Back on the Bike?

I have had trouble thinking of something to write for the past 4 weeks and 4 days....my blog is about training right, and I haven't really been doing any; or nothing to speak of. And no, I am not counting days...well OK maybe I am. I have lost count of non-running days so this count only takes into account non-riding days. BUT the counter has stopped today!

It was time to 'get back on the horse' so to speak, and test this knee of mine out. Having rested it completely for 4 weeks and 4 days MUST had been of benefit surely!

Well it wasn't the best return to riding I've ever had. Hang on; I haven't yet had a 'return to riding' as I've never had a lay off riding before. My knee / ITB / troublesome leg was, well a little troublesome. Injury, lack of use, just getting used to working again? Well it gets to the situation where I think, 'well what is going to work'? With several months of no running and over 4 weeks of absolutely no riding, no kicking when swimming, no long walks and no stress (on my leg at least!), what comes next?

I guess I just have to suck it and see. No race entries are being penned (OK only that small one I had to do a month or so ago for NZ Ironman 2011)until I am training pain free, and things will go slowly slowly.

So, where to from now? I had a little think, what could I have written about these past 4 weeks and 4 days? My life has always always involved some kind of high intensity sport - mostly running until the body started telling me it was time to diversify. My esteemed friends have had plenty of suggestions of alternative sports to get stuck into....wait for it.....
- Marbles (No point, I lost mine a while back)
- Lawn bowls (mmmmm let me think for a nano second...NO!)
- Crochet (is that really a sport!)
- Darts (too much opportunity for overuse injury..)

Mmmmm, I am not inspired by any of those. But surely neither 'full on training' nor 'being injured' are the only labels that define me as a person? I hope not. Maybe I should start collecting ideas from those who know me, and start thinking myself about what defines me. Trouble is, I like being someone who trains, who pushes themselves to achieve, who can run, cycle and swim (probably in that order of ability!) with friends, who can be competitive in a friendly way, who can feel smashed but content at the end of a 5 hour ride and 1 hour run, who can wander at the start of a race 'why the hell am I doing this', and feel at the end 'wow I am SO glad I did'. Maybe I need to realise that I am still that person, maybe the frustration I feel is part of what makes me who I am, maybe I need to understand that nothing lasts forever and life continually changes, maybe I need to learn to say 'wow I am SO glad that I am' 'that I have the opportunity to do', 'that I know those I do'.

But maybe just maybe I'm just not quite there yet! I'm sure I will have other things to write about, they may not be as exciting, but it all tells a story.....and hopefully the story that gets me back on the bike, back in my runners, and back enjoying a flat white and fruit toast with friends after smashing ourselves silly pursuing the draw of those feel good hormones....maybe that's why we do what we do. If anyone finds something else that fits the bill in the meantime, let me know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Faye
x

Knitting, Crochet.....or maybe sky diving?

16 weeks since Ironman. Three 5 minute runs resulting in a realisation of ITB issues......followed by weeks of no running to fully rest the ITB, stress fracture and body in general....rest, recuperate, and now I'm raring to go :-).

Well actually 'Can't get of the Bike' (which the last 16 weeks have been since I can't run), has become 'Don't get on the Bike'.
I am now on a 'no riding' period. You could be mistaken in thinking that I have taken up some new periodisation training directive that has moved into its next stage.....'Ok you've done the bike (novice crit race, Byron Triathlon bike, few hills, few strength wind train sessions), now we're onto running'. But no it is not. I have been banned by higher authorities.

No, no that's not right. I just got wrong which period of 'periodisation' that I am supposed to be entering. According to my physio I am now to enter the, 'take a month off and rest' period. He obviously has this canny plan of how to maintain the 'fittest I've ever been in my life' moment that I experienced 16 weeks ago. No running for 16 weeks, moving into no riding for another 4. Apparently a cortisone injection that doesn't make the problem better is not a good sign. So that little niggle at the side of my knee that should have gone away weeks ago is making the bigger picture seem more important than sweating the small stuff. And that bigger picture is Ironman New Zealand 2011, March 5th. And the small stuff....all those things that I thought would be on the radar this winter...Glass House Mountains trail runs - gone; Gold Coast Marathon - 2 weeks time, no chance; Tour of Toowoomba community ride - next week, no chance; Foster Long Course - September, unlikely; Gold Coast 1/2 Ironman - October 3rd, ???????

So during the next 4 weeks I shall be mostly.....

