Yet another injury update

Well, there is good news on the injury front.

My knee settled down a great deal by the time my Chriopractor appointment rolled around on Tuesday. But I kept the appointment anyway.

Because my side had started to hurt on Monday afternoon. @@

I have been to the chiropractor twice now and what I am being told is that the side pain is an intercostal muscle strain. I had another adjustment this morning and I'm really feeling much better. My pelvis was out of alignment on the left side which may explain the knee.

Now, the good news is that I swam and biked a little bit yesterday and I ran a little bit this morning - after taking off Sunday through Wednesday like a good little Penguin - and did not experience any pain during the workouts. And yesterday, I felt fine after the swim and bike all afternoon. So far today after the run I'm feeling good.

So I guess, all things considered, if I was going to have some twinges this was a good time to have them. My triathlon training starts a week from Monday. And this weekend is the big recitals for my daughters so I will take a couple of days off again while we're busy with that.

Next week I'm hoping to get my Zumba on, and have a little yoga fun while the pool is closed for the summer prep work - and then I'll be eager and ready to start getting ready for my tris in August and September!

Here I Go Again!

"I don't know where I'm going.... but I sure know where I've been..."

Aren't you glad you can't hear my singing on the blog? And I promise not to post any pictures of me crawling around on the hood of my car.

(If you don't understand what I'm talking about, then watch this video ASAP)

"Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake

So yesterday, I ran for 35 minutes and had quite possibly the best run I've had in months. Everything felt great! It was sunny and in the mid 50s, and I didn't push too hard.  It was absolutely fantastic!

Then in the afternoon yesterday, I was cleaning the house and now and then my knee felt like it was buckling. I described it to my husband as feeling like the knee wasn't really connected together.

But then it stopped and it never hurt. So I didn't think too much of it. This morning I was scheduled for a bike ride and, even though it was the first sunny Saturday in 3 weeks, I decided to ride on the trainer in case the knee gave me trouble.

But it didn't. I had a decent 65 minute trainer workout and felt pretty good coming off the bike.

So imagine my surprise this afternoon when I'm at my girls' rehearsal for next week's recital and I find that I'm unable to put my full weight on my left leg. My knee is killing me. I got up and tried to walk it off, and then I sat on the floor for the remainder of the rehearsal in case it was the chair giving me trouble.

But it didn't get better. In fact, it's worse. I came home and stretched some and iced it and even took some ibuprofen.

I guess I'm back in the injured list. :( Will rest for the next 4 days, and then see how it feels.

Bike drills

In this "Year of the Bike", I have been trying to improve my cycling. As usual, I start out by reading up on the topic. Boy, there is a real lack of good cycling books. I found one on the Kindle that I need to buy because the sample was pretty good. But most of them are way too technical for a newbie like me.

I did learn that I need to be doing something called "Single Leg Drills" which is basically where you take one foot out of the clip and do all of the pedaling with the other leg. EYE OPENING! My cycling form sucks!! I need to search youtube and see if I can find some videos of proper cycling form. Maybe that will help with the lower leg issues I seem to get when I am cycling hard.

This is my second week of twice-weekly rides and although it's been strictly on the trainer, this week's weekday ride today went much better than last week! More time in the saddle= getting better on the bike!

If anyone has a book/video to recommend for some good triathlon-related cycling help, please share in the comments!

Race Report: May the 4th Be With You Virtual 5K

YAY! I can post pictures again! 

And what good timing, too, as it's time for me to post a race report!

Thanks to some crazy nasty weather coming this weekend, I had to complete the "May the 4th Be With You 5K"  portion of the Nerd Herd Racing Series (all proceeds benefit cancer)! I learned about this series of races from my friend, Jan, who knows I'm a pretty big nerd! When I found out this series includes a Star Wars theme, a Harry Potter theme, and a Banned Book week theme, I knew I had to do it! When I complete all 3 races, I will get the bonus medal, too! What could be better?

Well, running it with Jan at the park like we planned to do would be better. But the weather was determined not to cooperate. That's OK, though - we'll get together for the Harry Potter race in July!

I decided to visit the gym today and run on the treadmill, something I haven't done in months! I'm glad I did, too, because while I was running, I could see the rain blowing sideways! YUCK!

The race bib is probably one of the cutest I've ever seen. When you registered you had to list your favorite Star Wars character. Mine is Han Solo, and on my bib was this quote from Han: "One thing's for sure, we're all gonna be a lot thinner." Isn't that the greatest!?! These folks sure do know how to make a nerd smile!

This treadmill experience was a new one for me because it was my first time to run on the treadmill without taking walk breaks! I actually enjoyed it much more because I could zone out and not have to focus on the time and adjusting the treadmiill speed. I just set the speed and looked down at the distance every now and then!

Such a cool bib - wish I'd had some colored ink so I could print it the way they designed it!

