Six days ago I came down with a full-blown cold: sneezing, sniffling, coughing, stuffy nose, I-really-need-to-rest syndrome. I took off 3 days from training, feeling mostly guilt-free, convinced that my patience with illness would result in a quick recovery. Of course, Christmas and being on call overlaped my illness and despite taking days off from training and preaching to myself about rest, I still felt compelled to make a Christmas ham, scalloped potatoes, clean the kitchen floor, and do 5 loads of laundry--on top of going to work. Nonetheless, I felt well enought to do an easy 60 min on the trainer Christmas day and thought I'd be ready to run and ride the next day. Wrong-0!
I've taken that last 2 days off from training--now quite begrudingly. I figured I had enough energy to either do my work-outs or put in full day of work, but not both. My head has been in a fog of mucous. My brain function has been dulled by antihistamines, decongestants, and cough syrup. Kevin has basically been caring for a mentally impaired girl for the last 6 days.
6 days. I've lost all patience for this cold which has now become my first bout of sinusitis. I've taken a lethal dose of Ibuprofen to lessen the pick-axe in the middle of my forehead pain to a dull throbbing. I'm ready to beg my Head and Neck surgeon colleagues if there is such a thing as Liquid Draino for my head---oh yeah, it's called Afrin--but don't get hooked on it. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I've taken 5 whole days off from training and I should be better by now, ready to crank out watts, do my swim test, and just run at E-pace for 30 measly minutes dammit!
The truth of the matter is that I really didn't take 5 full days off--I couldn't. I had to work. Of course, I didn't have to make Christmas dinner or do laundry or clean, but I did. It's not easy being patient with myself when I'm sick. It's not easy for me to rest completely and guilt-free. The weekend is upon me and I'll make myself rest for the next two days. However, the cupboards are bare and laundry's piling up again...
Friday, December 28, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
What about the children?
The Christmas cards have descended upon our house. Every year our friends send us pictures of their children in holiday attire and a one page insert that summarizes the year marked in vacations and snipets about the pictured children. My friends are particularly zealous about including every detail involving their kids so their one page season's greeting is in the smallest readable font and single-spaced. I've thought to include a synopsis of 2007 for Kevin and me. As we have no children except for my feline son, Pigg, and yellow lab step-son, Scooby, we would be the "kids". The pictures on the card would be Kevin speeding along on his new tri bike and aero helmet, looking so aerodynamic Dave Zabriskie would be envious; and my finish line picture at Eagleman, victorious in my HIM PR. Our rundown, printed on festive red and green paper, would read like this:
Merry Christmas! We hope Kevtima's holiday newsletter finds you all injury-free and ready to crank out watts after a restful off-season.
Little Kevy had a great season in his new age group this year with 2 podium finishes at the Sodus triathlon and Danforth duathlon--which was supposed to be a tri, but the swim was cancelled due to freezing temps in the Lake. Poor Kevy was ready to go on the shore with his swim floaties, but the plaque for 3rd place more than made up for his disappointment. He's in his second year of training with power and really loves his Powertap! He enjoys sweet spot rides, track work-outs, vanilla GU, and riding his mountain bike. No matter how hard we try, he still won't weight train or do running drills.
Kitima is a big girl now and did her first Ironman in Lake Placid this summer. At mile 12 on the run she had a bit of a meltdown/tantrum (Girls will be girls!), but her girlfriend, Shari, promised to get her a pony and she snapped out of it. She's into running in skirts, long rides with her friends Dana and Marian, and strawberry banana GU. In fact, she saved over 200 empty GU packets and got a free pair of GU socks from their Stash-Your-Trash program. After a long off-season, she's ready for the 2008 season and is enjoying her E-pace runs...really!
