Two spokes short!

Did you ever wonder if you could ride without two spokes on your wheel, ummmm....me either! But I found out this weekend!

Need to update workouts first and then I will explain:

Thurs: Was a wash...was in Atlanta then travelled back to Fayetteville that night.

Fri: Was going to swim that morning at the lake but dark, cold, gloomy and rainy....swam in the afternoon for 1:15...2800M.. that was my longest ever. I was a mess the last few hundred meters though.

Sat: Went out for a quick four hour ride before I head to the coast for my leaders conference. 45 minutes into the ride I am not paying attention and slam right into this huge pot hole....I thought I was going over the bars. I stop and check out the bike, spokes, tires, etc and everything seems fine. So I roll back out not pushing too hard as I didn't want to aggravate my leg. I was still trying to assess what i could do. So I am 2:15 in and am searching desperately for a gas station as I started out light on water and needed water badly. Its then that I hear a pop.... I slow down and take a look at he bike and everything seems fine so I am thinking I simply hit something.... so I continue on with my search for water.....So at about 2:25 I see that CITGO sign over the hill and speed towards it... as I hit the parking lot I hear another pop and as I roll in I hear a horrendous clanking noise...I stop and two of the spokes had broken..... Not cool! I go in, get some water and try to figure out what I am going to do.....Some thoughts:

-Ummm, where am I? I had an idea of my general location but not a clue where I actually was
-Can you use a wheel that's missing two spokes...I do not want to crash this bike!
-How can I direct Meg to come pick me up if I don't even know where I am?
-Meg is going to kill me if she looses and hour of her morning to come get me while is is getting stuff ready to go to the coast.
-I am loosing riding time on this already tight time line I have.

So I decide to make a beeline for home in the general direction I think it is and risk the crashing...I took it very easy....After 15 minutes I am in familiar territory and it takes me another 50 to get home. So if you ever wondered.....if you are missing two you are OK....three I am not sure and hope to never find out! I ended up doing around 3:35, a little over 60....... my leg was pretty good though so I was happy with that. Nutrition was one 3 hour bottle of perp and water.

Sun: Swam in the ocean for 30 min.....estimate 1500.
Biked 20, 68 Min

Mon: Off
Tues: Core at lunch..headed to the lake after work.

Its weird but my leg feels better when I am doing stuff on it. I haven't tried running since the 15th.... I am going to put a full week of biking and swimming though and try to use the elliptical machine for my run workouts this week to see how it feels. I am considering hitting the doctors tomorrow but the procedure to get an appointment in the Army makes me not want to bother.

Can I will away my injuries?

For some reason I still believe that if I want the injury to go away bad enough........ I can make it happen.... although lately I have tried to act my age and have taken to listening to my body......... I feel under pressure though b/c I have a lot of time and money invested into IM AZ in Nov. I know there will be other races in my life but this is Ironman brother, and I am signed up!

So I figure taking some time to heal now is better than trying to heal four weeks from now. Although it would be easier if I knew what was wrong with me exactly!

Mon: Swam for 55 min open water.........good swim, probably around 2000M

Tues: Core/ weights

Wed: Bike 1:20.......23 miles...easy.....listening to my body . I felt fine but could tell that my hammy is still not right.

I leave for Atlanta today.... I plan to do weights tomorrow, swim on Fri and ride long on Sat......... I hope to get four hours in at a snails pace......

I can't lay completely off but am taking it easy, Motrin and ice/ heat.

Hopefully it will get better.......its hard for me to tell if it is getting better or not....I want to tell myself it is but can't honestly tell.

Gotta go ice it now!

Hamsting woes!

My right Hamstring is still not right.......I am not sure whether to try and train through it or just take time off....w/ IM Arizona two months away this is not the time to be loosing fitness. I am opting not to run at all this coming week and just bike and swim.........stretch, ice and heat.... we will see how it goes this week. I hope to get my long ride in next weekend.

Sat: Swam for 1:10 open water. I estimate at a 2:40 pace I went a little over 2500M. That is the longest I have every gone..... I am going to build on that next week. The last 500 were tough but 95% was freestyle. Meg and I went to the lake....she did awesome swimming with me for her first time in open water......we need to buy her a wetsuit. She liked it enough that I think I can get her out there next weekend.

I also biked for an hour......not sure how long..probably 17-18.

Sun: I biked for 1:53 (33 miles)today to test out my leg.......It didn't feel great but not bad either.....my effort was minimal.

