(double post)
I sent an email to Angela Coon the other day, describing a dream of mine from the night before; visiting Charlie’s back yard, where he had built an enormous roller coaster. I hopped inside, and went on a solitary ride among rocky mountains, with random pubs serving as attraction sites, on the base of cliffs. There was water splashing on my face, and the characteristic feeling of suspense, going slowlyyyy very slowlyyyyy up the track, in anticipation of big drops that never came.
I don’t know what this dream meant, or why I saw Charlie in it on the night before his birthday this year, but today, this dream flashed up in my mind, after recalling the roller-coasterous bike adventure of yesterday, aiming at escorting my boyfriend on the 28th classical marathon of Athens, in remembrance of the 2500 year anniversary of the race. Having in mind that the total ride would not exceed 60km (30km to reach him to his 10km mark, and then 30km back escorting him), my sister and I began biking towards ‘Marathona’ (the start of the race, 42km away from the Kallimarmaro finish line), at 7am, on borrowed bikes and in isothermic clothing. Having done the same thing the year before, I knew that the task, although tiring, with its many up-hills, would not be impossible. But little did we know that after finding Dejan and starting to come back with him, on the 15th km, one policeman would block the street on the opposite (empty) side on which we were biking, forcing us to wait there (in the middle of nowhere), until the road re-open again at 3pm, after the end of the marathon (it was hardly 9.30 them). We decided to take the side roads… through the mountains. Followed by an amateur biker who lived near by and who volunteer to guide us, what followed was a half hour bike ride among grapevines, grasslands and olive groves, with quadriceps burning (we were already on our third hour of total biking time, me, the sprinter, and my sister, the ex-tennis player and current jogger) and me debating whether we should consume the two carb jells that I was supposed to hand to Dejan, one on the 28th and the other on the 35th km, already doubting that I would be able to complete my mission. With legs feeling like stone, we finally got to the ‘banned’ marathon road again, but half an hour later, and only having covered 3 km… the runners we met were all going for 4hr-marathons, and Dejan, trying to break 3hr, was going to be wayyy ahead. The road ahead was again an endless uphill, and I was seriously starting to wonder that my sister and I needed no more proof that we could have run this marathon if we had chosen to…
But I had to hand Dejan’s carb-jell on km28, which was after the most difficult hill, and I didn’t want to destroy his effort, so I started destroying my quads instead, in an effort that looked hopeless. It turned to impossible, when another policeman stopped us and 10 more bikers, blocking the road again. Then the big journey began, biking around Attiki, to reach Athens, in a journey that took us to villages and districts that I knew were far far away, since I had been to some in the past by car.
To make a long and painful story short, and not analyzing the scene with the bike seat that broke and had to be repaired on the way, we arrived to our destination with an unestimated extra 30km in our legs (for a net total of 90km… Dejan finished in 3 hours and 5 minutes (luckily he didn’t collapse =)), and we finished in 7hrs-15min of biking =P.
Surpizingly, only my hamstrings are sore today, but I know that’s from the EMS I did 3days ago. =) Tomorrow might be different.
I thought to keep a journal again. Life going like a roller-coaster, and after yesterday’s roller-coaster mountain ride and the other night’s Charlie-dream, I thought maybe it’s wise to look back to where this track-journey started from, which is this site. Also, now being transferred to a new club that spent some money to get me, I need some extra motivation and structured discipline to make things happen correctly. Life is not easy moving among three cities, doing a doctorate, traveling to conferences around Europe, keeping in touch with family, having a relationship, and training, but nobody said it’s not wonderful, and worth noting down.
So, talk to you soon again =)
Welcome back! 
good to see you here
Thanks to both 
Yesterday I was obviously recovering from the bike ride, and I also need to take it easily and gradually training-wise, since I pulled my calf twice last week in training. Now it feels perfect, but of course it needs to be tested… There were no problems whatsoever during the bike marathon :rolleyes:
Technically, I should have finished week 3 of SPP last week, but it didn’t go too well due to the calf issues. This week is supposed to be a deload week, but I will use it to gradually built up to what I should be doing last week, and then proceed with SPP week 4.
And here is my target date: February 19th, Indoor Greek nationals. 400m. There will be meets before that, starting in the end of January.
Tuesday, Nov.2nd, 2010
I still need to take it easy, as calf is not 100% yet
20min warm up, stretching
10x100m with 100m jog rests
4x10 of SLDS’s, 3x10 of pull ups and 6x10 of chin ups
Wednesday, Nov.3rd, 2010
30min easy run (calf feels fine during these)
Weights:
3x 12xSLDL’s
3x 6xhang cleans and then bring bar up (i don’t remember the name of this > snatches? )
3x 10xpull ups
3x 10tricep pull downs
Thusday, Nov.4th >> Flying to Milan, so no training.
I should bring the game up now… readers probably thing this is what my training usually looks like, but this is due to the calf issue, and my GPP and first two weeks of SPP were looking good.
Now in Milan, with colder weather and endless rain-days, we’ll see what happens… Oh boy =)
aaaaaaaaaa my head hurtssssssssssss. I’;m in Milan. I thought the headache was from not eating for 7 hours due to traveling (I get hunger headaches very easily), but after eating beans, and rice in grape-leaves and some cookies with green tea, I still have this headache that Dejan says is from the change of barometer, (which never bothered me before), but I am just going to shower and SLEEP now. Tomorrow I have to travel to Bergamo in the afternoon for some presentations (an hour-long train ride from here), so I will be doing EMS tomorrow morning. I want to make sure my calf rests this week completely. Enough tweaking and pulling .
I miss Dejan!!
Calf will need some strengthening.
