Injury Update

Lots has happened since my last post. Well. One thing. The start of my senior year at Missouri State. Did you know studying kinesiology involves needing to know trigonometry? Yeah, me either.

I feel I was misled. This is exercise SCIENCE not exercise MATH. UNFAIR.

Anyways. Enough of my complaining. I have been known to not listen to my body and exercise through an injury. So far, I haven’t ended up making myself permanently disabled as a result. Thankfully. Because I know better. I’m going to school for this. I know the consequences of not listening to my body. I also know signs and symptoms better than the average Jane. So when I put myself on the swimming/overhead activities disabled list, I was somewhat concerned that I wouldn’t be able to follow through.

But here we are, two and a half weeks later and I haven’t set foot in the aquatic center! This is cause for celebration. I have successfully completed my “rest and recovery” stint. The nagging pain that was in my shoulder is gone. I have been able to do some limited overhead movements without pain. I have “cleared” myself to begin limited, light intensity shoulder work.

No triathlon on Saturday like I had hoped 😦 but long term is what matters.

The Monday After

It’s been barely two days since completing my first triathlon. Nothing has changed, I still can’t wait to do another one. I’m searching high and low for another sprint tri to do. And wouldn’t you know, there’s another at the end of this month!

At this point, I’m 75% sure I will enter this. I just have to come up with the entry fee 🙂

Oh yeah, there’s also this nagging shoulder pain. What’s up with this?

My knowledge of athletic injuries is limited, though I have taken a class on it. I know it isn’t a SLAP tear! And probably not a torn RC. Doesn’t hurt all the time, nothing limiting overhead ROM. Something in the coracoclavicular area. So I’m on a mission to noodle it out. It has something to do with my swimming form, which makes my need for someone to help me with my swimming all the more important.

Thankfully, today I got an invite to join the Missouri State Triathlon Club! Yay for sweet coworkers who are also triathletes 🙂

Hills on Hills…oh Hills

After getting to see part of the triathlon bike course last weekend, I knew I needed to start training hard on the hills. If not, I’m in for a major butt whipping. What better place to train than Wilson’s Creek Battlefield?! With segments like Bloody Hill…oh, Bloody Hill. I’ve been out a few times for training runs. Almost every time, I’ve lost to the hills.

Today, I was determined to beat them.

I had a goal to complete two, five mile loops. No pace goal. Just do it. Happy to say, I crushed it. THREE times. I have to get over my fear of downhills. There is no way around them. It certainly is easier when I’m alone. I may or may not have screamed going down a hill or two. I topped out at almost 33 MPH.

I also made it up every hill. Slowly, but surely. By the last loop, I really felt like I was tapping into pushing down from my glutes instead of working so much from my hamstrings. Way more efficient and comfortable. I just need to keep practicing. I’m very happy with an overall pace of 13.8 MPH. I’m only getting better from here!

Tomorrow is a brick day – swim then bike. Boyfriend is going to help me plan a route around campus. Mostly I want to see what it feels like to come out of the pool and go straight into biking. I’m nervous! In an excited way 🙂

Get techy

I’m more of a creature of habit than anything. I stick with what I know for as long as I can just because it’s comfortable to me. That’s probably why I lived at home until I was 24. This applies for technology as well. I use what I use because I know how to use it. Phones, tablets, apps, whatever. But when your boyfriend is a tech nut, you find yourself with new gadgets.

Enter Pebble. Maybe you’ve heard of it. This thing is PRETTY cool. You can access so much of your phone from this sweet little watch. Text messages, music, whatever. This includes RUNNING APPS!!! I’ve been toying with the idea of a garmin. But creature of habit here. I like love Runtastic. And a Garmin is expensive. I just liked the idea of seeing real time pace on my wrist. Which is why the pebble is so great. It can be my Garmin, does way more AND was about half the price.

I have yet to take it for a run but as soon as I do, expect a review!

Overtraining: when to say when

If you’re like me, you’re addicted to training. You think more is better and more than more is even better than better. Feel me? If I can run three miles today, then maybe I should run five. Or six. Or maybe I should do a long run in the morning and speed work at night. It’s a slippery slope…

Training for my half marathon, I ran just about every single day for two months. And when I say ran, I mean I RAN minimum three miles a day and did strength training three days a week. This probably explains why I’m a little burned out at this point.

