ASPHALT JUNKIES Summer Bronzing Crew - CLOSED (Page 106)

Happy Thanksgiving, Junkies. Well I felt good enough after my 5 mile run last Saturday to go ahead and run the 6 mile Turkey Trot this morning. I just went really easy for the first 2 miles and then gradually increased the pace to the finish. I did have some shin pain between 1.5 and 2 miles, but after 2 miles it was gone. The rest of the run went great. There were about 1000 runners in the 6 mile plus several hundred more doing the 2 mile run/walk, that started 15 minutes after the 6 mile. So there were lots of folks there. My wife came along to cheer me and some of her friends on and she brought the dog to keep her company. We saw lots of folks who we knew and chatted with many of them. Now are waiting on my son and his girlfriend to show up and have some dinner and pies with us.

Have a great day everyone!

I am sure by now everyone is feeling the guilt and shame of grossly over indulging in all the goodness of a Thanksgiving feast.  I for one and still over indulging after Lis made some of her famous apple dumplings.  Of course they wouldn't be complete without a huge mountain of ice cream covering them.  I hope to keep from gaining more than 10 pounds after all of those are gone.

I ended my cycling week with a full 7 day stretch of riding.  I only had one really intense ride through the week and that was because I only had a short time to ride before heading to the pool.  But the ride was insanity for a guy with 5 previous days riding at 85% FTP on long intervals.  The hardest ride was shorter intervals of 2 minutes @ 125% FTP with 1 minute rest intervals.  I had built up enough fatigue over the previous days riding that I was unable to hold the last 3 intervals.  I was complete toast by the 4th one and by the 6th I was 24 points lower than the target power.  "..........Blown up sir!!"

In great news; I am likely to go pick up my new KK Road Machine today.  My team's store (Human Motor Works) has one sitting on the floor and with the 15% discount for being a team member I can grab it for $298.........As long as they allow the discount.  When I have looked at the KK items online and tried to apply discounts from online stores have found discounts don't apply to KK and CycleOps (and most other trainers).  I have found the KK raod machine on Ebay for less than I would be buying for but I would like to support the local small business and my team store if I can.

(The price I have found for a KK road machine on Ebay is 284.99 with free shipping, in case anyone has thoughts about making a purchase of a new trainer.)

I forgot to mention:

Lis and I did the Galloping Gobbler on Thanksgiving morning and we walked it together.  It was fun to have walked with her and supported her during this race.  I kept the pace at a higher speed walk, at least that's what she told me, and we finished the 4 miles in under an hour.  The hills throughout this course made for a few slowdowns but she chose to jog up some of them, making for a slightly more challenging race. 

While it was fun to have completed this event with Lis it was also extremely odd seeing my placement.  Last year I was 1/124 AG and 81/3248 OA. This year I was 112/132 AG and 2400/3458 OA.  Wow!! is about all I can say. 

It was fun though.  Lis and I hadn't committed to the race in the weeks prior, but we had discussed it.  Then, after she had an extremely long day at work on Wednesday, I asked her what her thoughts were when she got home and she was definitely NOT in favor of doing the race.  Finally when we both awoke at 6AM Thursday she sat in front of the fireplace contemplating doing the race.  She had asked me if I wanted to do it.  I mentioned that I hadn't missed this race since I started doing it about 5 years ago.  She him-hawed around finally she said she wanted to do it.  Who knows, maybe next year we can get both of the girls to jump into the event and make it a family affair.

Hey Junkies!

Like you all, I ate way too much and drank too much on Thanksgiving.... my Friday morning long run was cancelled as a result. I hope everyone has been doing well.

