So I've been keeping the runs and bikes easy and building the length each session. This week's run will be up to 30 mins on Sunday and the bike will be at 1:15:00-1:20:00 on Saturday.
I haven't had any pain so far other than a little bit of tight shins on my last run but my MCL has been doing better and better. Sometimes I wrap it and/or ice it to keep swelling at bay so it can heal properly but I've never needed to use either technique to reduce pain.
I plan on continuing to increase the length of my runs and bikes gradually until my runs are about 1 hour long and my bike about 1:30:00 before I decide to add any speed or strength work (I will add speed/strength on the bike once I hit 1:30:00 on the bike, I will add speed/strength specific workouts on the run once my runs hit 1 hour). I hate to do this so close to race season, but I understand that if I want to be able to train consistently and injury-free I am going to have to build a proper, very strong base before getting into the tough stuff. Unfortunately, this means that this season won't be nearly as fast as I wanted it to be, but I have 3 months before nationals in Toronto so hopefully I will be fit enough by then to secure a spot at world's in Edmonton next year. If my running goes well this summer perhaps a shorter race season will allow me to run cross-country for the Western team next year. Wouldn't that be something! The reason I'm saying my race season might be short is due to the fact that I probably won't race with the intention of racing until June from the looks of it. It will allow me for some time to build a proper base and make sure I'm 100% injury-free, as I mentioned earlier.
I started noticing during the last few weeks of masters swimming that my pull really hasn't been up to par. I always fall behind and it's really not where it should be for my level of swimming. Pull used to be my strong point back in club swimming so hopefully I can bring that back. That being said, swimming isn't going badly at all. I definitely miss that speed I used to have but on Wednesday I did a 4x400m set, odds swim, evens pull on 6:30, holding around 6 mins per 400. There was supposed to be a 3,4,5,6 breathing pattern by 50 and I was pretty good, doing 3,4,5-1-5.. per 50, for the first 400 but after that I really pushed myself on the pull forcing me to breath mainly every other stroke, adding in a few breathing patterns of 3 every now and then. I wasn't quite sure if the main purpose was to make the repeat or work on the breathing, but I felt it more appropriate to focus on making the repeats on the pull which was definitely a challenge, no thanks to the pool being long course.
The weather has been really nice these past couple of days, although very windy, and I look forward to taking full advantage. I probably won't be biking outside until I feel more comfortable that my MCL is healed. I am almost positive my little tumble is what strained it in the first place and I wasn't even moving when I fell so I am a little apprehensive that it might happen again, but worse due to it being weak from the previous incident. There is also the fact that I need to bike in heavy traffic to get out of town and I don't really find it worth it for an hour ride.
Anyway, those are my thoughts of late and I'm sure I will be back with another update soon.
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
Thursday 18 April 2013
Saturday 13 April 2013
Bike fit
Today, Simon Dearing came to my house to do my bike fitting. It was much appreciated seeing as there was some confusion in how I was getting to his house to do the bike fit. I am glad he was able to accommodate.
He started off by setting up my bike on the trainer and putting some air in the back tire. Now I can't say I know exactly what he was doing the entire time but it involved some sort of laser level, a measuring tape and and angle measuring device. We pretty much ended up modifying everything possible on the bike. He adjusted the angle of my cleats to mimic my foot's natural tendency to twist, while keeping my knees properly aligned. We also ended up switching to a smaller stem and angling the handle bars up a little. What took the longest was the seat. It seemed like a matter of keeping the pressure even all over the seat while making sure I stay comfortable. It took a while and although it definitely isn't as comfortable as sitting on a real chair I think it was a pretty good improvement. He said my saddle was shaped a little weirdly, as it kind of dips in the middle, but he also said it was a good saddle. Hopefully all goes well once I start riding outside and if not he said to just shoot him and email and we can make adjustments.
I was really impressed with his patience and he seemed very knowledgeable about what he was doing. I should thank Ken for setting me up.
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
He started off by setting up my bike on the trainer and putting some air in the back tire. Now I can't say I know exactly what he was doing the entire time but it involved some sort of laser level, a measuring tape and and angle measuring device. We pretty much ended up modifying everything possible on the bike. He adjusted the angle of my cleats to mimic my foot's natural tendency to twist, while keeping my knees properly aligned. We also ended up switching to a smaller stem and angling the handle bars up a little. What took the longest was the seat. It seemed like a matter of keeping the pressure even all over the seat while making sure I stay comfortable. It took a while and although it definitely isn't as comfortable as sitting on a real chair I think it was a pretty good improvement. He said my saddle was shaped a little weirdly, as it kind of dips in the middle, but he also said it was a good saddle. Hopefully all goes well once I start riding outside and if not he said to just shoot him and email and we can make adjustments.
I was really impressed with his patience and he seemed very knowledgeable about what he was doing. I should thank Ken for setting me up.
