Sunday: Day Off

Took the day off. Swam some in the ocean but just relaxed most of the day, snorkeling, chilling out on the beach, seeing a movie, and eating all day long.

Saturday: 3 mile run; 20 minute swim

20 minute swim in ocean and lagoon.

3 mile run. Shins are f$cked. Leaning toward having the surgery.

Friday: 4 mile run

4 mile run. 9 min/mi. Slow and painful.

Thursday: 30 minute swim

30 minute swim in the ocean this morning. More swimming throughout the day.

Wednesday: 30 minute swim; Weights

Swam for 30 minutes this morning in the ocean/lagoon. Chilled on the beach all day. Then lifted weights for the upper body (back, chest, shoulders, tris, and bis) this afternoon for the first time in a long time

Tuesday: 21 mile bike; 30 min swim; abs

30 minute swim in the ocean.

61 minute ride. 21 miles. 212w.

Sunday: Travel to Hawaii

I may try to get something in later today as I have the benefit of the time difference. I probably won't though.

Saturday: 45 mile bike + Travel

45 mile bike. 2:03. 240w. 80rpm. Now off to LA.

Friday: 23 mile bike

I definitely don't have the endurance that I did, but strangely, I feel very powerful. I'm pretty sure I went into the Iromans torched without enough rest. Prior to the races, it would take me 2 hours to feel warmed up. Now I feel warmed up after 10 minutes. 23 mile bike. 1:02. 251w. 79rpm

Thursday: Day Off

Took the day off. Had a busy day and was feeling a bit tired.

Wednesday: 22 mile bike

Overslept. 1:01. 22 mile bike. 240w. 144bpm. 81rpm.

Tuesday: 43 mile bike; abs

Really out of shape. 2:02. 43 mile bike. 221w. 141bpm. 83rpm

Monday: 42 mile bike; strength

Day 1. Overweight and out-of-shape. Bike 42 miles. 2:01. 214w. 135bpm. 81rpm. My focus right now is to get back into a training routine and lose all the weight I have put on over the last 4-6 weeks since IMFL.

I swam 1:05 the first Ironman I ever did. And despite swimming more since then, I have not come close to that time again. Back then, I was much more muscular and was lifting regularly as part of my training. I am not going to lift now as I don't have the time and prefer be leaner than muscular at this stage. However, I am going to incorporate some basic upper body exercises to get some strength back, which hopefully will make me more powerful on the swim.

Strength: 4x15 pushups. 3x3 pullups. abs

Sunday: Rest

I'm getting the urge to start training again, so tomorrow I'm going to get going, getting on the bike for the first time since IMAZ. My shins and feet are bothering me so I may not run for the week, depending on how I feel.

Saturday: 10 mile run; 1 mile swim

Thursday: Doctor's Visit

I haven't done much since the half marathon. I have tried to run a little bit, but I think the half seriously pushed me over as far as recovery is concerned. I felt much more stiff and sore after the half than I did after either Ironman.

I went to the doctor today for a second visit to check out my shins. I went last week as well and he suspected that I might have chronic compartment syndrome, which he thinks is causing the pain and preventing me from really running. I went back today to do a formal test.

The test was a little painful. The doctor first numbs up each leg by giving local anesthetics. Ouch! Seriously painful. He then inserts a needle in each of the four compartments (the deep posterior, the superficial posterior, the anterior, and the lateral) of each leg to test the their pressures at rest. Still seriously painful even with the anesthetic. Blood was pouring down everywhere.

After bandaging up the leg, the doctor then had me run on a treadmill until I started to feel the pain in my shins. Now that I was running and my heart was pumping, blood was soaking through the bandages so it looked like I had some serious injuries going on. It was pretty nasty, yet somewhat cool. Having the doctor continually increase the pace and the incline with bandages around my leg, I started to feel like I was Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.

I never really felt the pain that I normally do when I can't run, but after 20 minutes--if the pain doesn't happen within the first 20 minutes or so, it doesn't happen--I got off the treadmill and the doctor tested the pressure again by inserting needles in each compartment. Still painful and blood all over the place.

The pressure in the anterior compartments tested abnormally high, which unfortunately means I probably have exertional anterior compartment syndrome. The pressue is probably even higher when I feel the pain I usually do that reduces me to a walk.

The only treatment really is to have surgery or not to train as much. I was very impressed with how much the doctor knew about compartment syndrome and sports and sports injuries. So it seems like I probably have it.

Having said that, I would prefer not to have surgery, so I'm going to take some time to think about my options and get a second opinion. Apparently after the surgery, I won't be able to run for 6 weeks, won't be able to swim for 3-4 weeks, and won't be able to bike for 2-3 weeks, which I would need to factor into my training program. So I may start training consistently again a little sooner than I really feel like.

Saturday: 13.1 mile run

Jumped into a half marathon this morning without really having run since IMAZ. I could still feel some fatigue from the Ironmans and my quads hurt a little throughout the race. But otherwise, it felt great to get going. I finished somewhere around 1:35-1:36 (the results are not up yet and i forgot to turn my Garmin off at the finish). Below are my splits.



I ran a half marathon on this same course exactly 14 months ago--September 2007. My time for that race was 1:53:41. I'm quite happy with the improvement. My splits for that race are below.

Friday: 1 mile swim

~30 minutes. 1 mile swim.

Thursday: 1 mile swim

a.m. 1 mile swim w/ breaks in between sets of 20 lengths. ~30 minutes of swimming time.

Wednesday: 1 mile swim

1 miles swim. 30 minutes. Felt about as slow and sluggish as I could possibly feel. But first training day toward a 59 minute swim is in the bank.