Pulse check!

Yes, I'm still here. A little humbler and a lot smarter. I realized at the end of February I was still not healing... I all but took March off....excluding some easy runs, lifting and core and some swimming....OK, it wasn't off by normal means but if you know me, you know I am not normal! I spent a lot of time training (Army) in the woods so it was a convenient excuse to rest. I have also spent countless hours over the past two months working in my yard. I am going green with my own vegetable garden! I have also helped some folks I work with get into biking and am building future triathletes at work.

I decided to focus not on my own athletic improvement, but on those people I work with. Whether they like it or not they have been getting a lot of my attention. In April it was much of the same but I slacked of big time with lower body weights (by design) barely swam (I'm lazy about swimming b/c I am not good at it) and decided to force (encourage) all the officers in the Battalion to do the Fort Bragg ten Miler June 11th.

How can I do this you ask?...........How can I force people to pay money and sign up.....to be honest I am not forcing anyone......they have a choice....they can do the 10 miler with me at the the 11th with thousands of other folks and enjoy the camaraderie or they can do it with me at physical fitness training the following Tuesday.

I'm am actually not going to force anyone to do it though who isn't ready.... we have been training and I have working with them to at a minimum build up their endurance. I've got a lot of folks really excited for it, some doing b/c everyone else is doing it and some I know won't end up doing it.....it's all OK though...I am just trying to encourage a healthy life style. I think I am having an effect...

Meg and I went up to Raleigh last month to watch two newbies do their first triathlon. I've got a bunch of others interesting in buying bikes and trying their hand at a triathlon. So I am looking for an end of summer triathlon we can all do together...... so that is what I have been up to.......... as far as my health goes.....

I haven't felt this good in over a year. Whatever I am doing is working. Crazy for me but there were weeks in April were I took three days of during a week and did nothing but worked in the yard over the weekend. I have been running at work but not hard...but we have been going long (prep for the 10 miler) which has been taxing my leg. I have been resting whenever possible but something happened this weekend. Not just that Meg was gone to see her new niece in KC so I was a free man.... but I went to bed Wednesday night sore and woke up without any pain on Thursday. Normally as the day goes along I get stiffer and stiffer but there was nothing Thursday at all. I did weights (well rocks and body weight...I will explain that another time) workout on Thursday and decided I was going to try cycling on Friday.

We had Friday off so I went for a little over an hour at an easy pace and it was pain free! I went again today a bit more spirited and had the same results (I"m a little sore now though so I will take it easy tomorrow). So, over the past seven days I have run 3X, swam 2X, biked 2X and did weights and core 3X....almost sounds like a week of training!

I wil not go to the track tomorrow and tear it up, I will not ride intervals on Wednesday... I am doing no speed until there is no pain...except for good pain. I have learned my lesson!

I did the unthinkable this weekend and pulled out of Vineman. I have never taken a knee before, I can take pain......I tore my hamstring last year and still trained, I didn't run for the ten weeks leading up to IM, I did Ironman, it was slow ...but I did it. I don't regret doing it, I wouldn't have it any other way.... Pain is temporary...Pride is forever. I just don't want to go through that again if I can avoid it. I want off of the pain medicine (I am). Such a relief for me mentally to pull out...I can allow myself to heal instead of rushing back into it.

I may scratch the whole year of racing and start fresh next...we will see over the next couple months how it goes. The only thing I am committing to...... is myself.... to get healthy! I think its working...I just can't get ahead of myself! I'm off to go stretch!

Sleep less night

Some folks consider a sleep-less night as tossing in turning in their bed. My sleepless night was spent on Sicily Drop Zone at Fort Bragg awaiting for 500 paratroopers to exit an aircraft while in flight. Now, that alone should not have caused my sleep less night.........it was the Soldier who landed in the trees, never turned in his parachute and told no one. We didn't find his parachute until 0730. I came right back to work to save the drive home and back....plus I was starving! Its going to be a long day......I need more coffee.

I can't believe this but I took two full days off last week from working out and ran only once. I am taking this hamstring thing seriously after my set back 11 days ago. This morning it feels terrific but my knees hurt......that may be b/c I was crammed into a vehicle trying to stay warm last night.

I have been going to physical therapy and she had me use a myo release ball which really allowed me to hit the problem area. Everything else I had been trying just wasn't hitting the mark. I ordered one yesterday and should have it at the house by Thursday. It really helped me hit my targeted problem area.

I feel good today but am tempering my enthusiasm. The PT said it could take up to 12 weeks to completely heal. I'm not going to blow it this time. I just keep telling myself that I have a long future in triathlons if I a smart and listen to my body. I am still not signing up for any races in April. I will do nothing that involves speed until Mar. My only goal is to race Vineman in July healthy..... I'll take under trained!

