Saturday, February 28, 2009

Splish makes a Splash

As some of your know, I've been working with Jill to design new swim suit for the team. I went a little overboard and started designing a whole bunch of suits for me and the team. I really like them and would love to order all of them. I swim a lot, but not enough to get 5 new swim suits. Here's what I came up with, which one should I get? I think my favourite non team suit is the one with the Canada flag or the shark.




Thursday, February 26, 2009

A lesson to be learned

After taking a break from cycling and swimming, I attempted to swim last night without the pull buoy and today my feet are archy. So no more kicking for me...dammit, this is so disappointing. This evening, I went to Masters class, luckily there were only 2 people in my lane...me and Lilia. So we split the lane and I pulled the entire time, and worked on my breast stroke with coach Justin. "Pull, Kick, Glide!" I got the pull and the kick, but not the glide.

As I am writing this, I noticed that I don't have much to blog about since I have not been able to train. I really messed up my feet and now it is taking forever to heal. I appologize to all my readers. I wonder if there is a lesson to be learned here? It would probably be something like, don't push yourself too hard and listen to your body. Focus on healing first...triathlons will always be around.

Monday, February 16, 2009

JFT swim suit

I've been playing around with Splish.com to help the team design a new swim suit. Here is what I came up with:


Bikini versions:


Sunday, February 8, 2009

Crash landing

The Yuppie Triathlete has crash landed. After seeing a specialist in active release technique, Dr Neno about my feet, he said that I needed to stop all my activities that are aggrevating it, which means no cycling, running or swimming. My feet are actually getting worse.

He said that he has a Masters in orthodics and doesn't like them. He suggested that I not wear mine....come to think about it, my feet have gotten worse since wearing them. I took them out of my shoes today and they actually feel more comfortable since the arch part is not poking into my plantar fascia.

So this weekend, I got creative and modified my workouts. On Saturday, I did weights, swim with pull buoy and aqua jogged in the deep water pool. Today, I swam again with the pull buoy and jogged in the deep water pool. To make sure I stay nice and fit, I will be eating healthy.

I'll be heading to China in 1 month, so I'd better get these feet under control.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Water cube here I come!


So big news, my coworker Eric and I are headed to China and Japan next month for vacation! Yeah! Does anyone have a bong I could borrow? I found us the cheapest flights ever! Seattle --> Beijing --> Shanghai --> Tokyo back to Seattle for $1075! W00t! Between us, we now have a mountain of guide books to sort through. I also just bought myself a netbook, the Lenovo S10. I can't live without internet and I needed a place to upload my photos during the trip. Getting a netbook made a lot of sense, they are very affordable computers, not to mention really tiny...perfect for backpacking around Asia.

Anyways, after my swim yesturday morning it left my feet feeling really sore - even with duct tape. So I decided to stop swimming (pulling is OK) for a couple of weeks and seek treatment called ART (Active Release Technique). I just realized that the root of my plantar fasciitis is tight calves. Thus, I have been stretching and rolling out of my foam roller. I've contacted Jill to see if she has an extra TriggerPoint kit for me so that I can use it after my workouts. TriggerPoint is a great way to release tension and improve blood flow to your muscles. At work I now have a water bottle in the freezer at work that I use to roll out my foot while I sit at my desk. I am determined to get better now. Also, I wear this Strassburg sock at night.

Tonight in swim class we focused on power. Luckily I was able to do the drills with the pull buoy so that I didn't have to kick. We discussed the mechanics of the pull and catch. All your power comes from your upper body. You drive with your hips in combination with your catch to give you more power. If you're doing it right, you will see your elbows pop out and feel that snap as you are moving through the water. Kim suggested that before we do our swim that we need to adjust our body to the water. So start with floating - head down in the water, arms like a "Y" above your head. If you are doing it correctly, your legs will be right on the surface of the water...the key to this is head position. If your head is sticking out, your legs will sink. Next is a modified doggie paddle drill...the difference being that you are stretched out a little more and extending with your arms while not lifting your shoulders. This technique will work your core and engage those muscles.