcamp course. I completed the swim of about 1000 yards. Then saw my back bike tire was flat. Damn how did I get a flat already? Turns out the coaches flattened all back tires so we would have to work on changing the back tire. After all that, I put my bike back on the bike trainer for a very light spin. This was actually the first time I had been back on my bike since the fall. I completed 25 minutes. Then, my swim coached convinced me to get into the 58 degree water without a wetsuit for deep water running. She said it would be better for my knee without the wetsuit. Well, she was right, but it took some time to get use to the water temp. I completed 40 minutes of deep water running. Then I completed some rehab exercises on land as part of my core and rehab plan.
It was time to complete the cycle again. So, I attempt to put back on my wet wetsuit. LOL I couldn't feel my fingers and was having a difficult time pinching the wetsuit to pull it up. My coached asked if I wanted help and I said, "Yes please". He helped me put on the wetsuit and it was a great fit. I had the best swim of the day after that. I went back in the water and completed another 1000 yard swim. I exit the water and have 30 minutes until the open water tester was coming to certify me to swim outside the lane lines at Shadow Cliffs. Well, after all that to get my wet wetsuit back on, I was not about to take it off for 30 minutes just to put it back on. So, I left on the wetsuit. I thought about doing a light spin with it on, but didn't want to rip it. So, I connected with teammates who I hadn't seen in a while and attempted to say warm.
The open water tester arrived and I went back into the water to be tested. Of course, I passed and am now certified to swim outside the lane lines. Apparently, there is a route that is exactly 2.4 miles outside the lanes. After completing all the paperwork for that, the 5 hours was up. We ended our day on the foam rollers. Now, I have not used my legs in the same capacity as my teammates, but that foam roller really hurt! My butt was still alittle sore on Sunday.
I woke up Sunday morning, planning to attend the day 2 of bootcamp in San Jose. The night prior I watched the weather forecast and learned of a bad storm that was headed on way on Sunday. I told myself I would play it by ear in the morning. The workout was going to consist of swim drills (which I can do), then a 30 mile bike ride (which I can not do), a track workout (which I can not do), a bike trainer workout (which I can not do) , possibly another run workout (which I can not do) and end with an endurance swim (which I can do). I woke up, looked outside and just saw dark clouds hovering over in the sky. Needless to say, I decided to stay close to home and swim at the gym. It poured something else that day and my teammates were out there completing the workouts. Now, that's IRON!
The next week ahead is a bike focus week and it ends with us completing one loop of the Vineman bike course. We'll see how my physical therapy and rehab goes this week.
Have a great week.
Cheers,
Dana
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Week #21 - still rehabbing
Well sports fans, I'm still in rehab mode. My trainings this week were full of swimming, upper body strength exercises, and a Physical Therapy appointment.
PT says I have a bone bruise - which considering other news, is great! The patella tendon does not get alot of blood flow and nutrients to the area so that is the goal for now. Massage, ultrasound and some rehab exercises are my lower body workouts these days. I try to not get frustrated because I know in the long run, it is better to completely heal and rehab correctly so I can complete my ultimate goal, but sometimes the frustration does set in.
I did speak with my bike coach this week so that I can develop a plan to address that aspect of the event. Once I am ready to come back, I'll be building back up slowly, as to not re-injury anything, and go from there.
Success at an endurance event is a product of four factors:
1. Inherent ability - genetic makeup and talent
2. Motivation - refers to inner desire to exercise talent and genetics
3. Opportunity - includes hindering and facilitating factors in the environment
4. Direction - recognizes a coach's influence on an athlete
How I integrate my trainings into my environment will become even more important as I get back into the swing of things and on longer and more challenging workouts.
My teammates completed lactate thresholds tests this week. I look forward to completing this when I am 100%, but I'll break down why this test is important.
For the past 20 weeks, I've been doing a tremendous amount of base building. My heart and body is adapting to the training load and I am becoming more efficient. The measure of efficiency of my heart is to measure my heart rate at different intensity levels and determine an approximate heart rate at which I can be most economical and still put forth the most effort and perform at a consistent level for a long time. So, by conducting lactate threshold tests using heart rate as an indicator of my exertion level will result in some identified "training zones" to work within to maximize the efficiency of my training.
Here's to a week full of rehab and reduced swelling each day.
Cheers,
Dana
PT says I have a bone bruise - which considering other news, is great! The patella tendon does not get alot of blood flow and nutrients to the area so that is the goal for now. Massage, ultrasound and some rehab exercises are my lower body workouts these days. I try to not get frustrated because I know in the long run, it is better to completely heal and rehab correctly so I can complete my ultimate goal, but sometimes the frustration does set in.
I did speak with my bike coach this week so that I can develop a plan to address that aspect of the event. Once I am ready to come back, I'll be building back up slowly, as to not re-injury anything, and go from there.
Success at an endurance event is a product of four factors:
1. Inherent ability - genetic makeup and talent
2. Motivation - refers to inner desire to exercise talent and genetics
3. Opportunity - includes hindering and facilitating factors in the environment
4. Direction - recognizes a coach's influence on an athlete
How I integrate my trainings into my environment will become even more important as I get back into the swing of things and on longer and more challenging workouts.
My teammates completed lactate thresholds tests this week. I look forward to completing this when I am 100%, but I'll break down why this test is important.
For the past 20 weeks, I've been doing a tremendous amount of base building. My heart and body is adapting to the training load and I am becoming more efficient. The measure of efficiency of my heart is to measure my heart rate at different intensity levels and determine an approximate heart rate at which I can be most economical and still put forth the most effort and perform at a consistent level for a long time. So, by conducting lactate threshold tests using heart rate as an indicator of my exertion level will result in some identified "training zones" to work within to maximize the efficiency of my training.
Here's to a week full of rehab and reduced swelling each day.
Cheers,
Dana
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