Positive steps forward...

I started my last blog with 'its been a long time since I last blogged!' and now I'm doing the same! About time for an update!...

Thankfully I'm now able to say I've come a long way in the last couple of months. I managed to get my head around having to put a line through this past season by focussing on the here and now and completely going back to basics with everything. Since returning home to the UK late September I hooked up with a remedial therapist who I've been working with ever since. He quickly reassured me that I didn't have a degenerative problem with my back and that my issues had all been related to having a leg length discrepancy. Its fairly common but when you are running/biking the kind of miles long distance athletes put in over a number of years, things can start adding up and causing problems! So the focus has been to loosen a lot of muscle tightness particularly on my longer leg side, strengthen the weaker muscles and finetune core work and (possibly temporarily) add a lift to the side that is shorter! So... no wonder I felt wonkey!!!

Training wise, I can happily say I have been careful and it seems to have been paying off. I've hit the pool hard and have been getting in way more swimming than normal, biking regularly although still going fairly easy on the mileage and I'm back running regularly too :-) I was a bit worried I'd have lost a lot from not running for atleast 8weeks in the end but I've surprised myself and haven't suffered too badly getting back into it. Maybe when I start more specific tempo type work I'll think again! but maybe the consistency over the last few years really is paying off.

Aside from training, its nice being back at home around family and friends. I've definately been kept busy and proved to have come in very handy with painting, decorating, tiling and even learning to plaster! I think the Ironman athlete's determination or maybe just my stubborness has helped with that. Plastering is not an easy one! Still plenty to keep me going until I head back out to the south of Spain in February to work with Andy and Tracy at Idlebreaks (www.idlebreaks.com). I know I'll be kept busy there too working with Andy to support the biking and working as the guests on site Sports Massage Therapist. Great job for me though and hopefully will set me up nicely for a succesful season of racing next year... Fancy some warm weather training in the south of Spain and living the life of luxury - not having to think about anything other than training, resting and enjoying the Spanish countryside and culture?... Check out Idlebreaks and see what you think...I can definately recommend it! Maybe see you there in a few months...

frustrations of injury...

Well, its been a long time since I last blogged, so just to quickly get back up to speed... the last few months have been bumpy to say the least! I managed to get myself into what I thought was reasonable shape leading into IM Lake Placid late July. The problems I'd been having with nervey pains in my right leg had seemed to settle a bit and the feeling of being 'wonkey' was a little less after a lot more stretching and I'd started using supported insoles in my cycling shoes. The last thing I wold normally do is introduce something new just a few weeks out from a race, but it seemed to have helped my 'wonkeyness' and got me through the ride. Only problem was, I couldn't put any weight on my foot when I got into T2! The insoles had raised the arch in my foot too much and caused another problem there! Thanks to some great ART treatment in T2 I managed to get out and run. It wasn't pretty though and certainly wasn't fast! Maybe I really shouldn't have run at all, I certainly thought that in the few weeks after, with so much swelling in my foot!
So post IM Lake Placid, I spent 2-3 hours a day focussed on stretching and yoga practice, with a little swimming and biking and later once my foot had calmed down, some running.
Timberman 70.3 was next on my plan and although it looked doubtful I'd race it, I did seem to come back well and started to feel pretty strong again. So I decided to race... Fitness wise, I felt good and my swim and bike were strong, I was really happy with my ride especially as I felt like I was able to fire the right muscles again, something that my wonkeyness hadn't allowed! But then, everything went very quickly downhill! It wasn't pretty trying to run. The nerve pain I had been getting was just too severe for me to be able to even jog. 3 miles in and that was it, I tried stretching, jogging a bit but it was just getting worse. Big alarm bells ringing and with some doubt in my mind that maybe there was a little more going on than just tight hips, I knew I had to get an MRI and see how my back was doing.
A couple of weeks later and I've managed to get a scan. News of compression and protrusion of a disc was not the best but at least I'm getting somewhere in finding out whats wrong.
So this is where I am now, sitting tight and doing very little asside persuing the best treatment - high doses of anti inflammatory's and lots of back bending!
Its never easy being forced to rest due to injury, I know I'm not the first athlete to be injured but sometimes its hard not to focus in on just yourself! I am realising there are some important lessons for me to learn though, about myself, how I cope with things (normally running is my stress release so not being able to run is HARD!), about the body in general and in an anatomy sense. I had an interesting chat with my coach too who pointed out how easily an athlete can get used to what may start as a niggle, let it develop into pains and just accept that thats the way their body feels normally! The fact that for so long I wasn't able to sit for longer than about 10mins without having some pain somewhere in my gluts or legs, should really have made me work out what was going on then!!! It just became normal to feel those niggles. One thing yoga has been teaching me, is being able to focus in on how things feel in every part of the body and noticing differences from one side to the other. Pain is not normal!
I'm positive I am strong enough to get through this and will be stronger for it, I just know, knowing myself that I will have to be careful to not start 'running before I can walk' again. I know when my physical therapist said I could be OK swimming, she meant very very easy, probably the equivalent of a short warm up of a normal session - not a 4km swim session!!! Maybe a few weeks time that will be on the cards, a good chance to focus on swimming anyway.
I'm certainly not defeated but at the same time, I only have one back! I'm not gonna push it!

crash stretching!!!

Some people manage to lose weight dramatically - crash dieting, I'm hoping some crash stretching will get me back on the road to performing the way I should be! The last few races have been very frustrating for me, Eagleman and last weekend at Rhode Island. Both races on the bike, I quickly found my left leg feeling numb from my gluts down and my right side with a 'nervey' pain originating in my lower back, running through my glut and the outside of my leg. Along with this a significant lack of power! Realising I am just soooo tight in my hips, through too long of not enough stretching and taking care of myself the way I know I should have, its all added up. I've spent the last few weeks with a much higher focus on stretching and recovery, but now its a case of recovery and recuperation first and some training in between to simply 'keep my oar in'. Not the most ideal way to lead in to my first Ironman of the year, but I'm seriously hoping I can turn things round and get to Lake Placid in the best shape I know fitness wise, I am in...
:-)

Your body knows exactly what it needs!

