November

I blame the lack of updates recently to death of my dog.  'nuff said.

Anyway, November has been my mountain bike rebound month.  I need to be building a base, and I'm doing that to a degree but I've chosen to mountain bike more than road bike for no other reason than it's more fun and pretty soon it will be snowy and icy and I'll be forced to road ride more anyway, so why not enjoy the fall from my mountain bike?

On the ankle front I've officially moved into "I'm almost there mode".  The soreness I feel now is more like re-building muscle soreness rather than awful, squishy, thick soreness.  The other night at the gym I managed to run three pain free laps which was almost euphoric for me.  So I should be on target to start training next month for the Fells 50k in March.

I'll have pics from a couple of rides as well as totals from those rides in the next couple of days.

Catching Up...

Oops.  Eight days in between posts.  Bad Colin.

Last week was a poor training week.  I got in 3 days at the gym with weight work and some light stationary biking (ugh).  On Thursday we had our company outing which was a party bus ride down to Gillette for tailgating on the Pats game.  Super good time, one of the top five best work outings of all time (only behind Rainier and three of the Timby OR parties) but total indulgence of tailgate food, beer and staying out til 4am.  I was down and out until Monday, especially since we went to our friends lake house in Maine and it poured until Sunday afternoon.  That's ok though, as it was worth the time spent with co-workers and pals alike.

Pretty sure all the standing and walking (and lack of icing) during the tailgate resulted in some the soreness I'm feeling in my ankle right now.  However I'm doing my yoga and last night I took a spin class which was awesome.  Considering that you're out of the saddle for the majority of the class I'm pretty happy with how my ankle feels and I'm planning a big weekend on the bike coming up.  I'm either going to bike with Jen Shultis of Team EMS or with my teammates for the upcoming Frigid Infliction or if it works out (hope, hope) both.  If both fall through, I'll plan a road ride one day and a mountain bike ride for the other.  Can't wait.

Lastly I want to give a shout out to my boy Chris Boyd and the work he did last weekend at the Ultimate XC Moab event.  He placed a very respectable 8th in what was I'm sure a tough race.  Dan DesRosier, mastermind of the Jay Challenge put this one on, and he does not allow for a forgiving race course!  Nice work Boyd!  

Off to the gym for my strength routine.

GoLite/Ankle Update

Finally!  I conversed with the team (through email) today and they're fine.  Everyone's healthy, no worst for wear; but definitely a more experienced team.  Apparently the course was tough, the areas in which they are/were green as an AR team came back to bite them a bit, but overall they put in a fine effort.  Apparently they had some difficulties that weren't totally their fault...and I'll just leave it at that.  But still, glad to know my peeps are back home in Boulder and a-ok!

My ankle felt really good today which is a big deal considering I went back to back on the road and mountain bike over the weekend.  A little stiff this morning, but the soreness was even better than it was over the weekend!  I'm off the to gym to pump up my girly-man arms, chest and back and then home to ice my ankle and wolf down some homemade brownies courtesy of my lovely bride.

Congrats on a strong effort Team GoLite!  I miss you guys.

Today's Ride and Totals

Still no word from the jokers in Georgia. I'm absolutely dying. I'll know more tomorrow.

Got back on the mountain bike today after over a month off due to my gimpy left ankle. I'm glad I didn't push it, like I intended to, and mountain bike a few weeks ago in Arizona because I forgot how much you use every joint and muscle in your legs when riding trails. Also, since I last rode, the landscape has completely changed what with all the leaves off of the trees and down on the ground. Check out this picture and you tell me if you can see the trail.

Exactly. Also when you're riding on leaves this thick you spin out very easily (it also rained last night, even more wipeout fun) and you get to play "what's under the leaves" where you never know when you might hit a rock or log hidden by the leaf pile. So I was off of the bike a bit today, especially on one of the last steep climbs where I kept spinning my back tire and was a bit whupped so I didn't go back down for a second try.