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
Friday 12 April 2013
The long road of recovery
I believe I left off last time mentioning that I was taking the week off due to a spill on the bike. I recovered fairly well and so far this week has been pretty good.
I started off on Monday with a 2800m swim. I did quite a bit of it pull as to not aggravate my MCL on my first day back and it seemed to have worked. I decided that this week, as well as maybe even the next few, was going to be easy. My body wasn't going to recover and adjust properly to my training if I took time off every time I feel something is a little off. That being said, Tuesday was a 30 minutes easy spin, Wednesday was a 20 minutes easy jog around the park after a swim in the morning and that was awesome. I haven't ran that length of time consecutively since mid February and now that the weather is starting warm-up it was perfect for running around in the park, weaving in and out of the trees. Thursday I hoped on the bike for 45 mins and had 10 mins of a slightly higher gear just to see how my knee would react. It's definitely no where near 100% at the moment but it'll only be a matter of time before I'm back out hammering the trails harder and faster than ever. During the swim this morning I cut it short at 2400m to avoid over doing it. It was a 3000m set (3x1000m broken into various sets) and seeing that it was "keep the lane together" Alex and Angela were just killing everybody, pretty much not taking any rest and we were forced to keep up. I think that is probably why my knee acted up but like I said, I cut it short to not do any real damage.
Tomorrow I plan on doing another easy spin and if all is well, Sunday will be an easy run. What I am really looking forward to tomorrow though is that I am getting my bike fitted. I am little nervous as I don't know how much longer I will have this bike but it should last me the summer at least and the fit is relatively cheap for all the benefits I should get. I have always had this thought in the back of my mind that the majority of my injuries since switching to triathlon have had something to do with how my bike is set up considering I did it all myself, including the cleat alignment on my shoes. I think I would be happier if he told me I did it wrong so I can put the injury blame on something other than the poor over training habits I had.
To finish off I am just going to mention that classes are done now and my first exam is next Thursday. My schedule is pretty good so as long as I stay on top of it I should have no troubles pulling out a great average this semester. That's all I've got for now.
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
I started off on Monday with a 2800m swim. I did quite a bit of it pull as to not aggravate my MCL on my first day back and it seemed to have worked. I decided that this week, as well as maybe even the next few, was going to be easy. My body wasn't going to recover and adjust properly to my training if I took time off every time I feel something is a little off. That being said, Tuesday was a 30 minutes easy spin, Wednesday was a 20 minutes easy jog around the park after a swim in the morning and that was awesome. I haven't ran that length of time consecutively since mid February and now that the weather is starting warm-up it was perfect for running around in the park, weaving in and out of the trees. Thursday I hoped on the bike for 45 mins and had 10 mins of a slightly higher gear just to see how my knee would react. It's definitely no where near 100% at the moment but it'll only be a matter of time before I'm back out hammering the trails harder and faster than ever. During the swim this morning I cut it short at 2400m to avoid over doing it. It was a 3000m set (3x1000m broken into various sets) and seeing that it was "keep the lane together" Alex and Angela were just killing everybody, pretty much not taking any rest and we were forced to keep up. I think that is probably why my knee acted up but like I said, I cut it short to not do any real damage.
Tomorrow I plan on doing another easy spin and if all is well, Sunday will be an easy run. What I am really looking forward to tomorrow though is that I am getting my bike fitted. I am little nervous as I don't know how much longer I will have this bike but it should last me the summer at least and the fit is relatively cheap for all the benefits I should get. I have always had this thought in the back of my mind that the majority of my injuries since switching to triathlon have had something to do with how my bike is set up considering I did it all myself, including the cleat alignment on my shoes. I think I would be happier if he told me I did it wrong so I can put the injury blame on something other than the poor over training habits I had.
To finish off I am just going to mention that classes are done now and my first exam is next Thursday. My schedule is pretty good so as long as I stay on top of it I should have no troubles pulling out a great average this semester. That's all I've got for now.
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
Monday 1 April 2013
Time for a break
So yesterday I jumped on the bike for an easy hour spin. It felt great and I am glad that I am still feeling strong on the bike, it's just too bad that I can't keep a good stretch going. This morning in the pool was pretty much recovery from the weekend and the workout went well for the most part but about halfway through my knee started to bother me so I pulled the rest of the workout. I was really looking forward to some solid running and biking this week too. And as if that wasn't enough, the weather got cold again and all the rain from Sunday froze over. As I was biking home from practice I took a nasty spill on some ice. I banged up my right knee, my left quad and took some skin off both my hands. Luckily I was wearing gloves and pants otherwise it would have been much worse. As the title mentioned I'm going to be taking the week off. I was already debating it after this mornings workout so I figured the bike crash was a sign telling me to take it easy. I spent all day fixing my room mates bike so now I have less time to get my school work done. Sigh. I guess I'd better get to it
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
Until next time,
Matt Mahaffy
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