All Systems Go

Guess who got cleared to go running??

This Girl! She can’t go without me so it was a win win.

I saw Coach Pat last week for another PT sesh. She said my lower back is looking good and my core stability is getting better. Although she did look at me sideways when she realized how tight I was…guess we’ll have to work on stretching more often. So after some stretching of my hip flexors (ouch! ) it was off to the treadmill!

First it was walking to get things warmed and feel proper alignment. Then it was steadily increasing the speed and working on form. Pretty much everything about my form is going change, which is going to take quite a bit to get used to. But I lasted a mile. In a way I feel like I’ve warped back to 2006 when I took up running with the HB. Although this time around it’s not my heart and lungs screaming for me to stop its my abs and calves. And the HB isn’t running around me in circles (literally) as I try to gain some fitness.The goal is to run/walk multiple times over the next week and meet up again next week. But in the meantime, TriRock training is in full swing!

Wednesday I went back to the pool. I didn’t have any soreness or pain from Tuesdays PT/run adventure. Woot woot! It was my first real swim sesh in 8 weeks. My arms were a bit over it by the time I was done but I got it finished. I will be doing more drills than usual over the next few weeks to get the ‘wobble’ out when I rotate right but that’s nothing unusual. Hopefully the HB will join me next week so I we can share a lane and motivate each other.

Thursday I threw the bike in the car and went for my first ride since TriRock. I figured it would be raining but the lightning started and I decided that riding wasn’t a good idea. I tried to head south as the storm moved north hoping it would improve but it didn’t. So I met the HB at home and we did some strength training together. We hadn’t worked out together in a long time since before this week – it was actually kinda nice.

Friday was more running, well technically run/walking but I’ll take what I can get. I couldn’t get the pup to go with me, she wanted to say and sleep with the HB. So, I had to head out on my own. I went down my usual route, it was fantastic. Not too humid yet with a slight breeze down by the river. I didn’t realize how much I missed early morning runs. And I didn’t have any knee pain either!! I’m pretty sure I’m running a bit faster as well but I’ll have to wait to figure that one out. Right now its better for me to run without technology.

Saturday was my first CrossFit boot camp with CrossFit Thoroughbreds. I’ll admit I was majorly intimidated, anxious going into this work out. I’ve seen and know many avid crossfitters and my fitness level is nowhere near where it needs to be to keep up. But Jeremy Barnett and his group at CrossFitTB were fabulous. He made sure there was a coach on hand to help with all the skills/technique necessary – turns out I’ve been doing squats wrong for forever (head smack). And there were a few beginners in the crowd. After seeing the Workout of the Day (WOD) I fully expected to not be able to finish and want to puke. I surprised the hell out of myself. My partner and I finished the whole workout with a few minutes to spare. I had a blast and am looking to the next 7 sessions. So much so that I am trying to figure out how to get in an extra session each week with Jeremy and his group.

Sunday was my first ride since Naples. After boot camp Saturday I full expected to be hobbling around with a lot of leg soreness. It actually wasn’t too bad.

I’m sure stretching and foam rolling helped. The HB and I headed out with some friends for an hour ride. I didn’t make it the whole I hour. I cut the ride short by 15 min, my legs were trashed.  The goal for this ride was simply to get back in the saddle and go. So, goal accomplished. I have a baseline to work with and will take it from there.

Looking back at the week. I’m really happy. I got in 6 workouts, I feel like I made progress, and I’m not feeling any pain. I’m actually really excited about training again. It has been a long time since I’ve felt this giddy about working toward a goal. Things are finally falling into place!

Image by Mateoandtobias @ Etsy.com

Prolonged Silence

You should make amends with you if only for better health. ~Incubus

I found this quote awhile ago. I didn’t realize how long ago it had really been until I looked up the discography – 14 years. Crap, I’m old. When Incubus released Make Yourself in 1999 I was gearing up to graduate high school. It wasn’t until I was freshman in college a year later than I heard the album cover to cover, A great friend and inspirational person in my life introduced to me to what is now one of my favorite bands. It didn’t take many listens for me to want my own copy or much longer for this song in particular to resonate with me. Many years before this I struggled with self-perception and self-worth and when I let myself get ‘lost’ it is still a struggle and a story for another post. Yet, through the past 14 years and quite a few before that the advice/mantra that has stuck with me was to just be yourself. Sometimes, to do that you have make amends.

And that folks is where I find myself today, making amends with the current situation. I had to take the last 4 weeks off due to the surgery that was necessary to remove my birthmark. Most of those 4 weeks have been pretty damn low. It started with the doctor telling me the initial 2 weeks off would have to be lengthened to 6 – that wasn’t exactly in my training plan or what they told me when I made the appointment. Things just continued to move downward as time passed and I learned I wasn’t as mobile or flexible or ready for activity as I thought I should be. As I reflect and realize I need to make amends and adjust expectations, I am looking toward my fitness.