After 3 months on the new job, I am still struggling to find balance, except for that 6 lbs that seems to have taken up residence on my hips. Marathon training is still in the progress.. I seem to have a great week, which is usually followed by a dismal week  and I can't seem to get the long run completed. I have been running 3x a week instead of 4 and get in two road cycling sessions in and I feel like I have a decent routine. My longest run to date was about a week ago when I logged 15 miles. Besides feeling tired and slow, my body and knees felt great. I have noticed as the runs get longer, my passion to get out there and tackle the run is not as strong, normally I live for those long, slow runs. Part of me worries that as I attempt each long run, my IT band will flare up and I will be done, another part of me just dreads the last couple of miles. (Dirk- I know you're going to look at my training log which I have been horrible about keeping updated).

Dirk- I understand how you feel about placement, I have stepped away form all short distances racing so that I won't aggravate my IT band and it felt strange to watch my friends have amazing times at the Turkey Trot this year. I opted for a mountain biking session Thursday morning with a friend. It was completely empty, and I took a fall trying to cross over a bridge. Both my pedals banged into my upper legs and now I have two beautiful softball size bruises on my legs.

If you are looking for something to provide some data other than power off the trainer this unit will work fine but it won't provide power number while on the road.  On the road it will only provide cadence, speed, etc.  If you have a a Garmin speed/cadence sensor already on your bike then that will provide you the same information using trainer road while in front of a computer. 

The above aside, I think it would be a great tool on your bike all of the time, provided you don't already have a cycling computer on your bike already.  The bundle you have linked appears to be a decent price when I did a quick check for myself.  If nothing else it should provide some very useful data while on the road in speed and a cadence information as well as HR.  However, do you already have a Garmin with HR?  If so, which Garmin do you have?

That was a heck of a game Matt!!  Finally!!!  Michigan seemed to show up to a game.  I had been saying all season long Michigan had been WAY overrated and I proved correct.  Gardner was a better QB than Robinson in a general sense but he had the same propensity to throw the ball up for grabs.  If he had just thrown the ball away half of the times he threw it up for grabs Michigan probably would have won 2 more games.

What were your thoughts on the ejections?  Personally, I am tired of these kids getting away with this sort of behavior and I believe they should be kicked off the teams......for good!  Lose their scholarships and have to wait until next year to look for another college to attend.  A strong message needs to be sent and until it is there will be little anyone can do about the escalation of stupidity (violence) in sports.

Glad to see you checking in and keeping us up to date on what's going on for you. 

And yes......I checked up on your logs.........and found very little.  I know the job change was going to be a challenge for you.  All of the added hours you had been working right after you took the job seemed as though you might have some training conflicts, especially with young children.

Running 3 days a week for marathon training would seem a little scarce to me.  Getting that 4th run in every week might not be super hard depending on what distance you need to get in.  The 4th run should be short, for the most part.  Depending on where you're at in your training it may get harder toward the end because even the short runs can be 5+ miles.

Be careful on that mountain bike!  We've heard a few stories of mountain bike crashes in the past year or so.  So far everyone has had minor injuries but we don't need to start anything more anytime soon.

Joanne,  I can't really comment on whether the unit you are looking at has any quality to it or not.  I have not heard of them at all.  Also not being into power (other than Trainer Road) I have not done much research on power meters at all.  My suggestion would be to take some time and make sure you get what you need after some really good research.  If you are trying to get something quick it will most likely result in frustration and more purchases to make things work correctly.  I know it is the right time of year to mask some purchases to save money but it's only beneficial if they are made with the right information.

I am a Garmin guy too.  If you purchase a 310 or a 910 you can get s few other things, such as a speed/cadence sensor, for minimal cost and get a lot of benefit from them.

Okay Dirk -- I'm penciling in the 4th run for each week. We shall see what happens. I hate pressing my luck with my IT band, but as of now, I am in uncharted waters (pun intended). I am dropping a bike ride so that I can get an extra run in.

Mon: Run - 4 miles, Bike-35 miles

Tues: Run - 8 miles

Wed:  Run - 4 miles, Swim??

Thurs: Bike -25 miles

Fri: Run - 17 miles (if this gets cancelled, I will run this on Saturday). Swim??