Thursday, April 24, 2014

Week 14 - Build Week - Better now than later




This blog post should be called breaking bad habits. While at my desk I have this bad habit of sitting on my leg. You know you cross one leg and sit on it while working. I find it comfortable.

For a few weeks I’ve been having this hip issue. I’ve noticed it and I’ve iced it a few times. I thought it mostly had to do with stretching and foam rolling it. I know I’ve been training more -  more hours on the bike and more hours running. All of that combined I figured was making me ache more than usual.

Forward to Thursday 4-17. I was in a meeting and yes I was sitting a little awkward but nothing too much out of the ordinary.  The meeting was about 2 hours long. When I got up to leave my bosses office that is when I noticed it. OUCH. I went to my desk to try and stretch out the pain; I couldn’t even lift my leg. Imagine trying to squat on a toilet seat. I could sit but I couldn’t get up. I cried and laughed at the same time. Again I figured I just had to stretch it out.

I went for a walk around my building; I made it to the corner and walked back slowly. I was like what the heck.   Again here I go trying to stretch it out and tears. I took something for the pain and went on with my day. Even though I looked funny walking around the office it was cool that people were feeling sorry for me. LOL They all know I’m training for a half Ironman – so in a way it was a good thing  is was nice to stop and update them on my training.

That evening we had a trainer ride scheduled at Griffith Park. In my head I figured if I could just stretch out my hip I’d be OK. I went early and tried walking around the parking lot. As you can tell I wasn’t quitting.  I was almost ready to head out and go home but decided against it. Blah blah…I got on my bike, as painful as it was I got on that puppy.

After that I went straight to urgent care.  I explained to the doctor what I was feeling and he said ‘ hip bursitis’.  He prescribed me some Ibuprofen 800mg (the good stuff) and said go see an Orthopedic Doctor right away. OK. Now with my old insurance it would have taken a referral and a week to get an appointment. With my new insurance all it took was a phone call. I have to say I was lucky. I got an appointment that Friday afternoon. An hour later I was getting a huge needle filled with cortisone injected into my hip.
 
My first question: When can I start up my training again?
Doctor: I know you crazy endurance athletes if I say rest you don’t rest. Give it a week to heal.
Me: I’m not that crazy (OK I am) OK I’ll rest it, but can I swim? *insert laugh*
Doctor: Yeah, swimming should be OK, but no running or cycling for a week.
Me: OK! You’ve got a deal.

So..On Saturday I went swimming.  The water was cold but the waves were perfect.


      




I couldn't do much else after that so I volunteered to be the SAG for the day. My teammates inspire me so much. I saw them pushing through those miles with big smiles.



Love my teammates!!!




Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Week 13 - Recovery Week

This was my worst week to date. OK I'm over dramatizing it, but it was a bad week. I had been feeling ill all week and took it as I was dehydrated. Or maybe I was just really tired from all the training. Either way I was off. I had been feeling dizzy all week. I thought it was a combination of being really tired, not sleeping, and not drinking enough water. I upped my water intake and tried out Advil PM and melatonin to help me sleep. Nothing worked. I even cut down on the coffee thinking my 1 cup of coffee was causing me sleep issues. Anyway, that was my week. Nothing special, just me fighting fatigue. 

I have to admit Tuesday was a fun swim practice. While we mostly did drills, it was the treading water that was fun. We were told to tread water for 10 minutes. Some of us took advantage of this 'free time' and played around with our so called synchronized swimming moves. We were trying to get our coaches attention but they were too busy trying to come up with ways to torture us. Fun torture of course.

As much as I talk about synchronized swimming it's not to make fun. Seriously check out the video below. Those are some pretty good swimming skills. Imagine a synchronized swimming set to Britney Spear's song 'Three'



Anyway, if you know of an old fart group that does this, please let me know. Seriously! 

Wednesday - lets get on that Bike trainer. 
Fail. Was on it for 30 minutes, my watch died, and me well the dizziness got to me and I just stopped.

Thursday - I took it upon myself to rest. I was as dizzy all day at work and getting out for a run was not looking good. 

Friday - Swim homework time. 
Last couple of weeks it's be me and the speedo man. He doesn't say much he just 'observes'. Think he is analyzing my swimming technique. It's not really much of a technique versus more of a high elbow long reach sort of thing.  It works for me and I personally think I am getting pretty good at this.

So as you can tell this week I got to share the pool with a friend. Awesome looking pool right. It's so fresh and so clean clean . . (are you singing it yet?). It was a good night, but I was so exhausted after the swim set. It was a total of 2300 yards which normally is no problem, but like I said it was one of those weeks. 