While training for the Olympic Distance at TriRock was supposed to be my next step, at this point I am simply looking to get moving again. I’ve started writing down the small triumphs, like 2 sets of 14 heel raises before I start feeling soreness around the incision point. Or walking the pup for 1 mile instead of a 1/2 before feeling swelling in my ankle. In truth, I’m really down about being at this place – I thought I had left it behind when I was ‘done’ with physical therapy in December. But when you fall, you have to get back up again.

Will I still attempt the Olympic at TriRock? Maybe. I’ve decided not to think about it. When I can start walking more than a mile without swelling or playing Frisbee with the pup without needing a bag of frozen peas afterward, well then I’ll go for a run. And we’ll go with a training plan and goals from there. In the meantime, I will focus on the little things and remind myself to find joy in slowing down. I forgot how beautiful the sunsets could be and how much more I can enjoy them while walking the pup vs running through it to get that last mile in.

Inner Demons

The Naples Fitness Triathlon was Sunday. I’m a bit behind in my posting. My mental state has not been that great. As I look back at where I was in my training this time last year I have good thoughts and really bad thoughts.

I have been wrestling with some serious inner demons this week. After last week’s Team training session, I asked Coach Pat if I could stop by her office during lunch one day this week. Happily she said “Hell yeah!” Tuesday at lunch, I grabbed my latest Happy Herbivore creation and headed to Riverwalk. I can’t tell you how much a simple hug made me feel better. It had been almost 6 months since I had been there for physical therapy.

Coach Pat with her HB, Brian, and me. We are lucky to call them friends – but they are so much more

For the next hour and a half, we talked a lot about racing and training and the symptoms I had been feeling – the physical and the mental. I was/am really struggling with the fact that my run is no where near where I had hoped it would be. To hear Coach Pat and Coach Jen agree that I looked so terrible last Thursday was devastating. I knew I felt like crap but I had just run 2 miles at 9:30 – faster than usual! It also brought on a lot of fear. Fear that I won’t be able to run Naples Fit, fear that I won’t be able to do the Olympic for TriRock, fear that I’ve done more damage, and fear that may be this running thing isn’t something I should be doing.

As I talked, Pat asked a ton of questions, and agreed that one on one therapy/coaching is what I need to be focusing on. I’ve known this since March when the training session started but it didn’t work out. So, she agreed to see me one on one after Naples and surgery. There are many things that could be causing my problems so I am actively tracking my workouts and the clicks, pops, and cracks my knees and lower back make on a daily basis in hopes that we can link things together.

My scribbles about how I’m feeling that day.  Its been interesting.

Disclaimer: the written text in the pic above are my notes. Titles and descriptions of movement do not reflect a training program or therapy in a manner than can be or should be replicated.

I should have felt better leaving Pat’s office knowing that things were going to be resolved. But I didn’t, I felt really down and dark. I can’t even put into words just how negative my thoughts were. It wasn’t until yesterday when I was e-mailing Pat that I was able to put it all together.

Since I had the biopsy at the dermatologist’s office done a month ago, I’ve been going through the motions. Those two weeks off my feet were exactly 4 and 5 weeks prior to Naples. The last weeks I could make gains for race day. Since I missed it, I mentally gave up. I scaled back my goals knowing that two weeks off from running meant I won’t be able to do the run as fast as I wanted. I did Physical Therapy on occasion (i.e. once a week) and my strength training…well it wasn’t exactly training and it was sporadic. I have realized that was a HUGE mistake!

Yes two weeks off can suck right before a race and yes you need to re-evaluate your fitness and adjust your goals if necessary. But do not, I repeat do not, just go through the motions. Instead, maintain and try to move forward – within the confines of your race training and calendar of course. Maybe the upcoming race won’t be an A race but there will be a race after that and maybe a few others and there is no reason that you can’t get up and keep going and be ready for those races.

So even though I didn’t train with the team this week, I put my race kit on and headed out the door. In the pouring rain, I ran the 10 minutes that was on the schedule. You know what? It was the best run I’ve had in weeks!! I was going to ride for 20 minutes but the lightning and concerned HB kept me in the garage.

Feeling a lot better – even though 10 minutes is not representative of race day

I know my mental outlook had a lot to do with the success of this run. I can’t believe it took me this long to snap out of it! Where is Cher when you need her?!? Will Naples now be the perfect A race – no way! Are my inner demons gone for good? Not a chance! But now I feel like I have not only gotten up, dusted myself off, but am also gaining small bits of ground.

Last Tri of the Season

Do Something Epic.

The HB unit and I did something Epic November 11th. It was my first Olympic Distance Tri and his first Sprint Distance Tri. We both had injuries but they were experiences neither of us would trade.

To start the Olympic race day report I have to back up to Halloween, when I went out on my bike to do bridge repeats on the Sanibel Causeway with the team. (Another Epic Something since that bridge scares the crap out of me!) It was the best ride I had on the Causeway to date. And then…

I fell.

While still clipped to my pedals.

