February 2011 Totals

February 2011 Monthly Totals


Swim: 7:30hrs 24Km
Bike: 16:25hrs ~473Km Trainer
Run: 12:45hrs 117Km
Strength: 3:00hrs Yoga

Total: 40:00hrs

~618Km
~19700 Calories
30 Activities

Week 19 Review

Well this was certainly a recovery week but there was probably a bit toooo much recovery and not enough exercise going on.

Having just come off the longest run of my life, I welcome this week's recovery sessions. What I did not welcome is the apparent injury to my foot. I took notice of the problem a week prior but couldn't quite pinpoint the cause. This week however, I managed to diagnose the problems and it's not going away anytime soon.

I cancelled my runs and scaled back on my other workouts. By the end of the week I felt like I could run again but I am glad I didn't. The pain comes and goes and I suspect if I run on it, it will come back with a vengence. The foot pain is nothing compared to the mental agony of not being able to train. I am going nuts just thinking about it. I am grateful that I can still bike and swim, so it could be much worse. Aside from healing, I am pretty sure the cause was a combination of hill repeats and worn out shoes that put too much stress on an unstretched ligament. I've already received my new shoes and I'm stretching every 15 minutes like clockwork. I'm also icing it 4 times a day and rolling it. I'm hoping I'm on the fast track to recovery.

Anyhow, with all this rest I'm feeling like my contents are under pressure. I have fully 'recovered' and I am packed full of energy waiting to be released on my next set of training. Given my foot issue and reduction in running I think I am going to make an effort to watch my nutrition as well. I've been steadily gaining half a pound a week since I stopped dieting. Admitedly I over indulge on sweets and bad things so it wouldn't take much to level out. This week was no better, lots of pizza and lots of junk food. I like my comfort food, especially when injured. Oh and my back pain has returned. I'm certain it is from wrenching on the wife's bike. I haven't had back pain since the summer and I took for granted that it wasn't around. I am pretty sure some stretching will solve it. Nothing critical, just annoying all day long.

Moving forward, I'm into the final Set before Around the Bay race. I have 3 weeks of maintenance and 1 week of taper left. I'm going to have to offset my lack of running cardio work with bike or something else I think. We'll see if I decide to run this week.

WEEK 19 TOTAL (Set 5, Week 4 - Base Build, Recovery Week)

Swim: 1:25hrs
Bike: 4:00hrs
Run: Nil
Strength: 1:30hrs

TOTAL: 7:00hrs

Bike Porn - Part Deux

I've spent so much time working on somebody else's bike that it was time to finish off mine. Everything is finally installed and now I am just waiting on the Carbon Water Botle Cages for the Xlab behind the saddle mount.





 

 

Foreplay...

Coupling..

 



The Mount - Doggy Style
Hey I told you this was bike p0rn



She Likes to Watch.



Getting Closer...





Climax.

Looking Satisfied

This is what you get when the wife forbids me from running today. I'm really working on stretching, icing and fixing my foot. Its taking all my self discipline to NOT run today. I really really really want to try. I think I'll I'm telling myself if I scrap this long run then I am staying true to every workout next week, running included. Maybe I'll do some Yoga today instead. I dunno.

I did get a moderate bike trainer ride in yesterday. My legs were spent! Maybe I should dial back no that resistance a little, this a recovery week afterall.

TRAINING:

Bike - 2:20hrs

Planters Foot

Its much more clear now. After a few days of trying to self diagnose, I have finally found what the problem is - Plantar Fasciitis.

Damn.

I'm stuck in a cycle of fix / break. For instance last night I thought I was cured. By the end of the day the bottom of my foot felt great, I think I could run again. Then I wake up in the morning  and I'm in pain again. It takes the remainder of the day for it to stretch out and feel good again. Rinse, repeat.



