My Iliotibial band story. Don't Fret, be smart.

So , it happened. I had my first injury , or better defined overuse syndrome . Ironman Coeur D Alene being June 29th, we decided to prepare with Ironman 70.3 ST George on May 3rd, as it is a very Hilly and challenging course. Up to this point I had been lucky, no injuries so far even after two previous marathons in the last 6 months. Running is obviously the hardest on the body and is definitely my weakest of the three events. So , yes , it happened. The bike for Ironman St George had a gain of 4,000 vertical feet throughout the 56 miles. I know in that race I had to be tweaking my form to stay in the saddle . There were several bikers that had to get off their bikes on the vertical in Snow Canyon. I don't remember feeling any pain while biking however. The run was crazy hard. Basically 1000 vertical feet climb in the first 6.5 miles, then turn around . It was about mile 7 or 8 that I felt the pain in my left lateral knee, a burning , aching pain. Wow, I thought. This is not good , this is not my final destination. I had 8 week until my full Ironman. I began to try and take it easy the last half of the run. I stretched and stretched for the next 24 hours after the race. Then two days later I was still super stoked about completing IM St George that I decided to get right back into my training. 5 mile run, and ouch, there was that pain. Oh crap, this is not good I thought. I stretched and iced and decided to rest it and only swim and bike the next three days. Ok felt better, Then that Friday did a an hour bike , 5 mile run. Felt great on the bike, felt great the first 3 miles of the run, then bam, the pain was worse! I had to walk my last mile. OH HELL you think. 8 weeks until the hardest, longest most grueling athletic endeavor of your life. Ok be smart , I thought. this has to be classic IT band syndrome. So the exercise physiologist in me went to work. The beauty of the internet , is you can acquire a lot of information fast. So, I started reading as much as I could about IT band syndrome. However, I believe no matter what the symptom you Must figure out the underlying cause. In running it is mechanical. Yes , you have to heal the injury , but more so fix the problem that got you in the situation in the first place. I went to a Physical therapist friend, whom I trust, he is 30 years experienced. He assessed my injury and confirmed it definitely was IT band syndrome. I love how he thinks, he showed me some stretches, and suggested deep tissue massage to loosen up the band, but said Heather , you need to figure out why this is happening. My father was a nuclear engineer , I did inherit some of his Physics sense. Plus I had been studying Running chi. It makes so much sense. If you are going to force your body into extreme endurance you have to make it as easy on the joints as possible. First step in fixing my IT band. Stretches, stretches and more stretches. Religiously stretching. And I actively rested. I took one week off of running and did long swim sessions instead. But I stretched and stretched. My husband and I created a daily routine of stretches that really stretch the IT band , the gluteus Maximus, gastrocnemius, and peroneus longus. Basically stretching the hips, to the calf and shin. In 5 days no more pain. Ok need to start easing back into the running. But I was terrified I would just reinjure and have to start over with the resting and now there are only 7 weeks until my IM. Second step , I changed my shoes. It was more a mental move , or wishful thinking, since so many other Blogs on IT band syndrome suggested it. I bought two new pairs. I brand new pair of the same shoe I have been using, which was the Saucony Kinvara 5 and then I went out on a limb and also bought fully cushioned zero drop shoes from Altra. The zero drops arrived first. I put then on and oh my god they felt like I was wearing slippers. The toe box is so big they felt weird at first. The story behind the Altras is that they claim to make you run more naturally and in more correct form, again back to Running chi. I ran one mile. No pain. Ok, so the next day I biked and ran two miles. NO pain. The next day I biked and ran 3 miles no pain. Day four my new Saucony's had arrived , so I ran a 4 mile run in them and OMG there again was the pain! Not horribly but there it was again. OK, back to the zero drops. Sorry Saucony, you have been shelved!

So, IN the weeks to follow, I have been stretching every day . I ended up running a 1/2 Marathon on May 31, nice and easy, without strain and my time was not a PR but descent and I had no pain in my IT band but a slight burn at 12.8 miles when I had to climb a steep descent to the finish line. So I am sold on the zero drops. And sold on the stretching. The other mechanical things in my running I have paid attention to closely are not over striding or heel striking. Higher cadence with smaller stride. Posturing slightly forward. ON the bike, keeping the knees pulled in. I think there are several variables in keeping yourself injury free, but for overuse injuries you must get to the root of the problem. Proper stretching after every training session and in between is what I feel has helped tremendously.

Mother of 4 looses 5 dress sizes and eats whatever she wants!!!

