I'm getting better...I had my first Beer!

My throat is feeling 4 on 10.

Now it only feels like I have some open sores on my back gums, I smoked 10 cigars, and was yelling at rock concert in a drunken state the night before. It's a major improvement!

It took me a while, and I had to cover parts of my right side of my throat with my tongue, it was a little painful, but I was able to slowly drink a beer and watch Reid's power skating lessons. It didn't taste that refreshing, but it's a start.

For dinner, I still had ice cream, but I had a lot more than I usually do and ate it a lot faster. It was symbolic, I finished off the last 1/2 litre. That's it for me and the ice cream...no more.

I don't want to get to cocky, but my logic is that if I can eat, I can train. After all, the doctor just wanted to give the mouth enough time to heal so it wouldn't break open and start bleeding. So I figure, if I can eat, it won't break open. I'm not yet eating a regular meal, although over an hour and a half at my desk, I was able to eat a bowl of rice and chicken.

I'm still tired. While watching ""Kenny vs. Spenny" on TV, I dozed off and had my evening nap ( from the pain and sugar overload). I just woke and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. If I improve to 5 on 10 and I can drink water easily, I'm riding my bike, maybe some light weights.

From now on, no more pain killers. I don't think I'll need them anymore and they cause major constipation.

I'm getting very close to being back BABY!!! My daughter says she lost a lot of her muscle during her recovery period and she was sore after her early workouts. Great....at least I have something to look forward to :)

Things are getting a little better..still can't eat

The left side of my throat is now feeling better than the right. I still can't eat, but swallowing is still a little less painful.

Had my power nap, then went to Reid's hockey game. He's number 25. It's amazing he just learnt how to skate 3 months ago.. Afterwards the throat was a little sorer, I think it was the cold in the arena.

I can tell I'm getting better, but I still need the Tylenol 3's.

Worst Day of Pain, but I exercised anyway

The pain today was the WORST, I didn't even bother to try and eat. Just drinking water was hard enough.

For dinner, Alice made some home made chicken noodle soup and I was able to eat that and then had a nap.

When I woke up I tried some ice cream but it was too hard to eat. I started getting bored, lying in bed I kept looking at my bike...and finally said "screw it", I need to start exercising.

I put on the cycling shorts, jumped on the bike and rode. I told myself I'd stop at 30 minutes, then it turned into 35, 40, 45, 50 and I finally stopped at 55 minutes. I had a nice sweat going. It felt good. The rug below was getting wet.

On the bike when I looked down at my legs I didn't recognize them, they were much thinner. It was a great ride, watched a little News, UFC and Napoleon Dynamite. Although it is amazing, if you don't exercise you loose it. Just from the time off of riding because of the weather and then the operation, my butt is sore. It may also be because I lost some weight which caused me to loose "padding". In any event, the only way to fix that it to...ride more.

Afterwards I weighed myself and from the sweating dropped 1.8 lbs. Then I spent a good 15 minutes doing my regular stretches. It is amazing how much more flexible I am and how easy the stretches now are after resting. I also felt my bones "cracking" in a good way.

The tough part is trying to hydrate the lost water as drinking water hurts. In addition to drinking water I also had a protein shake after the workout.

Also, my birthday Presents keep coming. Yesterday a package Alice ordered from Ebay finally arrived. It was an Amstel Light glass (my favorite beer) and Das Boot a German beer drinking boot. The same style as the one in the movie "Beer Fest". I know getting that was Reids idea. Since we got it, all I see is this boot filled with his pop.

It seems the left side of my throat is better than the right. Alyssa told me that happened to her, but it would switch sides each day.

Wishful Thinking...

I thought I'd walk or bike slowly today. Not a chance. Instead of getting better, I feel like I am getting worse. I was able to hydrate well today, but by the end of the day I felt like I was going to pass out.

When I got home I tried eating some bread, no go. I was able to eat pancakes with lots of syrup. It actually coated my throat and it felt better so I ate as much as I could. I then lied down on the couch and the next thing I know was I woke up 3 hours later (combo of pain and sugar overload), with a screamingly sore throat. But...I did catch the winner announcement of dancing with the stars without having to watch the 2 hour special. Bonus!

Now I'm starting to think I should just rest, not pushing myself in any way. Let alone exercise. I don't want this to last any longer than it has to.

I'm also now getting paranoid, the back of my teeth and gums hurt, like they were cut open. I hope I'm not getting an infection. I have been taking the antibiotics the doctor prescribed so it's probably in my head.