My "official" race time, though it did take me a few seconds to figure out how to turn the treadmill off! LOL

My leg felt pretty good - I took the pace nice and slowly, and I've been diligent about my rolling and stretching! The treadmill helped me to keep it slow, even at the end when I felt like I could have pushed it.

I'll be sure to post the picture of the medal when it comes. They said it will take about 4 weeks! :)

Becoming a triathlete

I took some time to think and pray this weekend about my workouts and my goals. Because I lost my Garmin on Friday, it added a little more emotion to the whole weekend. But what I finally concluded was this: it's time to make some changes!

The biggest and most important change will be in how I approach scheduling my workouts. I want to focus on triathlon this year, and specifically on improving my cycling. So why am I still running 3 days a week, but only swimming and cycling once per week? I can not hope to improve with cycling by only doing it once per week, not matter how far I'm cycling. I need to do some drills on the bike and I need to focus on getting time in the saddle. So starting this week I will be cycling twice per week, swimming twice per week, and running twice per week. I might add a third short cycling session to the schedule depending on how I am feeling. I'm also dropping back to 30 minute runs for the next few weeks while I add the second cycling session. I feel like I should run between 45-60 minutes (yeah, minutes since I don't have a way to measure mileage anymore @@) in each run session when I'm training for the tri, but training doesn't actually begin until June.

The second change, which I already alluded to, will be a shift in my reliance on "numbers" or "data" for my workouts. I'm going to have to go back to using my wristwatch (that I bought back in 2008 when I first started running LOL) and going by how I feel. While I'm still very upset about losing my Garmin, and so frustrated because I am always so careful with my things - we have packed up the entire house for remodeling and I have carefully put my Garmin away each time I used it - I've decided that there must be a good reason for it to be gone. I don't believe anything happens by accident, and God must have a good reason for this. Perhaps I'm getting too wrapped up on my numbers. Whatever the reason, I'm going to trust that God knows what is best for me and  try to embrace this change as best as I can.

As for my lower leg, I continue to believe it's related to tightness in the calf. I was not diligent last week in my rolling and stretching (or in my hydration), and I haven't been able to get in for a sports massage, so I'm going to work on that. I'm not sure if there is anything that could be done, but if it doesn't get much better in the next couple of weeks, I will make an appointment with the sports med doctor!

It's going to take awhile to get this new "triathlete" mindset. But I know I can do it!

Slacker

Well, I didn't run this morning. It was sprinkling when I woke up, which wouldn't typically stop me, but I honestly didn't feel like running. My legs were sore from the ride yesterday (which wasn't remotely speedy because of all of the blind corners at this park but which included a lot of awesome hills to practice on). And I was just tired. I had worked out 5 days in a row without a rest day and I didn't feel like it. I so rarely do this, so I feel very guilty - but it will be OK. Perhaps it will even help with the leg stuff I've been feeling.

I did do some yoga, however. I did the beginning (Opening) of the 60 minute Yoga Conditioning for Athletes DVD, which I hadn't done in a very long time. I could definitely feel it and that's a good thing.

I also unpacked all of my boxes of books today after the big flooring redo - again, blogger isn't letting me upload pictures. @@ As I was carrying in the boxes, I pretended that I was doing a CrossFit workout! LOL

Tomorrow is a planned rest day, and then I will try to run on Monday. Naked. (Without my Garmin LOL)

Should be fun.

A wild and crazy week!

Well, blogger is not letting me upload pictures tonight, so there goes my clever post.

This week we removed 20 year old carpet and linoleum in our house and got brand new carpet, linoleum (that looks so much like tile it's scary), and laminate (that looks so much like hardwood it's funny)! We had to move everything out of the house, and that includes the desktop computer that's been my best buddy since my laptop died last year.

So I've been gone. But I've been a good girl and I've kept up my workouts. Sometimes I need the release so I am not crazy!

I decided to make this week a cut-back week since I really haven't had one since Princess, and I've been feeling some random aches and pains (mostly in the lovely lower left leg again @@). I ran for 30 minutes on Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday the kids and I hiked a mile to the top of Stone Mountain and back. Thursday I swam, and today I took my bike to the park for a ride.

It's funny to me how I can be so sore and tired on a cut-back week and feel worse than I did the week before when I was working so much harder - especially since last week I spent painting my bedroom and bathroom and moving my entire house into a POD. My leg is really bothering me, and it's just plain aggravating. I wish I knew why it keeps doing this.

The worst part of the whole week happened today. Somehow I managed to lose my Garmin 305. I took it off the bike at the park and I usually toss it in my bag with my helmet, but when I got home today it wasn't there. I looked all over the car, all in my bag and my shoes and my helmet - even drove back to the park to see if it was in the parking lot. Unfortunately, it is gone. I sobbed and sobbed on the way home from the park. My husband gave me that watch for Christmas in 2009 as a huge surprise. It's so sad.

I have a run on the schedule tomorrow, but my heart is really not in it so I don't know if I will or not.