Good news!! Grab them while they last!!

Wait, what is happening? Good news?? Something like that... may not be very significant in the grand scheme of things, but at least it's a start. Every day that I don't feel injured must be celebrated!!

After last week's stunt in the hospital, I made sure to stay put. I spent most of the weekend on the couch, resting my back as much as I could. I did not have to take any of the Tylenol/Codeine (T3), but continued the Naproxen until Wednesday evening. I skipped all workouts, and I even went for massage therapy on Monday morning. Despite the therapist's gentle touch, it totally made me feel like I got beaten with a baseball bat. Needless to say, I worked from home that day because I needed to remain horizontal. And just like that, come Thursday, all pain was gone!

Gave myself 2 more days to make sure it wasn't just the Naproxen lingering in my system and Friday night I laced my shoes and went out for a run. Well, you know... the sort of runs that I'm doing right now. Went on the same 2.5km loop around the block, but did 2 min run/1 min walk, with the run intervals a little faster than usual. I remember when Zin was recovering from ITB issues, he was told to run a little faster = less pounding. No issues during this run, but my knees felt a little hot afterwards, which I suppose is the new normal.

Next day I spent a good 30min on my roller, plus stretching and smashing all sore muscles. My adductors were a mess, and so were my Gluteus medius. By the way, you'll hear me talking muscles more often from now on because thanks to Jim from 50 after 40 I finally bought a muscle chart. I had no idea it would be so big though... I still need to find a place for it where it doesn't scare my house guests.

That's what I get for not knowing the imperial system...

Alright, last but not least, today I returned to the pool! The workout was mostly speed intervals and for the first time ever I went without having breakfast - I wasn't feeling hungry, and as part of the nutritional coaching that I'm following, I am learning to listen to the hunger cues - so I don''t know if it was in my head or not, but I wondered if I would have done better with some food in my stomach. I managed to go through all the sets though and I was pretty proud of myself. Here's what it looked like (not all times were recorded because I don't measure the kick sets and sometimes I just forget to start the watch again, plus there's the Garmin hiccups).

100m free | 50m pull | 50m kick | 3x50m fist rest 30 | 4x50m desc rest 20 | 50m 85% rest 40 | 100m 85% rest 45 | 150m 85% rest 50 | 150m 85% rest 50 | 100m 85% rest 45 | 50m 85% rest 40 | 100m pull ez rest 20 | 8x25m sprint rest 15 | 2x75 (25kick/25pull/25swim) | 50 breast stroke

And that's about it! Back was a little tired after the swim, hence the blogging opportunity while I lie on the couch, waiting for Zin to come back from his 18km indoor run.

One day at a time, it's all I can afford for now. Thanks to all who sent me words of encouragement and were there for me when I was losing it last week. You guys mean the world to me <3.

Can't fight this feeling

The musical references continue because I feel like singing these days. It's all the endorphins working in overdrive I bet. So I have to, I just have to write this post and say that I've had a smashing splashing swim on Sunday! It was my choice of workout, so given that I wasted a bit of time socializing with a girl from Romania with whom I had been sharing the line for a few weeks, I decided to "go long" and just swim. And I really swam with abandon, not worrying about time or having a perfect technique, just letting the muscle memory do the work.

In my subconscient, I must have been pissed off because of all the voices that keep telling me that I'm not good enough because something happened, for the first time ever I felt like I was gliding, floating, pushing through water, instead of fighting it. I was such a great feeling, not being in a constant battle. I don't think I went much faster than usual, but it felt almost easy and breathing on my "bad side" was really not much different than on the good side. Almost there, I should say.

Now, of course, I am a nervous and terrified to go back to the group swim where coach is going to watch my every single move and read all my imperfections again, but at least I have these swims where I am alone with my thoughts to bring my confidence back afloat.

That is all, thanks for listening ;-)

Life is good

It's Sunday, I finished my 2h long run, had an ice bath, then pizza for lunch. I even had a haircut. Life is good.

Yesterday, I did a killer bike ride on my trainer, 3 intervals of 20 min each, called Eclipse. Nothing to do with Twilight. I switched on my TV for the first time in 2 months, watched Ellen, then Argo. Life is good.

On Friday, my work demo setup worked and I shipped it, and we had celebratory beer at the office. It totally turned the week's mood around, so I celebrated some more with a run outside in the snow. Life is good.

Thursday, I met with a local coach from my tri club. I am going to see him at least twice a week and he's going to cook a brand new training plan for me to finish Ironman Muskoka 70.3 later this year. Life is good.

Wednesday I did another bike workout on my trainer, called Ericsson. Nothing to do with the phones. I found my sweet spot. Workout data got botched in the upload, but I managed to fix it after upgrading to the latest software version. Life is good.

Tuesday I was alive and kicking, despite the lack of energy. Life is good.

Monday I accepted a DietBet challenge to lose 5.6lb in 4 weeks. I put in $30. If I succeed, I share $20,000 and some change with as many other winners out of 683 (as of today), so at worst, I lose $30, at best, I win them back and some more. Life is good.

I found on eBay the same set of Gap scarf and hat that I had since 2003, but lost sometime in the last month. Life is awesome!

There is good in everything, you just have to look for it. It's called positive thinking. Train at it everyday.