Simple Steps to Add Motivation

It’s the end of January and a time when, for many of us, the enthusiasm generated by our New Year’s resolutions is wearing off - or maybe it’s already gone! So how to keep motivated and continue focusing on fitness and healthy habits when it’s cold, snowy and dark outside?

This has been an ongoing challenge for me, not just in the misery of January but even in the pleasure of beautiful October weather (I live in Arlington, Virginia - summer is not a time when I consider the weather to be beautiful!). To counteract this and achieve my sister’s projection that 2011 is going to be “the year of Michele”, I’ve been spending some time lately reading different resources, participating in webinars, talking to friends, and developing some new systems that seem to be working for me. I’m not yet back to my best level of motivation or consistency but these ideas and practices are helping me to make some positive steps. And each positive step is one step closer to the me that I intend to be.

Technique #1: Daily Motivational Quotes - I’m sure there is some new, fancy, high-tech way to do this but I’m using a pretty old-fashioned method. When I read something that touches me and that I think will help me to remain positive or motivated or focused, I write the quote down on a 3 by 5 notecard. I keep these notecards in a desk drawer and each day, I pull out my pile of cards and read the top quote. I usually post that quote to Twitter or as a status update on Facebook. I like sharing them with others and seeing their comments. I also like having that extra level of interaction with the quote. It helps me spend a little more time with the quote and think about it a little more.

Technique #2: Schedule Workouts on Calendar - I have seen this suggestion so many times but have always ignored it. ‘I work part-time and have a flexible schedule, I should just be able to fit in my workouts when I want to.’ Doesn’t that seem like a reasonable statement? Sadly, that never seems to work as well in practice as it does in theory. So instead, every Saturday or Sunday evening, I look at my calendar for the upcoming week and schedule my key workouts on my calendar. It’s actually working really well so far. Other than the week I was sick, I have done every scheduled workout. Maybe not quite when it is scheduled but either earlier or late the same day.

Technique #3: Nightly Thankful - This may seem a little less specific or even a little flaky but it helps with having a positive attitude. Every night when I first lay down in bed, I list at least one thing from the day that I am thankful for. Sometimes it is a great workout. Sometimes its hanging out with a friend. Sometimes it’s enjoying a blue sky while I walk the dog. Sometimes its a positive conversation as part of my job search. Whatever it is, it forces me to focus on a positive at the end of the day rather than focusing on any negatives, stresses, or things that I need to do. If it’s been a bad day, this can be hard to do but I have decided that it is important to always find a positive and I am going to stick with that goal. Another technique that I have read of but haven’t adopted yet is related - it is to start each day with a gratitude list. The technique is that before you even get out of bed in the morning you list several things for which you are grateful. I like the idea: why not start and finish the day with a reminder of your blessings.

Technique #4: One Thing At A Time - In the past, I’ve put together ‘ideal’ training plans. And then I’ve promptly failed to follow them. So I’m not doing that this time. I have put together a year overview which takes into account my goal events. And I have mapped out key workouts in each sport to prepare me for those events. But I’m building up to that ‘ideal’ training plan. Just like always, my training plan incorporates 4 week training block and each block has a focus. My first block for this year (which actually started in late December) was a swim focus block. My focus during that block was fitting in two swim workouts per week. Anything else was a bonus. And I managed to meet that goal. Which then gave me a sense of achievement that built into the second block, which I’m in now. This is a bike focus block. So now, in addition to those 2 swims per week, I’m fitting in a long bike ride as my key bike workout each week. Again, that is all I’m requiring of myself. The next block will be a run focused block. Again, I’ll make sure I do my key run workout each week. By that point, by focusing on one thing at a time, I’ll have established a strong habit of swimming, biking and running each week. And I’ll have the sense of accomplishment necessary to successfully move on to the next ‘one thing!’

These are the techniques that I’m currently using and I’m pleased with the results so far. Next time, I want to write about the techniques that I’ve heard of or read about and am thinking about incorporating. I might even include some that I don’t think will work for me if I learn of any of those.

Just Noticed the Lack of Noticing

I woke up this morning earlier than normal, although I’m very likely to go back to sleep still before waking up for the day. This probably wouldn’t have happened except that I have a bit of an upset stomach and I thought that I’d be able to see the end of the eclipse. Unfortunately, my tummy still hurts and I can’t find the moon. Admittedly, not being able to find the moon is a key element of an eclipse but still.... Definitely going back to bed as soon as the kitty decides to come back in from playing outside.

