Bad me, or rather, busy me.

Sorry I have sort of dropped the bomb with this training blog. The more intense my training regime has become, the less I have felt a desire to document it.

My half marathon is in less than two weeks. I ran my final "long" training run yesterday and amazingly it went pretty well. As you know I've been struggling with on going knee issues, especially as my mileage started to ramp up. So, I finally got serious about it and did some investigation into what the actual issue was and how to treat it. Luckily what I have is fairly common with a lot of runners, so diagnosing wasn't too difficult. I have ITB syndrome. I know I have struggled with this issue on an off for several years. It is the type of thing that has flare ups and when I start training for a distance that includes lots of running that is usually when I start to have problems.

So, I investigated and found lots of info on how to keep this condition in check. Most professionals recommend lots of stretching, icing and the use of a foam roller. I ended up buying a nice foam roller from Road Runner and rolling my legs three times a day. Add in stretching, icing and ibuprofen and I seem to be making some headway. My 11 mile run yesterday was the first long run I've done without knee pain in who knows how long. Needless to say, I was thrilled.

This week is the very start of a small amount of tapering before the race. I plan on continuing my normal workouts this week (bike and swim), just lessening my running a bit. I think Saturday we will be heading down to Champoeg State Park to do a shorter run at the actual location of the race.

Why am I getting cankles?

That is all I could think of while I was running on the dreadmill this morning.

Why me? Of all places to retain water, my ankles?

Is there a procedure to remedy the situation? Lipo for ankles?

Well, the good news is that I've been on track and consistent with my training this week. I haven't missed a workout. I haven't cut anything short.

I may be making a little change in my race schedule this spring though. I'm considering not participating in the Spring Classic Duathalon in April and instead, replacing it with the Heart of the Valley Triathlon at the end of May. Jury is still out, but I'm leaning toward the tri.

Monday

Swimming:

1200 yards

28:45

Tuesday

Running:

4.3 miles

40:00

Wednesday

Swimming:

1250 yards

30:00

Thursday

Running:

3.3 miles

30:00

Strength training:

legs

25:00

Hippie Chick reality check

T minus 62 days and counting before my big half marathon is here. The Hippie Chick Half Marathon is May 8th. This past Saturday that fact hit me directly in the face as I came to the realization that I really needed to get more focused and committed to training for this race.

A half marathon is a challenge. It's not an enormous mountain to climb like a marathon, but 13.1 miles is nothing to sneeze at. I finally looked at the Hal Higdon training schedule I'm supposed to be following in preparation for the big day and I feel like I'm in okay shape to follow it closely. My goal is to run it in 2:08:00 or less. Last time I ran it in 2008 my goal was simply to finish and to not walk. I did both of those things and finished with a time of 2:15:09. I'm thinking it is reasonable for me to hope to knock 7 minutes or so off my last time since this go round I am starting with a much stronger base. Also, I'm including speedwork into my training this time and supposedly it should be helpful in making me a little bit faster. I'm just praying I don't have any nagging injuries to contend with or bowel problems (TMI) for that matter.

Wednesday
The Shred:
30:00

Thursday
Running:
5 miles (3 were speedwork)

Friday
Swimming:
1200 yards
28:09

Saturday
Running
6.2 miles
1:02:03

Swimming within the pod

Monday morning Wes and I headed over to the pool for our normal Monday morning swim. We had been a bit slack in the swim department because of Wes's head cold, so I had only swum once the previous week and Wes hadn't swum at all.

We got there at our normal time 5:55 am and the pool looked to be typical in its busyness. We hopped in the "medium" paced lane and started to click off the 23 laps we had planned. Within 10 minutes or so, the pool suddenly becomes quite busy. Another guy gets in our lane and joins in. This happens occasionally so I thought very little of it. Then another guy (breaststroke) joins us and things start to get quite crowded. Mentally, I decide to trudge on because I still about half my laps to go and I don't want to cut my work out short. Then another guy joins us in our lane and I start to wonder what the heck is going on. 5 people (4 men, one woman) are sharing our little bitty lane and bodies start bumping and back ups start happening.

