Diesel Golf

I haven nothing much to report here other than the first studio at work is up and running. It's a nice room. Glad to be in a new space.

On top of the Move and Studio work, I'm trying to get the Golf to a point where it will pass inspection and we can keep it going for another couple years. I figure both Craig and Shawn would applaud this decision.
So I've ordered up a glow plug wiring harness and relay and scheduled the windshield to be replaced on Saturday. If all that goes well. The engine light should stay off long enough for it to pass inspection.
The transmission error will happen again. Every so often it doesn't shift into 5th gear. That's the issue. Not a big deal really, I'm told I should continue to drive it until there is a real problem. Let's hope this all works out. Otherwise I'm fixing this up to trade it in?? Which would be a losing venture.

Who's the man?

I'm thinking "Jersey-MAN" and "Moose-MAN".......ahem, Shawn??

I figured since you were warming up with the kettlebells last week in preparation for kicking it into high gear this week, I thought I would let you know that Matt & I rode the Jerseyman bike course today. I think you are going to like it...a lot. It's not too crazy with hills, but enough to be challenging. The best part is the long, steep downhill complete with a couple good twists in it and a sharp right at the very bottom, over a one lane bridge and then...bam!...right into a short, but steep climb. Your crazy, mad bike skills will rock this! Ok, have I pumped you up enough to make sure you are signed up for the race?? Just checking! :-)

2nd run test

I tried a longer run this morning. I ended up walking a large portion of it. Including a mile at the end. Hopped into the pool immediately after. Swam like 1200-1300. Wasn't feeling that either.
Then I caught a train into the city to go to work. Walking down stairs in Newark... my knee was very tight.
Not sure what I'm going to do. I didn't run for about a month leading into Mooseman last year. Maybe that's what's going to happen again this year.
I've dialed back my enthusiasm about being competitive at the 3 Olympic distance races this year. Looks like I blew it with the timing of this injury. I still plan on having fun doing them.

That's the news. Now I've gotta get to work.

Almost there

I broke out the kettlebell yesterday and did a fair bit of swinging while the kid was at soccer. Lots of traditional swings, a bunch of one-handed bell flipping, some spins around the waist and some snatches. I also jogged a little and walked a little more. It has been a long time. Today I can feel it all over, but in a good way. I don't think I overdid it. I just want to get some kind of tiny little base so when I kick it into high gear next week, I am not starting from scratch. I don't want to try to do a three-hour workout if I haven't done anything in months. It might take a little while, but I am feeling good about the possibilities.

Short run to test the knee

Run/walk for about 1.5 miles tonight. Whee!
Honestly, I'm not sure if that's far enough to be a test but it's better than nothing.
I guess everything is feeling right. I've definitely noticed that my walking is back to normal. I guess I should use that as my guide more often.
I was thinking of hopping on the bike but honestly. I'm tired. I'm looking to be asleep by 9:30 tonight. I need to get caught up on the zzzzz's.

That's the news. Hopefully more running Saturday AM... before I go to work.

Tired of Being Sick!

My third cold in TWO MONTHS!  I am Tired, achy, and hacky!  I never get sick, three times in a season, unacceptable.  

I have stopped training, believing maybe I have not become healthy due to one long continuous sickness.  I go to bed by 9 pm and drink gallons of fluids, vitamin C, and have resorted to a nightly does of NyQuil.  

If my cough doesn't go away, I may have to see a doctor (ugh).  I don't like those guys, they look down on me about my herbal, hippie remedies (I know NyQuil isn't in that category, but I have to stop the cough!)

I even stopped push ups the last four nights, partly because I want to feel good, but I am also too tired by the time I have to do them.

My family hasn't been sick (knock on wood, even though I don't believe in superstition).  

Thanks for listening.  

Lower Cross Syndrome

As you know I typically have a ton of questions. So when I went to this new Chiropractor to have the ART done to my knee, I couldn't help but ask a few other questions.
I mentioned to him that both my swim and yoga instructor are telling me I don't use my glutes. He doesn't miss a beat and mentions Lower Cross Syndrome. Basically he puts a name to what Tiffany has been telling me at Yoga every week.

