Asphalt Junkies Winter Edition - CLOSED (Page 23)

Thanks for asking, JOANNE.  With rain, sleet, snow, freezing temps and swirling wind (just like MATT's race but the opposite weather of TERRY's race - good job, BTW to the both of you), it wasn't an ideal day to do anything in a 26.2 except persevere. I got to the end and it was a good mental test for me.   My friend, Karen, who BQ's each time she runs a marathon, had asked to run with me because she wanted to do this event as a training run for her hundred coming up.   About 12 miles in she pulled out due to hip pain and I felt like my energy went with her.  I slogged through 5 more miles and didn't know if I had it in me to get to the end.  I took a restroom break, got some handwarmers and changed into my winter mittens because my hands were freezing and decided to stop being a woos, to suck it up and finish.  My time of 4:45 ended up 22 minutes slower than last year but I have no doubt the 26.2 at the end of IMWI will be even uglier.      Getting home, I finally warmed up after soaking in the hot tub, then ate 4 pieces of a large pizza, capping off the day with watching a movie with my daughter.  Ahhhhh.......happiness.        Your day with Gabis sounded wonderful.   Yes, we need those restful days more often.

DIRK, will you be out of it tomorrow or will you be able to post how the surgery went?  We'll all be thinking of you.

Today the sun is shining and by tomorrow the temps are supposed to be the mid 60s.  Go figure.   Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

There were some gutsy races over this past weekend!  I think all who raced seemed to have some sort of struggle, whether it was mental or physical.  Terry and Brenda's races were just as Tony said; "great motivators when you are struggling and need to dig deep."  Finding that motivation in any event serves to fuel us through the next one and only makes us even stronger in other events and as we faces other struggles unrelated to our events.  Both of you seem to be able to run on an absolute minimum training mileage for long course stuff.  I cannot do it!   Maybe that's my mental struggle, not being able to feel comfortable enough to keep mileage/time lower than the high volume I feel I need to PR.

Matt, I was working in Findlay all day on Saturday and felt that bitter wind.  If you were running in a north or northeast direction you were struggling for sure.  If you had been out a little sooner than 9AM you may have fared a little better.  The wind was a little more docile when we began work at 7:30AM.  Regardless of the wind, your running is coming along nicely.  You may not be setting PR's at every race but there seems to be variables at many of these races that you've had to contend with that keeps you from that elusive goal.

Terry, it's funny to me that you're talking about heading indoors to ride right now.  Most of us are chomping at the bit to get outdoors and get some good weather runs and rides in.  Of course after today I'll be lagging behind everyone in everything for a couple of weeks.

Joanne,  Your day with Gabi and Maria sounds like a refreshing day and one that would seem to be well deserved.  Sometimes those rest days are more needed than we know and they too can be as important as the slogfest races and training events that fuel our motivation.  I'm glad you took some time away from training and enjoyed life a little bit.  

I also feel that the strength training I have been doing will serve me well as I begin my recovery and leading up to IMWI.  My plan for the rest of my training cycle will be to do at least 2 strength training sessions a week and include my legs and core every time.

Brenda,  I'm sure you know I was texting Barb and trash talking you on Saturday but just to continue that discussion in an opened forum.  You're insane!  I haven't looked at your logs for the past couple of months but 10 mile long runs before doing a marathon??  Umm?  Yeah! NO!!  For you to be able to do these types of events on such low mileage is astounding.  And you do them somewhat routinely.  That's amazing!

As others have noted today is surgery day.  I'll be headed to the surgical facility soon and those of you that are friends on facebook can look forward to Lis posting pics of me in my gown lying n bed.  I'm sure the festivities will include pre-op and post-op stuff so that everyone can see and be included in the jokes.   Enjoy that!  I'm sure I'll be able to post later on today to fill everyone in on the details and findings.  To be honest I don't know if I want a re-tear or a separate tear.  The re-tear means a shorter recovery and a shot at Madison.  The new tear means a far longer recovery taking me out of Ironman this year but would be better over the long haul.  Truthfully, I think the new tear would be better but it would be a big disappointment to say the least.

Until later, I'll appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Now that I can do nothing but sit around I can take a few minutes to answer your question.

