ASPHALT JUNKIES Summer Bronzing Crew - CLOSED (Page 102)

Well that was only one day of self control for me. If I let the kids eat all the chocolate ice cream then that temptation will be gone and I'm only left with vanilla which is not worth my time to bother eating. Unless, I chop up a bunch of those left over Halloween snickers bars and make my own blizzard.......

Alright Junkies, I've come to the conclusion that I need to take a break. I have been reading a little and it sounds like the groin issue I am having is a mild groin strain. I'm pretty sure it was brought on by that flip turn I had last month when I felt my SI joint "catch". I am not in terrible pain but I don't want to keep aggravating the issue and what I've been reading says 5-7 days of rest, not even moderate walking. You know how I am, I don't do a lot of massive volume but I do something almost every day so this will probably be my biggest challenge of the year! And I really don't want to stop running but hopefully 5 days won't be too bad to come back from.

So, wish me luck. I think I can probably swim with the pull buoy without bothering the area much but maybe for once I just need to let it go. Shut down for 5 days and see what happens.  I bet I don't make it till tomorrow .

Dina, I agree with Matt. Taking that time off now will make a bigger difference in saving you pain and aggravation down the road. I'm on day 6 of inactivity because of the bruised rib and shin splints and it has been a really tough week. I know that doing this now will let me get back to training hopefully pain free. I know you can do it. Don't spend time worrying that you'll lose fitness. Any losses will be minor at most and you'll regain any loss quickly when you start training pain free again.

Agreed!  5 days off is nothing when you've been going for as long as you have.  You're not going to lose any fitness over such a short period of time and you should be able to pick up with everything where you left off, except for the run.  I would imagine you could do a slow progression back up to your current running mileage in a week or slightly more.

You can so do it, DINA!   Anyone who can hold out all day with no sweets can be inactive for a week.  I was uber impressed with that, BTW   Get yourself involved in a project around the house or I'll offer some closet cleaning in my house if you can't find anything. 

VERO -  Way to persevere through your healing process.

Mr. Race Director, MATT!!  I like it.  A trail race - sounds wonderful.  Tell us more details about the race, please.

It appears I may in the market for a trainer in the very near future.  I have been given a bit of a green light to get one but it's not really an opened ticket, so to speak.  I will most likely get the KK road machine unless something comes up that is much cheaper and/or used. 

I have also signed up for the Trainer Road monthly subscription for the winter training season.  I enjoyed seeing numbers last year to help provide some kind of feedback for fitness gains.  One of the issues I'll have this year is switching trainers to a new and much more accurate machine.  My current trainer's power curve is less accurate than the KK's curve, so there won't be a measurement from last year to this year.

I'll also be getting a Retul bike fit in the coming weeks.  This is somewhat a result of my knee injury but I would like to have had a fit done before IMWI anyway.  Hopefully the ft will provide a little better positioning and a little more comfort for long rides while remaining aero too. 

In running news;  I officially graduated from physical therapy yesterday.  And, after a long discussion with him, I am able to begin running 1 mile runs and build slowly from there.  The plan that he laid out to me would be to get to 3 mile runs 3-4 times a week before beginning a further build.  I would get to 3 miles and hold that for a few weeks before progressing any further.   A further description would be that I'll run on alternating days so that one week I'll run 4 times and the following week I'll run 3 days, then begin a weekly pattern in that manner.

There will be a feel to this plan to allow for any possible residual pain or abnormal running form issues that might hang around for a while.  Things such as the limp I have struggled to get rid of and what has seemed to be a strained tendon insertion.  The meniscal pain I began with is almost entirely gone at this point and whenever it crops up it's more minor than the time before.

Congratulations on your graduation from PT, DIRK!   And a new trainer and Retul fit!?   Boy, does your wife love you!   It's funny you just posted about Trainer Road and MATT about Sufferfest.   I'd never heard of TR before but with a post on TriTalk I'd just looked up their website. (Maybe you'd mentioned it before but I wasn't paying attention).   The general consensus is that using both TR and Sufferfest together is great.   I think I'm going to have to delve further since I have the A.N.T. which came with my Garmin so it'll just be the monthly cost.  There's just not enough time in the day to research all the tri things you can spend your hard earned money on!. 

SHANNON, Oh SHANNON.....we're waiting for your bio with anticipation.....

Yeah Brenda she does and I'm not sure why!  I have given her every reason not to and yet she still keeps coming back.

Trainer Road gives some really good training information in virtual power.  I think it would be a great tool to use to get ready for IMWI.  The premise is that you can use the numbers provided in virtual power to hit your training zones more accurately, more often.  With a $10 monthly fee that can be cancelled at any time without other charges, it makes things more easily affordable too.  They keep your information and you can reactivate your account next winter and pick up where you left off.

