It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

This morning, we had our group bike and run training. I was looking forward to the workout despite the cold, windy weather. The day started indoors at Fraser bike, where my team and I biked through a 60 minute spin workout. Coach Kevin worked us hard and I found myself quite winded more than once. By the time I was finished, I was invigorated having had what I considered the best bike spin practice yet this season.

After the bike practice was over, I was intending on running 4-6 miles outside. After I changed into some dry running clothes, I was on my way. Within a half mile, something unexplainable happened. My lower legs completely cramped up. I felt as if someone had transplanted someone else's legs onto my body. I experienced muscle cramps, shin splints, fatigue, all resulting in me having no choice to walk. For a time, I felt like I could barely do that. I was so frustrated and had no explaination.

With only a mile under my belt, I headed back to the bike shop, completely disgusted with my performance. I spoke with my coaches, who speculated a number of different reasons as to why this could have happened. Perhaps I spent too much time after biking before I started running. Perhaps I was dehydrated. Perhaps it was my shoes. Perhaps it just happened to be a bad day. All reasons were unacceptable to me, and I was ticked off at myself to say the least. But I was happy with one thing that I had done, which was to listen to my body when it shut down. I've learned that lesson the hard way before, only to find myself injured.

So what did I do after my pathetic performance? I drove straight to a running shop and purchased new shoes. I knew I was due, so I figured I could eliminate at least one variable.

Hopefully this was a freak thing and that this too, shall pass.

-----------

Join me in my mission to raise $4,000 in the fight against cancer!
Donate today at my Leukemia and Lymphoma Society web page:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntmi/andi

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meeting two heroes in one day

Image
Soon after I signed off at the airport yesterday, I was priveledged to meet someone that I have admired for quite some time. She is beautiful, courageous, and strong. Her name is Hayley, and she is four years old. This beautiful blonde hair blue eyed child was diagnosed with childhood leukemia last year, and she is our team hero. Fortunately, her cancer is now in remission. Her dad, Chris, will be racing along with us tomorrow. (You can read about his story here .) Chris and his wife Katie didn't think that they would all be able to go down with the team. Three plane tickets are expensive, especially in this economy. But an anonymous donor bought the ticket for Hayley to be able to join her dad and the rest of the team. To whoever that was, thank you. We are all thrilled that Hayley and her family is here with us. After our team arrived in Tampa, we spent most of the day strolling around doing various things -- getting race packets, checking out the awesome expo, exploring the hote...
Read more

My Glorious Feet

When it comes to physical beauty, everyone has a unique attribute about them that sets them apart from the pack. Some people are blessed with beautiful hair. Others may boast about their great smile. And then you have the folks that rake in the dough as a foot model by having beautiful feet. I'm not one of those people. Those who know me have certainly heard me make a comment or two about my glorious feet. Ok, I'm blessed to have feet, not to mention the ability to actually use them. I accept that and am grateful. However, the genes don't work in my favor when it comes to these ole boats of mine. Here's a "run-down" on the history of my feet. At the age of 5 -- I already had a hard time finding shoes because my feet were so wide. At the age of 10 -- I had the feet of an old lady. My bunions were already forming and looked strikingly similar to those of my 80 year old grandmother. At the age of 15 -- I was fit with custom orthodics in my shoes. I had to endure ...
Read more

A Challenge for Change

Image
If everyone introduces a friend to triathlon, imagine how this would change our country. This wonderful ad was published in one of my triathlon magazines. I think it is one of the most powerful ads I've seen in a long time. The supporting article below is also from SBRshop.com. It's too good not to share...and hopefully it will make you think. What if no one were fat? By Shirley Skeel Imagine a lean and healthy America: The savings on medical, fuel, food and other costs would be enough to give every U.S. household more than $4,000. Editor's note: This is part of an occasional series on financial what-ifs. In the United States today, 66% of adults are overweight. Almost 33% of adults are obese, and 4.7% are morbidly obese, or more than 100 pounds overweight. But . . . What if nobody in America were fat? We'd save billions of dollars in gas. Airlines would double their profits. A death of diabetes and other diseases would save billions of dollars more -- and put thous...
Read more