Training Log Archive: Traut

I wanted to get on the bike today. As the evening went on after getting home so Gail could run- it became more and more apparent I should not do anything. I was feeling sick and my swelling was not good at all. I actually felt a tendon "slip" over my knee. Things were very tight. I was also sick.. like it all comes together. As the night went on my stomach and my swelling felt worse and worse. I just went to bed early.

It does have me thinking a lot about how to keep the balance in my training that can find consistency, especially when things start to head downhill in the swelling periods in the spring and fall. It's interesting, training is a fickle thing. You can't go hard every day, you need to do easy base adaptions and hard intensity adaptions. I came across this article today: http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/toolbox/toolbox-the-... . It has nothing new in it, but puts things in cycling terms which is always fresh and interesting to me just as the use of power in training creates so many interesting conversations. The thing is that I do train hard a lot, because it is the only days I can run with the arthritis. The cross training days are recovery days because I can't even raise my heart-rate in those disciplines (for entirely different reasons then the over training in the article). Do I still manage to cross some lines. That is hard to say. I have spent years getting to know my body, but the arthritis does complicate that data.

I have had a plan, that has gone through a lot of changes as I have gone on through this winter. From an ambitious focus on trail marathons (with the theory that I may as will do them now before my knee gets worse- but it is worse and already was too worse for that. I just wanted to do the Lost Turkey Trail and a new trail marathon o Breakneck mountain. I can do my own shorter runs on those though. I need to keep myself in a better frame of reference then to go there) to focusing on uphill (which was really a focus on Mt. Summit- the only one around here and hoping to get east in the spring a little bit... with a brand new baby and a 2-year old, highly unlikely. Then Greg and Sarah decided to get married on the day of Mt. Summit) and new challenges such as the summer biathlon at Oil Creek (looks like cousins weekend in Ocean Grove is that weekend...), but as you can see they all went up in smoke. I had plans of certain training with them in mind (the ambitious weekly long runs and the weekly hill workout...), but have ended up doing a hodge-podge of racing- long Racoongaine (which seems to have broken my knee and form at least temporarily) and Dirty Kiln (this weekend) mixed with some shorter things planned. First I felt orienteering was just too hard on my arthritis to attack, now I am considering it... What I did get in, was what was in the best interest of all these plans, whether my arthritis falls victim to spring or not, and that is the winter was focused on strength. From running in deep snow to running cathedral steps. I found a balance during that season with my arthritis and its reaction to working on strength- which can be easier on my knee (cathedral steps- no downhill) or harder (running in deep snow can be jarring with even the smallest loss of form), but I held my form together and got stronger. In fact aI could say that is when I found my form. Now If I can find some consistency in repeating training periods like that and finding balance in the spring and fall arthritis danger times. Of course those are when the races are- I did not race all winter. I enjoy racing and need that to be part of what I do to enjoy what I do.

I need to develop a new training strategy as I go here and find my next strength phase- but also find a way to race in it. Is summer the only option. Do I just race and barely train (except maybe heavy cross training and hill climbing) in spring and fall? Probably not, but all things considered in conceptualizing. I am considering run, bike, paddling as a new enterprise instead of the biathlon. As usual, I will suck at it- but for different reasons. This time for my complete lack of upper body strength during the paddle. Just like Orienteering or skiing or biking... (and I can add to that trail running, I just do not have the strength for my knee to last on techincal single track with downhill- which is all single track- flat single track still goes up and down in a technical fashion) that just may be the fun in attacking it....

Technical note... the GPS track appears to have been translated a notch south of where the trails at Frick appear on every map?...

Another rough day, my body is just off. I try to be light and focus on form but getting coordination between my foot-strike and my glutes/ hips was really just not happening. I felt it come together at times and lost it quickly and easily. My knee was noticing it as well. I wanted to give a test ad see if my body could pull it together today... it couldn't.

Was nice to run at Frick. We took the girls to the playground and we took turns running or hanging at the playground. Claire had a blast. Double track trails were fine, but I knew to get my calves onto the single track. The single track was the muddiest trails I have been on in some time.. really bad. I still used them as often as I could, which at Frick is limited so the Iron Gate trail down the hill in the beginning, coming up the hill after going under Forbes, and in last few miles. I had a few other diversions as well that went nowhere. They were very slow and muddy, but they were matched with the fast hard-pack doublet-rack that make sup most of Frick. Hit some other strange barriers like the fact that the nature center was totally torn down and the whole area cleared and fenced off...

Anyway, right calf wasn't firing right and left heal was feeling irritated and left calf not firing well either. The run had its moments but it was definitely a sign that my body is still really off.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/276223391

Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7324974...

awful... My right calf was tight and I was as off all day as I felt during PT last night. It is so clear when my body is on and when it is off and today it was off. The bike with all the metrics obvious makes it even more clear then just not feeling good on a run. I could not get my cadence up on the warm-up. Even though I didn't feel terrible yet, that was the first sign of trouble. As I dropped it down through my gear progression, I just couldn't get the cadence to stay up- just couldn't hold it and the watts just kept dropping. I stopped at 20-minutes, then tried to restart a couple of times and I couldn't even establish a cadence with wattage that was worth doing. Even though my original plan had been to go over an hour, I knew it was time to shut it down. I have to listen to my body. I am not sure if this is the spring arthritis rearing its head (http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp?userid=1164...) or not. I have shown year after year since this arthritis has developed that trying to 'train' consistently won't work and I am simply at my best when I am rested and healed and at my worst when I am not. It is almost as if I have to slowly get in shape by racing or training in small patches when my body allows... make the most of the days I have it and plan as often as possible for those to be race days. I have Dirty Kiln trail half in a week. I need to make sure that is an on day and I can benefit from it. I am in terrible shape but if I am functional I can at least complete in the pack somewhere. When have I ever been in shape in the last few years anyway.. never...

