Me say "baaaaa"

Sometimes I think that I'm such a trusting baby sheep when it comes to fitness trends. I trust every shepherd (competent or not) to herd me to green grasses and better fitness. Witness my obsession with compression (ha ha, that rhymed..), the total gym that sat in my basement for years, my collection of workout DVDs (hello, P90X that's almost never been used), among many many other examples. Well, this week it's all about the K-tape.

About four or five weeks ago I started experiencing some pain in my left hip whenever I ran. I started seeing a chiropractor (Dr. Frank) who has been helping me with stretching, exercises, e-stim, the whole deal. This week he suggested we try K-tape (also known as kinesio tape)to help with the healing process. If you want to know more about it, check out www.kinesiotaping.com. Though there are a lot of claimed benefits, none of them have been substantiated by what some people call "evidence". Regardless, I'm desperate and anything that could possibly help will be accepted by me.

Okay - let's get real. I've secretly thought it would be cool to try it since I saw Kerry Walsh sporting it in Beijing. Nobody had to twist my arm

Today Dr. Frank taped me up and it wasn't pretty...

Besides the overall hideousness, you will probably notice that my tape is a boring nude color. No fun blue or pink or bad-ass black tape. Nope, just blend-in-with-your-cellulite skin colored stuff. The Russian took some other pictures and they were even less flattering than this one, though it may be hard to imagine without photographic evidence (of which there will not be any). Here he is making me laugh by telling me what I looked like in the other pictures.  Did I say the tape blends in to your cellulite? Strike that and replace with highlight.

While a bright color might have been fun, the function is the important thing here. Truthfully, I was really hoping the tape would somehow help with healing the hip in time for Pumpkinman. I had my fingers and toes crossed for a miracle, but listen this isn't 34th street and we're not even in Manhatten.

To test the tape out, I went for a ten minute run at a slow pace on the treadmill. If I'm being truthful, I didn't feel like the tape was doing anything. I still was feeling pain, fatigue and all manner of weird sensations around my hip area that I have had on and off for the last month.  I don't think I'm buying the hype at this point, but I'm willing to give it a little more time. The tape is supposed to last for a few days (through showers) so I'll see if there is any improvement on my Saturday run.

On another note - someone who looks bad-ass without the black K-tape...

We were sitting on our stoop and the Noggin just got down on the ground and started doing elevated push-ups. Something I'm pretty sure I cannot do. No, I am not yelling at him to give me ten, even though the Russian says that's what it looks like I'm doing.

Trifitness Women's Triathlon and Duathlon Race Recap

I'm not sure why a small triathlon in nowhere Norwalk, Connecticut had to start at 6:30 in the morning on a Sunday, but there it is. In order to make the drive in time for the 6:00 am transition closing, I had to wake up at stupid-thirty in the morning.

According to the Russian I woke up 10 minutes after we went to sleep to ask him to set his alarm too so I wouldn't oversleep (he was not thrilled). Then, I apparently jumped out of bed an hour later, turned on the lights and said it was time for me to go. Again, the Russian was less than thrilled. It took me a few minutes to admit that I was confused and go back to bed. Truthfully, I vaguely remember these two incidents only because he told me about them the next day. I do remember waking up almost every hour thinking that it was time to get up. The short of it is that I get really anxious when I know I need to wake up for something. The anxiety was compounded by the fact that I was meeting Sam to head up together. When I have to meet someone, that makes me REALLY anxious.

Sam and I headed out around 4:15, which was our planned time. There were lots of drunk people roaming the streets of Hoboken when we left. I believe they were going home, like any sane person should be doing at that time of the morning, rather than leaving their nice bed and nice husband. Seemed like a good idea two months ago. The GPS took us through Manhatten, which we didn't want to do, but didn't know how to avoid. Here's what I learned from that experience:

• There are a ridiculous number of people awake and driving in NYC at that time of the morning on Sunday. 
• These people, despite their early morning habits, are less than ideal drivers.  I believe I was cut off at least twice on 95.
• I am so distanced from reasons for staying up that late that I was trying to figure out why everyone was up so early. 

