Recovery: An update

Recovering from an injury can be frustrating and even isolating. I have spent the Spring and now most of the Summer with a bit of a niggle in my lower back that has reduced the amount of training I have been able to do. The frustration of an injury during the race season can be a bit of a struggle.

I did get the honor of racing Ironman Couer d'Alene in June. Going into the race I knew I was under trained but had no idea how much. I hoped to get to the start line at 65% of where I thought I should be on race morning. Not sure I got there. Swimming is the discipline that really fires up my back and as a result the bike was a struggle and the run was out right hard. This was by far the hardest race I have ever had the privilage of doing.  But when racing IMCDA there is so much race day support. There are friendly faces at every turn.

Getting me some high fives!
Photo by Rene Guerrero

I learned a lot from this years race and I take away a huge respect for the level of fitness I have brought to the start line at other IM races. I can only hope that this will never happen again and I will be able to arrive on race day with a high level of fitness. 

Taking some time off after IMCDA I have been afforded the opportunity to be a race fan or pursue my "F Dot". Bootsy is having another great season and was first in her age group at IMCDA. She will be returning to Kona.

Always a proud moment for me to see her on stage. Headed back to Kona!

Lake Stevens was next on the race schedule. A great group of friend were racing and I was on the start list. My doctors had said if I was feeling good on race morning I could race. Great, a race day discussion. Or, I was listed as day to day. But aren't we all. I went through all the motions with hopes of racing. I checked in, did my pre race workouts and checked my bike. But earlier in the day while out on my light pre race spin, I knew the answer to the question. Ironman Arizona is my "A race" this year and I couldn't put myself in a situation where Lake Stevens left me months behind for Arizona. So a call to my Doc to be absolutely sure I was doing the right thing and he confirmed it in no uncertain terms: You cannot race! DNS!

A quick change to the mind set and I threw on my IronFan face. Not easy to do but with so many friends racing it made it O.K. to be just a fan.  And it kept me busy. As a fan it's easy for the racers to look to you and say thanks for giving your support. Reality was, they were giving to me.

Bootsy raced well, having a strong day. She wasn't interested in a 70.3 Worlds slot. "Not interested" sounds a little strange especially to a middle of the pack age grouper like myself, but she will be racing Ironman Canada and then Kona, so this was a race that was used as a long training day for her. We have family in the area so the trip to Lake Stevens is more then just the race. We were also in route to a "real" vacation where a week of recovery on the beach was perfectly timed.

Boosty on the run.

Monday after Lake Stevens Bootsy and I flew to Cabo to meet up with some family. My niece graduated from high school and invited us to go. A true vacation! Wow, what is that? Bootsy and I travel quite a bit but it's always race based. Don't get me wrong we love it and get the opportunity to travel to some phenomenal places. I just wasn't sure we would know how to act on a vacation that was not centered around a race. We figured it out!

Doing nothing can be exhausting!

Headed out for a little deep sea fishing!

Now it's time to try to get back to a level of fitness that will allow me to get back to my regular training schedule. Of course the Doc is saying take it slow. As an endurance athlete, that's a challenge. The weather is great right now and the calendar is starting to weigh on me a bit but in an effort to get to Ironman Arizona with a proper level of fitness I'm "taking it slow". Lots of recovery workouts. These workouts allow for some quality time with Bootsy as she tapers for Canada. So absolutely no complains!

Hanging with Bootsy.

We live in a great place for recovery!

No...I'm not buying a mountain bike!!

A mountain bike? Why would I buy a mountain bike? Be it borrowed or not, I have one. It's too small for me. It hurts my knee. It keeps me from riding.

Last September Bootsy and I happened into a local recreational equipment outlet. We weren't there for any particular reason other then to just get out of the house. It was Labor Day weekend and low and behold they were having a sale on most bikes in stock. Bootsy asked if I wanted to take a mountain bike for a test spin. Now I didn't particularly want a new mountain bike and had stated the fact on many occasions. We have many friends who ride trails in all seasons and all weather. As a result, some of them have been injured due to crashes. They have been cut, bruised and even broken. So no, I didn't need a new mountain bike. Besides I was deep into my training for Ironman Arizona. When would I have time to ride the thing and what if, God forbid, I got hurt. As the model has proven - MTB = PT! Bootsy would have none of it, "You're going home with a bike today". Oh, I get it. Tell me where to stand coach.

