Finally, a good one!!!!

Last tuesday I finally caved in and decided it was about time to go see a sports chiropractor/ART professional. My left knee had been bothering me for a while and I wanted to make sure I did not get injured. Let me tell you; good thing I went. My doc discovered I am mostly "driven" by my quads and hammies; and the poor muscles are all beat up. Knots and bumps everywhere; as a result of working them extra hard without giving them the proper care they deserve. Needless to say, after a couple of very painful sessions (with some bruising involved) I am on the mend and have made one or two new best friends in the process... The foam roller and the stick. The stick has come to work with me since wednesday and has allowed me to self inflict torture three to four times a day. My relationship with the foam roller is mostly left for nighttime, once I am in my PJ's and ready to go to bed. Oh, what fun times we have had! 

My training this week has been spot on. Not only did I manage to get all my planned hours in, but I also was able to let go of trying to be perfect at every.single.workout. If you ask Coach, she will tell you that is my biggest obstacle. Wanting to be perfect all the time. And I truly believe that my success this week was due to the fact that I started each training session with a blank mind. Yes, I had stuff on my mind but I did not predispose myself to anything but the best I could give at the time. And you know what? It worked!

I will admit, when she put 3200 yards on my schedule and I saw what the sets looked like, I was scared. They looked horrible, HARD, almost impossible (ok a little extra drama, please go along :) ). But I got to the pool, got ready, took a big breath and let it all go. I had read the descriptions so many times; that during the mainset I did not even have to stop to re-read them. I tackled one set at a time and I got through it; without having to take any extra rest in between (something that happens often in my world). And you know what? I proved to myself that it's all in my head. I did not get super good within a week. I don't even think I got faster. But you know what changed? My mindset. I did not worry about the next day, or even the next set; I just focused on the task at hand. One stroke at a time, one day at a time.

On saturday, my long brick got rained in. On tap 3 hours on the trainer with a 30 min run off the bike. I popped in  Buffy the Vampire Slayer (favorite show ever), got my nutrition together and "off" I went. Not going to lie, it hurt; especially the last 30 minutes. I wanted off. The thought of running for 30 minutes after getting off the bike was daunting. When the 3 hours were over, I readied myself to run outside in the rain. I was bracing myself for the worst and then I started running. My legs responded beautifully, I felt light, fluid. The rain was oddly welcomed. And I felt whole. And I remembered. It's moments like this that make me love this sport. It is discovering yourself over and over again. And it never ceases to amaze me...

Buddies and workouts

Sunday morning and I sit here with my daughter the early riser. Now, I can understand the need for me to get up at 6 am to eat breakfast 2 hours prior to my 2 hour brick; but her?? She was up at 6:30. Ready to kick start her day with some hot milk and a waffle.

I had every intention of doing my brick yesterday but I woke up with a fairly bad migraine. I took over the counter medicine for it right away, but it did not help. After a couple of hours it had gotten so bad that I went to bed and took the prescription medicine. I try to stay away from it. I am not a fan of ingesting drugs if it can be avoided; but I do not think I had an option yesterday.

After laying down with my eyes closed for what seemed an eternity, the migraine finally started to subside. What a relief!!! Unfortunately it was already 4 PM and my body was wiped out! I took the rest of the day easier and after emailing coach I postponed the workout until today.

This past week was interesting to say the least. Work was hectic, busy and gave me my fair share of headaches; the weather was crazy (we even got snowed/iced in one day); and the workouts were pretty intense.

At work, since the merger is complete we were assigned a person from Corporate Finance to help us navigate throught the systems and such. They call this person our "buddy". Well, I am going to say that the word is indeed small. Of all the people up in corporate finance, i get paired with a guy, who not only is extremely helpful and patient; but who also likes soccer, my favorite sport to watch (he is also a fan of my Argentine Team); loves running and shares my sense of humor.

We work together quite well, share some jokes, talk smack and get the job done. Our small firm has been so focused on all the things we are having to do differently since the merger that most of the people have forgotten that the company that acquired us is working quite hard at making us feel comfortable as well. And we are a tough crowd to please. I have sat on countless conference calls where the air can be cut with a knife and the people are mostly on edge looking for ways to "attack" the other side. I have been that way for quite a while; but lately have been trying to cut people slack and put myself in their shoes. So I have been making a point of giving credit to people where credit is due. Since my "buddy" helped me tremendously I made sure that his boss knew how pleased I was with his help. It is only fair.