My Daughter said she didn't start feeling better for a full 2 weeks. Tomorrow is the end of my 1st recovery week.

Sluggish

I'm still not feeling well. It kills when I swallow (like I got razor blades in my throat). I'm very tired throughout the day and still can't eat regular food.

Power napped for a while, then started playing on the computer and learning about more things I can do with my blog. I can hardly wait until I can start training again....I miss the feelings I get from training.

I was going to go for a walk but it was raining and sleeting outside and I was too tired. Tomorrow I'm either going to walk or do a very very light ride on the wind trainer, just for my sanity.

Man my tonsils HURT!!!!

Every time I try to swallow it feels like I have razor blades in my throat. It is difficult to eat or drink. This morning I weighted myself and I'm down 4 lbs to 175 lbs.

I'm also going stir crazy. I've displaced my exercise energy by playing on the web obsessively and learning all kinds of new tools (It's amazing all the stuff I'm learning about). But after a while my head hurts. My body feels like it is starting to atrophy and I'm worried about having to start over with my training.

This afternoon I couldn't stand it any more, I needed to clear my head, and I needed to get some exercise, so I went for an hour walk. It was good, I could feel the muscles in my back and legs starting to work again. Afterwards, I felt like I had a slight bonk because I haven't been able to eat much, so I forced some vege pizza down while watching the Grey Cup.

It tasted good, but now I'm paying the price. It feels like I made my throat tender and now when I swallow I'm in real pain.

Time for the Tylenol 3's.

I Just WON a $2500 Quintana Roo Tri Bike!!!

I can't believe it! Earlier this week Multi-Sport, who puts on the HSBC Triathlon series, emailed me asking me to show up to the year end Long Draw, so I knew I was going to win something and it turned out to be the top prize. A Quintana Roo Tri Bike.

I almost didn't even go. My tonsils were so sore from Wednesdays surgery, I was semi-drugged up, but I figured I needed to get out of the house. The drive there should have taken me an hour, it ended up taking two hours due to bad traffic and me getting major league lost. I almost couldn't even find the place.

I spent a couple of hours before the draw announcements listening to the seminars in pain. So I really hoped it was all going to be worth the wait. Obviously it was.

I had a good vibe right after they emailed me this week (on my birthday) to tell me I won something. I figured what ever it was, it was a birthday present.

I'll tell you the HSBC triathlon series has been GREAT to me.

At Binbrook, I came in 3rd in the Clydesdale division (even if it was out of 3 - photo above). Then at Cobourg (as a non Clydesdale) my goal was to break 3 hours and I did it in 2:44:51 and finished in 105th place out of 201 (with the 55th fasted bike time). Then in the Wasaga Sprint Triathlon that I raced with my best friend from Winnipeg (after more than a few beers the night before) I finished in 47th place out of 380 with the 16th fasted bike time (36.1 average). Not a bad considering in my first sprint triathlon of the year and my comeback race in Milton, I finished in 549th place out of 613. Then to top it off I win the grand prize for the year end draw. The HSBC Series has been berry, berry, good to me....What a way to top off a great year!

I'm excited to get my new bike and try it out. I'm going to visit my sister in Florida right after Christmas and I'm taking it with me. I've always been curious about the differences between a Tri bike and a road bike. I guess I'll be finding out soon enough.

Hawaii 1989, Dave Scott vs Mark Allen

Tonsils Out - Birthday in Bed

It's done!!!

Tonsils out and Doctor says I can't train for two weeks. He was firm on that. I checked the web and it said the same thing. No vigorous exercise!

I can't believe how bad I felt afterwards. They gave me morphine and I got nauseous. I threw up 12 times during the ride home and lying in bed. However, from bed bed I got sung happy birthday and got some ice cream cake.

Up every hour last night to drink water. I want to do everything right so that I heal fast. If I do start to heal fast, I won't wait two weeks to train. I don't want to loose all the gains I made in the last 6 months.

Today I feel better and am working from home. Thank god for email. Although I'm starting to fade. My Daughter had her tonsils out last month and she felt good for the first two days then felt worse for the next week, so I'm a little nervous.

The amazing thing is my legs feel back to normal as if I didn't even run a marathon. Maybe it's the Tylenol 3's I take every 4 hours? If not for the tonsils I would have went for a run today and started back into training.

Although the doctor did say I can walk. Maybe long walks will preserve some of my leg strength.

