I had a pretty good week. I have a final tomorrow evening and then I fly home Wed. !!!!

M - 13.1 mi run + 1800 yd swim
T - 9 mi run + 1100 yd swim
W - 6.5 mi run + 6500 yd swim
T - 1h45 bike
F - 11 mi run + 4500 yd swim
S - 2h50 bike
S - 8 mi run

Totals 13,500 yd swim; 4h35 bike; 47.6 mi run.

I've discovered that I really like how fresh my legs feel on the days after I just ride.
Goals for this week:
- Ride tomorrow
- Swim MTW (today's done) then if I feel like it while home
- Take advantage of Maine snow to XC ski (Maine is supposed to get LOTS of snow tomorrow!)
Mostly want to spend time with my family from Thurs. onward but plan to run/ride a bit. My little brother just got a new bike trainer and he says he'll share. :-)
Other goal is no bingeing. I have the coping skills - I just need to use them. I can do it!

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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

Nice work!

I did pretty darn good this week. Yesterday did an 8.5 mile run that had a huge negative split for the second half. As in, dropped around 50 sec/mile. I'm happy with that and looking forward to my half marathon this coming weekend. It is a wicked course though and I'm worried about my ambitious pace goal but I'll do my best.

Total mileage for the week: 33

I even went to the pool after my Friday tmill hill workout! Didn't really count laps but based on my pace I got in around 900y for 20 mins. I haven't been in the pool for months and it felt great!

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

last week-
Monday- swim ended up off, took a nap after work
Tues- run swam instead, then yoga (last yoga class for a while.
Wed- spinerval trainer class at local tri shop (Tri-Zone in Los Alamitos) did sweating buckets
Thur- run (hill workout with training group) ouch, did 5 hill repeats, coach added in exercises in between each repeat like lunges, ab work, push ups & jumping jacks.
Fri- ?? swam
Sat- Brick 11+ mile bike followed by 1 mile run
Sun-bike rode 52 miles with some friends, though I was alone in no man's land for most of the ride, in between the faster folks and the not so fast folks.


This week-- Taper for Oceanside begins
Swim 2-3x
Bike 2x
Run 3x

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check out my blog http://theswimmingtriathlete.com

Not nearly enough exercise, though I made some improvements to my diet (cutting out hard liquor during the week and cooking at home more!)


3x Spin class (made one a full hour by arriving early)
1 30min core strength workout that made me feel like I'd been kicked in the ribs by a horse for two days afterward. Awesome :D
My first open-water swim. Better than I expected, though I still had a minor panic attack when I got far enough out that I could no longer see the bottom of the reservoir. I did feel comfortable in the wetsuit and liked knowing how easy it is to flip on my back and float in case something goes wrong.

Achievement unlocked: halfway to my goal weight (down 10lbs).

Next week's goals:

3x spin (already missed one today as I idiotically forgot my SHOES)
1x strength workout
2x run
1x swim

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(long personal story below - read at your own discretion)

Emotionally, I couldn't imagine a harder week. I reached out to my HMO to try and get set up with a therapist/counselor as I'm experiencing a lot of stress/anxiety (associated with insane job, training, planning wedding, dealing with my mother, and you know... life!). My GP nods and smiles and gives me a referral. AS I AM DRIVING HOME, a doc calls and says my doctor was VERY concerned about me, as if I didn't reach out to him, and insists on setting up an urgent appointment the next day. Eager to get help, I agree. I come in the next day and the doctor is a screener. *sigh* He's also super-judgemental and basically tells me I need to quit some of my life activities. Um, no? His main concern is wanting me to full-stop drinking so he can medicate me. Again, NO. He agrees to give me a referral to the therapy center. Keen.

Guess what happened then? Oh yes. Another emergency call while driving home with "zomg urgent we need to get you in immediately". I come in the next day, thinking THIS will be my therapist - uber bait-and-switch. The dude is a Trauma Crisis Counselor. Like, dipshit HMO thought I was going to hurt myself/someone else. No, I'm just having a lot of stress. I complete that appointment (working very hard to stay calm, as I'm being accused of being a loon) and go cry a little. Now I feel even worse about myself if three doctors who have heard a LITTLE about my life in roughly 3 hours are scared for me. Asshat Crisis dude tells me they can set me up with a therapist for 45 min once a month. Maybe in a year she'd know my last name, right?

Reaching out to counselors out of my HMO's practice now - a long slow process. Wish me luck.

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You. You make me stronger.

