Creativity!

I can't tell you how many times I find myself crawling around my house for ten minutes or more, looking underneath furniture for our Quad Baller. It's our household foam roller... if you're an endurance athlete, I'm sure you've had some experience with these trigger point therapy torture devices. However, if you're not one of that set, the video to the right shows the process.

Do you want me to lie or be honest? Honesty is the best policy... foam rolling tends to be sheer misery under your own hand. But it works. Its function is a very high intensity massage to bust apart any lingering ickiness (to use a broad term to address all possible intents) in your muscles after training. It's particularly useful on the illiotibial band (the tissue connecting your hip and outer knee), but is also great on calves and just about anywhere it'll fit with those roller blade wheels.

So... flash to about 9:00 PM last night. Paul had gone to the store to pick up hummus and some bagels for his impromptu race breakfast. I had just finished stretching out my pretty tender ankle (I didn't finish a run on Thursday because of soreness...) and was searching in vain for the Quad Baller. Our tends to disappear. Because here's the real kicker... toddlers and babies love this implement! The Hobbes-it thinks it's his very own toy. Sometimes it ends up in his toy box...

After about ten minutes of searching, I sent Paul a message... he didn't know its whereabouts either. Continue search.

Happen upon this little magical wonder of trigger point massage:
















That's right... a raquet ball. That little guy fits right in the crook of my ankle where it hurts the worst! So, a few minutes of propping up and pressing my body weight on my new tool, as I rolled it up and down my sore tendon, and I felt pretty good. It's the best method I've found for massaging this sore tendon. I also rolled it around underneath my foot to loosen any tension in my arch/heel.

I'll give this a chance to work some magic. I've been reading more and more about the Graston technique and how it can seriously alter major sports injuries and take them back to a point where it's like it didn't even happen. That, ice massage, and a few other radical (by radical, I mean strange and sometimes painful...) massage therapies are now on my radar. I'm strong now, but not 100%. I'm being patient; I know it can take a long time for my injury to fully heal and leave me (at least close to) pain free. But if there's some less mainstream method I can try to speed the process, I may try it.

Happy rolling :D

The Update

The last time I posted, I discussed some fitness goals. Here's how all that fleshed out:

The Great Pullup Challenge...

I still can't do a full pullup. It isn't for lack of trying, though. I stuck to a pretty challenging regimen of assisted pullups and lat pulldowns.

However, I wouldn't say my big challenge wasn't a success; quite to the contrary. Yesterday, I went climbing for the first time since I began my efforts to be able to do a pullup. I was flying up routes on which I had previously stalled. I even did some declines.

Another place I can tell a difference in performance as a result of the Pullup Challenge is in the pool. My muscular endurance is definitely improved.

There's also the added bonus of slimmer arms and a more toned back. You'll never hear me complain about things like that!

The Time Trial

I ended up not attending the TT. I found out one of my best friends from high school was graduating with his Bachelor's degree, and I didn't want to miss the occasion. I knew all too well how hard he had worked...

I'll do one later in the year, when I have had a little more time to train well. I went out last week for a practice run, and averaged 20 mph over a pretty windy course. I was pleased as punch. Hopefully I can push that average up a little more as the summer proceeds and actually perform well at a race.

I worked hard the past few weeks to get to this point, and can attribute my success to weekly intervals of varying styles, and going out for long rides on the weekends. Even when the weather wasn't the best. And The Sufferfest, from time to time.

So What Now?

What's coming up next? The Mach Tenn Triathlon, which I feel like is one of the premier races in our area. The run course is one of the most challenging of any races I've done... it always puts me through the ringer. I've been running it every other weekend for a few weeks now. I'm hoping that prepares me well for a better run this year.

I'm not holding out high expectations for that, however; I'm still running very conservatively, in an effort to protect my ankle and let it heal well. I'm close to 90%, but still worry sometimes. Dr. Johnson pulling my heel out from my foot and pointing out how loose it still is resounds in my head... So I'm still getting used to being patient and working with my body as it is. I'll get there (wherever there is...), but can't expect the same speed of results as I've seen in the past. And I'm becoming okay with that.

Also... my bestie is getting married in TWO WEEKS! It doesn't seem possible that I'm married, much less her... I still often feel like we're just kids, even though I know we're well beyond an age where we can be considered just a couple kids. But I love her dearly, and wish her and her great choice in a guy all the love and happiness I can imagine :)

And then, in the fall, we're venturing to NYC for Paul to run in the NY Marathon! I seriously can't wait to get the heck out of Dodge and be someplace different for a while...