New Zealand #1

Firstly,  a quick PRP update for those who may be interested in the treatment or are on the fence. It has been 10 days since I received my PPR (Platelet Rich Plasma) injection and I’m feeling great! Again, I know things may change, but as of know I’m very happy. I have not thought about my knee since the day after. The site was a little tight and sore the next day. I have slowly introduced my knee back into swim, bike, run activities and there has been no pain and the swelling on the knee is down. You may ask, well how long have you been working out then if you have had no pain? Have been swimming 4.5-5km a day, x2 hour rides Z2/3 on my Quintana Roo CD0.1, andx2 runs at 7:45-8:15 pace. Part of me wished I had stayed in Austin to receive one more shot because as of right now I swear by this treatment. If you want to talk with a great team, get a hold of ProloAustin. Dr. Fullerton is a very smart guy who has dealt with many athletes. So 10 days in, and I am very happy.
I also have to give a big shout out to Dr.Weine who is a fantastic Applied Kinesiologist at Infinity Wellness who helped so much with my knee also through acupuncture/adjustment and diet changes.

Well, we finally made it to Christchurch and have been settled for the past 5 days. Really feels good to be back in my old home town and retrace all my old routes with my wife by my side. The first few days were just the normal when settling into a new place. We opened up a bank account, bought a cell phone,setup a wireless network in my mother’s house, and most importantly…….sign up for membership at Jellie Park. This is the swimming pool/gym that Lindsay and I will be spending a fair amount of time at over our three moth stay in Christchurch.
I received a bit of a scare when I registered as I was told the master squad was at full capacity and will not be accepting any new swimmers! I don’t know about any of you readers, but I get SO bored after 2,000m and lose enthusiasm very fast. Due to the February earthquakes, lot of pools have been closed so swimming space is tough to find. I just decided to walk in and talk to Roly, who is the elite head coach for lots of the elite athletes when training down in Christchurch. Looks as if I will be able to join up with their squad which will make things much nicer. Since I have been out for almost 10 weeks with no S/B/R activity I have been swimming solo every day to get the feel back for the water. Lots of IM sets as I always feel my fitness comes together faster when adding lots of Fly and back. Have been knocking out 5km every day. We have been swimming indoors, but we get to move outdoors in the next week! Can’t wait to be outdoors in a 50m pool.



Today was the first “long ride” of three hours today and I faced a stiff headwind which was very Kona like. Was a brutal slog for the 90 minutes out and then you would figure it would be smooth sailing home, right?  Had a wind switch and faced the same headwind coming home! As brutal as it was I still had a great time despite the realization that I’m so unfit! I think 10 weeks was wonderful for recovery/healing, but not good for coming back into things. Two weeks always does the trick. Here is my QR CD0.1 in the garden. Will get more interesting shots around Christchurch, but I’m far too exhausted to do anything right now.

Over the coming weeks the training will be ramped up granted the health of the knee remains good. Lindsay and I will be documenting our journey. The plan is to race a half Ironman in January then IronmanNew Zealand in March.