On the good side, noticing the discomfort lead me to notice something else. And what I’ve noticed is what I’m not noticing. And what I’m not noticing is pain in my lower back. With some on and off, I’ve had pain in my lower back since I hurt it in late 2008. However, lately I haven’t noticed any lower back pain. Not even today after an eight-hour shift at REI. I’ve been working on core strength and glute strength as well as having regular chiropractic ART treatments and, most recently, adding monthly massage. I’ve been doing yoga and pilates for additional strength and flexibility. But I think the key factor in making this go away is my almost nightly usage of Compex Active Recovery on my back. Think of it as having a strong massage every day. And, through the use of the electrodes, being able to target that massage exactly on the point that hurts. Very exactly.

Can’t wait to see how the lack of pain benefits my training in the new season. Very excited!!

Now off to either find the moon or at least the cat.

Compex is Going to Help Me Survive the Holidays!

I just finished the 2nd day of a 5 day straight stretch at work and my legs feel as beat up as if I just finished a tough race! I know that 5 days straight doesn’t seems like much to those of you who have regular jobs but I work part-time in retail and usually don’t work more than 3 days in a week and hardly ever more than 2 days in a row. However, with the holiday shopping season, I’ve been picking up more hours and this week I was scheduled Thursday through Monday - 8-hours on my feet each day for 5 straight days. I’ve also gone back to biking to work most days. It’s not far in terms of distance but it’s at least a little something additional each day.

I didn’t think much of this until I was walking the dog this morning after just one day of work. I noticed that my legs were a little sore and a little tired. However, midway through my shift at work today, I noticed that my legs hurt from my ankles through my quads. It didn’t get any better as the day went on! Now I’m finally home and hooked up to Compex Active Recovery on my quads and planning to use it on my shins and calves as well if I can stay awake long enough. I’m sure that tomorrow I’ll feel much better and I’ll survive the next two weeks until the end of the holiday shopping season thanks to Compex. And I really hope that one of the gifts Santa brings me this year is that new job I’m looking for so that by this time next year, I won’t be working in retail anymore!!

Santa Shuffle 5K

I ran my first stand-alone 5K in ages today and, wow - did it hurt! The Santa Shuffle 5K was a first time 5K organized by a local running store to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I was looking for a 5K time to help me set my training paces - I figured that I should start training based on my current overweight, out-of-shape body. Then as I get back in shape and to my racing weight, I can update my training paces and have a sense of accomplishment as I track my improvement.

My hope for today was to be under 24 minutes for the 5K. I know it’s not a fast time, but I didn’t think I could achieve a fast time with the condition I’m in right now. Unfortunately, race conditions weren’t even favorable for that. First, the weather this morning was in the low 30s, with a windchill down to the 20s. I can plan and bundle up for cold weather but I have asthma and sometimes when it gets that cold, my lungs just don’t want to cooperate. Next, of course after feeling great for days, my knee started to hurt today. I tried to loosen up my quad by warming up before the run and stretching but it just didn’t seem like enough - probably because it was so cold. This is where I messed up - I should have packed my Compex this morning and used the warm-up program but I didn’t think of it (possibly because it’s been a while since I’ve had to leave the house at 6:30 for a race and I’m out of practice!). Finally, the course had a pretty significant hill. The course started off with a small downhill, then a flat, then another downhill for almost the rest of the first mile. It was an out and back course which meant that most of the last mile was going to be uphill. Great fun when I knew I’d be tired and hurting by that point.

I met some interesting people before the race. One guy was trying to hit around 7 minute miles after hurting his leg at a half-marathon in September. A young girl running with her father was hoping to run at under a 9 minute pace for the first time ever. (I saw both after the race: She just hit her goal, he just missed.) A lot of people were in holiday themed costumes - I saw plenty of elves and reindeer along with milk and cookies, a wrapped present, and a whole pack of M&Ms. Made me sad that I didn’t wear my elf hat but I did have my Compex hat on.

I didn’t hit my goal - missed it by about a minute - so I definitely have a lot of work to do over the winter. But at least I have a pace to use in setting my training zones. I usually hang around after races to cheer for other finishers and socialize but it was so cold (and I had to get to work) so I changed into my dry clothes then went to Starbucks for a tea. Results weren’t posted yet so I didn’t bother sticking around to see results because I was sure that I was too slow for any of the awards. However, I just found them online and I was 2nd in my age group - and less than 15 seconds back from 1st. I guess everyone was a little slower than normal in the cold. I’m a little sad because the store usually gives out pretty good age group awards at their races but maybe this means that there is more for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Found A Great Challenge For Compex

I had a very quiet Thanksgiving and was able to spend a lot of time watching the endurance event marathon on Universal Sports. While I didn’t watch any event all the way through, I saw parts of the 2005 through 2009 Ironman World Championships and the 2010 Boston, London, and New York Marathons. Really inspiring!!

