You never know a good thing... ...until you lose it!

Yes, that line from Dream Warriors (and others, I assume) pretty much sums it up for me now. Or "be aware what you wish for as it may come true..." could also work. On my last post, if I recall correctly, I was in pain with my right foot, and wished it would go away. Well, on last week's Monday it did go away, but it also took something with it, something I'd like to get back ASAP :). But lets go back to that Monday (November 12th) for a while, I'll shed some light on the events then and afterwards.
So, early at that mentioned Monday morning I had some pain in my right foot, again, but that was nothing unusual anymore, so I went to kiss my wife & children goodbye (they were all asleep still) to leave to work. As I leaned down to say bye for the day to my daughter, something happened in the right hip, and the pain intenisfied quite much. So much that I had quite a diffulties to put on my shoes and walk to the car after that. Sitting in the car for the 1 h commute was truly agonizing, and when I got to the parking-lot, I had to take a few minutes time-out to actually get up from the car. At that point, finally, I decided that I'd get an appontment with the doctor at the office to see if there's anything that can be done on the leg. So, after limping the distance to my desk, I called and got the appointment.
So, when the time came, I got to the doctor's office, and he examined my back and the leg. I had not lost any power from the leg, but I was not able to bend the leg more than 30 degrees from my back-line, so the doctor sent me home with an order to get my hip x-rayed to find out if it actually has something to do with the spinal discs, or if its some piriformis -issues.
When exiting the doctor's office, the leg had decided to explode with pain. Maybe the examination caused it, or just the terrible chair I sat in at the office, but the pain had got even worse. Tears in my eyes I decided not to take the elevator but to walk the stairs (Don't ask me why, I was not apparently thinking straight at that point...). Well, walking the stairs was a challenge that I did not need at that point, but I walked them anyway. I was so concentrated not to cause any more pain to the right leg that I did not pay attention to the left one. So I stumbled, had to put all my weight onto the right leg, and nearly cried out loud from the pain.
I'm not sure how long I just stood there trembling, unable to move, but at some point I realised I had started slowly walking again. The highest peak of the pain had gone, and I could actually walk to my desk, grab my things, walk to the car and drive home. The driving was a bit weird, because the pain that I had when I came to work had kind of disappeared after the stumble in the stairs.
As I had had pretty much enough of everything for the Monday, I decided to get the x-rays on Tuesday and try to rest for the rest of that day. Lying down I noticed that I had lost the surface feeling of most of my right calf, part of the right back-thigh and part of the buttock. I did not pay attention to those things too much at that point however, I was just glad that the pain had pretty much gone away...
On Tuesday morning I noticed that I was not able to use the right foot as usual. The pain had gone, but apparently it also meant that the connection to the muscles (the biggest calf-muscle, part of the back-thigh and part of the buttock) was non-existent. I could walk (well, limp actually), but I couldn't tip-toe with the right foot. And I couldn't put my weight on the right foot, as the strongest part of the calf was unavailable.
Fast-forward from Tuesday Nov. 13th to today, the situation is pretty much the same. This monday I went back to the doctor's and with the x-ray -diagnosis, he put me on the urgent-queue to an orthopedist. And sent me back home for two weeks.
So, here I am now, awaiting for the call from the orthopedist, and trying to figure out ways to help my body heal and not break from any other parts of it. Training has succumbed to slow short morning walks. And considerations of maybe going for a swim at some point.
As a summary, I wished I'd get rid of the pain, which I did, but got also rid of some of the services from my right foot. And I think I would have needed those in the future!
Apparently this blog has presently more information on my short medical history than my training. I need to change that, so as soon as I get some professional help and guidance on how to make my body heal, I'll treat those guides as training plans and work from there. I'm still adamant that I'll be in Norway in the August of 2014!! :D