This picture pretty much says it all.

In lower-crossed syndrome the patient usually presents with anterior pelvic tilt, increased lumbar lordosis (swayback), and weak upper abdominal muscles. These patients usually experience chronic low back pain, piriformis syndrome and anterior knee pain. The predictable pattern of muscle imbalances most often include the following:

Tight/Faciliated

Iliopsoas
Rectus Femoris
TFL
Adductor Group
Errector Spinae
Gastrocnemius,Soleus

Resulting in…
Anterior rotation of pelvis
Increased lumbar lordosis
Hips in flexion
Knees may be hyperextended

Weak/Inhibited
Rectus Abdominis
Oblique
Gluteus maximus
Gluteus medius
Hamstrings

Common Injuries
Low Back Pain
Knee pain
Hamstring Strains

Shawn will be excited to know that I've found a kettlebell workout which looks like a pretty solid method to helping me balance out these weaknesses.
Basically parts I II and III of these videos.

Maybe if I'm able to work this stuff out, I can become more "bulletproof" like Shawn.

More about this later I'm sure.

Bassman - week away

How goes it Shawn?

Core work

Well I am on my way to building core strength.  Three weeks ago I started a program to do a 100 push ups in one continuous set.  It is suppose to be a six week program.  The 100 push up test is suppose to occur May 3.  This was actually only 5 weeks, but my initial test was high enough that I jumped to week 2.  I do push ups three nights a week.  Last night I did 5 sets (20, 25, 20, 20, 30).  I was suppose to rest 90 seconds in between.  I think I was suffering from running earlier in the day, because set three did me in, I then rested almost 4 minutes before set 4.  The program says 90 seconds or more if needed.  I don't know if 4 minutes was what they had in mind.

So this week I will do almost 350 push ups, next week 480, final week 650.  The first week I did less than 200.  The amazing thing is that I read an article where Herschel Walker does 1,500 a day, still, on top of his 2,000 situps, and 1,000 dips/chinups.

http://www.usatriathlon.org/event/event/359  This is a link to the Collegiate National Championship.  A group is going from WVU.  The one guy I know.  His name is Noah Brak.  I met him at Rocky Gap two years ago.  His swimming was not great then, but I saw his running has improved, he already was speedy.  A local 10k race he burned off a 35:36 (2nd place overall).  He then turned around the next week and won a 5k with a 17:43.  Second place was a minute behind him.  So, I am cheering for him to do well.  I think he gets behind and tries to catch up on the run, so we will see how he does.  Matt, you might have met him in Morgantown.

Have a good weekend.  Warm weather.  Biking is going to be fun.

No problem... I can deal

So this knee problem. Obviously one week off wasn't enough because I had problems again last Saturday. So I spent the beginning of this week wondering what was the cause. As I've mentioned before, jammed foot??
Well I decided it was time to try a different Chiropractor for this problem. Maija had given me the name of a Dr. and Tiffany gave us another. They both practice ART. So Genine went to Tiffany's Dr and I went to Maija's, figuring we could compare notes about the experience later.
I didn't get any chiropractic adjustments but we did have quite a discussion about my situation. Then he really dug into that knee. OUCH!
I was still concerned that we didn't address the cause. I still feel that I'm not walking quite right. This was his answer. The 13 miles of hills... the down hills probably were the initial cause of this problem. My walk doesn't feel right because my brain is telling my legs/feet not to mess with that painful knee. So I'm compensating without even trying.
I went in expecting I'd be told not to run for 2 weeks. He tells me that minimum recovery from this injury is typically 2 weeks. Could be as long as 2 months. I don't have a very severe case, he figures I'll be ready to test it out again next Wednesday or Thursday. Fair enough.
I'm going to continue to bike and swim, hopefully that isn't going to slow down the healing process.
It's tough waiting it out, because it feels ready to go right now but I'll wait. Obviously 1 week wasn't long enough last week. I'm just glad I've got a ton of off season miles behind me. I'm not concerned yet. I'm sure I won't be as calm about this if I'm still having trouble 2 weeks from now

Heard this, thought it was worth repeating.

