Saw Sasha this afternoon. Big issues with flexibility again.
1. Knee to chest holding for 2 seconds
With rope
1. Knee to chest, then hamstring extension hold for 2 seconds
2. Toe up, leg up, then pull rope with straight leg hold for 2 seconds
3. Leg up, out, and pull with rope for 2 seconds (adduction)
4. Opposite arm and leg hip flexor stretch
Sumo Squats (tall posture with hands on toes)
Up and down hamstring stretches
With Band
1. Clamshells on side
2. Hip Lifts and then spread knees
Single leg hip lifts
Chair stretch for rectus femoris (with pillow and something to hold onto)
Foam roll
Stretch
Ice
Repeat.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Goals for 2011
Let's get it done.
1. Sub 2:30:00 at the Shamrock Marathon/ Sub 1:09:00 at the Shamrock Half
2. Kona qualifier at IM Arizona
3. Sub 9 hour IM
4. Win Patriot Half Iron
5. Top 5 at Colonial Half Marathon
1. Sub 2:30:00 at the Shamrock Marathon/ Sub 1:09:00 at the Shamrock Half
2. Kona qualifier at IM Arizona
3. Sub 9 hour IM
4. Win Patriot Half Iron
5. Top 5 at Colonial Half Marathon
I'm Back
I've decided two things.
1. I need to write more.
2. I need to keep a more detailed account of my training.
Not too many know I even keep this blog, so it's just for me, although if people want to read on, they are by all means welcome.
I'm going to write a short synopsis of my 2010 racing and training season.
It was crap.
That's really all that should be said about it. After a really solid race at the Ironman World Championships in October of 2009, I thought that the Winter of 2009-2010 would be the springboard for some really great things. It started off well through December and January, and then right in the middle of February I started suffering from glute/hamstring pain that didn't stop for what seemed like forever. It was never severely painful, but it was dull and it was always there. I ended up going through about 3 months of PT to get it settled out, and realized that I had some big limiters, namely my hip flexor and glute flexibility. They are still things I need to work on daily. Once it cleared up enough where I could start doing some harder efforts in training, I jumped in a couple low key races... Breezy Point where i finished 2nd (and showed off my lack of fitness pretty well, especially on the bike), Rocketts Landing where I won, and the Nation's Triathlon where I raced well in 2nd, but just got beaten by a better racer on the day in Robbie Wade. I just did not have the top end necessary to compete at the highest of levels.
I shifted my focus at this point to running. I planned on racing the Richmond Marathon, and 8 weeks beforehand, I raced the Mulberry Island Half just to test my run fitness. I won convincingly, but I knew that in order to race under 2:30, I had quite a bit of work to do. So I carried on for a few weeks, but then came down with a case of chondromalacia. That took me out of the marathon, and I still am suffering from symptoms.
Yuck.
I guess it really comes down to a couple of things.
1. I need to train more intelligently. I am not a machine, and I cannot consistently drill my body into the ground and expect it to hold up month and month. I might have been able to get away with that in high school and in college, but now, I'm getting older and I need more recovery.
2. I need to train my limiters. For some people, their limiters are aerobic fitness, swim form, muscular strength on the bike. Mine are core strength, flexibility, and muscular power (in the form of strength training)
3. I need to continue to remind myself to back off and ask for help when I need it. I don't know everything, although I do know quite a bit. I wait too long for things to bother me before I go to a professional, and by that time it's too late.
So for 2010-2011, things are going to change. I AM going to train more intelligently. I will regularly schedule easy days/ recovery workouts into my schedule. I AM going to address my limiters more aggressively. I will go to core fitness 2x per week for strength/mobility training and I will continue my routine of foam rolling and stretching at home. I will ask for help when it's needed.
Here's to hoping 2010-2011 goes much better!
1. I need to write more.
2. I need to keep a more detailed account of my training.
Not too many know I even keep this blog, so it's just for me, although if people want to read on, they are by all means welcome.
I'm going to write a short synopsis of my 2010 racing and training season.
It was crap.
