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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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Weekly update it is then!!!! (Was getting around to this, I swear.
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Soooo......the last update was last Thursday, and since then I've done the following:
Friday, July 8th....a godforsaken snorkel swim (I have a love-hate relationship with that snorkel!!) followed by a 30 minute trot in the tub.
Saturday, July 9th...2 hours on the trainer by the pool.
Sunday, July 10th...actually I didn't do a thing due to events that occurred out of my control.
Monday, July 11th...After work I assisted a young gal (19-ish??) with her swimming - she has signed up for our local tri in August and wanted some guidance with her stroke. And because of that, I only got the swim done that I was supposed to do on Sunday, and I skipped the 30 minute post-swim trot due to it being so late.
Tuesday July 12th...1 hour 25 minutes on the trainer by the pool.
Wednesday, July 13th...3,500 yard swim (main set was 2 X (20 hard, 180 easy...40 hard, 160 easy...60 hard, 140 easy...80 hard, 120 easy...100 hard, 100 easy) loved this set!) followed by a 45 minute tub trot.
Thursday, July 14th...1 hour 45 minute trainer session by the pool in the blazing sun!! :eek: Thank god for the breeze and for hopping in the pool a few times during the easy bits.
It's quite different training the way I'm training right now, especially on the bike without power as it's all based on perceived effort for me. Honestly, not having power while I'm still healing might be best for me, otherwise I have this uncontrollable urge to push and push and push to get those numbers up - it's all about the numbers! With cadence as my black-and-white metric (which can be manipulated with ease), and with my body giving me the feedback that I'm trying to listen to, it's a different dynamic than I've been used to. And it's quite a different feel for my body on the road bike versus the tt bike. And speaking of the Black Cat (God rest her soul), I found out several days ago that Trek no longer makes my size frame in the Speed Concept - an extra small. The smallest size they offer now is a small, which isn't as good of a fit as the extra small is for me...plus my 650 wheels would no longer fit as the small frame requires 700s. Ugh. And, boo. And, crap. This went from bad to worse as I figured the solution to my bike troubles would be easy enough to resolve. Expensive, but easy. However this is proving me wrong....and my gut says it will be a while before I have a tt bike to ride. My bike shop has (and is) looked (and is looking) for a reputable shop to repair the damage, but so far Trek and a big outfit in California (can't remember their name at the moment, but Peter Kern also mentioned them to me) have turned us down. So....kids....don't do what I did and break your bike while on the trainer. It's a royal pain in the tuchus!!
And as far as my health and injuries go, I'm doing pretty well. My neck is doing great, in my opinion...and my knee seems to still be improving. In fact, there were a few moments yesterday when I couldn't tell which knee has the multi directional tearing. Yay!!! But I know I've got a good ways to go yet before I dare run on land!!! However, I'm making progress. Fingers crossed this continues and my running career is NOT over. !!! Sports med next week!!! Whoop!!
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Kurt_Godel wrote: »Regale us, Rev. Dory?
Lol!! Mason & Dixon, Rev. Godel??
Okay.....I'll post my training update tomorrow, but for tonight I'll give you the "medical" news on both my knee and my bike.
I saw a sports medicine doctor at the University of Virginia yesterday - these are the same peeps who tended to the stress fracture of my femur last year - and he was fantastic. From the moment he walked in the room I liked him. Long story short, he said this was an easy call - I needed arthroscopic surgery to clean up the tearing in my meniscus in my left knee. He said it will never get better if I don't, and it could damage the bones in my knee if I leave this unattended. He also said without hesitation that I'd run again. Yay...yay...yay...yay...yay!!!!!! And...he said that I might make it to the start line of Louisville in October, so....maybe. At least he didn't say no! I have the procedure scheduled for Friday, August 5th. He said I'd be walking out of the hospital the same day. Fingers crossed!!
And...my bike. My dear sweet Black Cat (god rest her soul) is in North Carolina. My bike shop found a carbon fiber repair shop (via their Trek representative) who is willing to try and repair my bike. The Trek rep even transported the Black Cat in person to this repair guy in North Carolina last Sunday. !!! Wow - that's some kind of service!! Turnaround time (including paint job) is approximately 3 weeks. Fingers and toes crossed!!!
Further update tomorrow..... 0 -
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Alrighty then....it's been a few weeks now since I've graced this place, but my life at the moment is crazy with work. All my peeps at the animal clinic are going thru their vacation rotation which leaves me picking up the pieces and running around like a mad woman. However, suffice it to say, I'm still training away Tuesday thru Sunday with Mondays as my usual rest day. My training (generally speaking) still looks like this: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday - trainer sessions.....Wednesday, Friday and Sunday - swim and run sessions. Of course there might be some slight variations in that schedule here and there.
