Where Have I Been? - 56 Days Left

As the training picks up, the time for blogging about it goes down. Last week's recovery week was a welcome break, but things have picked up again since this past Wednesday. This week and next week are the toughest of the whole training schedule and given that I've gotten through most of this week, I'm encouraged about the triathlon to come. Yesterday was a 500 m swim and a 30 minute run, just insert an hour plus bike ride in the middle and you've got yourself a triathlon. Today is a rest day which is great because bless his little heart, Brandon has given me his cold. With lots of echinacea, vitamin C, astragalus, colostrum and rest today I'm hoping to be fit to tackle the 500 m swim and 80 minute bike ride tomorrow. I'm getting hungry just thinking of all the calories I'm going to burn.

Recovery Week Here I Come! - 65 Days to go

The last two days have been pretty intense with an 80 minute bike ride at the end of the day yesterday and a 55 minute run this morning. I'm looking forward to the upcoming rest week that starts tomorrow with a day off training. There's been a low grade tightness in my left calf muscle that I'm hoping will go away with the rest day. I just took 500 mg of dimagnesium malate and 1 packet of Magnelevures to see if that helps loosen it up as well.

Triathlon Training Side Effects - 66 days remaining

1. I've lost about 5 pounds in the last month
2. I need to shop for new clothes, all my clothes from last summer are too big and baggy now
3. More energy - believe it or not, I have more energy than ever even with the demands of the workouts
4. I can eat whatever I want and as much as I want - not that I'm going crazy and eating unhealthy foods, but it's nice to be able to eat as often or as much as I would like and not worry about it
5. Nicer skin - all the exercise and sweating is flushing out toxins and bringing more blood flow to my skin, it's got a nice healthy glow

Running Inspires - 67 Days Left

One thing you have to get used to if you are competing in a triathlon is that that you are not allowed to use music during the race. I love to move to music and always found it put a little more bounce in my step when I was running. I've been trying to get used to running without it and I find the lack of distraction leads to inspiration. With no music to otherwise occupy my thoughts the creative juices start to flow and all kinds of ideas pop into my head while I pound out a half hour run.

Life Gets in the Way - 68 Days to Triathlon

I had a run in the afternoon sunshine planned for today that I was so looking forward to, but as it turns out there's been a bit of a family emergency, so no workout today for me. I'll have to try to make up the run tomorrow. Brandon and I did have a lot of fun at the Mooredale Mayfair this morning though. It's an annual spring fair held just east of Summerhill and Yonge with rides and games for the kiddies. Brandon loved the bouncy castles, the train ride, the elephant ride and the fun house.

Just Keep Going - 69 Days and Counting

I had to jockey the training schedule around this week to make it to the pool, so this morning was a 600 meter swim. One of the things I've found with any of the triathlon activities, is that once I get going, it's not that hard to just keep going. The toughest part is usually in the first 5-10 minutes when the body hasn't yet kicked into aerobic mode from anaerobic mode. Once that transition is made, it's just a matter of continuing to put one foot in front of the other, keeping your legs going round or swimming so many more lengths. It becomes quite automatic and in a way like meditation, freeing your mind to think deep thoughts or nothing at all.

Scheduling and Knees - 70 days to go

Today was supposed to be a swim day, but my schedule didn't mesh with the pool schedule, so I ended up switching workouts to a 30 minute bike ride and I'll swim tomorrow instead. One of my weaker areas, second only to my Achilles tendon mentionned earlier, is my knees. Too much running or cycling in the past has lead to Patello Femoral Syndrome (PFS). When it first happened 15 or so years ago I did the round of Sports Medicine doctors and physiotherapists. Physio gave me temporary relief, but it kept re-occuring and the doctors' advice was "well, you'll just have to give up running". I'm sure most avid runners have been given such advice at one time or another and for me, giving it up just wasn't an option. Fast forward to naturopathic college where I started training for triathlons and the trusty knee problems flared up again. I went to the naturopathic clinic and had a series of acupuncture treatments done and - voila! No more knee problems! Acupuncture is perfect for this type of problem, it helps reduce the inflammation, improve circulation to the area and stimulates the immune system to repair whatever damage has been done. I've not had a knee problem since, but if it crops up again I can just stick a few needles in my own knee and keep on running! My daily glucosamine sulfate probably helps too.