Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
There was a time when training and triathlons were all I could think of. Well, not exactly true, there were girls involved during that time too. But somehow I lost the will to train, or maybe I lost the will to continuously test my threshold for pain. I know deep down that was the reason. It wasn't the car accident nor the bike spill that made me lose interest. It was the general lack of motivation and the fear of pain.
Sure the disappointments were there, a poor showing in NZ, a few races that would have qualified me for nationals but nullified due to penalties, and few DNFs...worse some DNS'. For some odd reason I found myself training this week, 4 straight days so far. I've been slowly building up the workouts. I dusted off the ole' heart rate monitor and was pleased to see that I still had what it takes to bring my HR above 200 without scaring the crap out of me.
Thursday, I ran for 10 minutes and was out of breath, running 12 minute mile paces on the treadmill. I swam for 200 yards after that. Today, I ran for 50 minutes going up to a 7:54 pace for the final 10 minutes. I even managed to swim 1,500 yards, no sprinting yet though. I did notice how my right tricep got tired far quicker than the left tricep, okay so that probably opens me up for the "which hand do you use for..." joke, but I do remember it happening even when I was racing a lot. I think I made a simple yet useful discovery, the way I recover the right arm, causes my right tricep to tire quickly. I made a few changes to the stroke and noticed a vast improvement, now I just hope I didn't break anything else.
I've been mostly on the trainer for the bike part. I just want to log some times on the bike and get acquainted again. I am back training with Pete and am hoping to run a Half-IM sometime in October. Maybe I'll put in a couple of races before then. But I'm excited about racing. It's really weird how suddenly the switch just happened. I went to the grocery store and bought a lot of fruits and vegetables, a deviation from all the steak and fried foods that I've been eating.
I left one bike in CA, one bike in CO, and one here in Dallas. I'm hoping that traveling won't stop me from training or ruining my training schedule. I'm also starting an Epsom Salt bath regimen, 3 times a week, I hope it helps with my cramping problems and quickens my recovery. I need to find a really good massage therapist in Dallas....that is if I stay in Dallas. Now if I can just find the right race to start in, I'm thinking early to mid-July would be good for a Sprint. I just need to stay focused on a goal.
Sure the disappointments were there, a poor showing in NZ, a few races that would have qualified me for nationals but nullified due to penalties, and few DNFs...worse some DNS'. For some odd reason I found myself training this week, 4 straight days so far. I've been slowly building up the workouts. I dusted off the ole' heart rate monitor and was pleased to see that I still had what it takes to bring my HR above 200 without scaring the crap out of me.
Thursday, I ran for 10 minutes and was out of breath, running 12 minute mile paces on the treadmill. I swam for 200 yards after that. Today, I ran for 50 minutes going up to a 7:54 pace for the final 10 minutes. I even managed to swim 1,500 yards, no sprinting yet though. I did notice how my right tricep got tired far quicker than the left tricep, okay so that probably opens me up for the "which hand do you use for..." joke, but I do remember it happening even when I was racing a lot. I think I made a simple yet useful discovery, the way I recover the right arm, causes my right tricep to tire quickly. I made a few changes to the stroke and noticed a vast improvement, now I just hope I didn't break anything else.
I've been mostly on the trainer for the bike part. I just want to log some times on the bike and get acquainted again. I am back training with Pete and am hoping to run a Half-IM sometime in October. Maybe I'll put in a couple of races before then. But I'm excited about racing. It's really weird how suddenly the switch just happened. I went to the grocery store and bought a lot of fruits and vegetables, a deviation from all the steak and fried foods that I've been eating.
I left one bike in CA, one bike in CO, and one here in Dallas. I'm hoping that traveling won't stop me from training or ruining my training schedule. I'm also starting an Epsom Salt bath regimen, 3 times a week, I hope it helps with my cramping problems and quickens my recovery. I need to find a really good massage therapist in Dallas....that is if I stay in Dallas. Now if I can just find the right race to start in, I'm thinking early to mid-July would be good for a Sprint. I just need to stay focused on a goal.