32

32 degrees, A.K.A. freezing. Thats how cold it was at 7:00 AM, C.S.T. here in Tyler, Tx when we began practice this morning. You might as well tell a Texan its going to be -20, the reaction would probably be the same.

In Texas, when we start hearing numbers in the 30's we frantically begin digging through our closets to find those jackets, sweaters, and scarves that we boxed up and stored SOMEWHERE, what seems like eons ago.

If there was water here it would be frozen, and if it was frozen we probably would have school canceled. If it's below freezing and there is ANY frozen moisture whatsoever, be it from sprinklers or dirty dishwater, that is usually enough to close down the whole city. In Texas.

Us runners in Texas, (or triathlete as I prefer to call myself) dread these kind of temperatures. It numbs the fingers, chills the toes and sears the cheeks and eyelashes. There is no escape from these harsh conditions when you venture out on to the lonely roads as sun is still peeking above the horizon.

Yes, these are all the things I thought as I made my way to the fitness center to begin practice this morning. Luckily, we were running inside.

Victimized

I went to a halloween costume party last night. "But halloween is still a week away" you might wonder. Well I know that, and so does the rest of the XC team. The problem is that on halloween the entire UT Tyler Cross Country team will be in Seguin, Tx preparing to race in the Conference meet. So we had a little get together last night so that we wouldn't miss out on America's favorite candy-consuming holiday.

Note: There was a negligable amount of candy present at this gathering but an abundance of vegetables and gatorade.

I was at a loss as to what my costume should be until I stopped by the halloween store Saturday afternoon and got some ideas...



Shark Attack!




Head wound.



Road rash? From a shark?


I claimed that I was just a generic "victim" but everyone insisted I had been attacked by a shark after reading my shirt. Honest, the shark attack idea never occured to me until people began commenting on it. Oh well, whatever works.

You Can Call Me an Idiot

:Edit: I had gotten blood work done a week or so prior and noticed certain levels were higher than they should be but had not idea what BUN/CREAT, AST, PHO, or NEUTROPHIL meant. I wisely decided to put the results in more knowledgable hands than mine and mailed them off to Shelly ASAP.

Here is an excerpt from the lengthy email she sent me:
High BUN:
A blood urea nitrogen (BUN) test measures the amount of nitrogen in your blood that comes from the waste product urea. Urea is made when protein is broken down in your body. Urea is made in the liver and passed out of your body in the urine.
A BUN test is done to see how well your kidneys are working. If your kidneys are not able to remove urea from the blood normally, your BUN level rises. Heart failure, dehydration, or a diet high in protein can also make your BUN level higher.
High BUN/CREAT RATIO
Creatine levels are fine so I don’t suspect a problem with your kidneys. However, I do suspect dehydration as it generally causes BUN levels to rise more than creatine levels. Thus a high BUN:creatine ratio. Sustained Chronic Dehydration can cause a compromise in kidney function. Athletes can and do get to this point (I have unfortunately) and it is generally results in a very painful trip to the ER. Bottom line… DRINK!

There was a bunch more stuff about neutrophils, low phosphorous, and aspartate aminotransferase or AST which is a liver enzyme. I had to read the email 3-4 times to begin to get a grasp of what she was saying. The overwhelming feeling that washed over me (no pun intended) as I read this email was one of relief. Finally I knew what was wrong with me! This was a fairly simple fix that required me to simply drink more fluids.

The second thing I was struck by was my stupidity. How could I forget to drink water! I was putting a lot of time and focus into ensuring I was fueling my body correctly following workouts, eating organic and un-processed foods, getting the right balance of carbs to protein to fat to vitamins and minerals. But in doing so I neglected to remember the most basic aspect of nutrition- water. Our bodies need water. Water plays a vital role in almost every reaction and process that occurs in our bodies. And somehow, I had forgotten to drink it; to the point that I had become chronically dehydrated.

6 days later finds me doing my best to re saturate my body with H20 while trying to ward off the possibility hyponatremia. Overall though I am feeling much better. I feel great in fact! I think that I've been somewhere between mildly and severely dehydrated for a good portion of this year as I find myself abounding with energy and vitality. So this is what "normal" feels like! I have a little extra bounce in my step, a song in my head, a swing in my arms- that hasn't been there for a while. I'd forgotten what it felt like to feel good.

I'm still running like crap. Maybe even worse than before. My legs below the knees seem to be in a state of chronic "tightness." My left side especially is giving me severe problems, running intervals at the track yesterday my left ankle, shin, achilles and foot were aching so bad it hurt to stop. Yes, it was actually worse when I'd stop and try to stretch it out. I'm struggling to maintain a pace that dips below 5:50/mile, but feel great and energized as I sprint the length of a soccer field. I think the speed and fitness is there, somewhere, it just needs to be uncovered.

