Change is bad!

Just looked at the CGI racing site to check on upcoming open water swims and found out that the date of the race has changed! I don’t even know where to start.

1. Fortunately my calendar is clear that weekend.
2. I have to change the date on this site, and the countdown.
3. Should I change my training plan? Probably just more of it.
4. The distances are different (fortunately shorter).
5. Set new time goals based on the new distances.
6. There’s a new sponsor and title for the race.

I’m so confused. Not really. Just need to adjust. If I made it through an injury in the last two months, I can manage a date/sponsor change of a race I have yet to register for. Just a bit of a shock. What else will be thrown my way? I don’t even want to think about it!

(please no flat during the race!)

Fish out of Water

I never liked to run for the sake of running. Throw a disc, kick a ball, I’ll run for a while, but just running for hours never appealed to me. I joined a running group two years ago and have run as much as 10 miles at one time. While I convinced myself that I am a runner, I question my conviction: I will never run a marathon, more than 10 miles at once, and now I wonder whether I will run at all.

After falling on the ice six weeks ago, my knees have been hurting, mostly when I run but also a bit when biking. Walking was the only activity that felt ok until I swam. I was nervous because my knees can move in every direction when swimming and the twisting motion was the most painful. After a few cautious laps during which I mostly pulled with my arms, I started kicking a bit harder and felt fine.

I have found my element: water! For the first time in six weeks I felt no pain in my knees. I focused on my form with each stroke and kept my breath calm, full, and regular. I swam until I could no longer lift my arms, just thrilled that I have an outlet for my pent up adrenaline. The more I think about it, swimming just makes sense to me. I was in the water before I could walk. I dreamt of ocean waves while living in the Midwest. I am simply drawn to the water.

People have asked me what my strongest leg of the triathlon will be. At first I thought it would be the running since I have had the most experience with it these last two years. I spend a lot of time on my bike, but at only 15% of the triathlon distance. Every time I swam I was so out of breath that I couldn’t complete the distance without a few breaks. Now, however, I am convinced that swimming is my strength – and, at this point, my only activity.

I am not giving up, though. Injuries do not heal overnight, especially if you don’t work to make them better. I need to just be happy that I can walk. The next milestone is ¼ mile run. Then ½ mile. I have four months. Now if only I could get some patience!

My Vacation (or 5 weeks of injury)

It has been five weeks since I fell on the ice and hurt my knees. I was able to walk, fortunately, during my travel adventures and even spent 8 hours most days just walking around. I was scared to try running and did not see a need to since technically, I was on a vacation.

This past week I tried to run with the Fishtown Beer Runners. I made it four minutes before I felt pain and stopped. Frustrated and depressed by being unable to run, I was ready to walk the five blocks back home when I remembered that walking is still exercise and doesn’t hurt my knees. Yes, I made it to the destination bar, but it was discouraging and depressing to watch everyone run past me as I walked.

I panic and assume the worst very quickly. I started to question whether I should continue to train for a triathlon, even though it’s still four months away. Would I ever be able to run again? Then I remind myself that I have yet to really try the exercises the doctor suggested. If I thought this injury were serious enough to merit specialized medical attention then I would have already gone to a physical therapist. I have the means to make this better so any resulting pain and misery at this point can fairly be considered my own fault. I need to give the exercises a chance for an extended period of time before jumping to severely upsetting conclusions.

They’re just so boring! But would I rather never run again? Ok, I’ll do them.

Failed Ice Capades Audition

Apparently I did not make the ice capades in spite of my graceful attempt to run on ice the other day. The unfortunate result was that I slipped and fell, landing square on my knees. Given my past borderline knee problems, I thought I was doomed. The pain was unbearable and I did not get up for a bit.

