So the leg is healing, though slowly. Justin's advice to take huge doses of Ibuprofen seems to be doing the trick. I checked the FDA website and 240o mg a day is the therapeutic dose, with a daily max of 3200 mg for up to 14 days. So it's better, but not 100% by a long shot.
So I've been swiming (easy on the flip-turns!) and cycling easy: low effort and no hammering of any kind. Frustrating, but necessary. *sigh*
As for the crazy weekend...
I went for a ride Saturday at Daley Ranch in SD; the guy I was supposed to ride with flaked on me AND my brake pads went out at the 3.5 mile mark. So I took the rear brakes apart and limped it home. Total ride? 4.5 miles and about 35 minutes of ride time. Woo.
Saturday night, I got the idea to get my Growler refilled (1/2 gallon beer jug!) and I have a gift card for BJ's Pizza. Sweet. So I call my local restaurant to make sure I don't need an appointment or something. Nope; come on by and we'll fill it for you! Double sweet. So I head over thinking about free beer, walk in and the hostess tell me they don't do that there. Huh? I just called! She gets that "Oh shit, I'm caught!" look on her face but gets saved by a server who shows up and mentions that BJ's no longer fills Growlers. Lame! So now I have this jug that's totally useless because state law prohibits putting alochol in a jug incorrectly labeled. I.E., you can't put Stone beer in a BJ's growler. F*cking lame! So I go home, beer-less. :(
Sunday morning I get up to watch James kill it at Xterra World Championships and I can't find the linky to the streaming vid. I bailed out on the UCSD Team ride and no video? Crap! At which point I realize that Hawaii is 3 hours behind us and I totally could have ridden with the team. Womp womp. So I throw on the riding gear and head out for an easy spin just to waste time until the race starts. I stop for a bathroom break about 45 minutes in and notice my rear tire has a bubble in the tread. Aaargh! So I head home, hoping the tire will hold and it pops about 300 yards from my doo...so I rode it the rest of the way instead of changing it. At least it made it as far as it did.
So now the only bike I have that works is my single speed. *shrug* I killed two bikes in 24 hours. That's a new record for me.
However, homie James absolutely KILLED IT in Maui. He won his age group by a bunch and wound up SECOND AMATEUR and 22nd overall. So he's the 30-34 National AND World Champion. He almost ran down the first amateur...41 seconds out of first. F*cking STUD!
I'm working hard at letting the soleus heal. It's getting better and the pain is progressing in the reverse direction it got worse in. Does that make sense? Hopefully I'll be pain free before it's time to start my Base work for my first peak of 2009.
E.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Frustration
Saturday at Vail, my soleus was a little sore. I came home, stretched it and it felt better. Sunday I went for a long run and it got sore again. So I wrapped it and either stayed off my feet or made sure I had shoes on and it felt better. Last night while doing leg presses, it got sore again; same treatment, same result: improvement.
Today I went out for an easy 60 minute run with some foot speed work and leg hops...and it starts to hurt. Leg hops made it really painful and I was unable to stretch it away or walk it off. So I screamed "F*CK!!!" at the top of my lungs and walked home. I'm sitting here with it wrapped after taking 800 mg of Ibuprofen and seriously considering hanging up the running shoes for the whole season.
So I'm back to square 1 with this f'ing leg. I'm staying off it for the rest of the week: no more lifting, no MTB riding (hard, low cadence efforts anger the leg). I'm just going to swim and ride the road bike and hope for the best.
Stupid body.
E.
Today I went out for an easy 60 minute run with some foot speed work and leg hops...and it starts to hurt. Leg hops made it really painful and I was unable to stretch it away or walk it off. So I screamed "F*CK!!!" at the top of my lungs and walked home. I'm sitting here with it wrapped after taking 800 mg of Ibuprofen and seriously considering hanging up the running shoes for the whole season.
So I'm back to square 1 with this f'ing leg. I'm staying off it for the rest of the week: no more lifting, no MTB riding (hard, low cadence efforts anger the leg). I'm just going to swim and ride the road bike and hope for the best.
Stupid body.
E.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Nutrition, Recovery and Toys!
It's only been a few days since I last posted, but Mondays (my usual posting day) are becoming more hectic and Sundays less so since I started back training.
Saturday I headed out to Vail Lake with Luke, Allison, Justin and Eric H. for a couple laps. Amazing how fast your fitness drops off once you stop training. I rode with this group (minus Eric) before Snow Valley and the pace seemed casual; Saturday it seemed decidedly less so. No worries, its' my first week back and they're all gearing up for the 12 Hour Race out there next month. Seriously, I'm not losing any sleep over it.
Friday I made a trip out to B&L for some nutrition and they were out of GU. Rats. I picked up some Shot Blocks instead just to try them out. Pretty tasty little suckers! The Margarita flavor was neat with the 3x sodium adding a salty tang to offset the sweetness. They seem kind of bulky and would be cumbersome if you had to carry a lot of calories, but they're a nice treat otherwise.