Kevtima took a trip to Maryland in June with Mary, Bill, Sharon, and Hannah. They camped and rescued Mary from being eaten by her tent in a wind storm. Bill, Kevin, and Kitima had PR's at Eagleman that weekend; and Mary had a triumphant HIM where pacing, nutrition, and complete abscence of barfing lead to a breakthrough performance. Also, while in the Chesapeake Bay area, Kitima wanted crabs and boy did she get them! Soft-shelled and fried in butter!
We're truly blessed to have such a wonderful life where we can swim, ride our bikes, and run races with each other and our friends. We have absolutely no plans in the future to grow up and retiring only means more time to play! We wish everyone a wonderful holiday. May the New Year bring all of us closer to race weight, out of pool for aqua-jogging, and a fulfilling tri season!
Merry Christmas! We hope Kevtima's holiday newsletter finds you all injury-free and ready to crank out watts after a restful off-season.
Little Kevy had a great season in his new age group this year with 2 podium finishes at the Sodus triathlon and Danforth duathlon--which was supposed to be a tri, but the swim was cancelled due to freezing temps in the Lake. Poor Kevy was ready to go on the shore with his swim floaties, but the plaque for 3rd place more than made up for his disappointment. He's in his second year of training with power and really loves his Powertap! He enjoys sweet spot rides, track work-outs, vanilla GU, and riding his mountain bike. No matter how hard we try, he still won't weight train or do running drills.
Kitima is a big girl now and did her first Ironman in Lake Placid this summer. At mile 12 on the run she had a bit of a meltdown/tantrum (Girls will be girls!), but her girlfriend, Shari, promised to get her a pony and she snapped out of it. She's into running in skirts, long rides with her friends Dana and Marian, and strawberry banana GU. In fact, she saved over 200 empty GU packets and got a free pair of GU socks from their Stash-Your-Trash program. After a long off-season, she's ready for the 2008 season and is enjoying her E-pace runs...really!
Kevtima took a trip to Maryland in June with Mary, Bill, Sharon, and Hannah. They camped and rescued Mary from being eaten by her tent in a wind storm. Bill, Kevin, and Kitima had PR's at Eagleman that weekend; and Mary had a triumphant HIM where pacing, nutrition, and complete abscence of barfing lead to a breakthrough performance. Also, while in the Chesapeake Bay area, Kitima wanted crabs and boy did she get them! Soft-shelled and fried in butter!
We're truly blessed to have such a wonderful life where we can swim, ride our bikes, and run races with each other and our friends. We have absolutely no plans in the future to grow up and retiring only means more time to play! We wish everyone a wonderful holiday. May the New Year bring all of us closer to race weight, out of pool for aqua-jogging, and a fulfilling tri season!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Monkeypox
Today, a letter from the NY State Department of Health reminds me that I should promptly report communicable diseases and how it can make the difference between disease control and an outbreak. A list of these communicable diseases that require reporting came with the letter. It included the usual public panic-inducing infections such as SARS, anthrax, and tuberculosis along with maladies seen only in textbooks and third world countries such as cholera and plague. On the list was something I had never heard: Monkeypox.
"Is this a joke?" I thought. Do the symptoms include an overwhelming urge to eat bananas and fling one's feces? Has the CDC quarantined Magila Gorilla and the Grape Ape for this? It turns out that one does NOT catch monkeypox from monkeys but from African squirrels. It's only called monkeypox because it was first discovered in lab monkeys. Rats, mice, and rabbits can get monkeypox too. In 2003 several people in the U.S. got monkeypox from their infected pet prairie dogs. People who become infected with monkeypox face a 1-10% mortality rate.
