As go my hips, so goes my mood

It has been a really interesting week for me – emotionally and physically. I have noted previously that as go my hips, so goes my mood. The week started strong but faded.

In fun news, I can now claim to be a sponsored Iron distance athlete. There is a new product that was developed from science done at the University of Saskatchewan called Genki Bar. Basically, it’s a slow burning energy bar which is lentil based. Imagine an Eat More bar with lentils instead of peanuts and you are pretty close. I am relieved to say that I genuinely like them. I have been experimenting for two years with stuff that I am willing to eat on LONG rides and runs – stuff that I am willing to eat when I do NOT want to eat ANYTHING. I am really glad to get a chance to use Genki – thanks to Bruce and Theresa for setting me up. They are available at Brainsport. It’s not exactly Tiger Woods money. Well, in fact, it’s no money at all but I am awaiting a Genki Bar visor. That’ll be cool.

Sunday and Monday, following the Chinook Half Iron race my hips felt as good as they have felt in a long time. No soreness at all. As the week has worn on, though, my legs in general – and hips in particular – have grown very tight, sore, and tired.

Wednesday night was the first “Brainsport Learn to Run Clinic” which I am coaching. Our inaugural run consisted of a five-minute warm up walk followed by eight repeats of 30-seconds running and two-minutes walking, followed by a five-minute cool down walk. One would think that such a minor run would be easy on me. Later Wednesday night I was awoken by the worst bout of hip pain that I have ever experienced. I woke up at 2 am with crushing pain in both hips. This happens every night but normally I simply reposition and immediately fall back asleep. Not so on Wednesday – I was awake for half an hour and nothing that I did helped the pain. I can’t see how this relates to the running clinic but anything seems possible. Rotation is the problem so maybe I need to watch changing direction move back and forth among the group of 35 new runners?

As of this writing I am on a plane to Ottawa and my legs do not feel good. My hips are sore, my IT bands feel tight, and even my knees feel a little bit off. I am hopeful that these six days in Ottawa will help my legs recover – I have three runs in Ottawa for a total of four hours. I must remind myself, though, that I have never been able to make any sense of my hip pain. It seems to come and go with no relation to my activity level.
I also note that I am fatigued. In preparing for Ironman I did a lot of reading and this came up frequently – Be ready to find yourself tired all the time. I think I’m there. This may be part of the problem with my legs. I’m just plain tired.

I am really excited about the Brainsport Learn to Run Clinic. Everyone likes sharing their passions with other and running has certainly become something of a passion for me this past two years. The part of being a coach that is really interesting to me, though, is how much I will learn. Over the years I have taught communications and poker (lots of poker). Being compelled to teach makes one compelled to learn. I find myself answering hard questions like, “Why do you run?” I am working on that and will have a more formal answer soon.

Here is my training schedule for this week:
Sunday – Run 2 hours  with 10 x 30 second sprints.
Monday – Run 10 x 1 minute at 4:30 + 1 min at 5:15 and then run 30 minutes at 5:30/km. Also, if the hotel pool is at all adequate I will add a swim 30 continuous.
Tuesday – Hotel pool permitting, swim 30 continuous.
Wednesday – Run 3 x 10 minutes at 4:30 (with 10 min at 4:55/km in between).
Saturday – Back in Saskatoon – Ride 4 hours easy, run 90 minutes at 4:55/km.
Sunday – Lake swim 45 minutes continuous. Ride 60 easy.