Sorry for being AWOL from my little blog here. You should expect much more frequent missives in the future. First let me bring you up to speed on where I'm at:
-In early August it became clear to me that work and other conflicts were going to prohibit me from participating in the 508 and I accepted that all of 2015 was going to be an off-year.
-In early September it became clear the start-up I was leading was not likely to reach its objectives and i went through a period of reflection on what i should do next.
-I concluded that I missed the Triathlon life and despite my many physical issues (more on that below) that I would make a commitment to getting back into it as best I could.
-Judy and I did a 7-day "detox" program, which basically is a food elimination diet that has you basically eating rice, beans and veggies and drinking these nasty shakes. I followed that up with a much more focused effort to eat a more healthy diet. Happily, I shed 15 pounds to bring it down to 183 pounds and I'm eager to more slowly drop to around 170-175 pounds by the first of the year.
-I decided to pick an "A" race to focus on for 2016 and have entered Challenge Roth--which I'M VERY EXCITED TO DO. Since I put an IM on the schedule, I also signed up for Oceanside (my 3rd 70.3 at Oceanside--and where I first qualified for Kona) for the end of March.
-Judy and i decided once again to spend more time in Cali next spring and I'm now in the process on planning out my 2016 Triathlon and Adventure plan.
-I've begun a complete physical review and was pleased to see that my bloodwork returned all normal values--although i was less than happy to see my hematocrit at a lowly 41% (man, what i could do with some EPO!)
-I began training in an unstructured way and immediately encountered some significant pain and swelling in my left knee (the bad one) and calf.
-I've started a PT program and will see my Ortho tomorrow for my next round of lube-job injections. I'll report more on this in future posts but clearly my body's tolerance for running on my mangled left knee is declining and the day of reckoning (knee replacement) is beginning to draw near.
So, where do we go from here?
-Clearly, if I want to do anything more in the triathlon world (and I do), I need to get on it, and straight away.
-My plan for 2016 is to try to do as much as I can triathlon-wise, more from a participation stand-point than from a competitive stand-point. I'm not sure what my back and knee (and elbow) will allow me but I plan to be pretty ambitious (Roth), have low expectations, and be really grateful for whatever transpires.
-Between now and the end of 2015 my plan is simply to re-establish a reasonable 3-sport endurance base. I've been running somewhat more regularly and while I'm comically slow, I do see some modest progress (although the near-term knee issues need to get fixed or I will stall out). I jumped back in the pool yesterday and will soon establish a regular 3/4 day per week swim pattern.
-I've blow the dust off my computrainer and begun the process to reclaiming my competitive Ace in the Hole on the bike.
Excited by this!
-On the Adventure side, I'm going with a group of folks down to SNP for 3 days of long-distance trekking--can't wait! I plan to incorporate regular trekking/climbing training into my plan throughout 2015/2016 going forward and we are in the early phases of planning two 7-summit expos, one with each of my sons!
-I've also committed to really focusing on the weight room and stretching (yoga?) to address some of my real strength/flexibility issues.
Lots to do for sure, but I'm pursuing it in a reasonable way (I think). Come back regularly and I'll provide more details on the path ahead.
Also, I've begun to consolidate both my historical data and media files and I'll be posting some of those shortly. If you come back tomorrow, you'll find a nifty video documenting Anders and my ascent of the Vinson Massif in Antarctica.
OK, let's do this!
rc