And now in other news....
The Black Cat is back from North Carolina and is in my bike shop being reassembled. My boys at the bike shop think she'll be as good as new, however the carbon fiber guy did not bother to work on the aesthetics of his workmanship (read: no paint job done, so the injury/repair is still raw and open (figuratively, not literally)), but when I give the nod (after we make sure what he's done is going to work and I am happy), we'll get the frame back down to North Carolnia for the finishing touches.
Friday, I had arthroscopic surgery on my left knee to clean up the "multi directional tearing of the medial meniscus"...and....it went incredibly well. INCREDIBLY WELL! The doctor trimmed all the pieces and tears, and he shaved my knee to smooth the roughened surface. I woke up from surgery very fast, and basically walked out of the hospital. It's insane to me that I have no pain - no pain at all thus far, which is essentially the first time since March/April that my knee has been pain free. My recovery from this should be relatively fast - I can hop on the trainer and spin for 20 minutes starting tomorrow (and I can add 5 to 10 minutes each day), I am allowed to start swimming and running gently in water on Wednesday, then potentially back to running on land around the 20th of August. !!!! OMG, I have not laced up my running shoes since around April....this is going to be pretty damn fantastic, assuming all goes to plan.
And, finally, I go back to my neurosurgeon tomorrow for follow up X-rays and evaluation, and I fully expect to be deemed fit for normal training once more. Thank my lucky stars!!! This has been a very different summer for me - not one I had expected to be faced with - difficult in places, but I managed to keep my chin up for most of it. My fitness is in the toilet (slight exaggeration....), but I'll ease back into things in such a way that I respect my body while keeping the bigger picture in mind. 2016 is shot for me, which eliminates all the normal self-imposed pressures I pile on myself...and, hopefully, this elimination of pressures will allow me to train the way I need to for now. I'm still signed up for IM Louisville, but I'm slowly letting that go. It's a process for me.
Any way......watch this space for more updates on my newly repaired bike and body, and for training posts when they become more meaningful, which I hope will be around the 20th of this month. Whoop whoop!!!! 0 -
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And......the neurosurgeon was pleased with my X-rays and physical exam today. I've still some little issues due to the damage my disc caused to my spinal cord, but I've been given the all clear to start slowly easing into things. Yay!!! However, he did gently suggest that I'd be an absolute idiot to even consider doing IM Louisville in October.
He said he saw no reason I can't get back to my full training and full strength over the next several months, but that October was too soon for my body. I guess it's official - IM Louisville is now off the table. Roll on 2017! 0 -
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Its great to have you back around these parts... and to focus on non-injury stuff, I nominate you to answer all and every swim-related questions during this Rio week
1. 5 years from now...GOAT- Phelps or Ledecky?
2. What has been your stand out race?
3. Did you every dance like a gayboy in front of brooding rivals pre-swim?
4. Who peed in the diving pool?
5. Can Lisa Graf of Germany medal in the 200m back? (cos I've a fiver at 50/1 that she can)
6. 10k M & F predictions?0 -
Kurt_Godel wrote: »Its great to have you back around these parts... and to focus on non-injury stuff, I nominate you to answer all and every swim-related questions during this Rio week
1. 5 years from now...GOAT- Phelps or Ledecky?
2. What has been your stand out race?
3. Did you every dance like a gayboy in front of brooding rivals pre-swim?
4. Who peed in the diving pool?
5. Can Lisa Graf of Germany medal in the 200m back? (cos I've a fiver at 50/1 that she can)
6. 10k M & F predictions?
A little late here....but.....while I love Ledecky, Phelps will be the GOAT....standout race may have been Ledecky's 200 m win because it's just "so wrong" her range of swimming (I'm thinking she needs to lobby for the 1500 in Tokyo, then she needs to go for the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 in four years!!!).....I never, ever danced like a gay boy in front of rivals pre-swim......I'm pretty sure it was Sun Yang who peed in the pool.....nope, 200 m honors belong to an American (whoop!).....and all I could give you at this point would be postdictions. But what about that bonehead Lochte??? Sheesh!! How frickin' embarrassing......0 -
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I'm going to try over the next few days to get this log caught up! But from where I left off....