Anyhow, we made it to the race and got in line to get our stuff. That's right - stuff. No pre-stuffed packets, just your number, chip and a t-shirt. We were in line at 5:50 with about 30 women behind us. No chance that transition was closing at 6:00. By the time I got my transition area set up and my wetsuit on (easier than last time with my currently short nails), it was 6:20. I missed the athlete meeting where they told us important things, like where we should swim. Despite the delay with the registration check-in, the race still started at 6:33. There were women running down the beach to get in our wave (the 39 and under). Sam quickly briefed me on the two buoys I should site for and we were off.

This is what Sam looks like at 5:30 Sunday morning.  Yes, she is that cheerful.

The Swim (Time - 13:56)
The swim was 800 meters and it was a run off the beach start. It was pretty crowded until we rounded the first buoy. There was lots of people grabbing me and I'm sure I did my fair share too. Once it spread out a bit it was better, but I ended up swimming next to a woman for the last third who must have thought I was stalking her. Despite me actually not wanting to ride her hip, that's what happened to the very end. Whoever you are, I'm sorry I was crowding you. totally didn't mean to Overall, the swim felt okay and I wasn't feeling ill when I got out of the water, which was already a plus.

T1 - 3:03 
I could not get my wetsuit off because the timing chip was so huge.  It took me about 30 seconds to figure out that I needed to take the timing chip off first.


The Bike (Time - 37:01)
Not sure if I was thinking when I biked for an hour and a half Friday, but let me tell you that my legs were asking me, Why?" Not only did I feel like I was moving backwards, the thousand or so ladies that passed me were probably thinking that I was. Additionally, my front shifter was misbehaving so I had to stay in my small front ring the whole time. I am a classic masher and ALWAYS ride in the big ring in the front unless I have serious climbing to do. So I was spinning fast and going nowhere fast. Thank goodness they shortened the bike to 9 miles. I seriously could not have taken more of that.

T2 - 1:07
Nothing special, nothing terrible.

The Run (Time- 22:58)
As soon as I left transition, my hip started to hurt and continued the whole way. Running slow didn't help with the pain so I tried to run fast. I was glad to be able to go a decent pace (crushing it if I do say so myself) despite the pain. Overall the run was a confusing two-ish laps that was being directed by a 6 year old in a critical spot. Lucky for me that there were people to follow. The race ended on the beach, which I was not excited about since I hate the feeling of sand in my shoes, but I was glad the whole thing was over.

Post Race 
I got a painful massage/stretch of hip that didn't help as far as I could tell, some fruit on a stick, hummus, coffee and yogurt. Yeah, it seemed a liitle odd to me too.

Post Race Feelings
I am anxious, frustrated, disappointed, annoyed, and (insert negative emotion here).  This race did a lot to make me question my theoretical ability to do Pumpkinman.  I seem to have no bike fitness and pain in my hip.  The mechanical bike problem I was able to fix later that day (so no excuses there), but the other non-mechanical problems have got me worried.  With less than two weeks, things are not looking good...

Sam still cheerful after the race (she crushed it).

She even made me smile, though I'm sure you can tell it was a bit forced...

Here's something to make you and me smile. Furbaby-1 decided all her own to dress up as a ninja and show her white belly.  Don't call animal cruelty on us please.

Oh, rally?

Last Sunday I took part in the Ramapo Rally, a biking event in Mahwah, New Jersey (Mahwah, just wants to make you cackle evilly, right? Me too). The rally consisted of marked rides from 12 miles all the way to 123 miles (for the truly hardcore) starting and ending at Campgaw Mountain County Reservation. I've never done an organized bike rally before, but as the Russian has been hounding me (rightfully so) to get out and ride, I thought it would be a good chance to do a ride in a well-organized (read: food stops) safe (read: people to make sure I don't get lost) situation.

I did the 52 mile ride and overall I had a really good time, though I think there were some things I could have lived without.

The good:

• 52 miles is the longest ride I have ever done. And my sensitive parts were still okay after all that.
• I got to ride with my new bike friends (the lovely ladies of the Tenafly Bicycle Workshop Team). 
• It was a beautiful day with mild temperatures and lots of cloud coverage. 
• The food stops had a great selection of snacks and treats (though for some reason I didn't eat as much as I normally would in such a situation) 

The bad:

• My friend Sam had some issues with her bike and decided to drop to the 25 mile ride. Though she was a great sport and had a great attitude about everything the whole time. 
• We had to cross a highway twice and ride on major roads (with off ramps!) twice 
• I forgot to close my bike bag before putting it on the car on the way home. Amazingly, only one thing came out (I think).

