my new toy :-)

Ok,
So I've started my first official week of training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene. I really enjoyed the time off and didn't really go as crazy as I thought I was going to. Last weekend in the Cities was really fun. I love being around other trigeeks like myself. Headed off to Gear West at 10 am Saturday morning and got my bike and got it fit with the retul system. A short explanation of that is that its a 3D motion capture system for bike fitting. Sticky sensors are put on the wrist, elbow, knee, and various places on the foot. Measurements are taken and there is an acceptable range to fall into. It was really cool and I'm glad I did it. The guy who fit me actually has TRIGEEK on his MN license plates - I thought that was amusing :-). After the bike purchase, Leah and I went to meet with my coach. And she sat there and internally rolled her eyes a few times while we talked about all things triathlon. We did a bike power test, a swim stroke analysis, and a run gait analysis. One little tidbit is that I averaged 307 watts over a 6 minute all out effort. I read about pro triathletes averaging 315 watts over the course of an ironman bike course... freakin amazing, cause that six minute effort nearly killed me :-). It is very nice to have a coach pick apart all of my disciplines and give me little things to work on too. So it was a great, successful, productive, and expensive weekend :-). Still need to get used to the new bike and to riding aero again - it's been a while since I've been "aero." And as always, so much thanks goes to Leah, who puts up with me and my extremely time and money consuming hobby :-). So this being "week 1" of my training, nothing too intense or long right now, but as always, I'll write when I feel so moved. Thanks for reading all!! Merry Christmas!!

Happy things

Hi all!!
I'm very excited about my nephew being born yesterday morning!! He's gonna kick my ass in a race in about 18 years - it's his destiny, I have forseen it :-)!! I'm very happy for Chris and Pam, and I'm psyched about my role as uncle. I keep telling them its all the fun and none of the responsibility. Then they tell me karma's a bitch :-)

Anyway, I've been to physical therapy a couple of times now and I'm feeling better after a few days of knee stabilization exercises - I got some ultrasound done last time, that seemed to help a little. Of course it may be helping cause I have it in my head that it'l help, but let's not worry about why... I am up to an hour on the indoor trainer - done that a couple times - feel pretty good doing it too. I'm gonna try about a 30 minute run this evening before yoga. My heartrate was not what I was used to last time I ran on the treadmill, but it will improve with base training starting in a couple weeks. Too bloody cold to run outside these days - I draw the line at about 5-10 degrees... And swimming is slowly coming together again, starting to "feel the water," as swimmer nerds say :-)

I am very excited about my new bike!! I actually called Gear West earlier today and talked to who I believe is the owner. I got to talk about triathlon and bike nerd stuff for a while with someone who actually gives a rat's ass about what I'm saying, so that was fun. I asked lots of questions about the bike I am contemplating - the Felt B2 Pro. I even put some money down to hold it for me because he told me that they're really going quickly. They have 3 of the size i need, the 56, and only 1 left in every other size - they're going very quickly he says. So, to summarize, I am very excited about a lot of things. Number 1 and most important, my new nephew. Number 2, my new bike :-). And number 3, my new coach.. The first one doesn't cost me anything, the second two.... not so much.... Lucky for me I have an AWESOME wife who puts up with, supports, and understands my obsessions and dreams. Thanks honey - I LOVE YOU. Oh what the hell, if you're reading this I LOVE YOU TOO.!! Over and out!!

Yay!!

So I saw the doc about my MRI yesterday and I was very happy with what I heard!! I got to look at the images on the screen with him on this fancy ass computer program that probably cost more than my house. It turns out I just have small amounts of fluid around the meniscus and small amounts of bruising somewhere (forget sorry...). He said there was no ligament damage or tendon damage requiring any scoping procedure. I believe the "official" diagnosis was patellofemoral arthralgia, which is a very common condition affecting endurance athletes. The things he saw on the MRI were normal things to see after an event such as the ironman or marathon, which does pretty major damage to your body that you cannot feel or see. So he told me I could get back into running and cycling being careful not to increase volume too quickly and I cannot hurt myself any worse. I'm also getting set up with some physical therapy to work on biomechanics and strengthening stuff. So I'm happy!! Will update soon!!



Don

Into December....

Hi all. Here we are the 1st of December already. My recovery is slowly progressing as far as I can tell. I haven't attempted anything over 40 minutes since the race. It has all been slow, easy stuff. I swam for the first time last saturday since my tattoo - surprisingly not bad considering I was out of the water for a little over 2 weeks. I also went for an MRI on my left knee on Monday morning. I really hope this will provide good news regarding what is wrong with it. It is really nothing major, just a little bit of pressure I can still feel behind the left knee at the top of my calf. I should say it doesn't feel like anything major, but I won't know for certain until I get the results from the doctor tomorrow. Like I said, I can't imagine it's anything too serious given my ability to jog, and ride my bike - not even noticeable when I'm walking or standing or sitting... So it'l be nice to get this out of the way, whatever "it" is. I also went to my first ever Yoga class yesterday - it wasn't easy and I am a little sore all over today - but I think I'm gonna go again, because the benefits of yoga are well known!! I am getting excited for my trip to Minneapolis in 18 days (not like I'm counting). I'm gonna get a new bike - full carbon, and I'm going to meet with my coach and do all kinds of startup testing with him. Well.... - kinda boring I realize but there's not much else to say. I'll update when I know more about the knee situation. Take care all.