Just an Average SKIRT

It’s day 5 of stabilizer and man, I need more rest.   I’m forgoing my brick today for Core Power Yoga this morning then I’m off for a day in my practice followed by an always fun marketing presentation to the BCMT Board of Directors tonight.  Tomorrow should be a little better, not too much on the agenda except my long pool run, work and a massage for moi.  I need it, I’m having major tension in my upper back and neck which is making for uncomfortable numbness in my hands.  This is caused, I believe, by a combination of my occupation and training (namely bike and swim).

Went to the Banff Film Festival and started to fall asleep after intermission, I just can’t stay away after 9pm.  Hopefully a good night’s rest tonight will help me start to feel recovered.  Right now, recovery is just not what I’m feeling.

I had my xray on Friday at BCSM and I have a stress reaction in my fourth metatarsal. A stress reaction, similar to a stress fracture is a repetitive stress injury of bone (RSI of Bone). It is a reaction of bone to repetitive forces. So what we saw on the xray is that my metatarsal has started to build bone around the area of stress. This proves a law that we learned about in massage school, Wolf’s Law which states that bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads it is placed under. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading. The external cortical portion of the bone becomes thicker as a result. However, if the loading on a bone decreases, the bone will become weaker due to turnover as it is less metabolically costly to maintain and there is no stimulus for continued remodeling that is required to maintain bone mass.

It will be a 5 week healing process, thankfully I got off my feet as soon as I realized something was wrong and I already have a week of healing under my belt. Had I not stopped running as soon as I experience pain with each foot strike I most definitely would have fractured it. Another lesson learned about how listening to your body is absolutely what you need to do. With that said, I have 3 more weeks of pool running and then one week of elliptical to transition back to weight bearing activity then I can hit the pavement again.

Along with my clinical healing regime I will also practice a mantra daily that I found in Yoga Magazine. To the left is my friend, Ekajati, The Protector of Mantras (The Most Powerful Goddess in the Buddhist Pantheon).

The mantra is Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha (ohm goom gana-pa-tie-ay na-ma-ha)
What does is this mantra supposed to do? Basically, for seen or unseen obstacles which seem to be standing in the way of your progress or achievement, either specifically or generally, this mantra has proved invaluable. It has been used it with great success not only in India, but here in the West dozens of people have related to me their success in turning things around in their life by using this mantra.

Pool running/rest/daily mantra/acupuncture/massage ….a recipe for strength.

I finished my week with a 2 hour pool run on Saturday then a few nights in Winter Park which is why I was out of touch. I was busy not being a triathlete, I was drinking beer, eating cheese and watching trash tv. I’m back in reality and on stabilizer this week. Today just a 35 minute pool run and then I have a very big day in my practice.

So if you have obstacles that seem to be standing in your way then this is for you, Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha.

…but I’m cool with it, I knew it would be a big commitment, I’ve seen my husband go through it twice already and have felt first hand what it does to the body as many of my clients are Ironman athletes. Really, it’s no big surprise and I’m starting to feel the fitness grow. In fact, just the other day, I noticed that my reserve of ‘back fat’ is dimming down. Now, how can a girl complain about that?

Had a cancellation today (sorry Kristina it was a morning appointment) which made the difference between getting up at 4am and 5am. I got to sleep in until 5 and on the bike for about 6:30. The usual morning ritual of coffee and bagel in bed with BJ, Harry, Lhasa and Weke – I’m so glad we have a king size bed. Sometimes it takes a bit of coordination but we have it dialed in and all 5 of us fit just perfectly, a puzzle of love if you will.

Brick today: Rode 32 miles and caught up on my extremely dirty pleasure Rock of Love 2 (it’s hideous but I love it) then watched an episode of Dexter – a little dark but there’s nothing wrong with a little darkness. Ride took 2hrs 20 minutes with 13 miles in the middle of Z3. Then to the pool for a 70-minute pool run with 30 minutes in Z3. Now worth noting here, is the reminder that in the pool my zones are 20 beats lower than my run zones. So I have to pool run like a rabid animal in heat to get my heart rate to where it needs to be to simulate the run – today called for 30 minutes in the low to mid 160’s. Once the lifeguards realized that I am just a little crazy and wasn’t having a seizure, things seems status quo for the remainder of the run.

Started seeing clients about 12:30 and quickly crashed in between my first and second client. Good thing I have a top of the line massage table complete with a heating pad and extra pillows down below. See where I’m going here….quick ring to the beej to schedule my wake up call and I was out for about 20 minutes. Today allowed me to rediscover the power of the power nap.

So as my mileage moves from reasonable to unreasonable I will continue to power nap, find time within time and keep a positive attitude because at the end of the day, I’m so damn proud of myself and know that I have what it takes to make this race my bee-atch.

