Crazy Busy

WOW has it been busy.  On the home front, three kids started spring baseball.  It's not easy keeping all the practices, games, and special events in sync.  Our calendar at home is like a rainbow with all the highlighted games and practices....not to mention races.

Emma getting a hit!

Kristina in action.

Since my last post I had another race...Mt Penn Mudfest 15 K Trail Run in Reading, PA.  The group that puts the race on in the Pagoda Pacers.  They are a fun bunch and put on great races.  It was a great/tough race, very technical.  The pre-race announcement advised us of a "boulder" climb, 4 water crossings, and two separate 40 yard long "rock" trails.  The only problem was, I twisted my right ankle three different times, one was really bad where I considered stopping and walking it in.  When I twisted it I actually thought "what the hell am I doing, I have an Ironman in July and I am out here going to break my ankle and miss it."

Once I finished and returned home, I realized how bad my right foot was.  By the end of Saturday I was limping pretty good, and already bruised.  Luckily I had vast experience with twisted ankles from all the years playing basketball in college and high school.  Sunday, after I rode the trainer for 3-hours and the ankle loosened up,  I felt good by the end.

Last week I managed 14.5 hours of training and did not miss a session.  I am actually starting to feel pretty good on the runs and comfortable in the pool.  I do know I need to have my bike looked at by the shop.  The tires are showing some wear and tear signs so I would rather get that looked at now rather then breakdown out on the road.

Over the weekend I did make a purchase for the race season.  I picked up a pair of Newton Running Shoes that I had been eyeing for some time.  I wanted to try this out to see how my feet would respond.  So far this week I have 10 miles in them and feel pretty good.  You are suppose to work into them and not jump right in.  I have tried to be more aware of my stride and forefoot landing, so Newton's are suppose to help with that.

Sore as hell!

Well, with all my years of fitness experience personal training I always tell clients that when we make a significant change to their workout routine it will hurt like hell if I do my job right.  Mind you, not in an injury hurt kind of way, but just a general muscles hurt when I move kind of way.  As I write this I can barely walk as my hamstrings and gluteus are killing me.

Last week was a nice 12:15 on the workout meeter.  Not bad considering I did no weight training as planned.  I wanted to give my body a break before I made a change in my program.  I was moving from general muscle adaptation/functional stuff to all tri specific/functional stuff, so I deleted my 3 sessions for the week.  I wanted my body to get a little rest this last week of Base Training.

I finished the week with a good 2.5 hour ride on Saturday and 16 mile run on Sunday.  On Saturday, Cathy and I had tickets to the Flyers game in the afternoon.  We love the afternoon games!  A 1pm start means home by 6pm after a day out for us.  I will admit I was a little tired, due to the trainer ride during the morning, in the first period of the game and so were the Flyers, down 3 goals after 1 period.  Cathy and I decided to check out the concourse beer selection and never went back to our seats.  We ran into an old college Basketball team mate during the next intermission.  So we stayed close to the beer stand.

Some how the Flyers came back in the 2nd and tied the game.  We decided to watch the final period from the recently opened Xfinity Live...http://xfinitylive.com/.  Its like a big German Beer hall with Bars off each side.  It was a good time and made the 3rd period fly by.  On our walk back to the car we met Bernie Parent, Flyer Legend..http://bernieparent.net/blog/!  It was great, he shook our hands and we thanked him for the Flyer Cup wins during the 70's!  It was awesome.

All the Saturday fun made the 16 miler on Sunday a little tough, but I looked at it as mental training.  This weekend, April 7, I have a 9 mile trail run coming so that will be nice.  Kids head for Easter break this week, so Cathy will be a little crazy by the end of next Monday.  I'll try not to mess the house up too much.

Right now, I can hardly walk.  I started a new weight training program yesterday and am really feeling it today.  I went for a swim at 5:30AM--yes AM today.  Then went to work and tried to run, but my legs were shot and my ass was sore.  Instead I stretched and did a core routine and moved my run to a BRICK for Wednesday.  I know that the first 48 hours are the worst time after a big change to your workout, so I just need to flush my legs on the trainer tonight and workout tomorrow morning.  I should be good to go.