That's really all that should be said about it. After a really solid race at the Ironman World Championships in October of 2009, I thought that the Winter of 2009-2010 would be the springboard for some really great things. It started off well through December and January, and then right in the middle of February I started suffering from glute/hamstring pain that didn't stop for what seemed like forever. It was never severely painful, but it was dull and it was always there. I ended up going through about 3 months of PT to get it settled out, and realized that I had some big limiters, namely my hip flexor and glute flexibility. They are still things I need to work on daily. Once it cleared up enough where I could start doing some harder efforts in training, I jumped in a couple low key races... Breezy Point where i finished 2nd (and showed off my lack of fitness pretty well, especially on the bike), Rocketts Landing where I won, and the Nation's Triathlon where I raced well in 2nd, but just got beaten by a better racer on the day in Robbie Wade. I just did not have the top end necessary to compete at the highest of levels.
I shifted my focus at this point to running. I planned on racing the Richmond Marathon, and 8 weeks beforehand, I raced the Mulberry Island Half just to test my run fitness. I won convincingly, but I knew that in order to race under 2:30, I had quite a bit of work to do. So I carried on for a few weeks, but then came down with a case of chondromalacia. That took me out of the marathon, and I still am suffering from symptoms.
Yuck.
I guess it really comes down to a couple of things.
1. I need to train more intelligently. I am not a machine, and I cannot consistently drill my body into the ground and expect it to hold up month and month. I might have been able to get away with that in high school and in college, but now, I'm getting older and I need more recovery.
2. I need to train my limiters. For some people, their limiters are aerobic fitness, swim form, muscular strength on the bike. Mine are core strength, flexibility, and muscular power (in the form of strength training)
3. I need to continue to remind myself to back off and ask for help when I need it. I don't know everything, although I do know quite a bit. I wait too long for things to bother me before I go to a professional, and by that time it's too late.
So for 2010-2011, things are going to change. I AM going to train more intelligently. I will regularly schedule easy days/ recovery workouts into my schedule. I AM going to address my limiters more aggressively. I will go to core fitness 2x per week for strength/mobility training and I will continue my routine of foam rolling and stretching at home. I will ask for help when it's needed.
Here's to hoping 2010-2011 goes much better!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Overcoming Injury
So I was super sick the last two weeks of January, and I could barely manage to wake up and go to work. So I missed 9 days of workouts in that span, and when I finally got healthy, I came back into training WAY too aggressively. Biked 8 hours on the trainer after only 2.5 hours total the previous 2 weeks. That was not smart. And I'm paying for it. I overworked my left hamstring and caught a bout of high hamstring tendonitis.
I hate being hurt. Exercising makes me happy. Being fit makes me happy. Racing makes me happy. And when I'm injured I can't do any of those things.
I think, though, that every time I get injured, I come out of it a better person and a better athlete. Like in the summer of 2008 when I messed my right ankle up badly. I had 11 weeks to prepare for an Ironman, and I became so focused and so on top of things that I was able to get a Kona Q. I don't know if I'm capable to holding that intensity during all of my training throughout the year, but I do know I can do it for blocks at a time. And now, I'm taking a serious look at the quality of my training, and I'm realizing that one thing that I am missing is regular core and strength training. I really think that this element of training will make more so much better, and now that I've had some time to rest and think about how to approach my own training, I know that this is something that needs to be included several times a week.
I have 9 weeks until USAT Duathlon Nationals, which is not long at all. But I also prepped for an IM in 11 weeks, so this shouldn't be any harder than that.
I hate being hurt. Exercising makes me happy. Being fit makes me happy. Racing makes me happy. And when I'm injured I can't do any of those things.
I think, though, that every time I get injured, I come out of it a better person and a better athlete. Like in the summer of 2008 when I messed my right ankle up badly. I had 11 weeks to prepare for an Ironman, and I became so focused and so on top of things that I was able to get a Kona Q. I don't know if I'm capable to holding that intensity during all of my training throughout the year, but I do know I can do it for blocks at a time. And now, I'm taking a serious look at the quality of my training, and I'm realizing that one thing that I am missing is regular core and strength training. I really think that this element of training will make more so much better, and now that I've had some time to rest and think about how to approach my own training, I know that this is something that needs to be included several times a week.
I have 9 weeks until USAT Duathlon Nationals, which is not long at all. But I also prepped for an IM in 11 weeks, so this shouldn't be any harder than that.
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