My role here is to make sure you people don't take yourselves too seriously and... it is an uphill battle, let me tell you.
:)
March 17, 2009
To my loyal readers..... :)
My role here is to make sure you people don't take yourselves too seriously and... it is an uphill battle, let me tell you.
:)
March 13, 2009
Run so I don't hear you!
These are among the words barked to me from my beloved training partner, Brandon, when he generously joined me on one of my training sessions this week.
"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer
My running just is crap. It is. I'm not fit and that's a huge chunk of it, and with that I am not complaining because with time and patience THAT stuff fixes itself. The frustrating things for me involve biomechanical inefficiency. The effort output I expend just isn't reflective in the speed.
I know how inefficient I am. This has nothing to do with fitness. Bob Cranny (my PT) knows it. Chuck Wolf (the biomechanical guru) in Orlando knows it. JZ knows it. Everyone who knows their shit, who know running mechanics, who watch me run, all agree. So now I just need to figure out how to change how my body runs. Everything. From how I swing my arms to where/how my foot lands. Nothing I do it right (yet). Except I don't ever quit. That part I've got right.
Earlier in the week I was struck by the idea how often I am helping critique folks in the pool. "Can you look at my stroke, Carole?" I always do. Why not? But I realized, why am I not asking the same things? Why don't I ask skilled runners to watch MY weakness?
I remembered Brando had yelled to me, "Kick your leg back. Don't get lazy with it!", during our long run on the trails in FL when he was headed back and we passed on opposite sides. His words echoed in my head, and the tweak was really helpful. Brandon ran for UCLA and definitely knows his stuff.
Earlier in the week, I was on the phone with him. "Will you watch me run tomorrow? I don't want to ruin your workout so you don't need to watch for long, but just something?", I said almost in desperate tone.
"Sure, Sharps. Let's go to the track", he answered.
Bless him.
My sweet, sweet, giving friend took 2 hours with me!!!
He grabbed his mountain bike from his house.
"What's that for?", I asked.
"I'm going to ride beside you while you run."
I just smiled at him. How NICE is that???? I mean, good grief, people are BUSY. This was a big chunk out of a day and he also has his own workouts to be doing.
I did a 20:00 warmup in South Boulder, with Brando right next to me on his bike at snail-pace to go my speed. While I was running he asked me questions and offered critiques. His comments were spot on and when he showed me what I looked like relative to his form, I knew he totally got it.
We made our way to the track. Once there, he did tons (I mean TONS) of drills with me, back and forth, barking out needed changes, physically manhandling me to move my body into requested position(s), doing the drills with me so I could mimic him, etc. It was a shitty runners dream! He was incredibly helpful and endlessly patient.
"You're overthinking it, Sharps. STOP thinking. Just do it!", Brandon said.
"Dammit!", I would scream in frustration! "My own words are coming back to haunt me! All of the people who have ever gotten a swim lesson from me are getting even right now!"
We both laughed.
While doing the drills, Brando and I took notice of the petite little thing sporting those shorty-short run shorts with a tank top. REALLY? I had on 2 long sleeved shirts, tights, a hat and gloves. Granted, I am a wuss, but it was COLD out. That chick was a stud. Indeed. As she moved in closer, it was Kara Goucher.
She was doing all kinds of drills and core exercises with medicine balls right on the track. It was time for me to start my mile repeats under Brandon's supervision. Before I started I said to Kara, "You're a stud. You look like it's summer time and I am dressed for snow!"
"Oh, I've been here for a couple hours, you'll warm up pretty quickly, I promise." She said it so sweetly, it was hard to imagine that tiny, kind soul is an Olympian, known for her grit.
First - "You've been here for a couple hours"?????? Good LORD, woman. How many lunges and core work with the ball can someone do? (Apparently a lot.)
