Bummer

I am a little bummed to say that I will not be on the starting line in Oceanside at California 70.3 this weekend.  With this being my "home" race and one of, if not THE most qulity field assembled outside of the 70.3 World Champs, I always like to start my season off at Oceanside.  A sort of babtism buy fire, if you will.  Unfortunately, while on the mend, my achilies injury has set me just too far back and attempting to race would not be smart.

Just gotta move on.  But it still isn't fun. 

Some Pics

Ok so I am WAY behind the 8 ball here, but I figured better late than never and am thus posting some of the few pictures I took during the Tucson training camp.

My first weekend in Tucson meant my first trip up Mt. Lemmon

Me, Pedro, Maiki, & Chris "Big Sexy" Mcdonald

On a select few occasions while in Tucson, coach gave us treats in the form of "Free Days" on the schedule. This meant we had to do "something" but it was whatever we wanted. Before the Squad arrived, I took two of those "free days" to do the following:

Linsey Corbin Dirty 30 Birthday 100x100 SwimFest
Maiki, Montana Matt, Me, Linsey, Ben Hoffman, Hillary "Coach" Biscay

On another, I ventured out to discover Tucson on my own, 120mi of it.

There are some great views to be had in Tucson

Sam hosted a dinner party one night and Chris showed he isn't all looks, he is a certified pastry chef as well

At the end of the Squad camp, TriSports.com hosted TriFest and Charsia came out for the weekend. It was awesome to have her to train with again. 

The TriSports.com TriFest group ride up Mt. Lemmon

I am getting much better at taking photos while riding.

This makes me look like i have really hairy arms

Mt. Lemmon has some incredible views as you climb up

Switchback

Look close and you can see riders climbing below us

Mt. Lemmon is just over 8,000ft. The highest I have ever ridden my bike & only the 2nd time in snow

I really feel like I "should" have more to say about Tucson. but as my last post indicated, I am doing my best to put it behind me.

On that note, my incredible hosts here in Scottsdale were kind enough to let me mooch off them for quite a bit longer than originally anticipated/requested.  I am extremely grateful to them for this, not only because it allowed me to call their beautiful house, my "home" for a while longer and to spend some more quality time with these great people, but also because it allowed me continue treatment on my achilies here in Scottsdale at Endurance Rehab.  I am happy to report that I am back up and running with virtually no pain in the achilies!  I got in about 30 miles this week, even some tempo-ish work to boot.   The main obstacle now is getting my "running legs" back under me.  Even with the swimming, cycling, and aqua running, I feel that I definitely lost some fitness during the month I could not run.  I am sure that loss will be felt soon, but right now. the pain and soreness that comes along with getting one's legs re-familiarized with the pounding and stress running carries with it.  Once this "phase" passes (please end soon, please end soon, please...) I will be able to really judge my fitness and be able to begin climbing the ladder back to where I was before the injury.

Well its almost midnight as I post this, I had a LONG day of swimbikerun including 100+mi on my Transition and I have to be up in 5hrs to fly to Morgan Hill, CA for the Specialized Tri Team camp.  I am excited to attend, hang with the team, meet those I haven't had the pleasure of yet, and see and learn more about Specialized.

Cheers.

Putting the past behind me

Any of you who follow me on twitter or have seen my FB updates will know that I have been battling an achilles injury for sometime now.  The injury struck shortly before I left for the wind tunnel and though I thought the 3 days of inactivity would solve it, this was not to be the case.  Thus, unfortunately, I was unable to run for the entirety of the Tucson training camp with the Squad.  To me, if I am not running, I am not really "training" and certainly not getting everything out of the camp.  Disheartening, maddening, disappointing, infuriating, frustrating, saddening, etc... all such adjectives fall short of capturing the range of emotions this caused.  It weighs on you when you have just "quit your day job" to undertake a sporting career and then are unable to perform.

The upside of not running was that I was able to fit in some "extra" riding, and was that much "fresher" for the rides and swims with the Squad.

I was fortunate to be turned onto an excellent Physical Therapist up in Scottsdale and finally started to get the treatment that my Achilles so desperately needed. Nate Koch, and the entire team at Endurance Rehab have been a Godsend and I am happy to report that I am on the mend and have logged 3 runs and about 13 miles of running this week.  And I GET to run again on Sunday.  Yes I said "GET to run again."  This injury has once again taught me not to take good health for granted.  Please take heed, if you are in the Phoenix are and have a nagging injury, get into Endurance Rehab and get it solved before you make it worse like I did, and find yourself on the disabled list.

That is enough of my bitching.  I am putting the past behind me and writing off the missed camp as just a learning experience.  I am now staying in Fountain Hills with fellow Zooter Bryan Dunn and his wife Jamie.  They were kind enough to let me share their amazing home and dogs for a couple weeks while I rehab my achilles at Endurance.  Things are still "touch and go" but I am confident that with another week of treatment I will be back running without any limitations.  If that is the case it will be just in time as the following week I am excited to be heading up to Morgan Hill for the Specialized tri team camp. I am definitely excited for that trip.

On a funny side note, I have been doing all my "runs" this week in some big dirt/gravel parking lots next  to Endurance Rehab.  The lots are overflow lots for Western World, a golf tournament and a horse show arena.  Today, all three were in full effect, as was I, complete with the bright yellow and black Zoot "Kona 2010" compression socks.  You should have seen the looks I got from the golf attire clad spectators, the horse show goers, and best of all, the "Western World" carnival goers and exhibitors some of whom had donned full cowboy/girl and frontiersmen dudds.  Never have I been looked at so strangely by those who I perceived to be so strange. 

A little goes a long way

This post coincides with that of my good friend Charisa. Oddly enough, even though we are not sharing the same coach, training together all that much anymore and are several hundred miles apart, we can't seem to separate our thoughts.

It seems that she has encountered the same lack of etiquette among the cycling community that I have recently.  Specifically, the seeming inability of some cyclists (more often than not, the "serious roadies") to return a wave or a friendly hello.  By all means, if I am in the middle of a hard interval and a wave is cast my way, I will likely not return it as the near totality my concentration will consumed in trying not to puke. However, if I am not in the midst of such an effort, I by all means try and return the gesture.  It just makes cycling that much better.

The other day I came upon a guy walking his road bike with a flat.  I stopped and asked him if he needed anything and ended up giving him the CO2 he needed.  On no less than three occasions since that incident, I have seen this same cyclist (a roadie here training for a month), clearly not hurting himself mid-interval, and shot him a wave. In return... nothing.  Not even a head bob.  In one such instance I was nearing the end of a long ride and had that little bit of irritability built up that we all know.  It was all I could do not to turn around and chase him down for a lecture on etiquette.

Its bad enough that we have to deal with unfriendly, angry motorists who seem bent on scaring us off the roads, lets do our part to try and make it a little brighter road for all of us.  Who knows, you could cast off a few waves and one day watch as a someone rides right by when you need help, because he remembers you as "that guy."  The guy in the story above is going to have to catch me on a REALLY good day for me to stop and assist him again should he need it.

Ok, there is my rant.  Happy and FRIENDLY cycling.