Thursday, August 11th thru Sunday, August 14th
...let's just say I did some very easy/minimal training on Thursday and Friday, and did nothing on Saturday and Sunday. Why?? Well, two reasons: my knee swelled up on me big time at the end of that week (I was not keeping it wrapped, nor was I icing and elevating it!!) so I needed to give it some rest (and wrapped, iced and elevated), and I had an out of town family wedding I had to attend. Suffice it to say, by the time the next week of training rolled around, I was fit as a fiddle (well, as fit as someone can be after 2 surgeries in 2 months time!) and ready to get back at it. To be continued!! Whoop! 0 -
Week of Monday, August 15th thru Sunday, August 21st, 2016
Honestly, this was the first week since my cervical spine surgery way back on June 3rd that I had structure, focus and the ability to do everything asked of me. This is a start. !!!
Monday
REST!
Tuesday
Swim
500 warm up choice, 400 buoy/band, 300 kick
2 x the following:
(20 FAST + 180 EZ
40 FAST + 160 EZ
60 FAST + 140 EZ
80 FAST + 120 EZ
100 FAST + 100 EZ)
300 buoy/band warm down
No complaints here - I enjoy doing this set as it speeds by in no time. And...I did not use the snorkel!!! Yay!!! But I avoided pushing off the wall with my recovering knee.
Wednesday
Run
30 minutes of tub trotting at a wave pace of 2:07 and 2:02 for 15 minutes each. I added some water to the tub to maximize my weightlessness, and I believe I heard my knee thanking me.
Thursday
Bike
40 minutes of easy spinning over my lunch hour. Knee is doing fine, but I'm staying very conservative.
Swim
W/u 800 choice. 6x40 (15 sprint-35 easy) @15 rest
Main: 3x the following:
16x20 band only @ as 3 FAST/ 1 easy
200 fast @10 rest
100 ez @30 rest
One question: how do you do band-only "easy" and not have your legs drag the bottom of the pool??? I actually laughed as my legs were sinking...but...another good evening pool session in the bag!
Friday
Run
45 minutes of tub trotting at a wave pace of 2:07, 2:02 and 1:57 for 15 minutes each. Knee is coming along!
Saturday
Bike
OMG!!!!! A proper bike ride!!! Can you believe it?? It's more than likely been since April that I was on my bike last, and I have to tell you I was swimming with both excitement and tension. Would I remember how? Would my knee hold up?? WOULD I STAY UPRIGHT??? <exhale>. But....but...it went very well. It took me about 4 or 5 miles to settle on my Made One, but once I relaxed and got back in the groove, I was happy as a clam. It was good to visit my usual haunts - up and back two hollows - and while I consciously relied more on my right leg than my left leg (protecting that knee!), I felt strong enough around mile 14 to put in a few surges. This. Felt. Fantastic. I rode about 19 miles in over an hour. The average speed was 15.x mph, which delighted me to no end all things considered, including the elevation gain of somewhere around 1,000 feet. I'm making progress folks!
Swim
Recovery swim:
8x300 @ 20 rest
3 swim:
#1 FR
#2 , every 3rd lap BK
#3, every 2nd lap BK
#4 easy kick
#5-6-7 BB easy
#8 easy kick
I did this late in the evening, and it felt super!!! Whoop!
Sunday
Run
This was 60 minutes of tub trotting to finish off this week. I did this at a wave pace of 2:07, 2:02 and 1:57 for 20 minutes each. Happy camper!!!0 -
Week of Monday, August 22nd thru Sunday, August 28th, 2016
Monday
REST!
Tuesday
Gym
This was a TRX extravaganza! :eek: It's been a wee bit too long since I've done this sort of work, and it showed. I was careful and I was smart - I omitted anything I thought might harm my knee, such as lunges and sprinter starts. I suspect my core is going to be complaining in the morning!
Bike
Trainer
20 mins warm up including 5 mins of single-leg drills, alternating 30 sec each leg
15 x (1 min strong, in the bars, with race cadence (not all-out, just strong. try to increase watts each 5), 1 min easy spin)
10 mins easy
60 min total
I did this in the evening on the deck by the pool, and all went well. I still don't have power available to me (haven't had time to get the Black Cat back!), so I just worked off cadence, gears, and PE. From memory, I believe I tried to keep cadence above 90 and upped the gear by one every 5.
Wednesday
Run
This was an hour of sneaky lunchtime tub trotting. I had the wave pace set to 2:07, 2:02 and 1:57 for 20 minutes each. All seems to be well with my knee!!!
Swim
W/u 800 choice. 6x40 (15 sprint-35 easy) @15 rest
Main: 3x the following:
{16x20 band only @ as 3 FAST/ 1 easy
200 fast @10 rest
100 ez @30 rest}
This was a repeat of last week's session, and while I felt stronger overall, my knee didn't feel quite right while I was swimming, so I swam with my buoy-band during the swim parts of the main set. The 200s got progressively harder, but I kept it together and took the 100s super easy!