Second - I'll warm up pretty quickly? I never did! :)
So Brandon asked me to hold specific paces, him calling out instructions to me with pace and form as I ran. He stopped me in the middle to do more drills because I was just a mess. Everything on me is tight -- my hamstrings and hip flexors are like cement blocks. Everything seizes up and prevents mobility. Its not just frustrating, my body is fighting everything because of the tightness.
"I know I need to be even more vigilant about the stretching, huh? How much can someone do though?", I asked.
Without missing a beat, Brandon answered in deadpan, "Did you see what bitch was doing???!!!!"
I about fell over laughing at that. The way he said it was just so funny. He was, of course, referring to tough-girl Goucher's frickin' 9-hour core, stretch, drill routine we witnessed on the track.
"Yeah, yeah, ok I know."
:) Man that was funny.
I finished out my remaining miles, with Brandon yelling splits and pushing me to go. I was breathing so heavily it sounded like I was hyper-ventilating.
I ran by him with a 800m to go and he seemed a bit concerned by how hard I was breathing.
"You ok?"
"Ugggg. Mooootheeeer Fuuuucker!", I yelled back, absolutely breathless and suffering like a dog.
"Ok, well keep going then!", Brandon said.
:) I laughed at that later. In the moment I was in too much pain.
I finished my last mile in my best time for them all. I have unbelievable amounts of work to do, but the good news is I would be willing to bet that 99% of my work is straight-up flexibility and fitness. That really is good news. THIS I can work with.
"You have the ability. And I saw you running with much better form. You're better than you think you are."
My track session with Coach Del Campo was one of the best things I have done for myself. What a good friend he is to have joined me and instructed me for all of that....
I am sooooooooo grateful to have these good souls in my world who look out for me.
The fight continues.
"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer
My running just is crap. It is. I'm not fit and that's a huge chunk of it, and with that I am not complaining because with time and patience THAT stuff fixes itself. The frustrating things for me involve biomechanical inefficiency. The effort output I expend just isn't reflective in the speed.
I know how inefficient I am. This has nothing to do with fitness. Bob Cranny (my PT) knows it. Chuck Wolf (the biomechanical guru) in Orlando knows it. JZ knows it. Everyone who knows their shit, who know running mechanics, who watch me run, all agree. So now I just need to figure out how to change how my body runs. Everything. From how I swing my arms to where/how my foot lands. Nothing I do it right (yet). Except I don't ever quit. That part I've got right.
Earlier in the week I was struck by the idea how often I am helping critique folks in the pool. "Can you look at my stroke, Carole?" I always do. Why not? But I realized, why am I not asking the same things? Why don't I ask skilled runners to watch MY weakness?
I remembered Brando had yelled to me, "Kick your leg back. Don't get lazy with it!", during our long run on the trails in FL when he was headed back and we passed on opposite sides. His words echoed in my head, and the tweak was really helpful. Brandon ran for UCLA and definitely knows his stuff.
Earlier in the week, I was on the phone with him. "Will you watch me run tomorrow? I don't want to ruin your workout so you don't need to watch for long, but just something?", I said almost in desperate tone.
"Sure, Sharps. Let's go to the track", he answered.
Bless him.
My sweet, sweet, giving friend took 2 hours with me!!!
He grabbed his mountain bike from his house.
"What's that for?", I asked.
"I'm going to ride beside you while you run."
I just smiled at him. How NICE is that???? I mean, good grief, people are BUSY. This was a big chunk out of a day and he also has his own workouts to be doing.
I did a 20:00 warmup in South Boulder, with Brando right next to me on his bike at snail-pace to go my speed. While I was running he asked me questions and offered critiques. His comments were spot on and when he showed me what I looked like relative to his form, I knew he totally got it.
We made our way to the track. Once there, he did tons (I mean TONS) of drills with me, back and forth, barking out needed changes, physically manhandling me to move my body into requested position(s), doing the drills with me so I could mimic him, etc. It was a shitty runners dream! He was incredibly helpful and endlessly patient.
