Thursday, September 6, 2007

I godda boe my node

As is happens all too often, our little germ incubator brought a nice little end-of-summer head cold that Mendy and I are now enjoying. I slept like crap last night, and felt like dookie all day, so I skipped today's workout. Oh well, rest is important too. It does make me feel bad, though, that Grace may have been suffering a sore throat and the throbbing head we are, but couldn't articulate it and simply soldiered on, or worse got in trouble for being cranky. I'm glad she's getting to the point where she can begin letting us know what's going on, but all this talk of school starting is troubling. Maybe not quite so bad, since Grace does go to daycare all day, which we call school. But something about that threshold of *real* school.

So, I'll keep it brief on the exercise, as not to bore you fine folks. Nothing too exciting anyway. Last Thursday I did my normal 4.28 mile loop in 31:46 for a 7:25/mile pace. A couple of bike rides between, and Monday I repeated the run, this time in 31:05 for a 7:16/mile pace. Yesterday I again did the loop after a Tuesday ride. This run felt difficult and labored, with shortness of breath, an awkward gait, and a general sense of slowness. My time was 30:30 for a 7:08/mile pace. Wow! Clearly I need to work the kinks out of my style/stride, but the pace is really improving rapidly. I do need a couple of long bike rides before I start doing hill repeats and intervals to get back on form there. Maybe this weekend.

To the shortness of breath issue: prior to the wreck I had been taking Cordyceps, a supplement derived from Himalayan mushroom, and one of the primary ingredients of a supplement product called Optygen. There was a perceived benefit from this supplement, such that I felt like shallower breaths were all that was necessary, and deeper breaths were very deep. I felt an increased efficiency in my oxygen handling. Since the wreck, I have taken none, and I feel like I have elastic bands around my chest when I'm running or riding hard. Coincidence? I don't know, but I stopped by the Vitamin Shoppe tonight and picked up three bottles (along with some vitamin E for my scars) to get back on track. Anyone else ever try either Optygen or simply Cordyceps? I will surely report back as I load back up on them and keep training. I'm hopeful it will help a lot, and a lot of elite athletes swear by it.

Anyway, sorry for my very poor blogging habits lately. I'm still frustrated, and have pretty much given up on completing the Half Ironman this year, in 3 weeks. That leaves me a race I could do this weekend (not likely), a sprint in a couple of weeks, and a race on the 14th. I can do both the second and third, but the timing of all this is rough since normal uninjured people have been ramping up for the HIM, while I tested and proved the laws of physics with my face and body.

Oh, on a wound note: All bandages are off!!! The cut on my lip is healing well, with only minor internal swelling. I tried to get rid of what appeared to be a pimple on it yesterday, but it turns out to have been a 1/8 inch wooden splinter. It popped right out without incident or pain. Yay! And as I mentioned, I am putting vitamin E oil on the affected areas which I hope will help them heal completely.

To those racing, have a good weekend! From Marcy's blog, I recognized Michelle and Paul. Go get 'em, folks!! And good training (and living) to the rest of us. :-)

11 comments:

J~Mom said...

I did take Optygen once, oh wait that was Oxygen. I know it was a lame attempt at humor.

Thank you so much for your bike advice. It's really weird but I think I was making some assumptions about where my biking was at and last week I suddenly realized that I failed to do any bike work whatsoever the last month (other then very short 7-10 mile rides and bricks). I guess that really is part of the challenge of this whole "tri" thing. So I really appreciate your advice and I am hoping to hammer out some miles first thing in the morning. I am also thinking that some spins on the trainer for 45 min might not be a bad idea...

I think you are onto something with the whole digital thing. Of course I never print any pictures so my kids won't grow up with photo albums like what I grew up with.

Great job on your workouts...looking good and strong. I hope the cold clears out soon.

Thanks again!

Paul said...

Hey David,
Thanks for the well wishes. I'm still hopeful that I can race Sunday even though I,m still fairly lame. It's one of those injuries that I've been dealing with since '95 some days are good...some not so good. Hang in there yourself! Even just these few days of doing nothing are driving me nuts...

Wes said...

Coming right along, bro! Excellent. Sorry to hear about the child induced trauma. Just think if you had more! It used to take a month to get all the colds out of my house :-)

I hear a lot of fine people I know are going to a little race down in Florida (in May) that is still open :-)

Eric said...

Um, David, the HIM is 3 weeks away and many trainers suggest a 3 week taper for a HIM event or longer if the athlete is already at a good fitness level. And you, my friend, fall into that category! I've been out for a week with a nasty virus...sounds like yours...and have done little or nothing. I'm counting it as a rest period and beginning tomorrow will truly taper with short intense workouts. I hope to see you at the SC 1/2, Mister!

Gotta Run..... said...

Wow... did not know you and Mendy were not feeling well. I drove through Canewood Place last night but did not have time to stop. Had to meet Kenny. Anyway, from the sound of it I made a good choice. i love you guys and all but do not want your cold.

Summer colds are the worst!!!

Feel better soon!

Mendy said...

This cold sucks! I know my co-workers are tired of hearing my coughing, sniffing, and grossness going on over here in my cube. I hope Grace is better though... poor munchkin.

See you at the pool!?

Marcy said...

Uggggggghhh sucko suckage on the not feeling well. Hang in there homies!!

LMAO Wes, yeah you guys totally need 5 more kids :P

Don't worry about being a Blog slacker :-) We all slack off from time to time ;-) Except for me since I have no life outside of this baby prison :P LMAO!

OK how the hell did a splinter manage to get in your face? Do I want to know? :P

Lori said...

Ow! That splinter in the lip sounds painful, but from the way you describe it, apparently not? Glad to hear you are healing up so well and those runs are KICKING ASS!!!

Unknown said...

Dude, pass the shrooms! Who are you, Cheech and Chong?

Don't be wishing for that talkative toddler just yet. I have two very talkative 4-year olds and getting it in stereo like that will take years off of your life.

Sounds like you may need to find a nice, winter marathon to fill the training vacuum. That or a century ride.

Michelle said...

Thanks for passing along the cyber love, LOL!

I hate getting sick! It seems like my kids are ALWAYS passing something around, especially now that Kara's in preschool.

Your 4.28 mile time is the same as my 5K race goal. I wish I was as speedy as you!!!!

Tiffany said...

Hope yall are feeling better... poor things. That never happens to Gamecock fans though :)