I am going to swim/ bike 3X this week with two weight workouts..... I need to assess how my leg is doing......I don't want to blow it up.

Back From DC

Normally I am better about this blog but this past week has been a blur and my hammy is just not right after Duke man last weekend.

Mon I took the day off and my right leg was in a lot of pain....the rest of me felt fine.... I planned to swim out at the lake on Tuesday but it rained and we had lightening. I did jump though on Tuesday and it was like landing in a pile of sand. I landed on my left side so not to mess with the right leg.

Wed: Ran 5 with the officers..........I wish I didn't run but sometimes we don't have much of a choice in the Army.... I also swam in the afternoon but felt like hell so I only did 800M.

Thurs- Fri: I left at 0530 for DC. We drove up to Walter Reed Medical Center to visit Soldiers from our unit and other military police (MP)units injured in the war..... very powerful visit.........I don't do well at funerals, hospitals, etc. but to see double amputees working on walking again truly makes me cherish all that I have and makes me realize how lucky I was to walk away from my time in Iraq injury free. We also went to a remembrance ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery for all of this years fallen MPs. Stopped by the Pentagon (I met the Under Secretary of the Army (2IC of the Army) and got home last night. So as you can imagine Thurs and Fri were a wash.

Meg and I are heading to the lake in a bit for some swimming and then I am going to ride for an hour or so to test out my leg. I am very concerned about my leg and my not sure what to do. There is no consistent pain but it isn't right. I am going for all easy effort today and hope to ride longer tomorrow.

Dukeman 1/2 IM 14 Sep 08

Why was Sat and Sun in the 90's and the days surrounding them in the mid to lower 80's...........what's the deal with that?

Sat night my hamstring still didn't feel great (yes my right side) but I was hoping it would subside and I will be able to manage the pain during the race. I went to bed around nine and fell to sleep pretty quickly.

I awoke at three pretty chipper made some coffee, ate a bagel and listened to the news. As I was loading the car I was still hoping to use the bathroom but couldn't.... I had that problem in Florida this year as well and went the whole day without going...... I wasn't going to re-live that nightmare. We left at 4:15 and stopped at the drugstore for some assistance with my issue...... We got lost once and had to pull the Tom Tom out..... back on track it took us about an 1 & 15 minutes to get to the site. When we arrived I didn't need my purchased assistance and went right to the porta pottie............thank god!

Checked in, set up my stuff and then I heard that announcement I didn't want to hear........water temp was 79 degrees...not wetsuit legal. They announced that you could wear it if you wanted though but wouldn't be eligible for prizes.........umm no problem since I wouldn't be anyways! I tried to rationalize this in my head:

Wear it:
- Shoulder still not the best, wearing it will make it less rough on the shoulder
- IM AZ is a wetsuit legal race..... this is a trg race for IM.....train as you race
- I could use a good swim for my confidence

Don't wear it:
- I could be the only person wearing it
- people will make fun of me (in their heads)
- I am a guy

Sensibility (for once) won out and I wore the wetsuit! I also encouraged another guy who was hemming and hawing about it to his family..... I let him know he would have another wetsuit brother out there!

Swim start was floating which was fine for me since I could float! I was in the third wave. The course was a triangle with the three sections that looked pretty even. A messy start with people swimming all over me and me on them..... For some reason I went to the left and went way off course....that trend continued all the way to the first turn. I sighted very well on the 2d leg and felt good. Was trying to concentrate on fluttering my feet, pushing my head and chest down, entering the water early and rotating. On the third leg I drifted to the left again...sighting was a challenge due to the sun..... In hindsight I definitely would have been faster if I swam a somewhat straight line.... I was like a ping pong ball out there and need to sight more. Overall though I was not tired one bit getting out of the water and am sure I could have gone father (Maybe not another whole lap though!) which gave me great confidence that I could work my way up to IM distance. Total Swim time: PR 43:43

Short jog to transition: Shoes, helmet, glasses, turn on Garmin, grab bike and I was out.... 1:35

The bike was pretty challenging..... lots of rolling hills and a few steady long climbs. I felt great the first hour and average 20.2. Although I could feel my hammy twinging I was trying to ignore it..... the 2d hour was pretty hilly and my pace dropped significantly.... I was still doing well though. I hit over 40 MPH in the Aero bars for the first time ever...I almost chickened out but kept thinking to myself...why do you have a tri bike if you aren't going to stay in the bars? I kept playing..... I pass you...you pass me with the same people the entire bike until the end when I hammered down. I stayed very Aero for the first couple hours only coming up for steeper climbs. Into the 3rd hour my stomach felt queasy and I popped up more often but continued to pedal hard. My hammy was not doing well but I pushed on determined to PR the bike since I had just PR the swim. I knew I would pay for this later but was hoping I could rely on the strength (relative) of my running to bring me home as thoughts of a PR danced in my head! My Ave HR was down the 2d 1/2 of the bike as I couldn't turn the cranks fast enough anymore.... it began to get painful. I pulled into the the transition area and my time was 2:55:09........19.3 Ave not a PR for me but it was in the range if my hammy had been feeling better......