"You're overthinking it, Sharps. STOP thinking. Just do it!", Brandon said.
"Dammit!", I would scream in frustration! "My own words are coming back to haunt me! All of the people who have ever gotten a swim lesson from me are getting even right now!"
We both laughed.
While doing the drills, Brando and I took notice of the petite little thing sporting those shorty-short run shorts with a tank top. REALLY? I had on 2 long sleeved shirts, tights, a hat and gloves. Granted, I am a wuss, but it was COLD out. That chick was a stud. Indeed. As she moved in closer, it was Kara Goucher.
She was doing all kinds of drills and core exercises with medicine balls right on the track. It was time for me to start my mile repeats under Brandon's supervision. Before I started I said to Kara, "You're a stud. You look like it's summer time and I am dressed for snow!"
"Oh, I've been here for a couple hours, you'll warm up pretty quickly, I promise." She said it so sweetly, it was hard to imagine that tiny, kind soul is an Olympian, known for her grit.
First - "You've been here for a couple hours"?????? Good LORD, woman. How many lunges and core work with the ball can someone do? (Apparently a lot.)
Second - I'll warm up pretty quickly? I never did! :)
So Brandon asked me to hold specific paces, him calling out instructions to me with pace and form as I ran. He stopped me in the middle to do more drills because I was just a mess. Everything on me is tight -- my hamstrings and hip flexors are like cement blocks. Everything seizes up and prevents mobility. Its not just frustrating, my body is fighting everything because of the tightness.
"I know I need to be even more vigilant about the stretching, huh? How much can someone do though?", I asked.
Without missing a beat, Brandon answered in deadpan, "Did you see what bitch was doing???!!!!"
I about fell over laughing at that. The way he said it was just so funny. He was, of course, referring to tough-girl Goucher's frickin' 9-hour core, stretch, drill routine we witnessed on the track.
"Yeah, yeah, ok I know."
:) Man that was funny.
I finished out my remaining miles, with Brandon yelling splits and pushing me to go. I was breathing so heavily it sounded like I was hyper-ventilating.
I ran by him with a 800m to go and he seemed a bit concerned by how hard I was breathing.
"You ok?"
"Ugggg. Mooootheeeer Fuuuucker!", I yelled back, absolutely breathless and suffering like a dog.
"Ok, well keep going then!", Brandon said.
:) I laughed at that later. In the moment I was in too much pain.
I finished my last mile in my best time for them all. I have unbelievable amounts of work to do, but the good news is I would be willing to bet that 99% of my work is straight-up flexibility and fitness. That really is good news. THIS I can work with.
"You have the ability. And I saw you running with much better form. You're better than you think you are."
My track session with Coach Del Campo was one of the best things I have done for myself. What a good friend he is to have joined me and instructed me for all of that....
I am sooooooooo grateful to have these good souls in my world who look out for me.
The fight continues.
March 6, 2009
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where..." said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"...so long as I get somewhere!", Alice added as an explanation.
-Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
I have come to understand, truly understand, that I will be managing issues with my back as long as I choose to be an active person. Forget triathlon, these issues are with me for as long as I live, and it's up to me (mentally and physically) to manage them .... learn to manage them ... as best I can.
Some injuries heal up and you move on; others earn the moniker "chronic". And that's just the way it is. You can brood, or you can roll with it. The choice is yours, but the outcome is the same.
My stretches and exercises will be a part of my life forever if I want to have proper mobility -- and if I want to compete in triathlon in whatever capacity, they must be all-consuming. I can live with that. :)
Before I run (or bike or swim), I need to do various stretches and exercises to open my back, hips and hip flexors. I need to strengthen my gluts and seriously work to make my hamstrings more flexible.
