Peaks & Valleys

Got up a the crack this am to catch the usual Monday am flight to Denver. Got a call from my buddy, Tim, to do a trail run this evening at Green Mountain. Of course I went out, took it pretty easy, but after about a mile my left knee/IT band reared its ugly head and I only ended up getting in 3-4 miles. It was a perfect evening, clear, a ton of stars, temps in the low 50's....really quite nice.

Gotta really focus on IT band PT over the next few weeks. Grrrrrr!

Good News..........

After waiting for an hour and a half I was able to get in to see Dr. Stark. Took some photos of both knees and and no damage to my knees, in fact in pretty good condition for the miles that I have on them. I was thinking that my problem was either my LCL or IT band. It took the doc all of about 15 seconds to place his thumb in the exact location of the pain point and then said "does that hurt..?" yep, it sure did....which was the insertion point of the IT band at the knee. This was good news, in the scheme of things......I caught it early enough on that with a little PT I'll be back in running action in a couple of weeks. Till then...I will swim, ride and strengthen my hips, gluts, calfs and quads.

Yesterday I managed to get in a nice 38 mile ride in the afternoon. The temps were in the high 50's, but sunny and overall a great day for a ride. I did hill repeats at the half way point, seated, to begin preparing myself to tackle the hills (and the Beast) in St Croix. The island course has some nice climbs and switch backs that are a ton of fun, at least descending them is. My young bull buddy is thinking that he is going to take me on this course, however, I don't think that he stands a chance. I've ridden the course twice and ran it once so I've got the advantage of knowing the track. The most challenging part isn't the climbing but the 10 mile ride up the windy coast line, where we'll most likely be riding into 15-20MPH headwinds. Grinding thru headwinds seems like a walk in the park anymore, compared to being at mile 60 or 70 in an ultra run....perspective is important.

Got up at 4AM today to take the in laws to the airport...headed to Miami on a cruise. Love this time of day when nobody else is up...drinking coffee and sitting in front of the big stone fire place with cedar wood crackling and popping....ahhhh. There is no rest for the wicked or weary .....plan on getting in another 35-40 mile ride today with at least 30 minutes of hill respeats ....I'm gong young bull hunting in 60 days and must prepare...Cheers!!

Managed to get in a 1,000 meter swim and a 2 mile run along with a solid calf and core workout this am. Felt really good. At the Dr's office right now hoping to get some advice on how to prevent this injury in the future. X-rays were taken of my left knee and will find out shortly my situation.

More to follow..........

TGIF.........

Looking forward to my 3PM Dr's appt to get my knee checked out. I've taken the last 2 days off from any training, which is making me go out of my head. Hopefully I'll get some good advice from Doc Stark....Plan on being in the pool this weekend, back with the triathlon training group and a 35-40 mile bike ride on Saturday, wether is looking nice enough for a ride.

Jack's got his last hoops game and playoffs tomorrow, should be fun. Thinking about Sushi this evening and going to bed early so I'm ready to train hard on Saturday.

Lot's of chatter across the Internet regarding Leadville 100 training in June......hopefully I can be riding my new mtn bike that I haven't bought yet, at a minimum.

Spring break in a few weeks and looking forward bringing my bike to T&C to train in the heat, in preparation for IM 70.3 STX, that is if I can do the entire event. May be reduced to a relay...going to check out my fall back options today.

Lot's of work to get done today.......

Cheers!

Got up at 4:45am today to go to 24 hour fitness. Got on the treadmill for a 2 mile run at a 10 minute me pace. Left LCL or possibly the IT band giving me big time problems.

Post run I did a 1 hour spin class where we were out of the saddle an climbing for 50 minutes straight. Knee was not a problem. Busted my tail in that class this am.

Looking forward to see Dr Stark on Friday. Thinking I won't be running for a while.

Cheers!!

Travel Day.....

No work out today, but will hit the pool and bike in the am. Got a great massage this evening. Left IT band pretty beat up and sore still. Glad that I took last 2 weeks off from running. Like being back on the bike and in the pool to cross train. Going to bed...........counting sheep.

Cheers!

Got in a 35 mile bike ride yesterday. Rode the usual Arrington Vineyard route. Big head winds on the way out. It took me a solid hour to reach the turn around. Usually takes me about 55 minutes.

On the return it took me 50 minutes with a really nice tail wind for most of it. At certain times I was going 30MPH with no breeze - which meant there was a 30MPH tail wind .....nice!

Average HR was about 132 BPM. A beautiful sunny warm 70F day in middle tennessee.

Up and out the door today at 4:20am for a 5:40am flight to Denver. Gotta say how much I dislike getting up at 3:45am. Just isn't natural.

Busy with Mgt meetings today and will hit the treadmill tonight to test out the left knee. Got in 2 miles of speed walking last nite on the treadmill and felt ok - towards the end felt a little in the outer left knee - but may have been in my head.

Got a busy week in front of me with a bunch of travel. Pack light, run hard and fast.

Cheers!