Muscle Imbalances and Flexibility Issues

Over the past month or so, I have been exposed to a couple mobility tests that indicate I'm not as perfect as I think I am ;)  I'm joking of course, but I have so far been fortunate enough to avoid serious, sidelining injuries (that I myself cause) over the course of my athletic pursuits.  Coach Noland recently posted the following video on our Tribal Multisport team page to assess shoulder mobility for swimming.

http://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle/how-to-achieve-a-high-elbow-position-in-freestyle/

To my surprise, my flexibility is pretty pathetic.  I'm not sure I have any angle to speak of here.  

 

Having flexibility in the shoulders is the key to developing a high elbow catch in the water. This may explain why any gains in the pool have been so difficult to come by.  I'm a pretty decent swimmer, nowhere near the best, but my pace has hovered right around the same time for that last few years.  I have gotten a few seconds faster per 100 lately, no doubt because Coach Noland is wrecking me in the pool.  However, it may partly be due to the fact that I've also gained some muscle mass doing crossfit, and I'm simply muscling my way to a faster 100 split.  Not what we want, obviously.  So I will need to work on improving my shoulder flexibility.  Hopefully I can report back with a better angle, and faster splits with less effort in month or two. We shall see!  

On to my next realization: I have a definite muscular imbalance in my legs.  A few weeks ago at crossfit, this unassuming exercise called the "pistol" was on the schedule for the day.  Much to my surprise, I could lower myself all the way down on my right leg with relative ease, but only about halfway on my left leg :/  Here's a video of me doing this exercise: 

 

Now I have had issues with IT band tightness and pain in the past.  If I get too rambunctious with long runs, something will inevitably flare up, and it's always in my right leg - either a tightness at the outside of my knee joint or pain over the outside of my hip - both insertion sites for the IT band.  Usually I catch it in time, make adjustments to my training, and it goes away.  But I have yet to do anything to actually address this and prevent it.  The pistols showed me that this muscular imbalance is most likely to blame, as my right leg overcompensates for the weakness in my left.  I will occasionally try and stretch the IT band out, but I really don't think that does anything (I apologize to the serious stretchers out there).  The IT band is super thick and almost impossible to actually stretch, I believe.  So my plan of attack should probably focus on getting my leg muscles evenly balanced.  Bring on the single leg squats!...and anything else I can think of. 

Feel free to leave any thoughts or advice, I'm open to all suggestions.

St. Anthony's Triathlon - My Professional debut!!

Well, to say that I was nervous race morning is a bit of an understatement. A personal record for "bathroom visits" was secured, and I literally squeaked when my coach asked me how I was feeling in transition area. Off to a great start. Fortunately, everything seemed to be in working order with all my gear and I made my way to the swim start, pulling a double duty trot as a warm-up on the way over. I didn't get much of a swim warm-up, as they called us out of the water almost immediately after I submerged myself. This didn't overly concern me however, as I don't really have a consistent warm-up routine anyway. The "just wing it" approach is more what I'm used to. We waited on the beach for the Pro men to get in the water and start, and additional, obscure emotions started sneaking up as the seconds passed. Like, I almost started crying (wtf?!).
Fast forward to the race start, we were off and the lead group of ladies (so all of them) were out of sight in 5 seconds....ok. My initiation had begun, and it was going to be a long swim. I don't really know how to feel about my swim. There was current and some chop, but nothing crazy. I felt like I was slightly zigzagging but nothing debilitating. I realized very quickly that it's much easier to spot some splashing ahead of you than it is to spot a buoy several hundred yards away. I made it to the stairs at the swim exit after what seemed like forever, and I came out of the water in 8th out of 9 ladies. Reality check in full swing. Although I have to say, seeing that one extra bike still parked on the rack gave me a strange confidence boost. Hooray, I wasn't last.....yet.
So the bike and I were out of transition in no time. I didn't make it a quarter of a mile before I realized that my only water bottle (I race with one for this distance) was completely loose and in danger of being let-go. I had forgotten to tighten the velco strap in transition. Besides the fact that I sort of needed the contents in it, I would be penalized if I dropped it. So I stopped as quickly as possible to secure it and picked back up again with a nagging feeling that I was already letting this race get away from me. What a rookie mistake, I mean come on. Even so, I was determined to have a good bike split and pick my watts up just ever so slightly from what I had been racing at throughout my last few races. The bike course for this race is quite technical with several turns and speed bumps to maneuver around. As I hit my first turn, my front tire hit something and the next thing I know, I'm bear-hugging my aero bars at a 90 degree angle. I guess my hands slipped because they were still wet? Not entirely sure what happened there, but any spectators in the area would have seen the color completely drain from my face. Oh jeez, that could have been bad. After that, things smoothed out for the most part. Watts were where I wanted them, but I was all by myself. At some point, a few of the Open men caught up and started barking at me that I was "blocking" and most assuredly getting penalized for it at that very moment. Let me explain. The Pros have to abide by this weird stagger rule, where we not only have to stay out of the drafting zone directly behind a cyclist in front of you (the zone we all know and love), but you also have to stay several meters to the SIDE of said cyclist. As in, the next person ahead of you could be a mile up the road and if he/she is riding on the right, I have to move all the way to the left. If they move to the left, I have to zip over the right. So at the moment I was riding all the way to the left. This felt very weird, and I can't blame them for yelling at me, but apparently, they were also allowed to pass me on my right, unbeknownst to them I guess. This flustered me a great deal for a few seconds before I realized that an official had literally been tailing me the entire time, and if I had done something incorrectly, I would have been penalized and stopped for it. The rest of the bike was relatively uneventful, I was pleased with what my legs were giving me and succeeded in bumping up those watts a few ticks. The last few miles of the bike always bring mixed emotions for me. This means the race is nearing the end (yay! because I'm most likely starting to get tired now). However, it also means the run is coming......the dreadful, awful run.
I am not exaggerating when I say that I want to stop running and DNF before I hit the first mile marker.....every race. I am not a runner, this does not come naturally for me, it seriously sucks the entire time. And no surprise, this day it was no different. It is a constant battle to keep the negative, self-deprecating thoughts out of my mind over the 6.2 miles. This is the area I need the most work on, and I have definitely made substantial progress, but I'm still nowhere near the other ladies. I mean, not even close. And yet, no matter how crappy I feel, I always manage to make it the finish line in one piece without completely falling apart. So I know it's in me, it's just really, really, really hard....but hey, that's the game, right? I started off with a bang the first mile, complete with face plant in front of spectators, and tried to hang on as best I could. I always feel after every race, that this particular run was the hardest yet, and again, this race was no different. I'm hoping that the: "it doesn't get easier, you just get faster" mantra applies. Mile 6 felt like death and I made the mistake of lying down at the finish line, where I was immediately scooped up and carried to the medical tent. Admittedly, I was a tad woozy but fine within a minute or two and so glad to be done! Holy crap, I just raced with the Pros!! And I didn't completely embarrass myself!!! And I actually threw down a decent race!!! Let the happiness commence!
Now I have no idea what to do next, I have no other races on my calendar....help.
 And yes, it is 1:30AM. Why am I awake right now?