Obviously I am not sure what is going to happening the near future of my training but I can address what my coach has told me.  During our discussion about what I might expect I asked how many hours a week I could expect to train during some of the peak training weeks based on the parameters I set for time available.  He said that 16-18 would be  some of the peaks but I also got the idea that there would be a fair number of these types of weeks.  If I recall correctly he said there would be about 6 weeks of 16-18 hour weeks over the length of the plan.  Weeks of more of a given discipline would be alternated with less of another but I have a feeling he's going to focus hard on swim right now (because of my knee) and then lean heavily on the bike until my knee is considered safe.  

From the plans I've looked at both on BT and others, it is very common to alternate weeks of high volume in one and lower in others but the hours turn out to be somewhat similar throughout.  Obviously starting lower and increasing slowly over the length of the plan.  As far as knowing what Zach has planned for the longest week and/or shortest week I cannot really say.  What I can say is that I have trained no less than 11 hours a week so far and that's with only one month of coaching thus far. 

Are you considering an IM?  Your question seems to be leading that way.

Side note:  I am taking one month hiatus to recover before paying for more coaching.  I have to say that Zach is very reasonable and understanding when it comes to my situation.  He himself had to endure some pretty serious recovery time for a broken femur that came from racing IM San Juan (I think).  He is still not back to his pre-injury fitness and seems to understand how hard it can be to come back.  He is also willing to help me out during the non coached time by providing some direction while I recover.  Long story short, I thikn I made the right call getting a coach.

Surgery:

Things went as well as could have been expected.  It was as easy a procedure as I have had so far and I was able to stay alert and very much awake during the entire event.  I was even able to watch the entire thing.  It was extremely interesting!!  I am hoping that I can get some pics from the procedure to post here.  

Anyway, during the procedure I could easily see the torn meniscus and watch him trim it away.  There was also some other damage that was minor but that is likely to be an indicator that I did other damage during my recent events, i.e. bike crash and half marathon and probably from the time I spent running for a couple of weeks when I thought things weren't that bad.

As he was rooting around in there I was able to ask a lot of questions.  The only way it would have been more interesting is if it was someone else's knee.  Doc mentioned he didn't like doing the procedure a third time but he said options for what I would like to do limit what can happen.  Based on other comments made during the surgery the other minor damage that may have made it more difficult to not have had trouble with running had I not had this procedure done.  I will have to discuss this with him at my post op appointment a week from Thursday because I don't want to put a lit of faith in the details I remember during the surgery because of the effects of the anesthetic.

My recovery should be pretty good based on things the doc and my PT said yesterday.  Keeping "me" under control will be the biggest hurdle but I truly feel I'll be alright here.  My history isn't quite perfect when I have tried to recovery from other injuries because of my will to get myself back on track.  This time, just as I committed to back in October, I will be vigilant to do the right things.  My goal is still to get to IMWI and any future triathlon plans hang in the balance.  I have been learning to be real with myself over the past 6-7 months and I feel I am on track at this point to make strides in proper attitude.  I have already decided that I may have to figure creative ways to be able to bail on runs where I've had some pain and still get home without causing more damage (hopefully none at all).  Long runs are the biggest concern here as I hope to be able to get up to 16-18 miles for my long runs before my race, but I'm not making plans for any running like that just yet.

Strength training, particularly my legs, will now become a staple to my workout regimen as I now see the importance of this for someone with injuries such as mine.  I have always felt it was a very good idea but I have steered away from it because of the additional time commitment.  I now seem to have the time to be able commit to doing this with both of the girls either working or not living at home.  

It's funny sort of, but I was just reminded of how many years I went without an ACL after blowing it completely during football in the late 90's.  I was able to that BECAUSE of all the strength training I did at the time.  The powerlifting elements held my legs in good strength as well as climbing poles and towers.  Now, after a job change (a lot of desk work) and not doing any specific strength training I have all of these issues.  As things have changed over these years I have been lacking in doing the things that would keep me healthy, physically.  Well, I have always been a slow learner.  Only now I can't play catch up.

