Not much to report.  My knee is still not better and I have not been able to run for 4 weeks.  It feels like my femur is twisting so my knee joint isn't lining up properly.  On the plus side, I've been able to ride my bike a lot more. 

Here is a quick recap of my last 2 weeks:

Saturday 4.5 hour long ride with Cameron.  My friend in the EPS took me to the shooting range inside police headquarters and we shot a hundred rounds from his handgun.  Very cool...makes me want to join the EPS.

Sunday 2 hours in terrible snow.  I kept hoping it would get better but it kept getting worse.  I gave up by Ardrossan and rode back to Sherwood Park.  My feet and hands were frozen solid.  I went to the pool instead of Tim Hortons to warm up because I thought I might need first aid.  Shivered uncontrollably for 30 minutes while I thawed.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday a blur.  Thursday drove to Calgary with Lindsay for her horse show at Spruce Meadows.    It was nice to see her competing.  Friday I drove to Lethbridge to visit my sister and do a bike race.  I finished 3rd in the 2km hill climb (I think) and won the Cat 2 116km road race on Sunday from a 110km 2 man breakaway.

It's been really hard to be motivated through this injury, it always is for me.  I've been swimming as much as I can stand (I don't like training at all when I can't go full steam) but I have really been enjoying riding with the ERTC again and road racing.  

Work is still good although it is slowing down now that we are finishing off our big project.  I will start taking Friday's off this week.  Lucky me.

So...long time no talk....it's almost a bit awkward now....it's been so long....I feel guilty.

My knee is still not better despite lots of stretching, foam rolling, and icing. Makes me think it's not an IT band problem after all. I'll go to physio as soon as I can now, I have accepted that it's a "real" injury now (I usually wait a few days and try to fix things myself when I first have pain). Looks like I won't be able to race in Korea. I am going to look into cancelling my flight and pulling out of the race (the ITU requires a doctor's note just like high school).

I can ride my bike with no pain and I've been taking advantage this week. It's so nice to be outside on my bike after being cooped-up all winter. I've been riding 1.5 - 3 hours every day and it's been fabulous. I'm really loving it.

I'm having to be patient with my fitness this year. It's coming along slower than last year because I am so busy with work. It's a shame that I might have to miss the first World Championship race but it will give me more time to get ready for my next one in June.

I took this week easy and even had a few days off.  I didn't feel like training after sucking last weekend.  Even though I know I should keep an even keel and I've talked about it a few times on my blog recently, I still can't do it myself.    Just as I was coaxing myself out of the lull on Friday I hurt my knee on a 45 minute easy jog.  I let my muscles get stiff with a few days off after a big weekend and that was the cause.  I think my IT band was rubbing from being so tight.  It hurts to walk, swim, bike or run so I am doing very little of anything.  I'm icing which helps and stretching and rolling on a roller.  The weather is perfect and I am not riding my bike=(

I hope I can get this cleared up right away and get back to training.  Tongeyong is only 3 weeks away.

Time to go for a coffee and sit in the sun.  I'm reading The Watchmen.

5 hour recovery day

Today was awesome. I woke up early to watch my homestay, Nick, and his wife, Karla, run the Carlsbad 5000m at 7am. I sure do like the southern California coast. I found a dream house for me and Lindsay in Rancho Santa Fe and we will move in as soon as my mortgage pre-approval goes from $300 000 to $3 million. Nice acre + lots with orange groves, horses and perfect roads.

After the morning race Nick made pancakes and then we rode our bike back up to Carlsbad to watch the pro races. 5000m world records have been set on the course and the pro race is very competitve. Jarrod Shoemaker ran the race, looked good and finished about 10th. After the pro races we rode south to La Jola and had a Chipotle burrito. That was 2 hours in to our recovery ride (we both raced the 70.3 yesterday, Nick outran me). By the time we got home it was 3 hours. After a bowl of recovery ice cream we decided we weren't done and headed out for more.

Another 2 hours of perfect riding to finish up the day. 135km of sunshiny bliss. I think that was my longest ride ever and I felt better with every km.

Certainly not a traditional recovery workout but epic.