I absolutely love the mountain bike. I do. It's perfect for recovery rides during heavy training blocks and a great break both mentally and physically. Mountain biking allows me time to truly enjoy the beauty of the area we live and train in. Too many times I have left the house for a long training ride only to get caught up in the details of the workout, the duration, the numbers, how I am feeling within a particular workout or interval. When I am out on the mountain bike,  I "take time to smell the roses". I engage the changing of the seasons and all the beauty Mother Nature provides. The mountain bike feeds my soul. Who knew? But as Sir Isaac Newton stated, "To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction". Or...What feeds your soul, steals from it.

For the last 5 years I have be lucky enough to race Ironman 70.3 California Oceanside each year. We have family in Southern California and it's a good excuse to visit them on an annual basis. The weather in Oceanside the last week in March is always great in comparison to the Inland Northwest. Everything in SoCal is green and alive, not the grey and brown we live with here for a couple months. As great as it is to race Oceanside, training for Oceanside has it's challenges. It makes for a long season to start racing in March and end in November with Ironman Arizona. Staying motivated can be an issue. Training in the northern part of the country can be daunting as well. We always seem to get our key workouts but LONG trainer rides and interval runs on snow covered roads can start to wear on you. Getting through "the muck and the mire" can be as rewarding as an Oceanside race day itself. A distinctive reason I train each year in Eastern Washington in February for a 70.3 is there always seems to be a few day each summer that are perfect days to train but for whatever reason I don't feel motivated. Maybe it's the latter days of a build and I'm physically or mentally tired, whatever the reason, I just don't want to get out the door. These winter workouts at 37 degrees in the pouring rain help me keep the summer days in perspective, they can gets me out the door and keeps me from wasting a perfect training day. Lets face it, who wouldn't take a sunny 78 degree training day right now.

Fast forward to early February.

It's a typical snow covered February day as I am headed to Riverside State Park to meet some friends for a light trail ride. I knew there would be ice and deep snow but I committed to the ride so against my better judgment I hit the trails. Now, on any other weekend I may have decided to stick to the roads, get a strong workout and then head home, but I knew these guys ride trails only so I played along. Darn male ego! Well as you may have guessed, there were crashes due to icy conditions and not only by me. Most of the crashes were harmless, only prompting a little light ribbing from fellow riders. Most crashes were harmless...except one. And that's where the larcenist that is the mountain bike began its work.

As I sit here, my love for the trails has put me, well, behind in my training. Lets just leave it at that. Oceanside 70.3 will be the first "major" race on my schedule I have ever missed so in that I've been lucky. But did the mountain bike actually steal this race? Not to sure about that, but falling off may have.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm happy where I am right now. A little disappointed but happy. I have other races to train for. I guess what I can surmise from this realization is that the decision not to try to push through this setback was, indeed, the right one. Not that it was easy, I mean, yes, the writing was on the wall. If you spent any time with me the past couple of months, you would have known. You could have guessed.

I talked my decision over with Bootsy. Initially, it was exploratory.  For a few weeks, I couldn't help feeling as if somehow my decision was less about my injury and more about the fear of disappointing her. We love our trips to Oceanside. They are about much more than the race itself, it's time away together and time with ones we love.

So what's the moral of the story here? Be careful of what you ask for. Or in this case, be careful what you speak of. The mountain bike giveth and the mountain bike taketh away.

At my house this Saturday early AM there will be Ironman Athlete Tracker to follow Bootsy's race and good coffee. Stop by. It will be followed by a long(ish) ride...on my tri bike. I will reserve the trails and mountain bike for Sunday after bunnies and colored eggs. And before what will be a big ars mid afternoon "recovery" meal.

What inspires?

