Be Like Water my Friend!

Not easy to write about races when it do not go the way you have planned.
I hate giving excuses, but on the lack of results, I have no other option... Anyways, my optimism doesn't make me sad when talking about my defeats.

I would have updated my blog earlier, but I had some events going on, plus a fun trip with some friends to a 7 hour hike at the Rocky Mountains, which I will be posting soon!

A few days ago I loved to watch a documentary show about Bruce Lee, I didn't know he was also a philosopher and developed big thoughts about the chase to be a virtuous fighter. His conclusion was that should be no pattern to reach the perfect punch, and each self needs to find his own way to get the best that he could possibly be.
"Be like water my friend!". Lee describes that you must free your ambitious mind and like water, be formless, shapeless and find a graciously way to pass through any obstacle you may find on your path.

On my way to contour the injury I still have for almost 10 months, I have been researching and looking to improve on all the ways I could imagine. I reduced running volume and started working hard against my hip soreness, sometimes doing 8h/week of pure stretching, yoga and a bunch of exercises to stabilize the core muscles with PT, TRX and other functional activities.

Here in Boulder, I had a great evolution working with one of Siri's Team partners, Integrative Healing Acupuncture. Todd Plymale-Mallory did an excellent job with acupuncture and deep tissue massage.

While I was feeling healed I had the chance to start running earlier with the help of Altitude Physical Therapy, so I could run on a last generation anti-gravitational treadmill, which defies gravity by applying a lifting force to the body that reduces weight on the lower extremities, so its possible to train with the natural gait and rhythm.

And the crucial point was my last race, where I could finally figure out this issues and had a turning point on my healing process...

Ironman Boulder 70.3 

With all the treatment and care around my hips, I was getting excited and thought I could finish that half Ironman. I was also rested and with my tapering up to date!

After a good swim, I hopped on the bike and just after a few miles my glutes were already in pain, I thought about quitting and like I struggled last month on Boulder Peak Triathlon, I was several times in between quitting and going as hard as I could.

Getting close to mile 25, I was getting used to that pain and could make a reasonable effort, pushing the rhythm with two other athletes. Ended up doing 2:16:04 for the bike leg, which is not a bad time for 56 miles. So then I started to run, and my ass was just like a rock, I started to walk while massaging it and this was the time my coach passed me by on her scooter motorbike and told me to quit. I was ok with that, because I didn't want to irritate any injury again, so I got a ride back to the transition area, and that was it, no more racing on that Sunday.

The good news, is that with all the treatments and pushing that pain to the extreme, it was really easy to detect which muscle was hurting (gluteos medium) and I could also determine that the injury wasn't coming from the run, but actually from the bike.

I spent some time researching about bio-mechanics and bike fit. And discovered that glutes are a very important part of the core, and helps to stabilize the hips, offering a more efficient pedal stroke and running stride.
Overloading it on the bike I could only hurt the muscle, but once my feet were touching the ground and generating impact, that imbalance could cause bigger damages on tendons, ligaments and fascias.

Researching for the most likely way to overload the gluteous medium, I discovered that the seat positions is a really important thing to look at, and the most further back it is, the more glutes will be required.
So maybe, if you girl wanna build your booty, you may want to keep your seat further back! :o) But you will also lose a lot of quads power... Not worth if your plan is to go fast!
So right after studying it, I moved my saddle forward on an attempt to use more quads and find a good equilibrium.

I am feeling a lot better on these next days, and today I just finished a run with my teammate Super Bird!! It was 10 miles with just a bit of pain at the very end! Probably the longest run I have had in the last 6 months!

Advancing like water flow and being supported with an amazing team, I am making my path towards to the next challenges!!