Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Life can be such an interesting experiment. After putting off seeing a specialist for ages, I finally got tired of a consistent belching that I had going on. Turns out the reflux that my mother and her father have/had was passed to me. Yay! Long story short the excess acid production was/is causing me to swallow too much air, so that’s what was/is causing the belching.

Had samples of a prescription drug, got it under control, then the samples ran out. Tried the over the counter (OTC) version, which didn’t give the same results (the samples I had were a newer form of the drug, and 4x as high a dose as the OTC stuff). So, saw the doc for a follow up today, got a prescription for the fancier stuff, and now we start the food experimentation portion of the treatment. I already know that coffee sets it off, so I gave that up a couple of weeks ago (the boy’s expression wasn’t quite one of horror when I told him I’d been off coffee for two days when I first started, but it was close – I had trained him well that coffee was the first thing I needed in the morning). Tea eased the withdrawal, but I’m mostly off that now, too. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been caffeine free – did that once before from ’00-’01, but then we had that little airplane event in the fall and I went back to regular coffee drinking.

I already know that pizza is out, as is falafel, sodas, and beer. Spicy foods seem to be a no-no as well. But the experiment will continue as I figure out what does and doesn’t work. It’s a fun process, actually, and I get to eat a lot of different things as I figure this out.

In other catching up, the anniversary trip to the shore with the boy went well. Didn’t get burned at the shore, had a good time relaxing and reading, and just catching up with each other outside the norm. We walked all over the place, which upped the numbers for both of us on the step count on our vivofits. I think it’s been fun to have those together and to have something of a competition going with them. He wins outright on pure walking, but I tend to go over when you factor in my running. And we both beat his sister regularly (got her one for xmas), which is what really counts.

I’m training now for the marine corps marathon this fall. I got in last year, developed runner’s knee, and postponed the race to this year. While not quite where I’d have liked to be in terms of a base, the training is going well. Related to that, I’m going to take a break from the tri club. There’s been a bit of drama with regard to the newbie program I’ve help run for the last decade, and I’m just not willing to put up with it at this point. I’ve never been one that enjoyed training with a large group (I like the meditative aspects of training), and I’m not really drinking at all (see the reflux discussion above) so I don’t get out and see club folks very often, and I think the club has just moved on, as have I. I’ll maintain my membership, but I don’t see myself doing a lot with them in the immediate future.

I didn’t quite make it an entire month, but that’s okay. I’ve done two short (2.4 mile) runs this week, both slow, both careful, and both without pain. The weight routine, though not as much as I was intending to do, has definitely helped, as has the time off from running. No pain after the runs, either, so I seem to have licked this case of runner’s knee. Thank heavens.

So, with this coming back, I’ll be looking at what kinds of training I want to be doing to better build up my fitness base for racing next year. Never did try cycling on the trainer, though I will try it out on the road next week. I finally got my commuting bike fit done, in time to realize that when the bike shop added the rear rack they did in a way that prevents me from easily getting the bolts off the rear wheel. Did get them off, but I think I’m going to have to go ahead and put quick-release skewers on there instead of the screw on bolts. As much as I enjoyed knowing you couldn’t remove my tires without a wrench, it’s not worth the effort now. And it’s not like I don’t lock up the wheels when I lock up the bike if I leave it somewhere. So, another trip to a bike shop this weekend to pick up quick release skewers so I can ride to work again.

Spent most of the afternoon today cleaning up my apartment, preparing it for a visit by my brother and one of his daughters (so part of prep has been kid-proofing). I hardly spend any time here any more, since most nights are spent up at the boy’s place. Now that the clutter, which accumulates because of the aforementioned “no time here”, is all cleaned up and put away, the place looks pretty darned nice. It’s easy to forget how well I’d set it up for myself.

The first newbie triathlete class is going well, despite their goal race getting cancelled. The next class starts in three weeks (eeck!) and then we’ll have both going through the new goal race for the first class, in early July (three weeks later than the original). I think we’re up to the challenge, but it’s going to be tough.

The return to regular training after some time off is always the worst. Getting back to a plan for nine workouts a week (three each sport), and while I did the scheduled workouts for Monday and Tuesday, I’m skipping this morning’s run in favor of more recovery time (will play by ear whether I will hop back in the pool tonight). Not a bad thing, recovery is just as important as the actual workouts, and in some cases more important. The return did reveal some muscular weaknesses I need to address through weight training (most especially upper back/lats, based on soreness from yesterday’s run), which will get added in starting this weekend.

Orientation for the newbies is Saturday, then the gear clinic, then swim clinics. The only issue I’m having so far this year is trying to filter all the information I have in my head these days (yay coaching certification!) so as to only present newbie-appropriate information. At least with the return to the training fold I’m not feeling like a complete hypocrite this season (unlike last year’s lost season).

After not really looking at racing, I’m now suddenly filling up a mid-to-late summer schedule. I deferred Rocketts Landing from last year (July 22), just signed up for the new National Harbor half-Ironman (August 5) and it looks like the Regional championship is going to be the Nation’s Triathlon (September 9), so I’ll be signing up for that once it’s confirmed. Not bad for someone who spent the last two months bitching about losing out on the one race I had actually affirmatively signed up for but can’t attend (Columbia – May 20 – same weekend as the boy’s best friend’s wedding). And the time frames give me time to get back to half iron shape. Yay. And hell, maybe I’ll try for the DC Tri sprint (June 17) as a training race.

Should finally be the push I need to get back into my groove. I’ve missed that since the Ironman in 2010. Last year just fell apart completely, fitness wise, though I don’t regret taking the time to (sort of) prioritize dating over racing.

Next week will be 28 weeks out from the half, and the start of a new season for me. The following week I begin ‘formal’ coaching for the club newbies. Promises to be a busy and fun season.

I decided I’m not going to do an uberlist this year. I didn’t want to deal with coming up with 112 things to do over the course of the year, when my track record is getting only around half of them done. The list doesn’t change, but circumstances do, and I no longer find it a useful or fun tool. Instead I popped over onto Wunderlist and did up a number of lists in different areas (finances, health, “us” stuff, etc.) with some immediate goals, and a mind to checking in on them and updating them as life moves on. Goals are important, and reasonable, achievable ones even more so. We preach specificity of goals in coaching, so here I go. Won’t be posting them, but will be using them.

No clue what I’m going to do race-wise this year. I was signed up for one race, but we now have another event that weekend out of town, so no can do. Ugh. And I’m not thrilled with the local choices, mainly because I’ll be coaching folks through them. Might still do them (especially if I can get a comped entry or two), but at the moment I’d rather focus on my newbies.