Dreaming Big Dreams

It was a very experiential season that came, and went, and never really got off the ground. I didn't do many shorter races this year, preferring to focus on the half-marathon, and I deferred that because of the knee injury due to osteoarthritis, a byproduct of a car accident a decade ago. I was most surprised to learn that I didn't do anything wrong in my training that might have caused the injury. My biggest mistake may have been not taking enough time off to recuperate from the first injury before starting the HM plan. So much for self-castigation and flagellation! But I do believe now that there is value in keeping a training log and recording all injuries -- and developing a rating system that will note whether this was a small ache versus real pain. It's up to you to do your own research and analysis and present that information in the process of trying to determine what went wrong.

I tend to think that if I do all of the right things, everything will turn out right. I followed the training plan closely and tried to do everything to keep injury at bay. But sometimes things just happen for no reason. Or, maybe we don't understand the reason at the time.

So...as I take a break from running for a while to rest and recuperate, I'm trying to turn greater attention to other things. I find myself dreaming big dreams -- for next season. This comforts and inspires me. And I do want another season, and that is my motivation.

Week 11: Crash and Burn

I made an appointment with my sports doc after my knee hurt in the swimming pool, which was too freaky for me. Then I went on a great recovery weekend run and a Tuesday morning 60 min. run and felt fine. So, I canceled the appointment.

On Thursday, I got on the treadmill and my knee hurt, so I began to experiment with solutions. I tried a longer warmup. Wearing my knee strap, then taking it off. Finally, 40 minutes later, I gave up. And then I couldn't go up and down the stairs or get up from a sitting position without knee pain. I knew I was in trouble. I've been limping around ever since and walking up the stairs with one foot. I'm back on my sports doc's calendar in two weeks.

I don't know whether to cry or scream. I spent months preparing for the half-marathon and now I don't know if it's in my future. I can't help but feeling that I'm being smited. Every time I run 8 miles, I get injured. I can't understand what I did wrong and why this happened.

What I do know is that I'll be cross-training until I can see the doctor, and then I'll make a decision about the race and any future sports participation. But it's hard to keep it from my thoughts as I move from sadness to frustration to self-castigation and maybe finally to acceptance. The endorphins will come in handy! I am so glad that this is a busy time of year and that I have the CAE pursuit, family, and work to take my mind off of this.

Week 10: Keep on Going

Due to time constraints and declining daylight, I finally took my training indoors to the pre-dawn hours. Don't even ask me how early I'm working out. And looking at my basement insulation for an hour is really interesting. This is going to take a lot of discipline - and a second cup of coffee for the drive to work. It's also strange because in the afternoon while driving my kid to soccer or tutor, I look at the runners and cyclists going by and think about running. Then I realize that I already did my run.

The highlight of my week was going to the local aquatics center for a Friday morning swim workout. I figure I can come in a little later on Fridays because typically I put in more hours earlier in the week, and I always wind up staying later to wrap up the week. After a search of local indoor pools, I found a pool where the water is warm and the membership is cheap!!! There's an open lane, a nice hot tub, and a swim suit dryer. What more could I want?

Otherwise, things are going along. Work is so so. I fall asleep while reading. I got the answer wrong on this week's scenario question. My knees hurt in the swimming pool!!!?? I wake up with a sore throat. I feel like I lack discipline half the time. Just keep on going. And keep on going. Because then when an easy 6 mile run comes along on a perfect early fall day ... or my kid gets in a chatty mood and decides to tell me everything about his day ... I can enjoy it even more.

Week 9: Facing Fears

It's getting darker earlier and it's difficult get in a run unless I can out there around 6:30 p.m., which is challenging because I run on the days my kid has tutor. Even though I say I'm going to use the treadmill, I haven't done so yet. I hate the thought of spending so many months training on the treadmill...but I also hate running in the dark.

My knees began to ache after Thursday's run. I had a long run of 8 miles scheduled on Saturday and I was almost afraid to run. I seriously contemplated taking the day as a cycle or rest day. Then, I decided to jog a bit in front of my house, just to see how my legs felt. Convinced that they felt alright, I went to the park. I did the IronGirl route x2 running slow and taking a lot of walk breaks, especially in the first few miles around the first lap, just as the experts suggest. I even took some stretching breaks. Once I warmed up, I began to feel OK and my pace picked up. Toward the end, felt tired and my joints felt tired. I topped it all off with a cold water bath. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

On Sunday, I went for a short bike ride because the outdoor pools closed, and I have no access to the pool for now. It was a really nice, perfect ride on a late-summer morning and the traffic was really light. My new bike shorts feel really comfy! But later, my joints and achilles tendon just felt sore, particularly after sitting down. It's as if my body starts to lock up when I sit down and don't move. It could be that my body just isn't used to the mileage. But when I feel like this, I start to seriously doubt whether I'll make it to the starting line.

