Steve again,

Speaking of body parts, I'd like to feed your anatomy obsession.

Over the past couple of days, the top of my left foot has been hurting pretty badly. I thought it was a bruise at first but there's no discoloration. It mostly hurts when I walk and now that I've more closely looked at my symptoms, it's the worst when I point my toes down and hurts a little less when I pull them up. It feels like stretching a muscle or a tendon/ligament, but it's painful rather than relieving. The foot is also slightly tender to the touch, which is why I originally thought it was a bruise.

That, and I have a pretty sizeable lump on my shin slightly above where it stops hurting that's from a nasty bruise that just won't go way. I mean, the bruising is gone, but the lump still remains even after trying to heat and massage it out. It's been about a month since I initially hurt that area (soccer cleat to the shin...as much as I hate wearing shinguards, they really would've been helpful there so I invested in some today). So I was thinking that may have something to do with it, but I'm not sure how that would relate.

As for location, the pain starts about midfoot, both laterally and longitudonally (that's my geographic description...uhhh, middle of the foot both length- and width-wise) and continues up the leg just past the ankle when it comes to pain from flexing. To the touch, the pain is worst right below the lump I described and gets less painful farther down the leg/ankle/foot.

I haven't done anything out of the ordinary when it comes to using my body. I've been wearing the same shoes that I normally do, doing the same activities as always, etc. I have been putting in more biking time, but it's not anymore aggressive than before. I don't think it's anything serious, more annoying than anything.

So, Dr. Steve, what's the diagnosis?

Kasia

Steve for the last time (for now) -

I will take you up on that note offer. Can I get one in erasable ink that excuses me from work so I can keep changing the date as it suits me? I'll even bring you an apple

Thanks in advance!
Kasia

Mandy,

Great advice. Thanks! I, too, am fiercely independent and don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, which is why talking to her is hard because I can see the look on her face when she says, "You're not gonna leave me, right?" I don't think she realizes how slow I am in the water and on the run and she'll have no problem lapping me. As much as it'd be nice to have someone run next to me and push me to keep going at the end of the race, I feel like by that point, we will be so spread out that it's not feasible to keep track of each other coming out of the water and on the bike course. Now, if this was a reverse tri, then this would be a different story, but it's not. So yeah.

I'm trying to think of a tactful, reasonable, and logical way to go about phrasing this conversation. Your points should help with that so thank you

Kasia

Ooh, Tracey, how does it fit? Let me know because I'd be interested in getting one that's a little wider in the hips and can't decide on a model/brand.

Kasia

Shaun,

Eww regarding your work schedule. I've had my fair share of jobs with bad hours so I'm so glad finally to have this flexibility. Sometimes it's my downfall and leads to lack of motivation, but for the most part it's suited me well

So...come to Boulder! It's the land of hippies, Whole Foods, and people who don't work. They do, I just don't know when. Downtown's always busy, the trails are always full, and the roads are always packed with cyclists, even on weekdays. I would know, since I'm one of them Boulder's like a little bubble insulated from the real world. And if you need culture, Denver's only a 40-minute bus ride away. And you better bus it, otherwise people look at you funny. Unless you carpooling, then it's somewhat ok.

Wow, I should work for the Boulder Tourist/Relocation Board. And to think only a few months ago I was desperate to leave!

Hopefully your weather improves and is more conducive to riding. Ours just turned to @#$% with thunderstorms and hail predicted for the next 4 days. Guess I'll get a lot of swimming in.

Kasia

Denise,

My life goal, among other things, is to sail across an ocean. Preferably the Atlantic since it's smaller than the Pacific, but I'll take whichever opportunity presents itself. I did a fair share of sailing during summers in college in pretty miserable conditions, but the longest we were ever out continuously was 6 days, which was enough for me. After a month and a half with 8 people on a boat with the surface area of my current bedroom, I was ready to jump overboard and swim to shore to get away. I can only imagine what an ocean crossing would've done to my psyche.

Must've been pretty stressful for you not to hear from him for so long. Must've been a great adventure for him, though.

Kasia

Hilarious!

With all this talk of Gu and HEED and other food stuffs, should I be taking some special nutritional supplements for an Olympic race? Loaded question, I know, but I'm clueless. Training so far has been ok with just water during and food before and after, but nothing special. But then again, I'm only doing one thing at a time and not all three at once.

So, are there any crash course books/websites that you guys and gals would recommend so I can get somewhat up to speed?

Thanks!
Kasia

STEVE -

Oh, my, your post was a lot of fun!

Your dream is very similar to so many of mine, except in mine I am usually silent. But the rest of the details are surprisingly similar (okay, not the deli counter), but the joy/chaos/disaster/frustration continuum is the foundation of so many of my race-related dreams. I wish I could tell you to enjoy, but.....