After a lap or two I pop my head up and ask Dana (a friend) the life guard what the heck happened? She laughs at me and I plow on.

When I'm nearing the last part of my swim the slow (floater) ladies in the lane next to me stop me and ask if Wes and I'd like to swim with them. Then they turn their heads and see someone has joined them in their lane and floater ladies start to bemoan their fate. It's "splasher man"- their phrase, not mine. I know exactly who they are talking about (Dr. Johnson) and I thank them for the offer, but tell them I'm almost done and should probably just stay put in my ridiculously crowded lane. By this time Wes is starting to poop out because he's taken the previous week off and is just not in top form and a guy in our lane attempts passing him. Once the pass in successful Wes realizes maybe he is done for the day and we climb out and head for the showers. Crazy.

Monday

Swimming:

1100 yards

28:44

Tuesday

Running:

4 miles

Not sure on time.

Running Friends

All week I worked out by myself. Wes was sick and Mindy was single mothering it since her sweetheart was out of town. I actually enjoyed the flexibility of setting my own workout schedule to suit my time frames and pleasure.

But, it gets kind of lonely. No one to talk to. No one to complain to. No one to tell you to suck it up and do it.

This morning I joined Mindy and Marnie for our usual Saturday morning "long run". It started out last night with Mindy sending me this email:

If the weather is like this in the am for our run, I am out! Sorry ladies. If it is just a little rain, I will see you at 8am at the usual spot.

Peace!

Mindy

Okay lightweight.

Steph

Whatever. Tomorrow you might to be the one pushing me. :)

Mindy

is this Travis?

Steph

No, it is your unmotivated running friend, :) I will be good to go in the morning.

Mindy

This is typical banter between the two of us. One of us is usually worn out and unmotivated (me) and the other has to light a fire under the others rear.

So running this morning with Mindy and Marnie (our stalwart) was so nice. I asked for a flat run. Marnie asked if it was possible to find a flat run in Sherwood? I conceeded she was right and just asked we skip the largest hills around. We ran slow. We talked about life. We drug eachother up the hills with words of encouragement. The sun shone. The wind blew. And before we knew it six miles had past and it was time to head home, back to life as usual.

Thursday

Running:

3.0 miles

30 minutes

Strength training:

20 minutes

arms and back

Friday

Cycling:

6 miles

30 minutes

Strength training:

20 minutes

legs

Saturday

Running:

6.0 miles

1:01:09

Extra sleep can make you a better athlete!

I'm convinced!

Wes has been sick. Same story as the rest of us, blah blah blah. So, he told me that he wanted to take the week off from getting up super early to workout. I was more than happy to agree because I love sleep. If I could get paid to sleep, I would do it. Professional sleeper- yes, that is me.

So, this week I've been sleeping in until 7 am and each workout so far has been top notch. Not that I'm killing it out there, just that I feel so good. Rested. Happy. Awake.

So, in conclusion (reverting to ninth grade English class here), I believe more sleep is the answer for me. The only problem with it is the rest of my day is a bit more crowded, but it may be worth it. I'm going to keep this going, at least for the rest of this week, and make my final analysis then.

Saturday

Running:

5.7 miles

54:43

Monday

Running:

4 miles

35:00

Tuesday

Swimming

1150 yards

27:00

Are Thursdays cursed?

For the last two weeks I have missed working out on Thursdays. Last week because of fatigue, this week because I felt like crap. Wes has been under the weather too, so my swim work out buddy hasn't really been feeling up to getting up early for swimming. Fortunately, this evening we took our two youngest to the Y for open swim and traded off with them so the other could get in a swim workout. It's kind of weird swimming in the evenings when you are so used to swimming first thing in the morning. I could feel my orange chicken with rice dinner churning in my tummy while I was pounding out the laps. I think I prefer the morning routine.

Wednesday

Swimming:

1150 yards

29:04

Friday

Swimming:

1250 yards

30:00