Recovery is going well

When I woke up yesterday, my calves were still pretty fucked up from the elliptical and other stuff. They felt better than the day before, but when I first walked downstairs in the morning, I was saying "Ow, Ow, Ow" whenever I stepped on my left foot. I played with my walking gait to see how I could walk without it hurting.

I did a :35 abs/core workout early in the morning, but eventually, I had to decide if I was going to run. As soon as I put on my running shoes a little after noon, I guess the extra arch support (I use orthotics) was enough to correct whatever was making my calves hurt.

I still felt pretty fatigued, considering I did a really hard bike workout on Wednesday, and I knew I'd run a pretty good pace if I ran outside (it was a nice day), so in the spirit of continuing my recovery from NothingNess, I JFR'ed 7.5 miles. The nice thing about my run training over the winter is that longer runs are no big deal anymore.

My calves actually felt better for the run, which confirmed what I thought which was that they needed me to not be flat-footed, and with my new ultra lightweight running shoes, I spend more time on my toes, so it all worked out.

I got a massage last night--first one in 20 weeks! Yikes, that's a long time between. Yet, I've been doing fine, muscle-wise, until I a) started this NothingMan nonsense and b) started running on the roads. The massage was absolutely wonderful, and I'm going to get back on a schedule of every 2-3 weeks, just because it hurts so good. Turns out I had boatloads of trigger points from my left glutes all the way down (DUH, no wonder my calves felt fucked up), and in the vastus lateralis on both legs. My massage therapist did a new move on me which allowed him to really whale on my vastus lateralis, which I nicknamed the Vast-ectomy. If you saw how it was done, uh, let's just say if you were a guy you might think you were getting the other kind. My therapist also does some assisted stretches on me, and it was cool to see just how flexible my hamstrings are (or should we say overly flexible?). He did the stretch where I'm lying on my back and picks up one leg (straight knee), and gently pushes it towards my head. I achieved about a 120-degree angle with each leg! So I guess despite my crazy training lately, I've been improving my flexibility despite myself.

This morning when I woke up my calves felt pretty much back to normal. Surprisingly, I swam pretty well this morning, even though I felt worked over from the massage and the preceding training events. I'm about to repeat Wednesday's bike workout, and I hope I can nail it even better this time.

Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice, spring weather, and I'm going to treat myself to a long run on a trail I haven't been on since last August. I'm also looking forward to putzing around in the flower beds and getting really dirty!

Getting the Lead Out

It would be an understatement for me to say I have been pushing myself in training. Now that I find myself having done 2 HIM's (effectively) in 3 weeks (not recommended for those without significant base), I'm really feeling it.

I took Sunday off. On Monday I did an easy 2800 yard drill workout, and then I lifted for an hour. The swim felt good and there was no way I could have done a hard workout. The lifting is not a cardio workout, so no problem there, but in retrospect I should have dropped weight on each exercise for this week only--not like I'd lose any strength there. I woke up at midnight and had to eat something, so I had 2 slices of toast and a chicken leg. Apparently, I was still catching up on my calories from the weekend, although I estimated I burned 3,000 on Saturday doing the workouts, and add in another maybe 2,000 for my RMR, I needed about 5,000. I definitely took in at least 4,000, but sometimes on days when I don't workout, like Sunday, I don't eat enough. Which is why I'm waiting for a personal trainer I know to hook me up with someone who can measure my RMR exactly so I know how much I need to eat. I'm pretty sure it's more than I am customarily eating.

I began paying for that weight workout yesterday. I was supposed to run for 1:15 easy, but my legs were telling me NO, NO, NO. But I figured I could do elliptical. I ended up doing 1:05 of some course called "Around the World." The screen looked like Space Invaders. I had no problem doing the workout, and when I got the machine to tell me my HR, it was perfect for a solid, easy aerobic workout. But when I got off the machine, I had jelly legs something fierce. Probably because my calves had stopped working.

I stretched out really well last night, but when I woke up today, I could still feel my calves being all tight. So I decided to do a pulling workout this morning instead of my scheduled workout, because kicking would just not be happening. Turns out that I swam strongly, so the extra pushups I've started doing must be helping out there . I'm working my way up to the EXCELLENT rating for this test, so I need to get up to 60. I can do 40-50 easily, which already qualifies as excellent, but I want a 100%, and to be able to do a full 60 every day. I am not sure why, but it can't hurt me, right?