And, no, not really -- it's not May 1 yet.

A former pro, who went by the name Chuckie V. (for somenthing like Velupiuk), was a real renegade. He spent years living out of a beat-up old car, traveling to races and generally doing quite well for himself. His biggest claim to fame, though, was at an iron (maybe Kona) in the late 90s when he decided to veer slightly off-course and buy a beer, or something alcoholic. I think he carried it with him for a while, sipping at his leisure, until a race referee saw him. I believe he finished the race but was DQed, and there was a big kerfuffle about it all. I will google this later, as I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. The core of the story is there, however, and it came to mind with your thought about a flask of o.j. and vodka. I suspect you are one of many who have devised and successfully carried out such a plan!

Good choice on the vest/shell! It will add no weight and will pose no aeodynamic challenges, but will help if needed. Another option if you are facing a chilly morning is arm-warmers that you carry as slides-on on your aerobars. Easy storage!

It may be a race between now and May 1 to see if the PT guys can break you down by then. It sounds like they're doing their best! As for the light spasming, that might not be all that bad. I mean, I think it's better than when an ache just settles in firmly for the long haul. I generally feel that it's good when problems begin to move around, so maybe an extention of that is spasming - movement, but in situ. I don't like spasming when I'm supposed to be doing something like, say, running, but when I'm just sitting around it never seems to be a real problem.

What is your timetable for next week? That is, when are you heading up to SG? Will you have any sort of Support Crew (Maggie or other family) with you, or is it just you and Jason?

At IMLP, I went down on the Thursday and Lynn joined me Saturday afternoon. But she had to get back to Ottawa for a concert by a Japanese chamber quartet on Sunday afternoon, so she was there only for the swim and the first loop of the bike. I saw her as I passed through the village heading out on the second loop......and then I had to spend the rest of the race knowing that she had forsaken me for a violin, a viola, a cello, and a piano. Supportus interruptus!

And for my other iron, the following year, she was off a canoe trip that weekend so I was on my own then, too. Nobody with whom to share all that glory! Overall, she's been to just a handful of my races, but maybe that's good because I insist on getting to a race as early as possible; if t-zone is open at 5am, I'm there at 4:45. And then there is the other end, wherein I usually stay until the awards are done and all the food is gone and the crews have dismanteld the bike racks.........and I wonder why she doesn't attend more of them???

MANDY and TRACEY -

Youk!

Youk!!

YOUK!!!


As for my beloved Bruins: TUU-kka! TUU-kka! TUU-kka!

KASIA -

I will continue to think about your injury/sorenesses. When I first began reading it I thought that maybe you had inflamed a tendon on the top of your foot, which often happens when shoes are over-tightened. That's one reason I ALWAYS use elastic laces. For afew years I just had them on my race-day shoes, but then I realized that using you pretty much meant no more inflamed top-of-foot tendons, so I became a total convert.

Anyhow, with your current situation you are feeling stuff in a much wider area, so I will think about that some more and try to come up with some bright idea. It might be that you have two have separate problems that have kind of coalesced -- a shin issue from soccer, a foot issue from running. I'll keep thinking about this!

KASIA again -

When you ask about nutritional supplements for the oly, are you talking about it as part of your overall preparation between now an then.........or as a component of each training session.......or just during the race itself? Working backwards:

You will definitely want to use stuff during the race. A full bottle of energy/replenishment drink on the bike is essential, and that could be anything that is out there. I use HEED, Steve uses EFS, and then are lots of other players on the scene -- Cytomax, Infinit, Carbboom!, Gu, Accelerade among them. At some point you'll want to use gels, and again, the list is long.

To get your body to agree to those things, you should start now. Your budget might not allow you to have a gel or energy drink before and/or during every training session you do, but for your longer rides and runs, try them out. I can handle most anything along those lines, but some people have a very hard time stomaching that stuff. For most people, i think the acquire clear preferences. That works well for gels, which are all about the same price ($1.25 or so), so it's easy to experiment. For drinks, though, which usually come in multi-serving tubs, it can be pricey to compare.

But the bottom line with all of this is to start experimenting now just to see what sits well with you (or doesn't), which tastes good (or doesn't), and which seem to have actual positive effects for you. Some of them have the desired effect, whereas others almost seem to be just a placebo for me. Hammer Gels are not my favorite ones in terms of taste, but they are the ones that consistently work most effectively. Or so it seems.

Finally, as for overall supplementing between now and then......you're right, that's a loaded question. Part of it comes down to how obsessive you want to be about all of this. (And I'm not necessarily using "obsessive" in a negative way.) I have gone through periods in which I have been very obsessive about my nutrition, and at leats for me it is very easy to get carried away by it all. That is, you can do things to the nth degree if you want to be a perfectionist about it, and while that is alwys an illuminating exercise to do, it can be consumptive (pun intended).