Two weeks passed, an overhaul decided

So it's been two weeks since my last post. For me, those two weeks have mostly meant pretty consistent...
...pain. In my right foot. In my previous post I mentioned my training regimen had already resulted to something, and that that something was a lower-back pain that nested in my right buttock, but radiated (and still radiates) to the whole leg, especially outer side of my right calf. Presumably this is some version of the spinal disc herniation.
That pain is something that I've never ever before experienced. Its most intense when I stand up after a longer period of sitting, especially in the car, and it just simply stops me doing anything and everything until it slowly levels down. And believe me, having this for almost three weeks now has had me thinking different options, e.g. putting the leg on e-bay for sale or to be replaced by a wooden stick, or anything that would just provide a way out of the situation. I actually already contacted some medical help too, and got instructions to take a inflammatory/pain -medication daily for a week or two and see if the pain goes away (apparently this all is caused by a septic (inflamed?) muscle pressing on the main-nerve for the foot, so the inflammation needs to be healed before a real recovery can start).
But anyway, as I've gotten so scared of this situation A) continuing and/or B) returning at some point in the future, I've not trained at all for the past two weeks. Unless some walking with the family can be seen as training, and for me, that is not. Fun it is, but not training.
I've also started to wonder if I actually should really listen to this body of mine... I recall one situation like this from my earlier years, where a change of shoes and running style caused an infection on both of my calves (shin splints), so I was unable to run downhill at all. Naturally, this meant that at some point I just decided to stop running for a while. After finally accepting the situation then, I decided to engage a stretching routine to be done daily, and actually carried that out for several weeks. The results of that are present even now, as previously I was not able to touch the floor with my hands when standing with straight legs, but now I can tap my palms to the floor if I want to. But that change in the approach to training required quite a leap mentally, especially as at that point when I had only trained for marathons (=running) and nothing else...
So maybe I should actually use this downtime to something useful? Last time I mentioned not having a plan, and that bothering me to some extent. Now I need to have a plan, but totally different from the one I thought I'd have. I need to plan how to gradually level up my fitness even if I'm unable to run (at least for longer distances), and how to avoid this present situation at all costs...
The more irritated I got about this situation, the more it actually made me think. For instance, I have nearly one yard of books on my shelf dedicated only to the "mastery of endurance". Those include guides for planning your season, planning your training in all the three disciplines, books on nutrition for endurance athletes, Yoga for athletes, strength training etc. Why the hell won't I just sit down and not think of what I can't do, but think of what I can, and start from that?
So, as it seems that an extra-strong core will be a main factor in NOT getting this pain back again, I opened the Triathlete's guide to strength training and Sage Roundtree's "the Athlete's guide to Yoga". I created myself a core-routine for the next three weeks, and after that, I'll see if I need to add something to the routine (I was not able to carry out all the moves, so I have the possibility to update when I get my fitness back :)).
And, I've decided to start swim training again next week, probably two morning sessions per week at first and we'll see how the things develop from there. And finally, I'll follow the advice of M. Fitzgerald' to "say yes to the good stuff", in other word's, I'll gradually start to change my nutrition habits to reflect my caloric needs daily and stop eating like I was training several times a day as I really am not.
So I guess I'm now on the process of getting over a speed-bump. It took me a while, and I apparently needed some butt-kicking before that, but it's happening now... Let's see if after next week I actually have something good also happening training-wise and not just these negative thingies :D

No plans, just run & ride

Ok, the subject pretty much describes what's happened after my previous post a week ago. As last weekend went by without any training, I had so bad conscious that I might have a bit overdone it this week. I had two trainer -spin sessions, on Monday and on Friday which totaled to ~80 minutes. Additionally to this, I also did two runs, on Wednesday and  yesterday totaling 100 minutes. As I compare this week's total time to last week's, it can easily be seen that my training appears to naturally follow the main principle of only adding 10 - 15% more training load per week (to keep out of injuries etc.). Only with a small tweak of adding one zero in the back of that 10 % -figure ;).
So, looking at the totals, time-wise I've added 100% to my previous week's training load. Ok, some of it comes from the fact that I decided to also record my yoga warm-ups and the stretching sessions, but still, even if those are taken away, its 65% addition. Looking at this now, it feels really idiotic.
But, on the other hand, maybe it had to be done. AS I also mentioned earlier, I seem to derive my motivation   to train more from bad conscious of not doing training earlier than actually aiming at something like "higher fitness" or...  ...or even the Norseman. This is something I need to change.
I also realized last week, that the kinds of "I've-not-run-for-one-week-now-so-I-have-to-do-this-session-with-4:30min/km-average" -trainings play a big part in this non-structural training of mine. It seems that whenever I put the running shoes on, I have a mission to demolish my previous average (or whatever). And that's not the way to go.
So, my thoughts of being the type of trainer like Óscar Freire are apparently not based on real-life but some wierd self-image. Just to explain what I mean, Óscar mentioned at some interview that I read in the procycling-magazine himself being a type of unstructured trainer that listens to his body and decides based on the feelings he notices what he's going to train (or not train) that day. With me, it goes more on the not-listening even if should -side, so maybe a structured plan could work better for me...
But anyway. As I now have some real results from the training (ischias -type pain in the low backside), I'll probably try to put up some plan next week. Maybe that'll actually provide me with an option to just go do (run/bike/swim) what I'm supposed to according the plan and not try to prove that I'm in the same level of fitness that I was four years ago. Because I'm not. And because I need to get there and past... oh, here I go again... ;)

First steady steps into the... ...candy-shelf?