Doing sit ups
Doing press ups
Doing static rows
Swimming with a pull buoy (but no further than 2km cause it hurts my shoulder)
Doing butt strengthening exercises (thanks for telling me I need a sprinter's butt Leon!)
Baking cakes (and not eating them) - it is therapy
Going on a detox


So the new training plan is in action...at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon...with a glass of red wine and some cheese. Followed by roast chicken and probably a glass of white wine. I am looking to the benefits of 4 weeks devoid of almost all aerobic activity:

I get to appreciate the fact that I am actually alive
I learn that we are not infallible (although I'm sure I have learnt that one more than once now!)
I learn what hard work is about when I start training again
I don't take my ability and fitness for granted
I get to sleep in (though not too often otherwise getting up again is going to suck big time!)
I get to spend more time with people who I like :-)
I get to drink more wine (oops, forgot about the detox I'd promised!!!)

So with those things to think about, I might sign up for a sky dive....I'm not quite ready for knitting and after all I have to get the adrenaline rush from somewhere. I'm sure that such a tandem sky dive does not involve either running, cycling, or putting my legs under too much stress (take note Leon the physio, I am taking your advice) - cause someone else even deals with the landing! I'm off!

Yours in wine, sleep ins (and a little frustration and wall climbing)

F
x

One step forward.....what comes next?...certainly not what I thought!!!?!

So this week I let a complete stranger put an injection of cortisone in my ITB, right near the outside of my knee. In fact not just 1 but 3 needles...

Well OK he wasn't a complete stranger, I've already let Dr.Andrew Smith inject Traumeel into my calf muscle and that's what helped me get to New Zealand in a 'competable' state; but still...I wasn't really banking on letting him put another needle near to my leg anytime soon!

The first 2 days of my week was spent realising that I was going to have a week of not only not running, but not riding either! I needed to go crazy fitting stuff in right (yeah I know it is supposed to be for the better good!)?! Mmmm well after a Monday morning criterion session I got told off by my physio for pushing things a little too far...yeah OK Leon, I hear ya, but I didn't get to the start line in New Zealand by totally listening to everything you said... ;-)

So with the agreed approach being to finally bite the bullet and see if a cortisone injection would calm down my inflamed ITB, I headed off to do the deed Tuesday morning. Following it up with an afternoon of standing up and massaging probably wasn't the best idea, but I left the surgery pretty positive, being told that I could get back on the bike for an 'easy' ride Saturday if my leg was feeling OK.

Yippeeee!

Well it is now Sunday evening and I haven't been back on the bike. I have had one swim with a pull buoy, lots of aching leg syndrome, a little frustration, and 4..count them..4 migraine headaches! What the?! There is a little stress in my life at the moment, but not to the extent to cause that! I have missed 2 days at work, suffered tunnel vision, pounding eyes and head, nausea, and finally today my body decided to vomit too. So strange has it been that I've even Googled whether there is a correlation with the Cortisone....check this out: Cortisone

So what is the next bit?! I was hoping 'One step forward two back' wasn't a saying that was going to be applying to me right now, but that's what it feels like. I am tentatively heading out to play on the bike tomorrow morning...just for a short easy ride you understand, and dearly dearly hoping that a new day doesn't bring another migraine. The desired effect of the cortisone injection has temporarily been forgotten (albeit a nagging little ache still present in my knee!), but hopefully it'll be the thing to concentrate on again for the new week!

Wish me luck!

f
x

DNF....what the?!

Saturday May 8th. Byron Bay Triathlon. My first DNF race....Mmmmmmm!

It was a strange feeling for me, to plan to start a race knowing that I was going to be a DNF on the listings. Was it worth starting? Should I just walk the run? Should I make my entry a team? So many things to consider, and at the heart of it, a little flat feeling that I was not going to be able to finish a race. But that's OK right? I can just swim and bike and see how I go, and then enjoy watching everyone else. Is this a new era in my racing outlook?! I can do that, be sensible, look at the bigger picture, just treat it as a training session right? Mmmm who am I kidding?!!!
On purpose I didn't even take my runners with me, no chance to put them into transition, no chance to put them on! No chance to be tempted to run.

So my race went something like this:
- Leisurely wake up, register, rack the bike, chill out for a bit.
- Line up ready to start, wetsuit on, wandering what the hell I'm doing as nerves kick in (but I'm not racing right?!).
- Swim: the rip seemed to be all over the place and as everyone agreed afterwards..'was a bit of a nightmare'. My time wasn't quick but then nobody's was and in that respect I was glad to get through it middle of the pack (16 out of 45) and not get dragged wildly off course by the currents :-)
- Out of the swim and I was pretty tired from the effort, such that the run to transition didn't really let me get my heart rate much lower!
- Bike: After settling myself down in the first 5 km I enjoyed the battle that ensued. There were 8 or so girls who made it hard to sit in and ride, it made me push myself to get away from the group and the risk of a drafting penalty! A headwind all the way to Lennox was unrelenting but the corresponding tailwind back to Byron was awesome!! Thanks to the battle of the girls, an effort to get away from them, and my favourite hills to pull further ahead, I came off the bike in 62mins 18secs (4th fastest)...flying dismount, ran into transition and......stopped!

