I had an okay week. I was exhausted by Thursday and ended up mindlessly eating - not really bingeing, but I was headed in that direction. That's what happens when I get super tired... on Friday I went home in the afternoon and spent the afternoon resting and reading. I had so much work to do it was hard to take that time, but I didn't want to risk bingeing on Friday night. I also got a lot of sleep this weekend, and while I am a bit anxious right now (2 midterms Friday, plus an obligatory dinner thing tonight) at least I am not tired !

bike miles are all from commuting/errands, except Saturday

M: 6.2 mi run + 3200 yd swim + 6 mi bike
T: 8 mi run + 1800 yd swim + 6 mi bike
W: 6.2 mi run + 3800 yd swim + 7 mi bike
T: 8 mi run + 2500 yd swim
F: 8 mi run + 3000 yd swim + 6 mi bike
S: 25 mi bike
S: 13.1 mi ruin + 7 mi bike

totals 14,300 yd swim + 57 mi bike + 49.5 mi run

goals for this week: at least a B on the midterms, day off from running, bike commute at least 4 days, 1 longer ride, swim 5-6 days

No Halloween plans here. A group at school is going out trick or treating for Unicef and canned goods for food cupboards, so I might join them.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Last week - got in all workouts except one bike. I ended up doing errands instead.
CX race on Sat. went well, I finished 3rd in my category. Happy with that. I now seem to be going back and forth with a gal who's new to the racing this year. It seems dependent on how each of us is feeling and who is better suited to the course. I think maybe this is good in a way - I have someone to stoke my competitive fires rather than just be like "oh, there goes so-and-so again" like I am with the ones I know are MUCH faster than me.

This week is going to be a 'do what you can do' week as we are headed out of town for the weekend for some more CX racing. Looking forward to it though.

Well, quite a week. Managed 3 runs, 1 ride :-(, 3 skates including my 1st ST skating meet which was something all right.

My div had 4 races: 500m, 1000m, 500m and 777m. We had a group warm up with the performance stream skaters (i.e.: compete at national levels) and when I stepped out on the ice with these speedsters, I was actually quite freaked out. Honestly it was frightening. I think that set the stage for the day though, as by the time I got to the start line for the first race, I was in high anxiety/panic mode. I started ok, but realized I wasn't skating well at all i.e.: form, I felt all over the place. By lap 2, as I skated by the bench where our coaches were standing, one of them yelled at me "BREATHE!!!" I then realized I had been holding my breath for 200m. I felt better by end of lap 3, starting to actually skate properly, but by then it's almost over. 1:17. DFL. Not a great time at all. Coach: "ok, you totally panicked, understandable. you are faster than most of those other skaters. breathe and try to calm yourself."

Second race: 1000m. Same group of skaters. I definitely got into a rhythm by lap 3, and skated well (i.e.: better form) the rest of the race. 2:34. Still not how I wanted to feel, still very tentative in the corners, and way too nervous. And by this time, my right big toe is starting to hurt. :-(

Third race: 500m again (usually it's a 1500 but oh well). Much better start, into a rhythm by end of lap 1 but fell at last corner, DFL, 1:27F. Without the fall would have easily beat 1:10.

Skipped the forth race as my toe was killing me. :-( I will have to either dremel out some padding on that toe to make a bit more room, or get them stretched professionally or (yuck) buy bigger (wider) skates. Right foot fits fantastic, it's only the left. Very frustrating.

K's first mini-meet is this next Sat, and I will be officiating, so I can give my foot some time to heal up, and solve this problem. So this week is run 4x, ride 0, skate 1. Pretty weak week. Oh well. C'est la vie. But now I have some targets to CRUSH in late Nov at my next meet. :-)

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

My week was not so great. I felt sick most of the week, so only got in two runs.

Feeling better this week. Bought a new bikini for our trip in 2 weeks - that alone is motivating to keep working out & eating well!

Sounds like you had a "learning experience" AP. While it wasn't fun, at least you can look back on it & be glad you've progressed. Speed skating seems so cool - and so hard - good for you to keep it up!

Man, that's tough Andy - hope you can move forward from that as a learning experience and go kick ass at the next meet!


We have invites to a couple of Halloween parties Saturday but can't go to the one we'd really like to - a former "friend" will be there and after he casually commented that he'd gladly door cyclists if he could get away with it, then joked about it after I was hit by a car in the spring, it would just get ugly. The bar we like is doing a Halloween party on Friday so we might go and I might actually *gasp* have a drink!



