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Day off Saturday, March 3, 2007 My ankle has become very painful all of a sudden - within the last few days - to the point where I can barely walk after workouts. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm taking the day off to rest it and see if I can't nurse it back to health. It feels like a tendon might be strained, or something of that nature.
It's been a while since I had a full day off anyway (two weeks? maybe a little more), so I've got a backlog of stuff that needs attention that I will finally be able to get at today. Job applications, sponsorship stuff, business matters, the always important laundry... the list goes on!
Oh the pain
Well, my one injury has turned into three: I've got the ankle pain, a strange shin problem (definitely muscle or connective tissue though, not bone), and my IT band is flaring up a bit again. My general rule of thumb is: if it doesn't alter my stride pattern, I can train through it. While it will probably seem insane to just about everyone else, I see this as a risk/reward situation. Last year, I faced this dilemma seriously for the first time, and decided that some pain was acceptable to get myself to where I wanted to be from a training and racing standpoint. This is often the kind of decision that other professional athletes face, in all sorts of different sports, and it's now a reality in my life, given how much I intend to train. I have to trust that I will know when enough is enough, and when I can keep going.
Much better What a difference a couple days can make. My legs feel much better, and I actually ran hard yesterday, putting in a 3 x 3000 meter negative split workout. I'm sore from that, to be sure, but nothing specific hurts anymore. Once again, I'm very thankful for the speed at which my body heals itself.
I'm very excited - I've got just over five more weeks left in Pittsburgh, and then I head off to Ann Arbor to coach and work. I can't wait to get back there. Pittsburgh will always be held dear to my heart, since this is where I grew up, but I'm getting tired of it, and tired of not knowing anyone here, and definitely tired of being limited in my training routes. Ann Arbor will be a refreshing change to all of that for a little while.
Best purchase ever Duathlon is an expensive sport. However, one of the best purchases I've ever made cost me only nine bucks: a clear cycling rain jacket. This lowly, un-fancy rain jacket kept me quite comfortable on my rainy 30-mile ride today, paying for itself (in comfort, anyway) after just one use. With a long spring coming up, in which I'm sure there will be many more cool, rainy days, it's going to come in very handy. And to think, some people spend a hundred dollars or more for a rain jacket...
Running hard took its toll on me earlier this week. I had to take Thursday completely off to let my legs recover, and my additional training since then has worn me out. I nearly bagged my run today, but forced myself to get out the door and on the road. Once I started and warmed up a bit, my legs loosened up and felt a bit better. Sometimes that's what it takes.
Get outta town! That's what I'll be doing tomorrow morning: flying to Colorado. I'll be at the Olympic Training Center to get certified as a USAT Level 1 coach! I'm excited about the trip; I've never been to Colorado, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like. I've heard good things, and the weather there is supposed to be really nice... so I have high expectations.
Speaking of weather, it was drop-dead gorgeous outside today - 71 degrees, very sunny, nice breeze. Today was probably just a teaser, but I am trying to imagine that spring is not far off. I rode for an hour, which was not too bad after yesterday's tough two-hour ride, and then ran right afterwards. I didn't feel too great on the run - no heat acclimatization yet - but I still managed a decent cruising pace.
Spring... ... is about to sprung! (uh, grammar? Yeah.) Temps are starting to rise - again, but it looks like for real this time - and the sun actually feels warm now. It's the first day of spring tomorrow, so I'm going to spend it outside training once I'm done with work for the day. I've fallen a bit behind, what with the trip last week and work/weather to start this week. However, neither of those will be a factor from now until I head to Atlantic City next week, so I'll be free to put in some serious quality miles. I need to make plan this week, especially on the bike.
The coaching clinic was an awesome trip (aside from the actual travelling part). Colorado Springs is an amazing place, although I didn't see much of the actual city. The Rocky Mountains are seriously impressive, and the Olympic Training Center is totally hot. I wish I could have the opportunity to train and live there. I'm still a couple steps away from getting my certification, but the major hurdle - renewing my CPR - is out of the way as of tonight. I'll just need to take the certification test and sign some paperwork, and then I should be good to go. I should have that out of the way this weekend.
Back to it
'It' meaning being tired, of course. I'm ready to keel over. Guess I'd better make sure I get enough sleep tonight.
Epic weekend I guess I've probably had bigger weekends, but not in the past ten months or so. Since I haven't abused my legs like this in quite some time, this weekend has been huge. I:
All told, I'm pretty shelled. I had trouble getting out of bed this morning, and I can only imagine tomorrow will be worse. I just hope I can make it through work... and then through two workouts. Since I'm going out of town for another conference this week, I will have to ride tomorrow and Tuesday, and probably run both dyas as well. Here's hoping my legs don't fall off.
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