So far, so good…I have successfully abstained from running since December 4th. I have January 5th marked in my planner as the day I will end the month-long no-running challenge. I have been holding up well the past 2 weeks, but the hard part is still to come. I’m not going to hunt through my training history and confirm this, but I think this will be the longest I’ve gone without running since I was a sophomore in high school, which would be 8 years ago. For someone of my size, hovering around 185-210 for that time period, it’s pretty impressive this is my first injury to speak of. The ice is doing a good job of motivating me to not want to run, but the temptation still hits me occasionally. I have substituted erging and a little time on the elliptical into the running workouts I would have been doing. Training is still going extremely well as a whole. My only worry now is that without any significant race until the end of April, I may explode from anticipation.
In other news, the countdown to my tri-bike fitting is 35 days…getting close.
Also, Christmas is fast approaching, and I’ve been kind of a Christmas bum this year. The bonus of being married in regard to Christmas time is…even though there are more people to buy for with 2 immediate families, gifts can be given from both of us. And with my wife’s natural female instinct to enjoy shopping, she strategizes and actually purchases most of the gifts we need. So, Christmas shopping has become much easier since I really only need to focus on getting gifts for her. That being said, I’m not done yet and haven’t wrapped a darn thing, but I’m close enough to not feel stressed about it.
I did, however, decorate the exterior of the house with lights and some other miscellaneous things. It looks pretty amateur, but not bad for a first time. It snowed yesterday and that definitely accentuates the Christmas look. I’m satisfied with it and was surprised that hanging icicle lights was much easier than I expected.
Our dog, who had to have an impromptu surgery yesterday to deal with an abscess, is now home even though I haven’t gotten there to see him yet. It was strange being in the house without him around even though he’s only been with us for 2 months. It’s amazing how quickly he became one of the family. Anyways, it will be good to be greeted at the door again.
That is all for now. I think I will post again to brag about all my Christmas presents like a spoiled 8 year old, but I’m not sure if I’ll get anything in before that. Happy holidays everyone.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
December 4/30 complete...right?
Failure…but I kind of expected it. Having not had a run without some level of discomfort from the hips since the October marathon and having not fully addressed the issue yet, I was unrealistically optimistic at how my body would hold up through my attempt at the 31 day running streak in December. I made it 4 days before the hip pain settled in on Friday and I was hobbling around at work. At that point I finally made the smart decision and decided to pull out of the running challenge, get real rest by not running for a month, and taking square aim at the discomfort issue. I DO NOT want to be carrying this with me through next year with everything I have planned.
I was disappointed for all of 3-4 hours, and then realized this will be a good opportunity to cross-train on the ergometer (indoor rowing machine for non-“crew”-ers)and build a huge bike base along with the already consistent swimming and lifting I have been doing.
Other reasons to be excited:
It’s Christmas season, do you need more of a reason than that
My workout consistency is at an all-time high and I feel very confident about the upcoming year since this is normally where I lose motivation due to cold weather and no races near
My first achievable goal of 2009 is already underway and going very well…that being my diet. I am officially down below Clydesdale level now (and with the holidays too), although I heard sad news that there will be no more Clyde and Athena div in NAS IM races…so I guess I picked a good time to lean up. I still have until April 1st to reach my goal, but am already nearly ½ way…very exciting
I get a tri-bike fitting on January 20th…and a new machine soon thereafter
We’re getting to be like a well oiled machine at home as a newly-wed, home-owning, and dog-owning family. Of course, money is a little tight, but we’re being smart and taking things as they come, but still enjoying ourselves (and our dog). Even Derby is getting into a routine and isn’t pooing on the floors or carrying bags of flour around the house much anymore.
So, all-in-all, things are going pretty well despite the running setback. GL to the other streak runners out there, and Happy Holidays. Hopefully I’ll update again soon, but who knows…busy times ahead.
I was disappointed for all of 3-4 hours, and then realized this will be a good opportunity to cross-train on the ergometer (indoor rowing machine for non-“crew”-ers)and build a huge bike base along with the already consistent swimming and lifting I have been doing.
Other reasons to be excited:
It’s Christmas season, do you need more of a reason than that
My workout consistency is at an all-time high and I feel very confident about the upcoming year since this is normally where I lose motivation due to cold weather and no races near
My first achievable goal of 2009 is already underway and going very well…that being my diet. I am officially down below Clydesdale level now (and with the holidays too), although I heard sad news that there will be no more Clyde and Athena div in NAS IM races…so I guess I picked a good time to lean up. I still have until April 1st to reach my goal, but am already nearly ½ way…very exciting
I get a tri-bike fitting on January 20th…and a new machine soon thereafter
We’re getting to be like a well oiled machine at home as a newly-wed, home-owning, and dog-owning family. Of course, money is a little tight, but we’re being smart and taking things as they come, but still enjoying ourselves (and our dog). Even Derby is getting into a routine and isn’t pooing on the floors or carrying bags of flour around the house much anymore.
So, all-in-all, things are going pretty well despite the running setback. GL to the other streak runners out there, and Happy Holidays. Hopefully I’ll update again soon, but who knows…busy times ahead.
Monday, December 1, 2008
December 30/30 Challenge...or not
So, it’s December. The Christmas tree was put up last night and I will have my first experience putting out Christmas lights this weekend. We’ll see how that goes. Thanksgiving was a nice, relaxing weekend. I was able to spend plenty of time reading, watching TV, seeing some friends/family, and getting in some easy long and low workouts (when I wasn’t trying to referee between our dog and my parents’ dog). Considering I spent 4 days at my parents house, eating out for lunch and dinner basically daily (other than thanksgiving dinner, of course), I would say the weekend was a success. It was week 3 of my off-season weight loss plan and I basically held my ground, gaining .1 pound. I’ll consider that a success. Now I can pick up with the losses again this week. My motivation has been very high lately and I’ve been ignoring my excuses to skip workouts. Hopefully this will keep up at least through the new year. I think I should have no trouble staying on track until January 20th, so I look good when I get my tri-bike fitting. I’m counting down the days.
Anyways, December also marks the beginning of my possibly ill-advised attempt at a running streak. One of my big goals this off-season is to increase my running speed at longer efforts. I have a pretty aggressive ½ marathon goal for late April I’d like to hit. However, I’ve been officially, unofficially diagnosed with some IT band issues. Every run since my marathon in late October, I’ve noticed some pain or soreness in my hip. I’ve “consulted” with my dad and sister (both PTs) and they seem to think it’s the IT band acting up. They’ve advised plenty of stretching and some hip strengthening lifts, but not backing off on the running volume. They only advised taking it easy, especially on the pace. So I am still planning on running every day of December with the trifuelers, but am going to be paranoid about my hip, because obviously putting things into perspective, it’s not worth risking injury for some goofy fun.
So, we’ll see how it goes…
Anyways, December also marks the beginning of my possibly ill-advised attempt at a running streak. One of my big goals this off-season is to increase my running speed at longer efforts. I have a pretty aggressive ½ marathon goal for late April I’d like to hit. However, I’ve been officially, unofficially diagnosed with some IT band issues. Every run since my marathon in late October, I’ve noticed some pain or soreness in my hip. I’ve “consulted” with my dad and sister (both PTs) and they seem to think it’s the IT band acting up. They’ve advised plenty of stretching and some hip strengthening lifts, but not backing off on the running volume. They only advised taking it easy, especially on the pace. So I am still planning on running every day of December with the trifuelers, but am going to be paranoid about my hip, because obviously putting things into perspective, it’s not worth risking injury for some goofy fun.
So, we’ll see how it goes…
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