The ugly:

• There are apparently some people who don't understand the concept of riding single file on a road where there are cars. The roads were not closed and this guy was doing this while biking slowly up what amounted to a mole hill. Why, no I didn't want to yell at him...
• I had yet another low speed fall!  
• Someone got badly injured near the end of the course. I didn't see what happened, but he was being taken away in an ambulance.

While it seems like the number of bad things outweighed the good, the overall magnitude of the good parts really made it a fun event. See, I'm smiling!(Okay, that was before it started, but I was smiling at the end too).

Also, The rally gave me some (just a tiny amount) confidence in at least getting the 56 mile half-iron bike ride done without serious problems (minus any low speed falls). This is a bit of a pick-me-up from the blows my confidence has been taking with my hip injury. Don't even get me started...

Pain, pain, go away...

Please don't come another day.

I've been giving my injured hip (see last week's post)rest, relaxation, and some darned good pampering (compression gear, ice, Advil). Despite all of this, and killer Vietnamese food courtesy of my mom, the hip was still angry with me. Yep, still hulking it up when I even pretend to run trying not to miss the light on my way home from work. I admit, that hill workout last week was probably not a good idea, but I'm talking about fake "running in heels".

I decided that I really had to do so something about the pain now because I need it be at least 75% by Pumpkinman. Sorry - I did not run/bike/swim/mom my way ragged to do the aquabike (not that that isn't a legitimate race!).

So first I tried super doses of this...

That helped, but my good friend pain was still lurking about, waiting to pounce.

Then I tried this...

If you're Asian you probably know what this stuff is. If not, it's tiger balm - an ancient herbal miracle remedy that cures all ails. It also smells like you chopped down a bunch of eucalyptus trees and bathed in their rotting husks. My mom used this stuff on us all the time when we were kids. We smelled, though we tried not to smell at school. Anyhow, this tiger balm is special - made from white tigers, rather than your run-of-the-mill orange ones - and is not supposed to smell quite as much. It doesn't, but it also didn't cure the hip. An Asian girl can hope.

Then I made an appointment with a chiropractor on the recommendation of a friend. The Russian's response to this was, "95% of them are frauds". Before I went to the doctor I was hoping that I was getting one of the 5%.

Dr. Frank specializes in sports related injuries and sporty patients and he seemed to really know what he was talking about. I got e-stim with heat, a massage, an adjustment, and some stretching. Overall, it felt really great and was cheaper than going to a spa. Did it cure the hip? Not yet, but that was one session. I am hoping that with some additional sessions it will help with the problem and I can get back to running soon. At this point, I will try anything to make sure I am at least okay for the big day (and the Nike women's marathon after that).

Some things that Dr. Frank told me:

1. My right hip is actually the messed up one (tight). It is making the left hip do all the work, thus causing the injury. This makes total sense! 
2. I need to stretch. I know, this seems so basic, but I am so lazy and stretching always seems like so much effort.  It would be great if I had time for yoga, especially as I'm getting older and less stretchy (he confirmed you lose flexibility with age).
3. I need to get my bike professionally fitted. I've been wanting to do this, but most shops will only do this during the week and during the day so I hadn't done it yet. Dr. Frank recommended a place that will do it this Saturday. Yay!

I'm hoping for the best with the chiro sessions and the bike fitting, because the race is about 3 weeks away.  YIKES!

Rough (training) week

To say last week sucked was challenging would be an understatement.  The week started out bad and only got worse.

Rough training week - day 1
On the way home from work on the bus I started to feel a little nauseous.  This happens to me once in awhile (I hate the bus), but I usually feel better once I get off.  Fifteen minutes later, after getting the Noggin from daycare, I felt worse not better.  After realizing this feeling was not going to go away, I called the Russian and asked him to come home ASAP.  The Noggin can be a bit rambunctious and I wasn't feeling like I could deal in the state that I was in. ASAP ended up being about an hour.  In that time the Noggin showed me what sympathy looks like on a three year old.

