Past 2 weeks...

SICK & INJURED!

Pretty much 2 weeks of nothing!!

With the "man-flu" clearing up on Saturday, i took the opportunity while James was playing football, to take off the shoes and with inspiration from the Tarahumara (Yes, i've been reading Born To Run) do an impromptu barefoot run around the oval. 

It felt great, natural, effortless, fast... So later that day i bought some Vibram Five Fingers "barefoot" shoes.  Sunday arvo i went for an easy 2.5km run with Jamesy, and wore the Vibrams.

There was a little calf tightness this morning - but that could also be related to the 1hr TT style bike ride yesterday.

Anyway, i'm planning on making the transition to the barefoot shoes a gradual one. I'll do the bulk of my running done in my other shoes and slowly swing the percentage in favour of barefoot time as my legs allow.

Also managed a swim a couple of weeks back - first one since April.  It didn't suck totally, which was great!

Cheers for now :)

Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction - Not so much winning!!!

So following on from my last entry, here's the low down on the ankle injury.

When i rolled my ankle at Two Bays, we (being my physio and I) think that i've pinched my Posterior Tibial Tendon. So it appears that when i run too much it's going to get sore - we're hoping it's just scar tissue, as strength and flexibility is OK.

Oh look, here's a piccy of said tendon...

So, the obvious advice is...blah, blah, blah...rest...ice...exercise...

And look here's exercises...

Ankle Flexion

Strengthening the muscles and tendons all around the ankle will help treat the injury and offer support. Sit cross-legged, with your injured leg on top of the other. Slowly flex your ankle so that your toes are pointed up toward your knee. Hold for a few seconds, then slowly point your toes and repeat. perform 5 to 10 repetitions. Stop immediately if you experience any pain or discomfort.

Ankle Circles

Slowly circling your ankles will help restore some mobility to the injured area. Sit cross-legged with your injured leg over the other. Slowly circle your foot all the way around, then reverse and go the other way. Perform 10 repetitions to start off, until the injured muscle is stronger. Stop immediately if you experience any pain or discomfort.

Inner Ankle Lift

The inner ankle lift uses light 5-lb. weight, so if your injury has not progressed to the point that you can incorporate any resistance, skip this for now. You will need a normal shopping bag with handles, and some kind of weight equaling approximately 5 lbs. Two cans of soup are sufficient. Sit cross-legged with your injured leg on top, and hang the shopping bag handle over your foot. Slowly raise your foot up and down by flexing and extending your ankle. Perform five to 10 repetitions and rest briefly between each one. Stop immediately if you experience any pain or discomfort.

Heel Raise / Calf Raise

The calf muscle at the back of your leg offers support to the posterior tibial muscle, and can help distribute the weight load if it is strong. Calf raises will help strengthen the calf and rehabilitate your posterior tibial muscle. Simply stand with your feet parallel to one another and raise up onto the balls of your feet. Hold that position momentarily and return to the starting point. Only do five repetitions and increase as you get stronger. Stop immediately if you experience any pain or discomfort.

Read more: LIVESTRONG

But as we know, just doing exercises is boring - i know, i need to ride and swim too, so why not just concentrate on that...because i like to run, and want to run!!

So, did a little research into taping, and look just like magic...

KT Tape time!!

And the KT Tape Forum even has an example of / discussion on my exact issue!!

So it looks like all that is left to do is to find a store with said KT Tape, and hopefully i'll be able to return to some reduced running... :)

Oh, and of course keep on doing the exercises... ;)

Update - Bad Training Week ...

The last few days have just felt crap...the week started OK though...

Saturday was great. Managed a fairly well paced 13km hilly run being dragged around the gravel access tracks at Lysterfield by a mate who's a bit quicker than me. That was followed almost immediately by an 11km (very) easy run around the local streets with another mate.

Sunday i was going to ride - but following a sleep in, i just subjected myself to 30mins of roller fun before we  went into the football, as Jamesy was doing AusKick on the MCG.

Monday night followed up with a 30 minute roller ride, hard 5k run brick session.  The run was fast (for me). And i felt awesome.

However, Tuesday morning i woke up and my ankle was in pain!

The injury from Two Bays is still haunting me!! 

So time to rest it...

Commitment to Training...FOUND!

It was tough to get out of bed this morning. 
The alarm went off at 4:45 am for the third morning in a row.
My running gear was neatly laid out beside the bed.
In bed it was cosy and warm.
I could hear the rain beat against the window.
I think i'm starting to feel a bit coldy / fluey.
Maybe i should rest.
I've had quite a few good training sessions this week.
I could have the morning off.

NO...GET UP! 

Hang on, what was that noise, was that thunder.
Surely i couldn't run if there was thunder and lightning about.

NO...you're hearing things...GET UP!

OK...i'm out of bed...GO!

Gear on, standing at the front door...
Waiting for the Garmin to locate satellites...
It's raining...
It looks cold...
I'm still dry...
I could go back to bed...
I'll make up for it tonight...

Satellites located...GO!! 

Off into the cold, dark, wet, Melbourne morning i went...
And loved it!!

For me, this stage of the off season is about getting km's in the legs and making getting up before 5 am a habit.

Today, I won!

Bike Rollers.... If Siri can make an omelette while on them, surely i can just ride on them!

It's like i don't know how to ride a bike and have to learn again!!!

A mate of mine was down sizing his apartment, and had no room to keep his rollers, so offered them to me.  Apparently they're good for you bike handling and general cycling skills, balance, etc, so i thought i'd look after them for him.

How hard could it be...apparently you can make an omelette whilst cycling on rollers.  (well Norwegian pro-cyclist Siri Minge can anyway!)  

