Bad News

Warning: Mom, Dad, Rich, Greg and anyone else who cares about my knee problems, stop reading here.
Everyone else, welcome to my world of pain. (Insert evil laugh)

Bad, bad, bad news. I went on a run in the rain this morning. I have 5 days until my half marathon, so I thought I could run an hour easy run, maybe get 6 miles in. I started at the track... to boring and wet (it was raining). I got on the treadmill... that was a mistake. My knee! Shoot! "Maybe I will run outside and get wet," I thought. Outside I went. I wanted to get some hill work in. Oooo... bad idea! "I can't run. My knee is driving me insane. I'll walk a little." Walk. Run. Walk. Run. Jog. Walk. Walk. Walk. Run? Walk. Yikes. I hobbled back to work and got ready to meet with my first client. I iced my knee while I waited. Hmm... What to do? One year ago, I was in this same predicament: Do I compete in the race or rest? Last year it was due to a nasty flu bug, but this year it's an injury. I think the San Dieguito Half Marathon is scared of me...

Here is the plan... I will rest for the remainder of this week. So far I have obeyed my body. I had lunch with my parents then began a new painting instead of swimming before work. We will see what tomorrow holds. I will teach circuit tonight, but I will go easy. Tomorrow, cycle will not hold any work in power zone 5. It may be an aerobic or muscular endurance day.

I will stretch, I will strengthen, I will foam roll. And Sunday? On Sunday, I will go. I will see. And I will conquer. Get ready, San Dieguito. My knee won't hold me down for too long.

Okay, Mom, Dad, Rich and Greg... you can read from this point on. Don't look up!

5 Miles of Pure Cadence

After hundreds of miles logged in my Saucony ProGrid Kinvaras, it was time for a new pair of running shoes. Sophia and I went in to see Joe and Nash yesterday for some new motivational running shoes. Joe brought out two Brooks boxes for me. The first one opened and inside lay....

Well, to tell this story, you should know that before I bought my first pair of Kinvaras (I've had two), I wanted to buy the Brooks PureCadence. However, the shoe had not been released and I needed a new pair immediately. Alright, back to yesterday...

The Brooks PureCadence! Ah! They were beautiful! Blue and green and grey. I didn't even want to try them on; I knew they would be mine the second I laid eyes on them. Yes, I think now I believe in love at first sight... when it comes to running shoes, that is. I laced them up anyways and hopped on the treadmill. One step, two step, three step, jog. Yes, it was meant to be. Joe confirmed that this was the shoe for me and I was sold.

I walked back to my old, worn out shoes and saw Sophia was trying on the same shoes. I'm pretty certain these shoes are magical, because they worked perfectly for her as well. We are twinsibops!

Then I made a mistake. "Joe," I started. "Tell me the difference between a training shoe and a racing shoe." Oh, Joe told me the difference. Then he opened the second box. "This would be your racing shoe," he said, lifting out a beautiful white and seafoam green Brooks PureConnect shoe. Oh shoot. I fell in love again. "I'll take them!" I exclaimed before putting them on. What can I say? I'm an easy customer. I laced them up anyway and hopped on the treadmill. Yup, these are the shoes I'm wearing at my half marathon. They are so light, so heavenly; I could run for miles. Alas, Sophia was waiting to hop on the treadmill. It was okay, I knew the shoes were mine.

I handed my card over to Joe (by the way, Mom and Dad, I owe you a couple hundred dollars), and my life could not be more complete. Okay, I'll be saying the same thing in 4 months, but I'm stoked.



Sophia's and my new shoes.


After grabbing lunch with Sophia, Josh and I went for a swim. Following my 1350 meter recreational swim, we drove out to a bike shop my friend had recommended. Mom and Dad, if you're reading this, I owe you another $101. Ouch. I just can't say no to beautiful equipment.

Last night I taught Power Cycle: 1 hour of race-like simulation. 15 minute warm-up speed drills, 3 sets of 3:00 in zone 5 at 95% effort with a 3:00 recovery, 3 sets of 2:00 in zone 5 at 95% effort with a 0:45 recovery, 3 sets of 1:00 in zone 5 at 95% effort with a 0:20 recovery, 2:00 of :30 sprints, 3:00 of :30 standing climbs with :30 spin-ups and a 5 minute recovery. If you were pushing on this workout, it was a good one.

Richard and I met up last night and we did some strength sets. It was cold. I'm glad we went though, because I got some new training ideas from the young males who were training. They used some drills on stadiums I had never seen and one guy was doing parachute sprints, which reminded me that I should buy a parachute. A bright one. I love bright things (thank you, Sophia, for making sure Joe knew that yesterday!).

My tri group this morning was unsuccessful. Dani was out of town and no one else showed up, so I did a 5-mile force run on the beach with walk/jog recoveries. That was the first workout in my PureCadence. Love them! I'm pretty certain I could not be happier with my shoes! My knee had a dull ache, but overall it felt much better! I love new shoes! I think today will be a very good day indeed.


Thanks, Mom and Dad for my awesome reflexive jacket!