On the upside, many of the experts say you should take a little time off at the end of the season. So maybe this is a good thing.

Oh yeah, I just found out I won a price from the HSBC triathlon series year end draw. They asked me if I can show up on Saturday to pick it up at their training workshop. Nice birthday news!

I'm not sure what it is but I checked the website and some of the prizes are great, there is a Quintana Roo Bike, zipp wheels, bike travel boxes, wetsuits, etc. They say all the prizes total $15,000. Although I don't want to get to excited because some of the prizes are triathlon bags.

It may be a while until my next blog entry.

My Birthday Party

Yesterday we watched Reid's hockey practice had some beers and pizza, then went home and had some more beers. I also curved Reids hockey stick old school.

My heads a little sore this morning.

I'm off to the hospital to get my tonsils out today. Should be fun. I've heard that I'm not supposed to be training for at least two weeks.

I hope that is not true.

We made it home

Other than the snow and almost sliding into a parked tow truck on the highway last night, the ride back was good. Thank god for anti-lock brakes, my driving ability....and pure LUCK.

My legs were okay today. A healthy type soreness. The only time I really notice them is when I go down stairs.

I felt so good, I figured the best thing I could do is help get the lactic acid out as soon as possible. So I took my bike out of the garage and set it up on the windtrainer. When I started to inflate the tires, the valve broke, so I had to change the tube which is always fun.

I then rode an easy 30 minutes, broke a nice sweat. Afterwards, I had a great 15 minute stretching session. My legs are actually more flexible than before I ran the marathon. Strange.

I'm glad I'm back, I felt like all I've been doing is eating. It will be nice to get back on a regular diet.

3:58:44 Philadelphia Marathon Time

It was a great race for me. It was the first time I finished a marathon without being in a great deal of pain.

I finished in 3:58:44.

My previous four Manitoba marathons were in1986 (20 yrs old) in 3:07:57, in 1987 (21 yrs old) in 3:51:51, in 1999 (33 yrs old) in 4:48:08, in 2000 (34 yrs old) in 3:45: 51.

Normally I can't bend my knees and I'm spent. Not today. When I woke up and put on my heart rate monitor I knew it was going to be a good day because my resting heart rate was in the mid 50's.

The day started well, I woke at 5:30 am without the alarm clock. I got ready with no rush. I took my naproxin for inflammation, and went downstairs to get to the race start line.

Then I realized I forgot my number, then I forgot to put on my timing chip, then I bent the timing chip that they say not to bend, then I tied it to the instep of my shoe, instead of the out side. I was at the start line and not sure if my timing chip would work. So much for a smooth start...

Although, I knew I was hydrated, 3 times before the start, I was going to the washroom.

Standing at the start line was interesting, it was around 5 C, wind, and a slight rain. It was very cool outside. Especially in just shorts and a shirt.

When the race started, my objective was to keep my heart rate aerobic for the first 13 miles or for as long as I could. I figured that the race really begins at mile 13. Plus, I was treating this run as a training run for the ironman and I definitely didn't want to race it and potentially injure myself or burn myself out for the next few weeks and hurt my training.

I finished the first 13.1 in 1:59:52. Running the second half of the marathon faster and giving me negative splits. One thing to note, for a course that was described as flat, it sure was hilly.

My heart rate was great. For the first 15 miles it stayed in the 130's (a few times it went up to low 140's on the hills). After the first 15 miles I decided just to focus on stride and let the heart rate go where it wanted to. I was prepared to run at 155 bpm for the last 10k if I needed to.

Funny thing, I focused on the run and the heart rate did not go over 145bpm. Many times, it keep going below 140. Not until the last 1/2 mile did I go over 150 bpm. I was watching the time, and could see that it was possible to break the 4 hour mark, so I turned it on. It was no trouble, legs were great. It was effortless. (My 19 mile training run a few weeks ago was much harder).

At no time, did I hit the wall or feel exhausted. I keep relaxed the entire race. I walked through every water and Gatorade station. I had 3 gel stops. I ate oranges. I even had a couple of 2 oz beers they were handing out at mile 19 and 21. I felt great. I was so hydrated, that I ended up going to the washroom at least 5 times (I lost count). I even stopped to re-tie my timing chip to be on the outside of the shoe (why do it when I had 50 minutes of wait time at the start line).

I figured I probably used up 5 minutes, drinking, eating, re-tying my timing chip and peeing.

The finish was smooth, legs felt great. I stretched, met up with Alice and Reid and walked back the mile to the hotel.

