Well it has been a few weeks since I posted anything so I thought I would give you an update on how training is going. I definitely feel that I am improving especially on the bike as I am under 20 weeks now till the big race in Kona. Surprisingly, the excitement has not worn off one bit as I prepare. One thing that has for sure worn down in my body. Often my legs feel tired and my body aches during the long weeks of training. Combining a family with a full-time job and training really wears on my body throughout the week. Last weekend for Memorial Day the family and I all loaded up and headed out west to visit with Vanessa's brother for the weekend. He lives in Wall, Texas (just outside of San Angelo) with his wife and newborn baby boy Gage. The population is around 2K people so lets just say we were not in the most populated area of Texas. Since we were there for the long weekend I packed my bike and running shoes. I called the local bike shop in San Angelo the week prior and they gave me a good route out in the country for me to ride. Sunday morning I set out for a 2.5 hr ride that covered about 50+ miles or so. The day prior the temperature reached 113 degrees so I was anxious to see how I adapted to the heat that morning. It would be a great comparison to what I will face in Kona with both the high wind and blazing heat. I got out nice and early so it was only 95 degrees when I got started, cold huh? the ride was great as I got out on some country roads with nothing in site but lots of cattle and large ranches. The wind for the first hour of the bike was brutal as I climbed mostly uphill into the 30mph+ south wind. When it was all said and done it had gotten to about 100 degrees. I made sure to test my nutrition and fluids during the bike to see how my stomach managed during the ride. I felt great so I immediately followed the ride with a 45 min run that covered a little over 4 miles. For you non-triathletes, this type of training is called a "BRICK". When you go straight from one sport to the other while training. this helps your body and mind adapt to the actual race conditions and also does a real good number on the legs! After the run I was wiped out. I got a little light headed shortly after as I took in as many fluids as I could. This only confirmed to me more that I cannot mess with the heat and to stay on top of my nutrition. I have attached a short video of my bike ride in Wall last week. For you "Non-Texans" you will get a feel of what we cyclist deal with while training on the open roads, LOL! I had to cut the video short since the file was too large, sorry.
My Chiropractic Visit:
For about two months now I have had some bad issues with my left Achilles. Every time I ran I could feel a small burning sensation in my heel as well as tightness in my left calf. This all started with my uneducated switch to different running shoes without easing my way into them. Luckily one of my best friends from high school, Jeff Eidsvig, is a chiropractor in the DFW area. He works closely with many athletes in the in the DFW metroplex on sports-specific injuries. The past two weeks Jeff has volunteered his time to work on my calf as well as adjusting me to keep me in good health. Little did I know I was very close to snapping my Achillies according to Jeff. He worked vigoriously on my heel and you could hear nothing but torn scar tissue. I cannot thank him enough for working on me as Jeff really improved my calf and heel issues. I will continue to go see him through June for treatment to make sure I am back at 100%. Dr. Jeff is also fitting me for custom orthotics from Bio-Correct. You can read about these fantastic orthotics on his website link below. I highly recommend if you are training for an endurance event like me that you have a local chiropractor or sports specialist to visit frequently. Thanks Jeff!
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| www.wbsports-spine.com/ |
Very cool that you're doing this Tommy! Good luck with all of the training and the actual event...looking forward to following along here!
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