Saturday morning - Off to one of my favorite routes in Westlake Village -wait did I just say favorite - who am I?

  I had all the necessities with me. Biggest necessity is Chamois Butter. It really does help! When you are on the bike for even an hour you need something to help other wise you go kind of numb and your lady parts start to ache a bit.

So how was my ride? Well I did it. My speed by now should be at a good 14mph if not more. I wasn't feeling well again and had those darn dizzy spells hit again. I didn't stop, I continued on and got the ride done, but I am really hard on myself. I want to get faster!! 
After the ride we did a 30 minute run. It's always fun to train in Westlake Village. This is where the ladies do their walks in platform sneakers, tennis skirts, and full make up. So fancy!

After practice I drove myself to urgent care. Mark wanted to meet me there but really I was OK, maybe I shouldn't have driven myself but I drove slow and with my eyes open. LOL.. Doctor said to stop all activity and go see my primary doctor. 


Sunday - I slept in. Like really slept in UNTIL 8:30 AM!! Last time I slept in was...uumm... can't remember. I woke up a little dizzy still but not too bad. 

If you are wondering, yes I went to my doctor on Monday. What is wrong? Not sure yet. I'm still feeling off but hopefully my blood test will reveal more. My blood sugar levels were good and I'm not pregnant (as if)! The dizziness is still there, so I take it as a sign to drink more water. Maybe? I haven't been drinking any adult beverages, I don't smoke, blah blah...i just want to feel good again. I go back in 2 weeks to get the results. 

SO..for now I will continue to train. Not going to stop! I have a race coming up!

Birdie is all clean. Got new tape on the handle bars. New oil on the chains. AND...aerobars!! 
  

Until next week..... bye.
 

Friday, April 11, 2014

Week 11 & 12 Build Weeks

Week 11 - Build Week 
Lets all go to Malibu for a nice ride along Pacific Coast Highway. We did a beautiful 35 miles and a half hour run in Malibu.



 I remember the last time I rode up this road. I stopped and cried and yelled at myself - mostly because I had stopped on the hill and had fallen on my bike. My knee was hurting and bleeding and I was PISSED. But not this year, this year I took a deep breath and kept on riding. It was that sort of amazing feeling where you are like what was I afraid of?  I looked at the hill, gave it the finger and said out loud...I got this!  As I went up the hill I start singing this song from the 80's. Do you remember Salt-N-Peppers 'Push it'? I sing it and peddle - peddle - peddle. It 'pushes' me not to stop. I know it's a little silly but it helps with my breathing and keeps me focused on the prize ahead. 

Check out the elevation. This is an amazing ride with beautiful views of all of Malibu. 

 

I even stopped to take a photo. It had to be done! 

After the ride we did a transition run - just 30 minutes. My legs felt like jello but the run felt pretty good. 





Build Week 12 - Open Water Swim with some Amfali Loops and a ride up Manderville Canyon. 

The swim didn't go as well as I would have wanted. I went in smiling - look at the waves - and said OH HELL NO. 

I have this thing about being short - I'm afraid when I can't touch the ground. I know I know...I it's the ocean and it's not like it's 4 feet deep, but hell first of all it's dark, it's cold, and it's DEEP. I have short person issues - don't judge me. So while I didn't go all the way in I did do some duck diving. I will say I am getting really good at it. :) I'm conquering the fear - almost.  

Anyway, on to the bike ride. Oh hello Amfali and Manderville. Lets talk about last year again. I remember doing Amfali and then heading up to Manderville. I remember the climb, and I remember looking over at one of the coaches and saying OUCH my back hurts. I think it was more mental then anything. It hurt so I stopped and turned around. I try and remember why I was so afraid. 

So on to this year. LOOK AT ME NOW!! Hold on... Let me take a selfie

OK honestly it was not a good day. I had a lot of trouble going up Manderville. Did I stop? Yes. Did I quit? No! I was disappointed with my slowness, but on cloud 9 because of my accomplishment. 


We also did a 4 mile transition run along the Santa Monica Pier.I was so tempted to ditch the run and go for a ride on the Ferris Wheel. 



And the run is over. Yay!! After an exhausting day I was so happy it was over. 




Our coaches actually give us rest days and on our rest day we went to Disneyland. Seriously the best rest day ever!  

What makes this picture awesome isn't our planking or my leg lift but the little kid in it. 

Yes we planned this. We talked about it for days and couldn't wait to take this photo! The funny part...can you see me. 3rd one up. The one with the 'oh shit' face. I looked down. I told myself don't look down, don't look down, I looked down. This photo would have been awesome if I didn't have that oh shit face. But then again it is kind of funny. 

More photos... because we really did have a good time. 







 GO TEAM!!