Scheduling a doctor's appointment (Pt. 1)

Shoulder Pain...

My first injury?...

When I lift my right hand over my head or reach out to grab something, my right shoulder hurts and makes a poping and/or cracking noise. This has never happened before. Perhaps all the swimming has inflamed it? Will reach out to my Kaiser Permanente primary care physician for a consult. More to come...

Ironman Drama

If my simple blog doesn't motivate you to give Ironman a try someday, perhaps these videos will...

What keeps me going

Today, some friends and I were lamenting the challenges of training for Ironman in the midst of life's responsibilities. Work, families, wives, girlfriends, commuting in LA, domestic duties such as laundry, paying the bills, etc. All these things add up. Especially when you have to figure out how to find 13 hours for training too. And, you're already tired from work!

To deal with it all, I think, first and foremost, you must have a sense of humor. Laugh at the struggles and challenges, instead of stressing about them. After all, this should be fun, right? Otherwise, what's the point, you know? That said, one of my favorite writers, Jack London, used as his life's credo something I've adopted as my own. It helps to explain why I signed up for Ironman in the first place and what keeps me going:

I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out
in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom
of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

Only 13 Weeks to Ironman Coeur d'Alene!

Now things get interesting. I'm half way to the start line; only 13 weeks to go! From this point forward training will increase substantially - 14 hours this week, 15 hours next week and 16 hours the following week. Staying focused, healthy and injury free will be of utmost importance. It's not going to be easy, but it'll be interesting. Boy, I'm getting tired just thinking about it!

Massage Review

On Saturday I went for my long awaited/needed massage. I went to a place I found through Kaiser Permanente called Chiropractic West. CW seemed to be the "best" one I could find on KP's list of approved providers. I selected them in large part because they said they have worked with athletes and were familiar with "sports massage" (see below). They did accept my KP insurance which gave me a 15% discount. (I paid $58.75 for one hour.) Their offices were quite nice and professional. The staff was friendly and my masseuse was very kind. All that said, the massage was just okay. It wasn't great. I will go back to give it another shot, but I will also date around outside the KP network of providers. I think Kaiser Permanente could do a better job of demanding a higher level of quality and professionalism among the massage therapists they have in the network. At this point, I'm not convinced the money I save is worth the lackluster massage.

The Kaiser Permanente Anthem

Recovery Week Begins

This week is a recovery week and I only have to train about 8 hours. (Insert here: sigh of relief) Most importantly, I will use the spare time to actually recover. I won't, as I did three weeks ago during my last "recovery" week, go to Vegas. No recovery to be had there, that's for sure. I forgot that Vegas puts one INTO recovery, not the other way around. Valuable lesson moving forward. Note to self: Recovery ≠Vegas; Vegas = Recovery.

Online Fitness Coaching through KP

Over the weekend, I was on shopping for vitamins and supplements on choosehealthy.com, which Kaiser Permanente sponsors, and I discovered a link to an online coaching website that is pretty cool. FitnessCoach.com provides tools and resources to help improve one's health. You can take a personal health assessment (which I did) and receive a personal health plan, create customized exercise plans, monitor your health improvement progress with online trackers and view articles and self-guided coaching courses on health and fitness. There is also an online store where you can buy health related products like exercise videos, etc. Admittedly, because I'm already on a training program for IM, I will only use the site in a cursory fashion for the near term, reading articles, etc. Down the road, I will take more advantage of it.

Finally - I booked a massage!

Quite frankly, it took a bit of doing. That is, finding a massage therapist who participated in the Kaiser Permanente Affinity Program (see below) that was within a 20 mile range of my home AND who offered "sports" massage services. That is, massage focused on the needs of athletes. Doing the search was easy enough. I simply had to visit Choosehealthy.com and search based on my type of service needed and my zip code. I got a long list of massage providers, but the hard part was qualifying them. Choosehealthy.com didn't provide a lot of specific details and the majority of listed providers didn't have websites. So, I had to call several places to find one with whom I feel most comfortable. I called about 10 numbers. Surprisingly, many seemed clueless about "sport massage". In fact, a person called Dr. Acoba, with whom I spoke at The Wellness Center in Los Angeles (1055 Harper Ave.) seemed incompetent on the phone. Finally, I found Chiropractic West based in Santa Monica. They work with athletes, offer sports massage AND sounded smart/competent on the phone. So, I booked an appointment to check them out. Unfortunately, they are only open on Saturdays every other week. So, I have to wait a week to go for my first appointment. It's okay. With my schedule and LA traffic, I simply can't get to Santa Monica during the week.

Tired Today

I must admit, I am tired today. I am not looking forward to training. After a busy weekend (see below) and a 15 hour work day yesterday, I simply don't feel like working out. Today, I am suppose to run for 1 hour and swim for 1.25 hours. But, right now I don't feel like doing anything. It is only 10:18am. Maybe I'll have more energy and feel better later this afternoon. Only time will tell. This is one of those times when my body is telling me to take a rest and my mind is telling to me I have to train no matter what. I hate when this happens. I always prefer being fully engaged in the task at hand, especially when it comes to training!

The 2008 Los Angeles Marathon

Today I volunteered at The Los Angeles Marathon. It is one of my favorites things to do and I do it every year. Why? Because I am always moved by watching 25,000 people of all ages, ethnicity's, shapes, sizes and capabilities achieve their goal of running 26.2 miles, often in spite of unbelievable challenges. Today, I saw a blind man run 26.2 miles in 2 hrs. 58 min. Today, I saw men and woman in wheel chairs push themselves 26.2 miles over a hilly course. Today, I saw thousands of people do something most people will never do. That is, to set a worthy goal and dedicate themselves to achieving it no matter how difficult it may be. After seeing what I saw today, I can't help but believe in the power of the human spirit to overcome great challenges. I can't help but believe we can do anything we set our minds to doing. I can't help but believe I can accomplish my goal on June 22. When I get tired and sore and want to stop, I will think of the people I saw today. Inspiring, wonderful, amazing people!

Three-A-Day Saturday

Typically on the weekends, I swim and run on Saturday (generally referred to as a two-a-day) and go riding on Sunday. But, this weekend, I had to switch it up because of The Los Angeles Marathon. Since 2002, I have volunteered at the event and I committed to volunteer again this year. So, because the race was this Sunday, I did all my training on Saturday; I biked for 2 hours, ran 1.5 hours and swam for 1.25 hours. I am happy to report I felt strong for the entire 5.75 hours. I wasn't even sore afterwards!