It has been two weeks since my last post. Thankfully, uneventful. That is, except for the weather! Back to back hurricanes did disrupt my training, but then I was not supposed to be doing a lot anyway. And there was Pattie's hospital stay. We are both back home and doing well, and no storm damage. Smooth sailing ahead.

I'll be sharing from time to time here about my journey back from injury. Rule number one with any injury is to follow your doctor's advice. In my case, very light exercise for the fist week or two, then gradually increasing. Go by feel. We triathletes know that as listen to your body. No running. Walking is great. Also great are swimming and indoor cycling. No running, and absolutely no outdoor riding. No hard efforts, so at the gym, only light loads. The idea is to avoid anything that could trigger more bleeding in the area around the wounds.

I think we got to the bottom of what was going on in my last post. That was on Friday, Aug 7, about my left shoulder. Three weeks later, on Tuesday the 28th, I felt like I was having a stroke while driving home. My left arm felt weak, numb, and lacking control. I had Pattie take me to Queen’s ER. They quickly ruled out a stroke, did a CT scan and an MRI. Doc asked if I had any recent head trauma. I told her about my crash. She said the MRI revealed bilateral subdural hematomas, and that I qualified for  bed. Yay!

My last post was about a weakness I felt in my left wrist and arm on long bike rides. I had to stop and rest every thirty minutes or so. My legs were fine. My fitness was fine. I just could not control the bike. I also said that this is something I have felt for years. Even so, I was puzzled why it had gotten so much worse. My thinking was that when I crashed my TT bike in May I landed on my left shoulder and strained a bicep tendon.

Hey all. Lately I have been bothered by negative feelings about my triathlon racing. The kind of negative self talk that we all encounter in our daily lives, not just athletic performance. Honu was a bust. A DNS. (Technically I withdrew.) The Century Ride is rapidly approaching, and after that the BHAG race of my season, Ironman California. 

A few weeks ago I switched my long Sunday rides from the TT bike to the road bike. Sunday before last, on my first ride to the windward side in ages, I was struck by a postural weakness I have known about for years. Now I find myself on the path to correct it.

Last November I wrote about choosing a BHAG - Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal. Something that scares you to consider. Something that at times seems terrifying. The kind where you wake up at two o’clock in the morning asking yourself, “What was I thinking?” By January I had mine. Ironman 70.3 Hawaii in May, and, the big one, Ironman California in October. Honu was a DNS. Why? A couple of reasons. The most immediate was that I crashed my bike two weeks out and was in no shape to race. The rest I’ll explain later.

Sunday was my last long ride before Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, known as Honu. I felt great. Lots of power. Comfortable on the bike. A moment's inattention and suddenly there was a parked car right in front of me. I thought I might hit it. I swerved, congratulating myself for missing it as I whizzed past, only to feel the bike go out from under me. TT bikes do not handle well in the aero position.

If there is one piece of advice I would give to athletes and coaches as a race approaches, it is this: “Don’t screw it up.” I borrow that phrase from the great ultrarunning coach Jason Koop.

The temptation to do “just a little more” can be overwhelming. Longer long rides. Harder swim sessions. More frequent running. Or maybe a small, local race that looks like fun. Why not?

Last time I wrote about spending some workout time going fast. At least race pace, maybe faster. I used the term intensity a lot and this could be confused with going hard – running or biking uphill, for example. What I meant was getting comfortable moving the body faster. Running, in particular, because the running stride involved so many muscle contractions that must be coordinated perfectly in order to run efficiently. I ended that piece by mentioning the increased risk of injury.