Oceanside 70.3 Recap

No proper race report for this disaster. Just a few lessons learned.

a) I'm not as fit as I thought I was. I was pretty sure I would be in the top 5 going into the race. Training has been consistent and my workout performances have been close to as good as last year. With a bit of rest before the race I was really flying in the pool and on the run and pushing good wattage on the bike. What I found was missing was endurance. I think being on the trainer instead of out on the road doing "The Shootout" in Tucson or the Flagstaff Saturday ride cost me. I didn't get any long hard rides like that this spring. I might have been able to race an OK sprint or Olympic distance race on Saturday, but I was not fit for a half IM.

b) When a train goes by on the bike you have to get on. 10m from front wheel to front wheel is the limit in a non-drafting race. I needed to ride on that limit rather than trying to do the whole ride at my own. I missed the Bjorn Andersson train, then the Luke Bell train, then the Matt Reid train, and then a few more. These guys all got to the front of the race and then had a rest just outside the 10m gap while I was left alone watching my wattage drop off.

c) In a long race like this everyone has rough patches. The guys who get through them without falling apart or questioning why they are involved in sport do much better than I did yesterday.

d) Matt Reid is monstrously fit right now. Mr. Potts didn't look too bad either.

e) It's easy to over analyze a bad race. It's easy to beat up on yourself. It's best to learn something, and prepare better for the next race.

f) I hate losing.

Training Camp

I spent the weekend coaching a training camp in Calgary for Multisports Canada with Sam Mcglone and Kevin Masters. It was a lot of fun and I had a few really good workouts. My favorite session was a trainer ride at TCR sport lab where they have Computrainers hooked up for head to head racing on a big screen. I managed 388 Watts for a 5km time trial (7 minutes) and felt really strong.3 days of work this week before I head off to sunny (I hope) California for my first tri of the season. I am really excited.

Also, congradulations to Kirsten Sweetland for her win at the Mooloolaba World Cup this weekend in Australia. She's back from injury and back at the top.

Cheers,
Paul

Caffeinated Again

Last week Paula Findlay joined me for a few swim workouts in the morning. Not wanting to be beaten by a girl I worked extra hard to try to keep up. I was only able to 1 day out of 4 (the day we did 2700m of pull with paddles). By Friday I blew to pieces 300m into the main set and barely made it only my bike for the slowest 60 minute ride I have ever been on (I averaged 14 km/h). I took Saturday off to rest and sooth my bruised ego. Sunday I did a 3 hour trainer ride with Kyle Marcotte followed by a 60 minute run in several inches of fresh snow (like running in sand for an hour). I took Monday off as well. I tried to swim hard on Tuesday but I sucked again and could only manage to hold 1:15s for the 100m repeats. I napped at lunch and left work early for another nap. Wednesday morning I did a short set with some speed work and 2 hot tub breaks in the middle. In 90 minutes I only swam 3km. It was nice in the afternoon so I rode 2.5 hours outside on my cross bike.

I've been avoiding coffee since I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis because it was really upsetting my stomach. I had a mug and half this morning before the swim and read Lauren Grove's blog and I quote..."Probably the most profound, yet simple lesson she taught me was to be kind to myself. Yes, it sounds simple and it is, but I can’t even begin to describe the difference it had on my mental approach to sport. I used to be hard on myself if I struggled in a session or didn’t perform at the expectations I had set. I now approach each day with the same attitude, with the goal of getting the most out of each session, regardless of how good or rotten I am feeling. Some days I find I am going great but others might be near-disaster. I’ve learned not to go overboard with excitement on those great days and not to dwell on the not-so-good ones . It’s amazing how much FUN sport can be when the stress of expectations are removed and you just “play”…and of course, go hard!"

and what a difference! With a little rest, less pressure on myself and some caffeine I had the best swim of the year. I was swimming 1:08s and 1:10s all over the place!

Now I am a little concerned that I panicked about being overtrained and rested too early before my race next weekend and that I have mis-timed my mini-taper. Dig yourself in a hole and then spring out of it was the approach I took with Joel last year. Mostly I am just relieved that I don't suck. It would be nice to have a coach to discuss this with. Hopefully Tri Can finishes their hiring process soon and that I want to work with who they hire.

Anyway, back to work, I just wanted to share my excitement.