Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Back in business... I hope.

We fared rather well with Hurricane Irene because of a bit of luck. Our power never went out. Had our power gone out, we would have had to pull the floor drain in the basement and mop the water towards it all night. With power, we were up all night running the Wet Vac just keeping everything in check.

It’s been awhile since I’ve pulled an all nighter. You then face the decision of how to handle Sunday. I think I took two one hour naps. So Sunday wasn’t very productive for me.


I woke up Monday planning to go to our NJ recording stage. Only I heard on the radio some of the key highways to get there were still problematic. Going to the city wasn’t an option because the trains were not running at all. So I got a couple extra hours of sleep. It still didn’t feel like enough, but I’ve been feeling tired for weeks now because of the shingles.


I really wanted to start workouts again tho’. It’s been over 5 weeks now. There are times I can still feel the nerve through my right shoulder blade. It just keeps everything more tense than it should be and I have a faint feeling that I want to itch it. Then there is my right shoulder that I fell on during the tango race. It still feels bruised and has bad range of motion. During Timberman weekend I found out that it seemed to feel better after a few days of swimming. So I went over to the pool after lunch, only to find that I had everything in my swim bag but a swimsuit.


I ended up going to the pool that evening with Genine. I didn’t follow a workout. I just wanted to get that shoulder moving. I did time myself on a couple of 100’s with the pull buoy and without. I’ve regressed to being faster with the pull buoy again. Why would I even bother looking at the clock? Well my pace at Timberman was disturbing to me. I was relieved to see my pace with a pull buoy was :20+ faster per 100 than what I did at Timberman. So it’s just a matter of building up endurance again.

On the way home from the pool, we found out just how lucky we were the night of the Hurricane. Starting on the other side of Main Street (half a block from our house). The entire neighborhood was still without power. (Time to buy a Generator).


Tuesday I had to start my Marathon training schedule. I was hoping to be starting this schedule with Half Iron fitness. Instead I’m probably going to modify the schedule to allow for a slower build in the distance of the long runs. Although it can’t be too slow, I’ve got an 18 mile “race” in just over 4 weeks.

Part of me doesn’t really want to do the Marathon at this point. Once again, it’s a race I’m going to be at the start line with less preparation than I would like. Also I may have to consider dropping out partway through the race. So why bother? Well I find that having something on the schedule, that is going to be a big challenge, helps keep me focused on my training schedule. So it stays on the schedule. Who knows? Maybe it will turn out better than I think.


So I ran 4 miles last night with Genine. Initially I started out watching my HR making sure I stayed aerobic. On the way back, there is a long steady climb. Well I was kind of tired of jogging this section because my HR would never stay in zone otherwise. So I just kept pushing. My stride feels so much better running the faster pace anyhow. It was a decent run but I should have iced my right foot when I finished. That right foot is still striking oddly or something. It doesn’t bother me while I’m running, it hurts the next day.

I’m planning on getting massages frequently this fall in an attempt to get to the marathon start line and maybe it will also help this foot problem. (I think it starts in the calf muscles).

I know it sounds like I complain about all sorts of aches and pains. I know one thing for sure. I’d rather have the aches and pains from workouts, than the aches and pains from not being active.

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