Nutrition: 2 Bottles of HEED, Gel every 30 minutes and water as needed.... this is what I used last year with no issues but this year I had stomach issues coming of the bike......not sure what is going on with nutrition.

Made a quick change at transition (1:29) and am 1/2 way out of the transition area when I realized I had forgotten my Garmin. Ran back, grabbed it and took off.... I felt great the first mile except for the knot in my side and stomach...... I had thoughts of a PR day but soon realized that wouldn't happen as I turn onto the dirt track for the first hill. I would say it was uphill for at least 3/4 of a miles and it hurt a lot. I got to the top, grabbed some water and had to hit the wood line. Up until then I was pulling 8:34 but that would be the highlight of my run! My right leg was not firing on all cylinders and the course was challenging.... Although I think the course in STL was harder, this one just sapped me.... My stomach was a mess, my leg was killing me and the heat and humidity were defeating.... I took a Gel at mile 3 and thought it was coming back up...I tried some fritos...coke...anything to settle my stomach. I was able to run the entire first lap in 1:01. So very painful to have to go back out on that course for a second loop.

My right leg was heavy, no spring and was killing me. I was still on track for a solid day but made a tactical decision to walk that first uphill..... My Hr was sky high that first lap and I told myself once it got down to a decent level I would run again......it didn't work out quite as planned. From then on I walked the uphills, ran the downhills and ran 90% of the flats. I really pushed hard that last mile to keep my total time under 6 hours. I finished that lap 17 minutes slower but I finished it! My run time was 30 minutes slower than last year in STL but still, I finished and was happy with myself.

Run time: 2:16:57

Nutrition: Water/ Heed every stop, water on head every stop...Gel at mile 3..... I think I did one at mile 8 but can't remember.....I drank coke the entire 2d lap...... it was not pretty!

Total time: 5:58:52

I drank some water and a mountain dew, ate a cookie and some oranges....stretched a bit and tried to feel normal.... My stomach was going nuts....and there was no shade to get out of the sun. Our car was blocked in so we weren't going anywhere. I went to the jeep and laid in the back for a bit with the A/C on. I was there about 15 minutes and could feel myself going, so I got out and instantly puked once, twice and then three times.... I felt much better though! Meg and I went to collect my stuff...she was a huge help as my stomach started to revolt on me again. As I was loading the car my stomach went nuts and I had to sit and rest.....and then it went again...once then twice and I didn't even care that it had hit my toes! Now that I was pretty sure I was cleaned out we were able to get out of the parking lot and Meg drove home.....

We stopped at Sonic to get a slush and I was able to drink it and keep it down.... I still wasn't good when I got back and I tried to do an ice bath for my hammy but we had insufficient ice and I didn't get the effect I wanted. I made some ice cubes overnight though so will try it again tonight.

Today I feel fine except for a little uneasiness in my stomach and my right hamstring is a mess..... It is definitely the lower portion of my hamstring. The rest of my body feels fine and I will be swimming tomorrow afternoon after our jump.

As I finish this blog and add some photos over a couple beers....my leg feels better... I took a muscle relaxer and some Motrin. I have to run on Wednesday (Officer Physical Training) but plan on staying away from the running for a couple weeks. I am proud of myself for gutting the race out and look forward to a day that I am injury free!

The wait........

Sitting here w/ some coffee Saturday morning waiting to see if they post the water temperature..........someday I hope to not worry if it is wetsuit legal or not..........not that I can't finish the swim without a wetsuit......but it sure makes me more confident!

Thurs: Off
Fri: 38 Min open water swim... felt great.......lunch time 40 min ride
Sat: ride 30.....run 10 Stretch PCI (Pre Combat Inspection for you non military folks) my equipment!

It is going to be in the 90's tomorrow.......great......its September! Just keep telling myself...the quicker you get done the less the weather will effect you...

Legs don't feel quite right this week........went to the chiropractor yesterday and he said it may take a few months to get back to 100% even though I don't feel anymore pain .....I am just hoping I find my legs out there tomorrow and do well.

