The summer has flown by, & the last time I blogged was the end of May! Now it's Labor Day weekend, & fall is quickly approaching here in Wisconsin. I'll catch you up on the racing season for me & upcoming adventures!
A week after the marathon, my knees started to ache really badly when I was running. Turns out I had bought the wrong kind of shoe for my body build, & I now have runner's knee. Eric & I did a lot of research, & it seems like it is just one of those nagging injuries runners get...just like tendinitis in shoulders for swimmers, which I had too! I am working on controlling the pain with rehab, ice, ibuprofen and exercises that will strengthen my adductor and abductor muscles. With so much running and biking in my life, I also need to incorporate flexibility and stability exercise like yoga, pilates, and lots of stretching to maintain all-around strength.
So, post-marathon, I was unable to hit any long training runs, but my 2 triathlons ended up a success in my mind. In mid-June, I competed in the Verona Triterium, an Olympic Distance Tri. It was a very hilly and challenging bike and run. Part of the bike course utilizes the Ironman course, & it was a wake up call for me that I needed to train my weakness...the bike... a lot more than I had!
5 weeks later, I competed in the Racine 1/2 Ironman. Although I wasn't able to do much running leading up to the race, I got in tons of awesome training rides on the bike. 2 weeks before the race, Eric & I did a 100 mile bike ride, & I felt strong the whole way...I just really don't like biking in traffic or in windy conditions which is nearly impossible out in the farmland of SE Wisconsin. I ended up posting a 5:13 finish time, & dropped 45 minutes from my crappy time last year. I had the fastest swim out of all the women, held 19.5 mi/hr on the bike, & 8:38/mi on the run. I bonked on the second half of the run, so I know I can go faster with no injuries next summer.
All in all, it was a great racing season for me, and next weekend I am volunteering at Ironman Wisconsin!! People who volunteer get priority registration for the 2009 race. I am really excited to sign up for my first full Ironman and get some serious training underway. Big training will start in January, and until then I'm working on building strength and maintaining fitness.
On a much more somber note, last week I received news that my swim coach from high school committed suicide. It was truly shocking news and very sad. There are so many current and former swimmers whose lives have been greatly affected by this man. Why is it that the people who feel desperately alone are the ones that seem the most happy and fulfilled? I spent more time with him in my 4 years of high school than I did with my family, & I keep replaying memories of him in my head. He was an amazing coach, and had success because he believed in the potential that every swimmer brought to the team. He believed that hard work and a great atmosphere could produce anyone into a National level swimmer. I know that I achieved more than I could have imagined in my 4 years at Bolles swimming under him. He always made sure that I knew he appreciated my hard work and dedication, even though I was not the fastest swimmer in the group, & he played a huge role in my college recruiting process. Coach Shofe, many of the values and ideals I possess are because of my time spent swimming under you & I know that I will continue to hold them dear to my heart as I progress along my own personal journey of swim coaching. I hope that I can be a source of strength and comfort for my swimmers and exemplify that for every problem, there is a solution no matter how long, arduous or uncomfortable that journey may be.
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