Well... Last night was go time... me, my trusty Avanti and the rollers...

Ok, so where was i going to set this "funniest home video in the making" up?? A ha, rumpus room, beside the couch, on carpet...soft landing all around! Winning!!

Nup...the carpet too soft, the rollers were rubbing... 

So here i am walking around firstly the house and then the backyard, looking for something that was at the perfect height, so i could hold onto it with one hand and the handle bars, the other.  Outside beside the kids cubby house was the winner...

First off i thought i'd just ride in sneakers - why would i want my feet attached to the bike when i suspected there was a high potential i was going to come seriously unstuck! Nah, that was no good, pedal stroke was off...so proper clip-in shoes it was!

Once i got sorted, i happily managed to keep my cadence in the 90-100 region for twenty minutes.  At the start there was more hanging onto the cubby house than two hands on the bars, but after a while i started to hold the bars for a couple of seconds before i started to lean too much and needed the support.  It was a pretty frustrating ten minutes, and i reckon i know what kids go through learning without training wheels!!

But by the end of the session, i had managed to relax and ride a couple of stints of a minute or so without any support, so i'm thinking that could be considered a successful first roller outing!!

Once i got sorted, my heart rate was in the 140-150 bpm range, so I'm thinking for endurance workouts the rollers may be a better bet than the turbo trainer. But the turbo will definitely have a place for the balls to the wall sessions that are The Sufferefest!

Why am I training, and why have i entered an Ironman....Putting it all into perspective!

I read an interview with successful triathlon coach Brett Sutton on First Time Ironman (firsttimeironman.com) Linky Here and i thought i'd share his answer to the first question...

Thank you for taking the time out to chat with us.   Your training philosophy has been called different to a lot of other coaches in the sport, could you explain the core principles that have made you such a successful coach?

My philosophy is very simple there is no difference between a pro and an age grouper. Its just the time one has to train, and the speed at which one goes. Everything else is the same.

So we first need to work out if you’re a pro, or you’re an over exuberant age grouper, or someone that is doing the sport for the benefits that the three interconnecting sports can provide us with. In enhancing our life style, all three are very different . Somehow triathlon has grown as all three are one and the same under the life style heading 

This is very misleading to the participants themselves. We have life stylers thinking they are pros, we have age groupers who act out their life as pros to the detriment of those around them and we have those who do the sport for its health benefits.

Our philosophy is to look as a life coach at each athlete’s circumstance then manufacture a program that enhances their abilities with in that frame work. We do that from a nicola spirig, down to the slowest age grouper. The philosophy stays the same.

This got me thinking...

Firstly, why do i (triathlon) train?

Secondly, why did i enter Ironman?

Thirdly, which of Brett's groups do i fit into?

So, why do i train?? 

A few years back i realised that between the ages of 28 and 38, i'd put on 1 kg each year - i know...massive! Yeah, not really, but i could see a trend starting which i knew i needed to arrest.  So i started running a little more regularly.  I'd always jogged and rode my bike for a bit of fun, but thought i should get a bit more serious.  Soon i realised that my knees couldn't handle too much running.  I'd done some tri's in my distant past - why not give that a crack again... So, yep...GO!!

Over the past few years i've done a handful of fun runs - longest being a 28k trail run, and a few triathlons - most notably 2 Olympic distance races.  

This leads perfectly into the next question...

Why did i enter Ironman??

There's a number of reasons i decided to enter an IM...some valid / some not...

• because it's there
• growing up loved watching Mark Allen and Dave Scott at Hawaii
• inspired by this year's "everyday people" competitors
• do it now while my knees still allow the training km's required
• life can only get busier
• i enjoy swimming / cycling / running
• the challenge
• and it doesn't hurt for the kids to see me being active

Notice that i haven't entered for such reasons as:

• break x hours
• qualify for Kona

They are valid reasons...but they're not for me.

So, which of Brett Sutton's groups do i fit onto??

We have life stylers thinking they are pros, we have age groupers who act out their life as pros to the detriment of those around them and we have those who do the sport for its health benefits.

I fit well and truly into the third group - i do the sport for its health benefits!  

I need to remember this, and not get sucked into the second group...

I can and will get up early on the weekend to do my long runs and rides, leaving the rest of the day free. 

And I will train, before and after work, during the week when commitments allow.

But what i won't do is worry if I miss a training session...

My family comes first!

The people you meet...

This morning i dropped my car off at the car dealer to get serviced and ran back to the cafe near Jamesy's school to meet Claire and Em for a coffee, followed by a walk home.

Apart from the fact it was about 5 degrees (i really need running gloves - my hands are still frozen as i write this!!) it was a great, albiet short, run.

The majority of the run was along the Kananook Creek Trail, which on the adjacent map is the section running south to north adjacent to the beach.  The trail follows the creek along what is essentially a sand ridge between the beach and the swamp and as i discovered this morning is a favourite haunt of the Oldies for their morning walks!!

It was a cold and foggy morning, with the general friendly conversation with everyone you passed being something along the lines of "gee, it's cold" with the reply of "yeah, but at least it's not raining".  One conversation went beyond this.

As i was running past Seaford Railway Station, say g'day to old mate, he replies with "lovely morning, what's MPTC stand for?", to which i reply "Mornington Peninsula Triathlon Club".  He went on to tell me how he'd have loved to have had triathlon in his day, it would have saved him from the monotony of just training for and racing marathons - but he continues, the road trips to compete interstate were pretty amazing fun.

Oh, and his parting advice... Look after your knees!! (Cheers mate, i'm all over that one!)

Even though this was a 20 second conversation, as we crossed paths, his face seemed to light up and he told his story, and remembered events past.

For me, today was one of those, it's all about your journey not your destination, days!