Saturday I headed out to Vail Lake with Luke, Allison, Justin and Eric H. for a couple laps. Amazing how fast your fitness drops off once you stop training. I rode with this group (minus Eric) before Snow Valley and the pace seemed casual; Saturday it seemed decidedly less so. No worries, its' my first week back and they're all gearing up for the 12 Hour Race out there next month. Seriously, I'm not losing any sleep over it.
Friday I made a trip out to B&L for some nutrition and they were out of GU. Rats. I picked up some Shot Blocks instead just to try them out. Pretty tasty little suckers! The Margarita flavor was neat with the 3x sodium adding a salty tang to offset the sweetness. They seem kind of bulky and would be cumbersome if you had to carry a lot of calories, but they're a nice treat otherwise.
As for the "recovery" part, I'm taking it much more seriously this time around: 300 calories and water almost immediately after I walk in the door and stretching while I'm still warm. I'm hoping taking time out for those little details will help my fitness and stave off injury once I get deep into training.
Toys!
New bike parts are always nice, but my rig is at that point where stuff is in need of replacing. I already had the rear wheel rebuilt recently as well as replaced a front spoke. The new tire I'll put on later, but the brakes are in dire need if being bled. In addition to a good cleaning, the bike needs: chain, bottom bracket (on order), rear brake pads and a new seat pack (broke the part that ties to the pack to the seat post). New stuff is cool but all I can think of is how much food all that money could buy. Ugh.
Other than that, training is going pretty well and school is still...school. I'm being good about not doing any unplanned racing that might screw up my '09 season (yup, I'm patting myself on the back for that one) :D.
E.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Going Solo
Yup. You guessed it. Holly and I have been crunching over our finances for the year and it looks like we'll have to cut some luxuries (what luxuries?) in order to make ends meet. With that in mind, I'm going to have to coach myself this season.
I called Jim today and broke the news to him. He was very understanding and offered to consult during the season if I think I could use some help. What sucks is that I'm going to have more time this year to train than ever before. Once Fall quarter is over, I'll be taking one class per quarter, that's it! Talk about lots of free time for huge training! Kinda bitter sweet: tons of time for physical destruction and no money to pay a coach to beat me up. Dammit.
So I'm going it alone. I'm sticking to the Training Bible philosophy and I'll be using the Training Peaks Virtual Coach software for direction, but the weekly hours and workout arrangment are totally up to me. Scary.
Speaking of training, I got back into it this week. So far I feel good (I forget how sore lifting makes me; ouch!) and the calf is holding up. I'm going in for a massage today and it looks like I may have a hook up so I can get one every month, stay out of the poor house and keep up with the volume planned.
Oh yeah, volume. Without going into too many details, I'm going BIG this year. A BIG Base period and some SERIOUS time goals for key races. I figured I have the time and the race experience to make it happen, so it's time to get serious; and I mean train like it's my job serious. I know I have the talent and the training plan to race with the bign boys and it's time my commitment matched matches my talent.
I have a unique opportunity this year with the amount of time I'll have to devote to training and I'm not letting it slip away. It's go time.
E.
P.S. I turned 33 on Thursday. Happy Birthday to me! Too bad I had midterms this week. D'OH!
I called Jim today and broke the news to him. He was very understanding and offered to consult during the season if I think I could use some help. What sucks is that I'm going to have more time this year to train than ever before. Once Fall quarter is over, I'll be taking one class per quarter, that's it! Talk about lots of free time for huge training! Kinda bitter sweet: tons of time for physical destruction and no money to pay a coach to beat me up. Dammit.
So I'm going it alone. I'm sticking to the Training Bible philosophy and I'll be using the Training Peaks Virtual Coach software for direction, but the weekly hours and workout arrangment are totally up to me. Scary.
Speaking of training, I got back into it this week. So far I feel good (I forget how sore lifting makes me; ouch!) and the calf is holding up. I'm going in for a massage today and it looks like I may have a hook up so I can get one every month, stay out of the poor house and keep up with the volume planned.
Oh yeah, volume. Without going into too many details, I'm going BIG this year. A BIG Base period and some SERIOUS time goals for key races. I figured I have the time and the race experience to make it happen, so it's time to get serious; and I mean train like it's my job serious. I know I have the talent and the training plan to race with the bign boys and it's time my commitment matched matches my talent.
I have a unique opportunity this year with the amount of time I'll have to devote to training and I'm not letting it slip away. It's go time.
E.
P.S. I turned 33 on Thursday. Happy Birthday to me! Too bad I had midterms this week. D'OH!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Now What?
I've been spending a lot of time on the couch letting my various problem spots heal up. What's funny is that they seem to heal in the order they started bugging me in: the foot/calf healed first and now I'm working on the right hamstring/gluteal. The hamstring/glute proves stubborn and I'm working on getting in for a massage Friday to help speed the recovery.
After nearly 4 weeks of not training,cabin fever got the best of me and I hit the pool Monday and set my threshold pace for the month...it's slow. Tuesday I hit Penasquitos Canyon for a night ride with some guys and my light crapped out on me. Great. I borrowed one from Mark and we continued on until my bottom bracket came loose on my single speed. WTF? I just had it adjusted! Whatever...EBB fixed and we kept going until the batteries on Mark's light that I borrowed came loose in the holder. One more stop for mechanicals and we finished the ride with no further problems. Why I have problems at night and not during the day, I'll never know.
So Wednesday I took my light back to Niterider, hoping they can fix it and I won't have to buy a new battery. It's not holding a charge and the customer service guy said it's probably the circuit in the battery that controls the charging. Furthermore, it should be under warranty since it's less than 2 years old (not that I bought it new, but whatever!). Still, my plans to race the 12 Hours of Temecula on a 3-person team are in jeopardy unless my light gets fixed before that.
Saturday I hit up Sycamore Canyon with another random riding buddy (Brian) and it felt good to ride the geared bike and just cruise. Perfect temps, not too crowded and a great ride all things considered.
As for "Now What?" let's talk 2009!!
I've put together a tentative race schedule and a plan so I know when to start prepping for my "Base" work. "Prep" phase starts Nov 1st and "Base" in early December. I'm still working on how I'm going to continue to pay my coach for 2009 and right now it doesnt't look good. I may have to coach myself; which is BAD since I'm not very objective when it comes to my own training. Let's see if I can scrape the cash together and keep my coach. I don't think I'll make my season goals otherwise.
Speaking of goals, I'm setting time goals at key races this year instead of "get on the podium". Placing goals don't work unless you know exactly who you're racing and how their season is going. With time goals, I have a solid benchmark I can compare myself to. Those are staying a secret until AFTER I do those races, by the way, so my competition won't be able to use it against me. Not that anyone ever reads this crap...
So here it is:
March 7th: Vision Quest (racing Luke)
March 29th?: Xterra REAL
April 13th: Xterra Castaic (if it's an Xterra points race)
May 3rd: Idyllwild Spring Challenge XC MTB (racing Luke again)
May 17th: Xterra West Championships
Arizona Xtreme that I did in 2008 has been cancelled because they are no longer allowed to use the highway as part of the race course. So after 8 years, that race goes bye-bye. Suck, I had a SOLID race there last year.
So that takes me up to my first peak of 2009. Things are bound to change since the Xterra schedule has yet to be announced. Back to the books.
E.
After nearly 4 weeks of not training,cabin fever got the best of me and I hit the pool Monday and set my threshold pace for the month...it's slow. Tuesday I hit Penasquitos Canyon for a night ride with some guys and my light crapped out on me. Great. I borrowed one from Mark and we continued on until my bottom bracket came loose on my single speed. WTF? I just had it adjusted! Whatever...EBB fixed and we kept going until the batteries on Mark's light that I borrowed came loose in the holder. One more stop for mechanicals and we finished the ride with no further problems. Why I have problems at night and not during the day, I'll never know.
So Wednesday I took my light back to Niterider, hoping they can fix it and I won't have to buy a new battery. It's not holding a charge and the customer service guy said it's probably the circuit in the battery that controls the charging. Furthermore, it should be under warranty since it's less than 2 years old (not that I bought it new, but whatever!). Still, my plans to race the 12 Hours of Temecula on a 3-person team are in jeopardy unless my light gets fixed before that.
Saturday I hit up Sycamore Canyon with another random riding buddy (Brian) and it felt good to ride the geared bike and just cruise. Perfect temps, not too crowded and a great ride all things considered.
As for "Now What?" let's talk 2009!!
I've put together a tentative race schedule and a plan so I know when to start prepping for my "Base" work. "Prep" phase starts Nov 1st and "Base" in early December. I'm still working on how I'm going to continue to pay my coach for 2009 and right now it doesnt't look good. I may have to coach myself; which is BAD since I'm not very objective when it comes to my own training. Let's see if I can scrape the cash together and keep my coach. I don't think I'll make my season goals otherwise.
Speaking of goals, I'm setting time goals at key races this year instead of "get on the podium". Placing goals don't work unless you know exactly who you're racing and how their season is going. With time goals, I have a solid benchmark I can compare myself to. Those are staying a secret until AFTER I do those races, by the way, so my competition won't be able to use it against me. Not that anyone ever reads this crap...
So here it is:
March 7th: Vision Quest (racing Luke)
March 29th?: Xterra REAL
April 13th: Xterra Castaic (if it's an Xterra points race)
May 3rd: Idyllwild Spring Challenge XC MTB (racing Luke again)
May 17th: Xterra West Championships
Arizona Xtreme that I did in 2008 has been cancelled because they are no longer allowed to use the highway as part of the race course. So after 8 years, that race goes bye-bye. Suck, I had a SOLID race there last year.
So that takes me up to my first peak of 2009. Things are bound to change since the Xterra schedule has yet to be announced. Back to the books.
E.
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