LSD

LSD (long slow distance) is what I've been prescribed by my PT for running right now.  I want to run faster and do intervals and tempo runs but my knees aren't too happy with it right now.  I need to build back with slower miles, 9min/mile or slower, until my knees feel fine after the runs.  Sometimes they will be sore after and other times they'll hurt for the rest of the day and sometimes they will hurt the next day as well.  So, my PT said to slow it down so I'll do that for at least 2 more weeks.  Then, we will reassess and go from there.

I did some intervals on Tuesday.  After a 2.5 mile warm up, I did 8x400m at the Austin High track.  Hurt like fucking hell but it is what is needed.  I did them at about 1:50 per 400m which isn't fast by any means but I have to start somewhere.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to do that workout again for a few weeks.

Holidays suck because my weight is all over the place.  It is expected but I'm not having any major swings so that is good.  The key for me is alcohol so if I can control that, I'm golden.

This week: 17.5 miles

Asics mileage: 95.5 miles

Getting back into shape SUX!!!

I have been given the green light to run and I have been running on my own.  Man, it sucks getting back into shape.  I'm pushing myself and I just don't have the extra gear yet.  However, I'm going to be changing up my workouts starting next week.  Before, I was just doing steady state or slightly tempo runs.  With my 1st workout next week, I'm going to be doing intervals.  I know that in order to get faster, I'm going to have to push myself and get my heart rate up.  Intervals are a great way to do that.  I actually don't mind doing 8-10x400 on the track.  It's going to hurt but it'll be worth it in the long run.  I just have to start pushing myself more with structure speed work instead of lazy long runs.

My knee is feeling better though.  I got a cortisone injection into the plica of my right knee almost 2 weeks ago.  It seems to be helping!  I still have some pain in my knee but it is much less now.  It's very odd with my knee pain.  I went a did a 5 mile run on Thursday and was sore for a couple of days after.  Yesterday, I did 7 miles and I didn't have any issues at all afterwards.  Weird, but I'll take it.

Gym stuff is still going well.  My trainer and I are pushing each other.  I'm still sore 2 days later after Friday's workout.  I used to be focused on weight, but I can tell that my body comp is changing.  My weight isn't really getting to the goal that I want but my jeans are getting skinner and my shirts are getting tighter.  Either way, I'm continuing towards my goal of looking good naked.

And I still love snowboarding.

Two weeks ago: 5 miles
One week ago: 6 miles
This week: 12 miles

Asics mileage: 78 miles

Green Light!

Saw my two weeks ago and he said that I have the green light to start running without restrictions again.  I'm really happy about this and I can't wait to run and run and run.  It sucks getting back into shape but this is the time of the year to do it and enjoy it.  I'll ramp up moderately until I'm running about 20 miles a week again which will probably be the end of December.  At that point, I may join a running group again but we will see how my knee feels.

The bad thing is that my PT did as much as he could with my knee and all of the soft tissue stuff is fairly OK.  He thinks that I have some cartilage damage which he can't do anything about.  I see an ortho on Tuesday to hopefully get an MRI done to really see what is in there and what is causing this pain still.  Surgery might be an option, but until then, I'll keep running and snowboarding!

Two weeks ago: 9 miles

Last week: 15 miles

Asics mileage: 54.5 miles

I'm running again but not as much as I want

I'm running again but not as much as I want.  I've been working with my physical therapist and my mileage has been increasing slowly.  Some days my knee feels great and other days it doesn't.  The original issues on the lateral side of my knee are pretty much gone and now I have this one particular spot on the medial side of my knee.  Taping helps it out but my PT thinks it is cartilage damage and we are taking a conservation approach to help the inflammation to ease up.  I still think that surgery to repair my knee might be a good thing eventually.

