What's up!

So I am blaming Hudson for my early return to running. He advises runners to not take more than one week off, and always keep their mileage at at least 50% of their max mileage. He points out that injury is likely to happen when the body undergoes stress, like increase mileage, or speed, or change of terrain. In addition to protection from injury, Hudson also believes that maintaining such a base allows one to improve from year to year. What do I know? I listen to the expert!

OK, OK, so the truth is that I feel like my body has deconditioned enough in one week off of running. I build fitness/speed quickly, but I lose it quickly, too. Case in point. I was mildly sore after Baystate, but was severely sore after my Saturday trail run. Today I went for an easy 5 mile trail run (a flat 1 mile loop around a reservoir), and then decided to do some squats (25). Wouldn't you know it, I am so sore now, even though I took an ice bath and swam a little to stretch myself out.

Speaking of swimming. This Total Immersion Swimming plan really works. That guy Terry Laughing is a genius. This month I celebrated one year since I first put my head under the water, and since I swam one lap of crawl. I remember being so nervous when I would get to the deep end of the pool, thinking and feeling like I am going to drawn. It is hard to believe that I came so far; I am growing into a confident (albeit slow) swimmer. If you've ever wanted to swim, well, if I did it, you can do it too. And you don't necessarily need a coach for that! So, yes, I am a little proud. Now if Petru would develop any interest in swimming....He does like to run, but all organized group sports lessons (swimming, basketball, soccer) have been a fail. He did, however, love gymnastics, and he loves ballet/dancing, so maybe I should not complain.

On Wednesday I have my 3 hour bike fit/pedal stroke, cleat position, etc, etc, analysis. Yesterday I got my Kurt Kinetic and wow, what a difference from my old trainer. There is no cheating on this one, and it really feels like I am riding on the road. I've also discovered Hulu TV and lots of shows that I've never watched, so I should be all set for a while. I watched Kona 2008 the other day and had tears in my eyes. Love that stuff!

I am working on my racing schedule. I need to be smart about it and not sign up for too many races. For me, too many races = injury, mostly bc I push myself a lot in training, too. So far I am doing one HM in February and Mooseman HIM in June.

I also developed some long term goals, which I will post on the side of this blog:) Yes, very ambitious, but the mind puts limits on what we can do, and I don't want to live by these limits.

Sending healing vibes to everyone injured. So many of my fav bloggers are either injured or coming out from injury! Heal, heal, heaaaal!!!!!