Fortunately my brother - in- law plays LA today so I have a good excuse to sit on my butt this afternoon!

Hopefully I will be back tomorrow night for a positive race report!

video

Training plan cross road!

I am at a cross road with my training plan......... I had been doing a 3 week build followed by a fourth week of recovery.......things were working great until my body broke down last week (week 3 of 4). In fact I had an awesome week 2. I know that week 3 is the toughest week but I just couldn't get my legs to go...... So now I am pondering:

#1 Why did I break down week 3:
- simply too much for my body w/out enough recovery
- went to hard on week 2 workouts (did speed on bike and run and went too fast on my 55 mile ride)

#2: Should I hold the plan I have while taking an extended week of rest or should I go to a 2 week build followed by a one week recovery........not sure what to do!

Any one have any thoughts?

Once thing I am pleased with is that I recognized my body falling apart and made modification to the plan for the weekend however I wished I had seen the signs prior and laid off a bit week 2.

Tues: Biked 45min/ 13 miles / PM: met Gregg at the lake..no lesson just swimming... we went 40 minutes. (estimate it to be about a miles)
Wed: Ran 32 min this morning, did core at lunch

Gregg sent me some more video... I will see if I can get it posted...

I should have a new camera by tomorrow so I will be able to post some photos up.....

Duke 1/2 IM this weekend...........we w/ see how it goes....pray for a wetsuit legal race.

Monday morning uneasiness!

Sat: Took the entire day of less a core/ weights/ stretching workout. Would have skipped this as well but Meg really wanted me to go to the gym with her and I owe her for being such a good sport all the time. Hurricane Hanna hit us but was only a tropical storm.

Sun: Went out to the lake and met Gregg. He took some more film, showed me a couple drills to work on my roll and we swam about 800M. Also worked on sighting. Shoulder felt pretty good and I am working on entering the water earlier and keeping that 10 degree bend to lessen the stress on my shoulder.

We had a snack and then rode 49 miles....2:54.... slow pace and I felt good at the start but my lack of fueling up, soreness and inadequate supply of liquid on the bike did me in after 1 1/2. It was also pretty darn hot. Awesome riding out in the Southern Pines/ Carthage area.

Mon: Ran five miles this morning in just under 45. HR 149

Last night when I got back I had a snack and was waiting for dinner but got this piercing headache........don't know what happened but I had to go lay down.....Meg let me sleep for 45 minutes and I woke up to a much lesser headache and it finally dissipated after a while.... it had to be my poor fueling yesterday coupled by the heat and lack of fluids.... although I did drink 40 ounce of water on the drive home...... anyway I was still two pounds lighter today than when I woke up yesterday and my stomach wasn't great this morning. My HR was way to high for the pace this morning and the same thing happened to me yesterday on the bike....very weird.... Normally I would never ride at 17.4 MPH and have a 150HR. I am still attributing it to fatigue and the fuel issue.....

I am going full bore with recovery this week. Only 45 min bikes and 30 minute runs the rest of the week. I am going to take either Thursday or Friday completely off. I am going to the lake at least twice this week. I am going to make sure I eat right as well. These are my pledges to myself!

two drills not to forget

I need to write down these two drills so I won't forget them............

- 3 stoke/ 4 stroke back stroke
- keep arm on side for extended time to emphasis the twist in my body

These were incorporated into my swimming regiments by Gregg to work on my roll. My plan is to work strictly on form this week and see if I can maintain it for next weekend. I feel like I am gliding faster on the water but then again it may be the wetsuit!

Shoulder a little sore but not bad.

Issues w/ video

Will try to figure this video thing out later!

My first swim Lesson!

Take aways from my first swim lesson:

- Twist/ rotate my entire body.....shoulder out of water.... body should be turn so you don't have to turn your neck to breath
- Keep my head down...eyes looking down not forward
- Work on sight w/ out lifting my entire head..... at an angle
- Enter the water right above my head/ do not extend and lock my elbow....maintain a 10 degree bend in my arms .... less stress on my shoulder!

Now lets see if I can incorporate them!

Swim lesson was great and I can tell Greg is a great guy.... (I put his link on the site) I am psyched to find someone to work with me....... The ride to get there is about 60 min from the house but once or twice a week for a few months is worth it to me to improve my swimming efficiency and technique. Plus now I know about an open water swim spot and will definitely be using it for the next few months in preparation for IM AZ.

Here is the tape that Greg took of me: