It was a good week, with lots of mental and physical challenges. Here's a rough summary, starting with last Saturday:
Saturday, Aug. 14th
Ran 9.4 miles with Dan, Brenda, and Marshall. We found Kevin at Jo Jo and ran with him for a short while too. It was great running with these guys as I had not run with them in a long time, esp Dan and Brenda. It was the first long run since the Boulder 70.3 race and at first I felt ok but my muscle strength seemed to deteriorate in the last few miles. The old familiar knife-in-the-quads pain settled in about mile 8 and I knew I wouldn't be able to go past WOW where our cars were parked. It was one of those runs where you know you need to stop ASAP. I managed to make it the car but knew I was done for the day. Brenda wanted to do the full 10 miles so she ran some more (you go girl!).
I drove home and hobbled inside. I had a 4 hr ride to do the next day so I needed to start carbing up quickly. But the plantar fascitis decided to pay me a visit, making walking very difficult. My mother was in the hospital post hip surgery and I needed to mow the lawn, clean the house, get laundry done, and go see her - yousa. By the time we got to the hospital, I could hardly walk - seriously. My feet hurt all over but my heel was in some serious pain. Not good.
I emailed my friend Scott Taylor - podiatrist - who reassured me that you can train with PF (unless it's advanced, like Todd's is). He said that taping really helps and that he would tape my foot after our ride on Sunday (the next day). So, I ice'd it, took Celebrex and went to bed.
Sunday, August 15th
Wow, what a day! The plan was to ride for 4 hrs and we had a big group. Brenda, me, Kevin, Geoff, Scott, Marshall, and surprisingly, Jenny! She's training for Steamboat and she is new to cycling so she came along. She, Marshall, and Kevin were planning to ride only 1.4 hrs and the rest of us 4 hrs.
We headed out to Windsor and here's a pic at the top of one of our favorite hills:
At first, we rode kind of slow and easy. We hit McDonald's for a pit-stop and then headed north on the Wild on Windsor bike course, then east to CR 33. We turned north there and went to Pierce. At first we were going to turn around and head back but we decided to try the road that goes east to Pawnee Buttes.
By then, I knew we were going to end up with more than 4 hrs of riding. I was feeling surprisingly good and as the pace picked up, I was able to keep up (which surprised me...but I did have my racing wheels on too!).
Scott Taylor is a former CAT II racer so he's very fast. He and I were chatting but I noticed that we were going faster and faster, to the point where I had to stop talking and focus on breathing. I'm not sure of our speed but I'm thinking we might have gotten up to 22 mph! We flew home and I was exhausted. Brenda cheerfully called out that we hit 70 miles in the parking lot - woo hoo!
I was psyched after that ride. To ride 70 miles this early in the IM training season and to do it relatively easily was just what my psyche needed. Yay!
I also decided on this ride that I need to tweak my training plan to reduce the running and beef up the cycling, since my heel hurt so bad after the run the day before. But it's funny how things change because Scott taped my heel when we got back to the parking lot and what ended up happening this week is that my heel feels much better. Such a rollar coaster it's been!
He also talked to me about "mid-foot running" and that I should try landing mid-foot instead of on my heels. I decided to try it and do the following to treat my heel: icing, medicating with Celebrex, taping, stretching, running only on soft surfaces (and this time sticking to it!), and running mid-foot. That was the plan for the week.
Monday, Aug. 16th
Master's swim mini-session started and I was really glad. As much I like swimming in the lake, getting down to the Rec Center is much easier than getting to the lake. Kurt and I went together (which is really nice!) and had a great workout. We shared a lane and ended up racing against each other. I'm proud to say that I actually beat him on a half of the eight 150's we had to do! We're pretty much the same speed now and that's pretty cool for me since a few years ago I couldn't even dream of keeping up with him.
I didn't have to rush home to get the kids to school since we're homeschooling now. Yay! We stayed and did most of the workout and got in 2000 yards. The only reason we had to leave was because Kurt had to get to work. I felt energized and ready to start the day.
Tuesday, Aug. 17th
OK, this was to be my first time running with my foot taped AND with new shoes. I was cautiously optimistic that it would work well. Kurt was riding his mountain bike out to Jo Jo and I decided to ride with him and then run at Jo Jo. I rode my old commuter bike (not my new one, which is what I should have rode!). OMG, can I tell you how uncomfortable that bike is??? Ugh!
We got out to Jo Jo and slowly I ran around it a few times, testing out the new running form, running with taped foot, etc. No pain...none...zippo! But I knew the real test would be later at home so after running 50 minutes, I hopped on my clunky old bike and rode home. I was so happy at that point that I didn't even notice how bad the bike seat felt!
Ice'd the heel and as the day wore on, I noticed that there was no pain. Wow, taping can make that much of a difference - cool!
Wednesday, August 18th
Normally I ride long on Wednesdays but for a lot of reasons, I didn't have time this Weds. I had Master's swim in the morning and then by the time I got home, I needed to do something quicker. Spinervals! I ate breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, picked up the house (usual morning stuff), played with the kids and by the time I got my bike set up, I had lost "the urge". I did NOT want to get on that bike. But my body went through the motions and I got on there. I ended up having one of the best Spinervals sessions ever! Rode hard for 50 minutes. It was like track used to be - dreaded it beforehand, with NO energy or desire to do it, then having a great workout. Just goes to show that sometimes you just gotta hang in there to get good results (and realize that motivation levels can change in the middle of a workout).
Thursday, August 19th
Ok, another attempt at running to see if I can do it without pain. I spent the night at my mom's house (her first night home post-surgery) and since she lives close to Jo Jo, I drove over there and ran 45 mins there. No problems, no pain. This taping thing is really working!
Friday, August 20th
Kurt and I went to the lake and did a nice, easy 45 min swim around the perimeter (inner circle). Kurt had to be at work by 8:00 and we got a late start so only had time to do 45 mins. But the cool thing is that when I got out, I felt like I could easily swim more. I decided that I want to go back this next week and try swimming around the perimeter twice. I'd just like to see if i can do it.
Saturday, August 21st (today)
Today was the Pelican Lakes Ranch Kids Triathlon and like last year, I did my long run before it started. Brenda was volunteering again this year so she picked me up and we drove to the race site and ran from there. Had a great run! Fortunately, we found some dirt roads that had zero traffic on them (really, no cars at all) and ran 12 miles. Yes! I was ready to stop at 10.3 when we went past the race venue but decided to push on to finisht the 12. Aside from my feet just hurting all over, I feel pretty good. I could not have run one step further, but I was able to crank out the 12 miles. Plus, I really enjoyed running with Brenda. She's such a nice person and great training partner.
Tomorrow we have a 4.5 hr ride with 30 min run afterwards. Hope I can make it! More on that tomorrow.
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