Inside the mind of Kat...enter at your own risk.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Running down a dream and trying to catch some Zzzzzz.
Sleep deprivation feels like a never ending nightmare. But unlike a nightmare sleep deprivation is real.
I was so tuckered last night. I passed out as soon as I laid my head upon my pillow. Falling asleep was not the problem. Insomnia wasn't a problem. My mind was exhausted. The problem lied within my soft tissue. Any movement and I would wake with a dull aching pain in my back and shoulders. I tried adjusting my pillow position several times but nothing worked. 11:50, 1:15, 2:45, 3:30....by 5:10 I had enough and got up for the day.
I don't think it's good to arrive at a location and not remember driving yourself. Especially when the drive was almost an hour long. This girl – finger pointing at moi, had two at-fault accidents last year. A third would not make a charm for my pocket book. I don't know how I went from zero in twenty-nine years to two in one year.
Another visit with a new PT. This one uplifted my mood, just a little.
My soft tissue pain went away an hour or two after waking. The fatigue from the lack of zzzzz's stuck around all day. 3 cups of coffee, a five hour energy and I made it through the day.
I decided to make the most of the Twilight Zone spin and took a nap in my aero bars. I'm always surprised at how comfort my TT can be....or how tired I am.
A muscle relaxer and off to bed I go.....
"What is the opposite of two? A lonely me and a lonely you."
Monday, April 4, 2011
Another day, another workout, or two, or three
"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't."
Today was long....but solid :)
AM - 40 mins of aqua jogging.
w/u 15 mins
10 x 10 - 1 min Z4/1 min Z1/Z2
5 min cool down
PM- 10 mins of stretching. 35 mins of upper body weights, core, non-weight (foot) bearing lower body. Light weights - 2 x 20; w/10 sec rest.
Swim
Distance: 2700.0 yd
Pace: 01:51/100yd
Description:
Warm Up
4 x 100; 15 rest
Build Up
1 x 150 pull
1 x 150 pull w/ paddles
repeat 1x
Core
8 x 100 on 1:35; 20 rest
repeat 1 x
(landed on 1:31-1:33 for all 16. I'm only pushing off the wall with one foot. For that, I am pleased with this time).
Cool Down
2 x 50
Spent 15 mins melting away and stretching like a Gumby in the sauna.
Today was long....but solid :)
AM - 40 mins of aqua jogging.
w/u 15 mins
10 x 10 - 1 min Z4/1 min Z1/Z2
5 min cool down
PM- 10 mins of stretching. 35 mins of upper body weights, core, non-weight (foot) bearing lower body. Light weights - 2 x 20; w/10 sec rest.
Swim
Distance: 2700.0 yd
Pace: 01:51/100yd
Description:
Warm Up
4 x 100; 15 rest
Build Up
1 x 150 pull
1 x 150 pull w/ paddles
repeat 1x
Core
8 x 100 on 1:35; 20 rest
repeat 1 x
(landed on 1:31-1:33 for all 16. I'm only pushing off the wall with one foot. For that, I am pleased with this time).
Cool Down
2 x 50
Spent 15 mins melting away and stretching like a Gumby in the sauna.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
A FOODIE kind of day
I look up at the clock. I look back down at the pool floor. My gaze again goes to the clock. Tik-tok. Tick-tok. It's 6am on a Sunday morning. I wouldn't be dreading my workout if a swim was on the agenda. But today is not a swim day. It is a run day. Not only is it a run day, but it is my long run day. Ugh. The only running I can currently do is non-impact running. I stand there submerged up to my chest in water. In the past when I've aqua ran, I've actually wished I was completely submerged. Never to surface. I have a long lonely run ahead of me. Again I look up at the clock. Tik-tok. Tik-tok. I look down at my hand and see that stupid smilie face looking back at me. :) I hit play on my Mp3 player, press start on my Polar HRM and I'm off! Like a tortoise on race day - with a much higher heart rate.
Aqua run - an hour 15 mins
20 min warm up z1/z2
Tempo'd each song alternating mid Z3 w/ low Z2
Post run I met my momma and my good friend Lauren at Slappy's Pancakes. This establishment has been on my "to-do" list for some time. They offer gluten free alternatives and a griddle in the middle of the table for you to make your own pancake. Lauren had pb batter filled with bananas and topped with creme fresh and a lavender honey (I think). My momma got a gluten free (sharing is caring!) fresh blueberry pancake with traditional maple syrup. I went a little nuts with a gluten free pancake filled with chocolate chips and coconut flakes, topped with peanut butter and maple syrup. Yum! Yum! Aqua running was SOOOOOOO worth this!