It was the hardest and worst fall I had ever had. While there was no bruise on the outside, it hurt like hell on the inside. I took a few days off, sought some quick treatment, and went for my first run 4 days later – only to have to walk 4 miles home. This made me miserable and I knew the prognosis was not good. I suspected it was my IT Band, which has flared up before and would affect not only my run but also the bike. I sought Physical Therapy, which got me to the point where I ran 5 miles 3 days before the race. This was a positive thing and gave me some hope that I could complete the Olympic distance instead of bumping down to the Sprint Distance.

This pic was right after the fall. The smile is because you have to be like Timex “take a lickin’ and keep on tickin'”

So, now its race day. It was a rough morning, I felt rushed all the way up to the start and my head was not where I wanted it to be as I entered the water.  I did my best to suck it up and get it together. I was nervous in general but also worked up about the fact that all the women racing the Olympic distance were swimming together. I knew this meant the field was small but it also meant those ridiculously competitive 40+ somethings would be in my swim wave. That I was not looking forward to. I tried to put it aside as the airhorn blew and I ran towards the water. After adjusting my wetsuit (Yes it was THAT cold) I found clean water along the outside of the masses and swam buoy to buoy. The first leg of the swim was the hardest, it was on an angle so every time I made it to a buoy, the mass of swimmers pushed outward toward me. This caused lots of pushing, shoving, swimming over people, oh and the punch to the ribs that I took. After rounding the first buoy, I decided to “race my own race” which meant not really worrying around all the people around me, kicking, punching, and pushing. I kicked it in a bit and it was a great swim, I even “chicked” a few of the guys in the wave in front of me, as Chrissy Wellington would say. This was exactly what my ego needed because as I rounded the second buoy I was starting to struggle with the idea that “racing my own race” was a bit too slow. Turns out it wasn’t, it was exactly the speed I needed it to be. I exited the swim, ran to T1 and thankfully, I didn’t struggle too much with my wetsuit, it came off quickly and easily. But I did struggle with the decision to wear an extra layer on the bike. Ultimately I went without. I ran for what seemed like forever out of T1 and mounted my bike while staring down the causeway.

Me and coach at the start. Next years goal – to keep up with her.

It was a rough bike, it was more hilly than I was used to and windy. But I had practiced for the Causeways and had ridden in the nasty wind more times than I could count. I pushed my way through the ride and the soreness. I thought I was doing well and then towards the end more women than I could count passed me on the last causeway. This was where I had what the HB unit and I call a “suck it up Mayfield” moment. I stopped pedaling, squirmed around a bit in my saddle, ate a fig newton, slugged some nuun, and yelled in my head in my best HB impression “Suck it up Mayfield!” and pushed on. I wasn’t able to make up the distance between myself and all those women that passed me but I did ride faster into T2.

Now it was on to the run. The part I had dreaded for the past week and a half. The only thing that made it a little bit better, was hearing HB’s name over the loud-speaker as he finished his race. I went bananas in transition as I put on my run shoes – everyone of course thought I was crazy. But that was ok, there was a good pep in my step as I headed out to run. The beginning of the run went well, there were stages across the run course with live music that helped immensely. I knew the words to almost every song and ran faster to the beat. I attacked the causeway uphill and down as was the plan and slowed down a little bit at mile 4 then it was back to attach the causeway and run it in. This is where I hit problems. Around Mile 5 I started to feel that nagging ‘new rubber band’ feeling in my knee and ache in my hip. I walked through the water station told my self to race my own race and keep moving forward. It worked for about a half mile, when my left knee stopped bending so no matter how hard I tried to remember all the drills I had been over with  coach, I felt like I was dragging my left leg. So I executed plan B – the run/walk ending.

This did not make me happy.

It actually made me extremely sad. I felt like everything I had worked for since August went down the drain and of course I started to tear up. This is where I heard “Pick up Mayfield” it was my second “suck it up Mayfield” moment of the day but this time HB was there to save me. He had found an electrical utility box to stand on and was searching for me to come in to the finish. I ran as far as I could, which was half of the distance I had left. In between HB ran ahead and let my teammates know I was coming and they started cheering as loud as possible. I of course ran a bit faster, which didn’t help the situation. I walked a bit before I rounded the corner to the finish chute and ran it in as best I could. The clock read 3:30.

Team Physiofit – I LOVE these ladies. They keep me going. Can’t wait to rejoin them on the road and in the pool.

My finishing time of 3 and a half hours was a relief. Before falling off my bike I wanted to finish in under 3 hours. I knew this was a stretch but I had increased my speed on the bike and the run and I knew I could kick the swim. After I fell, I adjusted my hopes a bit and wanted to finish in under 3:30, which ultimately according to my timing chip, I did. My official time was 3:22, which under the circumstances I am calling a success. I checked my times and such a few hours later and was absolutely elated to see that I came in 9th in my age group. I even commented to HB, that it just didn’t make sense I was so slow how could I come in 9th. Well, I was brought back to Earth the next day when I checked the rankings of my age group. Turns out I was 9th out of the 9 women that were in my age group. That feeling sucked! But I finished so I am not dwelling on it. I will do another Olympic race but only after getting healthy. That means some time off and a few visits to a Physical Therapist. What will I do in the mean time? Learn about this thing they call down time while planning the next Epic Shit.