Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 138)

Tracy, glad your friend is getting to go home.

Jeff, take your own advice and take it easy...  glad you are doing so good!

As Jeff said, I am back into the real world but I am not happy about it.  After more than week away from work it sure is hard to get any momentum, especially since I went back to work only one day.  (Gotta love  4 10 hours days for a normal work schedule.)

The trip was, as I have stated a couple of times, pretty awesome.  Lis ans I had a great time together and it was just what we needed.

Now I hope to get back to a normal schedule of sorts.  Although that will have to wait for a couple of more days.  I have a nephew getting married this weekend in Ohio, so we will be back on the road again Saturday morning.  This will be a much shorter trip, only about 2.5 hours.  He is getting married on Sunday afternoon which seems kind of weird to me.

I am planning to get a solid day of work outs in tomorrow.  I am hoping to have time for all 3 disciplines at some point tomorrow and maybe a WO with Lis at the gym.  The running needs to begin slowly again but there is still some residual pain.  Also, Jeff, I am fairly certain I am dealing with plantar fasciitis.  I have done a little bit of reading on it and even more self examination and honesty with myself and come to that determination.  I am planning on trying some ART but I am not sure what kind of things they will do or suggest.

x2... I'm honestly just not good in such situations, and I literally have no words and just don't know what to say... This has happened with others in the group too.  That definitely doesn't mean I'm not thinking about you!

Thinking of you Tracey as you sort your way through this emotional time. Happy to hear your friend is coming home. How are you feeling getting back out on the road?

Jeff take it easy getting back in the routine please! Glad you are feeling well enough to train again though.

Dirk I've enjoyed hearing about your trip and the pics on facebook are great! I've always wanted to stop in the Smokey Mountains when we travel to/from Florida but we're either in a hurry to get there or get home.

JoAnne sounds like you also had a great trip and glad to hear to got all rested up!

Karl don't you have a race coming up soon? How is the OWS going?

Our trip to Branson was really fun! It was so nice to spend time with my sister & family. We took the kids to see the Dixie Stampede and they had a ball. My son LOVES horses so he really got a kick out this show.

On Sunday I talked everyone into going to Table Rock Lake for a trail walk. We have ages ranging from 4-73 but we managed to find a nice paved trail by the lake suitable for everyone. We thought it was a 2.2 mile walk round trip but that was the distance one way. Well of course I am not satisfied if I don't complete the whole trail. We start out as one big group and I'm pushing Gracie in the stroller. Pretty soon it is just me, stroller, my hubby, and the boys age 6,7 & 14. Next thing I know it's just me a Gracie in the stroller. Now I really had every intention of just going for a leisurely walk, I even wore my jeans and not workout clothes but I could not help myself. I left Gracie with my husband and took off running in my jeans! There were lots of other runners on the trail and I got some funny looks.

That was one of those "you know you're a triathlete when....." moments . I finished the trail though Ha ha ha!

The appointment for my back Monday morning went well. I'm not 100% or anything but I feel there is potential so I made another appointment for later this month. Ideally she would like to see me 2 x a week but since I am 2 hours away we will have to make do.

So in the off time I have been playing around at the Y on the different equipment and hitting a favorite old (we're talking college days) trail for some hike/jogging. Tuesday I used the rowing machine and I really liked it. It gave me that same total body cardio workout that I have been missing since I've stopped swimming. Now I told my husband I want a scull boat of my own for the summer . And Jeff I've been faithfully completing the arm exercises you suggested. Today I noticed the reps seemed a little easier. I'll be interested to see how I feel when I jump back in the pool hopefully next week.

Welcome back Dirk and Dina!!!  We missed ya'll but glad ya'll had a good time.

Dina, running in jeans, you are a LOT tougher than I am...lol  congrats!!!

Well this week has been lacking training.  It is to cold to get in the pool when I get home from work.  Son's baseball is taking a lot of time too.  Tomorrow is usually my long bike ride day but he has a game so I'm going out early for maybe 1.5 - 2 hrs if it is not to cold.

Ya'll pray for me, we have another practice OWS Sunday morning.

Oh yea, I'll be out of town for work next week, my absences are not fun like Dirk's and Dina's... but maybe I'll get a lot of training in since there is nothing else to do in the podunk town I'm going to.

The Smokey's were pretty awesome.  You should really try to get there and see them.  Right now is a really good time to go because the leaves are changing and the colors are incredible and we weren't even there for the full spectrum that is to come.  A word of warning if you go in the fall, it appears that there could be a lot of fog on most mornings.  We had a partially obscured view all but one morning and one morning was really soupy.  I am sure you saw some of the pics of our view from the balcony of the cabin but there were so many more that had some spectacular scenery.  Honestly, my favorite pics are of Lis and I on the balcony and the elk pictures.