So what's my point? A name is not always accurate or indicative of the thing it represents. It's barely a snapshot of a tiny corner of an enormous picture. I bring this up because it's that time of year for swim, bike, and run testing. I'm not debating the accuracy or necessity of testing during our training. I think that we should pay very close attention to the physiologic indicators of our athletic performance and health; and I really enjoy the anal-retentiveness of tracking data. What concerns me is that we have a picture of our triathlon selves in our minds ("I just did an Ironman. I should be Endurance goddess.") that may not match what our early season testing show ("Yes, you did just do an Ironman but a 100 year old giant tortoise could lap you in a 10K run today."). I hope that my bike test will tell me and Coach Mary of my anaerobic triumphs on the mountain bike. However, I'm quite sure that we'll both find out that I've been slacking in the Endurance arena--eventhough I did just do an Ironman this summer! I fantasize that my run test will have me hanging with Paula Radcliffe during my long runs and showing Ian Thorpe what's up in the pool...okay, okay...a girl can dream, can't she?
While my stand alone 5K run pace is wildly different from my Ironman marathon pace, that 5K pace does DICTATE what my training paces for Ironman will be. Also, I think true pace at maximum oxygen consumption to oxygen delivery (the definition of VO2 max) isn't really going to be the 5K pace for someone like me who can't run that far in less than 20 min. Most of us can sustain exertion at VO2 max for 10-12 minutes at best (Lance Armstrong probably 20 min). Nonetheless, I really shouldn't and don't worry about the absolute pace or value for my VO2 max because for long course racing I really won't need to have any sustained periods at that effort level.
What I hope for is that regardless of how terribly slow my stand alone 5K pace is (read: how crummy these first tests are going to pan out), I can sustain a somewhat respectable pace for the 13 miles or 26 miles at the end of a long day out of the water and off the bike. I would like to have a triumph of aerobic endurance and strength over anaerobic vigor and might. Until then I'll plug away with training. I suspect the picture I'll see after the testing will be similiar to my first impression of monkeypox: somewhat comical and perhaps disappointing in its lack of any apparent strength. Ah, but don't underestimate the monkeypox! ;)
"Is this a joke?" I thought. Do the symptoms include an overwhelming urge to eat bananas and fling one's feces? Has the CDC quarantined Magila Gorilla and the Grape Ape for this? It turns out that one does NOT catch monkeypox from monkeys but from African squirrels. It's only called monkeypox because it was first discovered in lab monkeys. Rats, mice, and rabbits can get monkeypox too. In 2003 several people in the U.S. got monkeypox from their infected pet prairie dogs. People who become infected with monkeypox face a 1-10% mortality rate.
So what's my point? A name is not always accurate or indicative of the thing it represents. It's barely a snapshot of a tiny corner of an enormous picture. I bring this up because it's that time of year for swim, bike, and run testing. I'm not debating the accuracy or necessity of testing during our training. I think that we should pay very close attention to the physiologic indicators of our athletic performance and health; and I really enjoy the anal-retentiveness of tracking data. What concerns me is that we have a picture of our triathlon selves in our minds ("I just did an Ironman. I should be Endurance goddess.") that may not match what our early season testing show ("Yes, you did just do an Ironman but a 100 year old giant tortoise could lap you in a 10K run today."). I hope that my bike test will tell me and Coach Mary of my anaerobic triumphs on the mountain bike. However, I'm quite sure that we'll both find out that I've been slacking in the Endurance arena--eventhough I did just do an Ironman this summer! I fantasize that my run test will have me hanging with Paula Radcliffe during my long runs and showing Ian Thorpe what's up in the pool...okay, okay...a girl can dream, can't she?
While my stand alone 5K run pace is wildly different from my Ironman marathon pace, that 5K pace does DICTATE what my training paces for Ironman will be. Also, I think true pace at maximum oxygen consumption to oxygen delivery (the definition of VO2 max) isn't really going to be the 5K pace for someone like me who can't run that far in less than 20 min. Most of us can sustain exertion at VO2 max for 10-12 minutes at best (Lance Armstrong probably 20 min). Nonetheless, I really shouldn't and don't worry about the absolute pace or value for my VO2 max because for long course racing I really won't need to have any sustained periods at that effort level.