After breakfast my momma took me to the NW Food Convention. Here we got to taste all kinds of delectable treats, cheeses, meats and alcohol. Here are a few of my favorites.
Pinacolda cake
Habanero Sugar
I tasted a black truffle salt from these guys SaltWorks. It was amazing. I'm going to buy different savory salts to start mixing into my malto. The goal is to have one sweet and one savory during training to help fight flavor fatigue on long workouts.
What girl doesn't love a vast selection of sausages?
Then came the liquor tastings - Uh Oh
My favorite was the Cherry Bourbon. I was surprised by my 2nd favorite - the Whipped Vodka. It was so light and fluffy. That doesn't make any kind of sense at all.
My momma and I both over indulged in everything. When in Rome.....um.
The weekend ended blissfully with a masochistic deep tissue massage. Mmmmm, I <3 my massage therapist.
A little bit of this and a little bit of that
I wake up to Boom! Boom! Boom! Shit! Was I reliving a nightmare of my past? Then my alarm clock goes off. 3:40am. Frick! I swear I had just gone to bed. An overdose on honey corn chex cereal before bed inflicted GI distress all night long. Gluttony could be the sin that spells my death. Anywho... dazed and confused I took my roomie to the airport.
Jesse and I have the best conversations while we're both half a sleep, or drunk for that matter. She helped me come to a realization this morning. The traits that some people have, that drive me most up the wall, are traits that I need in my life. A reason that I love them so. An orderly person needs chaos. A messy person needs cleanliness. A plan needs to be changed....once and awhile.
After I dropped Jesse off I hit the pool to get w/o #1 out of the way. Since I'm no longer coached I've decided to pick up Swimplan.com for my weekly/daily workouts.
Description:
Warm up
• 1 x 200yd Any Stroke (even pace), rest 0:20 / 200yd
Swim your choice of stroke at a steady pace.
Build up (repeat 2 times)
• 1 x 100yd Zipper, rest 0:15 / 100yd
Freestyle drill to emphasize arm recovery. Adjust your stroke recovery by grabbing an imaginary zipper between your thumb and forefinger and pull the zipper up your leg, hip and the side of your chest.
• 2 x 50yd Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:10 / 50yd
Freestyle swim, pausing at the end of every stroke with arms out-stretched, one held out front, the other held loosely against the body.
Core
• 3 x 400yd Freestyle Swim, leave on 06:50 / 400yd
Freestyle swim, starting every 400yd set on the defined time period. The departure time combines your swimming target time and rest time, so the faster you go the more rest you will have. Conversely, the slower you swim, the less rest time you will have.
Warm down
• 1 x 200yd pull with buoy
• 1 x 100 freestyle
It's now been 3 weeks since I injured my foot. This was the first swim that I was able to kick, and not have any tenderness. Yay! I'm still flip turning, and only kicking off the wall with one foot. My times are overall a couple seconds slower. I'm sure that will come back when I'm actually able to push off the wall again.
I got home and it was only 7:30am! It was time for a Kat nap.
When I got up I stumbled upon this Runner's World article WingSpan. A friend FB linked. She said it reminded her of someone. Hmmmm. It hit close to home and stirred up a whirlwind of emotions. Discontent with myself I turned to the one form of therapy that ALWAYS makes me feel better - cooking. I whipped up these bad boys for dessert later that night. Cheesecake cups with melted dark chocolate, bananas and a strawberry sauce.
Workout # 2 was an hour 45 min spin. The pain in my foot pretty much stopped this last week. I want to be completely pain free for a week before I trust riding outside where I could potentially hit Z3/Z4. This left me alone with my compu in the twilight zone (Z2) and the incredibly stupid, but somewhat amusing flick - Zoolander.
I recovered in the evening with a great friend (girl time is priceless), good food (bacon wrapped ribeye over a bed of arugula and balsamic vinegar, mashed red potatoes with garlic & shallots, and sautéed asparagus, mushrooms and onions...oh my!)
a bottle of vino and The Roast Of Donald Trump. Which I had previously watched but just can't get enough of. I'm a big fan of Whitney Cummings. That girl is a hoot.
My night ended with a great phone date. Le sigh.....distance makes the heart grow stronger. I keep telling myself this.