I MAY NOT BE PERFECT BUT I TRI.

I truly have lost 5 sizes since the birth of my last child whom just turned two and with triathlon training I really do eat MOSTLY what I want and how much I want. That is what I love about swim , bike, run! It trains every aspect of my body. I feel invigorated after. I don't have to pump iron, or starve myself either. And though it seems I devote a super amount of time to doing all this , It really is more like 12-15 hours a week. I can think of several other ways to waste 12 to 15 hours a week. I don't watch TV, I don't sit and read or drink coffee very much. If I sit and read it is on my indoor bike trainer. Granted I don't eat a bad diet. I prefer healthy foods. My body craves protein and simple vegetables when I train hard. However I don't deny myself certain treats and I definitely don't diet. The closest I have come to dieting in my triathlon training is the three days prior to long races I have several food avoidances. And yes I drink beer and sometimes more than just two. I actually crave beer sometimes after a really long race or workout. I am not perfect model material, and your welcome to criticize me for my post. but I'm a proud fit, mother of four and I ROCK. I feel HOT, mentally and physically, and the other great thing about being my age, is I can care less what anyone thinks.

2014 Ironman 70.3 St George Utah. HOT and HILLACIOUS!

What a great first ironman venue, in a great city, with great people and a super challenging course. After driving the course to see what I was in for , which mind you is very Hillacious, I realized that my goal was to finish strong and smile the entire way. I almost reached both goals. There were times on the uphill runs I was not smiling so much. The rest of the way, I think I was, at least I look happy in my race photos. Ben , my hot husband, maintained his usual look the entire race. It was hot , but I don't seem to mind hot. There were plenty of aid stations, one every mile on the run , with ice, sponges, drinks and treats. I had a great weekend in St George. We stayed at the Sand Hollow State Park, which was where the race started. It was nice being at the start and not having to bus in to it at 4:30 am. The water temp in the reservoir was 60 degrees but felt warmer to me. The swim was wave starts every 3 minutes. I started 50 minutes after the first wave of professionals. The waiting and waiting was stressful!! Even though it was a wave start , there were plenty of people to swim thru.

The bike was challenging. 4 Up hills , that did not always lead to a down. Very challenging! The snow Canyon climb was the hardest, the hottest, but most spectacular. And after that it was a fast , fast downhill. I was hitting speeds of 38 to 40 mph in my aero bars, which kind of scares me. The bike , was great. I felt great, felt like I still had energy when I hit the run.

Then realized OMG, the first 4 miles is uphill. Wow, it was tough. So I all I could do was keep on moving and smile. Enjoy the experience. I was 30 minutes off my usual 13.1 mile run , but I cannot lie, it hurt. The uphill hurt , and sometimes the down hill hurt worse.

When I finished that race, at first I wanted to cry, then I couldn't stop smiling. It is an amazing feeling to come through the finish line, with people screaming your name. I had completed 70.3 triathlons before, but never such a challenging venue . IRONMAN is amazing.

Ben's official time 6:00.49 Heather 6:21.35 My road to Ironman Couer d' Alene 140.6 continues.

Is it ????? At all about the Bike??

The new bikes, pretty kick ass, NOT TOP of the LINE like you bought a new used car "bike" , but still thousands of dollars have been invested. Up until this Spring I was riding a 2003 Aluminum Trek road bike with tri bars. I have to say I did beat lots of people on super fancy bikes with ZIPP tires even. So, I know it is not ALL about the bike, but it feels good to have a responsive faster Bike. My husband and I both have full carbon, triathlon specific bikes, and have been fitted and tweaked and fitted for top performance. IM 70.3 St George, May 3 2014 here we come. First big stop before Ironman 140.6 Couer d 'Alene . I got the womens fit Felt B16, which many a races have been dominated with by female triathletes. My husband got the Cervelo p2 .

I found the rub free bra!!! Halleluiah. Female endurace athletes with the Sistas can rejoice!!

I have searched far, I have trialed and error and spent too much money . I have completed endurance events with bloody, ulcerated wounds around my sternum. But I will search no more. And I did not buy it at any fancy , expensive athletic store. I bought 6 of them of course a Fred Meyer for 12.99 a piece. I ran a marathon in them before Easter, two weeks ago , and not a problem!!! Halleluiah

Sisters!!! I will save the rest of you all the Grief. Cascade Sports performance no seam , reversible athletic bra.

Running pictures are not flattering!!

Yes, sometimes it is nice to commemorate your accomplishments, but holy hell, freeze framing most runners is either a picture of comedy or agony, or the movement doesn't give the slightest justice to the task at hand. So here are my husband and I's pictures of us running and finishing or second marathon. As highlighted in my last post, it was a great run until mile 15, then there was the wall of 20-30 mile an hour wind from mile 15 to 20 and the last 6 miles were up and down rolling hills. The finish was also up hill the last 1/2 mile . I suppose I can sort of laugh at myself , for you think in your head your feeling good, and kicking ass, then you see the pictures and think OMG I look like I am torturing myself to death.

First picture of me, good cadence , mile 4-5 , feeling awesome. Still cold , so super bundled up.

Still holding cadence maybe almost half way.

mile 15 , getting hot, getting tired, and here comes the wind!!!

26.2 miles done!! Definitely NOT the " I just want to feel this MOMENT" moments. I really think I was delirious! As for my husband there is a joke about him. He literally has two looks. Pissed and more pissed at all times. so he never really looked phased. NOT like me.

Ben, my hot husband, did awesome , but the turtle beat the hare once again. Sorry honey!! love you. Anyway, lesson learned on my road to Ironman. Smile for the camera as much as it may hurt. And if you want really good running photos hire a friend or relative to get your good side. Sonja Kireilis Wildt , I need you !!!

Glutton for Punishment, Lake Lowell Marathon

2nd Marathon completed. It was hellaciously grueling. Not because I was not physically ready, but because the environmental variable. You see I grew up a competitive swimmer in Southern California, where the weather is typically sunny and 70 degrees, and the breezes are rare. In competitive swimming the environment in which you compete has very little variable. Competitive racing pools are pretty standard, and alot of them are indoor. All you need to worry about is "are you ready to compete". In marathon running and triathlons the variables are many, the WEATHER, the elevation changes from course to course, traffic.. These things that the athlete cannot control. Here in the mid west, the weather can change everything. My husband and I decided to do this marathon, as it is about this time in our training that we are supposed to peak up our running mileage, to prepare for our June 29th Ironman . Honestly we were both "rockin" it, I was well under my mile average to get my Boston Qualifier, until ............... Mile 15. The wind became uncontrollable, like it does in Idaho, it is know to blo over Semi trucks and stuff. It was a wall of wind averaging 25 to 30 miles an hour. For 5 miles it came from the North , North west . I tried to keep my running cadence in hopes that I could salvage through it, but OMG did it zap ALL my energy. I went from running 8:30 minute miles to 9:45. My husband went from 8:00 minute mile to 10:00 then 11:00. Water station cups were flying, Runners hats were flying off peoples heads, and of course tumble weeds were crossing the roads. It was a mental game at that point. Needless to say , I finished, and right at my best, still dont know my official time , as they have yet to post those . I May have been a few seconds under my best, or a few seconds over. No time to dwell, just hope I recover well. In three weeks is Ironman St George, a 70.3. The road to Ironman continues.

Why cant I sleep ? I should be exhausted. The crazy turmoil of training for Ironman.

My training has ramped up, now that I am at 16 weeks until IM Couerd alene. It is Thursday and I have already completed 24 miles of running, 20 of biking and 3.5 of swimming. My head wont turn off. I can't stop thinking of how to properly set up my bike for hydration , what to put in my support bags. What clothes to wear for any sort of weather that MIGHT occur on JUNE 29th. WHAT IF THIS OR THAT...AugggH. It is 1 am, I was lying in bed starving , so I get up and eat a snack thinking this would get me to lights out. Nope. There is soooooo much to think about with Ironman. It excites me and terrifies me at the same time. Then, my mind wanders to what the heck am I doing? Is this the meaning of life? Why do I feel so compelled. I lay in bed nightly , surfing the internet for all my answers, like what are the best swim socks, and what do I do if I get my period on race day. The internet is a great place to get all sorts of opinion, on ANYTHING, I mean anything. Then I think of random other things like, what the next family vacation should be, got to get the yard cleaned up for spring and the deck sanded and stained, and oh what about this and what about that. And my next thought is if I cant sleep how the heck am I going to get up in 4.5 hours to train and go to work, and take care of the kids and .........please let me go to sleep.

Cycling is making my heart burn ?!?

