Thursday, March 12, 2009

Noosa week 3


Well another week is down which means 12 swims, 5 runs and 2 bikes are in the books. I am starting to get adjusted and enjoying myself, well I mean not getting crazy or anything but getting in to a routine. This week is a week of some firsts. I had a massage on Sat. after our group ride. Toby is the man around here giving massages to all the athletes, a few get 2-3 a week so he is a pretty busy guy. Anyhow, during my massage, he told me I was super tight and he thought magnesium deprived. Less than 15 minutes after he left, my back started to spasm. I mean, I was on the ground in seconds. The kind where you can’t really catch your breath. I ended up swimming a bit that afternoon, very easy I might add. Then the next day things started to get shaken out after our ocean swim which leads me to my next first. Most of you know how much trouble I had the first year of triathlon and overcoming a lot of fears and anxiety. Well the ocean has been a bit of a fun time for me. If I am not swimming alone in the ocean, I feel pretty good about it. This week before swim, Belinda Granger, one of the best at Ironmans, decided to tell me how the beach was closed earlier in the day because SHARKS were in the area. As I looked around, the usual group of 20 or so was down to 5, funny how they all got the message. All went well and I’m here to tell you no sharks were seen but the anxiety was felt for sure. Then there was the cyclone that was rapidly approaching. Monday on my way home from the pool in the pouring rain, the winds were blowing fiercely. So a cyclone is what they call a hurricane here in the Pacific. This cat 5 was as big as Hurricane Katrina. Luckily, it did not make land fall but the effects of it hanging out at sea are still being felt here tonight, as it is still pouring down rain. The good and the bad of this storm, I will give you the bad first. I had to ride today 3 hours, windy the whole ride, and for half it was a torrential down pour. After my accident last fall, I am really apprehensive in the rain. So, it was a pretty tense day to say the least on the bike. Now the cool part was going down to the ocean to see what all was going on. They spend lots of money here 2-3 times a year to put sand over all the rocks. Now I can understand why, for there is no beach right now, just rocks after the storm had washed away the sand. But the coolest part was watching the surfers. This is a huge surf town and they live for times like this. One of the craziest scenes I have ever witnessed. First, they were everywhere. I guess they know the protocol for not killing one another as they hang ten. What I was witnessing was controlled chaos. Then on top of it, the waves were huge and crashing everywhere. You either have to have a few screws loose or just live for the moment. I was scared just watching. But I know what I want to do when my tri career is over, learn how to surf and move somewhere near water where life is lived waiting on the next big wave. Love the attitudes of the local surfers, they wake up and think I will go catch some waves before school or work, I love it. This week has been a tough week on the body, running on like 22 days of 2-3 workouts a day. The mind fails before the body but had a day yesterday where they both were in the tank, not a good day. But as my coach told me in an email, “nothing wrong with cracking as long as you pick things up and put it back together” and that’s what I did today. We all have days like that and we just have to live in the moment. Sometimes hard to do! Well time to hit the bed. But first, want to send my best to Dr. Krisle, my brother’s future father-in-law who had quadruple bypass surgery on Tuesday. Wish him a speedy recovery. And as always, Dream Big! PS Feel free to ask questions on the post a comment section. Sometimes I just don’t know what I should be writing, don’t want to bore with the mundane stuff. DB!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, Dude ... your blog is great. The mundane stuff is what is interesting to us non-pros. I'm interested to know what and how often you are eating?

BTW, I'm a Mid-Western boy and am not an ocean fan at all. I've also had my share of panic attacks in open water. Keep livin' the dream!

Rachel said...

Eric, I am sooo scared of ocean swimming to for the same reason..sharks. I had bad nightmares as a kid whenever we went to the beach for vacation. I guess seeing JAWS while at the beach was a bad idea on my mom's part? Anyway, doing the ocean swim in a race (Gulf Coast 1/2) was never a problem for me due to the other 2000 racers, but I don't know how you could do it by yourself or with just 5 other people! Scary! Please be careful! We want you back in K-town with all your limbs okay?!

I am looking forward to seeing you back on the shop rides. I did the first Tuesday night ride this week..it was 80 degrees outside. I was doing great until we turned left off of Harvey onto Hickory Creek..I got in the rotating line going up that hill/false flat...my heart rate went through the roof and I died. I did make it farther though than about 10 guys, so I felt pretty good. I just need to ride a lot smarter next time!

See you soon...a week or so! My Spring Break starts today at 3:30! HORRAY! Hopefully I will be working at the bike shop all week.
Good day mate!
Rach

Anonymous said...

Live tomorrow like an 11 month old: Run as if you have never run before (and always dreamed of running), swim as if you had floaties (and nothing bad could happen), bike as if you had training wheels (and two people there to catch you), and at the end of the session, vomit like nobody's watching; and Try all three again--- Never take for granted the abilities you have been given, as for one day we never had these, and one day we will lose these. Finally, DREAM as I do every night and every day, that tomorrow may be, THE DAY
Love, Lily

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear that you are chasing your dreams without reserve. Safe training and good luck! The recovering triathlete -> Craig Greenslit. CGreenslit@TANCOEng.com