Back on Track

So far, so good. I swam for 20 minutes on Sunday, walked for 30 minutes on Monday and swam for 20 minutes on Tuesday. Yesterday I decided to walk to the post office instead of driving. It was very hot, and the Deep Woods Off I sprayed on myself to combat the mosquitoes didn't help. That 50 minute escapade nearly did me in. It started to rain on the way back, but not enough to cool me off. Today I swam for 20 minutes. I decided that since my next race isn't until January, I needed a new goal. I signed up for "Jeff and Brede's" triathlon in Katy on September 12th. That should give me enough time to fully heal my knee and train on my bike.

2 Weeks of Recovery

The day after the 5K, my leg and knee started hurting. Patricia and I did hills on that following Tuesday, and I felt a tugging. As the week progressed it got worse, so I only swam a few times, but didn't walk or run. Over the weekend, I dropped a lockbox on my foot and although it didn't hurt right away, I was in pain the next day and was limping for almost a week. So between my knee and my foot, I decided to rest. I only did a slow walk on Monday for 30 minutes and then swam 3 times this past week. The rest has helped and today it is feeling much better. I will start my routine tomorrow. I've also gained about 10 pounds, so I know there is a correlation between exercise and wait loss/gain!

Annual Freedom 5K - Fourth of July

We had clear skies and heat for this 5K. It had rained all week and the park was flooded out, so the race was totally on the street. It actually wasn't bad because you were able to see the turnaround and it seemed faster. I had not trained at all this past week because of my tri last Sunday and the rain. When I knew I wouldn't PR, I decided to just have fun and take photos of my running buddies. My dillydallying cost me 3rd place! I was short 40 seconds from placing 3rd for my age group and would have since I spent at least 2 minutes to take pix. I don't regret it all!

Me, Patricia and Beverly before the race

Memorial Hermann TRI 6-27-10

The last few weeks have been a real challenge. My shoulder and neck started hurting and it seemed that nothing would help. I tried massage, chiropractic adjustments, Epsom salt baths and hot and cold compresses. I couldn't train on the bike or swim. I just walked whenever I could. My weekend long runs were 4 miles. On the 17th, the pain finally went away and I was able to both ride and swim. I did 55 minutes on my stationary bike and swam a few times. Then it was decision time. Do I taper (which I had already done by missing almost 3 weeks of training), or keep at it. I decided that if I was going to injure myself, it would be better to do it as a result of the race than to do it by over training. I guess I made the right decision because I had a pretty good race considering. I finished #655 out of #688, finishing in 1:42:38.

Holiday Weekend

I was going to rest on Sunday but decided I had better do something, so I cycled on the trainer for 30 minutes. I was going to swim on Monday, but my neck and shoulder was hurting (I think it's from bad swimming form), so I took a rest. This morning I walked for 30 minutes.

Astros 5K

I hadn't done a 5K since the Clear Lake Tri last August. My goal today was to run as much as possible, keeping my pace under a 14 minute mile. I didn't PR, but I did finish in 40:48:1 for a average of a 13.10 minutes per mile. Shelley joined me this morning, and although she was worried about mostly running, she made it in before me, even though it was only by 41 seconds! Here's me and Shelley before the race.

25 Minutes Swimming

I swam for 25 minutes this morning and thought about running, but decided that since tomorrow was the 5K, I would rest my legs. Shelley signed up, so we will be doing it together. I really want to run more than walk. We'll see how it goes.