Mmmm, at that point I was feeling really good, pumped, and if my runners had been by my transition rack, I would have pulled them on and pottered out onto the course! Probably a good thing that they were not there!!

But it was such a let down, quite comical really, I went and handed my transponder chip in, found some fellow supporters, and cheered on the runners.....

It was a lesson in doing what I should, but that didn't make it any easier. Didn't stop me from checking my times, seeing where I ranked, tried to work out what time I would have run - where I would have come overall....!

But the reality is that I was a DNF but ultimately it was great to just enjoy the weekend. A long way from Ironman, but it's all important for various reason.. :-)

Time for core training with Drill Sergeant Pip!

Faye
x

Floating in the ether....

ether (ē′t̸hər)
noun
a substance hypothesized by the ancients as filling all space beyond the sphere of the moon, and making up the stars and planets.

It feels like I have been up there for a while. I've tried to ground myself and just get back to normal life...but other things have been happening.

So I finish Ironman, and it was a fantastic experience. Sure I had a few sore bits and had already resigned myself to a few weeks of very light training and enjoying some time out, but then things started to unravel. My first run back to test out the displaced cuboid bone I'd managed to acquire didn't go well....I had to stop after 10 minutes due to my knee reminding me that actually it had been hurting in the last 10km of the marathon. Oh yeah that's right! So now 9 weeks on from completing Ironman NZ, I am back at physio, injured, and not running.
I'd got so excited, planning the Glass House 30km run, the Gold Coast Marathon, Saturday Mount Cootha runs with the girls....and uh, I've had to re-consider my plans for the winter!

I must admit, the whole realisation that once again I was out of running action; combined with the massive change in training schedule after finishing Ironman, the sudden lack of goal etc...flattened the buoyancy of my mind and left me struggling to find a reason, a motivation, a happy place. And in comes the 'ether', where my mind has been residing recently....but I think it's coming back to earth...just maybe.

So I have had a talk with myself, with close friends and come to the realisation that I just have to be me. Things are how they are...I have an opportunity to do some other things...I am going to enter some open water swims, work on my bike, go to yoga, join a gym, do some more social stuff, relax and try not to feel like I'm missing out when friends go for a 2hour run.... People bounce back differently, and this is just how I'm bouncing - or rather crawling back!

But hey, I have 10 months right? I entered IM NZ 2011 yesterday....so there is bigger fish to fry than the odd run now. 10 months to get faster, stronger, get injury free, have a more holistic outlook, and try to enjoy myself til that date 20weeks out arrives again ;-)

Train happy!

fj
x

It all comes down to THIS!

Well, it is now 6 days since race day and boy what a race!!!! You wouldn't believe that 20 weeks of training all boils down to one day...and 6 days on it almost doesn't seem real!

Emma, Craig, Keith, Ness and me thought that a few pre-race drinks would be in order - or actually Keith decided and we joined in! And it was only one, promise; just to help us sleep you understand!






And race morning loomed. We were up at 330am to have breakfast, have tattoos applied, check final nerves and head to transition to get numbered and put food and drink on our bikes. Rookie error number one....I forgot to take my drink bottles and food for my bike! So, back to the apartment and back to transition again. Well at least it gave me less time to hang around!

The pro's race started 15 minutes before the meer mortals, and was heralded by a loud canon firing which sent everyone jumping about 3 feet in the air! Like we weren't jumpy enough already!

And then....we were off!!!!!

The melee of arms in the washing machine....I just put my head down and swam. I managed to find reasonably clear water near to the buoys and stuck with it. On occasion I was kicked in the face...bashed from the side....tickled on my toes...and squeezed like a sandwich between 2 bodies...but all in all the swim was wonderful. So clear I was counting golf balls on the bottom! And I managed to spot the buoys, not doing my usual zig zag swim from side to side. And really before I knew it, I was out and running to T1....my day was underway!

T1...I found myself on my own trying to get my wetsuit off until finally a helper pulled the last leg out and I was into bike mode. Socks, arm warmers, wind vest, shoes, gloves - check..run to bike, run to exit with bike....and we're off!

