Elbow crunchiness revisted long after a warm -13 C dawn run.

Wed night I worshipped the foam roller some more. Where has this been all my (short) triathlon life? Oddly enough, and I checked the schedule twice, I had a run for this morning. Given that I promised myself I was going to follow schedule to the letter this week, I saddled up.

But first, I did about a half hour of yoga and stretches. It's almost warm out, but I still wanted to be well prepared for the cold. It was only -13 C or so, with a brisk west wind. Dressed about the same as yesterday. This was supposed to be an easy run with strides. In my rule book, strides only happen on shoveled sidewalks. Ran easy the first K, then started adding strides whenever I could. That lasted till about the 35 min mark, where my legs started complaining. I did a long run yesterday, remember? So for the last 10 min, I settled for a nice easy pace, trying for excellent posture, and nice smooth leg motion. Total .75 hr.

Walked a little for cool down. Needless to say it doesn't take long. I untied my hoodie, and pushed it back. There was a brief explosion of vapour as all the sweat and hot air was freed. Even though I had a hat on, it didn't take long before my head was getting cold, but I was only a minute from the house. Stretched another half hour.

All this happened shortly after dawn. The sun was just up, and the rush of commuters and school kids was done. It was very quiet and peaceful.

The afternoon was so nice. Water, actual liquid water started running down the street. Our front windows face south, for a while I basked in the sun. My legs liked the warmth. If I'd been a little more organized, I'd have set up the spin trainer in the driveway, and done my session in the fresh air. My neighbours already think I'm crazy, so there's no downside.

Oh, and during my internet wanderings today, I took this screen shot. A cookie for the first person who recognizes it.


And whatever I'd have done on my own would have been easier than what Greg gave us. Another 3 lap course, 20 min each, with bigger hills. Oof. Grunt. Splat. I had noticed on Tuesday that my right elbow doesn't rotate the same as the left when hanging on to the handlebars. Nowhere near the same range of motion, and what there is, is crunchy. I've been working on that a bit. Maybe a bit too much. Recently it hasn't bothered me much at all, well, maybe a little during hard swims. But during the spin session my elbow started feeling weak and sore in a way it hasn't been for a long time now. I bailed on the last 20 min set during the first hill climb. I had no stability anymore. Sat up and did an easy spin to cool down. It's still 1.75 hrs.

I hear the Tylenol and Ibuprofen calling me.