5 Random Thoughts

#1.) So, I am still not back to running. It still hurts to walk. I am still icing 4-6 times per day with either ultrasound or iontophoresis 1x/day. I took an easy week. A couple of swim workouts, some weights, that was about it. I am going to ride my bike tomorrow and swim Monday. I am so incredibly tired of not running and it has been one week. I miss it like crazy. One good thing that has come of this is that I realize how much I depend on running to keep my brain together. It starts off my day in a good way like nothing else can. So, healthy thoughts, healthy food, and continued rest.

One weird thing that is now happening with my foot is that when I point my toes, there is a "creak". I know it sounds weird but if you put your hand at the front of my heel on the bottom of my foot you can seriously feel like a rubber band is stretching. It is the creaky knees feeling but not, I repeat, NOT, at a joint. I first thought it was fluid built up moving around and maybe it is. It doesn't hurt any extra when I do it but it sure does feel weird. That has to stop.

#2.)On a whole different note, Mr KT bought me a new running hat and running gloves for the cold weather. We are thinking positive on the running. =0) They are Nike brand and the coolest thing is the hat has a hole for a ponytail! Now some of you may not see just how cool this really is but as a girl with long, thick hair, I am stoked! No more hat bouncing off because the ponytail is bouncing, no more hair down to wear a hat.

The running gloves are sweet too, they have a key pocket on the palm which rocks. I can't wait to try them out. I am ready for the cold, bring it on!


#3.) Mr KT ponied up and went to Master's swim with me on Friday. Unfortunately, I have no photos documenting this but maybe my coach will vouch for him. It was just he and I, as Friday's aren't a very popular night at the pool. I swam in one lane and he swam in another. I did my workout while the coach worked on technique with him. Seemed to go well. I am not sure how many yards he got in but he had no cramping during the entire session. Our coach said that he could make Mr KT faster than me in one month which is not cool. I know it isn't a competition but it is all I have left. He is faster and stronger than me in EVERY other way. Damn, I hate being a girl sometimes.

#4. I did finally get some cycling gloves as well. The rides are getting longer and sometimes if I spend too much time out of the aerobars I have sore hands by the time I get home. I won't wear them all the time but on those longer rides they will come in handy.


#5. This is totally unrelated to triathlon so feel free to skip this part if that is why you are reading. Last weekend I walked into our bedroom to find this... Believe it or not, that bed was made when I last checked. They were so darn cute and naughty that I had to catch it with the camera.


Brick...




Kona...


Later...

Long Run

Now, compared to Blink, I am no endurance runner. (Check his blog for his latest running craziness.) However, Saturday I completed my 10 mile long run in 1:38 min. This is maybe the farthest I have ever run, I also didn't have to stop once. I settled into a nice easy 9:40 or so pace and just comfortably held it. I had some minor pain/tightness in both of my Achilles tendons but nothing unmanageable. I ate a bowl of oatmeal about 45 minutes before I left as suggested by Blink and it went great. I had initially planned to run two 5 mile loops, circling by my house to drop off the dog and get some water but I ended up doing more of an out and back. Never fear, the dog was fine and led the way the entire run. She is in great shape!

Anywho, I got back home had a nice day with my husband and settled in to watch the smashing I knew was coming to the Huskers when my foot started to ache. I ran down and got an ice pack (like the good little PT that I am) and iced it 15 min on, 20 min off for most of the 1st half. Still hurt the next morning so I iced again before church and then later in the day. It didn't hurt bad enough that I had to stay home from paintball though. (If you have never played and you like to get dirty like I do, then you should definitely try it, it was a BLAST!) Anywho, I did an ultrasound on it this morning at work and then iced during our staff meeting. I also didn't run on it the last two days and will most likely be swimming and riding the next couple of days. Shoot, and I was so proud of myself for my run.



I am pretty sure that it is an acute tendinitis or something similar. It hurts right where the peroneus longus and brevis lines are on the image above. It doesn't hurt to just stand on and there is only one motion that hurts it specifically when I am walking. No big deal, just a good reminder to be nice to your body or it will tell you how mad it is at you. More ultrasound and ice tomorrow and soon we will be as good as new.