This week I've been struggling with a particularly difficult domain on planning, evaluation and research, and I've been having a hard time putting all of the information together and wrapping my mind around it. Sometimes, the vocabulary seems to be used in different ways.

At the beginning of the online class, I made a graphic organizer using the Inspiration program that contains my affirmations, as suggested. Now, as the going gets tough, I'm learning the importance of affirmations.

Week 8: Slacking Off

This week called for:
50 minutes run-easy
40 minutes cycle
50 minutes run-form
4 mile long run
30 minutes swim

It's on of my last recovery weeks before the program peaks and I've been really taking it easy with everything. I ran super slow and cycled lazily. None of my runs were stupendous. During one run, I forgot my knee supporter and hoped that I wouldn't re-injure myself. During the other I couldn't seem to get going...and the day before the long run I ate sushi and for some reason it didn't sit right, which is anomaly for me, and I had stomach cramps for the entire morning.

The week ended with a mediocre 30-minute swim that I cut short when my knee felt funny. Then, I stubbed my pinky toe on something that my kid didn't pick up in his room and bruised my toe. Ouch.

The nicest part of the week was cycling. I decided to head down to my favorite park and cycle down the paved pathway. Definitely a must-do route. Later that week, I decided to return to that trail to enjoy the holiday. It was a fun ride and I had a nice endorphin high the rest of the day.

Being on a training program has its advantages and disadvantages as I tend to get a little obsessed with minutes and miles and doing everything according to plan. I'm getting a little nervous and wondering whether I can really make it through to race day as the program peaks. I just hope my body holds together. The half-marathon is on a very hilly course and just looking at the elevation map is making me nervous. Luckily, the 10 miler falls on the day of a supported course run, so if all goes well it will settle my nerves. I was concerned about the amount of time all of the training was taking, especially with everything else going on, but I realized it's not going to be too much more than what I'm doing now.

Week 7: Shifting Gears

So far, everything is going good with my workouts, and I don't feel so sore. But let's wait for the end of the week for the final judgement on that.

When I was cycling yesterday, I focused on sitting in the seat and shifting gears so that I wasn't pushing a high/hard gear going up hills or an incline or pedaling with no resistance on the downhills. I'm practicing the coordination needed to for gear shifting with both hands and I haven't quite got it down yet. This was one of those serendipitous discoveries that I made that my web search later showed was the right thing to do.

I'll be shifting gears in other ways. For my online class, we’re supposed to read anywhere from 75-178 pages a week and the instructor suggested that class participants to allow 6 hours a week for reading. Hahahahahah. I've never thought of myself as a slow reader, but it always takes me longer to read, process, and remember material. I am so very thankful now that I spent the summer reading, highlighting, and taking notes on most of these texts. If I had to read everything beginning now, I would drown. My focus will be on reviewing and remembering, rather than just trying to do a first read. I'm frustrated, though, because we did a practice test and I'm still had difficulty with many questions--even those that were more fact-based. And then there's the questions based on the reading and I can't recall where I read it. Yikes. It's not enough to read something and vaguely remember it because the test involves knowing details. One also has to know what is on a particular form--and what is NOT on that form.

The class is going to take a lot of time, and I think that as a compromise, beginning in September I'm going to move my running back to the treadmill in the predawn hours. It takes less time to go from my bed to the treadmill, and it frees up valuable time in the late afternoon and early evening.

Week 7 went out without event. I went for a 7 mile long run on Saturday, but ended up doing about 7.75 miles because I miscalculated the distance around the park when using the IronGirl route and making a complete circle. Lesson learned: it's actually closer to 8 miles and this knowledge will come in handy for my two 8 mile runs coming right up. All seems well on the running front.

IronGirl Triathlon

I wanted to learn more about triathlon, so at the last minute, I decided to volunteer for the IronGirl Triathlon. This was the most volunteer-friendly race I have ever participated in. Everyone was so nice, and willing to answer questions and explain things. I was amazed at both the oldest and the youngest athletes. I didn't expect to see people in their 70s doing a triathlon, nor did I expect to see 13-year-olds competing. My kids couldn't do that. It was interesting to see the whole event, what people were wearing, their equipment, and how they approached transition. Although it was a very long volunteer commitment, the entire event was very well run and a truly great experience.