Happiness is directly proportional to acceptance and inversely proportional to expectation.

So I guess I can't run...

I biked yesterday. No problems at all.
I ran this morning first time in a week and I'm right back to having that same knee problem.
The problem is below my knee the outside muscle is getting very tight and not allowing for full range of motion. Here is my guess as to which muscle is the problem. Peroneus Longus.
After a few miles. This muscle gets very tight on my right leg. Which then gives my right foot no chance of moving properly and I can feel the muscles/tendons at the knee moving against each other.
Why is that having such a problem now? I still think it's a jammed foot. Sadly the Chiropractor I went to last week didn't seem to know how to go about checking that. Guess I'll have to go back to someone I know will give me a good answer and hopefully an adjustment, or advice as to how to get back on track.
I'll also do some digging around on the runners forums just to see what others have done. I'm sure I'm not the first to have this problem.

Washington DC Triathlon June 21st

I signed up for the Olympic. Genine signed up for the Sprint.
ITU World Championship, Washington DC

This works nicely as a replacement for the Morgantown race that was moved to August.

Quick update

The knee is much better. Not that I've put it to the test. I meant to run or Bike Wednesday but it didn't happen. I'm going on 4 hours of sleep today, so I'm questioning whether I'll have any motivation to workout this evening either. (Shawn is thinking "That's what I've been trying to tell you!!")
So I'm going super nerd today. I'm going to be soldering/wiring cables all day. (upper back killer). I've set a timer to go off every 20 minutes, so I'll get up stretch a bit and yes, do some planks.

Losing weight is for little girls -part 2

Krispy Kreme Challenge

Very odd

My right knee was problematic all day. I avoided stairs where I could. If I would walk for 5 minutes I could feel it. So I'm going to err on the side of caution. (what's new right?). I'm not going to go to Masters Swimming tonight.
The odd part is it feels like it's improved by about 70% in the last 2 hours. I did take an ibuprofen (200mg) at 6AM and then another at around 1PM. It's now 7:30PM. So maybe it's masking the pain?
I'm hoping it's actually magically better somehow.

Weekend Update

Saturday we planned on doing a 50 mile ride. It sounded like it would be a good challenge. So I rescheduled my Saturday morning run to be Sunday and it was all set.
Trouble was when we woke up on Saturday, it was very very windy about 50 degrees and a chance of rain. I’m not sure it’s smart to try your first 50 mile ride in those conditions. So we ended up canceling the bike ride.
What should we do then? How about going back to sleep for another 2 hours! I don’t think you can go very wrong with that decision. We both had a busy week and next week isn’t going to be any easier.
I think I mentioned having done some work on the VW Golf the other week. I had hoped that the transmission code was kind of a fluke thing. Well after about 1000 miles the light was back on again. So back to Auto Zone I go hoping it’s just a glow plug error. No such luck, transmission…. So now I’m back to making decisions about the cars. Fun times.
It’s getting late in the day and I haven’t done anything for a workout. So I decide a swim would be good. This would be the 4th swim of the week and I followed the workouts from the book at each of them. The kick sets became ck and but that’s nothing new. I’m swimming beside a girl that’s on the high school swim team which was a constant reminder that swimming is largely technique. So I worked hard at staying focused and aware of my form the entire time. I’m starting to think that even if I don’t get out of the water any faster this year at the triathlons, I’m definitely going to be less fatigued. Harder effort doesn’t always translate to faster with swimming. I just have to remember that during the race.
I then went home. Hopped on the bike trainer for about 20 minutes, then stretched myself out.

