Back in tha Saddle again....

Well today, much to the chargin of my Type A you need mas milegage muy pronto side, I started to train my cycling again. I got in to the saddle on my trainer warming up in the little ring 15 for about 15 minutes including 1 leg drills and then spun steady for 45 min switching through gearing...I got through the 60 min. very little tightness or pain a good 10 minutes of stretching and my leg feels just about normal. Tomorrow they're forecasting snow, if it doesn't loops of the lake on the Stomper, if it does then I'll be running my 8-9mile loop of the town...Tuesday classes start again which means I'll need to become type A organizing the time to workout,around work,classes and classwork. Bring it on! But in essence I feel good if the weather can co-operate with me I'm confident I'll be ready to throw down my A- game in 5 weeks.

Feeling Reborn
R.D.

I'm feeling better....now I need to get warm.

" I plan on cutting off your ears, gouging out your eyes, and tearing out your tounge so you must wander the underworld deaf, blind, and dumb and all shall know that you are Hector the fool who thought he killed Achilles."
- Achilles in the 2000's movie Troy.

My Achilles Lives HAHA!

Well after what seemed like an eternity of rest 5 days ...the ankle has gone from "I feel like I'm tearing it with every stride." To a little tight but not painful, so it looks like I'll be doing those Pistol squats this week and running and riding again next week, granted probably not at the volume I want. But at least I'll be putting miles in the legs. I also give credit to ICE, Trigger point (Shout out to the Angry one!) and an old school home remedy ( hot olive oil and wool wrap don't hate on it it works.) for easing the inflamation, now I just need to proceed with speed and caution..what an Oxy moron as I get ready to rumble.

Warning! Cold Weather Rant :

Today I was thinking about an easy ride up around Lake Waramaug..but seeing -2F staring at me when I started the car this morning made me re-think that....(sigh) another hour on the trainer...(sigh) is 35FTHAT much to ask for...I don't care if it's 60F I just want it to be above freezing and not snowing for a couple of weekends...(sigh) Any single girls in New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii or San Diego looking for a winter fling? I just have to survive 5 more months then I should have my degree I should graduate and then I can move to someplace warmer... think warm thoughts Bob-o, Think Warm thoughts, just make that your mantra this semester every high grade and bill payment is one step closer to a living wage and a condo in San Diego, Kona, or Taupo....
Cold weather rant over.

Well that's it from me, I figure an hour of spinning in the easy gears will be a good way to get me back into training.

R.D.

Burrrr!

Sanka, what you smoking mon?
I ain't smoking, I'm freezing... -Cool Runnings

Well I guess the bright side of my ankle issue this weekend is I'm not going to be running on the most frigid weekend of the year. This morning I went to warm up my car it was a balmy 1F
(-17C) I know I've got readers in Minnesota and Canada going poor baby at least you're in positive numbers...

Tomorrow is decision day on the doctor's visit, if the ankle is still a little tight I'll go just to make sure there is no major damage of the tendon which there isn't (points toes with no pain ...smiles.) Call my friend see if her mom still does massage therapy active release and get an estimate for 30 min. of work...otherwise I also have a friend/teammate who does this stuff too. Angry yes, I know pistol squats and lots of them...I just want to relax the IT band before I kick the shit out of it without mercy or remorse.

My Giants are out of the playoffs which means I no longer have a reason to watch football...except to see THAT TEAM FROM PHILLY THAT CASUES ALL MY FOOTBALL RELATED ANGUISH GET ROCKED! Sorry Eagles fans as much as Donovan might be the man Westbrook may kick ass, and Akers can kick a 50yd. FG in his sleep I still hate them... sorry Pent up rage from going to school in NYC and being assigned to a dorm full of Kids from Boston and Philly... Baseball season the Sox fans let me have it, Football season the Eagles fans let me have it...Hockey I won't even talk about the Rangers ..who I only cheer for becasue their farm team was the Whalers pitiful replacement.... granted haven't watched a game in so long Basketball is the only thing my grandfather and I agree on Go Celtics! Go Uconn! Sorry what was I talking about again... Oh yes I will be taking my rage against Mc Nabb and Co. out on the road this and next Sunday...weather and ankle permitting.

Next Saturday is looking to be well relatively warm in the high 30's low 40's Any one interested in doing a freeze your beans 60 miler? Depending on how next Sunday looks I can even put it off to then...but reagrdless next week looks seasonable and dry so maybe just maybe I can get some outdoor mileage in. (knocks on wood.) ...Wait they changed it again..surprise, surprise, more Snow and low 20's.

