Week before Patriots.

Last week & weekend went as planned with the hard long training... All except a little ankle injury. After the 20 miler on Sat. my Achilles started hurting. Still ended up riding 80 miles on Sunday. Turns out my injury is popular and known as Achilles Bursitis.

I credit the running shoe cutting into my ankle for 2.5 hours, irritating the tendon/bone. It's a weird feeling, kinda spongy. It's a build up of fluid on the Achilles and takes 2-3 weeks to heal. I don't plan on it taking that long. I haven't ran on it since Saturday. I plan on going for a run this Saturday to see how it feels. It seems to be getting better every day with the rest, ice, massage, and compression. I haven't biked since Sunday either. So this is the longest break from running/cycling I've had probably since my marathon last March. This is my first real injury this season. Injuries are the biggest fear for most of us triathletes. When training at the bodies limits, injuries are bound to happen though. It's a thin line we walk. Best thing we can do is stretch, massage, eat healthy, get enough sleep, and just listen to our bodies when it says its time to take a break. Luckily for me it has been raining every single day this week, so motivation to run and bike isn't high. And I've been able to swim longer hours every day, as well as spend more time on strength training and massaging.

This Sunday is the Patriots Tri in Williamsburg, Va. A few weeks ago I decided to do the Olympic distance instead of the Half Ironman because of Worlds Du two weeks following. Smart choice now with the ankle problem. Am I a little worried my ankle won't be ready to race on by Sunday, you bet your ass. All I can do it go out and race as hard as I can. I'm not expecting any great times for this race. Swim time should be crap as always, bike time should be a top time, run time is up in the air right now. If the ankle doesn't hold me back too much, I'd be disappointed if I don't finish top 10. I've never gone a whole week without running or biking before a race. Not the taper I would have chose, this should be interesting.

Also last weekend I spent some relaxing time at the beach hanging with some of the family. Thom, who came off 3 relaxing days of biking from Charlottesville to Yorktown ended up riding with me for 60 miles through the Virginia/Chesapeake/N.C. farm roads on a perfect weather day. I only managed to take few pictures of their visit though..

Lucas, blood attracts sharks.

Eileen, Thom, Margie, Hank chill time at their cottage.