Training Update - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good -

Love my bike. Love my rides. Love my fellow bike riders. Love...OK, you get the picture. Seriously, the bike is going well. Recently I've had great rides with TRIDi, TGCoach CD and Ironwoman Canada.

I always look forward to rides with TRIDi. She is so much stronger than she gives herself credit for - even before factoring in that she is about to graduate from an accelerated business IT program, works full time and is dedicated to her family, kids, dog and friends. Our rides are tough, but always full of fun moments and great conversation.

TGCoach CD kindly agreed to meet with me for a ride before I left for Phoenix. We made this year's first pilgrimmage to Miller's Lane, with her devious hills and cruel teases. TGCoach CD helped me feel more comfortable with my natural tendencies for dealing with traffic and worked my butt off trying to teach me how to attack hills as we rode the Capital One loop a bunch of times. Build up speed, rise off your seat, come out with acceleration.

Ironwoman Canada and I ventured out on her 5 county course this week. She claims riding with me is fine. It is like the third or fourth time she has been on her bike in over two years due to injury and having a baby - though her rockstar abilities were obvious - I don't think she broke a sweat while I panted and gasped for air more times than I want to remember. She made me pull for over half of the ride, giving me pointers for climbing tough Patterson hills and yelling at me to PEDAL when hitting descents I'd normally coast (and brake) through (I learned that bike breaks were reserved for after the workout, not during) - making this training ride with notable winds and tough climbs within seconds of my White Lake half IM race pace.

Now Patriot Sangria's life would be perfect if we could throw in a few bike rides with more TRIgirls (DL, Annn and MS, among others!), Barricudas (BL and BN) - and the rest of the winter posse!

The Bad -

While my swim training has seemingly remained on track, I had a rude awakening during a core workout when I couldn't put my left arm into the correct position for a lat pull exercise because it.would.not.go. Right arm - perfect, left - a mess. My shoulder pain has fluctuated from tolerable to annoying to more uncomfortable than I want to admit - and when Ironwoman Canada told me "This is not good," I scheduled an appointment with Dr. S for this coming Tuesday. All signs are pointing to tendonitis - and I'm hoping that a good cortizone shot will reduce the inflammation so I can build up strength and flexiblity.

The Ugly -

I've been struggling with running since the SF. Though I am gradually upping the distance, my pace is all over the place. The dreaded side stitch from my early running days has returned, usually around mile 2.5. During my t-run yesterday, I tried running up hills for the first time since SF - and it was not fun. I am grateful that my foot is feeling fine, but also realize I've lost some ground and have my work cut out for me for Placid.