2016 Race Schedule

Yes this is a blank sheet of paper....

Let's sum this up.

11/17/15- 9+ hours on my feet at a trade show, day 2, not wearing hooker heels but not wearing Hoka's either- responsible shoes with business attire. Headed out for a run along the Mediterranean at sunset on cobblestones.  End of run, top of foot was a tad sore but nothing to noticeable and off to a long night in the city.

11/18/15 9+ hours on my feet again and had to run to work out the long night of exploring Barcelona. 5 miles into the run (on cobblestones) the top of my foot was sore, really sore- walked jogged back, iced foot and stayed in that night.

11/19/15 - attempted AM run on treadmill and 5 min in, knew something was not right. 

11/20-23- hobbled through Croatia on the side of my foot taking Voltaren.

11/24/15 - diagnosed in Berlin with a stress reaction/possible fracture and sold an 800euro boot - stay off it and you will be fine.  Walked through Berlin and Prague (in the boot) 

12/1/15- back in the US at my Dr, XRAY shows full fracture ...so the 3 days of hobbling around in Croatia likely broke the bone.

Dr says this will be 6-12 weeks and I hear 6 weeks, mark it on the calendar and plan to be running  January 12th.  

1/11/15 callous on the bone - looks good says the Dr.  You can ease into running - a bit more each day and in 2 weeks you should be running - is what I hear. But if I really recall the conversation it was more like, the callous is formed it is hard to say when you can run. Could be 2 weeks or 6 weeks, listen to your body and when you are walking pain free for 72 hours ease back into running. 

Not happening... we are at Jan 25- I can ride my bike NO issue, I can push off the walls NO issue, I can (sometimes) walk my dogs no problem, I can 1x run on the Alter G NO problem but the 2nd time, that was a problem...

Yesterday I quit triathlon for 2016 and decided to bike race.  This AM I realized it is January, my foot is almost healed.  The stress I am feeling is from the races I  HAD planned.... so after an scattered and irrational email to coach and a talk today- all races are off the table.  

Without a race looming I can listen to my foot -  when I can walk normally and function pain free for 72 hours lets discuss running and when I have run for 6 weeks let's discuss racing.

So for now.... keep swimming and biking.  The run will come when my foot says so.  

The Dorito Effect

I recently read this book and highly recommend it, I am not going to do a book review but do highly recommend it if you care about food, quality and care about the unhealthy trends in this country, 

Here is a review of the book from the NY Times 

The book has a lot of in depth historical and scientific research about food, additives etc...

What hit home this am is the concept (paraphrased by me from the book) is that when we eat "clean" food (non processed) that is nutritionally balanced we become "fuller" aka satiated faster.  It is hard to binge on real food vs processed food.  Eat a bag of Doritos's, sleeve of girl scout cookies etc- no problem.    

I seriously need food presentation help from foodsensenow
A garmish and a few roasted pumpkin seeds would look nice
but this is how mine looked and I loved it 

Post swim/pool run and elliptical today I was starving, definitely under fueled and hungry.  I was craving a big plate of chips, black beans and melted cheese.  Not sure I burned enough calories to justify the nachos.  Being in a bit of a bonk, the salt/fat suggestion was calling me.  

I also had a pan of organic roasted butternut squash, mushrooms, broccoli and random other greens.  I had found a Vitamix soup recipe last night.  And here  is why I love the Vitamix, 

Add all vegetables to Vitamix, 1/2  can coconut milk, and vegetable broth as needed.  All the veggies were seasoned so no additional seasoning.  Start on Hot Soup mod and 10 min later it shuts off and I had a hot steaming creamy soup.   Served up a giant bowl WITH some quinoa chips on the side, even had another bowl and I am stuffed and very happy.  

I could easily have consumed 2-3x the calories with nachos but now am not interested.  I did however top off the soup with my favorite XOXO Almond and Seasalt Chocolate.  

Lifting heavy things and a short leash

If I have this facial expression at the Y, now you
 will understand

This past weekend was epic and not because I ran and PR'd the Carlsbad 1/2, in fact I am still not running, but that is ok not really but it makes this story better if i say it is. 

 I hope to be running soon,I also hoped to win the lottery and we know how that went down but I am working toward that in many ways.  last weekend  my coach (Mike Ricci)  and a good friend and coach as well Marilyn Chychota came to Encinitas for a 2 day session in Strength/Injury Prevention.