Photo of when we first got Lhasa, she was 5 months old, 55 lbs and a ton of trouble. Way too big for being that young - bull in a china shop.

Up at 5am Wednesday, hit the pool at 6:00ish for a 2650 yd swim. It always feel good to get in the water, I think its my new favorite thing to do. Running was my favorite thing but after 2 marathons in 2 months and a pending xray on Friday, I think I’m pulling back from running and re-embracing the swim. Although my arms felt really short yesterday, I felt like my hands extended were little balls. I think my forearms, wrists and hands are really tight from massage. Looking forward to getting my massage on Friday. My main set was 250yds in Z3 then 6×100 at my pace from the 250 plus 20 secs. My pace was about 1:42 so I decided to do the 100s on 2 minutes, of course, going for the 1:35 pace and then resting for the remainder in between. I was able to complete all six in under 1:30, the best being my last at 1:26 (the last one hurt like a motha!). I was very happy with those times. Gotta keep this up!

Two (of many) incredible organic meals yesterday that are worth noting….

Lunch: tempe sauteed (a little crisp on it) with green and red peppers, served with fresh spinach in a flour tortilla with cholula and tomatillo salsa and a Whole Foods rootbeer.

Dinner: Pesto, basil, Asiago raviolis served with sauteed sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts, topped with 3 cheese blend (asiago, romano, parmesan). A loaf (it was a mini-loaf) of harvest grain bread (oil olive for dipping), spinach/baby greens salad with green/red peppers, dried cranberries, crunchies and balsamic dressing. Served with a glass of organic Cono Sur Cabernet Savignon. YUMMAS!

Good day today, up at 5am went down to the Autumn Hill Equestrian Center for some live spots on Good Day Colorado for BCMT.  Then to the pool for 8am, 60-minute pool run.  Busy day in my practice but lots of fun….love my clients!  Literally, I treated my husband today.  Feeling beat, it’s 9:27 and I’m heading to bed.  Wait I’m in bed, ok so I’m going to sleep. Negative 46 on the stress chart, tomorrow is another day.  Just rolling through the week - taking the ups and downs as they come.

After waking up and not feeling rested I entered what would be a crazy day filled with the need to be flexible and patient.  Neither of which come easy to me.  Got a surprise at acupuncture when they told me to get an xray asap on my foot because they suspect a stress fracture.  What?  Ok no big deal, plenty of time.  So I pool run for the next 3 weeks, let it heal (whatever it is) and hit the pavement again.    At least I can still bike and swim along the way.  I have a solid running base with two marathons since October so I know I can recover from this and come out stronger in the end.

Then home to a crazy afternoon working for the college - basically had 2 hours to pull together 5 people, a horse, dog and the use of a barn.  Don’t ask but it was pulled together and should be getting some great press for the school tomorrow.   Needless to say, nothing on my ‘to do’ was done.  Susie came up about 3:30 and hopped on the trainer.  I joined her around 4 for a 48 mile ride which was basically 10 minutes in Z4 and the rest in Z2 (enter patience).  I struggled way more than I should have, my legs felt like ass and my mind was weak.  It took close to 4 hrs.   8:20 off the bike and took time to stretch, inhaled some fish tacos and now I’m hitting the hay.

Crazed, yes, I’m living in the house of crazed right now.  I don’t see much of a break from the craziness until next Sunday.  I know I’m not alone, I know this and somehow that makes it easier.  About 11am this morning, my husband came into my office and told me ‘babe, we’re just gonna roll through this week’, and we will but please bring on the stabilizer, I’m ready!

Blah, that really sums up my 11 mile run today.  Nothing great, nothing bad,  just kind of ‘blah’.  Felt more like a job then anything else.  11 miles, mostly Z2 with 2 x .5miles Z4.   Just blah, nothing else to report.

Had an excellent 90-minute massage today, I get them weekly whether or not I report on them or not.  It’s a necessity for me.  The therapist hammered my legs for most of the time, per my request, and a little on the rest of me.  Legs feel incredible tonight, a little sore from the session but I’m sure they will be fresh tomorrow for my run.  Just a small 5.5 run and then off to the Cadaver Lab for the afternoon.  I can’t wait!

Another fabulous day in the life of me. 5am wake up followed by the coffee/bagel protocol. Hit the pool at 6:30 for an 1850 yd swim. My main set was 3×100 at all out pace plus 50 (for the 1st), plus 45 (for the 2nd) and plus 50 (for the final 100). I thought, ‘why is this was so easy’? Swim a 100 in 2:05 minutes. Please Craig, I’m not in bubblers anymore, I’m training for an ironman. I consult with my training bible (bj), he tells me that you are supposed to go all out and then rest for the remainder of time. And over the course of our training schedule the rest times will become shorter so practice the faster pace. Ok, makes more sense.

