The Core

Driveway Series Criterium Race - Thursday night workouts. I don't normally do the women's race but gave it a go.... Feels great when you win it!

May 27

I am not sure what to say first... that I found the absolute BEST consignment store "Lovely Austin" or that I am addicted to the frozen yogurt shops here. Although healthier versions of shopping and eating deserts, in excessive amounts these could be potentially dangerous. Sorry I digress. This is a blog about triathlon stuff right!

Rehabilitation or training, to be or not to be injured, that is the question. I am running again. Not long, hardly hard, but running. Zane manages to come out on Mondays to watch me run circles around him on the grassy intramural fields. I listen to him constantly say “lean”, “posture”, “feet”, “lean”… 30 minutes later thinking that maybe I had got it he yells again “lean, more!”. In my head I resolve that if he says lean one more time I am going to bop him on the head. Finally, I hear the words “stop” and am relieved! It is not necessarily easy to change the way you have been running after doing it one way for so many years. That expression, bad habits die hard, is so very true.

So two wise men (Zane and Steve) have told me that either I am injured or not. There is little room for grey. So I am officially now in the “developing my base” phase again. There is, however, the reality that I have labral tears on both hips. How I manage these is what is interesting and the question remains of whether I can build up my run to a world class level. I think that I mine as well share some of the technical aspects of this mission as who knows who else is out there in cyber-world wondering the same thing as myself. Surgery or no surgery. Hopefully no surgery and I will run long into old age!

Along side the change in running mechanics, I am doing some serious core work. My core needs to be stellar so I can maintain my form and posture. Raven, the physiotherapist who I am working with at Advanced Rehabilitation, has me doing core work 6 days a week. Front, back, side planks feel like they go on forever, then there is the pilates core exercises, hamstring and glut exercises on the physioball and to top it off balance exercises. If I did not train on a professional level I don’t know how I would fit it all into my day to be honest. Not easily.

My longest run has been 40 minutes on grass. On Sunday I did 35 min in the morning and 25 in the early afternoon. That is a whole hour in 1 day! Amazing. So it comes slow but steady. I am still pain free although I know those tears in the right hip are there. Funny how everyday I run is a blessing and not taken for granted.

Because I know many are wondering what my “plans” are I have to say that there is no race planning aloud. Not until I am solid like a rock and ready to take on some serious competition. It has got to be fun and putting in a solid race with no excuses is the only way this will happen… and so I wait. That’s it for now… off to sleep before the next workout.