Two days post-fall I can walk but not run or bike (I have not tried to swim yet). Although my training plan factored in a month of inconsistent workouts during February, I figured I would still be running/biking/swimming, not that I would be injured. So I need to get creative to stay fit and prevent insanity from restlessness. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

• Elliptical
  I tried various elevations and kept the resistance very low. Lasted 10 minutes without major pain in my knees.
• Stationary Bike
  With the bike on the lowest resistance possible, I tried to just move the pedals a bit. I lasted about 5 rounds.
• Treadmill
  Walking has not hurt so I pushed myself as far as I could. The fastest I could go was 4mph and I added elevation so I could at least break a sweat. 1 mile was enough to stress my knees.
• Leg Weights
  Remarkably no more pain than usual! But drastically reduced weights and squats performed with a ball against a wall rather than with weights.
• 100 Push Ups Challenge
  I have seen some friends attempting this and was intrigued. Sounds like a good way to focus on conditioning while my knees are weak.
• 200 Hundred Sit Ups Challenge
  Another good way to focus on conditioning while injured.
• 200 Squats Challenge
  Another conditioning method but also hope to strengthen my knees with this challenge.

I’ll be seeing a doctor this week and might get a recommendation for more exercises to strengthen my knees. Depending on how they heal in the next few weeks, I might even see a physical therapist. Besides my training goals, I can’t stand being injured and inactive. I need to take proper care of my body to combat the restlessness. It’s all psychological in the end.

[Enter New Blog Title Here]

I should have named this blog The Fight Within: how I discovered my split personality through exercise.

I have had a very hard time with motivation this past week. Every workout involved an argument with myself before, during, and afterwards when I tell myself “I told you so!” I have kicked my own butt to get going but nearly turned around before starting to run/bike/swim. Every time, I desperately wanted to give up halfway through. Fortunately, every workout had a happy ending and I finished what I started out to accomplish. Still, the knowledge that I completed a goal has not helped with each subsequent attempt.

What I’ve learned is that there is a lopsided struggle with my id and ego pitted against my super ego.

• Logic says I should not run long distances in 15F weather with snow and ice on the ground. My basal instincts agree.
• Logic says I should do what needs to be done such as laundry, dishes, work, and sleep. My basal instincts agree that sleep, warmth, and sitting are preferred to waking up, cold, and vigorous movement.
• Logic says that commuting nearly an hour roundtrip to the gym on a holiday is just a waste of time. My basal instincts want to keep watching bad crime dramas and raiding the fridge.

Go Super Ego!

If my ego and id have teamed up to provide such convincing arguments, then how can I possibly ignore them? Enter the super ego. According to the pundits on wiki “the super-ego aims for perfection.” That’s exactly what my motivation is: the drive for perfectionism. I want to be good at each sport and will not be satisfied until I meet my goals. It’s the only explanation that appeals to my sense of logic and justifies ignoring my desire to stay curled up in a fleece blanket. So as my mother taught me, when you know you should but you simply don’t want to, just remind yourself: “You’ll thank me for this later!”

Thank you Super Ego.

(the victory of the super ego has inspired ideas for a racing outfit!)

Wo-Man with a Plan

I have referenced it a few times, but not actually outlined it. Here is the general plan I am holding myself to over the next few months. And if you catch me not sticking to the plan, please feel free to get after me!

• December: baselines
  tried each distance to determine my current pace and set goals
• January: consistency
  focusing on endurance by maintaining regular workouts at the race distances or greater
• February: anything goes
  traveling a lot so getting some exercise anyway I can
• March: swimming
  speed training in the pool
• April: running
  speed training on my feet
• May: biking
  speed training on my bike (and deciding if I need a different bike!)
• June: combined
  putting it all together before the race. advice is welcomed for a specific approach.
• July: taper
  10 days to race day!

Going the Distance

750 yards. 17 miles. 5 kilometers.

These are the distances dominating my life for the next 25 weeks. The distances themselves are not the problem. I can currently complete all distances in decent times. I have not tried any of the distances back-to-back, but I can complete them without using all of my energy. I am not worried about the distances.

2:00 min/100 yd. 23 mph. 8:00 min/mile.

These are the numbers that worry me. They are my goal paces for each leg of the race. I set the goals knowing they were ambitious but am concerned that they are too ambitious. I don’t deal well with failure!

2:20 min/100 yd. 18 mph. 8:30 min/mile.

These are my current numbers. The only thing keeping me from changing my goals at this point is my training plan which gives me a month to focus on each sport and up my speed. The point of a plan is to allocate focus so that I don’t try to do too much at once and lose focus entirely. I don’t know if I will be able to reach my goals, but I know they will help me train hard!