At the hotel, I stretched some more and Alice and Reid got me two big bags of ice from the machine. I filled the bath with cold water and added the ice, then sat in the bath to reduce any inflammation. It was cold and painful (major shrinkage).

After the 10 minute ice bath, we packed up, I put on my long underwear, and we rushed to the Eagles (vs. Miami) game.

Had fun, Eagles won, and I had a few recovery beers. Then we headed to the world famous Genos for the "authentic" Philly Cheese steak before we left Philly for the drive home.

Day Before Big Race...Flyer Game

Terrible sleep last night. I drank 2 large bottles of water and got up 6 times to go to the bathroom. After breakfast, we went to the expo to get my bib for the race. The line up was huge, around the concourse of the arena, my legs were getting sore just standing and waiting. After getting the bib we visited the exhibits. There was some incredible deals. I got my regular Asics ($154 in Canada) for $65. We then drove around Philly and did some sightseeing. I didn't want to do much walking. We then went to a Flyers game, I had some nice salty popcorn (good for preventing cramps and retaining water), and now I'm back at the hotel with 2 large bottles of water (to drink in the am) and a 5:30 am wake up call. I can tell the race is close, as I'm starting to get irritable. Pre-race anxiety. I'm going to have a little bit of pasta and then off to bed. I hope things go well tomorrow. I'll know by mile 13.

Got to Philly

Had a great sleep, almost 10 hours.

It's great sleeping in a hotel, the blinds are so thick, no sun enters the room. It always seems like night, it makes it easy to keep sleeping.

It was an easy drive, listening to Howard Stern and the sounds of the 70's.

We got to Philly around 3:30. I did some work and we went to sight see. We walked around downtown. Very nice. I didn't expect it to be so nice. It reminds me of a mix between New York and Chicago. I felt safe.

Lots of running stores, I picked up a new pair of running shorts to use on Sunday. It's been a long time since I've had real runners shorts.

I did notice as we were walking that my legs were getting tired. Not a good thing when you plan on running a marathon. So we headed back to the hotel and stopped along the way to get something to eat.

I had three pints of beer, light of course. Last time I did this was two nights before my half ironman in Ottawa, and I had a great race, averaging 33.1km on the bike. If it works again this time, I will officially make it a ritual.

Got back to the hotel, rented a movie and relaxed. Tomorrow needs to be an easy day. It's too bad because Philly looks like a great city to spend some time exploring.

Travel Day 1

I decided to have a short 5 km run before work today. It was officially my last run before the marathon. The only problem was when I put on my heart rate monitor my resting plus was 68 bpm. Much higher than it should be. It should be around 48 -54. I keep the rate in the 120's for most of the run, but it did get up to 135 which bothered me.

These last three nights, I only got 6 hours of sleep each night (to much computer set up stuff), I usually get 7.5 - 8 hours, and it is definitely effecting my resting heart rate. I figure to have a good start to the marathon I need to be in somewhere in the mid 50's. So I'm really going to try and get a good each night until the race. Hopefully that will work.

I ended up going for a 45 minute massage over lunch hour. It turns out the massage therapist said my legs are in great shape, no knots and any tightness that was found went away at her touch immediately. She figured the extra 15 - 20 minutes of stretching after every workout is paying off. Next time NO massage...save $65 bucks!!!

Alice, Reid and I started driving to Philly at 4:30, stopped at the healthy Bob Evans, and I had that great combination of chili and whole wheat pancakes with syrup.

We got as far as Cortland, New York and got an hotel. Tomorrow we'll have another 3 1/2 hours of driving and we will be there. Reids real excited (so am I)...Flyers game on Saturday night, Eagles on Sunday.

Anyways, time to turn off the computer, Reid wants to watch a hotel movie and I need to ramp down and hopefully get a good nights sleep.

Last Real Training Day

This morning I could feel my arms from yesterdays heavier weight session. I could tell I worked out because I seemed to be retaining water. I notice it always happens after a heavy weights or long training session where I'm really maxing out my muscles. I just assume that the body needs to retain the water to help repair the muscle.

All day I was drinking water and eating fruit, yet no matter how much I drank, every time I went to the washroom I was peeing yellow. I know I'm not dehydrated, maybe it is from the 3 - 4 Chinese oranges I've been eating or the body is doing something, like getting rid of a lot of waste.

When I got home, my body was telling me it was a little tired. Not too tired that it could not be ready in time for the marathon, but tired enough that if I push it any further without letting it rest, it won't be ready.