Jesse and I have the best conversations while we're both half a sleep, or drunk for that matter. She helped me come to a realization this morning. The traits that some people have, that drive me most up the wall, are traits that I need in my life. A reason that I love them so. An orderly person needs chaos. A messy person needs cleanliness. A plan needs to be changed....once and awhile.
After I dropped Jesse off I hit the pool to get w/o #1 out of the way. Since I'm no longer coached I've decided to pick up Swimplan.com for my weekly/daily workouts.
Description:
Warm up
• 1 x 200yd Any Stroke (even pace), rest 0:20 / 200yd
Swim your choice of stroke at a steady pace.
Build up (repeat 2 times)
• 1 x 100yd Zipper, rest 0:15 / 100yd
Freestyle drill to emphasize arm recovery. Adjust your stroke recovery by grabbing an imaginary zipper between your thumb and forefinger and pull the zipper up your leg, hip and the side of your chest.
• 2 x 50yd Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:10 / 50yd
Freestyle swim, pausing at the end of every stroke with arms out-stretched, one held out front, the other held loosely against the body.
Core
• 3 x 400yd Freestyle Swim, leave on 06:50 / 400yd
Freestyle swim, starting every 400yd set on the defined time period. The departure time combines your swimming target time and rest time, so the faster you go the more rest you will have. Conversely, the slower you swim, the less rest time you will have.
Warm down
• 1 x 200yd pull with buoy
• 1 x 100 freestyle
It's now been 3 weeks since I injured my foot. This was the first swim that I was able to kick, and not have any tenderness. Yay! I'm still flip turning, and only kicking off the wall with one foot. My times are overall a couple seconds slower. I'm sure that will come back when I'm actually able to push off the wall again.
I got home and it was only 7:30am! It was time for a Kat nap.
When I got up I stumbled upon this Runner's World article WingSpan. A friend FB linked. She said it reminded her of someone. Hmmmm. It hit close to home and stirred up a whirlwind of emotions. Discontent with myself I turned to the one form of therapy that ALWAYS makes me feel better - cooking. I whipped up these bad boys for dessert later that night. Cheesecake cups with melted dark chocolate, bananas and a strawberry sauce.
Workout # 2 was an hour 45 min spin. The pain in my foot pretty much stopped this last week. I want to be completely pain free for a week before I trust riding outside where I could potentially hit Z3/Z4. This left me alone with my compu in the twilight zone (Z2) and the incredibly stupid, but somewhat amusing flick - Zoolander.
I recovered in the evening with a great friend (girl time is priceless), good food (bacon wrapped ribeye over a bed of arugula and balsamic vinegar, mashed red potatoes with garlic & shallots, and sautéed asparagus, mushrooms and onions...oh my!)
My night ended with a great phone date. Le sigh.....distance makes the heart grow stronger. I keep telling myself this.
Monday, March 28, 2011
1,2,3 Tequila!
For the first time in 6 month we went out to have a "girls" night on the town. This was way overdue.
The night started out with this delectable dish - deep friend green beans. It's perfectly ok turn a normally healthy food into a small heart attack waiting to happen.
Then came the drinks - always in sets of 3s
What's a night if I didn't end up humping a random street object?
This fine gentleman taxi'd us around, from bar to bar to bar
By the end of the night my room mate had me dancing on stage of a dueling piano bar. Dressed in DAS Boot and all. Oddly I had my own cheering crowd. Or maybe I just thought I did? I danced long enough in that stupid boot that I strained my right (non-injured) quad. Can't a girl catch a break?
Sorry folks, no pictures on stage. But I will leave you with a kiss g'night
Eh.....recovery the next day? That was brutal!
Friday, March 25, 2011
I'm not done yet.
Here I sit. Once again I am injured. I've gone through all the ups and downs. Sadness, which turned to anger. Anger, which turned back to sadness. Humor, as all I could do was laugh to keep myself from crying. I've had this smiley 
on my hand for the last week. It's a pick me up. How can I cry if something is smiling at me?
How did this happen? Who in the bloody hell knows. It's was either the combination of shoes that were half a size too short and poor pedal placement on my bike OR my body is slowly deteriorating. For 3-4 months I was training....healthy. No injuries looming. No over- training. I was running pain and injury free. Then one day (almost 2 weeks ago) I went for a 7 mile run. The top of my foot started to hurt. I've never experienced this type of pain before. Since it wasn't a sharp pain I didn't pay much attention to it. One thing I have learned about the fibro and RA is that my body isn't always honest about pain. One thing I have learned from this injury; if it hurts, then stop. Real or false. It doesn't matter. I rested for a day and did my easy 4 mi run the day after. No pain."Ok, good" I thought to myself. I ran again on Saturday, 2 days later for 10 mins to ensure I would be ok to race the next day. Still, no pain. "Yay!"