May I borrow your pool?

I swam in a different pool for the first time in years and it seemed easier. There are two possible explanations here:

1. My training is working and it’s easier to swim.
2. A different pool made swimming easier.

The pool I normally swim in is only 42 feet. This pool was about 20 yards long. I would have guessed that would make me more tired, but I think I got into a rhythm whereas the constant turning tired me out more in the shorter pool. The water also felt different. I could swear that I was more buoyant in this pool. I wonder if that was a psychological effect of the two story ceiling and natural lighting. The pool I normally swim in has a 10ft ceiling, dim lighting, and no windows. Perhaps I felt light and weightless in the naturally-lit pool. There is also a difference between the ocean and fresh water due to the salt, so would the different chemical compositions of pools create different buoyancy points?

Regardless of the differences and effects on my workout, I decided that it is a good idea in training to try swimming in a few different pools. There are supposedly some open water training sessions before the triathlon which I plan to attend. I would also like to try swimming in the ocean before the race, but water temperatures might not make that feasible.

To me, it is important to simulate race day conditions as closely as possible, but there is some value to testing yourself in varied conditions. I run and bike outside year round on different courses with different weather conditions. I would not swim outside in the winter, but I had not considered trying different pools. I am currently compiling a list of pools I can access!

Patience is a virtue… and I am a virtuous person

Ha! Virtue is not a word I would choose to describe myself. Neither is patience. I think my lesson in life will be to learn patience, the irony of that being that it will take me a lifetime to learn it. In the meantime, I will work on improving my patience as part of my triathlon training.

The first lesson in patience this weekend came with the snow. Roads and sidewalks were covered with a fresh, powdery half-inch of snow with patches of black ice. I had been planning on running all week and couldn’t let myself make excuses, so I bundled up and got out there. The hardest part was slowing down at every intersection to waddle like a penguin over the ice. I actually managed to enjoy the icy bits after a while, taking a step-step-sliiiide approach. But I also gave in to my impatience by sprinting under four overpasses where the sidewalk was still dry.

The second lesson came in the pool. The bottom line is that I need to improve my breathing. My current swimming experience involves 2-3 laps at 2:10/25yds, followed by 3:00/25yd laps with lots of breaks. I need to slow my pace to keep my heart rate lower so I can continue to breathe and swim for a longer time. I suppose doing a triathlon sprint makes a lot of sense for me since I’m good at short distances and have no patience, but I think increasing stamina and improving my breathing will help overall. Only time will tell.

My head is spinning from nightmares

Last week I tackled my first spinning class. I knew it was going to be ridiculously hard, but I was not prepared for how ridiculous. My current definition of ridiculous: that a biker can’t handle a spinning class.

1. Problem 1: I felt like I was going to fall.
2. Problem 2: I couldn’t stand up.

I am used to a single speed, fairly high gear bike. The high resistance settings were actually much easier than the low resistance. When the pedals were spinning fast, I kept getting out of sync with the bike and tried to stop pedaling, but that doesn’t work with spin bikes. It was so awkward, I felt like I was learning to ride all over again.

I’m not entirely sure about the cause of the second problem. Could my quads be so completely weak that I can’t stand up and pedal at the same time? I’m currently trying to stand up on my bike on a regular basis, and it is not easy. The interesting thing is that it hurts my quads just above my knees. Given the problems I’ve had with my knees, I think it’s all related to a lack of strength in the surrounding muscles. Hopefully it will get better with practice and weight training.

How does this all translate to nightmares? The spin class last week was so hard that I was ready to give up after 15 minutes. I was nearly in tears of frustration. All I can do is keep reminding myself that I won’t get everything right on the first, second, or even fifth try. Fortunately, I can be painfully determined. So I signed up for a second spin class with a different instructor this week. I don’t know if I can handle near failure again. Hence the nightmares.

Beyond physical training, this experience has been educational. I’ve decided there are a few things I need to remember each and every work out:

• I am not perfect
• I am not all-powerful
• low resistance serves a purpose
• practice exists for a reason
• improvement takes time

Seven months is a long time to train and the hardest part is going to be psychological. Hopefully spinning won’t plague my nightmares for very long!