It will be interesting to see how my ankle responds tomorrow. I've already iced it, and I will do yoga tonight and ice it again before doing yoga again in the morning. It feels tired now, so I'm hopeful that it will be sore in the morning with no other repercussions.

Here's today's totals followed by a few more pics from today's ride:

Activity: Mountain Bike

Time: 1:30:42 (that includes stopping to take pics, eat a Gu and chatting with my neighbor for a few minutes after getting home)

Distance: 13.97mi

Avg speed: 9.2mph

Max speed: 20.7 mph

Avg HR: 138bpm

Max HR: 163bpm

Calories burned: 1443

No update from GA

I'm going to have to give the USARA hell because of their lame attempts at updates on the Nationals race site. No updates since 9:30 yesterday morning?! I'm dying to know how my guys are doing in the deep, deep south.

I'm t-minus 20 minutes from heading out on the mountain bike. Nothing too crazy, just some local trails that I know well. Last thing I want to do is hit the crazy technical New England trails, come to a spot where I have to unclip and reinjure the ankle. That would suck.

...totals and hopefully a Nationals update to come this afternoon.

Today's totals

Figured that I should start plugging my daily activity and totals here for tracking purposes.

11/8
Activity: Road Bike
Time: 1:13:33
Distance: 22.56mi
Avg: 18.4mph
Max: 30.5mph
Avg HR: 143bpm
Max HR: 163bpm
Calories burned: 1519

Team GoLite at the USARA National Championships

Quick update following my minute run the other night. I woke up sore yesterday, but I don't feel like I set myself back. That being said, I'm not going to run again for at least another week, maybe two. The "thick" feeling and subsequent soreness has made me realize that I'm not ready to run yet. It's so damn frustrating because if it was just broken, it'd be just about done. This will linger well past me resuming running. So road bike today and I'm definitely mountain biking tomorrow.

So! Team GoLite, my former mates, are at the USARA National Championships in Blue Ridge, GA. By the time this is posted they probably will be across the finish line, as the cut off time for this 30-hour race is 1pm ET today and it's 12:30 right now. The Nationals's have continued to grow each year despite yearly claims by everyone that adventure racing is shrinking. I believe that to be true when it comes to expedition racing and the public's interest in us crazy's who like to run around lost in the woods for long periods of time. However, I still believe the shorter races to be viable and this is continually proven year over year with more events, and more teams at events like Nationals.

Nationals is supposed to be the marquee race on the under 48-hour AR scene. I still see them as needing some grooming and some growth before they are generally accepted as such, but the fact that every year they grow in terms of team participation at their championship event says that they're doing something right. I have a good relationship with the director of the USARA, Troy Farrar and he truly believes in the sport and where it can go.

Every year Nationals is put on in a different geographic region of the country. Two years ago they were in California, last year Missouri and this year they are in Georgia. Each locale has it's own race director who lays out the course based on his or her own local knowledge. It must be challenging because not just any team can show up. For a team to race in Nationals they must qualify by winning or placing at one of the qualifying events that are held throughout the country. This is where it gets hard for the USARA. In order to hold enough qualifyers, the USARA partners with races that are already being held. It would be too difficult for them to try and put on enough races on their own all over the country. To be a USARA Nationals qualifyer race directors pay a fee to the USARA and thus then have to increase the fee in their own event in order to make their money back. It's usually not that much more and if Nationals continues to grow, more racers will want a crack to race against the other top teams in the country and hopefully more and more race directors will allow their race to become qualifying events. Right now their is no representation in the Rocky Mountain region, where many top teams reside. So in order for them to have a crack at Nationals, they need to travel to where a qualifyer is being held.

I'm hopeful for the future of the event and the sport. AR is amazing, and if you have any remote interest in trail running, paddling or mountain biking...you're doing yourself a disservice by not giving it a go.

