Life accelerates sometimes - busy but happy!

That was a picture from our local fireworks - I love the smiley face ones - and below was our "viewing platform." Suffice it to say, the kids are having a fun and relaxing summer. I do love this time of year!

It's been a nice but busy Fourth of July long weekend. I saw a friend as I was finishing up my run on Saturday and in the course of our brief exchange she commented that "the universe is accelerating" to which I said, "my life is accelerating." Do you ever feel like that?

Triathletes tend to keep life pretty filled up leaving little room for extra things. Last week threw a number of little extras my way that were just enough to accelerate my pace of life - a family member in the hospital, a car that was towed and deemed not-fix-worthy, car shopping/buying, lots of rain, decisions about a broken riding mower, computer repair, appointments with a chiropractor/ART practitioner and acupuncturist for the quad, Fourth of July, a husband bogged down and away to deal with a high-stakes project, outings with the kids, and a big week of training. So pretty much just "life"! But hey, no complaints here!!

In the midst of it all was a week of 13+ hours of swim+Erg-bike-run-gym with a lot of high-intensity stuff, with some accommodations for the quad on the run. One of those workouts was a progressive intensity bike-run-bike-run-bike-run-bike-run (four rounds) done on the bike trainer and treadmill. The idea was to keep the each run short and stop shy of that fatigue point I've been hitting with the quad. Another was an open water swim and progressive intensity bike ride with my coach and two other athletes that definitely pushed me! And I finally made my way through an hour run on Saturday that was an improvement over the past few weeks. I still have a ways to go.

Using the Vasa Ergometer last week while Grant played Wii.

The Active Release Technique work with Dr. Steve Dowell seems to be helping and I've only been to see him twice so far. The idea behind this therapy is to use manipulation to break up adhesions and scarring in soft tissue; in my case we are working to get the muscle freed up and sliding within the fascia again. It fits with my perception of what has been going on in which the quad feels like a balloon inflating within a box. When it reaches maximum volume the additional pressure is just converted to pain and fatigue. I think it's gotten stuck within the fascia, the outer wrapping of the muscle. ART has made this leg feel much "freer" -- in some ways more so than the "good" leg -- and on my run Saturday I didn't get that same build up of pressure. The last few miles were still not easy, but in a different way, so next weekend's racing will be what it will be. I'm still excited for it and will just have to take whatever the body gives me.

Saturday evening the kids and I were the last three at the pool and we had a really nice time having it all to ourselves. Spencer tried valiantly to teach me the butterfly stroke which provided the lifeguard and my kids with many laughs. Then I challenged both kids to a race of 50 free, expecting to crush them both. Spencer, the 13-year-old, did a few summers of swim team but frankly he is not a kid who hurries to do anything, including race. Well, to my enormous surprise, it was a tie, and I had given it everything I had! I was so proud of him!! My message is, parents, get your kids swimming early, and on a swim team even if just for a few years. Their future triathlon selves with thank you!

This week is not looking like it will be any slower or less hectic, but things seem to work out. And next week the kids and I head to Pensacola Beach where I will spend a little time with the good folks at Multisport Performance Institute and a lot of time just goofing off with Spencer and Grant at Portofino Island Resort. More on that to come!

Have a great start to your week!

State of things at the year's half-way point

I celebrated my half-year point with a 50-miler on the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday. I can't believe it was June 30 and I spent 3/4 of the ride wearing arm sleeves in the mid-morning chill. It's been a strange spring and summer.

Garmin had this ride at 5000+ feet of elevation gain and it's always a bit humbling out there. There are times I am positively just slogging and it does not seem all that steep. But the BRP always rewards effort with amazing vistas, backdrops, and of course - descents!

Stats, year-to-date:

Swim = 118,000 yards in water, 79,000 yards on the Vasa Ergometer; 45 hours in water, 31 hours on Ergometer.
Bike = 1440 miles, 82 hours
Run =  556 miles, 75 hours
Strength Train = ~50 hours
Total Training Time = 283 hours (10.9 hours/week)

Racing:

I started the year off with PRs at the Blacksburg Classic 10-miler (1:12:42) and at the Boston Marathon (3:33:53).  I was definitely on a roll at least those first four months. Then I switched back to triathlons where I have finished third (Smith Mountain Lake), third (Salem Sprint Tri) and fourth (Bath County Sprint Tri).