I'm glad to hear you are reaching out for help even if the response is a little weird. I've had the opposite experience where they don't seem to care what kind of crisis I'm in. I finally found two resources I pay for out of pocket. So much easier.

This might sound harsh or judgemental and I don't mean it to but why not quit drinking? I'm certainly not implying I know anything about how much you drink but if you are that insistent that you be able to continue to drink, why? Especially if the Dr think he can help but only if you stop.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

I am not at all against quitting drinking for health/medical reasons, but I genuinely believe I am not at a point where I need to be medicated. Sorry for the vaugeness.

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You. You make me stronger.

OK. I misunderstood then. Perfectly reasonable.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Huh. As if the get-in-here-as-fast-as-you-can appts are going to make your life less stressful, right? That sounds like a rough week. I am sorry. ((((hugs))))

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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

not bad last week - 5x bike, with one really hard 1h40 min trainer ride (all kinds of intervals and race efforts and time trial simulation - thank you Sufferfest "Blender")
4x run - 1.5 mi each time, but hey... progress, right? I didn't have any pain during any of the runs.
swam twice! woohoo! Twice!
strength train only once.

Got a voice mail yesterday (Mon. 18th). I was super busy at work and didn't get to listen to it until the evening. It was the PT place. My insurance is denying my PT visits. Even though they first sent me a piece of paper saying they approved my going to PT. I have an HMO (BCN) and I followed their protocol, by going to my GP and getting a referral.
So now I have to see how much I am going to owe the PT place, see what my options are, and see if I can fight with my insurance.
And people wonder why I avoid going to the doctor.

In other news, I seem to be in an emotional rough spot. Hopefully that will improve.
In short, being apart from my spouse during the week is really getting to me. 6mo. to go.

your week sounds horrendous. Ugh!!!
Wishing you a better week this week.
:)

sounds like a good week! :)

I'm Irish, but I don't drink and I'm allergic to potatoes...so no celebration here. I did pour a couple of black and tans for my husband.

Last week's goals:
- run x 6 / 50+km: WIN, including a tough, hilly long run to the pool.
- bike x 4: WIN, though not quite the mileage I wanted. Did a hard, hilly, very cold ride on Sunday.
- swim x 4: WIN though I'm still not sure how I got through that swim after the long run!
- core/strength x 4: WIN


This week's goals:
- run x 6 w/slightly reduced mileage
- bike x 3
- swim x 3
- core/strength x 4 but nothing heavy


Have a 65km cycle race on Sunday with my husband. Got out on my cx bike on Sunday and my wrist is fine with riding it, which is the good part. The bad part is that this is supposed to be 5% paved roads, 50% country/dirt roads and 45% rail trail, and it's supposed to snow every day through Friday. Since the trails are already covered in spongy ice and snow, this may be a total sufferfest (and I may have to switch to my mountain bike).


Cheers!


-mistress k

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ill advised racing inc.

Determination - Blender - well done. I can't wait to ride it, but it'll be a few more weeks, still on base building (boring) so don't want to throw too many intervals into my training yet.

TC - Finals? Are you done for the semester? Have fun at home. Enjoy the snow.

JenSW - good luck w/ your 1/2. Race report please.

Agilecipher - good job reaching out. I'm sorry they didn't hear you, and what you were saying. mental health care in the US is shameful. Keep up the good work. And crying helps!

I had a good week
I got in 3 swims. I wanted 4, but ran out of time and energy.
3 bikes for totay of 4:15 hours.
6 runs for total of 62 miles
only 2 core wo, really wanted 3-4.

Goals for this week
3-4 swims
3 bikes
6 runs
3 core
It may be a hard week, my mother is moving and I promised to help. We'll see how good my time mgmt skills are at all this.

Happy training.

Last Weeks Goals
2 swims - done
3 rides - done
5 runs - not done - see below
2-3 strength (and keeping up my PT) - done

So my life sucks again. On Friday I fell and managed to rebreak my wrist. It seems that someone has decided that two surgeries and being casted up to my shoulder for 10 weeks in the last 6 months was not enough pain and torture for me that I needed to re-live some of the fun this spring. Maybe my surgeon needs a new boat or to remodel his very large home? The fracture is no where near as bad as its only my raduis and its just an extra articular, nondisplaced fracture but it is still freaking broke. I am currently in a temporary splint and see my ortho at 2 today to determine what the heck we are going to do this time. I am angry, sad, and just about every other emotion rolled into one big mess.