Mentally I don't feel like a triathlete and yearn to push myself. I want to thrash myself on the track so badly. For now though, I am working on my weight and am down 6 pounds. Still focusing on weights, core, flexibility and healing.

My own worst enemy.

That would be my pride! So............. I was feeling great last week, had a pretty full week of training and a bike on Saturday. So this past Monday I decided to run with one of the platoons. I learn they are going 5-6 miles all together.... I am thinking varying abilities present so as a group they won't be going fast.... bad assumption.

All is good for a little over a mile then the platoon sergeant has them spread out for last man up runs. Mind you....I have always hated these types of runs....I am just starting to feel better after a 10 month hamstring problem.....which I originally hurt during track repeats.....

Yes, I could have opted out, I could have parted ways or just dogged it but in my defense.... I am the Commander so I should be setting the example and I should be working out with my Soldiers and pushing them.......what I should not have done though was crush the sprint........... I was smarter on the hill repeats but still, none of this was smart..... I should have moved at my own comfortable pace and not let my pride take over. OK, yes I did destroy that young 18 year old Soldier but what did I actually achieve?

Even dumber........... the next day I felt OK so I went and did heavy leg presses....... not sure which did me in but by that night I felt it and Wednesday I was in pain. Yep that's right........I'm starting to get better and I blew it.... I feel as if I have regressed now in my recovery and I have no one to blame but myself.

So Wednesday I ran nice and easy and it seemed to loosen things up, I took Thursday off, swam Friday and cycled 28 today. I could feel it in my legs so I pulled back and fell to the slower group. Tomorrow I will just swim and stretch.

My hope is that I can pull back all I've lost in those two days in the next couple weeks. Self actualization moment............... I'm an idiot.....stop being a dumb ass!

I think now I have realized that speed is out of the question for the next couple months. I am not signing up for any races in April. The physical therapist said it could take up to four months to heal properly and that will be only if I do not aggravated it (like I did this week). I have a high hammy problem where the hammy connects to the tendon(apparently this is the worst kind).

On a positive note though I swam 1600 without shoulder issues on Friday and plan to do the same tomorrow.

For now though, I will mask my pain with some delicious Red Zinfandel! I feel myself getting better already!

Road to recovery

Here is a summary of activities from last week:

M: Rest
T: Core/ push ups/ sit ups at physical trg followed by 50 minutes on the bike at the gym and then 50 minutes of physical therapy.
W: 50 minutes on elliptical
Th: Swim 1400M followed by 45 minutes of weights and core and then 50 minutes of physical therapy
F: Ran 32 minutes followed by 4 sets of suicides (Rugby practise style) Followed by Yoga
S: Rode 32 miles with the local cycling group.
Sun: Swim 1600M. Weights for an hour. (planned for today)

I found it very hard to get to Yoga last week. I have a ton of things going on at work. My goal has been to hit everything 2X last week. I count the elliptical as a run since I had a jump that morning and had a really hard landing......dragging myself to the gym that afternoon was tough. I only made Yoga once however adding 2 hours of PT I feel compensates for that. I have also been stretching over 30 minutes every day. I will get to Yoga 2X this week though...no excuses!

So, you read it correctly..........my first real road ride since Ironman in Nov! I have been feeling a lot better..........I think PT is helping as well as taking it easy. I am tempering my enthusiasm though and sticking to my 2x a week policy for another week as to not over due it. My hammy is still a bit tight but its so much better..........so the ride.....

Since my goal this year is to get faster..........I need to find some folks that are stronger than me. I have known about the group but had just been doing my own thing. The ride starts at 0900 and there were a ton of folks.....I would say at least 30. I've never ridden with so many folks...... I wasn't sure how the group dynamics were and I knew for my own sake to under estimate my ability and go with a group down from where I thought I should be and I did not want to go over 40 miles.

So I started with the C group. Everyone was in a huge two row pace line for the first couple miles going really slow and then the large group began to split...we hit some tracks and a group just took off..... I knew better and stayed back...chatting with some folks. After about 10 miles my leg felt really warmed up and my pace was increasing and I dropped the C group and bridged the gap to the
B (-) group by the 15 mile mark. We stopped at mile 17 for a while....I don't like stopping for so long but whatever.