The 180km bike leg, 2 x out and back course started well. There was little wind and the first 90km flew by. In hindsight I should have pushed harder in this part because entering the 2nd 90km circuit was just like hell...the wind had steadily grown to become gale force and made the second half of the ride an exercise in survival..I even had to change my nutrition plan because there was no way I was sitting up with hands off the bars to refil my drink bottle with drink powder - I would have ended up off the bike in the gutter!

There was one section of the bike with about 10km to go, where the course turned into a downhill tailwind....OMG it was just bliss! In T2 I was happy to hand my bike over and not see it again for another few hours!! My overall race plan was to get onto the run by 8hours which would leave me with a 4 hours marathon to ensure I finished in 12 hours...so far so good. At the start of the run I was 15 minutes ahead of schedule :-)

In the course of the long long day, I presumed I'd need to get off the bike and pee...but no, I had to make myself go in T2 to ensure that I was flushing something through my body in the day!

And before I knew it, I was onto the run! Before race day the run was very much an unknown to me. 7 weeks of actual run training, 4 months of water running, and never having run a marathon...there was a little aprehension!

But the run...well I just started and carried on going. I got into my running rhythmn and maintained a level of 'comfortableness' that I thought I could keep up. I walked through every aid station to make sure I got some drink into me, and ate a gel every 5km. 10.6km out into the massive headwind, 10.6km back into town with a tailwind. You didn't know that a tailwind was good on the run did you...well let me tell you; after 10.6km odd of the uphill headwind we had...anything else was just great!!

It was only with about 10km to go that I realised how well I'd kept my pace. I was aiming for a 5minute km pace but wasn't sure I'd be able to maintain it. It all felt really good. My legs only really started feeling muscularly tired with 6km to go, and by then I knew I could make it. My quads hurt, my right foot had pain on the outside and I didn't want to see anymore gels or electrolyte drink for a very long time! But I was passing people and getting encouragement, and feeling ok, and only now had 5km to go, then 3, then I was at the 40km mark. The reality was hitting me, that I was almost finished...the 20 weeks of training, tiredness, lack of social life, nerves, anticipation...was all coming down to this one moment as I turned the corner and entered the finishing chute. It was still daylight, there were people lining the chute, Ness had seen me turn the corner and shouted out encouragement...my head was buzzing and my legs were ready to stop.



And I crossed the line in 11hours 17minutes with a 3hour 26minute marathon! 7th in my age group, 38th overall woman, fastest age group marathon, 4th fastest woman's marathon time. Yipeeeeeee!

Everybody was so inspiring, Sarah, Emm, Craig, Sophie, Bec, Jacq, Brad, Penny, Suz, Rod, Keith, Mike, Timmy F, Tim O, Gil....they were all out there and had amazing days.

A good day at the office by all :-)

Off to party!

Faye
x

Race Week

Well race day has been and gone.....really, did I miss something?! 20 weeks of training, eating, sleeping, needing to sleep more and missing out on a social life....and D-Day has been and gone! And now the de-brief of race week and all that went with it! So much in so few days - it'll have to be 2 blogs!

Emma, Craig and I flew to Auckland last Tuesday night...excess luggage paid (Emm and Craig packed the kitchen sink!), race week schedule prepared, nerves currently on hold, excitement starting to build. We were soo organised, even went for a swim Tuesday afternoon and a run on Wednesday morning in Auckland, before driving down to Taupo to get amongst the race frenzied athletes and face the reality of 3 days time lining up on that start line to compete in Ironman New Zealand!

Jobs to do:

- Unpack and reassemble bikes: check

Is Craig's bike actually in there?!!!






- Get bikes checked by technical officials so we could ride them, get helmets safety checked so we could use them: check
- Take bikes for a spin up Taupo hill: check
- Get wetsuits dipped so we could swim in the lake: check
- Swim in lake: uh.....not check. The wind was so strong that we decided that maybe this was an afternoon phenomenon and that really it wasn't going to be that windy at 7am race start so really we should put this off until Thursday morning. So sensible!


The rest of the week was blurry in a way, but very real in another. We did swim Thursday morning, but the wind was far worse than the previous afternoon and we bobbed and rolled everywhere among the white caps of Taupo lake! But by Friday morning the lake was pristine, calm, beautiful and a delight to swim in :-).
Registration loomed on Thursday morning and we were all weighed, issued with our race pack and officially 'in the system'. I caught up with Bec, Sophie, Jacque - all facing the reality hit of 'this really is it isn't it?!'

Carb loading, lake swims, trying to sleep well, getting transition bags ready, checking out the course...the time was rapidly galloping towards race day!
Some pics of the final preparations ;-)