Unfortunately, I would have to say that while I have been swimming better, my bike and especially my run have been rather lackluster so far this year. My run at Bath County was one of my slowest 5Ks in years and there is a reason behind it.

Body:

Since Boston I have been having trouble with my left quad and starting in early June it has been a real impediment to my running. This month I have not been able to run more than 4 miles or so without stopping to give the quad a quick break before continuing. Add in hills or speed work and that is even shorter. I'm not experiencing pain in the acute sense, but more of a building fatigue to the point that it is just "done." It's like a balloon inflating within an enclosed space and when it's full, it's full. After a quick break it resets (deflates) almost back to normal but then each resulting span of running is successively shorter and shorter. It's pretty disheartening for a person who loves the freedom of running. Right now there is nothing free about it as I spend every step and every thought of my run trying to tweak position or outsmart myself to see if I can't find a workaround.

I have no pain in the course of the day, only on the run. It's not even much of an issue on the bike. I'm taking my own advice and stretching, rolling, and strengthening several times per day. I'm consulting with various bodywork folks to see what ART and acupuncture might do. It might even be stemming from a hip or glute issue or some kind of biomechanical inefficiency that has just overstressed that quad.

This is just one of those "body detours" as Coach Eric Neilsen called it. I'll work through it but it may require some race schedule adjustments to be sure I'm in the best shape possible for Nationals and Worlds.

It's all part of the ups and downs of the sport and being an athlete and I'm looking at this as just a puzzle to solve.

Despite the quad issue, I feel good otherwise. I had some bloodwork done a few weeks ago just to see where things stood (it had been two years) and it's always nice to get the report and see everything within range and trending better, especially as compared to my pre-triathlon self.

Family:

This is our first summer not doing swim team and I have to say I'm glad to have one less thing on the schedule for the summer. We are still at the pool pretty often and Spencer has done some lap swimming with me. I am trying to find ways to keep the kids moving. I got Spencer his first road bike a few weeks ago and he's been out on it a few times. On Saturday the kids and I headed out on the Huckleberry Trail. They biked to the end and back with an ice-cream stop at the mid-point. I did an out and back run. It was nice to give them some freedom and independence yet we were all out there together.

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So that is the 'state of the union'! A little quad problem-solving, keeping up the training, managing as a working mom, and just enjoying the ability to get out in these beautiful southwest Virginia mountains on a regular basis!

Happy 4th Coach-iversary, Coach Jim!

I'm a little late since Saturday, June 22 was the actual four year Coach-iversary with Coach Jim McGehee. It's been four years (and counting) of wonderful training, racing, and learning under his direction. I credit him with the fact that I am still going strong and enjoying the sport more than ever. He continues to demonstrate how to strike a healthy balance and perspective as a parent, spouse, son/daughter, citizen, and triathlete.

I can't even find the words to say how glad I am to be a One-on-One athlete and to benefit from Coach Jim's knowledge and experience. I have a notebook with all 208 weeks of printed out TrainingPeaks workouts (yeah I'm just a little OCD). But those do not account for all the emails, phone calls, texts, meetings, and poolside chit-chats.

I could seriously go on and on but if you've got a coach you really click with and who knows you well, I don't have to tell you what a luxury that is. I cannot imagine my participation in the sport without his involvement.

If you'd like to learn more about Coach Jim, I did an interview with him on March 8, 2013 and on February 22, 2012 I did a post on the Roles of a Coach from A to Z, listing many of the things he does to manage his group of athletes!

Happy Coach-iversary, Coach Jim. I look forward to filling lots more 3-ring notebooks with the workouts to come as I make my way up the age groups!