As a result, I spent some time looking at my calendar and my planned races and online race schedules and found and registered for an event that I think is going to be a great challenge for the recovery powers of Compex. It’s the Ultra Challenge at the Gasparilla Distance Classic at the end of February. The Ultra Challenge involves running a 15K Saturday at 7:05 am, a 5K Saturday at 9:30 am, a half-marathon Sunday at 6:00 am, and then an 8K Sunday at 9:00 am. I know that to make this happen, not only am I going to have to do some really strong training between now and then, I’m also going to really call upon the recovery powers of Compex between each event.

I’ve also been lucky - my running is still getting better. My knee hasn’t hurt while running all week so I tried my first hard effort in a while today. I went to the track so that it would be easy on my knee and did a 6 minute pacing effort. Definitely not the pace that I usually run at that level of effort but it gives me a baseline and I can only improve from here!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, that your Turkey Trots went well, your food was yummy, and your family time fun!

Today's Training Achievements

I began reading Touch the Top of the World by Eric Weihenmayer. I am only a few chapters in but I think it’s going to be a great motivational read. First of all, just the prologue was amazing. Second, his talk at the USAT coaching seminar in February was the best keynote I’ve ever heard and learning more about his attitude - and hopefully incorporating the positive characteristics in my own life should be a great help as I take on new challenges for the new season.

My own personal training achievements today included attending yoga this morning and replacing the battery in my Garmin heart rate monitor strap. The first is good both for what it does for me but also because it demonstrated my ability to return quickly to training after a short break and not get sucked into a downward spiral of non-training. The second is good because I’m trying to use the facts and figures that I can get from my training devices both to support my training and to keep me motivated. Now just hoping that I put the battery in correctly and that tomorrow morning I’ll be able to measure my resting heart rate again.

Tomorrow morning may be my first (isn’t that sad) mountain bike ride of the season. Probably joining some coworkers in the morning. Let’s see if the cats cooperate!

Unplanned Recovery Day

After yesterday’s great positives, a little bit of a setback today. Too busy with work to get out for the run that I had scheduled. But that doesn’t mean that I’m giving up. I know that tomorrow is another chance to get out and fit in some great training! Plus, today wasn’t a full loss - I spent plenty of time using my Compex, running various endurance programs. My back, my glutes, my hamstrings, etc. It’s nice to know that I can continue to support my training even when I have that bit of a setback.

Additionally, this may not have been as much of a negative as it could otherwise appear. The Garmin is a stern task master and yesterday I wasn’t able to hit the pace goals that I had set for myself. I felt great and was having a really good time running but at the one mile point, I was running too slowly. I checked again a bit later after trying to speed up and was still too slow. At that point, I decided to change my workout and instead of hitting my goal pace, transition to a slower, endurance focused workout. As a result, I did my longest run since the Half Full Triathlon and arrived back home still feeling good and without any knee pain. But this morning I woke up tired and I’ve continued to feel tired all day. So taking a day off to recover a little bit and get ready for another good workout tomorrow is probably worthwhile.

I did manage to pick up batteries for the Garmin’s Heart Rate Monitor while I was out today. I need to get those installed tonight so that I can record my resting heart rate in the morning and start tomorrow strong!

What's Up Today

Some new developments on my training. First, after the entire summer and most of the fall, I’m finally ready to move onto Level 2 on my Compex. I’m using the endurance program on my quads right now. We’ll see if I survive!

Next, I signed up for another race. The Rotary Resolution 10K on January 1. So last night I began planning some key workouts to get me from where I am now through the 10K, to American Zofingen, and then to the Richmond Marathon. I’m planning to use the Pace Zone Index system developed by McGregor and Fitzgerald in designing and tracking my running plan. I’m really interested in how this will help me improve as well as how it will work with the idea of Training Stress to help me stay healthy and consistent in my training throughout the season.

Third, I just finished attending a great seminar on bike training with a power meter by Coggan and Allen and I’m looking forward to installing my power meter and using power to plan and analyze my bike training for the next season. I think that there is a lot that I can learn about my bike strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, knowing the challenges that I’ll face at American Zofingen - especially with my lack of hill climbing ability - I’m going to need to use the best techniques I can to conquer that race.

Finally, just in time for this new motivation, I did 7 straight days of training last week so I’ve hit the marker that I set for myself to return to organized training. I’ve learned a lot of this last year. In addition to reading the books above, I’ve also read Daniels’ Running Formula, and Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald and I have some new ideas and techniques that I want to include in my plans for next year. One of the things that I want to do first is a swim focused block. I think this will be a good way to start challenging myself and improving my skills while I continue to build my run and bike endurance.

