Thinking out loud

Or in a public form of "print", I guess.

I spend more time than is probably healthy considering my long-term racing goals. I guess the reasons would be that I like the novelty of being able to change focus somewhat on a regular basis. There are also just a whole lot of interesting races and activities out there that I'd like to be a part of, and since I can't do them all right away, I need to find ways to do it.

A long time ago, I discussed with my wife the idea of a five-year rotation, where every fifth year I get to really pursue the racing, and do things like racing at Worlds or pursuing Ironman. In the intervening years, I'd still get to train and race, but it would be under tighter constraints on time and travel. And that's been OK with me.

I had made the argument that maybe it could move to four years, mainly so that I could remain in the same AG if I took another stab at 70.3 Worlds, but some other planning has me thinking I'd rather go back to the five. A review of the last couple, and my thoughts for the upcoming years:
2008 (big year): entry to triathlon, Muskoka 70.3, Worlds 70.3
2009: OSS AG Sprint title
2010: run-focus, half-marathon and Bermuda Triangle challenge
2011: another attempt at the OSS AG Sprint title
2012: run-heavy, maybe EndurRun, a couple of tri's, leading up to ...
2013 (big year): Disney Marathon, 70.3 qualifier, Worlds 70.3

(And listen, I know after Clearwater I said I'd never go back as long as it was still there, but the idea of a goofy kid like me competing at that level, even if I'm almost last, kind of tickles me. And I kind of want my daughter to have a "My Daddy raced at Worlds" shirt. Sue me.)

Obviously, none of this is ever set in stone, as things can change in a heartbeat. I just wanted to lay out some kind of reference for myself to see what the next few years could look like.

Would rather this didn't become the "I'm hurt again" blog

But that's how it seems to be going, isn't it?

Let's be honest: For the most part, the training has been going really well this year. Sure, I still haven't ridden outside, and I'm not getting huge miles in the saddle, but I'm at least holding steady on bike strength, and probably a little ahead of last year. And even with the kidlet, I'm dragging my sorry butt to swimming more often than not, and definitely getting faster there. 1:40/100m isn't comfortable, but it's doable, and that's a marked improvement. On foot, things are generally moving up. Easy pace continues to pick up, and the last few times I've done fast running I've hit my paces pretty easily.

I know I'm not writing about it, but things are good. Moving in the right direction.

Looking at my last few posts, though, all I'm writing about is the setbacks from some minor-ish injuries. I guess the reason is that they seem to be affecting my running, and with that as the primary focus of the year, it has the greatest impact on my psyche. And I end up doing the brain-dump here, subjecting the few readers to my "woe is me" whining.

And I'm about to do it again. That soleus/Achilles thing is now definitely an Achilles thing. Since I don't want this to become a chronic issue, I'm trying to nip it in the bud. And by that, I mean: drastic reduction in volume/intensity for the next two weeks, trying to build up what I can do pain-free; retiring all the questionable shoes from the rotation; using an eccentric-loading protocol (along with ice and NSAIDs) to strengthen/heal the surrounding calf muscles; rewriting the entire summer's plan, looking at lower mileage, more days off, and more restrained intensity work. Does this mean I won't run as fast in my fall races as I would otherwise? Probably, unless the argument is whether running at all is faster than not.

I'm in this for the long haul. I've got a little fan I need to be a good example for, so neither quitting nor pushing into disability (the extreme choices here) are really options. Be smart, get faster. I'll do my 3k tonight and be glad I can do do even that. And with a little planning and little luck, I'll be right as rain and going full steam in a few weeks.


I guess I'm really just upset I won't get to eat as much ice cream this summer.

Stops and starts

I've been back at work for a few days after taking two weeks at home to spend time with the new roommate. I used this as an opportunity to reset my training as well, going to a run-focus through the rest of year. With commuting by bike and one solid ride per weekend, I'd keep my cycling sharp enough. I'd still be swimming 2-3 times per week, depending on my sleep levels. That left me 4-5 runs every week, lots of time to build some real speed. I outlined the next two months, using a variation of Hudson's 5k plan to build short-course speed before preparing for the half-marathon in the fall. And I've had two pretty good runs, although they were just easy runs.

And now I tweaked something in my achilles/soleus. I can't say for sure which, but definitely in the lower leg. I tried some trigger point therapy last night, but there's still a lot of tenderness, which could be a function of the tweaking, or a function of the trigger point. (It does that if I haven't done it for a few weeks, which I haven't.) If I'm still hobbling this afternoon, tonight's run gets postponed to tomorrow. Hopefully the day of rest will be enough to get things back on track.

At the very least, I think this is a major sign to retire a couple of pairs of shoes. Being cost-efficient (read: cheap) and getting every mile out of them isn't worth an injury.