Monday, August 25, 2008

Quickly...

My mom and I got to Dallas last night EXHAUSTED. I got in a solid ride in the morning of 3.5 hrs (1.5 of those with my brother) and then a 45min run off the bike. It was absolutley gorgeous outside and I did as many hills as I could find. While my mom napped I squeezed in a swim after lunch so we didn't leave until 4pm. Half way into the road trip we realize that when I lost my car keys the week before, the house keys to my apartment were gone too. So that meant waiting outside at 9pm with the locksmith for an hour, but that wasn't too bad cuz he was pretty hot ;)
Then finally we got into bed at like 11pm and I was so restless I slept about 4hrs. Today was nonstop school and definitely a day off! I got my massage with Donald which I missed terribly and chiro from Ron, they're truly amazing at getting my body fixed for more punding to follow.
On the plan is two more weeks of high volume build, followed by a taper/short speed week, and then 70.3 race week/big taper. Since Monday is Labor Day and Fridays I don't have class I'll be heading South again haha and staying in San Antonio through Sunday, then driving to Austin and racing the Austin Triathlon on Monday!! I'm sooooooo excited to race. I don't have any expectations on the swim and my legs will for sure feel like 100000tons each after some more mega mileage this week, but I'm looking forward to biking and running that race till I drop :)
Now it's time for bed, hopefully 9hrs of nonstop sleep before a big day tomorrow. School this semester is gonna be tough; lots of reading and presentations, but I love my classes and 4mths left till I'm all grown up, ha, yea right ;)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Last week of summer

Ahh... time has flown by! It's raining and muggy outside and I'm lovin it bcuz it's my day off. I only did some light stretching and playing in the pool. This past week I did it- I officially defeated the collarbone injury :) I got out for a ride mid-week and fell in love with the hills near Sonterra, north of 1604/281 intersection. Since the area is in development there are wide streets with virtually no traffic or people and amazing climbs! My shoulder didn't bother me one bit, even on a 3hr ride followed by a short 30mins run on Saturday. Yesterday I ran a bit longer- 80mins and was feeling on top of the world. As of Friday I can swim just like before the accident. I haven't tested more than half an hour, but so far no soreness there. I'm playing it conservative though and building the time and intensity in the water slowly this week. By next week I should be able to crank out some masters workouts in Dallas :)
So my last week in San Antonio means two long runs this week, 3 shorter ones, and 4 long rides (two 2 hr, one 3 hr, one 4hr, and one ez hr spin). Since I can't get that kind of biking in Dallas, I have to grind it out here.
I'm sooo happy it's hard to put into words. I know this will be a great race no matter what because I'm just so thankful to be lining up at the start. I just have to be careful not to get too excited with the water and overuse my shoulder before then haha.
Back to Olympics watching ;)

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Back at it!!

Sweeeeet! I can train now nearly at 100%. Today I rode 2hrs OUTSIDE...at first I was pretty shaky and kept picturing another horrible fall. But a couple of miles in, some great hills (in north San Antonio) and my confidence was back! No pain at all for the entire ride :)
Then I went down to the pool after lunch and did 30mins of not "playing around" swimming, but actual laps of drills and full stroke! It was awesome. My strength in the water with the injured arm is not quite there yet and still gets a little sore every now and then but in 1-2 weeks more I think I can crank a full hour.
Tomorrow I'm planning on a 90min easy ride and Saturday a nice three hours early before traffic but nooo white rock lake this time! I'll be wondering the hill country where runners are no where in sight :) and hopefully no cars either hehe.
I'm really glad I didn't listen to doctors or other people who have experienced shoulder injuries but instead listened to my own body. Every human is different and I'm sure much of my speedy recovery can be attributed to not wearing the sling almost at all, keeping myself active even if it meant walking and floating at first, and bein very aggressive with the range of motion/resistance PT.
Anyway, all good news here! I'm stoked beyond words that I will do Cancun and that if things keep progressing at this rate my swim won't be a disaster.
I've got about a week left here and then it's back to Dallas for school...last semester!!! Ahh, it went by so fast, but I'm extremely ready to get out of college, even though I have no idea what the heck I'm gonna do to continue training and racing toward my goals with my whole citizenship issue- as the only way for me to stay in the US is with a full time job (aka visa sponsorship/green card).
Well enough of that, right now I'm happy to be living in the moment :)

Monday, August 11, 2008

Nice!

Daniel gets 9th at Youth Elite Nationals in CO Springs!! Yay, I'm sooo proud :)

http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/1781/RES-ELITES.txt

Sunday, August 10, 2008

100m

I swam today nonstop freestyle!!! :)
the rest of the hour was spent on range of motion stuff, kicking, breast stroke, and just enjoying the awesome summer weather.
Every day's a better day and closer to CANCUN.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Laziness

That is on the blog end of things so today on an off day I thought I'd post. Off day from what? haha well I've kept up my training quite well despite the injury albeit with major modifications. After 2 weeks of stepmaster, ellyptical, water running, and as much time on the trainer I could stand on a sit up position (1hr max)...I finally RAN on Monday!!!! OMG I never wanted to stop but it's time to be smart so I only did a 30min total run with 5 min walks in between 10min runs. Then yesterday I moved up to 2x15 with 5 in between. Also, I discovered that in the pool standing in the shallow end I can do a freestroke motion and it doesn't hurt because my arm isn't vertically aligned with my body rather in front (make sense?) so I can pull water :)
Anyway, the xrays last week showed healing is well underway so I'm giving myself the go ahead for Cancun if I can meet three tests: 1) be able to ride 2-3 hrs outside and stand the pressure on the shoulder 2) swim at least a 2k without much soreness at all 3) run 90min again without pounding pain. The plan looks plausible for a good race, I have 6 weeks where I can get in some solid riding on the trainer and 2-3 outdoor sessions just to get the confidence back. I'll make running and strength training, including dryland swim workouts, my main focus.
Starting to look back on this as a thing of the past, I'm thankful that I was able to spend my last official summer with my family and that I could help my brother in loaning him my trainer as he geared up for Youth Elite Nationals which is this weekend in Colorado Springs. I'm soooo proud of him, he's an inspiration for me to get back into regular training and racing. After just a few months in the sport, he's loving the healthy lifestyle which I believe is a savior to teenagers and is showing amazing discipline. I wish him the best of luck and if any of ya'll are interested in tracking his triathlon endeavors check out his new blog: www.danielvertiz.blogspot.com, or add him on I am tri ;)