Training has been going well. I have managed to pretty much get ALL my sessions in; with the exception of one strength training routine, which might get squeezed in today while Megan takes her nap. Most of them have been indoors,, not only because it has been pretty cold outside, but also because I am making a point about staying safe. I do not want to run by myself outside at 5 am when it is dark and there is no one near by. The other night I went for a run after work, and it was starting to get dark; so even though I was in a very transited area I ran with my pepper spray in had; sans music.

We have started base training, so long runs have started, along with long bike rides and countless yards at the pool. The swimming is coming along, I think I might have discovered how to properly swim (yes it took me only 4 years ;-) ); and I will be working on that in the coming weeks. Next week I have a long swim that calls for 2x1000 continuous.... Should be interesting.

I have always loved biking, so I have no problem with spending time in the saddle. Even if it is indoors. Husband bought me the complete series of one of my favorite short lived Vampire shows and I have been watching those episodes each time I get on my bike. The new Tacx computer has proved to be awesome, the feedback I get from it is fantastic and it also offers much more resistance than my regular trainer; which makes more even more entertaining training sessions.

I think my running legs are finally starting to come back. I still feel slow, but as the year progresses and the sun starts coming out earlier and earlier, I will be able to run outside more and more; and that is the key to improve my running (I don't do as good on the 'mill).

So after a rough couple of weeks, I think I am finally able to gather myself, lift my head up and look ahead. For the next few weeks the road looks promising and challenging and I can't wait to get started.

You win some, you lose some

Well, this week has been a crazy one. Work has been busy, Megan was extra needy and the race I did on Saturday finally hit me full force by about Tuesday… I was tired!

 On top of that, remember that book I had been waiting to come out? Well it showed up at my door on Tuesday evening and I HAD to read it. So I spent a lot of the evenings staying up just so I could read it. You know when a book has you trapped so deeply that you can’t put it down or stop reading to take a rest? Even when your eyes are burning and you are yawning because you got up at 4.30 and it is midnight already? That was me. This week.

 I started the book on Tuesday evening and by Thursday at lunchtime I had already finished it. And no, I did not take off of work. I just read during lunch, during breakfast, during dinner and after Megan went to bed. I was completely sucked up into this wonderful world of vampires. Did I mention that I LOVE vampires?? Crazy? Yeah, it’s my middle name ;)

 Workouts kind of sucked this week. My body was exhausted and my mind was fried with all my stupid deadlines and plans for next week (we are going on vacation for a week to the beach.. YAY!). My nutrition was less than stellar and my body could tell. I guess you could say I dropped the ball this week. I got sidetracked and lost sight of the big picture.

 Did I get discouraged? Yes, but just  a little bit. I decided that I needed to listen to what my body was telling me.

 Thursday evening I was ready for my longest swim ever. 2900 yds. Holy cow! When I saw it on the schedule I got a bit scared. Self doubt populated my head. When I got to the pool I remembered Coach’s post about letting the workout be unwritten, do not get into it predisposed to it being a bad one. Free the mind and just do what you know how to do. I did. And guess what? I had a very nice long swim. The 6x300 yds for the main set were not as hard as I thought they were going to be. Yes, I did struggle with some of them; especially the ones that were “speed” related. But I finished them. And when I got out of the pool I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. Maybe I AM getting better at swimming. Maybe I will become fast one day. I just have to keep at it. Perseverance (that is my second middle name ;) )

This morning I had a long run on the books, and I had been looking forward to it most of the week. I went out early, to beat out the heat. I was pumped. I started running and my legs felt heavy. About a mile into the run my stomach started to feel funny. I could not even stomach water. So after 20 minutes of  slow progress, I turned around and decided to call it a day. I walked the way back. I felt a little bit defeated, and at the same time a bit proud of myself. Proud because I was not super upset about having to cut a workout short. My body had had enough. I listened. I guess sometimes you just have to come to terms with the idea that you win some &  you lose some. And today I did.