Insomina Strikes Again!

Its about 2:47 am and I can't sleep so I might as well catch up on my blog.  Work has been extremely busy and I've had no time to even read anyone's blog.

The recovery from Around The Bay has been fine and I mentioned that I think I ran harder on the Chilly Half marathon than this race.  The difference is the run 10 minutes and walk 1 minute.  I wasn't that sore at all however my neck/shoulder/back is still a problem.  I've had Kevin do some ART on it and it did help but he's in Europe this week. I also got a massage which helped as well but I can't keep getting a massage every day.  Yesterday I went to physio and that helped as well.  In fact I think she helped the most but in fairness to Kevin,  I was very late for my appointment and he squeezed me in and didn't have time for a full treatment.

I wasn`t quite sure what was going on with my neck/shoulder/back but its been bugging me for the last two weeks and it was one of the reasons for considering on bailing from the race.  I wasn't sure how painful the constant movement would be but I didn't even notice it during the race.  It turns out that some ligaments in my neck are over stretched and the pain when I was sitting down was very uncomfortable and in different parts of my body.  On Tuesday at swimming we were doing kicking drills with a flutter board and I couldn't do it because my right lat/ribs were very sore.   There also was pain in my right tricep as well as my right back down the spine and right shoulder.  Interesting, the therapist had me on my stomach and was working on my back and there was pain in my right chest.  She ended the treatment by using acupuncture.  This must be latest "in thing" as my massage therapist uses it, chiropractors and physio therapist as well.  I couldn't care less who uses it as long as it works and it does.  I have another appointment on Friday and despite how crazy it is at work, I'm making time to get his problem fixed.

On another front, I've been having some issues with my coach.  I talked to my friend who is a very accomplished triathlete (IM Germany 10:04) about switching coach.  Basically my beef with my coach is the lack of communication.  Now I realize, communication is a two way street and in fact I've always said how my job and coaching are very similar so communication in my job is very important.  Just to give you an example, before the Chilly Half marathon, I had no idea as to what my coach expected of my performance.  He did email me before the race asking ``how I was feeling and if I was ready.``  I said I was ok but how fast should I run.  He replied go for a PB (personal best).  I took this as a ``C`` race and had about six beers the night before.  I ended up missing my PB my 1.3 seconds and my coached emailed me after the race I told him my time, and he didn`t respond.  I guess he wasn`t happy with my performance.  I didn`t mention I rolled my ankle three times in the race as it didn`t hurt so I didn`t think it was serious.  It turned out to be a problem later that week.  For the Around The Bay race we talked before the race as I was unsure if I could even run but there was minimal debrief after the race as in ``good time`` and that was it.

Now I`m not the type of person that needs a lot of hand holding and have everything explained to me.  If the schedule says run for two hours, I go do it regardless of whether or not its +35 degrees or -30 degrees Celsius.  I don`t need a ``pat on the head or good job`` for every race but shouldn't there be some communication before the race and after.

Oh, one of the reasons for keeping my coach is he`s pretty cheap (Yes I know, you get what you pay for) and he fixes my bike as well as provides me supplies (clothing, gels etc). He almost like an one man local bike store and his prices are a little cheaper.

So to all my followers (all 15 of youse guys) who work with a coach, what do you get from your coach, other than your schedule.......