Excessive exercise, especially cycling can increase heartburn symptoms in athletes. Heartburn is a symptom, that most everyone experiences in their lifetime. If it is chronic it can lead to esophageal reflux disease, ulcerative esophagitis, strictures to the esophagus or precancerous mucousa called Barretts esophagus. Incidence of esophageal cancer is approximately 1 in 1000 cases of Barretts esophagus. Incidence of barretts in general population is 5.6 percent , which is a very low number . Meaning not every person with heartburn needs screening for Barretts, as the research currently shows. Most heartburn however is benign, just uncomfortable . In exercise it can be exacerbated due to heavy breathing, the diaphragm pushing on the esophageal sphincter that keeps acids in the stomach from seeping into the very alkaline , neutral esophagus. Then put yourself on a tri bike, leaned over for 112 miles and trying to fuel yourself with acidic hammer gels or high fat substances then it may happen. Burning reflex, epigastric pain, nausea, or just not feeling well. What to do? Chronic symptoms, especially if not just exercise induced , always should be discussed with your Dr. For the occasional pain in the ass symptoms I suggest firstly, diet choices will play key roles. Softer , blander food are more easily digested, low acidity and lower fat content, is also better. High fat foods take longer to digest and you may overproduce acid. Occasional use of prilosec is ok , it is a proton pump inhibitor, and is supposed to prevent the stomach from overproducing acid . However , it does have side effects when used daily , so try it out in training , not just race day. If you feel the need to use this medicine daily then a conversation with your Doctor should take place. Common side effect may be headache or change in bowels. Another alternative, Zantac or ranitidine, will reduce acid as it occur, but doesn't Prevent it. Zantac is Inexpensive, with little side effects. Zantac would be my first choice, along with better diet choices. My opinion once again , is start with diet.

Probiotics will maintain the Universe.......your bowels :)

I remember reading some advise about dealing with bowel dysfunction during endurance racing and probiotics being one of them . The particular article focused on race day. As I have said before I literally talk to people all day long about bowel habits, and one thing for sure constipation, diarrhea or irritable bowel can be very complex. The bowels are affected by so many variables. Diet, including fat,fiber, hydration. Exercise, and overall immunity. Yes, immunity. More and more research is showing that you really are what you eat, and the gut flora has a huge role in overall immunity. Prebiotics, probiotics, and microbes help to regulate the gut. I know this to be true , by simply listening to my endless stream of patients with benign bowel dysfunction or irritability. I must say that the diagnosis of irritable bowel is of exclusion, meaning other disease most be excluded before IBS is diagnosed. Other diagnoses would be inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative or crohns, infections. Viral or bacterial, celiac disease, cancers, bowel obstruction, pancreatic insufficiency, eosinophilic gastroenteritis , thyroid disease, other chronic disease, or polyphArmacy. See complicated right, but really, with most people in medicine, it is the horse before the zebra, meaning what is most common usually is, but you can't forget the zebra. Probiotics are not a bandaid, you cannot take them race day and think they will fix any GI distress that day. Probiotics are something to start daily . They help with gas, bloating, distension, diarrhea, constipation...over time. Through medical literature most probiotics will help the gut, there are over 400 species of probiotics, but the best are typically bifido bacteriums. People can spend a lot of money on these probiotics and you really do not have to . I recommend a gummy bear probiotics I buy at Costco. since it is a gummy substance it is more prone to pass successfully through the acidic stomach and make it to small/ large bowel to do it's work . I take mine morning and night. The more I train , the more I see how important nutrition and bowel regularity is. Of course I am an elderly athlete now. I don't remember focusing so much on my bowels when I was young and swimming 10,000 yards daily! I laugh with my patients a lot about how the bowels are truly the center of our universe!!!

Sick and tired, but not sick enough. Should you work out sick.

Sore throat, mild cough, now for 24 hours. Dangit , with 4 kids , 2 in daycare and 2 in school, plus working in medicine, the germs abound!!! So do you rest , or not!!! Ok, the rule is , above the neck symptoms, such as eyes, ears, nose , throat, with no fever then its ok keep exercising, at a lower intensity. Symtoms below the neck, deep productive cough, chest congestion, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea , rest, and resume a couple days after symptoms dissipate. Its bound to happen, the common cold. Most of us get on average three a year. But when you are focused on training , it sucks. I had to cut my workout this morning from an hour bike to 1/2 hour because I just wasnt feeling it. Luckily my runs are done until Sunday and the rest of the day I can rest and push fluids.

Honey, yes , it is all about the shoe!!! First ,almost injury, Calcaneal bursitis, posterior heal pain.