Things are going to be fine!  I don't feel pessimistic at all as I begin this recovery.  As I stated in a previous post, I have a peace about this that I can't explain.  I just have to trust that things will workout.  And when that finish line comes into clear view, that stripe and banner will make my personal victory all the sweeter.  And if I don't make it, well, there's a a different plan in play.  A plan that has been laid with a much broader picture than I can see and one that is far more important than any plans I could have made for myself.

"....let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfectly and fully developed...." -Amp

My wheels should be in tomorrow if the delivery date is correct.  Mine will need the cassette put on before I can get them out for ride.  Oh, and there's that little thing with my knee too that might keep me off the bike.  I have to admit I'm a bit anxious to get them on the bike and give them a spin.  What seems to be nice about my wheels is that they have been described as bomb proof so if I decide to take them on several rides it shouldn't be a big deal.  I will still likely keep them as clean and new as possible and not ride them very often.

My first opportunity to use them may come on May 17 for a TT series.  It's one here in town ( I think I mentioned it before) and it should give me plenty of time to recover and be back close to form, at least on the bike.  That may be my first race of the season and maybe a little bit of a focus if I can talk my coach into letting me use a couple of these as long interval sessions.  I'd love to see what these wheels will feel like in a race setting.

Enjoy your wheels Tony!  I know the both of us will be looking forward to seeing what we'll be able to do with them.  Maybe we could have some sort of virtual race or something.

Below is a copy and paste from my blog today:

I had my first PT appointment today following my third knee surgery.  Everything seemed to fall in line with where I should be and maybe a little bit ahead of where I expected to be.  Most of the time was spent trying to get some range of motion back and doing a little bit of testing the waters for some workload that may be coming.

I did some wall squats but I had to stop doing them so deep because I as feeling some shifting and popping in the knee joint.  Todd asked me to stop if there was anything like that happening.  Once I told him about it, I stopped going so deep and the popping stopped.  I was only going about 1/3 of the way down before returning to the start position.  This seemed to stop the popping and Todd told me that next week if ti's still popping we'll probably work through it.

The other exercise that I attempted to do that I was unable to really even get started on were some extension exercises with a band.  The band is tied around a table and my leg put through and step back a few inches to add tension.  The leg is flexed to s slight bend for the starting position.  When the exercise begins all that occurs is straightening the leg and flexing the quads strongly and pausing.   This can be done at a fast pace or something slower, which is what I did today.

The best part of the time was spent talking to Todd about the coming workouts and treatment.  The following questions were asked:

• What do you think about flip turns in the pool?
  As long as there is no rotational stress on the knee, they should be fine.  No hard push off's this week but doing some next week, after feeling some of the strengthening form this week and reduction in swelling, should be fine.  Just work on NOT creating any rotational stress!
• When can I get on the bike?
  This can begin now.  The work on the bike can help get the range of motion back by forcing some of the fluid out of the knee.  In order to be successful this MUST be done with no resistance, no work out of the saddle and nothing involving any power AT ALL.
• When can I get on the Arc Trainer?
  Possibly in a couple of weeks.  
  What type of setting should it be set on?  Glide or Stair Climb?
  Either may work but the glide setting would mimic the run more closely because if the striding motion. 

We discussed his part in the recovery process and that he knows I'm a pusher and I may need some reigning in.

In general I feel a little more confident but I am cautious to get to excited just yet.  As the recovery and training cycle begins and continues I will have to keep a level, honest head to keep from causing issues during my training runs.  I really don't know what Zach will be doing with my run training when I begin again.  I wonder how quickly he'll work my mileage upward and just how far we'll be able to get.

I thought you all could be interested to read where I'm at right now.

I have never done spin classes but I imagine that getting together with a group of people could be beneficial to provide a better atmosphere.  Sometimes it's pretty hard to get on the trainer but knowing other people are going to be suffering with you at the same time would seem to make things a little easier.  The downside I see with going to a class is the added time and expense of getting there and back as well as any registration fees.

Good luck with the computrainer.  They can be a very useful tool, although I feel using Tainer Road is as beneficial.  One of the best things about a computrainer is the power number are supposed to be very close to actual power meter numbers and, as we've discussed already, training with power can be a game changer.  A good focused power training regimen will more than likely provide a better fitness build in a shorter period of time.  (This can also be done using TR at a lower cost as long as you have a decent trainer.)