Over the hump!

I know my body decently well. Whenever I'm out of shape and I'm trying to get back into shape, the first month or so is difficult and painful. I'm not motivated and when I work out, it just hurts. It takes me awhile to get over the hump. Usually, to get over the hump, I have to just hammer it out, wear myself out, and make myself hurt. This past week, my friend Lauren came into town from Miami. On Wednesday, we rode 42 miles. Thursday, we got in 45 miles. Friday was a day of running 8.2 miles. I felt great and I needed it. It's a great feeling once you know that you can do anything physically. It feels good to be over the hump.

Monday (yes!) & Tuesday (no!)

Monday, I ran during lunch. 15min easy, 15min strong, 15min easy again. I also slightly dislocated my left patella again. I stepped on an acorn or something wrong and I felt my knee cap slide out of socket ever so slightly. This is the same knee where I've had two major dislocations before. Not fun. I also swam about 1200yds that night when I was completely lacking motivation.

Tuesday, I didn't do shit. I was tired from this past weekend so I went out, had a beer, came home and slept 9.5 hours. It was well needed.

I'm also not doing any weight lifting or physical therapy exercise per my coach and my physical therapist. I'm lazy. Not really, but I'm busy. I'm trying to get back into the total training mindset, but the house stuff is keeping me busy.

1600 yds

Swam 1600 yds today on a 8x200 interval with 30s rest. I was pushing myself a bit, but not too hard. Once again, I felt like I'm way out of shape. I may be hurting a little bit tomorrow, but that's a good thing.

Legs hurt!

Today's workout consisted of 90min on the spin bike and then a 20 minute run after that. I'm getting old because it seems to take me forever to get warmed up and willing to work out. My legs felt heavy. Today's bike workout had 3x10min intervals of a big gear followed by 5min spin between each interval. Man, those intervals were tough. I didn't even turn up the resistance that much and it felt like a lot. I ran afterwards and I kept having to stop because I felt exhausted. I checked my heart rate and it was under 160. I guess it's because I'm still not in that great of shape but I'm improving. It hurts though.

And my tendonitis in my foot is acting up again as well. Fun!

Core

I really need to work on core strength. I went for a run this morning and my body felt all wobbly. My back was hurting a bit as well. All of these are signs of a weakened core. I haven't been going to yoga or any core or PT exercises so this isn't a surprise. Starting today, more core exercises are in my routine from now on.

It's official, I'm crazy (IMFL 2006)

I'm in for Ironman Florida in 2006. I have roughly 364 days to get ready for this. It's going to kick my ass, but it is going to be awesome.

Stranded (or how I'm a dumbass)

I went for my usual Saturday taco ride with the ATC guys. I ended up riding with my friend Mark instead of the usual Dam Loop so we split off from the main group. We went riding for a bit and it was time for me to turn around. I wasn't going to ride with Mark the entire time because he was going for a 5 hour ride and all I needed was a 90 minute ride. I split off from Mark and went riding by myself.

After a few minutes, I realized that once again I've forgotten my blowout bag (this is an example of foreshadowing). I keep riding and I venture onto Manchaca. I'm flying because I'm catching a good tailwind. I take a left onto Slaughter because I want to head back to the ATC shop to get my car. I'm riding along and I see some glass in the road. I try to miss it but I can't. Immediately, I hear some hissing. I pull over and my back tire is going flat. No biggie. I forgot my blowout bag, but I'll just pull out my cell phone and call someone. Shit! No cell phone! Damnit! Well, I'm screwed now.

Well, the only thing that I can do now is to start walking and believe in the kindness of strangers. Luckily, I didn't have to wait for long. I started walking towards a gas station to try to bum a ride off of someone in a truck. I got to the gas station and fortunately I didn't have to wait long, but it wasn't a truck. A couple in an Acura came by and asked me for directions to some park. I told them that I didn't know where the park was, but I told them my story. They offered to take me to my house so that I could change my tire. I loaded up my bike in their trunk. I finally got home and changed my tire. Then, another dumbass thing happened. I was ready to head back to the ATC shop and I was getting on the bike. I fell over. I put my right cleat in first instead left as usual. I completely fell over. The second time that I've ever fallen over on my bike. Embarrassing.

I learned my lesson. Don't forget both my blowout bag and my cell phone when I go on bike rides.