I wish it was just my toe..... :(



Soooooo I'm seeing a bunch of stretches and exercises I can do to help stretch it out. Part of my problem though is when you go to sleep the feet arch curls up and begins to heal in that position. When you step out of bed, you aggravate the injury by compressing the arch and basically tearing what was repaired while you were asleep because of the position it was healing in. Endless cycle. Soooo there is some funky foot contrapation I can wear to bed to force the arch to remain while I sleep. I dunno about that one, it's pretty strange looking. Its a chunk of cash, but benefits probably cover it if I get a doctors note. Getting a doctors note will takes some time though, my doctor runs on bankers hours. Grrr.

Maybe I'll just do the exercises for now.

I need this fixed asap! At least I can still bike and swim. At least I'm past the peak of my run training too. Taper time has now turned into healing time. doh!

TRAINING:

Bike - 0:50hrs Recovery

BIKE P0RN

The wife's bike.

I'm jealous. I can't stop staring.

The 12K Carbon pattern is gorgeous! I want one.

I'm happy to say it is over. The build is complete!

12K Carbon Frame & Fork

3K Carbon Seatpost

3K Carbon Cages

Campy wheels, I love the spokes

Kuota Decals to match the 'Team' bikes lol

Hers



His.
Fugly training wheels



 

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL HER TO LEAVE ME ALONE NOW!$!%!%!!!!

FRANS BIKE - The Original 'I need a new bike' I created awhile ago

Catnapped



Mrs LoTC testing out her new bike...
I'm so jealous of her Aero-ness!



I was finally able to get the last of the parts I needed to complete the build, barrel adjusters. It's always the silly little things that get in the way of finishing a project. Armed with the parts I needed I was able to cable the entire bike in a matter of minutes. Tuning the gears is always hit and miss. Either it goes impeccably well or a major headache while you fiddle with the fine adjustments. In this case, it was a perfect bullseye right from scratch. Right off the build everything was pretty shifting wonderful. A quick alignment of the front derailleur and the bike is shifting like its brand spankin' new! I don't remember the last time I had a tune go so well, it must be luck experience!

The brakes needed a bit more attention. Getting the tow set right on pads is important if you want to stop well. These rims have groves on them for wear indicators since the campy rims will actually wear out the braking surface in time. How convenient for the manufacturer to have people replace rims not because they are bent or dinged, but because the braking surface is deliberately brittle. Apparently, someone is out to make money.

The bike is more than ridable now. 95.2% complete! All I have to do is rewrap the handlebars to an acceptable color to satisfy her highness, apply decals, apply frame protection, mount the carbon bottle cages and its ready! So close - I'm hoping to complete it all this evening. Now all it needs is a motor....



I was able to finish the bike in time to hit the pool. Talk about a productive evening. At the pool, it was the most packed I have ever seen. Some lanes were even *GASP* SHARING *GASP*!! In the 16 weeks we have been training at this pool, never has anyone had to share a lane and 'swim circles'. Unbelievable, and it wasn't anything to do with leisure swimmers either. Everyone there was in it for the lap swimming. I hope this was just an anomoly because I've been spoiled with our own lane for so long it would be a shame to have to share. I'm such a snob, I know. I wonder if all these people are coming out of the woodwork because tri season is beginning, or maybe a swim meet coming up...?

Its recovery week so the swim was an easy one for me. A regular was astonished to see me accompanied by my Killer Whale for the second night in a row, he even commented on it lol. I took some time to swim with the wife and give her some instruction. I took frequent breaks and cut the workout short by 10 minutes. This extra rest is beginning to pay off, I can feel my energy levels rising substantially compared to earlier in the week.



On the injury front, my foot is still busted. I don't think it is getting any better, but at least it's not getting any worse. I am scheduled for a run tonight, I'm afraid to go. When I am walking, as long as I stay on the inside of my foot I am ok. If I roll to the outside of my foot, I can feel pain the outer edge of the foot where the arch is. It's only 3.5/10 but last time it jumped to a slid 6/10 on the pain scale when I went to run on it. I would at least like to walk, or go for an easy run. It feels better when I walk on something soft, like snow or grass. I am wearing 2 pairs of socks on that foot to give it extra cushion. I would at least like to do my long run this weekend, I don't know what to do. It doesn't bother me at all on the bike. I really want to run because I haven't had one since my long 31Km run last weekend. I would like to test how things feel.