I started swimming, I felt solid but not so light. Got through my warm-up and preset…time for the main set. Not too daunting really, it was only 3 but I need to practice my 1:35 pace. I also need to practice swim start simulation by sprinting the first 12.5 yards head down, no breath. I’m sure this 12.5 will grow to longer sprints but for now, this is what Craig is telling me to do. I head out for the first 100 - finish with a 1:23, out of breath but rested for 42 seconds, ready for another. Hit a 1:27 for the 2nd 100. Definitely out of breath but I know I only have one more. I’m thinking you must come in under a 1:30 because you can’t drop that far off your second (and you only have three, so suck it up and go sister). I’m 75 yards into the last 100 and I cannot breath, I mean I cannot begin to get enough breath into my lungs in one breath. I wanted to stop and catch my breath but instead I think ‘make it worse’. So I took myself out of the pool and visualized being socked in by other bodies, arms, legs in my face, on my feet and in my space. I decided to practice the panic attack most often experienced in triathlon during the swim. Instead of stopping, take a few breast strokes and catching my breath, I just slowed my cadence, pulled stronger and even though breathing remained difficult I finished the final 100 in 1:29.  I didn’t have many more of these in me but it’s February…..let’s see where I am in May.

Followed up this swim with a wonderful day in my practice and then all you can eat pasta at Cafe Gondelier with my valentine.  Thanks for the date hon, I love you in my life!

Started the day early, 4am with the plan to get on the bike next to my husband and do our ride together starting at 5am. Ooooo but no, there was trainer trouble from 5-6am.  We ended up cutting our losses and returning our brand new trainer (Blackburn) for another Cyclops. I don’t know why we didn’t just stick with what we already knew to be a great trainer. The cyclops is simple and straight forward. You see, the beej and I, we hate (and I mean loathe) extra features. We have a VCR not a DVR, we like car windows that you have to manually roll up, we haven’t owned a microwave in 10 years, we will never wear blue tooth technology and prefer garage doors that we have to open and close ourselves. The Blackburn although not terribly loaded with features had a few extras and for us, that’s a few extra too many.

I feel overall we were flexible and went on with our workouts regardless, BJ had a swim so he hit the pool and I jumped on the other trainer for my ride. Finished up and headed out on the run…my, my, my…I thought there was a higher power messing with my mind but there wasn’t, it was warm and I was hot. It was a beautiful thing, did a 5.6 mile loop then came back for Mr. Harry who finished the last mile with me. I’d take him for longer but he is the ‘deuce man’ and he never lets you down. So its inevitable if you run with Harry you will be running with feces in hand. So he only goes for a mile or so. It doesn’t matter if he’s in the backyard for 5 hours before we go, he is the deuce man and he fulfills his role to a tee. Felt great on the run, legs a little heavy but really just a mental weight of getting one foot in front of the other faster than the last. In our photo, you can see Lhasa in the door wondering why the hell she isn’t the one in front of the camera, poor girl. Hey Lhasa, sometimes your vanity just has to take a back seat to the rest of the world.

8:33 and heading to bed….had a light day in my practice, big day tomorrow but lighter workout. Sleeping in till 5 tomorrow, such a luxury. Another healthy dinner (we eat very healthy), veggie burger, steamed broccoli, spinach/baby greens salad with sesame sticks, cranberries and garbanzo beans. Dessert tonight was a big bowl of Wild Berry Crunch, damn good!

….be as wonderful as today. Slept in until 7am, coffee, bagel and to the pool for 8am. Swam 2450yds and I continue to feel so strong in the pool. Main set was a Z3 pyramid - 75, 100, 150, 100, 75 with 25 back stroke and 25 drill after each 50. I’m keeping that 1:07 (actually the dream time was 1:07:51) in my mind and I feel like even if I don’t meet it I will be faster for it. More dreams, more dreams…like 6:00 hr bikes and sub-5 marathons….. Ok, I won’t get greedy (although that is a trait of the rat). When its all said and done, I’m the sub-par athlete that trash talks her way right to a mediorce finish every time and is proud of every step. Meaning, I will have fun along the way and will be happy with whatever my time is because I know that completing an Ironman (outside of Boulder, CO) is a huge deal.

Early morning tomorrow - here’s a snapshot of my day….4am wake up, 2 cups coffee/half bagel, 29 to 6.5 brick, work for college, see clients in my practice, drink a glass of wine, eat dinner, go to bed.

Dobroi nochi!