I really am so grateful to have my group. I constantly remind myself I am incredibly lucky to have JZ in my world. With similar back issues with which she manages, she continues to give me great advice. Brandon is always quick to throw some 'love' my way: "Good job, Sharps, way to hang tough today!" He and I are the emotional ones of the group :) (although I am the greatest singer!) and I appreciate how he tends to my spirit with such affirmation - and GOOD humor to make me laugh. Billy keeps me thinking straight, he keeps my eye on the ball. "This is the workout you have, so this is the workout you do. Go to it, girl." I love the overly simplistic way he can deduce anything. There is no gray matter with Billy. Sometimes that is just SO helpful!
Before our 90 min run along the dirt trails of Clermont, JZ oversees a few drills that I'm doing, correcting my form, and keeping them productive.
After 15:00 or so of drills, I joined JZ and Brandon for the start of our respective runs. This trail in Clermont was awesome. All dirt and it was pretty hilly, too. The main loop we did was 10 miles. Really nice.
Billy, Brandon and JZ were running a bit longer than I was that day, so I waited for them and stretched by our van. While doing so, I noticed a familiar figure ambling towards me. It was my former Timex teammate and friend, Canadian stud Natasha Filliol. We chatted for a bit and she informed me of the car crash she had been in last year -- the car she was driving flipped over leaving her and her mother with some pretty serious injuries. She was telling me about them, I mostly remember hearing something about a broken pelvis. OUCH. Poor thing. I was embarrassed to admit I hadn't heard about her accident and was broken hearted by it. What an ordeal.
We spoke of our respective previous year, the recovery, the therapy, how we were doing with it all. She was so sweet and full of such praise for how I was handling everything. As we hugged goodbye, we declared vigilant support of the other's recovery. "I'll be rooting for you, girl. You've been through enough", I said to her with a soft smile.
"I'll be rooting for you, too. I can't imagine all you've been through.", she said.
Natasha is a really sweet soul, and I truly am rooting for her to continue recovering, and return to her dominant racing. (Natasha, you go, girl!!)
Clermont Training Camp was really great, but it really is a continual management/test of internal resolve when you join others who are not only more talented, but more fit than you. In my entire career, I have never raced anyone in training, and I have never thought I was better than I really was, and I honestly do think I have a remarkably small ego (there isn't really one to warrant). Even at my fittest, never in a million years am I the athlete that Joanna is. And lining up side by side with Billy or Brandon -- they are TOUGH FELLAS. No way I am keeping up.
I know this. And it's ok, and I would never interefere with their training or what they need to do. "You guys need to just go when you're ready. Don't wait for me!", I'll demand. I know they all have a job to do and I'd feel worse if they didn't get it done because they were slowing for me, or altering their workout.
So - our training sessions... you know.... I see them all at the beginning - and if it is an out and back of some sort, they always wave and yell encouragement to me as they pass .... and I see them again after the workout. I am never training with them. I think some people have the impression I am doing workouts with my favorite threesome and I have to quickly correct: They are kind enough to let me START with them.... but I assure you I eat their dust quickly.
I'm getting more fit, I feel it. But I have a ways to go, and it is all very, very hard. But that's probably why I am so proud of myself for pushing through each day. If it was easy, if it was pain-free, if I could keep up with everyone, if I wasn't alone, if I was feeling good --- if any of this were true, it wouldn't make the reward I seek so valuable. It wouldn't be the spirit of truth.
Our last night as a group in Clermont was fun.
We celebrated with cheeseburgers ... and that's apple juice in those mugs. Really, it is.
The fight continues.
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where..." said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"...so long as I get somewhere!", Alice added as an explanation.
-Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
I have come to understand, truly understand, that I will be managing issues with my back as long as I choose to be an active person. Forget triathlon, these issues are with me for as long as I live, and it's up to me (mentally and physically) to manage them .... learn to manage them ... as best I can.
Some injuries heal up and you move on; others earn the moniker "chronic". And that's just the way it is. You can brood, or you can roll with it. The choice is yours, but the outcome is the same.