Marilyn is super athlete, ex pro triathlete, elite equestrian, elite gymnast... all around badass etc and since she retired from triathlon has become an elite Olympic Weightlifter.  Some could say she has a lot of talent and that leads to her success.  True she surely has good genes to work with but knowing her I understand that her success is due so her hard work, education and commitment.   She is all in- weather it be how she coaches or how she is coached. She is not afraid to learn from the best and take the time to formulate a plan.  

There is no secret I have had a year of injuries.... why is that?  lots of reasons and I am not going to do a self analysis here, but one of the fundamentals in aging is losing strength. As a coach I know and understand the value of strength for maintain power and preventing injury.  But I know well that I need a coach to guide me as I lose perspective when I am guiding me.

So Mike and I hired Marilyn to teach us. It was two- fold 1: understand how she programs strength for triathletes and 2: a custom program for me.  She knows me well, how I move has seen my clutzy style and how 20 years of swimming forms a body.  She used this in formulating a plan based on my life as a swimmer, watching me bike and run and understanding my injuries.  Weak posterior chain #1 as well as many other imbalances.  

Soon I will look like this

We did 2x 2 hour sessions to understand the moves, proper form and progression in the gym, followed by table sessions with background information, QnA and a lot of laughing and fun as well.   To say she identified my weaknesses is the understatement of the decade.  After both sessions I was sore all over and some of the exercises I was not able to fully execute.   It was funny Marilyn would demonstrate and it looked so easy and my effort was clumsy and not fluid.  She makes the weight look light and I pick it up it nearly pushes me through the floor.  She is strong!

So I did  my first week... the email I sent to M this am was titled "APOLOGY.  I am sorry for the numerous times I used your name in vain while swimming masters"  Holy cow I am sore!  

The program is simple, not easy, but 2 days a week.  4 dynamic warm up exercises which I can mostly do followed by 4 key lifts each day.  One day is push and one day is pull.  Heavy weights low reps,  There are a few core exercises that look so easy, "I am thinking", really 3x1:00 is all, let's just say I can hardly do 3x30 seconds.  

My goal is to learn from this, practice the moves and than add into my programming for athletes looking to get stronger, avoid injury and add that top end fitness. 

So where does the short leash come in....different topic, but having 48+ hours with your coach opens up a lot of conversations and seemingly witness all "behaviors" first hand.  Bottom line is Mike is on to me. Onto the fact I may once in a while go from 0-100 too fast, I may push a little hard and I do have great self harming ideas.  I was chatting with John saying you know I pay this guy every month, I chose him as a coach for his years of experience, success with other athletes and wanted to put my trust in his.   Yes here I am asking for something different and well I can be kinda persuasive, 25 years of sales in me for sure.  So we have a new relationship Mike is the BOSS!  Got it. 

I googled "on a short leash"  here was the definition... 

have/keep somebody on a short/tight leash  to have a lot of control over someone's behavior and allow them very little freedom to do what they want

this was NOT my intention

Ready to Run NOT

• A hard callus on the bone does NOT mean you are ready to run.
• Swelling on the fracture site after 4x90 sec jog/walk means the bone is not ready to run
• Walking proper hell to toe in soft shoes for over 6 miles is too much practice and when it swells up means I am not ready to run  
• When it is hurts to walk it means you are not ready to run
• Going from a boot to a run in 3 days does not happen when you 49
• It's raining and flooding in San Diego so I am "loving" my trainer
• Even tho the Dr said I "maybe ready to run" and I heard "you are ready to run"  I am not ready to run 
• Swelling does not lie 

Cheers! 

My running mileage for Dec and Jan

Do you drill?

Swimming drills.... why ?   Drills teach you how to use your senses to feel how to do the correct movements rather than trying to think about them intellectually.

These are my 3 favorite drills.  If you incorporate them regularly in warm up, cool down and easy sets they will get easier and you will feel the power from transitioning form the drill to swimming. 

Catch up drill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ZUMX0qQns  This allows you to focus on the entire stroke as you are doing one arm at a time. Focus on the reach, catch and pull for each arm.  Do a 50 of catch up and than slowly increase turnover and transition to swimming. Catch up is not much slower than swimming so you can integrate this into your workout.  

Fist drill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efdSRNk911M  This is a tough drill and if your intitial attemt feels like drowning that is okay, well not okay but don't give up. Engage your core and get your hips up, really emphasise the catch, hinge at the elbow, you forearm needs to be doing the work as you dont have your hands.  I challenge you to struggle with this 25 drill/25 swim and see if over time you get stronger at the drill. 