Getting Ready for Next Season

After having to miss last week’s race, I’ve been turning my focus more toward preparing for next season and I’m happy to report several positives. First, I have a promising diagnosis for my knee problem: I have a ganglion cyst on the knee cap which became irritated when I strained my quad. As long as I focus on stretching my VMO and my anterior tibialis and am careful about how I place my knee on the ground, I should be able to reduce and then avoid irritation. Thankfully, I’m able to use my Compex on my quad almost every day and so far, most of my runs and rides this week have been without pain. (A little bit of a backslide when I had to run on a treadmill this morning but not too bad.)

Second, I registered for two key races for next season both of which are taking care of some unfinished business. The first is the American Zofingen Long Course Duathlon in May. I tried to do this race a few years ago, got sick shortly before the race, and was pulled from the course with one lap to finish on the second run. Pretty disappointing after already running 15 miles and biking 84. With all that went wrong for me this summer, I decided that I needed something that I could count as a success so its time to go back, finish the race, and check this one off my list. The second is the Richmond Marathon. As I didn’t get to even start the race this year, I’ve decided that I want to do it next year and hopefully achieve that PR.

Third, right now I’m at what is proving to be a great clinic on training with a power meter. If getting healthy and registering for races wasn’t enough motivation, learning some new tools to focus my training for next season is certainly helping. I’m looking forward to getting back home, installing my power meter, and beginning to use this tool in my training.

So lots of very good things for me and I’m continuing to enjoy reading about all of your successes. Hope that the Arizona athletes did well today and best of luck to those of you doing Cozumel next week!

The Cold That Killed My Race

I’m going to start by saying how frustrated I am right now. Over the last two weeks, a bunch of my coworkers have had a really bad cold but I, surprisingly, have been fine. Until Tuesday morning. I woke up with a really bad sore throat and my eyes felt more tired than they should have, plus a bit red and itchy. I kept drinking tea and thinking I just hadn’t slept enough. By mid-day, I had a horrible headache, my nose was congested, and I was starting to look a bit like a drunk after a weekend binge. At that time, I gave up on my denial and began taking cold medicine, drinking even more tea, eating lots of vitamin C, neti-potting like crazy, and sleeping (because my head hurt too much to do anything else).

My goal: somehow get over this cold by Thursday night so that I would wake up just fine this morning and be able to drive down to Richmond for my race tomorrow. Sadly, despite everything I tried, I woke up Friday morning still coughing, still red and itchy, and still far too tired (but thankfully no longer with the headache!) to run. Or really to even drive for 2 hours. I was probably even worse than I thought I was because when my mother called this morning, she wouldn’t stay on the phone with me because she said I sounded too bad too talk. And when my neighbor came by to see why I hadn’t left the house in 4 days, she took one look at me and offered to run out and get me medicine - and her husband just came home from the hospital.

So I’m frustrated. One more hurdle in my attempt to actually have some kind of race season this year. I guess it’s probably for the best, given the fact that my knee still isn’t at its best and I probably would have done something stupid at the race and hurt myself worse and mucked up next years race season too. Still, I’m really hoping that this is the end of my bad luck for a while. The next race I’m going to try is a local 5K on December 4. Hopefully, I’ll get and stay healthy over the next 3 weeks and this will be the start of a brand new and much more positive run of training for next year.

Should I or Shouldn’t I?

Here’s this week’s dilemma. I’m supposed to run the Richmond Marathon next weekend (the 13th). But while my knee is doing much, much better, it’s not 100%. However, while painful, it’s not throwing off my stride - at least not at the distances I’ve been doing. I’m not sure what it will do at mile 24. I have the option of dropping down to the 1/2 marathon distance rather than doing the full marathon. I’m sure either race will be fun but I haven’t decided what to do. In the past, I did drop out of one marathon when I’d been injured in training. I made it 16 miles before I started limping and decided to stop rather than hurt myself. But here, I don’t think I’ll hurt myself. It will just be slow and a longer time that expected on my feet.

Any opinions? My doctor doesn’t think there is anything actually wrong with my knee, that it’s just quad and possibly ITB tightness - both of which I can continue to work on over the next week with Compex and my foam roller. And running with either my knee sleeve or kinesiotape is making a big difference in how long I can go without pain. I don’t have anything else definite on my schedule for this year but might do a marathon in December, especially if I do the half marathon in Richmond.

Positive Progress

Good news to report from today's run. I made it almost two miles today without knee pain. An easy, slow pace but nonetheless a positive result. A little discomfort on the uphill incline but I'll take a little discomfort. Unfortunately, the Richmond marathon isn't going to happen. Three weeks isn't going to be enough to get from here to 26.2 miles. But I'm sure I can comfortably do the half marathon and I'm looking forward to that. Then I can find another race in December or January and set myself an achievable goal for that race.

Good News and Bad News

I first posted this on the Team Compex blog but wanted to add it here also.