Otherwise, I'm still hitting the gym with my personal trainer.  My strength is definitely increasing and my body composition is improving as well.  Those are going in the right direction, slowly, but definitely in the right direction.  I got my body fat measured last week and it was at 12.3%.  I feel like I'm higher than that but I'm an apple and my body fat is stored in my torso with little fat in my legs and arms.  I'm still hovering in the 184-187 range which is higher than I like but I bought new jeans with a 31" waist so more proof that my bod comp is changing.  I've also "been on a mission" and being really disciplined about what goes in my belly.  Clean foods with fewer and fewer cheats lately.  I haven't had a Friday donut in weeks now and I'm really focusing on good choices to reach my goals.  There have been a few lapses but I'm focused and it is showing.

(Old) Asics mileage: 257 miles
(New) Asics mileage: 30.5 miles

Mileage since returning to running: 49 miles

Still not running

My knee is still fucked up and therefore I'm still not running.  I'm not happy about it.  I'm still working out when I can though with weights, biking, swimming, elliptical machines, yoga, and a few other things.  Because of this, my weight has been going down slightly so that's OK.  I'm also feeling very strong at the moment from lifting weights.  My trainer and I are getting really advanced and it is now a pissing contest between us.  We will push each other to see how many sets and reps that we can do.  My trainer also spends at least an hour a week, sometimes 2, coming up with my session for the week.  We're doing crazy shit and I like it.  Also, I'm not big into lifting heavy.  My weight progression will go up over time just because I'm being consistent, but my goal is to not lift heavy.  I don't do anything such as 3x4 or max weight reps.  I'm more focused on balanced overall and functional strength.  I want to be decent in endurance, strength, and balance and so far I'm definitely getting there.  My trainer can definitely bench more than me but I can out last him in many cases where any bit of endurance is involved.

But I still want to get back to running because there is nothing really like a runner's high.  My favorite race, the Uptown Classic 10K, was this morning and I'm disappointed that I'm missed it.  With this injury delaying my running, I'm worried that my running season is completely shot at this point.  We will see though.  It is getting better though, slowly, but it is getting better.  I keep pushing my PT to allow me to run and I think I'm getting close.  I've even had injections in my knee to help lubricate it and it seems to be working.  I just have one spot at the top of my knee that still hurts.  And the weather is becoming perfect running weather with cooler mornings.  Damnit, I want to run!

23 Day Detox

I recently did a 23 day detox of alcohol.  I know, crazy, right?  Well, I don't want to go into the details of why I did it but let's just say that they were good reasons.  After the 23 day detox, I went out and had a couple of glasses of wine for 2 nights in a row.  The point of this is to document how I felt during the detox and after the detox.

During the detox, I felt that my head had cleared up.  I could focus a bit more and I actually got motivation back regarding working out.  I also lost about 4 pounds during the 23 days.  My mood was better, I was sleeping better, and I had better focus.  However, I avoided social situations that involved alcohol.  And in social situations that involved alcohol, I wasn't comfortable in them.  I have a bit of social anxiety and having a drink or two helps getting over that.  All that I can say was that I was uncomfortable in these situations which is consistent with other detoxes I've done in the past.

After those 2 nights of drinks earlier this week, I definitely wasn't as rested the next morning when I woke up.  My motivation towards working out was more or less gone and motivation at work dropped off a bit.  I felt better socially though.  My weight fluctuates a lot more, too.

These weren't huge differences but they are things that I have noticed.  I think it was good to recalibrate this and going forward I'll try to keep it to one or two nights a week and that's it.  I like wine though but it isn't worth it every night.

Oh, my knee is still fucked up and I'm seeing an ortho doc on Thursday for it.  I haven't run in almost a month and it is getting a bit frustrating.  It just isn't getting healthy as quickly as I would like and I'm actually in considerable amount of pain at times.  We will see how that goes next week.

Tri Season & Yoga

I ended my tri season on July 31st or so.  My knee got fucked up about a week and a half before that.  I went out for a run with Texas Iron on a Tuesday night run.  About half a mile in, my right knee started hurting.  By the time I was in a mile and a half, I couldn't run at all.  Walking was fine, but my knee hurt so much that I was limping.  Fuck!  I took it easy and basically anything that I did hurt it.  Even swimming hurt it.  I'm seeing a PT now but I decided to hang up my tri shoes for the season.  I had a race in 4 days and I couldn't do it.  Doing PT would delay running and I couldn't put full effort into the TriRock in September.  My heart hasn't been into this season so I decided to call it quits.  I may be done with triathlons but I hope I not and that I can find something to get my motivation back.