So I do the pull workout (with fine, fine scenery in my lane, thank you) and later, I look at my scheduled bike workout:

WU: 15' wup, 3' spinups
MS: 3 x 2' (1') @ 105%, 2' Easy,
4 x (6' @ FT then 2' @ 105-110%, 3' Easy),
8 x 30/30'
CD: 4' Easy

I wasn't sure I'd be able to manage it, but turns out I did just fine. Well, for the first 3 of the FT intervals I was fine...the last one I lost a little power on, but overall I was surprised to be able to nail this. Trust me, it's a hard workout! My calves still haven't settled down, but I think it's still after effect of the elliptical, so they should be fine by tomorrow.

So now that I've confirmed my legs are working again, perhaps with a good night's rest I'll be able to bust out a nice tempo run tomorrow. I'm looking forward to running, and now that the weather is approaching reliable for outdoor running, even better.

On the tapeworm front, I continue to be on the Food Channel since the weekend. I laughed and told my lane mate this morning that I was going to start bringing cheeseburgers to the pool! Somehow I have managed to eat only a handful of those crack-loaded Doritos Hint of Lime chips. Last night I ate until I was almost uncomfortably full, and even after eating a light breakfast and drinking Gatorade during my swim workout, I felt pretty underfueled. But that must just be the recovery fatigue talking. My weight hasn't budged.

I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow, and for the first time in several months, I feel like I really need it.

I'm not on drugs (wish I were)...

Brett asked me to write up the story behind these Boohbahs. Head on over to his blog for his story (whenever he gets around to posting it), since he's now the proud owner of one.

It was 2004, and I was in a hotel room in Racine, WI preparing for a HIM the next day with a former (I hate saying it, but it's true) friend, killing time before race checkin and channel surfing. What should come on the tube but Boohbah! I didn't know it at the time, but it was the successor of Teletubbies. I've seen Teletubbies, and in my opinion, Boohbah is a lot better.

Anyway, you need to actually watch an episode of it (I own the Hot Dog episode, which is a classic) to believe it, but the first time I saw it, I had no idea it was a kid's show, and thought I might have stumbled onto the drug channel. It wasn't until weeks later that I encountered another reference to the show, and found out they made these animated and other versions that you see in the picture. It is just so screwball that I had to buy them, and then I decided they needed Ironman clothes, so I doctored up some infant T-shirts for the larger ones. The big ones are about 12" tall, and they "dance" and make Boohbah noises. The smaller yellow one can be squeezed to make noise, and the small blue one is for travel, although it's been replaced by shark and octopus Beanie Babies on my car's dashboard. The one with the baby PeopleSoft hat--PeopleSoft is the name of the company that I used to work for. It no longer exists. When we were transitioning to the new company, someone left a box of these baby hats in the public kitchen area, and I snagged one.

I know it's silly that I own these things, but hey, I'm silly that way. Sometimes I fire up the dancing ones (I usually only keep 2 on top of the TV) right before I do a trainer workout. It sort of signals "game on."

Last week, Brett tells me his kids are starting to watch and enjoy Boohbah, and he doesn't get it--he also thinks it has something to do with drugs. So I sent him some Boohbah stuff and one other thing, which when he gets around to posting, you'll see.

Oh--I'm going to try and run today and see how that feels. A real easy run. I'm still enjoying the fact that I've effectively done 2 HIM's in 3 weeks. That's something I'd never done before!

If you've never seen Boohbah before, check out this perfect sendup of the opening sequence:

Weekly Workout Totals 03/24/2008-03/30/2008

It doesn't look like a lot of volume, but it was a lot of work. I've been tired all day, as expected. I expect I'll still have some residual fatigue tomorrow, but I need to get back on the training horse. I just don't feel right not working out, though I did get a bunch of errands and chores done today. Did I say I'm tired?

Weekly Workout Totals	03/24/2008-03/30/2008
Swim:	9200 yards (5.22 miles) in 3.1 hours; 21% of weekly workout time; approx. 1085 calories burned
Bike:	Approx. 100 miles in 5.47 hours; 37% of weekly workout time; approx. 2460 calories burned; Total TSS=417
Run:	Approx. 30.4 miles in 4.54 hours; 30% of weekly workout time; approx. 2055 calories burned
Strength:	1.87 hours; 12% of weekly workout time; approx. 468 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 135.62 miles in 14.98 hours; approx. 6068 calories burned
Sleep:	8.57 hours avg./night
Stretching:	2.15 hours. Massage: 0 hours