I want to start by thanking everyone for their tips and suggestions for next year’s race schedule. I’m working on finishing up the first draft of that - some things may change based on finances and my future job situation but I think having those goals to shoot for and knowing I might run into some Compex teammates will keep me really motivated over the next year.

I had some good news over the last week. First, my doctor thinks that my knee pain is resulting from straining my quad. And of course, once my knee started to hurt, I started to focus on strengthening my quad to support my knee, increasing the strain. So the last week has been lots of yoga, stretching, ART, and Compex Active Recovery to try to help my quad loosen up. Of course, it still hurts to run. In fact, it still hurts to walk but I’m being optimistic. Second, my biopsy results came back negative so I don’t have to worry about that any more!

Then some bad news. I was perfectly fine and healthy all last week. I was excited about doing the Army Ten Miler on Sunday - even with the sore knee. I picked up my number at the expo as soon as it opened on Friday. Then, right after dinner on Saturday, I started to feel nauseous. I thought maybe I was just tired - I’d worked at the bike shop the last 3 days. So I went to bed nice and early (at around 8:00) and set my alarm for the race the next morning. The alarm went off, I fed the cats and felt okay. Then I went out to walk the dog. And as we walked, I started to feel worse and worse. My tummy was not happy. I was really achy and then began to alternate between being really warm and really cold and realized that the race wasn’t going to happen for me. I double checked and I did have a fever, so back to bed. I never did feel good yesterday but by mid-day today I was feeling fine so now I’m going to look for something fun to do this weekend or next and keep working on my quad between now and then.

Happy News

Two bits of happy news today. First, I found out that my knee injury isn't really a knee injury. It was actually a quad strain that was causing pain around the knee. So of course, my focusing on strengthening the quad to support the injured knee was just making it worse. Instead, I need to focus on stretching the quad and relieving the strain. I know that I'll be using my Compex Active Recovery every day between now and the Army Ten Miler on Sunday. It's already feeling better and I'm looking forward to my next run.

Second, I received the results of my biopsy and confirmed that it's benign. So no need to worry about cancer and I can start planning some fun but challenging events for next season. Kinetic here I come! And the new Xterra wetsuit that is on it's way is going to be very much appreciated at such an early season race.

Planning For Next Season

I've been trying to post this on the Team Compex blog but haven't been able to. So it's here and I'll get it up there too. Sorry for the somewhat duplication from the last post.

Everyone has been so good about recommending late season marathons that I thought I’d solicit your help. As of Tuesday, I’ll know better about whether I’ll be able to race or not next year and I’m trying to put together a plan of races that are really going to excite me - either a great challenge or really fun or something else that sets them apart and is really motivating.

Some specific races that I’m currently tossing around include:

Short Course Duathlon Nationals in April (and then Worlds in the fall if I qualify)

Kinetic Half Ironman in May (this is a definite, I’m going to do with a friend)

American Zofingen Duathlon in May (a maybe, debating between sanity of the short course (5/29/5 or the insanity of the long course (5/84/15)

Rev 3 Quassy Half Ironman in June (this is for my family so this is a definite)

Half Full Triathlon in October (I’d like to go back when I’ve trained)

Some other ideas that I have but which I don’t have a lot of specificity on:

A trail ultra - Some friends are going to apply for the Leadville 100 MTB Ride which made me think maybe trying to get into that 100 Trail run but (a) my asthma probably isn’t going to support that altitude and (b) I should probably start with 50 miles (I’ve done 50k). I think a mountain bike race would be fun, but I’m not a good mountain bike rider so 100 miles is daunting enough that I don’t think Leadville MTB is for me. But which 50 or 100 should I try?

An Ironman - I’m going to do one at some point. Why not now when I need something really motivating to get me going? But if so, which one? I’m not good in heat. I’m not that good on hills. I’m actually not that good on flats either - rollers would be nice.

A marathon - I’ll learn more from my doctor on Monday but I don’t think my knee is going to support my marathon this fall so that is likely to become a half-marathon. Which means I should try a marathon again next year.

A mountain bike race - Why not? I won’t be good which means it will be just like by road bike and cylco-cross racing.

So I’d love ideas. Where do you think I should put Compex to work next year?

Next Season

I still have a lot of open questions about my life going forward but I'm starting to get excited about planning for next season, setting some goals and getting ready to move forward. The first question won't be settled for over a week so no decisions until then. However races I'm thinking of include:

Kinetic Half Ironman - this one is for Nick. As long as I can race, we're going to train and do this one together in early May. Because swimming in cold water is always my strength!

Rev3 Quassy - early June and this is for my parents. I told them I'd do this race this year after doing Eagleman last. Quassy is far closer to my parents than Eagleman and it will be nice to include a family visit with a race trip.

HalfFull Triathlon - this one is for me. I had a great time and I'd like to go back to this race when I've trained.

Some other races include Duathlon Nationals in April, maybe American Zofingen, hopefully Gihon, maybe an Ironman, maybe a 50m trail ultra, maybe a marathon. I need something exciting to get me going!

My first step: train 7 straight days. I'm at 3 as of today. Friday is going to be the biggest challenge. I need to be at the doctors at 7:15 and at work at 11. I'm not sure that's going to leave any time to fit in a workout. And as I can't lift anything heavy after the doctors, I'm not sure I could train anyway.

Half Full Triathlon

If there is any experience at any event that can prove how amazing the Compex Sport Elite is, I think that my experience during and after the Half Full Triathlon is that one. My results at this race are nothing to brag about but how I felt and how I recovered sure are!

To explain, as I’ve written before, I’ve had some difficult times this summer that have really impacted my training and I cancelled every race I was supposed to do between Eagleman in June and this race in October. I’ve done fairly well recently at keeping up with my yoga, pilates and core work and with doing some pull work on my swim bench. But I’ve been mostly unable to actually swim, run or bike due to some more emotional challenges. I didn’t realize just how bad this was until I went back and looked at my log after Sunday’s race. My last swim was an easy open water swim on June 16. My last run was an easy 35 minutes in early September. And my last bike ride was actually before that - and I don’t want to admit just how pathetically short that was.

On the good side, when I sit down at my desk to work, I have been using my Compex either on the endurance or the Active Recovery programs. Definitely not a substitute for training but I have been keeping to a structured program of using my Compex.

Last fall I had registered for the inaugural Half Full Triathlon this past Sunday. It’s a fundraising event for the Ulman Cancer Fund and there were going to be a ton of cancer survivors there as well as a large group from Team Fight. Even though I was by no means ready for this race, I thought that if they could get out there and race, I could at least get myself to the start line. From there, my goals were pretty simple: keep going until I crossed the finish line or I missed a time cutoff - with no training, I was a little worried about just how slow I would be.

I’m going to give you all the blow-by-blow boring details below but here’s the very pro-Compex summary. I used my Compex on the massage program on Saturday after heading up to the expo, racking my bike, and doing some brief core and swim bench work. Needed to get ready for the race! During the race, I never experienced muscle soreness. In fact, I only felt a bit of tiring/cramping in my quads going up one hill on the bike. I wasn’t setting any speed records but I wasn’t hurting either (admittedly, my knee was but that started a couple of weeks ago and I need to get in to the doctor for that). I finished and during my post-race massage, the therapist commented on how loose my muscles were and how great my flexibility was. He asked what I’d done and I told him about my secret weapon. I used the Compex Recovery Plus program when I got home and Monday morning woke up to absolutely no muscle soreness. Not a twinge. Not going downstairs. Not going upstairs. Not standing or sitting or anything. The only pain I had all day was in that knee when I had to wear heels.

So while I don’t advocate ever doing a half-ironman without training, I have to rave about how Compex protects me from my own stupidity. Thank you, thank you Compex!!

Now the details for anyone who is interested:

The day started with one of those comedy of errors types of situations. I woke up about 3 am to go to the bathroom. First thought, ‘yeah! I’m hydrated.’ Second thought, ‘my head and throat shouldn’t hurt like this. And I’m really thirsty. Oops.’ So some tylenol and a glass of water and back to bed until my alarm went off at 4:15. Alarm goes off and my head hurts even worse so I hit snooze and lay back down. Right after the cats get comfy on top of me, I bolt upright, throwing cats off the bed because I’ve remembered that I can’t oversleep. The entrance to the park closes at 6:30 and I need to leave the house by 5:15 to get there on time and I haven’t packed. Downstairs, two more tylenol, print my checklist and start the packing. At 5:15, I’ve got the basics but haven’t grabbed any nutrition for the race. Oh well I think, they’ll be something on the course and if I don’t leave now, it won’t matter how much nutrition I have as I won’t be able to get to the race.

On the drive up, I was so happy that it was early enough that the roads weren’t crowded. Not only was I making good time but tylenol makes me really sleepy and I’m not sure I was the safest driver. I managed to get to the race location at 6:20. But I was so tired by that point that I decided to nap in the car for 15 minutes before heading over to transition. Phone alarm goes off and I’m jogging across the field from my parking location to the transition area. I got there as they were announcing 18 minutes until transition closed. So more of my being completely unprepared for this race - and usually I’m so organized, I have a checklist that I double and triple check. I got my bike set to go, put the half bottle of water I’d brought for the drive and my empty bottles on the bike hoping there would be water on the course, found a packet of cytomax in my bag to put in one of the empty bottles, found my helmet, glasses, chip, shoes, socks and race belt. Then I grabbed my wetsuit and swim cap with 2 minutes to go, got body marked and ran down to the swim start. (BTW, despite the hurry, that nap - best idea ever!)

Down at the swim start, I realize I’m still wearing my rings and necklace and now I’m worried about losing them in the water. What to do? I decide to put the rings on the chain and tuck it into my jog bra. It will be under the wetsuit and hopefully safe. My new Xterra wetsuit won’t be here until next week and the zipper on my old suit stuck again but a nice woman waiting to swim helped me get that up all the way. In line for the start I was able to talk to some of the other women, including one doing her first half-ironman - and willing to swim in 65 degree water without a wetsuit!

The swim was a time-trial start. We were in waves but within our wave we stated in pairs at 5 second intervals. Love this! No banging, no crowds. The only time I got banged was going around the 2nd turn buoy - that’s a great pleasure compared to normal. I did have a problem when I first hit the water. All of a sudden, my wetsuit felt too tight and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t figure out why until I remembered the 65 degree water and that I have asthma. Once I realized it was just an asthma attack, I realized that I would warm up and it would go away so just kept swimming. After that, my only problem was that they told us to keep the buoys on our right and one of the turn buoys was so far to the left that I almost missed it and headed for the buoy to the right of it. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one - even a friend who is a good swimmer told me that she did the same thing. After that, my only issue is the standard swim one for me - I’m so slow that I get bored before I get out of the water. I was also a bit concerned about the swim cut off and glad when I realized I was at the swim exit before I even saw it coming up.

Ran out of the water, began taking off my wetsuit and noticed that my chain, the one I’d put my wedding band and engagement ring on was loose and hanging down the front of my tri-top. My first thought was that they were lost in the water. My second, that didn’t make sense, they would have been in the wetsuit so they were probably somewhere between the swim exit and my bike. My third, it didn’t really matter. I was going to have to take them off someday, wouldn’t this be a rather good karma way to make that happen. Kind of a breakthrough for me. So I grabbed the chain and threw it in my transition bag when I got to my spot. I thought my wedding band might have been tangled up in it but wasn’t sure and didn’t take the time to check.

Got transitioned and headed out on the bike. I knew the course would be hard, I’ve ridden Columbia before and this was hillier and some of the hills were on rough road surfaces. And I was slow - 4 hours on the bike, that’s an average of 14mph! But despite the knee pain, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I guess it’s hard to feel like climbing a hill is that hard when (a) it’s nothing compared to Killer Miller on the Savageman course and (b) the person next to you is wearing a jersey that says Team Fight or Survivor 2010. As one group’s kit said “F* Cancer!” with the Lance Armstrong quote: “Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever.” On a more practical basis, I stopped at the first water stop confusing the volunteers who kept trying to hand me bottles as I rode by. I explained that I had to unscrew my bottles to fill them with water. I also found out that at least one of the volunteers was from the DC Tri Club!! Mixed up my Cytomax. Ate the one Hammer Gel I’d managed to grab and headed on. BTW, I should add - the volunteers here, at all of the intersections, and throughout the course were just great.

Filled with water, having some actual nutrition, I was ready to go. My only problem, on the next rough downhill, the yellow mesh thing that keeps the water in the aero bottle bounce right out and water started shooting all over me. I was really grateful that wasn’t the Cytomax but a little annoyed at the cold water on a cold day. Was passed by Elizabeth from DC Tri and the HIP program and she was looking good on the bike and ended up having a great day. Hit the second water stop and stopped to empty my aerobottle and took a gel. I don’t want to mention the name of the product but I’m not having that one again! The taste was horrible. In fact my reaction was so obvious that the two closest volunteers started laughing. After that it was out for the second loop which was pretty uneventful. My only concern, based on my pace, was that there would be some sort of bike cutoff that I wouldn’t make but eventually I was on the final section back into transition. That part cruelly has some climbs you don’t expect, right when you are ready to be off the bike. Thankfully, other than my knee, everything felt okay. No back pain, no muscle pain, not even a sore neck. And many kudos to Sugoi try shorts because no pain in any sensitive areas either.

Off the bike and into transition. Surprisingly, also able to run into transition and I didn’t have that bottom of the foot pain I’d had at Eagleman. Of course, there were a couple of challenges in transition. For example, I had to spend time digging through my transition bag looking for something I could eat on the run because I knew I wasn’t eating the race supplied product again. I found an opened packet of Clif Bloks, took a couple of Endurolytes and headed out to run. Shockingly, still able to run!

The run was fun. Again, there were great volunteers all over. I found some people to run with and talk to for a while. I knew I’d need to walk a bit so I used the strategy of walking for 1 minute after each mile marker at either the first hill or aid station I hit. That worked really well. Most of the time I maintained about a 10 minute mile pace, which felt really good. The course wasn’t as hilly as the Columbia tri course and very doable, especially with my hill walking rule. Sooner than I’d expected (but still really slowly), I was taking the turn to the finish - which, of course, was uphill. Just at the entry to the finish shoot, I heard my name and saw a friend cheering for me which was a great treat.

The finish was well done. A volunteer met me with a space blanket and a medal, offered to take off my chip, got me water, asked if I needed a chair, helped me get my finishers t-shirt and didn’t leave me until she knew I was fine and ready to head off for food. A yummy burrito sans tortilla, a really good massage, a brief race de-brief with Suzanne (the friend from the finish), a second burrito, and I was ready to check out lost and found. And shockingly, they’d found my engagement ring. Later, I found my wedding band - I had thrown it in my bag. So I did lose the pendent I’d had on the chain but nothing else.

Overall, a success. I did a race. I enjoyed it. I made a big emotional breakthrough. And I’ve been able to train this week and am beginning to get motivated to set some goals for next year. Waiting another week or two for the results of a medical test before making any commitments for next season but I think this is good.

Ragnar and Yoga (Not at the Same Time)

Over this weekend, I was able to volunteer at the Washington DC Ragnar Relay. It was a great experience and it really motivated me to join a team for one of next year’s relays. I worked at Exchange 33 out of 36 so by the time the teams got to us they were tired and, with the temperatures in the 90s, really hot. But they were all still really enthusiastic and positive. It was great to see the teams with costumes - some memorable options include the banana costume, the man running in red ‘Flash’ underoos and compression socks, the team in short black shorts and bow ties. It was amazing to see the teams that were running competitively, especially the ultra teams. And motivating to see the teams of friend that were just out to have fun.

I brought my Compex to share with waiting teams but that didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped. We were the first shift so we waited 2 and a half hours for the first team to come through but once they did, runners started coming through pretty consistently for the rest of my shift. I did share my Compex with some volunteers as we waited and a runner from one of the earlier teams. The runner had cramping calves and a brief experience with the recovery plus program (they didn’t have time for the full program) helped stop his cramps. The EMTs who came by to wait with us for a while also really liked the Compex unit, they spent quite a bit of time looking through the manual and guide. I have a couple of photos to share and the response from everyone was really positive.

On an unrelated note, I learned a new lesson about my own Compex use. I’ve been pretty consistent about using Active Recovery after my run and bike training (even if not as consistent with my training!). But I didn’t think about using it after my tough yoga/pilates class yesterday and boy did I suffer when I got out of bed this morning. My quads, my glutes and my abs all let me know that I’d asked a lot of them and hadn’t rewarded them for their hard work. I did some more yoga today and I made sure to follow up with my Compex. Sadly, there isn’t a recovery program for abs so I’ll just have to hope that they are a little less sore tomorrow than they were today.

Some Fun Races Coming Up

I’m really looking forward to the next 3 weekends because I have some fun races and race-related activities coming up. I should be terrified because I haven’t been doing the training that I should but I really think that getting out and being around other athletes at races is going to be great inspiration for me. Plus, just seeing how bad I feel after racing while untrained should motivate me to do more regular training than I have been doing.

I’m really excited about this weekend’s event. I’m volunteering at one of the exchanges for the Ragnar Relay. I think being part of this environment and seeing everyone’s fun and excitement as they come through my exchange is going to be a great introduction to this event and I’m hoping to compete next year. I’m going to bring along my Compex, extra pads, and some cleansing wipes and plan to offer a Compex test to runners as they come through.

The next two weekends, I’ll be using Compex for myself. First, I’m doing the Half-Full Triathlon on October 3rd. It’s almost a half-ironman distance but with a shorter swim, so very good for me, especially with as little swimming as I have been dong since my last race in June. Then, I’ll need to recover to be ready for my first cyclo-cross race of the season on October 9. I’m really glad that I’ll have the Compex to use during the week between these two races to help my undertrained muscles recover from the first effort and get ready for the second.

I also started playing with my video camera and have a short clip of me using the Endurance program on my quads. I’ll try to make some more videos: maybe I can do a compilation of Ragnarians enjoying the treat.

Not My Half Marathon

This isn’t about me but about one of my friends/clients. He’s been borrowing my Compex on and off as he trains this summer. On Sunday, he ran his first half-marathon (2:07, very good and in line with what we expected). After the race he texted me with his results - and a question about coming over to borrow the Compex. He went home first, took an ice bath (and a shower!) then came over for an hour of Recovery Plus on his quads, hamstrings, and calves. (I was glad I had some unused pads to share!) He’s definitely thinking about whether he can afford to buy one for himself! Until then, I’m sure he’ll continue to stop by whenever he needs some Compex recovery.