Given this new development, I am assuming swimming will likely be out for a while so goals are:

This weeks goals
Not kill my dr for giving me full clearance when my wrist was obviously still not healed completely
4 rides (so far this has been doable on the tri bike without much pain)
3 runs (or walks or stair mill - whatever doesn't hurt)

hope everyone is doing much better than i am.....

I'm so sorry. That really sucks.
Question - is it a re-brake of the old fx, or is this new. If it's new, you may want to ask for bone density testing. Just my $0.02.
Good luck

Instigator, I am so sorry. How did the re-break happen? ((((hugs))))) and let us know the outcome of the appointment today.
more (((hugs))))

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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

Its actually hard for me to tell if its a rebreak of the old fracture or not. The first break was horrible and include the radius, ulna, several carpal bones with major dislocation and lots of pieces. The xrays are a mess. I had two plates, 9 internal pins and 2 external pins to repair the first injury. The plates/pins were taken out in January due to placement and them causing damage to the my wrist joint. This break is located directly at one of the holes left by the plate removal. I am assuming it wasn't completely healed and offered a weak spot in the bone and then snap. I hope to find out more today but I had already planned on asking for a bone density test no matter what my ortho says. If he won't write a rx for it, i am pretty sure my general will and I see her in a couple of weeks.

TC- I took a small fall on the bike. I was at the indoor mtn bike park and sort of tumbled over. My shoulder and hip took the brunt of it but when I placed my hand on the ground to get up, instant pain. I am almost 100% certain that if I hadn't had the first injury, this wouldn't have happened. I have had way more significant falls than this before with no long term impacts.

Oh gawd, I'm so sorry to hear this instigator! What a nightmare!

I really hope you'll have a good resolution out of this. Kick that ortho's ass!

Cheers!

-mistress k

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ill advised racing inc.

Sounds like we all had crappy experiences with doctors this week :/ Are you able to Skype with your husband? That helped me tons when I was away for work.

Thanks to everyone for the suppor tand hugs, and I hope you get the PT help you need!!!

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You. You make me stronger.

I'd like to be in this thread, too, if it's okay. Sounds like everyone had the week from hell. Me too. For some reason I developed a weird burning sensation in my pelvic area, back & shoulders, so I pretty much had to ditch the training except for some swimming & walking. I went to the chiro, the ART guy, the masseuse, and the acupuncturist, got back on the Paleo diet, and ditched all my bad nutritional habits (wheat, dairy, etc.) Sigh. I don't know WHY I thought I could out-train my crappy diet. That's the thing about Weight Watchers ... you have to close your ears to what they tell the ladies to eat. But I like the weekly scale thing, keeps me honest.

Anyway, I have my first sprint this weekend in Ocala. Have lowered my expectations to having a good time and finishing. The way my hips felt earlier this week, anything would be better.

kate

Welcome. We're glad to have you.
If you've been reading the womens for any time, you'll know we all struggle w/ the diet thing.

And first tri - awesome. I would not consider finishing and having fun to be low expectations for a first tri. I think that is the best expectation you can have. I hope you get rid of your burning thing before your tri. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

What?? Oh wow, that totally sucks! I'm assuming you've had a bone density test and ruled out any underlying weakness.

dreaming - it is good to have you here. I know you've been around a while and it's nice to be hearing from you again.

I'm sorry everyone had a crappy week. Fingers crossed this is a better one!

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

So I am not the proud owner of a bright pink cast that goes to just below my elbow. The dr wanted to cast me above the elbow but I begged and pleaded and we compromised with a to the elbow cast and a promise I won't lift anything heavy. It was a new fracture site and he was actually surprised I was able to break it like i did. He said I was only the 2nd person he has seen who managed to break through a former pin site. I go back in a week for followup xrays and a bone simulator which will help speed healing. I guess best case is 4 weeks in the cast but more like 6. I also have a bone density scan to schedule to see if there is an underlying cause.

I am cleared for non-impact - cycling, elliptical and stair mill. We can discuss running once he sees some progress with the bone healing. And no swimming until the cast comes off. I have no clue what this means for my training this year. I have the Triple T in mid-May and then IMMT 70.3 a couple week later. Then a ton of ultra running events starting in August and going to the fall.

Instigator - that really sucks - Sending lots of healing karma your way. Heal fast!!!

If I could send you chocolate and red wine right now, I would!!!!

Don't think too much about future races. - heal first, do what you can do on the bike and you will be surprised how much that fitness will carry over. It's hard b/c we are all OCD about our workouts so remember that you can vent here when you get frustrated!

Lots of hugs your way!