Well that's all from the tundra.

20F seems like heaven about now...
R.D.

Ironman New Zealand Update: Past the point of no return....

Well Today was my deadline to bail on Ironman New Zealand...I didn't so now in the words of Survivor "there's no easy way out." It's put up or shut up...go hard or stay home, man up or wuss out, evolve or die..etc..etc..

I have to pay for my flight ( which is getting cheaper every time I look at Air New Zealand .com now down to under $1300.) and pay off my hotel, which will actually be cheaper than last year, granted I'll be working without a net (ie Ken Glah's staff) in Taupo this year, if I make Kona I think booking with him will be a smart investment but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Right now I've got to trigger point my IT band with my wonderful tool ( ie former fishing pole holder made of PVC pipe.) and get my training in gear. Saturday and Monday are looking like my best days to ride but it is supposed to be bitter cold, and brutally windy...man 40F and raining sounds like an upgrade, the trainer is aggravating my IT Band and it's bad enough I went 6 days without running 6 days of no riding and running would be suicide but it might be a reality if I can't work this issue out...or maybe it would be the rest I need. After swim practice my coach aka Stef noticed how swollen my ankle looks I've decided to bite the bullet and let my doc look after it, if it's just a bruised tendon it will hurt but I can probably run on it if it's a tear well as the Aussies say "I'm in the shit mates." Regardless Taupo is definitely happening barring New Zealand somehow sinking beneath the Pacific Plate and becoming magma...even if that means I'm walking the damn marathon...mediocrity be damned.
Hopefully the prognosis from my doctor will be good, and I'll be able to get back on the road soon until then it looks like it's going to be a lot of pool and bike work if the leg allows.

Well that's all from my neck of the woods, my swimming is looking solid and hopefully my running and biking will be back on track.

Cheers,

R.D.

Edit: Achilles Mystery Solved..maybe...

As I sat at my desk this morning thinking about what I could have possibly done to hurt my ankle it dawned on me. Last year while Spinning at Newington Bike I noticed my ankle got a little tight after the workout. Didn't spin for a week, problem healed. Fast forward to this year...the weather has made Siberia look like St. Martin. Riding the trainer like it's going out of style.The ankle acted up after a 12-15 mile run but I had been doing 2 to 3 8-9 milers a week before progressinging up, granted I did roll the ankle a little bit. but I've rolled my ankle like that before with no real issues. Running progressing conservatively, ankle always flares after spinning, doing more spinning than normal ankles hurts worse than normal 2+2= spinning is what's inflamming my IT band hence inflamming my ankle. Solution stop spinning let the IT/ ankle heal then get back into it. Still going to the Doctor on Monday to make sure I didn't screw myself up that bad.

Bob's got a coaching gig.

Well upon talking to my contact for an open coaching position at a tri camp in Lake Placid I just have to get confirmation on my weeks off, and renew my lifeguard& CPR certs. RockOn Adventures runs the camp and I'll be working either one week in July and One week in August or two weeks in August but I just have to check which races I'm doing and what weeks my co-workers are taking so there's no conflict. The camp is pretty barebones by a like in the woods in tents... for the former readers of the Angry Runner prepare for tales from the wood,but maybe it's what I need this summer after a self induced / family econ induced Hell last summer. Just two solid weeks surrounded by tri geeks, no flashy equipment ( granted my equipment ain't that flashy), no worrying about keeping the heart rate @ X beats per min for Y min, on a Z hour run, So you don't die horrific death Alpha on the Queen K, just the basics, swimming in a lake, riding on the road, running on trails, sport not Rocket Science...which has sort of been my simplistic high school runner/ college swimmer approach to the sport all along. ( nothing against guys and gals who heart rate train it is effective but I really hate staring at my wrists for prolonged periods of time other than taking my mile splits.) Also this gig means essentially getting paid to train and hang out with athletes....I like it.
Also if I come back refusing to drive, with long hair, a beard, munching granola, writing transcendentalist poetry, contemplating moving to Vermont and claiming I'm a level 5 vegan please do the following, drive my ass to SuperCuts and then the nearest decent steakhouse in the area, remind me how cold it gets in Vermont in winter ,and talk me into selling the poetry while making me watch Bloodsport, Chopper Reid, Wall Street and The Devil's Advocate, to get intouch with my violent capitalist roots. Or buy me a beret and a few copies of the communist manifesto and run me against Obama in the 2012 Democratic Primary.*