Race Report: Bath County Sprint Tri, 1st Masters, 4th overall

Saturday was my fourth year racing the Bath County Sprint Tri at Lake Moomaw near Warm Springs, Virginia. Four years?! I'm becoming one of those 'fixtures' I guess!!

This race attracts many triathletes (like Tanya in the photo above) from our region so it was great to be there and to be able to join in on a picture-perfect morning with so many friends. The lake was temperate in the mid-70's and as calm and clean as you could ever wish for. The out-and-back bike and run courses are rolling and challenging but safe and closed to traffic. It's a spectacularly gorgeous and unspoiled area nestled in the Alleghany Highlands of the Shenandoah Valley and such a treat to race there.

I was really happy to finish as the fourth woman out of 83. That also meant that three of the top four are from my town of Blacksburg, Virginia: Kate Buss (1st) and Edie Nault (2nd)!

Here's the numbers. (I like to see where my time would rank among the men so I include that too.)

Swim (750m) - 13:49 (9th/83 women; would have been 12/128 men)
T1 - 1:14 (16th/83)
Bike (20k) - 38:02 (3rd/83; 20/128 men)
T2 - 0:50 (11th/83)
Run (5k) - 22:22 (4th/83; 33/128 men)
Total - 1:16:16 (9th/83 women, 22nd/128 men)

Full results online at SetUp.

Race morning I was pretty calm. Having done so many races (this was #27) I've finally learned that I don't need to get worked up to race well and I've stopped worrying about not being worried!! When the air horn sounds, we all know what to do.

A BIG win in the swim!

This this was perhaps my best open water swim. Granted, swim courses can vary in distance from year to year, but I was nearly two minutes faster than last year, and where I was 2-1/2 minutes slower than Edie in 2012, I was less than a minute off her time this year. I am going to call this progress! I felt like I swam strong, consistently, and even straight! It sure helped to have a flat, calm lake and good visibility. Right away I had the opportunity to draft off a slightly-faster than me swimmer and did so to the first turn buoy after which I went solo. I thought about getting the most out of each stroke, my arm entry, pulling toward my hip, and accelerating the pull. I kept my cadence up (Garmin said 39 strokes per minute) found myself passing plenty of swimmers from the previous waves.

To finish in the top 11% of women and top 10% of men on the swim feels really good. Instead of my usual imbalance of upper-mid pack swimming and strong bike/run, I was a bit more balanced at this race.

I think a number of things have come together to start to improve my swim. Four years of patient help and the watchful eye of Coach Jim has of course been the foundation. Then in January I added the Vasa Swim Ergometer to the mix with supplemental workouts through Vasa from Coach Eric Neilsen. For me the Erg has been a great tool that has enabled me to learn -- and to see for myself with the power meter -- how to generate swim-specific power. I'm working on "avoiding the single speed arm pull" that Coach Eric talked about in a recent blog post. I also think doing the 2.5 mile swim a week prior in choppy lake water gave the the confidence and right mind-set to be more aggressive on the swim here.

Bike and Run

I had a pretty decent ride and run, but slower than last year. Frankly, my bike and run have not quite been where I would like them to be all race season. However, in this case, I was just happy to finish this race as well as I did because for the past two weeks I've been babying an overuse injury on my left quad. I'm not complaining or blaming -- it's just something to be managed, and comes with the territory. Recent runs had given me cause for concern, but I did my best to put them aside for the race.

I left T1 behind fellow master's athlete Ellen Sortore and she took off strong on the bike! I told myself not to rush to catch her and just to work patiently and do my thing. In the final miles, Ellen and I passed and repassed each other numerous times which only left me more determined to secure the lead, which I did by only six seconds! It was fun though, and I appreciated the push from Ellen!

The run here starts with a climb so I went conservatively up that first hill wanting to save my quad for later efforts. I passed a few walkers on the hill and kept my cadence up and drove with my arms. The mental pain of giving in and walking is far worse than the physical pain of keeping going. After that hill it seemed like a lot of going down-down-down and in your mind you just know that after the turnaround that means up-up-up!! One of my tricks is I keep my focus pretty close in so rather than thinking wow, I need to get to the top of that hill, I am just thinking of a few footfalls ahead. You don't notice elevation changes much if you are only looking ten feet ahead.