Some wondered where the kittys went to...
I know MattyO & Training Payne miss em' so they're back! :)



Light Blonde



Those are Light-Blonde, not grey.



You know you had a good workout when it came a day early. For me, after Yoga or a strength training session I am fine the next day but then the second day after the workout everything is really sore and tender to the touch. Not this time though. I woke up sore the very next day, and my back was in knots. Something I did during that Yoga session was not liked by my lower back. I've gone so long without lower back pain that I thought I was cured, as if all my training gave me what I needed to eliminate lower back pain. Well I was wrong.

This was a day of action! The first day back after a super-long weekend and I'm pumped to complete all those things I've been putting off for awhile. At the office I tied up a million loose ends, and even had time to go get my bush whacked. I hate paying for overpriced haircuts so I put them off as long as possible and while my head was nice and warm in this weather I was beginning to look like Cousin IT.

Its light blond. Not grey.

Thats what I tell myself but it seems everytime I get it chopped I can see more and more 'light colored' bits in there. I didn't go grey until I met my wife. I'm pretty sure she is the cause!





In the evening I began to cable-up the wife's bike. I was just getting into it until I realized the downtube cables demanded barrel adjusters. Pfft go figure, that is a spec they didnt list on the website. That is a great feature but you would think they would have listed that as a spec so I could order the parts. Oh well, I'll make a quick stop at the bike store the next day.

Training wise, I was happy to see my little goldfish join me at the pool tonight. This was the first swim the wife has done in awhile and while she kicked and screamed and whined the whole way there, she got some quality fin flapping in. Just like my bike ride from earlier in the morning - I cut my swim short short. In the morning I got a less-than-stellar bike in. It's recovery week so I cut my workouts back to 70% duration. I did not want to be on that bike, mentally I was in the wrong place. It took forever to just warm up and I barely got into 'the zone'. I was day dreaming or something because on at least 3 separate occasions I was riding and just stopped pedaling and didn't notice. I would snap back to reality and realize I was just sitting on the bike not pedaling. I think I may have been sleeping with my eyes open. I was not into that workout at all.



My new cut is uneven, the wife dont like it



Energy levels are low. I got to bed early the last couple of nights, I even had a nap after work but I'm still exhausted. I suspect my body is tired from repairing itself after Yoga. I can't believe how much that stuff hurts!

 TRAINING:

Bike - 0:45hrs recovery
Swim - 0:35 recovery

Family Day 2011



My Bike



An official Holiday meaning no work today. I'm not sure what the significance of the holiday is but I think they expect you to do something with those people that live in the room next to me. Yes yes, I guess we could play with them.



GAME ON!



Sooooo incase you missed it - we have Three kids all Boys Teenagers Men bottomless pits that consume everything in sight. All three birthdays are coming up in March-ish putting them at 19, 18 and 14. It's great! Our kids dont do teletubbies or potty dance or pokemon or Yu-Gi-O anymore. They're on the other end of the specturm. They're more into the blow-someones-head-off-Call-of-Duty-Modern-Warfare type stuff. There is no more hiding of the soft-porn HBO shows like Rome and Spartacus. I'm sure they watch much worse lol.



The Enemy



We like our board games. Well I like them, as I never lose. Now that the kids are older, I can't mess about with strategy as much as I used to. I have to concentrate on winning. Kids get smarter as they get older. They also never forget that day they beat dad for the first time. It's one of those things that gets brought up every time we go to play. That's ok though. False confidence is to my advantage. I like to crush my opponents, not just beat them. I like to make them cry.

So today's challenge: Monopoly.

