Pain in the @ss...

I am sad to report that I am taking a few days off running and biking. Yep it's true, ignoring the pain in my butt didn't make it go away (imagine that). I finally got in to see Dr. Peggy and there is something going on there, she told me to take it easy for the next few days, until she can see me again. As most of you probably understand, being told to not run or bike only makes you want to do it more and frustrates you because you can't head out. However, I am forcing myself to be a good patient because I know that if I don't listen to Dr.Peggy and try to keep training that I will only make it worse and be out for longer. Honestly, the pain has been making itself known for a couple of weeks now, giving me plenty of time to do something about it but instead I figured I would be able to "stretch" it out. So now I am paying the price for not listening and running hard and hilly while it was protesting. So for the remainder of the week I will be in the pool swimming up and down and taking it easy on my butt! (Dr's orders!!)

Base in Paradise

10 days in Laguna Beach, California at the Ritz-Carlton. Seriously what can be better than that? SV and I travelled to LA for a conference for his work. It is the most beautiful area I have ever been to and this was my first vacation that wasn't centered around a race. To be honest I was a little nervous leading up to it because I wasn't sure what I was going to do for 10 days. I am not one of those people that relaxes well, or so I thought...

We arrived to blue skies and warm weather and it only got warmer every day that we were there. Our plan was to attend the functions that SV had to attend but then spend the rest of our time doing as we pleased.

We headed out the first morning for a run after a nice American breakfast at the Ritz, thinking we would do a nice and easy 12km run. What we didn't realize was how hilly the area was.

What started out being a nice easy run turned into 1km hill repeats! Seriously, 1km of climbing to the top of a hill followed by descending and starting the next hill. I got to the 6km point feeling like I was going to be sick. I was huffing and puffing so hard and I didn't know how I was going to make it back to the hotel. At one point Steve made it through the light and I didn't. As I waited I could feel my breakfast making it's way up.... I have never had such a feeling of discomfort during a run. To make each run even sweeter the Ritz is situated at the top of a bluff maybe 300 m in length but steep as anything, and after 12km it was torture (this picture is of the path to the top.... the finish being up at the 4 palm trees--people would actually take a shuttle up to the hotel--wimps!!)

We were able to get out for 4 runs while we were there.... each run was 10km of

hills and 2 km of flat. My body is feeling this unfortunately. I have had a nagging hamstring thing for about a week before we came here and by our last run I was in some pain. I think that I will take a few days to try to work through whatever is going on there, however a massage and the TP ball aren't doing much to help with the pain I am having, so I think it is time that I turn myself over to Dr. Peggy.

SV and I also wanted to swim while we were here. California in November..... we had to swim outdoors. We had looked at the hotel pool and contemplated doing some workouts in there

but we decided it wasn't going to be much of a workout.... so we searched out area pools and were happy to find the Laguna Beach High School and Community Center Pool.

It was a great outdoor pool and we were able to go and swim 3 times while we were there. There is something so wonderful about swimming outdoors that those of us in Canada don't get the opportunity to experience enough. Our swims were great and we both are feeling so strong in the water. It would have been great to do an ocean swim but neither of us brought our wetsuits and swimming in a heated pool just seemed like the better option.

It was a great vacation, we were able to spend time with some great people..... enjoyed some parties, and there was dancing. The food and restaurants that we found while we were there were absolutely yummy.... every meal was to die for. So even though we were doing some intense workouts (at the start of our base training) we balanced it nicely with some indulging in the good life. Ahhhh......

Swimming.

I have always been a swimmer, as far back as I can remember I have always swam. I got into swimming because my big sister started on the swim team and I wanted to as well. My parents weren't swimmers but they did enjoy the water. Kim and I spent most of our years swimming (and I was pretty good) but over the past 11 years, I started to lose touch with swimming, it was more something I did just to train for triathlon not because I loved it. I didn't focus on the swim because I wanted to bike and run and my swim compared to other triathletes was pretty good.

It also had a lot to do with swimming alone, it was pretty hard to motivate myself to swim when swimming beside a lady doing sidestroke or head up breaststroke. Through the years I have had a few people that I have been able to swim with occasionally and we would get in some good quality workouts, and even a few times I had Kim coach me when I joined her team for a few swims, but for the most part I would swim on my own and it was easier to do long easy mileage than to push myself to go hard.
Lately I have taken to the water on a regular basis and am realizing how much that I missed it. Maybe it is being around swimmers all the time, with the club team and master swimmers but I find myself wanting to go for a swim over going for a run. It is such a part of me and I am happy to be feeling like a swimmer again.
SV and I have been swimming together and it is nice to have someone who can challenge me in the water, we have been doing some quality sets that I would never have done on my own before and I am starting to feel strong in the pool. I have been swimming more regularly than I did all summer while training for Ultraman, which I find a little entertaining, who knows what my swim time could have been if I actually would have done some swim training, but hey life happens.
It is just nice to be motivated to swim again and to have that love back for the water and I notice as my love for the water comes back that I am able to help my athletes figure out the parts of their strokes that are holding them back, all in all it is a win win situation.
I am enjoying the peaceful sound of being in the water, smelling of chlorine, the dry skin, diving into a cold pool and the insane hunger that comes after a hard swim workout. It's been a long road but it is nice to be back "home" with my oldest friend.