I saw Kate coming back the other way and started checking for other girls. I saw Edie then one or two others so I figured I was in pretty good position. I had started at least two waves back from the under 40 women. That final downhill is a fun one and it really sets you up to gun it into the finish! I was so relieved to have put in a good race, with no blowups, no major quad complaints, and no big mistakes. There is not a lot I would change about how this race went.

(Thanks Scott Moir and Michelle Kaiser for the photo!)

 (thanks Bill and Tanya for the photo!)

Mike, Scott, and Mark (above) are three of the five "Crazy 8-s" who were at the race. This group is training for IM Lake Placid and Solar Connexion is one of the sponsors of their very sharp kits!

Edie and I got a few photos together. She will be graduating with her MS in Dietetics and will be leaving for Pittsburgh to start on her internship next year. She will be sorely missed but I'm very happy for this exciting new chapter of her life!

 Tanya, Jim and Kate Fisher, and John King

Winners each received a "Moomaw Madness" camp chair! What a very cool award that will be much appreciated for years to come! These are the One-on-One athletes who raced minus Edie and Joe Hoff who were not available for the photo. We took this photo for Coach Jim who wasn't able to make it to this race this year due to travel.

Next Up

July 13 and 14 will bring my first "double" race weekend of the year at Colonial Beach with a Saturday Sprint and a Sunday Olympic. Between now and then I'm hoping to put the quad issue behind me and reclaim some speed. The good swim result this weekend has me fired up to continue my work in the pool, on the Erg, and in open water. I need to make every workout count and give it my full attention and best effort. I also need to pay attention to recovery - sleep, rolling, stretching,  hydrating, eating. I am less than three month's out from Worlds and time is moving quickly! I'm looking forward to more great training and racing ahead!

18 things you can do to recover from running injuries

My cousin Carin is suffering from Runner's Knee and she found herself at the orthopedic doctor, waiting well over an hour in the exam room, then getting an xray (near worthless for running injuries but a hoop they make us jump through) and being sent home to "wait and see" how it is. That's the pretty typical scenario and she sounded justifiably frustrated. I started to think about all the things she can do in the meantime that may be more productive than "waiting" so decided I would pull them together into a post.

Having been through my share of injuries (ITB, two fractures, shoulder impingement, drop foot, peronial tendonitis, hip issues, pulled hamstrings, piriformis...) and having been asked by others in the past about how to cope and manage, I thought I'd share a few things that I do to be proactive in my own rehab that might be helpful for others. In fact, in the last ten days I've been rehabing an overused and abused sartorius (front quad). It's always something, but part of the athletic journey!

(Disclaimer: Yes, I am a PhD, and not an MD or DO, but as a mom I'm automatically qualified to dish out unsolicited advice ;-) Seriously, this doesn't replace qualified medical opinions, blah blah blah, and what I have to share wouldn't apply to things like more serious or acute injuries or degenerative bony degenerative changes.)

Like many, I believe a large number of typical runner's injuries are caused by areas of tightness and weakness that require compensation by other muscles/ligaments/tendons. They can compensate only so long and eventually something becomes overused to the point of pain and inflammation.

The good news is that often there is more that can be done than just waiting. This is a big list of all I could think of, in no particular order. I'm not suggesting they all need to be used each time, but you can mix and match!

1. Get The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief by Clair Davies, David Simons Amber Davies. My friend Sheila turned me onto this book that does an excellent job of saying if you hurt here, and if feels like this, look to these areas as the culprit. While you may hurt in your knee or foot or whatever, the issues may be further up the kinetic chain. It's nice to read the short case studies and be able to say, yeah, that IS what it feels like! Then the book shows you how to massage the trigger points (basically tender areas of muscle/nerves) to break them up.
   
   
    
2. Use a quality hard foam roller and massage stick daily or even several times a day. I like the Trigger Point foam roller and the "stick". It's not that hard to learn how to use them and the foam roller is a great relaxing evening thing to do anyway. Roll everything - back and legs. There are lots of videos out there on how to use them.
   