Race day was here. I ran nice and easy for 15 mins with a few pick ups at the end. I still felt good. I thought to myself "Yay! I finally get to race a run!". I was excited. My 110 HR at the start line was a testament to that. The final 10 second countdown started and I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. Moonshine and I exchanged a quick kiss and we were off! The first mile felt amazing. I finally felt like I was able to fly. My chest got hot and heavy but legs felt light and quick. I knew this feeling would come. I hadn't really done much of any speed work prior. I knew I could hold 180-190HR for a long time. I was only at high 170s. I still had a way to go. Not really. It was going into the second mile and that the dreaded foot pain came back. All of a sudden it felt like someone was stabbing the top of my foot with a f***ing pitch fork. Seriously? WTF!? I ran 1/2 a mile or longer hoping it would go away but it didn't. It got worse, very quickly. Right past mile two I ran off the side of the road. I stood there for a moment and bowed my head and had my first DNF. "F*** My Life!"
So what's the injury? I still don't know. That night I woke up from slumber with excruciating pain. The next day my foot was swollen like a marshmallow and I had problems walking on it. I went to the doctor and got an X-Ray. The bone was not physically broken. I week later came an MRI. MRI showed a possible 1.2cm length wise stress fracture to the second metatarsal with soft tissue edema. My doctor put me in a walking boot and referred me to a fracture clinic. Fracture specialist is not so sure it is indeed a fracture. It's too soon to tell and I still have a lot of edema. He thinks it could possibly be a bruised bone. Either way I'm looking at a 6-8 week recovery time.
What was the cause? I have three possibilities all which could have been a combined clusterf****.
1. I rotate between 3 pairs of shoes. 2 pairs are half a size too small. Usually I size up in running shoes to account for a narrow toe box. The shoes I was running in had a wide toe box so I opted with a snugger fit. This is not a good idea when one foot is almost a full size bigger than the other. It's also not good when the second toe is as long as the big toe. Then let's factor in Gortex socks and or thermal adhesives that I have to wear to keep feeling in my toes. Reynaud's is a b**** to deal with. I'm thankful I had those Gortex socks on race day. If I hadn't been able to feel the pain I could have broken my foot.
Several months of constant knocking can cause bone stress = fracture or bruise.
2. When I had achillies issues last year I moved my cleats on my bike shoes all the way forward. This took off strain from my achillies. It also pointed my toes down. My calves and achillies are healed. I need to put my cleats back.
3. My body maybe shutting down. I've had one if not two fractures in the last two years. I have Reynaud's and am still dealing with the effects of frost bite on my toes a year later. I have tested positive for Rheumatoid Arthritis and am feeling the fallout. I haven't had a menstrual cycle in 15mo, even though all testing shows that I am normal. Normal? Really?
What's the dilly-o now? I've got a bone scan scheduled in 2 weeks. This will show if a fracture is indeed present. But the main reason of the test is to check the density and for osteoporosis. If my density is f***ed at least I know what I'm in for. If my density is ok then my recovery from the fracture/bone bruise shouldn't take longer then the 6-8 week projection. I will be spending a lot of time swimming and aqua jogging in the next few weeks. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. I will either die or become one hell of a tough cookie (peanut butter:)).
I am continuing forward with IMC 2011. I do have time to fully recover and successfully knock out a 12 week training plan. I have recovered from injury before and trained myself into a successful IM before. I have faith that I can do it again. My only goal at this time is to prove to myself that I can once again be an Ironman....even if it takes me all 17hrs hours to do it. Since I have decided to go back to being self coached I will start to blog again :)
Thank you to everyone who has given me hope. Especially you, moonshine. You are my light in my darkest hour.