Inspiration can come from anywhere and be nurtured by anything. It comes in an endless array of shapes and forms. But you have to choose to see it. The enclosed photo is to date my favorite portrait of myself within the realm of triathlon. It's a photo taken by Bootsy in the latter stages of Ironman Arizona. I posted the picture to facebook where a friend, unbeknownst to me, capture the image and had a poster style print made of it. That print is headed to the framers and then on to the wall. Thanks Rick-O!! 


Never lose sight of inspiration. Ironman Arizona 2012

The fact that this image of a young girl moved others to either like it on FB or actually have it printed got me thinking I should expand on what inspires me and why.

All Iron distance races are grueling. It's the nature of the race itself and frankly part of what keeps me coming back to the start line each year. Iron distance races are arguably the toughest single day endurance event on the face of the planet. When you swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 and then run a marathon there are going to be highs and lows. There just are, there is no getting around it. Bootsy and I have been fortunate in the fact we have been able to choose Iron distance race venues where friends and family are in attendance. Except for one, Ironman Wisconsin 2011. In most aspects of the race, swim excluded for obvious reasons, I look to the crowd for inspitation in both times of trouble and times of triumph. The times of trouble seem to stick in my mind a little better then times of triumph.

We have the best race day friends ever. Period! These crazies know how to work a race from a spectators point of view. They are popping up everywhere and anywhere on the course all day long. And if you're out there deep into the night, so are they. The knowledge that they are out there waiting absolutely makes it easier to run from place to place, from face to face.

When we signed up for IM Wisconsin in 2011 we knew we would be traveling and racing alone, just the two of us. I quickly realized for that reason it would be a different race for me and my ability to draw from the crowd. On race morning, Bootsy was a little more eagar to get into the water then I. She wanted a warm up, I did not. Sliding to the side of the shoot to stay out of the way of the other athletes pilgrimage to the water, there were families with small children being held so they could see over the fence. You see this at every race. The children had there arms extended in an effort to get a hand slap or "high five" from the passing athletes. I took the images of my high fives with those kiddos with me the rest of the day.

Not knowing another soul in Madison that day I wondered about the latter portions of my race. Where would I look for help, for inspiration? I found it in the children of Wisconsin. Be it on the bike or the run, if there was a child with a hand out looking for a high five, they got it from me. It is my guess these children were collecting high fives from the athletes. What these kids may never know is they are giving more then they could ever receive. At least they are giving to me when I race.

Iron distance racing strips me down. I can get to places within myself that I can only get to on race day. A pureity exists in the eyes of a child that embodies some of these places. There are sacred moments within a race that surprise me; they come without warning or prompting; they simply visit, then vanish, leaving me with peaceful joy or bliss that is beyond my ability to express or describe. These types of experiences were more frequent in my childhood but have become rarer as I age and cynicism or doubts jade me and separate me from these places. I draw peace, strength and inspiration from the out stretched hand of a child. 

Introductions

Having never been a blogger, I thought some introductions were in order. The invention of this blog is based in chronicling. Chronicling my triathlon adventures as well as "family" life. I would think this will be an image based blog, using photographs to tell the majority of the story.

I live in a home with two world class athletes. One with two legs, one with four. Bootsy is a triathlete who is consistently at the pointy end of most races she enters. Watching her grow within the sport has been a real joy.


Butch our Siberian is one of the now two "running partners" in our home. When you train with a Siberian you are training with a world class athlete. He is always at the ready to run, regardless the weather conditions. This time of year that can be a blessing or a curse. He has a way of getting us out the door in all conditions in all seasons.

Butch at his best.

We just added a German Shepard puppy to our family. Kailua, we call her Kai, is a joy but Kai is a pup. Puppies come with inherent challenges but at the end of the day it's all worth it. Butch is at a point in life where he will soon need to be retired from running. Kai will step in where he leaves off.



So that is all as far as the introductions go. I have a full race schedule this year and am going long twice, once in Couer d'Alene and again in Arizona. There will be other races along the way starting with Oceanside 70.3 in March. It's going to be a long season as far as the calender is concerned but I am looking forward to the challenges and life lessons that the training and racing will provide.