3. Ice is a great tool. It's a pain, and it takes effort, but initially it's really important so get a system and make it as easy as possible for yourself. If it's a lower leg issue, stick your foot in a garbage can of water with ice. You can even make giant reusable ice cubes in ziplocks and just put those in the water. For other areas, get a quality gel ice pack (or several) and figure out a way to stuff them in a compression sleeve or wrap an ace bandage around them, or shove them down the back of your pants if it's your back. The key is to make it convenient.
4. See a Sports Med DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) and/or Physical Therapist. Ideally they are or were a runner/athlete or they work with them. They will dig beneath the surface symptoms to find the root cause. DOs can do adjustments and manipulations and PTs can set you up with a set of rehabilitative exercises. (Contrary to popular belief for running injuries you can actually see a PT just one time or two and do the work at home). Then no matter how silly and weird the exercises seem, DO THEM. Consistently.
   
5. See a chiropractor to get realigned and stay aligned. I've seen Dr. Tilley regularly for years and not only does he keep me structurally sound, he's a trusted advisor for my overall athletic health.
6. Get deep tissue massage. When you are injured it can set off a cascade of tightness elsewhere. The rollers can only get you so far, but a qualified SPORTS massage therapist can break up trigger points, areas of tightness, and flush out the bad stuff. This is not a fluffy spa massage, these hurt, but it's well worth it. This year I've been getting fairly regular massage work (thanks, Mario!) and it's made a big difference.
   
   
7. When you have a really stubborn tendon injury, consider acupuncture. This can break up established pain pathways and stimulate blood flow. This is especially useful for tendonitis problems that heal so slowly because they have very little blood flow.
   
   
8. Sports tape can help. I'm a little less convinced of this but in the latter stages of healing and in the return to running, I think it just helps to have the distraction. Then your mind can focus on the pull of the tape rather performing a constant OCD assessment of pain levels.
   
   
9. Compression may be useful. You can find compression garments and sleeves for nearly every body part now and not only does the support feel good when needed, they are also useful for holding ice packs in place! I have compression socks and just added compression quad sleeves.
   
   
10. Strengthen areas that are contributing to the overcompensation area. A physical therapist is essential for prescribing the best course of action! Often the exercises are very small and simple movements that use bodyweight or just stretch bands. You don't have to be pain free to start the strengthening process.
11. Dial in the nutrition and hydration and be sure your body is getting all it needs to heal. Adjust your intake to match reduced training.
12. Do what you CAN do in terms of exercise. If you can't run, can you still bike? Swim? Lift weights? Work your core? Don't abandon your fitness because it is essential to mental well-being and happiness too.
    
    
    
13. As you recover, begin planning for your return to running. How you can keep the injury from recurring and continue gaining strength. Do you need a better warm-up plan? Cool down? More stretching? 
14. Examine your running technique. Think critically about ways to improve. Do you need a quicker cadence to prevent overstriding? Are you underutilizing particular muscle groups? A professional video analysis from a qualified running coach can help.
15. Get new shoes and consider a different model or brand. A little change-up in foot-strike might alleviate what led you to the injury in the first place.
16. Return to running gradually. You don't have to be pain free-to resume, but go very slowly and start with a jog-walk cycle. Stick to level, non-cambered, smooth surfaces -- ideally a soft grass or mulch trail. Then ice immediately afterward and continue with the rolling, stretching, and exercises. Keep that up until you are running pain free.
17. Stay positive, even if you have to fake your way through it. Be kind to those around you who are having to deal with your non-running self. There are more races and training days ahead. I have taken something positive and learned from every injury I have had and you will too. Heck, it was a running injury that led me to triathlon!!
18. Finally, COMMIT to your recovery and healing! Be proactive! Do the regular icing, stretching, massage, rolling, and strengthening. Do what needs doing like it's a part-time job and have faith that in time, you WILL get through it, because you will!

Be well :-)