Friday, November 27, 2009
Me? A photo shoot? I guess so!
I a week or so ago I received an email from a friend of mine Erin Reilly. Erin is another amazing person to come out of Boonsboro, MD. After graduating high school she decided to get out of dodge and become a chef. She moved to New York City and began her schooling at the Culinary Institute of America. After finishing her schooling there she moved to the West Coast as a chef for several different celebrities. Some where along the way she found a passion for fitness and after several years as a chef she decided to change gears and move into a different profession. Today Erin is a fitness professional, teaching group classes, boot camps, one on one training, and owns her own fitness studio in Fredericksburg, VA. Oh, and when she isn't doing that she is fitness modeling. So, I digress. The other week I receive an email from Erin telling me that she had just gotten done talking to her good friend and favorite photographer Wen McNally. I guess that some how I had come up in their conversation and Wen end up deciding that when she comes to San Diego in January that she would like to do a photo shoot with me. Kinda cool huh? Nope, I am not getting paid and no the picture will most likely never see the light of day but hey; it's going to be fun!
Friday, November 13, 2009
How I Got My Groove Back
Since my bike accident last month I have been fighting off numbness and pain in my face and a nagging hamstring injury. The facial pain has made deep breathing and breathing while swimming difficult and my hamstring injury all but side lined my running for a while. It has been mentally trying the last month. My coach has thankfully been the voice of reason for me when I have needed it the most; which is pretty much everyday that I train. I enjoy speed work while running and I love a good pool work out or open water swim; so not having them available to me was driving me crazy.
Two days after my accident I raced in the Mission Bay Triathlon in San Diego. This race was going to be THE "A" race for my season since I had decided that IMAZ was not a financially sound thing to do. When the accident happened I knew that my hopes of being on the podium had been shattered and that I might not be able to race at all. Thankfully I was able to make it to the race start with a slightly beat up, and in desperate need of a tune up, bike. I still had fresh road rash on my legs, a sore shoulder, painful orbital bone, and some serious numbness through out the left side of my face. To say in the least I was not in top form that day. I saw my competition in transition and I knew that I wouldn't be able to hang with them today. Today was going to be all about finishing. I went into the water and warmed up before my wave start, which just so happen to be the very last start of the day. This meant that I would be dodging people while swimming, biking and running. I will skip the messy details and move to the end where I place a modest 7th as a Clydesdale a full 6 minutes slower than I had originally planned. But 7th as a Clydesdale and 240ish overall out of 1500+ people isn't too bad after an accident.
After the race everything seemed to fall apart. I lost my stroke in the pool some where and I was really hoping that some one would find it and give it back. No matter how hard I tried or how much I pulled I had nothing to give. My times were slow; my stamina was gone, what happened to me? And then the weirdest thing happened. I started looking at my hands as they entered the water instead of looking down at the bottom of the pool. They seemed to slip seamlessly into the water; barely a bubble would race to the surface. Suddenly my pull felt strong and effortless and my 100m times dropped back to where they should have been. Can it be that something as simple as head position can make that big of a difference? It seems as though it can.
The other thing that I have been working on since my accident and now that I have been given the ok to run easy again is my running form. As with most runners when they first start out I was a heel striker. While I have never had any real injuries I have never felt as though I flowed over the ground. I always felt as though I was muscling through every single run. With the help of my coach that has begun to change and I feel now as though most of my propulsion is in the forward direction. This is a good thing, right? It’s another huge break through for me. I am really hoping once I can add speed work back into my running that I will see some real changes!
I am getting my groove back!
Two days after my accident I raced in the Mission Bay Triathlon in San Diego. This race was going to be THE "A" race for my season since I had decided that IMAZ was not a financially sound thing to do. When the accident happened I knew that my hopes of being on the podium had been shattered and that I might not be able to race at all. Thankfully I was able to make it to the race start with a slightly beat up, and in desperate need of a tune up, bike. I still had fresh road rash on my legs, a sore shoulder, painful orbital bone, and some serious numbness through out the left side of my face. To say in the least I was not in top form that day. I saw my competition in transition and I knew that I wouldn't be able to hang with them today. Today was going to be all about finishing. I went into the water and warmed up before my wave start, which just so happen to be the very last start of the day. This meant that I would be dodging people while swimming, biking and running. I will skip the messy details and move to the end where I place a modest 7th as a Clydesdale a full 6 minutes slower than I had originally planned. But 7th as a Clydesdale and 240ish overall out of 1500+ people isn't too bad after an accident.