full stretching and rolling with clams. Felt a bit better.Watching Notre Dame play a great game against Kentucky but come up just short of beating them to get into the Final Four. Kentucky was so much bigger and stronger. Notre Dame had to out-hustle and out-think them, and they did, but as it is when you have to work so much harder then another team (especially with Kentucky having such a strong bench) - you get tired. Down the stretch Notre Dame fatigued and started missing shots (including foul shots) and making mistakes just enough to allow Kentucky in to win at the buzzer.

Event: Flying Pig XIX - U.S. Individual Champs - Sprint-Middle-Long
 

Another ride and after yesterday I still wanted to be very cautious and not push too hard so I stayed to 45 minutes and a few minutes cool down again. Power still not being sent out so it was about 10 watts less then Wednesday's ride on average because I did not push that one gear more the last 20 minutes or so. Stayed spinning higher rpms at 250-270 watts after high rpm warmup and then step-down 35 minutes using higher rpm easier gears actually seems to get me more power then jumping right down to my go to gear (the one that won't skip with the wrong cassette still on the Kickr). I just didn't take it to the next level in the second half of the ride.

Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7304975...

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/274992235

full stretching and rolling with straight leg lifts and step-downs. Struggled with weight transfer in step downs. Felt awkward. Calves are tight.

No PT. I am glad I stopped to walk during my run today, because I felt uglier and uglier as day went on. This may be the beginning. The spring and fall are when the arthritis really hits its hardest- they are of course my favorite racing seasons as well. Last year the slip on the ice in January and the final MRI on how bad the arthritis was had me out completely at this point, yet still swelling up at times when I hadn't even done anything. Two years ago (you can see a reference to it in the Racongaine log entry referenced in this years's Racoongaine log 5 days ago: http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp?userid=1164...) I was a mess right form the start and I did The full Shamrock in Harmony (http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp?userid=1164...), Racoongaine (http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp?userid=1164...), and then covered almost 30 miles of Pittsburgh in the Grass Roots urban 6 hour mini-rogaine (http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp?userid=1164...). I was already broken and plodding through the full Shamrock at Harmony, but yet got through everything. That is kind of how I get through each fall and spring; survive them. This year was going pretty well, and I was hoping I might have been on to something with my form and balance in training. My left calf injury was unrelated as far as I can tell, and my knee was holding up. I got through Racoongaine amazingly well physically. Time will tell how this year goes through April- which is usually the worst of it.

Not feeling so good today. Right knee is filling with edema. I wasn't feeling good motion all day.

Tried to go for an easy run focusing on form to try to keep healing and keep moving. I made it two miles on the orange trail and walked back in.

Not sure what happened when I started using the Tickr with the Kickr, but the power and speed aren't getting recorded correctly. The measurements seem different since I started using the Tickr, not sure of they are more or less accurate. Information on the Wahoo app had my average power at 142 and weighted average at 152 watts. I warmed up for 10 minutes high cadence and then spent 20 minutes around 240 watts in high cadence easier gear, then settled into my regular gear in 270 watts range.

Wanted to keep building up and keep getting blood-flow into my legs for healing. feeling a little better every day but don't want to push it and cause damage while I am vulnerable. Could have gone further but kept it to 45-minutes (actually a few cool-down minutes after). I wanted to spin with good form. Again, I was pleasantly surprised with the wattage I was putting out and the form I was finding. I think, again, that had to do with the fact I was so tight that it was much more clear when I didn't have my form then usual. Still it is nice when I can loosen up my calves enough to feel my feet fire eccentrically and then concentrically and feel my feet and calves fire first and feel the power flow up through my glutes through the shift in my hips.

Right knee is swelling more though as night goes on after ride.




Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/274093515

Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7291117...

full stretching, rolling and straight leg lifts. Left calf felt much tighter when rolling and I feel the tension along my heel. Not sure if I am being too sensitive or not.

Wanted to do a run to keep the arthritis at bay and get the blood flowing to clear out and heal from Sunday. Planned a nice easy trail run at North Park. That is what it was, but my pace was faster then expected. I was very tight and sore, but again my left calf was fine. I did feel a little tightness behind the heal, or the very low achilles tendon, but it warmed up fine until the last mile when I started subconsciously allowing myself to push the pace and I just stopped and walked it in at 5- miles (the max I planned on going anyway) to avoid more.

What was very tight was my right leg from my knee up through my IT band and hip. My knee felt so tight in the first mile I was afraid something would pop going around corners if I let loose even a little. It did get a little better, but I remained really tight through there.

My form came together extremely well today. It almost seemed like I was so tight that it was very obvious when I didn't have that form. I think when I am feeling better I can fool myself into thinking I have form when I don't because my knee isn't obviously reacting (as was Sunday). When I am driving well it feels special and I know that feeling. Being light in a way getting a pickup in the hips from each stride... Today I had it a lot and even though I was taking it pretty easy once I got into the groove, my pace reflected my better form. I also wonder about being fresher since taking so much downtime last week due to the calf, but Sunday would have had to reverse that.


Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/273598669

Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7283662...

Full stretching and rolling and clams. Right T.A. is very tight as well as mist of right leg.