Stephanie
did you ever try the protein shake I sent via facebook?
if you dont eat for 7 hours it will take a bit of time before your blood sugar returns to normal especially if you continue to train.
take care of yourself girl. Normal untrained people dont do well skipping meals and we all know athetes are not normal. they need extra all things;)
sounds to me like you need to get into the pool for a few weeks straight and settle this calf down rather than going back and forth and trying to push it? Maybe I am wrong but issues with calves mean other things as well that points to an overall body recovery.
tough to strengthen calves before dealing with the issue at hand.
Stephanie
did you ever try the protein shake I sent via facebook?
if you dont eat for 7 hours it will take a bit of time before your blood sugar returns to normal especially if you continue to train.
take care of yourself girl. Normal untrained people dont do well skipping meals and we all know athetes are not normal. they need extra all things;)
sounds to me like you need to get into the pool for a few weeks straight and settle this calf down rather than going back and forth and trying to push it? Maybe I am wrong but issues with calves mean other things as well that points to an overall body recovery.
tough to strengthen calves before dealing with the issue at hand.
I did try that protein shake Ange, and it was sooo delicious … and I even made it without coconut milk because I couldn’t find any, so imagine if I made the real thing… !
Now in Milan, I have no protein supply yet 
Pool, pool… things are getting complicated switching cities all the time, and having all these training facility changes and needs… I know calf needs to be dealt with before proceeding with training normally… The good thing about my new location here, is a HUGE grass park, where it’s really soft to run on (when I start running, of course.) Dejan challenged me to hold on with running until he arrives here next Thursday (he’s staying for a week). But I already have an easy-jogging date on Sunday… :rolleyes:
On another note, I don’t even know how long I’ll be here for. Maybe 2-3 weeks, maybe 6.
My life is so random.
This calf is gonna get better soon. I know this issue from before… statistically in reference to myself, it’s always related to my psychology. Naturally…
Headache’s gone after the shower. I wish I didn’t have to travel again tomorrow. blahhhh
Thanks for the support, Nick and Ange =) Kisses!!
Who wouldnt love a shake that makes you feel like you are on a carribean cruise…
- one scoop vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 to one cup of ice
- water or milk or combo of both
- coconut milk = so many different brands so buy a few and experiment
- fresh pineapple is yummy but canned will be great as well
- if you dont over blend this is really tastes like a virgin Pinacoloda.
With all food and cooking etc. you need to play with the amounts and taste you like
Who wouldnt love a shake that makes you feel like you are on a carribean cruise…
- one scoop vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 to one cup of ice
- water or milk or combo of both
- coconut milk = so many different brands so buy a few and experiment
- fresh pineapple is yummy but canned will be great as well
- if you dont over blend this is really tastes like a virgin Pinacoloda.
With all food and cooking etc. you need to play with the amounts and taste you like
noted :o… 
It’s a European thing… Kiwi’s wouldn’t understand
Whoever reads my journal now gets bonus protein drink recipes 
Thanks Ange! Good to have it saved here.
Today was winding. I EMS’ed in the morning (35min explosive strength program on the hamstrings) - I wanted to do more, but I was feeling very strangely in the morning; my head was hurting,and my eyes were blurry, and didn’t feel like doing anything, until Nikoluski told me to go for a walk, and things cleared up But then it was time to go to Bergamo, so I took another walk to the train station (35’ fast walk), took a 45’ train ride to Bergamo, sat down for 5 hours (while socializing - yes I was paying ‘full’ attention… , and then took the train back (45’), and walked another 35’ back home.
Now it’s 10.20pm, and all I want to do is shower and sleep.
Thank goodness it’s the weekend tomorrow ,so I can start posting some real workouts before people start thinking that I’m kidding everyone on here… :rolleyes:
Thanks Ang! Now I can’t get that song out of my head! Looks like a great recipe though. I’ll try it out!
Great training log Stefanie. I just started reading it. Do you ever go back and read it from the beginning? Looking over my training logs from the past is always interesting.
Thanks macsprint! I read the first four pages after you said this, and … oh boy Enough said, haha.
First of all, what worried me was the fact that I wrote in 2008 that maybe I’ll try a throwing event when I’m 28-30years old, and now I’m 27, so that worries me :o (not). I postpone the age to 34, and that won’t necessarily be sprinting, but adding in more random long distance races, because I’m not so bad at them, for the amount of long distance training I do (practically none). But sprinting is the best, and I’ll always train as a sprinter - I just like the concept more.
Secondly, I dont’ know why the heck I was taking GRE’s after finishing my masters…??? PhD required GRE’s again? Oh well…
Thirdly, my attempt then to pick up the violin again and pursue my degree, shattered to pieces, and now again, and in both cases, the reason being lack of time. Now I said that I will do it after I finish my Phd, we’ll see… !!
Fourthy, I like how I analyzed things that I found important. It constantly still happens in my head; time to put things in writing again, because life does flash by like a light stroke and it’s refreshing to go back and dwell on its effects.
I’ll train later when the temperature peaks here. Kisses to all 
agree 100% despite all the frustrations and hassles it brings. IMO (my opinion is never humble :p), sprinting and specifically the CF model is the best and healthiest way to train. By that I mean
CNS management is crucial
Always question the possibility of injury and ask, is it worth the risk?
Hi / low days and never high - high
Recovery is extremely important and needs to be planned
Run very fast (95%+) over short distances
Weights follow speed and are adjusted to how you feel at the time
You can never run too slow in the recovery sessions but don’t go over 75% of your best over that distance on that surface which should be preferably grass
If in doubt rest
Food is fuel
I know that isn’t everything but if more people who want to get fit and stay healthy followed that they would be better off. Here speaks a 48 year old in great physical condition!