Later

quick pic

Just a quick photo from the ride last weekend. Note the crazy fog! That would be Brad, me, then Mr. KT, checking me out from the back (just kidding)! At least the photographer didn't catch the giant goosebumps on my arms from this angle!

Rollin to the River Ride

Last Saturday morning, my husband, one of his buddies and I rode the 55 mile Rollin to the River Ride. This ride benefited the Blair Bike Club and MS.

We met up at Brad's around 6 am. I had wanted to ride my TT bike but knew that since it was a group ride with lots of drafting and pace lines I had better stick to the road bike. It was pretty cool outside and I wondered if I should bring my new arm warmers but decided against it. It was bound to warm up once the sun was up. Or not. We took off out of the parking lot in Blair, NE about 7:30 am. There were a bunch of routes, 20, 35, 55, 68, 88 & 100 miles. We did the 55 mile ride as I said above. It was freezing. I had gigantic goosebumps on my arms for at least the first 10 miles. As we rode through Tekamah,NE the temp read 59ºF. Brrr. It was basically flat with little to no wind riding north. I am guessing our average was about 22 mph on the way out. We fell into a pace line with some gentleman that were riding slightly faster than I normally would have but it worked out. I spiked my heart rate trying to get up into the back of that group and I paid for it on the way back. We hit the turn around for our ride at a tiny little country church. They let us use their bathrooms and there was a great gal manning the aid station. She had been up all night baking cinnamon rolls and they were FANTASTIC! I joked with her about trying to tape them onto my top tube for the HIM I was thinking about doing. I really hadn't eaten or drank anything for the first half of the ride. I was working and breathing so hard to keep up with Brad and Mr. KT that I couldn't do it. I realized this may be a problem and tried to get some calories down for the ride home. I ate a cinnamon roll and a package of fruit snacks and started in on the bottle of Gatorade I had brought.

We turned around and headed back to the parking lot. The wind had picked up and was coming from the South, which was the direction we were headed. My heart rate was higher than it should have been and I was having trouble keeping up with the big boys (welcome to my world). I was really, really wishing for my tri bike with my aero bars. I told them to go on ahead but my husband was hesitant to leave me alone on the highway, which I appreciated. They rode slightly ahead of me, very easily, while I labored behind them. We ended up doing 55 miles in 2:59:04 which was an average of 18.43 mph. Just in time to drive home, have lunch, and sleep through the second half of the Nebraska game.

Average HR: 147, Max HR: 180. My training log calculated the burned calories to be over 2000. Interesting when you compare that to the intake. Looks like I have some work to do. I think I need a plan.

IM Wisconsin

Just a quick update for you all...

Brett is out of the water 1:05:57.

Tyler aka Jetpack is out of the water 1:17:35.

Jay aka TriDummy is out of the water at IMoo. 1:29:56

There are many more bloggers out there like Triboomer, Steve, Pharmie, Iron Wil, Greyhound, and the rest of the Race Athlete team. Good luck guys! We are cheering for you.

Off to church. More updates to come.


Watch them and your other soon-to-be Ironman friends live at www.ironman.com

Or track your favorite athlete at http://www.ironman.com/events/ironman/wisconsin?show=tracker&y=2007

You know what is better than Tylenol Sinus?

Riding in the aero position for 40+ miles!



Mr KT and I took a nice long, easy ride on Labor Day. We left about 10 am and averaged just under 17 mph or so. Pretty flat for the first 23 miles a few rolling hills in the middle and then flat again for the last 7 miles.

I had to stop midway and blow my nose. I was so excited. You know how colds are broken down into stages? The first 3 days or so it is building, you have a mildly sore throat with a headache. The middle three days you are so congested you think that your sinuses will implode inside your head. The last three days or so you are a true joy to be with. A deep hacking cough, a tissue box at your side, your body producing so much junk that you wish you could market it's efficiency for you would make a quick million. Well, I for some reason was having trouble fully reaching stage three. No matter what I did, or took, I would go to bed with a full head and it would shift itself further backwards during the night. I would go to the pool and each flip turn would make me dizzy as stuff moved around. Well, all it took was to be horizontal, looking at the ground for 2.5 hours and everything changed. Coincidence? Who cares. I finally feel better and can sleep with my mouth shut! Yes! I went for a 5 mile run yesterday just to celebrate.