So, Team GoLite is there in Georgia right now trying to stay awake and navigate through foreign terrain for them. When people think of the ideal place to train and be an athlete, they immediately think of Colorado, particularly Boulder. It's true that they is an advantage to training at altitude and the proximity to the mountains is second to none. However, if you're not used to other climes, than you will have a tough time when you go there to race. One of the first AR I ever attended was with Team GoLite/Timberland at one of the Racing Ahead events in Vermont. They were from Boulder and were feeling pretty confident since they were all used to racing at over 6,000' and the race would all be below 3,000'. The one thing they didn't count on were the dense forest that we have here in New England and that would affect navigation; as well as the rooty/rocky trails that are different from the trails they were used to riding their bikes and running on. So maybe we're not as 'high' here in the east, but we have our own set of challenges. I imagine that's what Tiff, Brooks and James are going through right now. Plus to complicate matters, poor Tiff sprained her ankle last week. Not severely but enough that I'm sure it's hindering, and it rained pretty hard down there overnight, which I'm sure made everything slick. Not fun on a bum wheel.

I'll post some videos from the race website along with the results of how my team finished up once they become official. Until then...Go GoLite!

.65

I went for a little run tonight.  .65 mile, just over 6 minutes.  A little jaunt around the block.  35 days after doing awful things to my left ankle, I went out for a jog.  Less than a mile never felt so good.

I'm sitting here icing my ankle like I have every night for the past month.  I ran out of glucosamine yesterday and that shit is so pricey that it may be another week before I buy a new bottle, but I'm still taking my daily fish oil.  Lately there has been sore days and swollen days, but I can see and feel the progress.  I figured tonight, I'd give it a go just to see how it felt.  Well, it didn't feel great, but it worked and I'm encouraged.  Actually the way it felt was weird.  Just a general "thick" feeling and a bit weak, but it didn't hurt, so that's really what I was looking for.

I've been having a tough time lately.  I don't do well when I can't train the way I want to.  I rely on endurance athletics for peace of mind and having had that taken away I feel like ripping my skin off from time to time.  Getting on the bike was a good step, and now I feel like I'm really progressing.  Yes I know I'm rambling, but I'm excited.

No running tomorrow.  Gym tomorrow night than bike on Saturday (hopefully mountain bike).  And if I rebound from tonight and things are still feeling good, Sunday would be the next day for another small run.  I need to take it slowly and build my strength.  But at the very least I feel like it's going to happen.  Good night tonight.

Gettin' back at it.

What a difference a week makes.  I feel like I've really turned the corner with my ankle and although I'm not a 100%, I'm probably closer to 75%, I'm starting to feel a little more like myself.

This week I kept it simple and did what my ankle allowed.  Each day began with yoga and icing and ended with another round of icing.  Each day I took my supplements and ibuprofen.  Last Sunday I rode my bike to the gym, lifted and rode home.  Got in lifts on Monday and Tuesday and being sore and tired, I took off Wednesday and Thursday (aside from yoga) and on Friday, I felt much better.  So I got on my road bike and went for a 20 mile ride.  Saturday another round of riding to the gym, lifting and riding home.  Today I did another 20 mile ride and although a bit achy, so far my ankle is coming through in fine style.  It's definitely tired but I'm also adding in more range of motion exercises to increase strength and flexibility.

I'm beyond stoked at these developments.  Without the ability to run and/or bike I've really noticed how much these activities have become part of who I am.  I have a hard time focusing, I'm antsy...I'm sure if I kept this up, i.e. a sedentary lifestyle, I'd eventually start to get fat and stop caring.  But that's a prison sentence if you ask me.  

I feel bad for my wife.  I'm sure I've been harder to be around the past few weeks.  But after the two rides this weekend sandwiched around another day at the gym...I feel infinitely better.  It also is giving me hope of a return to riding at the beginning of December with training beginning in earnest for the Fells 50k around the holidays.  Exhale, exhale, exhale...Hope Springs Eternal.