If you are considering using TR you may want to check to be sure your trainer is compatible with their power curves.  Even it's it's not you can still plug in any trainer and use numbers that would come through.  They may not be as accurate as a true power meter or like the proper trainer but it will give you numbers to use that will provide information to glean better fitness gains.

There are some keys that are very important to make sure you use the program properly.  You need to make sure everything is as close to exact as the last workout.  Tire pressure, tension on the wheel and even the fans that keep you cool.  If any of these things are off much it will effect your numbers and show things that would make you qualify for The Tour or make feel like you've just stepped onto a bike for the first time ever.  All that said, it's really not that difficult and it gives you something look at during a WO.

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Matt I've got 3 of the Sufferfest downloads and I really like 2 of them, 1 I don't like but I should have read the description better. The one I don't like is 5, 10, & 15 second sprints. It was annoying to constantly change gears. The others are great though. The tour - sounds hard.

Congratulations on moving up to ranks of Race Director! I think you will do great. Is it typically a large event?

I also tried TrainerRoad last year. I liked the program and seeing all the data but something was off with my cadence sensor so my info kept getting dropped part way into a ride. I just got frustrated and tired of messing with it. Then there was some confusion about how I signed up. I thought I joined but after 30 days I was locked out of my account. So I figured I just signed up with the free trial but then a couple months went by and I was still being charged. I was not happy but I wrote the guys an email and they took care of all of it. I don't know what the deal was but I probably won't try that again!

Tony - I hope the 10k went well this morning.

Dirk - congrats on finishing PT. Now go easy for a bit while you build back up.

Okay so a week of absolutely no exercise has seemed to have paid off with regard to the shin splints. I did an easy 2.5 miles this morning with no shin pain. I did my stretching afterward and right now, about 3/4 hour after the run, I still have no pain in my shins.

The ribs still hurt, but I know that will take longer to heal. It's kinda like having a mild "side stich" all the time. You sorta get used to it. Then little movements or leaning one way or the other aggravates it  and it gets worse for a bit. I just keep thinking it is adding to my pain tolerance for when I actually get a side stitch during an event. Maybe I'll be able to push through it easier because of this. 

Vero,  I'm happy to hear you made it through a run pain free.  Now the challenge will be to make sure you can keep it under control.

Tony,  Sometimes that feeling like you're unable to do anything right is so wrong that our minds become convinced even when other evidence suggest otherwise.  My bet is that you can look back (now) on the ride you took and notice some of the details were off in your mind as it was happening.  In your case it was likely caused by your dysfunctional mindset from sleeping so long.  Sometimes when our bodies have been at rest so long our minds don't come out of the fog for extended periods.

Matt,  I'll let you do the RD thing.  I wouldn't be particularly good at something like that.  I don't have the patience for people that would show up 3 minutes before the start and want in.  And then there's all of the other detail work leading up to the race like T shirts, access to the venue, volunteer coordination, etc....   No thanks!

Will,  I would really love to get out on the bike for 50 miles right now.  Instead the drainer will be my arch nemesis for the next 3 months or so.  I would love to have a nice carbon bike though.  I suppose that would make it much harder to ride on the trainer though.

I got a 1.5 hour ride in with 2x30 minutes at threshold and a couple of sprints and endurance intervals too.  It was a true sufferest!  My legs were trashed as well as my mind.  I also went to the pool this morning and got a 3400 yards swim in.  The swim was pretty hard too.  I used 6x250 as my MS and I swam the first interval a little too fast and paid for it for the remaining 5 intervals.  Following the 250's I took a 1 minute break and then dove into some sprint intervals but only 5 of them.  5x50 at a pretty fast pace and pretty short rest intervals.........I was cooked!!

Happy Sunday Junkies!

I am still here and been spending the morning catching up on lots of posts. Wowza - I feel like I have missed a lot!

Marathon training is coming along pretty decent, but I didn't have the energy to push through my long run on Friday, it would have been my second time ever running 14 miles. I'm sticking with Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Plan for Beginners. I've been replacing the second short run day with a bike session so I am actually only running three days a week. I am taking every measure and being very careful so that I do not cause my right IT band to flare up again. I am grateful for everyday I can get out and run.

KARL- I rode with a group of friends the other morning when it was 37 degrees outside. It was my best ride ever. Something about the cooler temps takes me back home to those snowboarding days. I am by no means a tough chick, but I did notice everyone around me was complaining of numb toes and fingers while I felt like I was having the ride of my life (and I did ride a little faster than usual).