Three weeks and playing in the dirt!

-
Crazy busy already! And to think I was complaining about being bored and searching for usefull things to do for the last two weeks, to the point of making Nick empty out his office do I could paint! This week, I was cleared to go back to work, start working out with a little more intensity and time now seems to be a fleeting commodity. I really do need to work on my time management skills again so I can get everything done. It was a little stressful the first few days, but I was happy to get out of the house and start acting normal again.

Swim - Finally got back in the water on Wednesday, three weeks after my last swim. It was a good thing that I had no intention to finish the workout - just getting in the water was good enough. The warm up and drills were enough. I did get a little further then I thought I would - it was pretty slow though. The vasa did help with my strength and maintain my endurance, but did nothing to help with the feel of the water. Today was much better then the first swim - made a least part of the workout on the normal interval, with room to spare. I have a week to get my stroke and feel back!

Bike - Tuesday was my first mountain bike ride. Nick and I stayed on the easy trails - meandered through Stratton, then dropped Columbine. Didn't feel that great down Columbine - it was a little looser then I like, but I still made all the switchbacks. Followed that up with a good ride on Thursday with a few harder efforts and a lot smoother on the technical stuff. Today was longer and easy at CMSP - we took my mother there for some practice. But I still got some work on the technical sections and felt really good. A little tentative in the rock gardens - was afraid of wiping out. I don't think that I've lost that much on the bike.

Run - Started running and again it felt really good. I'm lucky that I've got a pretty smooth stride. It wasn't really a run, but it was a start. Walked and jogged, a nice steady shuffle. Thursday another run, this time ran the whole thing. Felt slow, but my time was not shabby. Not great either, but as good as I could expect for sitting on the couch for a few weeks. I don't think the run will be too bad, I've got plenty of endurance and speed from the years of marathoning. It will be interesting to see what happens in a week. I still need to behave and monitor exertion levels - now is not the time to go crazy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A long way on foot - Sheep Mountain Endurance Run

-
Image
Fifty miles is a long way - regardless of how you travel. As I was training and preparing for Sheep Mountain Endurance Run, I knew that it would be a long day - I knew that there would be ups and downs, that the plan would have to be fluid and goals adjusted mid-race. That is the nature of endurance sports and the people who achieve are the ones who can go with the flow and find the ability to turn things around if they do go south. Obviously, for my first 50, I was hoping for nothing but smooth sailing - with no dark spots, no demons and smiling the whole way. A girl can always hope, right? Runners assembled for the start Photo - Human Potential Running The sun was just starting to brighten the clouds as we walked to the starting line with nearly 100 other runners. The race director went through a few things, noting that there had already been some DNS's due to the elevation and to be smart. Smart... Most people would say smart would mean not doing something like a 50 mile ...
the full story...

Mortality

-
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well preserved body; but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow! What a ride!'” - Hunter S. Thompson It seems such a trite quote, but true at the same time. Life is about the journey - the adventures along the way, the failures and successes. A life well lived is a person with stories to tell, taking the chances along the way that will provide fulfillment. You don't realize how close we are teatering to the edge until something happens that affirms our mortality.  In eleven years of practicing physical therapy in a nursing home setting, I've had my share of experiences with death. Never close though - far enough removed to be touched by the passing but not affected. Sometimes it's expected and everyone says "it's for the best. They are happier now." Other times, it's not and we are all shocked...
the full story...

Regaining my mojo

-
Image
I'll be honest. The two months between the middle of July and middle of September just about crushed me. Tired all the time, unable to muster more then a slug pace for most rides, and shuffling my way through my runs. It was the worst two month I've had - made worse by my continuing to try to push through the fatigue. So after Vapor I made sure that I would listen to my body and not pressure myself into training until I felt ready. No matter how long it would take, I would take the recovery I needed. Two weeks of minimal activity - short swims that were mostly just paddling around, very short runs where I didn't look at my watch at all and the easiest of rides imaginable. After those two weeks, I was still tired, but feeling better. Getting more like myself again, with a little more energy. That meant I needed at least another week of easy recovery! It was not the time to succumb to FOMO and start up with the big rides and hard runs again. So I behaved even more, knowing ev...
the full story...

Friends with the Monsters..

-
And the voices inside of my head.  As Saturday approaches, the voices - the demons - have begun talking to me. Sometimes a whisper, sometimes a scream. 54 miles. It's the distance from Colorado Springs to Lake Pueblo State Park. Or the top of Wilkerson Pass... A long bloody way to cover on two wheels, let along two feet! Yet that is my goal. Traverse the trails and roads west and east of Fairplay, covering more then the distance of two marathons. Theoretically, it should be nothing. After all, I've run back to back marathons many times - once getting both under 3:10. Fifty two miles, in just shy of 24 hours at a pace much faster then I'm planning. But in this ventures, I had time to recover between races and took the recovery seriously. Here, nothing but continuous forward movement. One step in front of the other, no breaks between efforts and the the clock doesn't stop ticking.  As Saturday approaches, those voices are getting louder. Ever doubting, ever questioning - ...
the full story...