Almost Famous

"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." -- Philip Seymour Hoffman as legendary Creem Magazine editor Lester Bangs.

Have you ever noticed that sports-related injuries are never isolated to the place that hurts? Sure, the pain may radiate from your hip, your heel, or your hamstring, but its destination is always your heart. Something about our "real" selves disappears with the inability to perform and achieve results. And when that happens, it's hard to be cool.

I am trying to be patient with my trick knee and not get blue as I feel the fitness built in five weeks of solid running ebbing from my body every day.

There is consolation in Thursday and Friday's honest swims and the blessed 1.5 hours I plan to enjoy in the water Saturday morning. I've been surprised, though, at the twinges I feel in my knee, even with two-beat kicking and soft flip turns. It's hard to go easy when my cardio fitness wants to click into gear but if I let it happen I could make things worse.

If I get on my bike on Sunday, will it make me cool again?

I thought Patella was a seafood dish

OK, so there's Benjamin Bratt. Stalking me like a celery at Sundance last weekend. NOT.

In other news, I visited Dr. O'Kane at UW Sports Med this afternoon. We decided it is likely that the knee issue is patellar tendonitis. Which apparently is not serious and can be overcome if common sense prevails at this point in the training cycle. So...I will rest, swim, spin and hop on the elliptical machine next week in lieu of running for awhile. That is OK (all things considered) though I have sort of bonded with the treadmill and the iPod/CNN cocktail recently. All will be well.

A few grateful thoughts here on Dr. O'Kane, who has been my friend much longer than Benjamin Bratt. We met in 2000, and over the years he's taken care of everything from my rotator cuff to my hamstrings, giving me more than the occasional heartfelt pep talk (relating well to the aging warrior who still wants to get 20-something results out of a 40-something body), and talking me off a high, scary ledge at least once.

http://www.orthop.washington.edu/uw/tabID__3374/ItemID__49/mid__10294/Default.aspx

Sundance and Setback

Mike and I spent the last four days at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City. If you have not been there, put it on your list. Your intellectual curiosity will be fed, along with your appetite for fantastic margaritas, gorgeous mountain scenery and the promise of a movie star hanging out around the next corner. (By the end of it, I was sure that Benjamin Bratt was stalking me.)Seriously. Go. You won't regret a second of it. You will be surprised at what you see. http://festival.sundance.org/2009/

While the festival indulged my make believe jones, it proved a good distraction from a real-life disappointment. This trick shin I mentioned a few posts back has exploded into a serious issue. Not only is there irritation below my left knee, the ache has wrapped around the outside of my leg and behind it. I can't run without the feeling that I'm damaging it further. Dr. O'Kane, I'm coming to see you. I promise not to cry this time. For heaven's sake, it's January. We can fix me before race day for sure.

Riding Like a Rock Star

Today's pool closure due to the MLK Jr. holiday meant a little creativity was in order. While I would have welcomed a sweet, easy swim practice to give my tired legs a break after the weekend's higher-impact workouts, I went instead to the cycling studio for an early ride.

This was my first morning session at Herriott, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The ever-sanguine Todd rolled in as I arrived just after 6, gearing up for a 6:30 start. I turned out to be the only person who signed up for the class, so I had the luxury of a workout customized just for me (is this what Gwen Stefani feels like?), an honest effort but focusing on recovery....2 x 20 minute long hills with 5 minutes of spinning in between. I felt bad that Todd had gotten out of bed for just one rider, but he was cool and did his best to make sure I had a good training session and some fun, too.

We watched LeMond and Hinault duke it out in the 1986 Tour de France on the big screen. I love those old tours and am blown by the way those guys rode the Alps and Pyrenees on ridiculously heavy bikes with hardly any gears and down tube shifting!

Great workout that set the tone for a good day, though I can't wait for the happy comfort of the pool in the morning!

