I love writing training plans. For other people. In fact I spent an extra 6 years in school after college because I so enjoy learning about the science and art of exercise. We spend a lot of time in our work helping people understand how important a thoughtful, progressive training plan is for optimizing health and performance (regardless of their goals).

So I recently got a new bike. It's pretty sweet. And I think it's really going to help me exercise with my health condition. Most of you who know me know that I have a medical condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia, or POTS. This condition is a dysfunction of the involuntary nervous system which is responsible for controlling the tightness of blood vessels in the body (among many other things). WIth POTS, blood pools in my legs and my stomach when I am upright and can make me tired and sometimes lightheaded.

Whew, what a hiatus. Finally, I am feeling back in the groove after 3 solid weeks of training post Mexican-Christmas vacation. My coach and I strategically planned my training schedule around the week-long vacation, (so it could be used as a down/recovery week). That part of the plan worked out really well. It was great to take the time to let the body calm down a bit. But then there was the "re-entry"...there's something about workouts on the beach that make it a little challenging to come back to indoor track workouts. At least the sand offered me some consistency! :)

Step 1 is in the books. I had my check-in today with my surgeon to see how things were looking 9 days post surgery. The good news is that my knee is in great shape - my miniscus and cartilage are looking smooth which will go a long way later in life. I'm off my pain medication (aka fun medicine induced naps are over) and I like to believe I am walking without a limp (most of the time). I've got a new membership to a gym booked, PT scheduled and have four months to keep my legs strong for Round 2.

I have a new found love/hate relationship with fall training. (formerly thought of as hate/hate)

Fall training is always very physically challenging for me. Some of my absolute least favorite workouts show up this time of year, but I have a belief that they are an essential piece to the adaptation puzzle so of course, I stick to them...and all of the discomfort they bring.

It's official. MRI results are in and the surgeon has spoken. I require reconstruction surgery on my left knee. My anterior cruciate ligament has exploded and my medial collateral ligament could use an upgrade as well. The repairs will need to be done in two surgeries since this is my second go-round with ACL reconstruction on this knee. Step 1 to replace the old hardware with bone graphs and Step 2 to rebuild my ACL and MCL. Reality has set in and I have ~11 months of rehab ahead.

One day (this weekend) I went to the cabin. And I rode on the trail and it was raining, you know why? Because the clouds were out.

The day before I followed my cousin Caelan who was on mama’s bike because she can ride her bike. And I followed her. And then I was the leader and she followed me. We played Follow-The-Leader.

Um, I went down the big hill really fast and I turned and turned and turned and got an owie right on my ankle and it really hurt. Even though I was still crying, I wanted to do it again. I wanted to go way back up top of the hill so I could do it again.

Hi everyone! I am excited to be a member of Team A8. Thanks to my daughter Julie, I am getting in the best shape of my life. I am a mother of 6 children and find I cope with them much better when I am active! I have never enjoyed biking until I stole my daughter's recumbent bike, which I love, love, love. Did I say love? Now I look for every opportunity to ride it on the beautiful bike trails of Madison. I look forward to keeping you posted on my new life changes. I hope to inspire others to become more active. PS I will let you know if I ever give up the wine! Jana

Fall is my favorite season! The leaves are changing! The weather is great for running! It is cross country season which means trail running. I haven't done much trail running since college so when I heard about the Autumn Trail Series, I knew I had to run it. It is a series of 4 races that are held at Hyland Park in Bloomington, MN. Every other Wednesday night we race a 5.7k loop on trails through the park.

I know I talk a lot about learning, but this is truly the best word to describe my World Championship experience. Everything from life in the athlete village, adapting to awful foods and competition protocols were among the new experiences for me. I'm taking each lesson and packing it away in my mind so I'll be ready next time. And as for the competition itself, well there too was learning. I won't go into those details, but after seeing the video of my jumps, it's clear I made some technical mistakes. Anyway, let's talk about how amazing it was to compete at that level.

I had the realization today that I have truly taken my derby training off the track. We practice three times a week for 2-3 hours a time, but with our home and tournament season around the corner, preperation is ramping up. At work, this translates into taking the stairs instead of the elevator to my fifth floor desk. Post work, fitting in some additional cardio and strength training twice a week is my goal to get a little bit stronger to handle the hits in my future (I'll admit, this is often a stretch goal as life seems to come up on non-practice nights).

Let me start by saying I'm very excited to be part of Team A8 and shed some light on my style for training for life. One could say I've had an athletic past - While friends were changing majors in college, I was changing sports teams. College basketball, pole vaulting and soccer kept me active during the college years. Fast forward five years and I was looking for my next adventure. Insert Roller Derby.

I MADE THE WORLD TEAM!!!

We are putting the final tweaks on the new Ellsworth prior to the Leadville 100 Mountain bike race next weekend. Janine and I have targeted Leadville as our A race this summer. Individually, our training has progressed well and both feel ready.
Training when you have young kids and full time jobs can be challenging. We do most of our training at night, after the boys go to bed. On the weekends, we take turns doing our longer training rides.

Hello to all of you healthy folks. I just finished my last session of training with two very handsome men in theirs 70s, Pat and Jim. Both started out 4 weeks ago dripping in sweat from just one CET (Corrective exercise training) workout. They weren't in pain, but they worked hard. The first session took a bit longer than usual since I had to explain each exercise we were doing, what muscles they were working, and why these muscles are important to strengthen.

Argh. Another 13.84m jump. A little frustrated with the outcome of the meet, but I've stewed on it enough to think through some technical things I'd like to improve for my next competition and have decided to move on and leave that one behind me.

One of the cooler experiences of the day was being able to cheer on Laura (a former teammate of mine) in the 1500m race and a former U of MN athlete Gabe Anderson. Having the familiar faces there was pretty fun.

We went to the park. We played on the slides. Um, I climbed a tree with Cousin River and Cousin Charlie. It was fun.

Hey everyone! This entry is a few days old, but I thought I'd post it anyway to give a snapshot of the first few days of my travels.

Well, here goes.

Weekend was fantastic! I saw U2 at TCF Stadium with a good friend from college. What an amazing show, Bono and they boys were fantastic. Even during the downpour during half of the show, they fed off that and the energy intensified. I can now cross seeing U2 live off my bucketlist.

Started week 2 of corrective exercises. Julie made me do leg bands -- haven't used those hip flexors in decades! feels great!