After a power snooze on the couch, I went to my masters swim club for an hour swim. I figured the swim will help my cardio without hurting my leg muscles. Plus the cool water is always good for recovery.

The swim was, as always, not my favorite thing to do. I don't know why, but I'm always checking my watch and counting down the time until it is over. Maybe it is because it is my worst discipline.

This year my swim times were poor. I always thought I was a good swimmer until I saw my racing times this year. In almost every race I swam 2:25 per 100 and finished in the last 25%. So this September I decided to join a local masters swim club.

Even before I signed up I knew it was going to be tough and unenjoyable. I've went to one in the past, and it is one drill after another after another and lots of intervals. And I know that is the only way to get fast, but I just don't enjoy it.

I will say however, I am getting better. The club has two groups, the A group (for real good swimmers) and the B group (for swimmers not good enough to be in the A group). Within those groups are lanes that are varying speeds. I started in the 2nd slowest B group lane (out of 6 lanes) and now have moved up to the fastest lane. I guess that is some progress, but we are doing all kinds of strokes, and not just freestyle and for racing I need to use freestyle. Although the coach says learning and practicing back, breast and fly will help freestyle and we will be focusing more on freestyle as the season goes on.

I'm committed to give it a try and see how this type of training helps me for next year. Although as I get closer to the racing season, I'm going to do some longer swims on my own.

I will say that I'm learning new skills, like breathing from both sides (which almost killed me in the beginning - I could hardly breath), rolling your body and hand position. I still feel awkward, but I'm hoping it will pass.

One of the cool things that is happening is that I'm starting to feel like a young kid again. It seems that my body is getting looser and I'm getting more comfortable in the water. I'm not freaking when water gets in my nose.

So my hour swim is over, I got home and had a glass of protein whey, and am chilling at the computer while my family plays guitar hero, which my son just for his birthday. My legs feel good, I can feel the muscles twitching, which is always a good sign, I take is as a sign they are getting stronger (or if I'm not training and they twitch they are starting to get weaker).

I have a massage planned for lunch time tomorrow and at the end of the day we are packing up the truck and heading to Philly. Depending on how I feel in the morning, and what time I wake up, I may do a very light 5k before work.

Then for sure that is it! No more training before the marathon. Just rest.

Technology Training Rest Day

Last night my legs felt good after my all out effort, but I figured they would be sore this morning. Surprisingly they were not. It didn't even feel like I went for a run. Which is a good thing. Although I can't get too cocky...if I don't have them fueled up properly the marathon can be brutal.

I know I need to taper, so as it turned out I was able to distract myself by setting up my email spam software, my blog, my training log and update my facebook. I spent about 4 1/2 hours trying to figure out how to get the basics done (it would be so much easier if I had someone to show me).

Anyways by the end my head was hurting! So...I decided to do some weights (and watch the end of dancing with the stars) to clear my head. I did chest / triceps and changed my routine from 12 x 3 to 8 x 3 with much heavier weights. You can really tell the difference with the heavier weight. I just hope I didn't over do it with too much weight. I did that in the past without incremental training and for the next 8 months had a frozen shoulder. I'll know in the next couple of days...but to get stronger I need to go heavier!

I'm debating if I should go to swim club tomorrow? then finish with a very easy run on Thursday and a massage? I'm not sure yet...I need to see how I'm feeling tomorrow.

Starting to really drink a lot of water and eat healthy carbs.

Fast Training Run before Marathon

It has been a while since I did my last marathon, all I remember is how bad my legs feel afterwards.

What I don't remember is how I used to taper. I've got the Philadelphia Marathon coming up this Sunday and my plan was to taper after my 10 mile run this past Saturday. But...I love training and have been training so much this year I don't know what to do with myself. Not running or cycling yesterday was giving me withdrawl.

My friend told me not to do anything and just rest until Sunday. But I was sitting on the couch at 8pm and got restless. I figured that maybe the best thing to do is a fast, race / tempo, last run. So I did. I did 7 miles and averaged a 7:30 pace and got my heart rate up to 175. I normally run at 8:40 - 9:40 at 140 beats or less.

I felt great afterwards. Had a good 15 minute stretch, 160 crunches, 60 push ups, 65 leg raises, and some other core exercises.

My plan is to do another short slower run on Wednesday, and that would be my last run.

This was either one of the best things I could have done or the worst. I'll know on Sunday.