Two good general guides are "Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes" by Monique Ryan (Velo Press, right in Boulder) and a great little booklet from Hammer Nutrition (www.hammernutrition.com)......the name of which I can't bring to mind. In think Shaun referred to it a few days ago, but I will go to the website and find the info.

Anyhow, if you can, clarify what you're thinking about with "special nutritional supplements", okay?

KASIA once more -

It is "Endurance Athlete's Guide", which is short for "The Endurance Athlete's Guide to Success", and it is a bargain at $6.95. The only quibble with it is that is kind of geared towards Hammer's own products, or at least that's how it was in the earlier editions. For me that wasn't a problem as I was using their stuff, but for other folks it might be a bit disconcerting. But the information is very solid and sound, and it is worth the money, I think.

If you decide to buy it, do it with a phone call -- their customer service people are outstanding, and they are always eager to answer any quetsions you might have.

Hi,

Anne - we miss you.

Denise

DENISE -

Great minds think alike, as I was just thinking about Anne, too. I suppose she is about halfway through her bike tour, and maybe staying at palces that are connected. Or maybe the tour is just perpetual-motion, with no rest for the weary or wicked!

I think we should transmit some cosmic vibes to get her back here ---- where she belongs!

MANDY -

Thank you for the video; it finally worked on my computer!

The guy in it is Wes Hobson, the author of "Swim, Bike, Run", which SHAUN is reading now. The truth is that, back in the day when he was an active pro, he actually trained that way -- with people clubbing him with baffles. I hadn't seen that video before and had forgotten that story, but it all came back to me quickly. There may have been an article in one of the tri magazines back then (I think he was a regular columnist in Inside Triathlon around 2001 or 2002), or it might be in his book.

Nifty video! Not that I'm an armchair sadist, mind you, but I was sorry it was over so soon!

MANDY again -

How are you logisticizing Pirate? Have you figured out decent lodging options yet, or is your plan to just drive there the morning of?

MANDY, great video ... thanks for sharing!

STEVE A, maybe you went to bed hungry the other night hence bringing the deli into your nightmare?  Sweet dreams from now until April 30th.

KASIA, you have me sold on Boulder.  Sounds like a lot more fun than Spring TX or OKC!

ANNE, cosmic vibes headed your way!  Hope you are having fun.

Struggling to get back into the swing of my training again.  Last night I really tried to talk myself out of going to the gym for a swim but finally made it there around 10pm and was happy that I did.  I just have to remember how good it feels when I'm done. 

We are off to visit OKC in the morning.  My DH has already scoped out a place for me to run while we are there.  Happy that today is my Friday!!  Hope everyone is doing well! 

Lisa

This one is free online as a PDF:
http://www.hammernutrition.com/downloads/fuelinghandbook.pdf?utm_source=guidetosuccess&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=guidetosuccess

That link opens the PDF.

This has been a topic lately with some people I know who are becoming more active in their late 20's early 30's. We are realizing food is fuel and not just supposed to be supper tasty and fill our bellies. (This is so sad when one of my trademark sayings in life is 'I'm a fat kid at heart.' Not in the unhealthy heart way but I love food and especially the unhealthy food).

Snackwells chocolate covered pretezels are now on my shopping list.

Here's another good link to Hammer articles (such a treasure trove of information!!):
http://www.hammernutrition.com/knowledge/download-receive-knowledge/


Also, within the last 2 weeks I've started having a gel within 5 minutes of getting in the water. I think this has helped quite a bit maintaining high energy levels (and mental willingness to finish the full set) as I usually swim after running or biking and usually with nothing between. Seems to work for me..

One last question...What do you do with your gel wrappers?I have not used any on runs or rides and don't really want gel all over me (don't always have pockets) but also don't want to throw the wrapper by the wayside.

Edited by smarx 2010-04-22 10:55 AM

Another one here wondering how Anne's trip is going! Hope it is great Anne.

I totally HEART Boulder!  Sigh....

Kasia:

I'll let you know as soon as I get it! (Ordered it online...)

Hey Steve-

So are you saying you are IN on Pirate?  I need to check the entrants list.  That would be awesome!! I hope you are! I hope you are! Let me know your plans!!

I think I am going to stay at my boyfriend's parent's house the night before as they live nearby in Gorham ~ 30 min away.  It is what drew me to that tri originally because it would save me $$ on lodging.  Love the bike on this course, I know I have said it before, but it definitely is a good one.

Just a note, last year it was good to get there early because nearby parking filled up quickly.  I got there early because I am neurotic and I always get to every race early.

OK, it is snowing. Again. 

Wyman Lake temp 41, Pleasant Pond Temp, 36.  And, apparently, dropping.

Cheers,

Mandy