I did get back into yoga last week.  It is one thing that I can do without my knee hurting too much.  I haven't gone in a year and it was amazing to be back.  I was having a shitty time lately and I did it for the mental clarity as much as the workout.  The mental clarity was what I really needed and I'm going back at least once a week to keep it up.

My plan for the month of August is to do whatever I feel like.  Some cardio, some weights, some yoga.  Just whatever I feel like doing that day.  This will also allow my knee to heal.  After that, I'm hitting up my personal trainer again and will get back into running as soon as possible.

And that is what is going on with me right now.

4 Weeks Ago: 13 miles
3 Weeks Ago: 4.5 miles
2 Weeks Ago: 0 miles
Last Week: 0 miles
Asics run mileage: 238 miles

Frustrated

I raced Couples Triathlon last Sunday and it sucked.  My swim was decent, my bike was OK, but I just had nothing on the run.  I was averaging about 9min/mile.  I don't think I've ever ran that slow in a triathlon except for my Ironman.  I'm frustrated because although I'm training, I seem to be getting slower.  Ok, I take that back.  I really didn't train for a few weeks because I was sick, but still, 9min/mile in a sprint is fucking HORRIBLE for me!  What the hell?  I need to put on my big girl panties and suck it up.  Since this year's season isn't going as well as I expected, and it's my own fault, I'm just going to concentrate on sprints for the rest of the year.  I have Jack's Generic in August and then the TriRock sprint in September and call it a season.  I know what's wrong though.  I've lost the drive, the fire, the desire to really push myself to make myself faster.  I need to get that feeling back somehow.

5 Weeks Ago: 10 miles
4 Weeks Ago: 11 miles (6 were in Portland!)
3 Weeks Ago: 0 miles (sick)
2 Weeks Ago: 9 miles
Last Week: 4 miles
Asics Run Mileage: 220.5

Blergh!

As usual, I really need to be more consistent about updating this blog.  However, unlike my blogging, I've been fairly consistent with my training.  I'm usually missing 1-2 workouts a week but it isn't like I'm going pro or anything like that.  I've stuck to my running pretty well, been decent with swimming, and I've only biked maybe 1-2 times a week.  For June, I'm ramping up my biking and slacking on swimming since swimming seems to be my strongest leg right now.  Go figure.  Oh, side note, I had a really good swim practice last week where we did a a set with a bunch of stuff and then 12x25 at the end and then did that two times through.  The first 12x25 was OK but on the second 12x25, something really clicked.  I felt different swimming and it felt much more efficient.  Instead of spinning my arms like Wile E. Coyote, I was taking slower strokes that seemed longer, more powerful, and more efficient.  Because of this, I was actually about 2 seconds faster per 25 than the 1st round of 12x25.  So, although I was more tired, I was faster.  I want to remember that feeling because it was a good feeling and gives me something to work towards regarding my swimming.

Running sucks right now because it is hot and humid.  Best time of the day to run is right before sunset.  My weight goal for the end of May was 185 since I started the month at 188.  I weighed myself at 184 on June 4th which is close enough.  My goal for the end of June is 181 so I need to stick to it.  I've found that drinking is the biggest thing and among drinking, beer is the bad one.  Wine is OK but I tend to overindulge when drinking.  So, cutting out drinking means less overindulging.  And "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."