I found out that I must make top 7 on our team at conference on November 1st to qualify for regionals two weeks later. Probably not going to happen as 4th-7th on the team are all running well right now. Conference will be my last XC race of this season. I should be disappointed but instead I'm looking forward to the future. Soon it will be time to start preparing for tri season again. Starting in January I plan to completely immerse (again no pun intended) myself in swimming. Collegiate Nationals is April 18th in Lubbock, Tx. I plan to be ready, and ready to go fast.

A Toast to 08

Sigh. I've been reflecting a lot these past few days. Even more so after last Thursday when the top 7 guys on the XC team left to go to pre-nationals in Indiana. Yup, the weekend before in Abilene I was, "Number 8" as I have begin to refer to myself. I was pretty disappointed at first but I still have another chance to make the team to Nationals at conference and regionals which are coming up in November. I think its been taking my body a lot longer to adjust to running 50-60 miles a week, my ankles/achilles/feet have been a horrible nuisance these last few weeks. Sometimes their fine and other times they'll ache and hurt so bad it hurts to walk.

My lower leg issues and failure to make the "A" team have prompted some of these "moments of reflections" along with a massive fluctuation in my energy levels and motivation. I'm not sure what my problem is and I've been pretty discouraged the last couple weeks. So I started thinking about the whole season and what I've accomplished.

I accomplished all the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the season. Qualified for Sprint Worlds again, broke 18 minutes off the bike, recorded a top 10 finish at Nationals (And Worlds). In fact, I didn't finish outside the top 10 all season and recorded a couple overall wins to boot. Here's a quick rundown of my results.

03/08 Athens YMCA Sprint Triathlon- 3rd overall
3/29 Lonestar Sprint Triathlon- 4th overall
04/20- USAT Worlds Qualifier in Alabama - 7th overall (I think) 2nd overall
04/27- Mckinney Triathlon- 1st overall. - And on my birthday too!
05/25- Capitol of Texas Sprint- 2nd Overall
06/06- Sprint World Championships- 8th 16-19. (3rd American) I NEVER want to swim in 51 degree water again!
07/06- HOT Tri- 1st overall- Though there was a huge mix up with the course and I believe I really deserved 2nd.
08/09- USAT Junior ITU National Championships- 7th overall.

Along with all the tri's I did 10-15 bike races, winning a few of them and getting enough starts to upgrade to a 4.

Looking back I am nothing but pleased with my season. I was very consistent and continued to improve as the season progressed. I had a number of breakthrough's in my run and improved a little on my poor swim. All the hard work paid off and it was well worth it.

It's been long though. Since January my training has been focused and pretty intense. First with the goal of qualifying for worlds, then performing well there, then getting ready to race some draft-legal tri's which ended up being just nationals, but I recorded a solid performance there. This spring was tough. I was training 15-20 hrs/week, working 15-20 hrs/week, and taking 16 hours of classes. There were many mornings in January, February, March, and April where I left the house at 5:30 am and didn't get back until close to 11 pm. Many days I didn't want to train, many times I was so tired at the end of the day but had one last swim or run to get in. But it paid off, I had a fantastic year and took some huge leaps forward with my training and performance.

I can't thank my coach, Shelly enough for how far she has taken me in the last year. Last year at nationals I finished 39th and couldn't run sub 6:30 minute miles off the bike. Now it's a bad race if I'm not running close to, or below 5:30's. She has taught me a lot about training, recovery, and nutrition. I'm excited to be on an awesome team- IconOne Multisport. And looking forward to the future.

For now though, I'm ready to be done. I'm enjoying cross country but its getting to be more of a struggle. Mentally, physically, emotionally. I'm ready for a break. Or, the "offseason" as we call it. Thats not to say I want to stop working out. Quite the opposite in fact. But I want to take a break from structered training. I'm ready to bike 4 hours because I feel like it, run 15 miles because I want to. I want to go mountain biking, trail running, camping, backpacking, rockclimbing. i want to stay up late, eat bad foods and not feel guilty, sleep in when I feel like, or get up at 5 am because I want to run before the Saturday morning group ride.

So here's to 2008, and whatever may come in 09.

On the News

The local Channel 19 news team came out yesterday to recognize the UT Tyler Cross Country team as being the "team of the week." Whatever that means. Watch the short, cheesy, somewhat exaggerated clip here.