KitKat - Katie
PS -
If anyone reads this has done endurance events and deals with RA or fibro please send me an email. I'm really looking for hope. My heart is big and my mind is strong......my body needs to step up its game.
on my hand for the last week. It's a pick me up. How can I cry if something is smiling at me? How did this happen? Who in the bloody hell knows. It's was either the combination of shoes that were half a size too short and poor pedal placement on my bike OR my body is slowly deteriorating. For 3-4 months I was training....healthy. No injuries looming. No over- training. I was running pain and injury free. Then one day (almost 2 weeks ago) I went for a 7 mile run. The top of my foot started to hurt. I've never experienced this type of pain before. Since it wasn't a sharp pain I didn't pay much attention to it. One thing I have learned about the fibro and RA is that my body isn't always honest about pain. One thing I have learned from this injury; if it hurts, then stop. Real or false. It doesn't matter. I rested for a day and did my easy 4 mi run the day after. No pain."Ok, good" I thought to myself. I ran again on Saturday, 2 days later for 10 mins to ensure I would be ok to race the next day. Still, no pain. "Yay!"
Race day was here. I ran nice and easy for 15 mins with a few pick ups at the end. I still felt good. I thought to myself "Yay! I finally get to race a run!". I was excited. My 110 HR at the start line was a testament to that. The final 10 second countdown started and I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. Moonshine and I exchanged a quick kiss and we were off! The first mile felt amazing. I finally felt like I was able to fly. My chest got hot and heavy but legs felt light and quick. I knew this feeling would come. I hadn't really done much of any speed work prior. I knew I could hold 180-190HR for a long time. I was only at high 170s. I still had a way to go. Not really. It was going into the second mile and that the dreaded foot pain came back. All of a sudden it felt like someone was stabbing the top of my foot with a f***ing pitch fork. Seriously? WTF!? I ran 1/2 a mile or longer hoping it would go away but it didn't. It got worse, very quickly. Right past mile two I ran off the side of the road. I stood there for a moment and bowed my head and had my first DNF. "F*** My Life!"
So what's the injury? I still don't know. That night I woke up from slumber with excruciating pain. The next day my foot was swollen like a marshmallow and I had problems walking on it. I went to the doctor and got an X-Ray. The bone was not physically broken. I week later came an MRI. MRI showed a possible 1.2cm length wise stress fracture to the second metatarsal with soft tissue edema. My doctor put me in a walking boot and referred me to a fracture clinic. Fracture specialist is not so sure it is indeed a fracture. It's too soon to tell and I still have a lot of edema. He thinks it could possibly be a bruised bone. Either way I'm looking at a 6-8 week recovery time.
What was the cause? I have three possibilities all which could have been a combined clusterf****.
1. I rotate between 3 pairs of shoes. 2 pairs are half a size too small. Usually I size up in running shoes to account for a narrow toe box. The shoes I was running in had a wide toe box so I opted with a snugger fit. This is not a good idea when one foot is almost a full size bigger than the other. It's also not good when the second toe is as long as the big toe. Then let's factor in Gortex socks and or thermal adhesives that I have to wear to keep feeling in my toes. Reynaud's is a b**** to deal with. I'm thankful I had those Gortex socks on race day. If I hadn't been able to feel the pain I could have broken my foot.
Several months of constant knocking can cause bone stress = fracture or bruise.
2. When I had achillies issues last year I moved my cleats on my bike shoes all the way forward. This took off strain from my achillies. It also pointed my toes down. My calves and achillies are healed. I need to put my cleats back.
3. My body maybe shutting down. I've had one if not two fractures in the last two years. I have Reynaud's and am still dealing with the effects of frost bite on my toes a year later. I have tested positive for Rheumatoid Arthritis and am feeling the fallout. I haven't had a menstrual cycle in 15mo, even though all testing shows that I am normal. Normal? Really?
What's the dilly-o now? I've got a bone scan scheduled in 2 weeks. This will show if a fracture is indeed present. But the main reason of the test is to check the density and for osteoporosis. If my density is f***ed at least I know what I'm in for. If my density is ok then my recovery from the fracture/bone bruise shouldn't take longer then the 6-8 week projection. I will be spending a lot of time swimming and aqua jogging in the next few weeks. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. I will either die or become one hell of a tough cookie (peanut butter:)).
I am continuing forward with IMC 2011. I do have time to fully recover and successfully knock out a 12 week training plan. I have recovered from injury before and trained myself into a successful IM before. I have faith that I can do it again. My only goal at this time is to prove to myself that I can once again be an Ironman....even if it takes me all 17hrs hours to do it. Since I have decided to go back to being self coached I will start to blog again :)
Thank you to everyone who has given me hope. Especially you, moonshine. You are my light in my darkest hour.
KitKat - Katie
PS -
If anyone reads this has done endurance events and deals with RA or fibro please send me an email. I'm really looking for hope. My heart is big and my mind is strong......my body needs to step up its game.
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