..after 10 minutes we had all regrouped and rolled out again. Some how I found myself at the front of the group. I should have waited for the group to move out first but I was anxious to get started. (I felt stupid but still learning the group dynamics). So the pace line passes me after a couple miles and I latch on. We start to drop people and I have no problem staying on. A hill is up a ahead and some guys just take off.......... I do not. My hammy is twinging a bit but nothing bad.... I am playing it safe and jam up the hill and catch them when they slow.......we stop again at a gas station to discuss our direction back...this is a quick stop.

We take off again and I start 8 deep as not to repeat my mistake. A group of seven pull away and I am on their wheels. The lead guy says we are going to do tempo........ I have no clue what he means but OK..... I'm in! As we are going he explains it to me the process but is a grumpy old bastard (but pretty fast). We are moving out and I am working hard to stay with...a guy drops off as we continue to work. We did this for about six miles and the last two we chilled. The grumpy old fat guy pulled from us all the last couple miles......he must have been having a bad day! A younger kid explained to me that when I get to the front I speed up and I shouldn't. The way he did it was cool and now I know for next time.

Overall I was very happy with the ride......met a couple guys and am going to work my way into a group of IM athletes that are training for IM FL. One guy was talking to me about an open water swimming site 15 minutes from my house...his buddy owns a cabin on the lake. Ride: Total distance was 32...overall pace 18MPH.

I plan to go back and ride next week as well. My only concern is working too hard when I get there but I will just have to hold myself back! The group meet a few miles from my house on Sundays for another ride.... I am resisting that temptation as well and am heading out now to take my dogs for a walk!

Faster and Longer!

Faster and Longer in 2009? I'll take racing healthy all year long!

No doubt about it............2008 was a tough year for me. Every race I did this past year I was injured. I hurt my hamstring in March of last year and I never allowed it to heal properly (insight I now have). While riding 112 miles in November I swore to myself I would get myself healthy this off season. I tried in Dec to run a bit but it was just killing me. Furthering my complications was my left shoulder bursitis flaring up again. So the month of Dec was spent going to Yoga and indulging in the holiday food and spirits. The majority of my running was spent working with Meg to get her ready for her first race. I gained 8 pounds (fat) in six weeks.

Dec was very frustrating b/c I wanted to get better but wasn't sure how and what I should and shouldn't be doing. In fact I wasn't even sure what exactly was wrong with me. It took me six weeks but I finally got a sports medicine doctor's appointment through the Army.

Monday I had my day of reckoning with the Doc. I actually met with a Captain who seemed to be in his residency; internship and a Lieutenant Colonel who I later was informed was one of only three sports medicine doctors we have in the Army. I left understanding what was wrong with me, what I need to do to fix it and what physically I could do. Not even a week later I feel better than I have in nine months. In fact my quads are sorer than my hamstrings right now after my gym workout yesterday. For the first time in nine months I wake up and am not in pain. I am not taking any NSAIDS. The hamstring is still a little sore as the day goes on and I am taking it slowly and tempering my enthusiasm until the day I have no pain.

This week I have run 2X (Friday I pulled 8:15 for 50 minutes without pain during or afterwards), lifted/ core 3X, Yoga 3X and swam once. I am going out on my bike to test out the leg this afternoon. I refuse to enter any formal training plan or sign up for any races until I am healthy. I did sign up for Vineman though (big Sonoma trip planned) and am looking to develop my plan of attack for the year.

The Biggest Loser started last week.....on TV and in the Hanrahan home. Meg and I love that show........those people inspire me. We are in our own competition (I won the first week) and I am already within four pounds of my last years racing weight. Getting leaner is something I can do while not 100% healthy physically.

I am not going to make New Year resolutions. I am making the next six month resolutions:

1. Get Healthy (healthy is defined as no hamstring pain or tightness)
2. Ease back into training
3. Encourage and support Megan's running (10K is in June)
4. Commit to weights and core this off season
5. Stop paying lip service to flexibility........fix it
6. Drop 15 pounds of fat from my frame.........lean up

I've learned a lot about my body and the sport of triathlon this past year. I have more respect for both! A year like last only make me more determined than ever to go faster and longer!

Back from Hibernation!

Where have I been you Ask?............I think this picture answers it all.

See......there are many uses for swim goggles! Protecting your eyes when you install recess lighting is one of the many! Ahh yes, the offseason!

Triathlete in Training?

So lets get this straight..............My wife Megan can swim............she owns a cruiser bike plus she goes to spin class 2X a week.........she starting running right after Thanksgiving and she is in good shape from years of gym machines.

If she swim like a triathlete

If she bikes like a triathlete

If she runs like a triathlete

Clearly she is a triathlete in training who is denial!

Here are some pics of her first ever 5K. I provided moral support and was able to document this historic event while I ran along side her!