Last week's goals:
Swim x 1: WIN with 2
Bike x 0: fine.
Run x 4: 3 only
Core/strength x 2: WIN
Mobility/stretch x 2: WIN plus a bunch


So Tuesday I head out for a 6.5k tempo run, start way too fast up the hill from my house in chilly, damp weather, then have to gun it up another hill in order to make a traffic light. Left calf feels a bit weird but running mostly flat & downhill from the turn-around point is fine. Get almost to the end and come up a slight rise and my achilles tendon SCREAMS at me, almost bringing me hobbling to a halt. I made the top of the slope and ran downhill and flats again to get home (felt ok) then came up a slight hill again just to get to the end of my driveway and the pain was back. I did my cool-down walk and dynamic stretching - anything that dorsiflexed my ankle with my knee bent was un-freakin-believably painful.


Into the house, up the stairs - have to put the whole left foot on each step, because the pain of having my heel over fresh air while trying to step up takes my breath away. Change, go to the pool; feels great, though the calf is tender when frog kicking for breast stroke. No issues pushing off the wall with flip turns.


I can walk normally without pain, but dorsiflexion with the knee bent (particularly under load) is a sure ticket to painsville.


I have a trail ultra on Saturday that is pretty much my favourite race of the entire year.


Rub down the calf with witch hazel & arnica, slap on a compression sock. Spend Wednesday with Dr. Google & doing some testing. No swelling, thickening or bruising, and I can do single-leg calf raises with my knee straight no problem. Achilles is not the issue - I've strained my soleus. Some professional stuff and some anecdotal stuff I find says it won't get better with complete rest; best thing is eccentric loading while lengthening the muscle. I start furiously doing knee to wall touches and eccentric heel drops on stairs. I buy some KT tape and throw on a hybrid achilles/calf strain application. Things start to feel a bit better, but it's still painful dorsiflexing past 90 degrees.


I decide to start the race on Saturday morning, just to see what's possible. It's a 2.5km loop with 2 very steep hills that we all walk, plus a bunch of other less-aggressive climbing, a short downhill section in the forest, then a long downhill on a gravel road. I'm not sure if I'll even make it through the first 500m, because you run down the long hill, around the little pond, then back up the way you came before making a left into the woods.


To everyone's surprise, the calf actually holds in for the first 3hrs / 27.5km. It was starting to talk at that point and as I was coming around the pond I felt a twinge, so started walking. I met up with another fellow I've known through this race for a few years - he was walking as well, so we chatted and strolled for 1 full loop. The wind picked up, though, and I was starting to get chilly, so I gave running another whack. I still couldn't run uphill much (calf said no), but the downhills were ok.


I had a chunk of banana at about 4h45m, and suddenly the calf quieted down - I think my gastrocs (which I was forcing to compensate for the damaged soleus) were getting too fatigued to handle the extra load, but the banana helped get them firing again. Things improved even more after I had a salted caramel Gu (best. flavour. EVER.) with elevated electrolytes, and suddenly I was running stuff in the last couple of loops I hadn't run for hours - pace per loop was back to where it had been around the 2hr mark.


I pushed hard through the last full lap plus another partial lap, having lost count but thinking I'd at least made it through more than a marathon. Did the full 6hrs and could at least call it an "ultra", though I was kind of sad because conditions were perfect and my run fitness has been awesome this summer. Had I not blown the calf I could've PR'd for sure.


Got results later, and even despite walking that one full lap plus about 2/3 of most laps past the halfway mark, I still managed a 0.1km PR in a race I've now done 5 times.


Better yet: yesterday (2 days post-race) my calf was feeling better than it had at any point since the injury. Today it feels almost completely back to normal.


Still taking one more day completely off running (I've done nothing but walk for the last 2 days - will go to the pool tonight), but super pleased with the outcome vs what I expected when things started to hurt a week ago!


This week's goals:
Swim x 4
Bike x 2
Run x 2
Core/strength x 4


Cheers!


-mistress k

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ill advised racing inc.

Thanks. Yep it's all about learning to race in times as short as a minute - when I've spent the last 15+ yrs training to race 20min and up!!! :-) I found a local place that can stretch my skate, so will try that out. Fingers crossed.

That sucks about your Achilles. It's such a painful feeling too. Good for you to finish!!!

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

No plans for Halloween; I am a bit sad about this because normally I hang out with my friend and her toddler and this year I could also have patrolled with the fire dept (deterrent to bullying) and gone to a party but no matter. Next year!

Exercise wise things are not going well; travelling for 24 hours straight produced sciatica like symptoms so I have been stretching a lot and running a bit. The most effective pain control comes from alcohol though so lots of empty calories have been consumed. I still managed to find a flattering new dress in a small-ish size so I will just suck it up.

Hoping to get a run or two in at the Royal Parks before we fly back to Canada on Saturday but I'm more interested in eating good food that we don't usually get out in the boonies.