I hate admitting I can’t do something. I know there’s people out there who run twice as much as I do every day. They’ve also probably been running for YEARS. Years upon years…upon years. I have been consistently running for under six months. So, overdoing it? Yeah. Maybe.

I’m an exercise science major. I am EXTREMELY familiar with this bell curve:

Oh, diminished returns. There is a point where you WILL stop getting better. I see my run times stop improving, my appetite go away, and a whole host of other issues pop up. Sometimes the strongest thing you can do in your training is ADMIT you are overdoing it and slow down.

The last thing you want is to be a slug on race day. Dead legs aren’t fun during training and they sure as hell aren’t fun when you’re trying to set a PR. All that you have gained through training will not go away in a day. Or two days. Take that rest day. Come back feeling refreshed and more focused.

And when you hear me complain that my legs are dead and I cannot function, feel free to ask when my last rest day was and refer me to this blog post.

July Goals and Week 2 TriTraining

Last night I wrote about how I do my goal setting for the month. This morning, it’s time to put it out there.

June is over, time to move on from what I didn’t accomplish. In the grand scheme, it was a great month. I got a promotion at work, bought a bike, signed up for a triathlon and lost six pounds. This month, I obviously want to stay strong with my triathlon training. I leave for California (HALLELUJAH!!!!) in 22 days and will be there for two weeks. My mind needs to be in the right set to maintain my training and diet so that my triathlon performance is top notch.

This weekends training went well, all things considered. The heat finally caught up to me and I was just exhausted. Saturday I was able to complete a couple miles of speed work, leg strength training and a 6 mile bike ride. Let me make this clear: the relationship with your significant other must be STRONG before you embark upon a bike ride with him or her.

Interested in having a fight? Go for a bike ride! I’m stubborn and prideful and I HATE not being good at something. Hate. Riding a bike? Yeah, not there yet. Downhill terrifies me. Boyfriend is a bit lot more seasoned than I am. And I hate to admit something scares me because who wants to be a wuss? Like anyone else, I’m not such a sweetheart when I get tired, hungry, sore or when I’m awake in general. You get the point. But I accept that he’s just trying to help me, even if he doesn’t understand how the female mind works from a motivation standpoint.

Sunday (after sleeping until 10:30!!) it was a 4 mile run (with hills, because what good is a run without hills and where can you run without hills in SWMO??) and a 20 mile bike ride. I’m gonna be honest, that run sucked. My pace was fine but my challenge hill gave me a case of “omg I’m going to vomit”.

I know the bike distance is only 12 miles for my triathlon but how can I get comfortable if I don’t spend time on the bike? It rained, we didn’t fight until mile 9 and I didn’t fall. So SUCCESS! Average pace was somewhere 13+mph so I’m getting better.

My biggest concern now is putting all of these things together. When do you start putting your training together? What is a realistic way to start?

I have goggles – now I mean business!

Day three of triathlon training!

Last night I put in a good four mile run (hills included!) after work. It’s been getting warmer here in good ole SW Missouri and last night was no exception. I hadn’t run in two days but I crushed it. Slowest mile was 10:01. Pretty impressive for someone who was running 12-13″ miles at the start of the year.

I’ve really come to embrace running in adverse conditions. I WANT to run when it’s hot. I WANT to run hills. Why? I want to be fast. Can I just fast forward to my next half in October? I know I’m going to shatter the pace of my first. And that thrills me to no end.

So. Today. A friend of mine is also training for her first triathlon, so we made a 6:00am swim date.

While I’m usually a lone wolf when it comes to training, sometimes it’s helpful. She has been watching tons of YouTube videos on technique and that was great. Clearly, we aren’t going to be doing an Ironman any time soon but we are determined not to drown in the pool at least.

I DID get goggles. What a difference. Boyfriend thought I looked like a crazy person when I put them on. I mean…they were a little tight. But they’re supposed to kind of suction themselves on, right? Today I swam for about 30 minutes. It felt a little easier, especially after I figured out how to pull more with my lats.

Things I learned today:
Work on technique. Speed will come . (Duh. I already knew this for running.)
Goggles are amazing.
Relax your hands.

6:00am training is easier when there’s someone else to say “OMG this sucks!”