Weekly run mileage (4 weeks ago): 21 miles (fuck yeah!)
Weekly run mileage (3 weeks ago): 12.5 miles
Weekly run mileage (2 weeks ago): 16 miles
Weekly run mileage (last week): 12 miles
Asics mileage: 186.5 miles

First Race in 2.5 Years

Last Sunday was my first triathlon in 2.5 years.  It actually went better than I expected.  The swim was good, rough but good.  Bike was cold but I was wearing a hoodie and a beanie.  I lost my sunglasses though.  Run was better than I was expecting.  I finished at 59:41 and it felt good to be back in spandex.  It hurt and made me realize that if I want to get faster, I'm going to have to get more serious about training.  And in the last week, I have been more serious and disciplined to a point.  I hurt my groin yesterday so I had to cut my 9 mile run short by 4 miles because it was starting to change my gait.  I couldn't ride this morning because of it so I'm just going to take it easy and try to run on Tuesday.  Other than that, I think I'm starting to get the weight thing under control a bit.

Weekly run mileage: 9 miles
Asics mileage: 125 miles

I'm back to triathlons!

After spending a year and a half focusing on weight lifting (which improved dramatically) and running (which didn't improve dramatically), I'm back to triathlon training.  I've been out of triathlons for about 2 years and I do miss it.  I'm also realizing how much time it takes up.  My non-working out life is getting to be a bit more balanced and that's a good thing.  Stuff changing at the job is giving me more free time and I've found myself in a relationship which gives me a reason to shower and hurry up and get home after a swim work out.  It's quite nice.

I hope to update this more now that I'm back into triathlons, but I've said that before, and the last time was on January 6th, but I mean it this time!  I hope.  Since the last update, I've done about 100 miles for the year with about 40 on a new pair of shoes.  Since I'm more tri focused now, and that means more consistent, I hope the average run miles will start to come up.

Regarding getting back into triathlons, swimming was the easiest.  I seem to have the muscle memory for swimming and although the cardio portion wasn't there, my stroke wasn't that bad.  My biking has fallen off quite a bit and I expect that to be the most painful for getting back.  Running fell off drastically and I need to get a better mental attitude.  Overall, I seem to have the endurance but I no longer have any top end speed on anything at the moment.  My goal is to be consistent with all the workouts and do them all for March.  In April, I'll start pushing myself to get faster.  The first 2 weeks of March were a bit rough, but this past week was a rest week and I did every single workout.  Next week is a full week and I plan on doing all but maybe 1-2 workouts.  It feels good to be back in this.  Except that my butt hurts from the bike.

(old) Asics mileage: 332 miles
(new) Asics mileage: 47 miles
Weekly run mileage: 20 miles
Year-to-date run mileage: 111.5 miles

2012 In Review

I just read my post reviewing 2011 and the biggest thing is that I didn't run as much this year as I did last year.  This year, I ran about 572 miles which is an average of 11 miles per week.  This is about 48 fewer than last year so not drastically off, but still off.  I have no excuses for this past year, really.  I was just lazy and talked myself out of a lot of workouts for various reasons.  However, that seems to be turning around where I am talking myself out of fewer and fewer workouts.  It got to a point where I just felt like fucking shit all the time and I'm tired of it.  I've been gaining motivation over the last couple of weeks and trying to keep up with that positive trend because a year of being lazy and unmotivated isn't good.  It's a chore to go workout these days and it used to not be a chore.  I need to push through the mud to get to the other side so that workouts fucking kick ass because I'm doing crazy stuff and it feels good to do it.

My weight yoyoed a lot this year starting off at around 191, climbing to 196 after England, dropping to 181 around March, and I ended the year at around 187.  My goal is to still get to 178 and stay there.  My running will be better as well as the body image of myself.  I'll likely have to buy some new clothes but I can deal with that.  I do have some positive things, though.  I PRed the 10K distance at the IBM Uptown Classic in October.  After that though, my running speed fell off.  I've been hitting it at the gym with my personal trainer all year long and it has really paid off.  My cardio has dropped off since the peak of triathlon training, but I am definitely in much better overall shape than before.  I have a great combination of cardio, strength, and balance which many people don't posses.

Here are my goals for 2013:
1) 178 and maintain it.
2) Get back into triathlons.
3) Sub 45 10k.
4) Keep up the motivation.
5) 11 pull ups.

Bring it, 2013!

Asics mileage: 279 miles