Baby Steps

Baby steps... That's all I've got right now.

Always look for the rainbow.

When you have a total breakdown of your body and training, you take a very hard look at the foundation.  For sure, there were some unavoidable circumstances but they are more of a distraction than anything.  They distract from the fatigue and exhaustion at the end of the season, the IT band and knee that REFUSE to heal.  The shoulder that has dogged me through every yard in the pool, every braid, every mane pull since June... that too.

There is no doubt that I am very strong.  It takes at least one partially functioning eye to see that.  I am no longer muscle-bound but still much more stacked than the average endurance junkie.  That is a gift/curse from genetics.  I can push a monster gear on a bike and push it at a high cadence.  I can (usually) stabilize the bike even in strong winds. I have a strong pull in the water.  OK, so maybe my kick in running is more of the fend off an assailant kind than the propel yourself at speed kind but... whatever.  Point being, there is muscle on this frame... and a LOT of it.

So, how come I am so weak?  Why am I freakishly flexible in spite of being all muscle-y?  Because I have "hypermobile" joints (you'd have to ask someone smarter than me exactly what that means).  It's why they break so much.  The connective tissue stretches before the muscle tissue.  I have had many endurance experts steer me away from strength training and towards flexibility training because of my muscle mass but that is not the right answer.  It is the opposite of the right answer.  I think the right answer may be pairing massage/bodywork and ART/ Chiro with corrective strength training.

I also think I need to go back to basics in all three sports.  For as much of a foundation as was laid last year, it wasn't enough.  I am looking back over a short season where I really only made it to one race as planned.  I did make it to a second, but had to shorten it to a sprint because the knee was so painful.  And that anorexic little season nearly killed me.   SO.... it back to the drawing board.  It's back to basics.  There was a point this summer when things were clicking (and I mean in more ways than just my knee)... WHAT A GREAT FEELING!!  I totally believed it was going to happen, that I was going to realize my full potential as an athlete, but it was the definition of a fleeting (fleet?  Did I really just use that term in reference to my running?  HAH!) moment.  I really want to get back to that point but when I get back there, I want the moment to last.

I still believe it is possible, but it is more of a puzzle than I thought.  I should have known.  My history indicates that this is the case but there for a minute, a simple approach seemed to be working.

My job and lifestyle complicate everything.  Right now the challenge is not just figuring out what I need to do to be successful, but how to do it with the time and resources that I have.  It sounds easy but somehow, it is not.  I think it can be done.  I am going to give it my best effort.  The alternative is something that I have already tried... sick, fat, broken.  No thank you.  Not for this duck.

Runs like a....