After the race everything seemed to fall apart. I lost my stroke in the pool some where and I was really hoping that some one would find it and give it back. No matter how hard I tried or how much I pulled I had nothing to give. My times were slow; my stamina was gone, what happened to me? And then the weirdest thing happened. I started looking at my hands as they entered the water instead of looking down at the bottom of the pool. They seemed to slip seamlessly into the water; barely a bubble would race to the surface. Suddenly my pull felt strong and effortless and my 100m times dropped back to where they should have been. Can it be that something as simple as head position can make that big of a difference? It seems as though it can.
The other thing that I have been working on since my accident and now that I have been given the ok to run easy again is my running form. As with most runners when they first start out I was a heel striker. While I have never had any real injuries I have never felt as though I flowed over the ground. I always felt as though I was muscling through every single run. With the help of my coach that has begun to change and I feel now as though most of my propulsion is in the forward direction. This is a good thing, right? It’s another huge break through for me. I am really hoping once I can add speed work back into my running that I will see some real changes!
I am getting my groove back!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A month in review.
So its been just over a month since my last blog and a lot has happened. I wrecked back on Oct 1st and it hurt! I fractured my orbital, some how injured my hamstring, jacked up my bike and then had a crappy race two days later. But hey, what can I expect? Thankfully I am on the mend, the numbness in my face is almost gone, and my body is beginning to recover nicely, although I did just come down with a cold that has left me near horse. I have been going to physical therapy now for a couple weeks and I can't really tell if it is helping or not. I do know that my hamstring is feeling better.
My coach and I have decided that I shall forgo any running races during the off season to make sure that I heal up entirely instead of pushing now and paying for it later. I would much rather have a great 2010 race season than have one or two good off season marathon/half marathons. My 2010 season is starting to shape up looking like this.
Tritonman Feb 20th "C"
Superfrog HIM Mar27th "B"
La jolla Half Marathon Apr 10th "C"
Wildflower HIM May 1st "B"
San Diego International Oly June 27th "C"
Vineman 70.3 HIM July 18th "A"
Solana Beach Tri July 25th "C"
AFC Half Marathon Aug 21st "B"
Surf Town Sprint Tri Aug 22nd "C"
Mission Bay Tri Oct 3rd "A"
San Diego Triathlon Classic Oct 9th "C"
Soma HIM Oct 24th "A"
It will be challenging but I think do able and I expect good races out of me this coming season so hold on to your seats!
I was forced to transfer jobs with in my company a few weeks back. I was dreading the day that this would happen but now that day has come and gone and I am actually rather happy where I am now. Working in the Lean/Six Sigma office as a green belt facilitator has given me an interesting view of how things can operate in a more effective and productive manner while eliminating what really isn't needed. Now instead of helping to eliminate waste in other peoples shop I have a shop of my own that I actually work in to see what I can do myself. Am I happy that I was forced to transfer? Looking back, yes I am. The guys I work with are great and the work that I do now is easy and stress free. Life is good.
My coach and I have decided that I shall forgo any running races during the off season to make sure that I heal up entirely instead of pushing now and paying for it later. I would much rather have a great 2010 race season than have one or two good off season marathon/half marathons. My 2010 season is starting to shape up looking like this.
Tritonman Feb 20th "C"
Superfrog HIM Mar27th "B"
La jolla Half Marathon Apr 10th "C"
Wildflower HIM May 1st "B"
San Diego International Oly June 27th "C"
Vineman 70.3 HIM July 18th "A"
Solana Beach Tri July 25th "C"
AFC Half Marathon Aug 21st "B"
Surf Town Sprint Tri Aug 22nd "C"
Mission Bay Tri Oct 3rd "A"
San Diego Triathlon Classic Oct 9th "C"
Soma HIM Oct 24th "A"
It will be challenging but I think do able and I expect good races out of me this coming season so hold on to your seats!
I was forced to transfer jobs with in my company a few weeks back. I was dreading the day that this would happen but now that day has come and gone and I am actually rather happy where I am now. Working in the Lean/Six Sigma office as a green belt facilitator has given me an interesting view of how things can operate in a more effective and productive manner while eliminating what really isn't needed. Now instead of helping to eliminate waste in other peoples shop I have a shop of my own that I actually work in to see what I can do myself. Am I happy that I was forced to transfer? Looking back, yes I am. The guys I work with are great and the work that I do now is easy and stress free. Life is good.
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