My job interview yesterday also snapped my ass out of a negative funk I'd been in for the last 2 days. Sunday night as I looked at the weather and my bills, my school circulum and it just seemed to be emotional overload... too cold to train out doors, bills well are bills, school well part of me is dreading the semester but the other part of me is like if I'm cramming knowlegde in my head maybe that will keep me form craming in doubt, anger, self pity, and other crap. Time is counting down stuff has to be gotten into order, my parents are preaching how I should have saved more for this, shouldn't have done this that and the other thing, and at the same time they're hesitiant to change their own position... I guess that's the thing that frustrates me most about my parents we're both hesitant to change... I need to cut back on spending settle my bills, become more independent, and get more streams of income, hopefully I'll graduate college and be able to find a better paying gig or at least fill the time I was in class with another job. The coaching gig was quick cash and maybe it's a sign of things to come..the coaching not living in a tent by a lake... So that's where I stand at the moment things are looking up, things are starting to fall in to place, granted I wish they would fall into place a little faster.

I managed to run for an hour and forty-five minutes, my Achilles hurts,but less than it did, definitely feels like IT band because my gastroc tightened before the tendon flared up. On the run it wasn't too bad considering I was decked out in more reflective clothing than any one person should own...if I got hit by a car and the driver exclaims they couldn't see me they need an eye exam,because my reflective crap is loud and obnoxious. Now I've got to mapmy run to see distance and pace as I try to work up to a 20 miler so I know my legs will survive this show on March 7.

The Artic Warrior.
R.D.

* Note I do not beleive that Obama or Democrats such as myself are Communists....but with the way the global economy is going...also my canidacy would be illegal until 2020.

Ironman New Zealand: 6 weeks out should I bail?

Well upon looking at the calendar Ironman New Zealand is 7 weeks out. Part of me is in panic mode, my training has reagally sucked, the weather hasn't cooperated and now I'm debating sending an email to the race office on withdrawing. I 'll toss up the big reasons why I'm consumed by fear at this point:

1. The weather is supposed to go from seasonably cold to hunt your own mammoth. This week they are talking temps of -10 and I don't mean -10C. I haven't been able to break out the bike in weeks and I'm starting to worry that 3 X 2-6 hour trainer sessions a week isn't going to cut it, I need to man up and get outdoors but at the same time, I don't want to risk injury, illness, or frostbite.

2. My little Achilles issue. Well it turns out weak pedal stroke and working the treadmill hasn't really helped it any. Likewise it hasn't gotten worse. This week I'm going to try to get some miles in the legs...but if it hurts after this week status for racing could be doubtful.

3. Deadline to withdrawl with any sort of refund is Wednesday...if I'm going to wuss out I at least want my money back.

4. Hopefully my last undergrad semester: This is going to be the biggest academic semester of your life, you need to focus on the books buddy, and then when this one is done you have to start looking at grad school, or med school, or law school, or getting a good paying gig, and not to mention your own place, plus take care of your parents, siblings, get a hair cut, pay off this that and the other thing and a billion other things that should all be your number one priority right now.....

These are probably just my normal pre race fears that I usually vent to my friends or sisters but I'm starting to feel afraid that maybe I won't be ready in time... my base miles over the summer have carried my fitness, but complex personal issues, have killed my training in the past few months. My swimming has been pretty stellar my running well I haven't had any decent run training since the begining of break and then my achilles flared up. Cycling well...I'm starting to think Coach Troy's base builder is too easy....and the couple of times I did get out I only managed about 35-40 miles...before darkness set in granted I was averaging 18-20 mph. This weekend Saturday is supposed to be clear and so is Sunday but temps are supposed to be about 20-25F I've never ridden in under 30F weather and part of me is afraid to try. That 30F threshold seems to be the point in which all sane cyclists head indoors...but then again who ever said I was sane....


I said it before and I'll say it again Fear maybe healthy but it sucks.... balls!
(sigh)

On the positive side of the news...

Claire Bad Ass Mo Fo broke 4 hours in the Disney Marathon and beat her HotFurd Time...that coming after running the half in a blazing 1:46 yesterday. Runner Gal and the Cranks had decent placings too and no word yet on if Angry Runner manager to find a host for his offspring...although with the good results team blogger had in Orlando I'm sure this also ended in success....

Well that's it for me, I've got an early morning and a full day ahead...I have an interview for that coaching position then I have to track down a lifeguard recert course because I'll need it for the summer.

Frazzled
R.D.