So, I like to bargain shop, at times I will admit it. But when it comes to certain things I should have known better. When you run and run and run however, it seems you go through 100 dollar running shoes quite quickly. So, I have been running in the Saucany Kinvara 2, and now 3's. For some reason , this is the running shoe for me. I never get foot pain or shin splints, I feel like I have proper form when running in these shoes. So, as the story goes, I found a pair of Saucany Oasis Grid's at a local store for only 30 dollars . I thought hmmm, I suppose I can try them. I wore them for one run and GOT horrible pain in the back of one of my heals. The padding in the heal was too overbuilt for my foot and gave me horrible pain right on my achilles tendon insertion point. Wowser. And as I was trying to figure this out, you can imagine the thoughts going through my head, like Oh great its my achilles tendon, I have a spur, and I have only two months until my Marathon. But , I am happy to say, I never put the pair of shoes back on , I immediately purchased a new pair of Saucany Kinvara (now 4's) and I am not having the pain. Through my research, this is quite common, with runners with poor running gait, or poor fitting shoes, any shoe that may irritate the achilles tendon insertion site. This can even happen with the shoes you wear at work. IT is so important to have the RIGHT pair of shoes. And listen to your body, other concerns with posterior heal pain could be achilles tendinopathy, calcaneal bone spurs , or from plantar fascitis which typically only affects the plantar( bottom surface of the foot, but can affect the entire heal pad.) So , I suppose if you read my stuff , you can learn from my experiences...... On the road to Ironman.. Take home message to tell your husband, yes , honey I have to have the more expensive Shoe!!!

Wake up and enjoy your coffee !!!

I have struggled for the last year, as I have been building my base training , in trying to wake myself up for early morning workouts. IN my defense , it is hard when you have infant children to get a good nights sleep but any excuse I could think of kept me in bed. I tried moving my alarm clock across the room. Setting a couple alarms, but alas I got really good at hitting snooze and falling back asleep, telling myself I will just get it all done that afternoon. SOOOO, as I was resting last week, I decided I would try and get used to awakening and starting my day at 5am, and I figured out My MOJO!!! Coffee. But , not just that I like coffee, but that I get to enjoy my coffee after my workout with NOBODY bugging me. I have successfully awoken every day this week, either ran my 5 miles or biked my hour , knowing that when I am done, I am rewarded with a peaceful cup of coffee, before the rest of my crazy family awakens. It is funny I have been falling asleep anticipating the early morning reprieve from my children. Hopefully I can keep this up.

6 months until my first Ironman. Today was 8 mile running chi..

So, here we go, honey..... My hot husband that is .... 6 months till the big race. Today I started my 20 week build, peak, then taper, officially, that is . I feel Ike my base is pretty good, so I am pushing myself to do the advanced ironman training program , modified just a bi to accommodate a marathon in April, and a 70.3 IM St. George in May. When I first started my journey over a year ago, I can remember two miles was hard to run, and now it's the warmup for my 8 mile run. I have to say that chi running has helped a lot. I had a private lesson with a chi instructor in Meridian , Idaho . You can find Rossanne Gibson at : ezidahorunning.com Chi running makes complete sense, just like the teachings for total immersion swimming. chi running is the physics that call for easy long movement. For me posture, proper foot pressure, arm pendulum instead of reach, and cadence seem to pull it all together. when I can really focus and relax ,I can take my training pace down close to what Was my race pace. My race pace is about 8:15 sand now I find myself easily training at 8:45 pace . I used to train consistently at about 9:15. so her we go , the journey begins. My Dad taught me that life is all about journey

Chi running-life force, lessons on the road to becoming an ironman.

Today I finally will get my chi training. Though the more I run the better I feel my form is, I feel it's probably a good idea to get formal training . Bad habits in anything physical typically leads to overuse injury . I started reading the chi running book by Danny Dreyer years ago and today I get to have a private coaching lesson from one of his disciples . Why , so I can be a grandma competing in ironman Kona! :) Hopefully , I reach my Kona goal well before my qualification relies on the age factor! Chi running just makes sense from a physics point of view. The teaching states your arms and legs are pendulums. Your arms swing from your shoulders and your legs swing from your hips. The law of the pendulum states that any pendulum of a given length will always swing at the same rate. The techniques focus on relaxation . So necessary, I know for sure that most of my running issues are my own stress , and when I'm tense , running hurts more, my breathing gets inconsistent and more labored. Running chi is balance in motion, it makes sense. So much sense that NASA astronauts agreed his theory is correct. I'll let you know more of what I think after my lesson today road to ironman continues!........