Of course I was the bicycle. I chose the dog for the wife but for some reason she objected.



My Riches



2 most important peices of the game. Instructions. Fuel.



We play specifically by the rules. So if you dont buy the property you land on, it gets auctioned. So that means starting the game is alot to do with the luck of the dice. You need to land on property!



Building my empire



Through my superior negotiating skills, I managed to pull off the first monopoly. I quickly upgraded. It paid for itself in no time. I was on the path to winning, except I keep forgetting that my oldest boy doesn't play to win. He regularly delibertately loses games in order for someone else to win other than me. Having said that, he made a few less than smart trades to sabatoge my advantage and in no time the tables were turned. The wife was ruthless! She cleaned out the kids, assimilating their wealth and properties. Soon I was at her mercy regularly taking expensive 5 nights stays at Illinois avenue. I think the key turning point was when I went to jail 4 times in a row and never passed GO.



Hotel California



The game was not unlike real life. First she took all my monies. Then she took all my properties. Then she had me on my knees squabling for scraps of food. Deja Vu.



Its getting Sporty, look at them properties!
WAIT!! What are those kids doing in that jail cell together?!



She cleaned me out. Much like real life.



Rubbing it in. Counting her bazillions.



Next Up: Scrabble

Game 2

Simple - if it's not in the dictionary then you lose your turn. If you challenge the word though and you are wrong, YOU lose your turn. Don't be wrong! :)



Immediately something was wrong. Our youngest has spent too much time reading and getting a edumacation of some sort because he was banging out some big point words and quickly took the lead by a huge margin. We need to stop sending him to school.



66 Points. GET SOME!



Of course, the wife makes up a word. I challenge her on it. She loses her turn. She then declares she's not gonna make dinner and I will not receive my daily feedings for the remainder of my life. Pfft.. she can't just play a game a lose nicely. It always has to be personal. This, after just raping me at monopoly. You would think she'd be grateful that I LET her win a game for a change.

It was a close game. Right up to the point where I FLEX'd my muscles and pulled out a 66 point word to take the game. Yeh thats right, I crushed those kids! Muahhahahahahha. Eat it. Thank you, come again.



Concentration.
Only yields 3 letter words though! lol





I WIN!



Yoga Take Two



Itchy calve?



The pool was closed today. It's called Family Day in these parts, its an official holiday so no work means long weekend! Technically super-long weekend since I took the warm Friday off to do my long run. I dont count that 31Km run as a holiday though. I would have gladly of worked instead! lol j/k

So unable to swim, we opted to do some Yoga. I haven't tried it for almost two weeks now. It has taken this long to recover and not have aches and pains in areas of my body that I didn't know existed. At least this time the wife is joining me. This way I can laugh at her, poke and prod her, and test her calmness during Yoga. That was the highlight of the workout :)



Whats that smell?



I think I did OK. My biggest weakness is the fact I cannot straighten my leg no matter how hard I try when lifting it. Actually, my biggest weakness is EVERYTHING but there are differnt levels of Suck. Some moves just suck more than others. I felt great afterwards! 'Things' were protuding around my mid section. Either those are muscles flexing or I got a lump of pizza stuck in my intestine again. Either way, it was sore.



Yoga Instructor



The day was topped off with a surprise package arriving! On a holiday? I had no idea the delivery people worked on a holiday, awesome for me! Sucks for them! We have been waiting on the seatpost clamp for the wife's bike and I had my own goodies in that order - Aero Carbon Water Cage/Bottle, some Kona water bottles and a spare Dura Ace cable set. All parts have arrived for the Mrs Bike now. I can stop making excuses to not finish it. The only thing I'm waiting on now is the carbon water bottle cages for the XLab holder. Hopefully they'll come this week!

TRAINING:

Strength - 1:30hrs Yoga P90x


Toyz



QR Clamp installed, sporting a carbon seat post!





I haz an Aero



 




Post & Saddle installed



Perfect Fit!