Me (while lying on the floor): Sweetie, mommy feels sick.  Can you please not jump on my head?

The Noggin: ha ha ha (crazed laughter while jumping on my head)

Me (inside my head): WTF? WTF?

Needless to say, I did not go to the pool for my swim.  I went to bed at 8:30 feeling like a truck (or a Noggin) had run over my head.  I don't do well with unplanned rest days, but no training was happening that night.

Rough training week - day 2
Following the miserable day 1, I was still feeling not that great.  On top of that, my hip that had been vaguely bothering me the week before became very angry after an unplanned 11 mile run a few days earlier.  I'm never this judicious, but I thought it might be a good idea to take another unplanned rest day and give myself and the hip a break.

Personally, I like my schedules and my training plans.  A training plan feels like a safety blanket.  I feel that if I put in the time and follow the plan, at the very least I won't die on the day of the race.  I don't take kindly to missing training days, especially with this half-iron distance as it freaks me the F out has me a bit nervous.  The Russian says that my Monday breakdown was because the training and life was leaving me too exhausted and that my body was telling that I needed to rest.  Well, I have this mug which says, "Coffee - I'll sleep when I'm dead", which is pretty much how I lead my life.

Rough training week - day 4
Nothing happened on day 3.  I went for a swim, which felt good and I thought maybe I was getting back on track for the week.  Day 4 was supposed to be a track day so I went for a hill run with my running group.  That angry hip did not like the hill workout at all.  In fact, that angry hip became a "you won't like me when I'm angry" hip. Let me tell you, I did not like it when it was angry.

I decided after that fiasco that I was going to skip my runs for the next week and take lots of Advil. This freaked me out a bit because the race is less than 5 weeks away and I've done hardly any long runs.  I guess with running you always have the option of walking (which is what it looks like I'll be doing in the Nike women's marathon at the rate that this whole "training" thing is going)

Rough training week - day 7 (the culmination)
Days 5 and 6 were again, uneventful.  I stuck to my no running plan (ack, more missed training!), but was pretty excited about my long ride planned for day 7.  Through a woman I had met at the pool, I had arranged to meet up with this all women group for a long ride.  For many reasons (that's another post) I love training and racing in all women groups.

Day 7 I got up a early to make sure that I made it to the meeting spot (~45 minute drive away) with plenty of time to spare and ended up being the first person there.  About fifteen minutes before the ride was supposed to start, the ride leader rode up and asked me to park closer to where they normally meet.  No problem.  I hop in the car, drive to the next parking lot over and get out.  I go to get my bike down from the roof rack and put my front wheel on when I realize I didn't have my front wheel.  Again, WTF?

Before the group leader had ridden up I had gone to use the bathroom and was getting ready to  unload my bike.  In doing so, I had taken out my front wheel and leaned it up against the side the car.  Long story short - I ended up with a wheel and this somewhat essential piece separated from it.

No - that end of the axle is not meant to snap off like that. Unless, of course, you run over it with a two ton car.  Then in that case, you have to wonder how the wheel didn't get completely crushed, which it wasn't.  Well, with the axle bent inside the hub and the end snapped off, I was riding nowhere fast.  I hung around for a few minutes to meet the women in the group (they were nice), called the Russian to tell him what a fool I was, and then drove home in a funk.

When I got home I was met by the (much more sympathetic than on day 1) Noggin.

The Noggin: Mommy, don't cry.  I'm going to buy you a new wheel.  I'm going to bring three moneys.

Okay, that was pretty darn cute considering the Russian swears he didn't tell the Noggin to say that to me. Times like that I think that kid does actually like me.

The family went to our local bike shop, Strictly Bicycles, with the slim hope I could get the wheel fixed, but with the more realistic idea that I would be buying myself a new (cheap) wheel.  Amazingly, though I was ready to buy a new wheel, they were able to fix mine in about half an hour.  WHOA.  Those guys are great.

Even though the week went downhill fast, it didn't end nearly as bad as it could have.  I had a fixed wheel and some time to ride (on the trainer).  In addition, we came home to Furbaby 1 guarding my sad, incomplete bike...

...which is just too darn funny.  Yes, she guards things furry-white-belly-up.