November

So, my knee has felt great since I haven't been running on it. No pain on the stairs, no pain at work while I am crawling around on the floor, no pain with walking, or swimming, or yoga, or anything. But still no running.

It really is amazing how much running, or in this case, not running, affects my mood. More than I should really let it. I am significantly more edgy. I have been trying to really watch what I have been eating since I am not burning near the calories I do when I am out putting in the miles. That makes me a little grumpy too. I don't like being hungry but who does? Kona also has had to decrease her calories a bit and she isn't thrilled with it. The good news is that it is short lived and that hopefully by the end of November we will both be back at it, at least a little.

My goal is a nice, easy, short, pain-free run on Thanksgiving morning. I was initially hoping it would be a trail run but I think that it would probably be best to ease in with a couple of miles around here so as to keep the terrain more level. That will make my brain happy.

So, what have I been doing with my workouts? Anything and everything that doesn't hurt that stupid left knee. I have been swimming masters in the mornings 2-3 days per week. I have been lifting weights at least 3 times per week. Last weekend Mr KT and I went on a nice easy 1 hour bike ride as the weather was gorgeous. I have been doing Bikram Yoga twice a week. (I think I would do that every single day if I could afford it.) I have been doing a bit of shadow boxing and small amounts of kickboxing and jumping rope. I have been walking my 3.5 mile run route with Kona and I would just like to say that walking takes forever. I do love to be outside with my doggy though. I am going to consider Pilates, spinning (as the weather gets colder) and maybe some more cardio in there somewhere.

I am obsessed. That is what I have discovered in the last month. I am fearful of gaining the weight. I am anxious about not being "a runner". I will be try to be patient but man, it's tough for me.

Ow

My knee hurts.

I lifted weights Saturday morning (legs) and ran Saturday afternoon for about an hour and had excessively tight IT bands. Sunday I jumped on my bike for about 40 miles with friends.

My left knee hated it.

No idea why.

I think this is the first time I have had true knee pain. I thought it was suprapatellar but as I live with it for several more days I am thinking it is more medial.

Stairs hurt.

Walking hurts. (Those first few steps are a doozy.)

I ran this morning as it was feeling better but am regretting that a bit.

I am supposed to have another leg workout today but I think that I am going to do core instead.

What does the resident PT (me) recommend?

ICE
RELATIVE REST
ITB STRETCHING
MEDIAL QUAD AND ADDUCTOR STRENGTHENING

Ow.

Fall is cooler than summer...

... or so says my oh-so-brilliant younger brother.

It has, in fact, been a very cool end of summer, beginning of fall in terms of temperature. This has been great for some things, namely long runs with the dogs, having the windows open in the house, bike rides, etc. It has also created some minor discomforts. The temperature of the lake water is pretty darn cold right now. There are an over abundance of what I thought we gnats but that apparently are aphids just hovering in the air. It almost seems like a plague. When I run my normal route through the big city park by our house they are thick. My white tank top is actually black when I get done because it is covered in bugs. I have them in my mouth, ears, eyes (even with sunglasses), stuck to my sweaty skin, and smashed in my sports bra. You can't really brush them away because they smash against you. It's incredibly gross. The dogs are constantly shaking their heads and have the bugs in the corners of their eyes. Poor babies. It's really enough to deter one from taking a quick run because you have no choice but to shower immediately when you get home even if you are just out for a quick 3 miler. The news coverage has said that it is due to the low temperatures but it seems like it has also been very still, very little wind. Even just a breeze might blow them around a little so they were not just sitting there. Yuck!

Other than that, nothing too exciting happening. No marathons planned this fall. No races at all really. Might try and sneak in a couple of 5Ks or one more half marathon if I can find one close. The Omaha half was just too expensive to justify. I can just go out and run the 13 miles on my own from my house and I can take a dog and my ipod.

My mom and aunt and I will be walking the Race for the Cure next weekend. Like last year, I will run down to the start beforehand and walk with them. It's becoming a tradition!

Oh and I hit a Bikram yoga class this week because it wasn't so blasted hot outside anymore. It felt so awesome! I hadn't been for months and I was more sore than I have been in quite some time the next day. I love it.

Other than that, just swimming, biking, and running.

Happy fall!

Summertime

Well, it has been a good summer. Other than work, which is, well, work I have been spending the majority of my time outside. I am either swimming, biking, running, working in my flower beds, or just sitting on my deck.

Several weeks ago I raced in a local sprint triathlon. I raced this a couple of years ago and here is the race report from then. This year, I was sick Saturday night and lost a good portion of the fluids and calories I had been working on all day for the race the next day. Sunday morning I got up and had a Nutrigrain bar and a bit of Gatorade as I was still afraid to eat. The swim was not great and I felt really sick on my bike. I considered turning in my chip after the bike ride because I felt so bad but by the 3rd loop of the 3 loop course I finally started to feel better and so I continued to race. I had a great run and I held on for 3rd overall female, 2nd in my age group. (Note: this is just a small local race.)

Place in age group: 2/13
Gender place: 3/73
Swim: 10:13 (Pace: 1:54/100 m)
TI: :53
Bike: 41:58 (Pace: 21.4 mph)
T2: :45
Run: 23:57 (Pace: 7:49)
Finishing Time: 1:17:15

Something else that was sort of amusing to me was the guy's set up next to me.

Here is my transition set up...


And here is his...


Note this little detail...


That would be the bucket 'o Gu. Two words...

SPRINT TRIATHLON.