Sculling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKsmw6Sq2Pg   This is helpful in many ways.  It forces the "feel for the water" on your forearms, develops lower back and core strength and uses the same muscles in your neck you use riding aero and sighting.  The key here is keeping your head up and looking forward as long as you can.

Questions?  let me know..... 

Hard Callus Formation and A Business Deal turned around

this is a happy bone with a callus!

One would think the business success would be the leading story of today's blog.... but frankly I am more excited about the Hard Callus formation on my metatarsal.  Hard Callus formation is a complex process that is guided by the release of mineral compounds such as Calcium and Phosphate into the Cartilage tissue, which subsequently transforms into a bridge of Hard Callus over the fracture site.  What does this really mean...

1- out of the boot for good hopefully for the rest of my life

2- walking is #1 priority with proper gait and toe off.  Logged 3.7 miles with the dogs today in the trails and muscles and tendons are sore but "bone" is okay. Another blog post is about dogs when their owner cannot run.

3- tomorrow I GET to walk/jog for 15 min.  Dr A says this is NOT running, this is NOT about fitness it is about bio-mechanics. When I shared this with coach he says GOOD as in we all know you need copious amounts of help with bio mechanics. But he was very PC and was encouraging and positive.   Dr A said what happens with people like YOU  overzealous athletes is they come back from a stress fracture and roll into plantar fascitis or Achilles tendinitis due to a compensatory gait. While I love Leslie and want to be just like her, I don't want to have AT like she had. 

So....on we go.  If I can do some sort of run on Jan 5th, the world or at least those who follow me will surely know it!


I have not swam since Dec 31.  Need a few more days! 

I might be getting sick - so am throwing the arsenal at it.  

Biked over 200 miles Jan 1/2/3- go me!  Really slow but it was good to bike some miles

I was not his bold...but in my head I was 

Part 2 of today's good news.... I had a business interaction  in November where my clients boss challenged what HPN Global does and how we can really help them.  After my thorough presentation which I have been doing for 10+ years and some hard data, as in HPN Global books over $125 million a year in rooms revenue, aka, we swing a big bat!  He was less than nice and said his admin could do what I do and .....there was more but not for publication.  I had solid rebuttal in his face and was just as aggressive with why we are good, how and why I save clients time and money and even went so far as to say he was insulting me to say his admin could do what  I have 10+ year experience in...and it went on a bit.... .  I left without losing my cool but was a bit shocked at my boldness.  I was  direct, professional and shook his hand and said good luck.  I marched out to the bar, had a drink and was freaking out.   UGH!!

Well today I received a call from his admin asking me to source the meeting.  BAM!   Yes indeed.  More money to support my habit.... triathlon that is.

Happy  New Year 

Why swimming with a Garmin 920xt is not good for your swimming

Before you get all twitchy on me and say "but I have to track my yard" " I need to know how far I went" " I want my swims on Strava" please listen to this....

IMHO Garmin's are ideal for OW swimming to track distance, pace and see how straight you swim.

Yesterday I swam 10k in the pool with my garmin.  Trying to manage the stop/start button was a challenge.  If Garmin had auto pause that I would say go for it, just be careful of your lane mates with that big watch swinging on your hand. 

I did 2k warm up - garmin is perfect for that.  Then Masters swim started and we are doing 50's, 75's, 100's, 150's, 200's and 300's on varied intervals.  On the B+5 or 10 it is manageable to stop and start each time you hit the all, as  long as you remember (which I did not) but I assume it becomes a habit.  

the original pace clock.  you can use this
for intervals.  the black hand is the minutes
on the hour.

BUT on a set on your B (base interval)  it is nearly impossible to do this if you are coming in with 1-2 seconds rest.  Instead of reaching for the wall, catching your breath and pushing off I was stressed about stopping and starting the watch.  I than decided that with such a tight interval there was no need to stop it.   

But the focus was on the watch and not on the workout.   

1- following the workout given is what the workout is 
2- logging the yards is for your sake or training peaks - if you are off a few yards in writing no big deal

digital clocks make it SO easy

3-  USE THE PACE clock for sets given to you by your coach. if you have 10x100 @ B (base)  and she asks to record times-   you should be able to remember the times - give or take.  The idea is did you make the interval?  Next time you do 5x100 on b-5 and than you are focused and working on making the interval not the clock.

As Coach Hux noted one day.... "I don't see any big watches in lane 1/2/3"   just sayin....

I challenge you to use the pace clock!  Understand you can keep track of distance using the clock.