My poor thumb!

Day before yesterday, I took the bike out for a ride. It was chilly brisk cold. I wanted to get it out before the rain arrived. I've been lax over the holidays about exercise. With my foot still not 100% and family coming in an out, it's ready made for excuses...

(this is me sighing and eye rolling at myself while I try to justify my laxity laziness.)

if i could have, i would have thrown my truck.
 i was that angry. never throw my bike,tho.
btw, if you don't read comics, you really should.
the Hulk is AWESOME!

After a few minutes on the bike path, I noticed the tires were low. (who didn't check them before the ride? who didn't bring spares? i may have left my helmet at home, but i will neither confirm nor deny this.) I went back to the truck to pump them up. Except my bike pump, and my spare bike pump, let the air out of both my tires and wouldn't pump them up! I fought and fought with the pumps. I couldn't get the presta valves to seal. I ended up covered in grease and sliced my finger open. I'm not even sure how I sliced my finger open, but I bled all over everything. The fit I threw then was both loud and embarrassing. The only saving grace was it was too cold for any sane person to be riding a bike so no one was around to hear my Hulk-like fit of rage.

Ride over. I went home to put the bike on the trainer (it's too cold outside anyway-- grump grump). I got new tires for the bike this year and kept the old ones for the trainer. I want to get a set of wheels just for the trainer, but it'll have to wait until next season (I am not made of money). Changing the tires would give me much needed practice. Much. Needed. Practice.

If I'd gotten a flat during a race...

It doesn't bear thinking about. I'll have nightmares of being choked by tubes while dancing tire levers poke my eyes out.

The valves on the new tubes sealed up nicely. I got both tires changed, the bike on the trainer and the DVD player hooked up to the TV. Of course, I haven't ridden on it yet...

I'm still recovering from the trauma of a tire change.

Giving Thanks

Yesterday, I took my dad to 2 doctors. When he worries about things, it doesn't come across as worry. It comes across as mean. Being the person confined in the vehicle with him means I'm often the target of his meanness. You do not get used to this, you just deal with it. He's been grumpier than usual lately and I wasn't looking forward to the trip, especially when I made the call to take him to the podiatrist before we left for the cancer doc in the city.

He has a foot infection and the home health wound care nurse was worried that the infection was in the bone.  I rushed him out of the house (I was running late). He was cranky (I was cranky) when we got to the office and asked if I'd grabbed the antibiotic and home health notebook. I'd forgotten. But when I pulled out a book to read he made me close it! Like I was 10 and failed a math test (the only math test I ever failed was a calc 1 final-- calculus is hard!) If this was going to be an indication of the day to come...

We waited in the lobby. We waited in the room. Crankiness was the rule. Then he saw the doc, who said it was actually healing, had good blood flow, and while it is a nasty infection and we have to keep a close eye on it, it is healing...

And the day was suddenly better. The trip to the city was pleasant. Dad told vampire jokes to the lab techs, ate pizza and didn't throw my Hint of Orange tea out the window. Why he doesn't love this stuff is beyond me...

A Favorite Thing

Doctor Says

Went to the doctor. He said I could start running!(in 3 weeks)

He also said the bone spurs were not going to go away, surgery is still an option but it wouldn't really fix anything, and then he spent about 4 minutes saying I probably shouldn't run without actually saying I shouldn't run. At least my doctor knows me :D

Anyway, I'm supposed to spend the next 3 weeks in "light" activity and trying to gently stretch the tendons in my foot and ankle. I guess this beats cutting and reattaching them.

I solemnly swear to rebuild slowly and do fewer idiotic things.

On a side note, I had to fill out new paperwork with the doctor's office. One form wanted to know my RACE and ETHNICITY. I thought those were the same thing and really, what business is it of the office to know these things. So to this first, I answered SLOW and to the second, I answered HUMAN. The nurse was not amused. She waved 2 laminated sheets under my nose with the only acceptable options. There were a lot of options. My eyes glazed over staring at these ridiculous lists! "It's required for reporting," the nurse insisted. WTH is my doctor's office reporting and to whom? The answers were unclear and I didn't feel much like fighting today. I am HUMAN. We are all HUMAN. There is only one RACE of people, not 3 dozen (That I know of. There could be aliens or X-Men among us. I'm not giving up hope!)

Planning the Start of a Season

Part 2 of my plan to keep my focus while my foot is out of commission is planning next year's races. Winter races are out. Some of my favorite races have been the winter races. The Knoxville Tack Club has a fantastic winter long course series. However, I am going to try to volunteering for at least 2 races this winter. I really enjoy volunteering. My winter plan is hibernating riding the indoor trainer and working on my core. GRRR! Go get it!

The race I really want to be ready for this spring is Rev 3 Knoxville. This time I will conquer the cold Tennessee River. May 6... Five months to be ready. And I don't know when I'll be able to run. And I have no idea when the pool will open (it's closed due to mechanical issues; we can check back January 7). Uncertainty. Life isn't perfect. I can't predict the future. Still, signing up for it :D

The Knoxville Marathon 5K race is April 7. This will be a perfect check on my running. Hoping for a PR! I'll  fit in a pool sprint between the 5K and Rev3 as a transition practice. I suck at transition. But that's another blog post. Three races for the spring, think I'll stop there.

I do have 1 summer race already on the calendar, Amica 19.7 in Lenoir City. I did this race last year and it was the most fun I had at a race all year. Some of my tri friends are doing it again this year it and I can steal borrow a boat and make it a weekend :D Or we could rent a house on the golf course. Have I ever mentioned how bad I suck at golf!

Me on a golf course would be endlessly funny... unless, you're a serious golfer and then you'll probably just want to bury me under the course...

How do you plan your race calendar? Are there any races you have to do every year?

No Injuries 2013

My new mantra for the fall/winter is "No Injuries 2013." I want to have an awesome race season with PR's all across the board. I want to be fast, for me anyway.  And I am tired of being injured. I'm tired of the bone spurs, the tendonitis, the fasciitis. All caused by improper training.

The ball

I tend to push until I hurt and then I sit. I'm terribly inconsistent in all my habits and it shows in my past training. The new training plan demands consistency. It's based on max aerobic heart rate training. No intervals, fartleks, hills, sprinting, fun stuff... That's what inspired my first Garmin purchase. It's the 405. I know it gets mixed reviews, but I'm willing to give it a try. Training with it is eye opening. I didn't think I was working hard on the bike, but the heart rate monitor said otherwise. A weight workout also pushed me out of that zone. This week I got to walk twice and my average speed was like 17 min miles. What!

The one thing the doctor told me I had to do if I wanted to succeed was, "Follow the plan. No cheating!" It's so frustrating to hear the beep and have to slow down. Of course, I can't wear it in the pool, so I have to manually check my heart rate at the end of each set. No annoying beeping there! Another eye opening and humiliating experience. I'm used to swimming about 1000 yards in 30 minutes. Now, it's closer to 600.

Everything about this is humbling. Is my fitness really rubbish? What have I been doing for the past 4 years? Does this thing even work!

Though I do have to admit, I get a kick out of uploading my data and reviewing it.

So, for now, the next few months anyway, my workouts will be short and boring and no cheating! (except maybe one Gran Fondo, but just the piccolo) The doctor promised I would start seeing improvements sooner rather than later, if I stuck to my plan. Thirty minutes, 5 times a week, 10 minute warm-up, 10 minute workout, 10 minute cool-down. I can do that for 2 more weeks. Right? Right!

Have you tried max aerobic heart rate training or zone training? Did you see improvements?