What I hope for is that regardless of how terribly slow my stand alone 5K pace is (read: how crummy these first tests are going to pan out), I can sustain a somewhat respectable pace for the 13 miles or 26 miles at the end of a long day out of the water and off the bike. I would like to have a triumph of aerobic endurance and strength over anaerobic vigor and might. Until then I'll plug away with training. I suspect the picture I'll see after the testing will be similiar to my first impression of monkeypox: somewhat comical and perhaps disappointing in its lack of any apparent strength. Ah, but don't underestimate the monkeypox! ;)
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Pitbull
One of my patients with enormous ulcers on both legs from venostasis came to see me in clinic. Her ulcers are a result of incompetent valves of the veins in her legs which lead to profound leg swelling, skin breakdown, and eventually ulcers. The treatment is compression dressings to control the swelling and keeping her legs elevated. Her legs were healing nicely until right around Thanksgiving--the ulcers increased in size and were wet, weeping, and painful. She cries, "It's the dressings that making them worse!"--the same dressings we'd been using that made them better before Thanksgiving. I'm puzzled. We make small talk about the holidays and I find out that she stood for hours and hours making all the pies, turkey, and side dishes. I ask,"Did you ever think all that standing to cook caused your ulcers to get worse?" Nope, it's definitely the dressings, she insists.
The same week I see one of my gastric bypass patients who lost over 150 lbs as a result of alot hard work and her operation 3 years ago. Now she had gained back 50 pounds over 6 months. "It's my new boyfriend," she explains,"He doesn't exercise and likes to go out to eat."
I ask, "Does he FORCE you to eat unhealthy food and not exercise?"
"Oh, of course not! But you know..."
Yep, I know that it's easier and very convincing to blame something or someone else for our failings. I know how satisfying it can be to sink your teeth into a good excuse, a scape goat, or general misfortune and hang on like a pitbull. It almost absolves you.
Alot of my training friends have heard me lament about my running: how I'm not the runner I used to be 16 years ago, how overtraining and injury stopped me from reaching my running potential, how I constantly race against Kitima circa 1991 never able to beat her...wahwahwahwah. Get me a binky STAT! I've spent most of my tri career with this dead albatross of my former running self around my neck. I'm known to hammer on the bike then choke on the run. When my knee aches on a training, I think that I've blown my ACL or all the cartilage is gone from my joints and bone is rubbing on bone with each step.
I've been injury-free for 2 years. A blessed combination of proper increases in training load and intensity (THANK YOU, MARY!!), physical therapy, ART, and orthotics has brought me to the finishing line of 2 half-Ironmans and Ironman Lake Placid. My knees are not younger nor with more cartilage nor are the biomechanic discrepancies gone. However, I'm done racing with the runner I used to be. My past mistakes and fear have crippled my run more than the ligaments and bone spurs of my knees. It's trite, but I "gotta live in the now, man!"
This pitbull is letting go of a worn out excuse. The taste of old mistakes is still my mouth, but I'm chewing on a juicer steak called "Kitima's gonna nail the run at Eagleman 08".
The same week I see one of my gastric bypass patients who lost over 150 lbs as a result of alot hard work and her operation 3 years ago. Now she had gained back 50 pounds over 6 months. "It's my new boyfriend," she explains,"He doesn't exercise and likes to go out to eat."
I ask, "Does he FORCE you to eat unhealthy food and not exercise?"
"Oh, of course not! But you know..."
Yep, I know that it's easier and very convincing to blame something or someone else for our failings. I know how satisfying it can be to sink your teeth into a good excuse, a scape goat, or general misfortune and hang on like a pitbull. It almost absolves you.
Alot of my training friends have heard me lament about my running: how I'm not the runner I used to be 16 years ago, how overtraining and injury stopped me from reaching my running potential, how I constantly race against Kitima circa 1991 never able to beat her...wahwahwahwah. Get me a binky STAT! I've spent most of my tri career with this dead albatross of my former running self around my neck. I'm known to hammer on the bike then choke on the run. When my knee aches on a training, I think that I've blown my ACL or all the cartilage is gone from my joints and bone is rubbing on bone with each step.