Sunday: 13.1 miles of hill running. I finished the run feeling really good. Although running down hill is still my biggest concern in terms of hurting myself. I’ve made a point of taking time to ice down following these long runs. Today would be no different. Only it was… I got home and went to walk down to the basement and my right knee wanted no part of going down stairs. Up was less of a pain but something was wrong.
So Ice and Anti Inflammatories was the plan the rest of the morning.
It’s strange to me. There is no pain if you poke around at the knee or anything like that. Basically stairs are the problem.
Of course it’s still a beautiful day out and Genine wants to go for a bike ride. I have no idea how that will feel but I decide I’ll probably find out in a big hurry whether it’s a good idea or not.
We end up riding about 20 miles. I got a flat on the way back and of course everyone is stopping to ask if we need anything. Then this one guy says, I’m a bike tech, I could get you going in a hurry. I tell him that’s okay. He says he could show us all the “tricks” to getting it done right. Basically he won’t take no for an answer it seems. So I let him take over, why not right? Always good to see a pro do the work. Other than that the ride was uneventful, I don’t think my knee was any worse off.
The chiropractors typically say that knee problems either stem from the hip or from the foot so I started to try and figure that out. It would seem my right foot is jammed or something. I can make it “pop” as I move it around. I’m guessing I’ve found the problem and I’ll see about getting it adjusted today. I fully expect I might not be running this week. Obviously, I’m hoping it wont be longer than that.

Losing weight is for little girls.

I'm a man.

April could be tough.

Training: Monday’s Masters Swim was frustrating but good. I was just out of sync, it happens...
Tuesday night Genine and I were back at the pool. We stayed focused. 250 warmup. Then an 800 easy, I was trying a bunch of things this whole time trying to establish a rhythm. I was basically swimming 2:00 100’s.
Then we had 3x300. This is where I put in some effort. I’m not sure that I did any better than 1:47 100’s but I felt like I was getting a workout in. I kept trying to work on my technique figuring I’d see a significant time drop if I actually got some rotation happening or something but I have nothing amazing to report. I’m still the barge…

Ran with Todd this morning. 6.7 miles, 56 minutes. There were a couple breaks and walks in there. Our 3rd hill loop it looked like we stayed under 8 min/mile the entire time which seemed pretty solid to me because I was definitely feeling the hill this morning, guess that makes it a good workout!

Okay so here is why April could get tough:

The company I work for, C5 is currently building a new location. It should be done by the end of April. Sure there have been many details which have taken time and effort the last few months. Basically strategizing how to make the move happen smoothly has been at the back of my mind since January. Currently the biggest frustration has been setting up phone lines and internet. They keep telling me that the service will be there for us, but honestly, I’m concerned. I think I’ve done what I can.
The real fun will begin when we finally get to move the systems to the new space. It would be one thing if we were going to just move the systems but it’s more than that. Very few of the cables are going to be long enough to work in the new place. So it’s now a re-wire as well. Just an extra layer of complexity but it should go well.
Even tho’ it’s going to be a bunch of work, I’m looking forward to it. This new space should be a nice upgrade in working conditions. (Think cubical to shared office upgrade).
Hopefully if I get into long hours it won’t be for weeks on end. It should be manageable but I know nothing goes exactly as planned. Work will have to come first for a few weeks that’s all. Once we are in, we should be able to get back to normal rather quickly.

Lastly:
For those that knew him, today would have been Dan Dare’s 41st birthday. The April Fool. Ha ha! 41! Dang that sounds old. I think it feels older than it should because I still picture him in his 20’s. Well I can’t do card tricks like he could and I don’t think I can get the gang together to have a laser tag battle, a game of Axis & Allies or D&D like the old days either. What I can do is finish up my note for my facebook page and get my part of the leukemia fundraiser going.
Then on the way home tonight, I should pick up a 6 pack of Yuengling Black & Tan. That was his favorite. I’ll make sure to save enough calories in the diet for that today. ;-)
I suppose if I really wanted to be funny I could have a couple right before yoga!