Oh well, to each their own. Everyone is entitled to race their own race and he was a veteran triathlete. I say do what works.


Last weekend I raced with a few friends at Big Creek Triathlon near Des Moines. This was an Olympic distance race and this particular race previously held the distinction of most miserable race ever in my book. I wrote a rather wordy race report on it then. Anywho, the weather was much cooler this year which helped. The swim was wet suit legal but I didn't use one. I ended up starting too far left and having to swim across everyone. That was dumb. I then had trouble getting my legs going on the bike. The race's website boasted that the bike course was flat and fast. Somehow, this morphed into hilly, windy, and slow. I had a decent run but by that time it was too late. Overall, I had a sucky race. I felt pretty good until about 5 pm that evening. My head was throbbing and all I wanted to do was go to bed. I guess now I had better find another race to end on.

Place in age group:10/20
Gender place: 33/97
Swim: 31:32 (Pace:1:56/100 m)
TI: 1:03
Bike: 1:16:33 (Pace: 19.5 mph)
T2: 1:00
Run: 53:15 (Pace: 8:35)
Finishing Time: 2:43:24

It has been a busy summer for Mr KT and we both felt like we had hardly seen each other. He had a week off work last week to recover and energize himself for the fall and I took Friday off. We had intended to do a mini vacation but for several reasons this didn't work. Instead we opted to take the dogs to the lake for the afternoon. It thunder-stormed hard over night and it was grey and cloudy when I got up to swim at 5:30. By 11:00 all the clouds had burned off and it was hot and humid. We packed up the dogs and lunch and our gear and headed to the lake. When we arrived it was already 90 deg. We took the dogs on a short trail run but had to short cut back because it was just too hot for them.

Mr KT and Brick and Kona in the shade after running, trying to cool off.


We threw on swim suits and got in the water. Kona is a little fishy. She swims all over and she looks so cute. Brick seems to like to swim but always looks like he is drowning. He picks his head up too high and then his backside sinks. He swam out to his dad and then quit paddling when he got there. Mr KT then decided it was time to put his life jacket on. I thought maybe Brick would be embarrassed but Mr KT said, "all the kids are wearing them" and he was right. All the kids on the beach had life jackets on so Brick fit right in. We had a little lunch and put the babies in their beds for a quick nap. Then a little more swimming and home for the evening. It was a really fun afternoon.


Brick shaking it off



A soggy Kona.



KT and Kona loving the sun, water, and wind.



Brick looking stellar (and safe) in his doggy life jacket.

HyVee Race Report

Yeah, time to get my race on.

The last weekend in June was the HyVee Triathlon. It is an Olympic distance race and it starts at the crack of dawn. It is definitely a big deal in the Midwest in the triathlon community at least. Mainly, I think, due to the pro race. (The New Zealand team, Mexican team, and Russian teams stayed in the same hotel we did.)

First wave left at 6:00 am. My wave was third to last and I didn't leave until 6:50 am or so.

It is a big race with a gazillion people. The transition area is big, the fast guys are all there with there fancy bikes, the pre race meetings are intimidating. It is just one of those races. I know that fast bikes don't make the rider but it is pretty hard to ignore all those disk wheels.

Transition at 5:00 am







I was set to race. The water was a balmy 86 degrees. Significantly warmer than the air. I lined up in middle of the front of my wave. I almost never do that but I was prepared to go out fast and then just hang in as best I could. I had pretty clear water until I came around the last buoy and started catching the wave in front of me. I got clobbered. Ever been breaststroke kicked in the face by an old guy? It is not awesome. I don't recommend it. Anywho, came out of the water and headed for transition. We had to run through quite a bit of sand and had sandy, wet feet when I got to my bike. I didn't have anything to wipe them off with so I jumped into my cycling shoes and was off. The bike went well. The ride was an out and back and the out part seemed to include more uphill than down and a head wind. That made the ride back to transition faster. Ate a package of Cliff Shot Bloks on the bike and a part of a bottle of Gatorade. I think that only one girl in my age group dropped me on the bike ride. She was way fast. I am glad that I didn't try to hang with her or I would have blown up for sure. Flew into transition, ripped off my cycling shoes, yanked on the running shoes, grabbed my race belt and visor and was off again. Legs felt a little heavy but not bad at all. Had a decent run for a race and was pretty happy with it. Got boxed out by two older gentlemen at the finishing chute when I was trying to go in with a girl in my age group. Not bad at all. 12/74 in my age group.

This is actually a slightly slower time than last year but the course was different and they can't be compared. I did place better in my age group so I'll take it. I did drop about 3 minutes in transition times combined this year but part of that is due to not needing a wetsuit and only having one transition time this year.

bib number: 1549
age: 29
gender: F
location: OMAHA, NE
overall place: 586 out of 1404
division place: 12 out of 74
gender place: 100 out of 420
time: 2:46:53
swim: 31:41
t1: 1:38
bike: 1:19:06
t2: 1:20
run: 53:10
penalty: 0:00

Post race shots in our Arizona Freak Factor gear.
Me, Kurt, and Lisa








So there is a quick race report for the last race I did. Good timing since I am racing tomorrow morning (Sunday, July 19th) again. Oops. :)

Psssssst

Shhhh, hey, it's me.

Just wanted to say that there are less than two weeks left before the HyVee Olympic Triathlon! Whoa. Hope I don't need a wet suit cause I don't have one. :)

Time for a little tiny break

I just need a break from the blogging. I will still post occassionally but just need some time away.

Ciao