Training Schedule July 28th - August 3rd

Monday: Day Off!
Tuesday: Run 5 miles with some hills
Wednesday: Coached Swim
Thursday: Ride 15 miles flat
Friday: Swim 1400’ yards.
Saturday: Coached Run
Sunday: Ride 20 miles in hilly terrain

This week's focus is BALANCE Find the balance between pushing the body to new levels but not over doing it. Get 8-9 hours of sleep per night, eat well, drink plenty, and treat yourself like the athlete you have become.

What A Ride!!

Yesterday we had our ride @ Bonelli Park in San Dimas. I had never been to Bonelli Park before so it was great to go to a new place. The park is VERY hilly so our 2 hour bike ride was a work out to say the least. I had mentioned that I am doing the triathlon on my mountain bike. I do not have a road bike, but I have a really great mountain bike, so I decided what the heck. What I have learned though is that I need to change out my tires, which I will do sometime before the race, as I am training with my big knobby off road tires. I figure that if I train with them when I switch to smooth tires it will be a breeze.

Phrases heard (either out loud or in my head) on yesterday’s ride:

• “You want me to ride with who? Do you realize I am on a mountain bike, how am I going to keep up with them?”
• “I go downhill like a rocket!!”
• “I have to ride up THAT hill; I think they are trying to kill me!”
• “Don’t worry about me; I will catch you on the downhill.”
• “Hey that was a snake!”
• “How much room do you need to pass, you have the whole road, quit crowding me!”
• “I think taking a shortcut sounds great!”
• “How is this a shortcut?”
• “Are you sure we are still on the shortcut?”
• “I think your definition of a shortcut and mine are 2 very different things.”
  

After our ride we then went swimming in the lake. I cannot even tell you how good the water felt. It did not matter how tired I was as the water was luxurious.

Here is a picture of the team that yesterday that went to Bonelli Park:

How did so much time past?

Now I know that I have been busy, but this is ridiculous as to how long it has been since I have updated my progress.

So the last I wrote I was having an MRI done of my knee. I now have the results of that back and I seem to have a crack in the cartilage underneath my knee cap. Well now that explains why it hurts. So there is not a lot that can be done except to manage the symptoms and not make it worse. So yesterday I went and saw a physical therapist who specializes in runners and he videotaped me running. I seem to have some weakness in my hips that is causing my legs to want to always be really close to together, so the plan is to strengthen the hip muscles so that I run with a distance of 6-8 inches between my feet. Also, he said it would be better to lengthen my stride just a bit. So now I will be working on my form and seeing how quickly I can make these changes and I have a whole bunch of exercises to do each day to strengthen my hips.

Myself, 3 of my teammates and 2 of our mentors had a wine tasting fund raiser this last Saturday night. We had a great time and raised a good amount of money. It was really great how many people came out and donated generously and bid on our silent auction items.

Tomorrow we have training @ Bonelli Park where we will bike for a couple of hours and then swim for a while afterwards. Should be fun and hot!!

Training Schedule July 21-July 27

Monday: Day Off!
Tuesday: Run 4 miles with some easy hills after a 10’ warm up
Wednesday: Coached Swim
Thursday: Day Off!
Friday: Run 5 miles easy on a flat terrain after a 10’ warm up.
Saturday: Bike and Swim at Bonelli Lake in San Dimas
Sunday: Bike: Ride 20 miles all easy in rolling hills in Z1/Z2 with a easy 10 min. run.

Fun & Exhausting Camping Trip

I got back yesterday from the big team camping weekend. I had a really good time. We worked out lots, but also had plenty of time for just hanging as well.

My mentor Mary & I:

Me & my rides:

We camped at Lake Lopez which was at the top of a giant hill. Just going to the bathroom was a workout. There were around 50 people that went; people from both the eastside and Westside tri teams. Biking and running were crazy as the hills were large and steep.

All in all it was a good weekend, I really enjoyed getting to know people from my own eastside team better.

Training Schedule July 14 - July 20

Monday: Day Off!
Tuesday: Ride 15 miles in hilly terrain.
Wednesday: Coached Swim
Thursday: Run 5 miles
Friday: Swim 1200 yards
Saturday: Coached Run @ Griffith Park
Sunday: Ride 20 miles in rolling hills and Practice T2 with a 5 min. run.

The focus of this week is PACING. I am supposed to find that pace that I can keep “forever”, or at least longer than the duration of my workout. I am supposed to finish each workout with the feeling “I could have done a little more”.

I HAVE A SCREW LOOSE!!

So I know that most of you are not surprised by my title. However it is not what you think. I literally do have a screw loose. I have been dealing with a little bit of pain in my left knee, so I went to a sports medicine doctor and he took some x-rays and found that the one screw that I have left in my knee from when I had my ACL replaced about 10 years ago has managed to loosen itself and is sticking out of my bone. Now this may or may not have anything to do with my knee pain, but it is cool to say that I have a screw loose and mean it literally. :-)

Today I had an MRI taken to see if there is anything going on in my knee. Part of doing this was to have some liquid (contrast material) injected into my knee so that they could tell the difference between old scar tissue and new damage. This was a great time as my knee felt like a full balloon afterwards. They said my body would absorb the extra liquid in a couple of days so for right now I have a swollen knee that I cannot run or bike with at least I am told that I can still swim with it until it gets back to normal size. Next week I have a follow up with the sports medicine doctor to see if there is anything wrong in my knee. My guess is that my knee cap is tracking wrong. So for now I am still training as it is just uncomfortable not debilitating. The cool thing about going to a sports medicine doctor is that they will do whatever they can to keep the athlete active and surgery is a last resort if it is needed.

Beyond that training is going well. I cannot wait to go camping this weekend, it should be a hoot, although we are going to be training a lot while camping and we get to go swimming in a lake. WOOHOO!!

Training Schedule July 7 - July 13

Monday: Day Off
Tuesday: Run 4 miles
Wednesday: Coached Swim
Thursday: Bike Ride 20 miles
Friday: Swim 1500 yards & leave for camping @ Lake Lopez
Saturday: Camping weekend with the team @ Lake Lopez

This week the training switches from time to distance.

The weekend will be great, the team is going camping @ Lake Lopez and yes we will still be training.

Pictures of me Swimmin'

Here are some pictures taken last week @ team swim practice: