Monday, February 11, 2013

Take Two

I had a fabulous post all ready to go earlier today. It was fun, quirky and informative and then BAM! I went to publish it and it completely disappeared. ARG!!!!!! Worst part is my husband is a computer geek (I think I'm allowed to call him that) and even he could not rescue my post. So alas here goes another attempt...
I am starting to get Spring Fever. I live on Vancouver Island where our winters are quite mild. We don't get much snow but we do get a lot of rain in the winter months. So I do a lot of my bike training indoors on my wind trainer. Lately I have been dreading going into the Dungeon of Death aka my garage to climb on my old faithful and sweat buckets while my family enjoys themselves inside by the warm fire. 
I vowed that this was going to be the weekend to get out on the road. I convinced my great friend/awesome training buddy Steph to get out there with me. Rain or shine we were doing it. It turned out we had a great day but it was a little chilly. I had on a tuque (winter hat for all you Americans), winter gloves instead of cycling gloves, a neck warmer, 5 layers, and bike shorts underneath fleece lined tights. To top it all off I also wore my ski socks. 
Despite the cool air we had a great time. It felt so good to be on the road and challenge myself a bit more. We pulled into my driveway two hours later with great big smiles. 
I enjoyed myself so much that I went out again today for a 90min ride.

My other big new is these gorgeous babies:
~Don't mind my big babies paws~

I LOVE them!!!
I am a minimalist runner. I switched two years ago after a meniscal tear. My running life has changed in the best of ways thanks to minimalist shoes and my favourite minimalist shoe is New Balance. The only problem was as I increased my mileage anything over 15km gave me really achy feet. So I decided to make a stop at the best running store around (in my mind) Frontrunners Victoria. Every time I go in this store they are ridiculously helpful. The store clerk came up to me right away to help me. I explained my issue told him what I have been running in and he right away recommended the New Balance 1400. He had me try on a few other pairs too just to see but the New Balance once again came out on top.

Seriously I have a few pairs...

A girl needs a trail pair, a road pair and longer distance pair right?

Anyways, I got to try them out the other day and it was like Angels were signing when I ran in them. Sigh, New Balance I LOVE you!!!!
On another note, I am still recovering from my little injury but after my second appointment with my great physio (she just happens to be the lady above whom I love training with) my quad is feeling so much better. It's only up from form here. 



Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Let The Injuries Begin

A few weeks ago I was out for a long run (before I hired a coach). As I was getting ready I thought to myself that maybe I should just do a short one but my competitive side said- buck up baby it's your long run day, just do it. So I grudgingly set out thinking I will be glad I did this. Fast forward to now and I am being treated for a quad injury. An small injury compared to some of the doozy's I've had before but none the less it is an injury. So I confess to my coach that I've had a little twinge for a month or so. He says when did it start? How did it happen? I think back not really remembering a specific time that I thought oh no I just wrecked something. Nope, it was gradual and it all stemmed from that terrible long run. 
What happened? Where did it go wrong? Well I should have listened to my body that day and just do a short run instead of letting my pride get in the way. I was tired and kept pushing. Don't get me wrong, sometimes you need to push yourself and test the limits but that day my body told me today was not the day to push and now I am getting intense treatments so I can keep training. My coach keeps bringing up this advice of listening to your body. Don't push if it's not right. For a while I couldn't figure out why he was babying me so much. Now I realize he was just trying to prevent me for doing something stupid.
So the damage is done. what do you do now? Good news is I'm still a long ways away from my "A" race so an injury now is much better then an injury a few months down the road. I can still run, bike and swim. I just have to take it easy. The other thing that needs to be done? Take care of my body. I am doing yoga 3 times a week, I used to meditate but as of yesterday I will be doing that daily. The other thing which should be a no brainer for a massage therapist is do my stretch and recovery post workouts. We tend to rush through this part and I really do believe it is one of the most important parts of a workout.
I am glad for small injuries. It really makes you come to terms with how you are training and treating your body. I have learned my lesson and will move onward and upward. This is just another reminder to listen to your body.