bad math

PLUS

IS BAD NEWS.

In my house, quiet is never good. Vaseline is very difficult to remove from bedding, furniture, carpet, and clothing.

Now for an overdue blog update.

My triathlon clinic was really interesting. During the swim portion, they analyzed my stroke and gave me some pointers to enable me to have a stronger swim. I needed to get my hand more under my torso during pull portion. After every one's analysis, we did a lot of drills - a lot of one armed drills.

The run portion was the most informative. The first part of the run clinic I met with a cross country coach who instructed us on fluid stretching, plyometrics (Have you every seen a bunch of grown adults skip backwards? It is quite funny!), and static stretching. He also had a ton of FUN(?) therapy stretching tools such as foam rollers, the STICK, a BOB, and many straps and bands.

The second part of the run portion was a gate analysis and specific drills to practice to improve the speed and efficiency of your run. This is the part of the workshop that was startling to me. We were to run on the treadmill and wait for Lauren (pro-triathlete and coach) to come analyze us. I was last and was observed after 35 minutes of running on the treadmill. She apologize for getting to me so late, but frankly, I would prefer to be watched when I am tired. That is when my bad habits always show up. I was given a few pointers such as to try to run quieter on the treadmill and to turn my left thumb up. Then she asks me to get off the treadmill so she can talk to me about something not directly related to running, but she really needs to bring it up. Being the people pleaser that I am, my first thought was "My gosh, what did I do?". She then indicates that she is a trained physical therapist and is very concerned about my posture.

I used to competitively swim in college and as a result I have the swimmers slouch (a muscular imbalance in which my pectoral muscles are so tight that they never release and cannot fire properly and my back muscles are stretched to the max, hardly touching and communicating). I was aware of my problem prior to her bringing it up and had talked to my husband about PT or massage or something as I always have shoulder pain (Always as in every day. Exercise or no exercise). What she proceeded to tell me next really alarmed me. She indicated that if I do not take the time to correct my problem soon, it will result in bone loss and I will eventually become one of those caved in old ladies that look like their chest could be used as a basket. This prophecy was enough for me to take action and now I am investigating physical therapy.

The last portion of the clinic was a two hour spin clinic which was a compilation of suggested drills, cadence work, and question and answer session while exercising.

All in all, including posture prophecy, the workshop was very informative. I did achieve most of my goals (Goals 1-3 were met), but I did not make a triathlon training friend. Unfortunately, the other workshops that were to be offered are cancelled as Lauren is training for IM Brazil and will be quite busy in the upcoming months. I am a bit disappointed as I was most interested in the nutrition workshop.

Finally, I need to make my March challenges public in order for me to have more accountability. Now that I no longer snack off my children's plates and eat dry cereal during the day,I am throwing down the gauntlet and attempting not to snack from the ingredients of dinner while I am preparing. This will as difficult as the children's plate snacking as I broke my resolution yesterday, but I have tasted (or not tasted) success once before and I know I can persevere!