My stretches and exercises will be a part of my life forever if I want to have proper mobility -- and if I want to compete in triathlon in whatever capacity, they must be all-consuming. I can live with that. :)
Before I run (or bike or swim), I need to do various stretches and exercises to open my back, hips and hip flexors. I need to strengthen my gluts and seriously work to make my hamstrings more flexible.
I really am so grateful to have my group. I constantly remind myself I am incredibly lucky to have JZ in my world. With similar back issues with which she manages, she continues to give me great advice. Brandon is always quick to throw some 'love' my way: "Good job, Sharps, way to hang tough today!" He and I are the emotional ones of the group :) (although I am the greatest singer!) and I appreciate how he tends to my spirit with such affirmation - and GOOD humor to make me laugh. Billy keeps me thinking straight, he keeps my eye on the ball. "This is the workout you have, so this is the workout you do. Go to it, girl." I love the overly simplistic way he can deduce anything. There is no gray matter with Billy. Sometimes that is just SO helpful!
Before our 90 min run along the dirt trails of Clermont, JZ oversees a few drills that I'm doing, correcting my form, and keeping them productive.
After 15:00 or so of drills, I joined JZ and Brandon for the start of our respective runs. This trail in Clermont was awesome. All dirt and it was pretty hilly, too. The main loop we did was 10 miles. Really nice.
Billy, Brandon and JZ were running a bit longer than I was that day, so I waited for them and stretched by our van. While doing so, I noticed a familiar figure ambling towards me. It was my former Timex teammate and friend, Canadian stud Natasha Filliol. We chatted for a bit and she informed me of the car crash she had been in last year -- the car she was driving flipped over leaving her and her mother with some pretty serious injuries. She was telling me about them, I mostly remember hearing something about a broken pelvis. OUCH. Poor thing. I was embarrassed to admit I hadn't heard about her accident and was broken hearted by it. What an ordeal.
We spoke of our respective previous year, the recovery, the therapy, how we were doing with it all. She was so sweet and full of such praise for how I was handling everything. As we hugged goodbye, we declared vigilant support of the other's recovery. "I'll be rooting for you, girl. You've been through enough", I said to her with a soft smile.
"I'll be rooting for you, too. I can't imagine all you've been through.", she said.
Natasha is a really sweet soul, and I truly am rooting for her to continue recovering, and return to her dominant racing. (Natasha, you go, girl!!)
Clermont Training Camp was really great, but it really is a continual management/test of internal resolve when you join others who are not only more talented, but more fit than you. In my entire career, I have never raced anyone in training, and I have never thought I was better than I really was, and I honestly do think I have a remarkably small ego (there isn't really one to warrant). Even at my fittest, never in a million years am I the athlete that Joanna is. And lining up side by side with Billy or Brandon -- they are TOUGH FELLAS. No way I am keeping up.
I know this. And it's ok, and I would never interefere with their training or what they need to do. "You guys need to just go when you're ready. Don't wait for me!", I'll demand. I know they all have a job to do and I'd feel worse if they didn't get it done because they were slowing for me, or altering their workout.
So - our training sessions... you know.... I see them all at the beginning - and if it is an out and back of some sort, they always wave and yell encouragement to me as they pass .... and I see them again after the workout. I am never training with them. I think some people have the impression I am doing workouts with my favorite threesome and I have to quickly correct: They are kind enough to let me START with them.... but I assure you I eat their dust quickly.
I'm getting more fit, I feel it. But I have a ways to go, and it is all very, very hard. But that's probably why I am so proud of myself for pushing through each day. If it was easy, if it was pain-free, if I could keep up with everyone, if I wasn't alone, if I was feeling good --- if any of this were true, it wouldn't make the reward I seek so valuable. It wouldn't be the spirit of truth.
Our last night as a group in Clermont was fun.
We celebrated with cheeseburgers ... and that's apple juice in those mugs. Really, it is.
The fight continues.
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