I've had an interesting month. I've been able to get a lot of workouts in despite a busy work schedule.
I haven't run since 1/9/11 (3 weeks) due to a sore knee and really miss it. My knee isn't sore anymore (hasn't been for 2 weeks), but I wanted to give it a rest until next week.
I have been sticking to a strength training regimen every other day (thanks to MT for your email about my PT workouts - I really appreciate it). They have been getting more intense and this week I have progressed to step ups and other more challenging activities. I am 100% committed to improving my leg strength, which I'm told will help reduce my injury risk. I feel like I am getting stronger but my physical therapist says that I'm not ready to run "volume" yet (my legs are still wobbly when I stand on one leg during my exercises and my leg strength is generally still weak). My ironman training starts tomorrow (1/31) and requires me to start running. I'm not at all worried about my run aspect of the Ironman, so I've decided to do less running than my Ironman schedule requires over the first 2 weeks (and maybe longer) so that I can (1) gradually build up my mileage and (2) ease my body back in. My Ironman training is 30 weeks (race is 8/28/11) and I'm 100% confident as an experienced marathon runner that I can catch my running up later (in fact it might be healthier for me to run less now anyway).
I'm scheduled to run 4 days a week during my training - my first week - 30 minutes a few days, a 15 minute "brick", which is immediately preceded by a 30 minute bike ride, and a 60 minute long run. I'm probably ready for 30 minutes at this point, but that will probably be my long run for a few weeks. Many of you hear me talk about "getting over the hump". Well, I'll get there but slowly. I did the same buildup for the Chicago Marathon and was fine. Most importantly, I'll listen to my body and if I feel pain or twinges while running I will stop. My right shin splint is better but still nags at me every now and then.
Last week, I signed up for an account at www.dailymile.com. It's a pretty cool site and a great place to track your workouts (of course, I keep an excel spreadsheet to track also, and I've been keeping this spreadsheet since 2000). If you decide to sign up for the daily mile, please send me a friend invitation.
Workout summaries over the last 2 weeks:
Week ended 1/30/11 (total workout time 7 hours) - 8 workouts in total
Swim - 2 swims (51 minutes and 46 minutes) - 1 mile split 38:58 and 41:30, respectively. I'm a really slow swimmer.
Bike - 3 rides (45 minutes, 60 minutes, 60 minutes) - 2 on the trainer and 1 on the spinning bike at the gym
Run - 0 runs, still recovering from sore knee
Strength training - 3 strength workouts (25 minutes, 60 minutes, 37 minutes)
Notes: Worked about 80 hours this week including both weekend days
Days off During Week: 2 (Monday and Sunday)
Week ended 1/23/11 (total workout time 7.6 hours) - 10 workouts in total
Swim - 0 swims
Bike - 6 rides (110 minutes, 70 minutes, 66 minutes, 60 minutes, 45 minutes, and 30 minutes) - all on my trainer and all done after my kids went to bed with the exception of the 100 minute ride, which was done during the Bears/Packers game (tough loss for the Bears!). Got a bike fitting done, which has resulted in an increase of approximately 1.0 mph for the same effort level. Extended my stem to 100cm from 80cm, which has stretched me out and given me more power in my legs as a result.
Run - 0 runs, still recovering from sore knee.
Strength training - 4 strength workouts (ranging from 25-30 minutes each)
Notes: Tough week because I worked 62 hours during the week and had a major Crohn's/Colitis flare-up all week (one that would have put me in the hospital 10 years ago but that I just dealt with this time. Luckily, I didn't get a fever, which is an automatic hospital stay in conjunction with a flare-up for me). I have found that exercising through my flare-ups actually keeps my immune system strong and significantly reduces the chance of me getting a fever. It's when I don't exercise or "give in" that I really get sick.
Days off During Week: 1 (Saturday)
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