Sunny Sunday Seven

Today was a perfect day for the first hour-long run of the year. A bright winter day that makes every single gray and drizzly one worth enduring. I waited until the temperature climbed above 30 degrees, bundled up and headed out. My route went along the Burke Gilman trail from Matthew's Beach to Metropolitan Market, up 40th, and through the neighborhoods to the 75th Street entry to the Sand Point Country Club. After a loop around the club, I headed for home. I covered about 7 miles of mixed elevation with an average heart rate of 158.

Not much to report except fatigued legs from recent back-to-back workouts and a slight tweak at the top of my left shin.

Today's benchmarks: Matthew's Beach to Metmar: :25.02.

Wardrobe Malfunction

Note to self: Next time you leave the house on your bike and it's 34 degrees out, wear booties.

Today was my first outdoor ride since September. Coach Phil has been working on "turning me into a (real) runner in 8 weeks" so I've been concentrating on that, clocking 15-20 weeekly miles since late December.

I've been adding occasional cycling workouts (indoor, at the unparalleled Herriott Sports Performance studio, see: http://www.herriottsportsperformance.com/), resisting the great outdoors until today.

Seattle has spent the last several days under a big smoggy cloud, pollution of this magnitude is rare for the Emerald City. This morning, the foggy muck was still hanging low. I couldn't even see the west side of Lake Washington as I ate my pre-ride oatmeal, let alone my destination across the water in Kirkland. So as I added a waterproof outer layer, took a generous hit off my asthma inhaler, clamped the headlight to my handlbars and the bright red flasher to the back of my helmet, I marveled at my motivation. Or lack of common sense. Preoccupied with safety, I completely spaced on comfort...and the realities of what 25 miles ride in near-freezing temperatures would do to my feet.

I hate wearing booties (booties are for scuba diving, not cycling!) but would have given just about anything for their sweet, if stinky, neoprene warmth this morning! After the ride, I ran 20 minutes on the treadmill. Only as I finished did my sore, swollen feet stop feeling like popsicles!

Today's benchmark:

Juanita Hill, southbound -- base light to QFC = 10:17.

23:10

Hi.

Welcome to my Ironman story.

Card-carrying introvert that I am, I never thought I would feel compelled to share this kind of trip so publicly, but somehow it seems like the best way to put the journey on record and bring my friends along. Thanks for coming.

I am training for Ironman Canada, which takes place on August 30, 2009. It will be my second shot at this challenging course, which begins and ends in Penticton, BC. I last raced there in 2005. Despite being hampered by mechanical problems on my bike, and finishing over 1:30 slower than I should have, it was still one of the best days of my life. In fact, it was unforgettable.

With that in mind, I have made "unforgettable" the theme my Ironman adventure. Inoubliable, as you may know, is the French word for unforgettable. I chose it because the wordnerd in me loves the fact that it uses every vowel once, and the letter "i" twice. I is for Ironman. I is for I can do it. Ironman training is a selfish endeavor. It is up to me -- and only me -- to lay the groundwork to succeed, and to come through on the day. Hence the magic of this word. I want to do what it takes to make this training season, and race day, inoubliable.

Mike and I had front-row seats on the Champs-Elysees in July 2003 when Lance Armstrong won Tour de France number 5. We framed the front page of the daily newspaper, Le Parisien, from that day, and hung it in front of the treadmill in our exercise room. The top half of the page has a color photo of Lance in yellow, with the now-disgraced Jan Ullrich to his right, and controversial Alexander Vinukurov to his left, representing second and third in the race, respectively. The headline says, bold and in all caps: INOUBLIABLE.

I am not one of those people who believes that "your Ironman defines you" somehow as a human being. Yes, it is hard. Yes, it takes sacrifice -- not just yours, but that of the people who love you.

I believe the Ironman experience is very personal, and the days that get you there should be memorable, fun, intense and happy. The race itself, while it may not change your life, it will teach you lessons you will never forget.

Today marked a good beginning, with a 5K time of 23:10 on legs tired from a week's worth of solid training. It was a small race; I was the first person to cross the line. Now that's a feeling worth remembering.