A week of training hard... ah....

Well after a week of warming up, I headed out and did a solid week of training. My goal was to do 3 swims, 3 rides and 3 runs.

Things were going well until I had to fly out to Perth for work which ate up most of my Thursday and all of my Friday. I did manage to get a run in early on Friday morning in Perth, but I guess that's what happens when your internal clock tells you it's time to get up, not realizing you are 2 hours behind. (I was up wide awake at 3am, but managed to get a bit more sleep before heading out). The run along the Swan River was nice and helped to put my last trip to Perth into better perspective. And the funny thing, it is a nice place to run in, just don't bank on finding a coffee shop open before 7:30am.....they have allot to learn I tell ya.

With the disruption of work, I still managed to get in 8 sessions, which was really good. The calf held up well and I now am a firm believer in the compression calf guards.

Sunday was a double workout, starting with the Mnt Nebo, Mnt Glorious, Samford loop. The IM gang were doing 2 laps, but since this was my first bit of hill work since early October, I played it smart and cut it at 1 lap. I held up well too, with the climb to Nebo, while being tough, wasn't the monster I thought it was going to be.

In the afternoon (after a small nana nap on the couch, what can I say, cricket was on) Vaughn and I headed out for a 30 minute run together.


It was pretty warm (just above 30) and at the end of it (almost drowning is sweat) we had some freezies to cool down. Good fun and it was nice to back up the morning workout in fashion.

This coming week I hope to figure out what my plans for racing are, but will see how things go. Work might get in the way of what I want to do, but we'll see.

Take it easy and see you out there.
Rich

Doc's orders

Wow, isn't technology great.

Above you see the perforated vein and directly below it, the tear in the muscle and the white bit below that, is the build-up of fluid (okay blood) which was a result of the vein rupturing. What does it all mean? Well according to the doctor, it's going to be tender for a while as the build-up of fluid breaks down. He also said to keep going with the training and the tear has healed well (and he liked the fact I took it easy for a few weeks) and it shouldn't hold me back. His words were....'it's not a career killer and by all means, if you want to, go for it at the end of March".

Hmmm

Compression was a recurring word he used, so today I went out and purchased a pair of the 2XU Calf Compression Guards and decided to give them a go. These are them.


So in the 31 degree weather, I headed out with my new guards and wow, what a difference. I felt really good during the run and after too. Now I have a confession to make....I've seen people out there with the socks on and thought, what the hell you doing? After today I'm an instant believer in them and look forward to trying them again tomorrow when I hop on my bike.

With this initial success, I'm going to play it smart, add more bikes and a couple of runs a week too. Depending on how things go next week, I'll either stop or give it a go again. January 31st is the cut off for IMA and depending on how things are feeling leading up to that date, will decide what I do.

For now, you'll see me wearing my funky new 2XU gear with fingers crossed.

Cheers
Rich

A new year, new goals

A team picture from Perth....Better late than never I guess.

2010, Happy New Year for starters. With the start of a new decade, time to get some goals in place so one has a focus and better yet, an excuse to get out there and socialize...I mean train.

With the last week being on vacation up at Rainbow Beach (north end of the Sunshine coast) I really didn't want to do too much other than relax. Ha! Over the course of the week, we made many a trip to the beach, explored the area, did my very first surfing lesson and actually had the odd afternoon nap.....and many a beer and bottle of wine was consumed, although I blame most of it on evaporation.

The impressive part (other than getting up on my first wave while surfing) was the 10km of swimming I did in the lap pool at the resort. For no structured training, I did not do too bad thanks, swimming 5 of the 7 days we were there. I also attempted my first run, just to see how things were and successfully managed a 20 minute run without pain. Going off this, today I did another attempt at running and did a 5km run to see how things were going. While not setting any land speed records, I did manage to feel comfortable out there and it wasn't until about the 4km mark before I felt any discomfort in my calf. While encouraging, I can tell, I have a ways to go before getting back into the 35-40km a week range again. :-( The ability to get out and run today, I think will look favorably on getting out and trying a bike ride again, so this coming week you might actually see me out there.

Following the people here who are training for IMNZ and IMA, it's pretty hard to take, as I have a new drive to get back to an Ironman and give it a go. Maybe that's why I did as much swimming as I did while on vacation? A sport that can offer such diversity in the training is the main reason why this sport is so addictive.

This coming Friday, I go to the specialist to see where I am and what it's going to take to get back into health again for another IM. Depending on what he says, will determine whether the January 30th cut off for IMA registration is available to me.

If this doesn't work, I think IMWA is an option, although I will need to sweet talk my daughter, as it occurs on her birthday weekend. I know IMC 2011 I will be at the start line as this race is one of the best in the world and I want to do one in my home country. There's even talk of some of my friends from back home who want to do IMC at the same time, so why not. Now, if I can only manage to convince some of my Aussie friends to come along, this could be a great time.

So, here's hoping, 2010 is a good start to the decade, where I plan to do at least 3 Ironman events.

Keep your fingers crossed for Friday and see you out there.

Rich