Just lying down after a nice long run this morning, in crazily hot and humid conditions. The last couple of days have been over 100 degrees (high 30's possibly in the 40's C) and with humidity at around 90%. So I'd set off for my 2hr45 run with my nutrition and hydration all sussed out or at least thats what I thought anyway! (maybe in slightly more normal conditions it would have been fine but as I found out... not today!) Calories wise I'm confident I planned for and took in exactly what I needed. My new INFINIT nutrition run formula is great. I'm taking in more calories than I ever used to and its going down so well, keeping me feeling strong throughout. Today though in these conditions, I really could have done with more water! Running towards garden sprinklers and having to stop at a couple to get some extra drops of water within the last few km's of my run was a sure sign my body was crying out for fluid! I'm confident calories wise I'd got it right as I really was just craving pure water. I've had plenty of experiences in training and racing where I think I'd definately underestimated calorie intake and had specific cravings basically for sugar! I've experienced various cravings, I remember one training run I'd done on a hot day in the UK (yes we do have some!) where I'd taken only water with me (silly lesson that I had to learn!) and I remember having a strong craving specifcally for a cadburys creme egg! I suppose the creamy inside is almost like some gels! (I didn't manage to find one, running in the mountains in the countryside around cardiff!!!)

After a bottle of water this morning as soon as I got through the door, a little bit of a nauseous feeling initially, I perked back up again and with my mission to make sure I'm maximising my recovery time, I think I'm doing pretty well so far - recovery drink (INFINIT fruit punch Repair formula), cold shower and 2XU recovery tights on, an Anne special breakfast smoothie (today with oats, yoghurt, milk, mango juice and banana) and a lye down before a good stretch in a bit! Maybe I'll be ready to face the heat again soon...!

:-)

nutrition, hydration, nutrition, hydration.....!

The last week has been really testing in terms of training in very hot and humid conditions. Its been up in the mid 30's with around 90% humididty most days. Over the last few years I have been fortunate to have had opporunities to spend good amounts of time training in hot conditions, so although it doesn't come easily for me to perform well in the heat, I've been adapting fairly well. I still really struggle with the humidity though and I often find its harder to recover from training, maybe because I lose my appetite a bit in these conditions! and as my coach David rightly keeps reminding me, just a few calorie deficit day to day really adds up and can make a big negative difference! Just have to force the calories down! My smoothies are working well though! (latest favourite... peanut butter, chocolate powder, banana, oats and milk! Ummm yummie!)

During training though, i'm getting the calories in really well. Since being over here, I've started to use infinitnutrition products (www.infinitnutrition.us) and I'm really pleased to find that its working really well for me. I couldn't be testing it in much more testing conditions! I'm keeping on top of hydration well and am finding I'm able to take in more calories than I would have before. Thats a result!!! This week I've had a couple of long runs as well as a long brick at race pace and for each have felt better and better as the session has gone on - definately a result!!! So far I've just used their ride and run formula, but have ordered some customized formulas so can't wait to start using these. I know I've had a number of 'under-par performances' in the last few seasons and not getting my nutrition 100% right on the day has been largely to blame. I'm so much more confident now even with just the last week of using infinitnutrition that I can get my nutrition right in races... looking forward to Rhode Island 70.3 in a few weeks and IM Lake Placid shortly after...

Still working on loosening up my hips and gluts, stretching much more and really feeling the benefit :-)

Off for an ez ride now before another race pace day tomorrow :-) Happy days!!! :-)

Food!!! :-)

Its so nice to be feeling settled in my new home already! One real bonus for me being settled somewhere is that I manage to eat so well! I generally have a pretty good and well balanced diet but when my life is so hecic sometimes and i'm moving around alot, its sometimes hard to cook and eat well. I love cooking and really enjoy my food! Its so nice to be here with Dave who's doing similar training to me too, thinking about food for two people is so much nicer than just thinking for yourslef! I think it makes it more interesting anyway, i'm more likely to vary what I eat/cook.

I've certainly felt more energised this week, thats definately down to me getting into a routine with eating regularly as well as sleeping and generally letting my body catch up! So post long run and recovery ride today, i've just had my favourite post training snack of peanut butter and banana sandwich and an oat, banana, chocolate powder and milk smoothie! Yummie :-)

Off for a good stretch now... and then maybe a trip to the beach and or a little spin on the BMX later! Happy days! :-)

settlin in and havin fun :-)

Just spending some time settling in to my new home for the next few Months in Port Jefferson, sussing out the training routes, finding my feet and trying not to get myself too lost or in too much trouble... so far so good apart from already being pulled over by the police! Whoops!!! OK a bit of a blonde moment but nothing serious! Lucky my smile came in handy! :-)

Decided to get a little bike to get about on, thought it will come in handy for little trips into town etc, I think 'fun' took over the 'practicality' factor though and I (well, Dave did too) got all excited about having a BMX again! (I haven't had one since I was about 15 and that one died a slow death - no pedals, brakes or a saddle by the end!) So here's a little piccie of Dave, Lucky and I enjoying some ice cream after scooting around town, probably looking like 12 year olds!!! :-)



Back to the serious stuff! I managed to see someone about my hip issues and thankfully it should be solved easily enough, just with a lot of stretching and TLC from my behalf! Felt so much better running today, hope I can up my training again now without tightening up too much - must keep on top of it all!!!

Off for a little stretch now... :-)