Thursday
Bike
15 mins warm up
Cadence set -
3 x [easy gear, start cadence at 70 rpms, increase 5 rpms every 30 seconds until your reach 120 rpms (5 mins) + 1 min rest]
Endurance Set -
3 x [5 mins at race candence- surging the final 10 secs of each min + 2 mins easy]
Cadence set -
3 x [easy gear, start cadence at 70 rpms, increase 5 rpms every 30 seconds until your reach 120 rpms (5 mins) + 1 min rest]
8 minutes cool down
I did this after work by the pool on a humid evening. Gah. But this really went pretty well. I don't believe I've ever done this particular endurance set with all that surging, but boy does it work on you!!
Run
This was 30 minutes of tub trotting immediately off the bike, and boy were my legs toast for the entire trot! :eek: I did this at a wave pace of 2:07 and 2:02 for 15 minutes each. Legs were properly pooped when I popped out of the pool!!!
Friday
Swim
400 swim/ 4x100swim @ 1:30/ 4x50 swim as (15 sprint+35 easy) @ 1:00.
400 swim steady @ 10R
2 x 100 @ 1:30
300 swim steady @ 10R
2 x 100 @ 1:30
200 swim steady @ 10R
2 x 100 @ 1:30
100 swim steady @ 10R
2 x 100 @ 1:30
300 easy
I was really hesitant to drag the clock out and actually time myself as I was afraid of how far I have fallen in fitness, but I bit the bullet and decided to see where I am in the pool. And....I'm actually not as bad off as I had thought. My initial 100 came in right around 1:18, then dropped to 1:20 to 1:25 for the next 3. All the other 2 X 100s came in with the first one right at 1:20, and the second one closer to 1:25...but honestly, I can't complain.
Run
Out of the outdoor pool and into the indoor pool - this was 30 minutes of tub trotting at a pace of 2:07 and 2:02 for 15 minutes each. This felt much easier than yesterday's trot, but that isn't suprising!
Saturday
Bike
Road ride number 2 under my belt, and this went even better than last Saturday's maiden ride. Woot! It was a bit breezy and a lot hot, and I drank nearly 2 bottles of fluids while out there...but the knee was totally fine. Yay! I didn't get all crazy out there, but I did go 22.74 miles in 1:29:02 for an average speed of 15.3 mph and an elevation gain of 1,379 feet. Happy Dory.
Sunday
Run
I really felt I was ready to try a very short and very gentle and very slow and very light and fluffy trot around the field. OMG!!! A run on land!!!! It's probably been since April (???) when I last laced up my running shoes, but the good news is I haven't forgotten how to tie them. And, this wasn't too bad. I had promised myself to stop at the first sign of any trouble, but there really wasn't any. My biggest issue was probably how tense I was for the first half of this jog - I was so afraid of hurting my knee - but I was able to relax it down as I neared the end. I went ever so slowly around the field 3 times, and I feel a huge weight has been lifted. I know I've got so far yet to go, but this was the first step. The knee feels fine at the moment, but I think I'll know for sure when I wake up in the morning. Fingers crossed!!
Swim
5x800 @ 30 rest:
2 swim, second one faster than the first.
2 buoy-band, second one faster than the first
1 swim as 25 strong/ 75 easy
I was pooped from the time I hopped in the pool to do this, but I got it done! I have no idea if my 2nd and 4th sets were faster than the 1st and 3rd sets, but I did put out a bit more effort! It feels good to have two weeks in a row of some good training for me in the books!!!0 -
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Intriguing.... :P
How are ya Dory? Any updates?
Hey you!! I am doing well. I do have updates.....ugh! Must. Get. Caught. Up!!! But progress has been made. I've a few more land runs under my belt, including two 6 mile slow-and-ugly trots in the field. Yay....but I will admit that my knee is a wee bit sore this morning, so, I will back off the land running for a few days to let it calm down. But I will work on updating...... 0 -
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Has it really been a full month since I've posted on here?? :eek: Jeez. I haven't even read zico's Kona qualifying race report yet - but.....CONGRATULATIONS ZICO!!!
I'll be happily gathering my sports drinks and energy gels to get thru his very informative, inspiring, honest and well written report!
But in a nutshell since my last post: there was training, then no training (due to holidays!!), then I sort of lost my mojo (was in a total funk when I returned home from holidays (felt horribly out of shape and had ongoing concerns about my knee and if it was/is going to be my triathlon limiter)), then had a chat and decided to "reconfigure" training until the end of the year to get my head and my body screwed back on correctly, and now I'm happily training again. Oh, and I got the Black Cat back yesterday. Thankthegoodlordabove!!!! So....my hope is to have the love to start posting again. It's time to draw a line under the summer that sucked for me. 0
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