Ok, so its Saturday already. Quite a busy week at work I have to say, but still managed to get some training there also. Some fast morning runs on Monday and Wednesday, and an easy-one on Friday. Did also some core-power work on Tuesday. And the traditional 5 Sun Salutation B's every morning :).
So, I guess this looks like the start has actually happened (for the training). However, today I realized my left Achilles-tendon is quite sore, so I'll have to consider doing some cycling/ trainer work instead of the running.
Presently it seems like my body has grown slower in reacting to the training. I mean, usually you could see the results of your extra calorie consumption already after one or two weeks after starting training, but presently I'm in the week four (or five, depending on how you calculate), and the only effect the training has had is the heightened urge for anything and everything unhealthy. A good example for this was yesterday (friday), when, for the first time in almost a year, I could not go past the candy-shelf without grabbing all sorts of sweets & chocolate to the cart. And this happened even if, in the morning, I had made the mistake of  stepping onto the scale (as an old scale-abuser, this was of course after the run and before breakfast ;)). I say mistake, because the scale showed the real numbers to my face. 5 kg gain after July :(
And still I had the balls to confiscate really unnecessary energy from the candy-shelf. Aaaargh!!!
Presently, looking at my sugar-swollen belly, I'm planning on a bike-ride today or tomorrow to, if nothing else, satisfy my self-conscious and the coach-in-the-head. I guess this is how it is for me now, the motivation to train nowadays comes more from the bad conscious of my earlier endavours than from any actual training plan or target.
But shortly returning to the coach-in-the-head mentioned earlier, his nagging about creating a real plan instead of just going out and doing what seems to be fun at that point has started to bother me a bit. Well not that much that I'd actually dig the training-bibles etc. from the bookshelves and started creating a plan, but still. I know that at some point in the near future I actually need to put up a plan also, but presently I'm in the denial-mode still on that front.
Let's see how this is going to work, and how long it's going to take for me to actually put the effort and create the plan (as it's not like I wouldn't be able to do the plan as I've done it several times earlier and also succeeded in carrying it out at those times). I don't know why that is so hard presently, let's see if I find out the reason later...

Mental preparations started...

... by viewing the Ironman championships live last night. Man, those ladies & gents were something once again!
On the personal side, starting has been quite a sluggish. I've originally decided that I'll start with creating a stone-hard core (SHC, muscles, not fittness ;)) by ditching my crunches. With only yoga as the main source of sort-of-weight-training for the last 5 years, I got my core muscles so sore after two tries on those abovementioned moves I couldn't believe it. I actually thought I had some sort of core-fitness already, but apparently not.
I've now decided to carry out core-training every second day to get the core to support my other pursuits :)

Ok, and now I have to tell about this "encounter" I had yesterday. I took my daughter to her swim-training in the morning (she's done with the swim-school now and started tecnique-training this fall in the local club) and as she was swimming, I went for a trail-run in the nearby 6 km route (see the run: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/99783646). This was a trail I've never run before, so I did not know what to expect. And boy was it tough :). Uphill-downhill-uphill-downhill... and this continued for the whole 6 k. Not more than one or two 100 -150 meters/ yards nearly flat sections, other wise just climbing or sliding (it was quite wet also).
So, as I mentioned, tough it was, and it did not help that at one point, when going over a trail-crossing, I saw another runner coming to the intersection from the corner of my eye. At that point I did not pay any attention on that, but almost cr**ped my pants when the guy went storming past me in the following uphill. At that point I thought "ok, it's been a while since I was overtaken on my daily run-training, but who cares, I've got my hands full with these hills anyway". I have to admit that my self-esteem got a slight hit there still... :) But I decided not to start to race anyone anyway at that point.
So the guy went past me high-speed in the uphill. But when the ascent flattened, he started to stall. And then, in the next corner, when he was only 10 yards in front of me, HE CHECKED MY POSITION BY LOOKING BACK OVER HIS SHOULDER!! Ok, so at that point I realised that maybe my bright-yellow Ironman® gillet or something else had caused the fellow to level up his pace to get past me. Maybe even a bit higher than he was able to sustain in the pretty steep uphill.
But ok, as mentioned, I was in my own misery with the steep hills, so I recorded his check, put on a smile, but did nothing else. I tried to look like I wouldn't have cared less of his overtaking. And then, on the next curve, HE DID IT AGAIN!
Ok, as he had still not gotten more than few yards more on his  advantage, this started to feel quite silly for me. To be honest, I am quite competitive, and this guys actions really started to itch my race-nerves. And then on the next hill-top, he checked my position once more. At that point I couldn't help myself but to laugh aloud. "Are you serious?" I thought... But I guess the guy heard my laughter as he sped up once more, and slowly started to gain ground once again. So in the next uphill I thought maybe I'll give him some space and slowed my pace quite a bit (and this was not because of my exhaustion level at that point but because I thought the guy would die soon if he was going to continue at that pace :o). Result: I never saw him again in front of me during the run, and I was pretty happy about it.
When getting back to my car, I realised that maybe, but only maybe, I had levelled up my pace a bit during the incident, as I was quite exhausted. Even more than I thought I would be... :)
However, a good run, even though a bit on the tough side. And I got a laugh during it, which was quite unusual :D
I've decided I'll record all my runs & rides with the endomondo and link them here, so if you're interested, fel free to check them out.
And I'll also try to record my encounters with the nature, other athletes and myself here in the future...

How did that happen?

After pondering most of the summer with the question on how to find a really good motivator for training for the next winter (and apparently more), on September 9th I finally found it. I had accidentally stumbled upon the Norseman Xtreme triathlon website, and fell in love immediately. After wiping the tears from my eyes from watching the video (don't ask, I don't know why these clips always make my eyes water), I understood it was my next goal, wanted I it or not.

So that's it, from now on, the 2014 event will be my goal. I'll try to log my "proceedings" here. See you soon then!!