Wiped out

Whew, that's about how I feel these days. Yesterday was (hopefully) the worst. For someone who likes to think he's pretty active, not getting out of bed until noon is not how I like to spend my Tuesdays. But alas, that's what happened. It has been a long time since I've felt as bad as I did yesterday morning, but I'm back at work today, and cautiously optimistic that I'm on the road to recovery. The big-time bummer is I've pretty much been forced into shelving my training until I really feel 100%. And of course, this happens just when daylight savings time has kicked in (haven't even felt like enjoying the extra hour of daylight...boo hiss!) and when I really feel like my training is coming around. So, that is going to make it even harder to keep myself down until I'm all the way back. I was planning on going down to Lewiston this weekend to race a duathlon, but I've already given up that one. Even if I was feeling ok by Saturday morning, I suspect that doing a hard effort at this point would not be beneficial. So, here's looking forward to a weekend of massive rest and (maybe) low-intensity workouts!

The sickness

Whatever it is that is going around Spokane has invaded the Swanson household and put down some serious roots. Andy has been sick since last Thursday, and today, I am so stuffed up I can hardly stand it. My head feels like its somewhere around 20,000 ft and lost in a cloud bank. So far, I'm not as bad off as my dear wife, who really has taken the brunt of it. Watching someone you love be miserable is, well, miserable, because you really want to do anything and everything for them to make them feel better. And yet, often times, the best medicine for them is to just leave 'em alone, which sucks just the same, because I really want to help her out!

I felt ok during my ride yesterday, but now I'm regretting it, thinking that being out in the cold may not have been the best call. I am also suspicious that I may still be suffering from whatever it was I had about 3 weeks ago, because since then, I've been hovering around the 80-90% range. Which sucks, because its not bad enough to stop me from putting in some hard efforts, but still something that might take some serious downtime to fully beat. For now, I'm going to take it day-by-day, and see how it goes.

On a positive note, this being Monday, really one of the few things I actually look forward to Mondays for is the easy crossword puzzles. I was pretty happy that I knocked out the NY Times puzzle for today in just over 10 minutes. Sweet! Hmmm, what would it say if I ever was able to do a puzzle faster than my IM swim-to-bike transition times? :)

For now, its off to the medicine cabinet then to bed. Ugh

Sunday ride

So, what started out as "I'm going to ride Sunday by myself" somehow turned into a really cool group ride. Jenn, Brian, Phaedra, Steve and a sick Roger (on his sick, new ride) all showed up at my house and we headed out for what we hoped was a sunny, warm ride. While it did warm up while I was climbing the big hill on Coulee Hite Rd, after that, I was teetering on the edge of being miserably cold, but I managed it ok. Roger, Phaedra and Steve turned around at the 1 hr point, so after we bade them farewell, Jenn, Brian and I pressed on shooting for the 25m mark. We hit the turnaround right at the 90 min mark, which I felt pretty good with, considering that it was mostly uphill going out, and this was only my second ride outside this year.

While it was great to be outside again riding, I didn't have my best ride ever. I always have a hard time fueling and hydrating properly when its cold out, and that hurt me today. Never a good sign to get hunger pangs while out on the bike. My gearing/shifting is also one area that has definitely suffered during the winter trainer-riding season, and I noticed it big-time today. I just wasn't very smooth on my shifting going up and down the hills. However, with all that said, I continue to be very happy with my overall bike fitness. I have really focused on putting in some serious time on the bike this winter, and I'm very excited to get into the racing season to see if/how it pays off.

** A little side note on the two IM rookies I'm working with this year, Jenn and Brian**
First, Jenn. She's tough as nails, and always impresses me with how she guts it out through some crazy workouts. There have been times when she's been maybe in over her head a bit, but she NEVER EVER backs down, always sucks it up, and goes for it. She is the true embodiment of an Ironman: she will never give up. I know that she is scared out of her mind at this whole IM thing, but I am so confident that she will have an awesome day. The training I have seen her put in has resulted in an absolutely phenomenal transformation. This time last year, if I had said, hey, lets go out and do 50 on the bike, she would have sent me straight to the nut house. But yesterday, she was the one who said, "Nope, 47 ain't good enough. Lets go somewhere that we can get a solid 50 in" Go Jenn Go!!!
And Brian. Wow, this kid really impressed me yesterday too. Ah, to have youth on your side! And he's taking full advantage of it. He smoked that bike, even keeping up with Roger the first part, and the best part was, he didn't fade down the stretch. If he keeps doing what he's doing, he's going to have an amazing IM debut as well.
Not that I consider myself a "coach" to these 2, but I will feel so proud to see them out there on June 22nd having great days!

Sunday swim

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed and pretty darn good, which for anyone who knows me, is a major coup. The first 10 min after I get out of bed are usually the worst for me, so if I can pop out of bed and feel pretty good, that's darn near cause for "breaking news" on the local stations. So anyway, I was cautiously optimistic that my long swim would be a good one. And, yep, what do you know, it was an awesome workout for me! We did some longer reps, which took some getting used to, but overall I felt super strong. One of my barometers for my workouts, but for swimming in particular, is how far I can get into a workout before my body gives up and my form falls apart. Well, today, I never really felt like I was pushing to the point where my form went out the window. And that was after 3500. Wow! That is absoultely huge for me, and I can now say with confidence that all the swimming I've been doing this winter is starting to pay off. To that end, I must give big-time credit to my fellow Team A+'ers Jessi and Tiffany. On many a Sunday, knowing that they would be at the pool (and might wonder where I was) was the one and only thing that got me out of bed. I still remember the first few workouts where I felt overwhelmed and out of my league, and having 2 stud swimmers to pull me along and encourage me without judging, well, that has been one of the real treats of this long winter. Team A1 seems like such a distant memory! Its all A+, all the time!!

