Recovery and moving on

It's been over 3 weeks since Grindstone and things are getting back to normal. It took awhile to get enough sleep and feel fully rested, and it didn't help that I went back to Michigan the weekend after GStone for Homecoming, so I was playing catch up for awhile. While back home I participated in a low key 5K where I took 1st in my AG. It helps when most of the participants are 18-24 years old. It also helps when the course is 1/4 mile short, but I'm not complaining. It was a chance to move the legs and get in a good workout, and I'm happy with my results.

My hands took some time to finally get back to normal size and my left ankle needed some chiropractic tweaking to finally get the swelling down. As I interpret it, there were some crossed paths around my ankle and fluid had a hard time flowing normally, which caused swelling - aka a "cankle". He gave it a few good cracks and everything is in working order. I'm back to seeing the chiropractor ever other week, which makes my checking account happy.

I'm slowly getting back into a routine, but not in a rush to start running again. Right now, my focus is on the 30 minute row at Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints at the end of January. It was this time last year where I was hobbled by sore/tight glutes and low back that took nearly 8 months to 'fix'. I hopped on the erg since I couldn't run much and ended up pulling just over 7100m in 30 minutes; a total I hope to beat this time around.

This year I'll probably erg 2-3x a week and add in 1-2 runs and one bike ride each week. I'm still doing my own CrossFit workouts 4-6x a week and will focus on heavy lifts a couple times each week - squat, deadlift, clean as well as press and snatch. I'm still learning the latter, so I will be doing a lot of technique work before going too heavy. I've also been spending a lot of time doing SMR - self myofascial release. I keep a couple lacrosse balls at work and roll one under my foot while I put the other under my hamstring. Hurts so good! I'd be in better shape if I could get more sleep, but I digress.

In the next couple of months I'll lay out my schedule for 2011. Only a couple things are in stone, so there will be a lot of asterisk. I'm looking for a year of good health; not a year of PRs. Looking back, I think Grindstone was my only race this year. I did a few fat asses (Catherine's, Chocolate Bunny, MMB) and DNFed Bull Run Run 50. I don't see it as a failed year, but a learning year.