I've been injury-free for 2 years. A blessed combination of proper increases in training load and intensity (THANK YOU, MARY!!), physical therapy, ART, and orthotics has brought me to the finishing line of 2 half-Ironmans and Ironman Lake Placid. My knees are not younger nor with more cartilage nor are the biomechanic discrepancies gone. However, I'm done racing with the runner I used to be. My past mistakes and fear have crippled my run more than the ligaments and bone spurs of my knees. It's trite, but I "gotta live in the now, man!"
This pitbull is letting go of a worn out excuse. The taste of old mistakes is still my mouth, but I'm chewing on a juicer steak called "Kitima's gonna nail the run at Eagleman 08".
Monday, December 3, 2007
All kinds of changes
Gosh, this blog was quoted by Coach Mary last week; and now I feel like I should write something profound. However, there will no such thing for this entry...
It's the end of my first week back to training. None of the E pace runs hurt. None of the Active recovery/Endurance rides hurt either. After one ride on the Computrainer, my Spinscan numbers were back up to usual and "Trainer crotch" calloused up nicely. Even the swims felt fine as they are mostly drills and easy sets. I'm ravenously hungry every 2 hours and ready to go to bed by 9 pm again. Yep, it's like slipping back into a comfy routine.
My job has me very concerned and thinking alot of about bowel movements. Yes, poop. Every patient who has had an operation is encouraged to get out of bed and walk as soon as they can. This is to prevent blood clots in the legs, pneumonias, and fevers from parts of the lung collapsing. Mostly importantly to me is that a patient who has had bowel surgery and who walks post-operatively has a quicker return of bowel function. So, everyday (twice a day) I visit these patients and ask them if they have farted yet (I say, "Sir/Ma'am, have you passed flatus?"--it sounds more doctorly). It is a joyous day indeed with the passing of gas "out the bottom" for my post-op patients! Soooo, what does THIS have to do with triathlon?
With the start of the season comes more running, riding, and kicking in the water. The legs are connected to the colon---I know mine are! Welcome back regularity for Kitima! I hope not too many people are grossed out---after all, aren't we that part of society that urinate in our wetsuits and while riding the bike? I don't need remind all of you how many people on the run portion of Ironman were powered by methane, turbo released from the rear.
Something more profound next time...
It's the end of my first week back to training. None of the E pace runs hurt. None of the Active recovery/Endurance rides hurt either. After one ride on the Computrainer, my Spinscan numbers were back up to usual and "Trainer crotch" calloused up nicely. Even the swims felt fine as they are mostly drills and easy sets. I'm ravenously hungry every 2 hours and ready to go to bed by 9 pm again. Yep, it's like slipping back into a comfy routine.
My job has me very concerned and thinking alot of about bowel movements. Yes, poop. Every patient who has had an operation is encouraged to get out of bed and walk as soon as they can. This is to prevent blood clots in the legs, pneumonias, and fevers from parts of the lung collapsing. Mostly importantly to me is that a patient who has had bowel surgery and who walks post-operatively has a quicker return of bowel function. So, everyday (twice a day) I visit these patients and ask them if they have farted yet (I say, "Sir/Ma'am, have you passed flatus?"--it sounds more doctorly). It is a joyous day indeed with the passing of gas "out the bottom" for my post-op patients! Soooo, what does THIS have to do with triathlon?
With the start of the season comes more running, riding, and kicking in the water. The legs are connected to the colon---I know mine are! Welcome back regularity for Kitima! I hope not too many people are grossed out---after all, aren't we that part of society that urinate in our wetsuits and while riding the bike? I don't need remind all of you how many people on the run portion of Ironman were powered by methane, turbo released from the rear.
Something more profound next time...
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