Ho hum
It’s probably obvious to anyone reading this blog, but I’ve been having a hard time getting into it this year. I’m just not as excited to train and I don’t have that same energy for triathlon in general that I think I had at this time last year. Honestly, I’m even having a hard time getting excited about racing. One way it manifests itself is that even though I update the blog every day with my training, I’m not writing new posts very often. I’m just not sure what I have to say…
As I wrote the other week, everything feels like a repeat of last year so far. Sure I have some new workouts and just did get a fun new toy (more below), but last year everything about it was new – my lovely Crono, having a coach, doing swim time trials, getting PR’s in running races. As yet, it’s hard to see that I’ve improved. I guess the fact that these training sessions are feeling routine is a sign of improvement, but I don’t want improvement to make me bored! Also, my back is still friggin’ bothering me. It’s not so bad that I feel the need to skip training or that it really affects me physically, but it is a psychological drag. The ache just bums me out. I’m tired of it. I spoke to Assaf about it for a while last night and I am going to schedule another doctor’s appointment, this time with a physiatrist instead of an orthopedic surgeon. Phsyiatry (a/k/a physical medicine and rehab) is Assaf’s specialty and he has some thoughts about what might be going on back there. In the meantime, stretching seems to help; sometimes a good stretch helps it for hours, sometimes, just for a little bit. The strange thing is that it often feels better on days that I train than on my days off or with light training. I think that’s at least partly because I am especially conscious of my need to stretch after a hard training session and on days off, when I don’t dedicate the time to training, I don’t necessarily stretch, or stretch as well. Going to a doctor worries me because I’m expecting him/her to say that the “cure” is for me to take two or four or whatever weeks off training and spend that time in physical therapy instead. That sucks. I went through weeks and weeks of PT in 2004 for achilles tendinitis and hated it, even if I did heal in the end. On the other hand, I am in fear that I’m going to wake up one day and have to call the entire season off. Last week I got a little twinge in my calf and decided that because I’ve “ignored” my back pain, I’d now done something to my achilles and that would doom me (the calf twinge went away, of course!). The ache is putting a strain on my enjoyment of the training and contributing to the fact that it’s not fun like it was last year. Also, maybe it’s just winter blahs? Let’s hope so, and come spring I’ll be out there raring to go!
My newest training toy is a CompuTrainer. The CompuTrainer is like a regular bike trainer for riding indoors, but it’s a way more advanced training tool. It’s hard to describe what it does and frankly I’m just figuring it out myself, but it measures power while riding, has resistance that is electronically adjustable and hooks up to a computer (hence, “compu”) for testing purposes (like pedal efficiency and power output) and you can ride actual courses (like IM LP or other famous cycling routes and races from all over the world) while “watching” the course go by on the computer screen. It’s much smoother than my other trainer and having a new toy has made my indoor rides more interesting. As for new workouts, in addition to the new training I can do with the CompuTrainer, John is having me do some work in the pool with paddles and fins. I haven’t done any swims with either yet, but am going to try both during Wednesday’s swim session. I’ll be sure to report on how it goes.
Run – January 20
Distance: 3.9 miles
Time: 30:24
Average heart rate: 146
Course: West Village, Tribeca
Conditions: COLD – low, low 20’s (“real feel”: 11!), gusty winds, but sunny
Indoor Bike – January 20
Time: 2:00
Average heart rate: 117
Run – January 21
Distance: 8.6 miles
Time: 1:10
Average heart rate: 151
Treadmill, hill workout
Yoga – January 21
Swim – January 22
Distance: 3,000 yards
Time: 1:01
Strength – January 22
Indoor Bike – January 24
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 122
Run – January 24
Distance: 5.2 miles
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 143
Treadmill
Swim – January 25
Distance: 1,600 yards
Time: 30 minutes
Brick – January 26
Bike
Distance: 51.7 miles
Time: 3:04
Average heart rate: 124
Course: Central Park
Conditions: Cold (low, low 30’s), cloudy
Transition: 7:03 (a little long, but changing out of the winter cycling gear took a little while…)
Run
Distance: 2 miles
Time: 17 minutes
Average heart rate: 135
Course: Village, Washington Square Park
Conditions: Cold (mid 30’s), cloudy
Indoor Bike – January 27
Time: 2:00
Average heart rate: 113