Tag: Training

Vulnerability and Resiliency: Lessons from the Cancer Center

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The windows in the room lined the upper reaches of the ceiling, enough to let plenty of light in the room, but not big enough or low enough to let us see anything below the blue sky line. My sister sat in an office-grade recliner with blue plastic covering, and I sat in a matching chair, without the reclining function. The machines beeped every so often as either my sister or one of the other patients finished their bags of drugs: benadryl, saline, dextrose, various concoctions of chemotherapy. At times, I could tell by the winces on my sister’s face …

I’m going mental

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We are about 12 weeks away from the big show: Ironman Lake Placid. As I type that sentence, I can feel my heart rate elevate. A few weeks ago (7 to be exact), I wrote a post about how training for Ironman Lake Placid was changing our lives. At that time, I thought only in simple terms of time management. Ha! Silly girl. I didn’t even know the half of it when I wrote that entry. Way back on March 12th, I oh-so naively thought this journey was about managing time and training my body for the physical endurance challenge …

Hitting the road

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Saturday morning means one thing: my long bike ride. All week long, I was looking forward to the ride because everyone was abuzz with “how nice” the weather would be. Hmmm. Well, the sun and warm temps must have taken a pass on the Southern Jersey shoreline on Saturday morning. When we woke up, it was foggy, damp and chilly. My original plan had been to get up early (which I did) and complete my ride, leaving most of the day to catch up on work. No dice. It just wasn’t safe to head out a 7:00 a.m. with such …

25 Minutes of Bliss & Lessons Learned from Injury

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“Before you come back next time, go for a short run. We need to see where that leg is at,” said Dr. Terry Andrus, my physical therapist. Wait, did I hear that correctly? Did he just clear me to go for a run? *Big smile* I guess he was reading my mind because he added, “Don’t make it a half marathon or anything. Easy and short. 20-25 minutes.” “Okay,” I replied, laughing. “I know. I know.” I was excited, but also a little bit fearful. The last time I had tried to run was February 2nd. I ran only 10 …

I’m injured, but I’m not out

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I have a case of what appears to be hamstring tendonitis in my right leg. At first, the injury led me to drop running from my training, and replace it with aqua jogging, while continuing my training with swimming and biking. However, at the end of last week, it became painfully (literally) clear to me that I would have to also drop the bike and aqua jogging. My coach took it a step further and said: no kicking while swimming. My first response: SERIOUSLY? I found it impossible to be optimistic and find the silver lining at first. This news …

Indoor training doesn’t have to be as terrible as the weather

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Cold weather doesn’t bother me. I prefer it to the warmer weather. However, snow is a problem for outdoor training – especially cycling, Unfortunately, the snow has been plentiful this winter–an anomaly for the Southern New Jersey coast. With all the snow, and limited city budgets for plowing said snow, John and I have had to ride the indoor trainer* quite a bit. If you’ve never ridden a bike trainer, you have been spared what is sometimes mental agony, resulting from spinning in circles without going anywhere, which can be similar to running on a treadmill or swimming laps in …

Life’s a little different now: Some observations on Ironman training

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I’m a little over 25 weeks out from Lake Placid Ironman. During this early phase of base training, along with the training I did in preparation for the HIM Bassman in October, I’ve noticed several changes in my life. I thought I’d share some. Maybe some of you can relate? Observation #1: Positive Correlations Most athletes preparing for an Ironman expect that the longer the race distance, the longer the training times and miles. What I didn’t account for was the fact that those training distances aren’t the only times that increase. While the training plan may have anywhere from …

Aqua jogging

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A few years back, I had some trouble with my right ITB (iliotibial band) during a run. The pain was significant enough that I had to take frequent walk and stretch breaks to get back home. I didn’t run again for a few days. I started ridiculously slow. Alas! The pain returned. At that point, I resigned myself to the realization that I had a problem with the ITB. I knew what this pain meant: Stretching. Icing. Using the foam roller to lengthen and release the ITB. And, the worst part: no running for at least a week–maybe more. So, …

“Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so” – or how I came to love my heart rate

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Yes, it’s Shakespeare again. This time, the Prince of Denmark himself – Hamlet – offers wise words to keep my experiences (in training and life) in perspective. This quote reminds me that our thinking plays an integral role in how we perceive our abilities, our training, and our potential. Think negative thoughts, increase the likelihood of negative outcomes. Think positive thoughts, increase the likelihood of positive outcomes. Sounds easy enough. So, why am I so mean to myself? I know better: I’ve read plenty of articles that talk about the power of positive thinking. I know that our brains are …

What Shakespeare has to say about Twitter, training & racing

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I love Twitter. Some, like my husband, might even say I have a Twitter “problem.”  I don’t think it’s a problem, really. I just don’t want to spend a day without being able to check my Twitter feed – even if it’s only a quick skim. I look forward to reading the ideas, the information and the experiences shared by my fellow tweeps. How is it that I get so much from a seemingly disjointed collection of 140-character musings? In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Lord Polonius (in a rather funny and ironic twist in the dialogue) says to the King and Queen, …