We're legit now....what's next, tats? :)

Team A+: Let me tell you, these chicks ROCK!!

After the main swim set, Jessi, Tiffany, Steve and I hung around to practice our flip turns. It was a ton of fun! Except for the fact that when Jessi said we all needed to do them while swimming in a line, I decided to put my idiot hat on. For some reason, I thought we were back doing a main set, so I started out waaaay too close to Jessi's feet. Well, since I was so focused on getting my turn right, I totally forgot about where Jessi was, and as a result, we had a fantastic collision! I felt really bad about ripping Jessi's nail clean off...ouch! So, I think I'll forget about flip turns for awhile. I guess we are now "blood teammates" :) But, seriously, sorry Jessi.

Its the end of the week as I know it...

...and I feel sort of fine.

Today is my first day since Monday of not being in the pool.  Yesterday, I spend about 45 min in the pool with the EWU Triathlon club teaching them about drafting techniques and doing a few single-lane super sprints.  It was fun to see them progress and get more comfortable swimming in close proximity to other people.  Even though I didn't swim very far or hard, it was a good easy workout anyhow.

This morning, I decided to do my long run, since tomorrow looks better for a ride weather-wise.  I still don't like the fact that 6 miles is considered a "long run" but I just need to be patient and hope that it will come around soon.  The best news was that my foot didn't hurt much at all, and I didn't feel the need to ice it after the run.  It was a semi-tough run, but mainly because of my severe lack of run fitness.  I'm struggling to maintain 8:00 pace, which for me is very frustrating.  When your body remembers when 7:00's felt easy, having to work so hard to run slower is tough.  All in all, though, it was a good effort, and I'm happy that I can do anything at all.

Tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to the club swim and hopefully a good, solid long outdoor ride.

Swimming!

Tuesday night I went to the club Headlamp Run. It was a nice, easy run in and around Manito Park, and a great opportunity to run with some new people and in a new area. My foot felt decent....not 100% by any stretch, but not so bad that it was painful or changed my gait. I'm slowly coming to the realization that without some significant time off (ie. more than 6 months???), this will just be a nagging discomfort that I'll have to deal with. In one sense, there is comfort in that, even though it is frustrating.


Last night after dinner, Andy and I went to Oz to do some swimming. I was so proud of Andy's courage to work on her swimming, because I know that it is a big-time struggle for her. Even though she is still a bit uncomfortable in the water environment, once she got going, she went right to work on some drills that I showed her, and by the end, she was doing so much better!! I'm excited to see her progress through this journey, and my hope is that I can be supportive so that she doesn't get overwhelmed or frustrated, and eventually gains the confidence to get out there and do another race! Good job, Andy! :)

Back to bloggin'

New year, new entry. Let's hope this isn't a once-a-year thing.
This weekend, while Andy was away in Seattle, I had my biggest training weekend so far this year. Saturday I ran the Snake River Canyon 1/2 Marathon, against my PTs orders, I am sure, but it has become a tradition. Never mind that it was only 7 miles farther than I've run since last September......overall, I was happy w/ my result. However, its been a long time since my legs have been this sore this long after an event. We decided not to ride after, since it was so windy (uh, gusts to 35mph? yeah, nice riding weather) and we used up our legs on the run fighting that same wind. It was a fun day on the whole, road-tripping with Kirk, Mia and Johnny B and seeing a good number of Tri-Fusion buddies. But perhaps the best news of the day was that my foot didn't really bother me all that much. In fact, in the few days since that long effort, dare I even say, its been feeling much better overall!
Saturday night Joe O and I met up to reconnect over a few beers. It was great to see him and do some serious catching up!
Sunday turned out to be a great day. I hit the usual swim session with the club in the morning and did a solid 3700. I moved down a lane and led most of the distance, which was a new experience, but also a great confidence builder. I usually feel like I'm the slowest slug in the middle lane, so it was nice to be out front and trying to motivate some of our other awesome athletes to push themselves harder.
In the afternoon, I headed out east to Zach and Jen's for a ride. Zach just got home from the desert, so it was awesome to see him safe and back in the states after 7 months. Jen and I bundled up and met up with Martin, who shepherded us thru an awesome 40m ride out to CDA. It felt soooooo good to hit that first hill and just be outside on the bike in general. While all the trainer riding was good for the base miles, you just can't replicate the feelings of hills and corners and wind. Oh yeah, even though Jen wasn't able to always keep up with Martin and me, she totally rocked! I know she is still way nervous about her first IM, but she always impresses me with her toughness. I cannot wait to see her cross that finish line....it will be awesome!!
Yesterday I was feeling pretty run down, so I just tried to recover as best as I could. Probably pushed it a bit far this weekend, but I don't regret it. Today is an easy swim day at EWU, then I'm looking forward to a fun Headlamp Run tonight with the club.....wonder how my legs will feel?