Anyway, there are vast amounts of trails to use and they can go for miles and miles.  I have not traveled any of them and it kills me to see the signs posted and not be able to get on them.  If you chose to go sometime you should really plan more than a day or so.  There is so much to see that 2 or 3 days can't even begin to touch all there is to do..

Your trip to Branson sounds like it was a big success.  Lis and I talked about going to the Dixie Stampede in Gatlinburg but we never seemed to be able to carve out the time.  I've heard it's really great.  I enjoy that you couldn't leave part of the trail undiscovered during your walk and that you were willing to run in your street clothes.  I am sure people were trying to figure out what you were running from.

About your trip to the Y.  Lis and I are going to a gym a couple of times a week and I have been enjoying that too.  I am not really getting all that I would like in because she and I have different goals but our trips so far have been more about spending some more time together.  I help her with some exercises that I think will help her attain her personal goals and try to make sure she has solid form.  Everything she/we use are machines, which I am not particularly fond of, to get all she wants to work on.  The best thing I (physically) get out of these WO's is the ab work.

Dirk welcome back and glad to hear that you had a great trip. I can't blame you for not being happy about it ending. I always feel the same way once my vacation ends and I have to get back to the real world. It's also nice to hear that you are getting to spend more time with your wife doing things together like going to the gym. I think that is very important and we should all be trying to do that.

Dina welcome back and glad to hear that you also had a great trip and that you got to spend time with your family. Sounds like you had a blast on your trail walk or should I say trail run. I'm also glad to hear that your visit to the MAT helped. I hope your back is feeling better.

Karl have a safe trip and keep working hard that first tri is on the horizon. Be safe with your OWS.

Not much going on with me. I have used the last two weeks as my offseason following the HIM. I have been training but I have cut it back alot. I will be focusing on my running the next two weeks to prepare for the marathon. I am hoping all the Tri training will help me here as I feel like I really haven't trained enough for it. The good news is I have done some long runs and have some time to do some more so I think I will be fine. The goal for the marathon is to have fun and finish. I am not worried about my time this year.

I have also totally gone back to basics in regards to my swimming. I have analyzed how I swim and I know that I am doing just about everything that you should not be doing. My poor technique is the reason for why I swim so badly. It is amazing that I was even able to get through the season the way I do swim. The wetsuit masks alot of the deficiencies that I have. I have come to the realization that in order for me to have any success at IMWI this year I really need to improve my swim technique. I started the process this week and got some help and for the next two and half months I will be going to the pool 3 to 4 times a week to work on improving. I am pretty much going to re-learn how to swim. It is not easy since I have developed so many bad habits but taking the time now to address it will payoff in the long run.

Tony, you are absolutely right about swimming.  Get it right early and you will swim faster and have a lot more energy for the real race.  I think using a wetsuit occasionally can be a good thing since the wetsuit feeling can really throw you off if you've never sued it, but there is no doubt it masks some major flaws - most notably balance.  Don't forget open water skills as well once you've become technically proficient.  Check this video out for a look at how much longer we can make the swim leg:

OWS sighting

Warren thanks for posting and that is a pretty sobering video. I would say that would be me out there as well. What's funny is I am very comfortable in open water and the wetsuit. I did a lot of that this past year so I am pretty relaxed in the open water however my technique is so poor that I am that guy swimming off course all the time. For me it is really about getting back to do the basic things correctly. The short list is keeping my head down, exhaling properly while my face is in the water and rotating to both sides . I am working on learning to become a bilateral breather as well. Lastly I am going to work on my stroke and the concept of front quadrant swimming. If I can break the bad habits that I have (I have many!) and do these things properly I will be able to swim faster but more importantly swim easily which will be the biggest benefit for me at IMWI. 

You are right.  Yesterday was my first day back and I did a little less (not much less) than a typical daily workout would have been and I feel the aftereffects today.  It was primarily the 4.75 miles of running.  I only had 10 days off but my legs have lost much of their tolerance for the pounding.  I have a mildly sore inside right shin (probably the posterior tibialis tendon).  And my soleus muscles feel sore enough that I figured I'd not run this morning. 

What I want to point out is how much adaptation I lost during 10 straight days off.  Unless you are injured, avoid time off from running.  If you are taking an annual break from triathlon training, at least get out for a mile or two of easy jog at least every other day.  If you've worked for a solid year or more to build up that tolerance to running you don't want to lose it. 

It should also underscore how insufficient a 3 day a week running program is.  I went from 6 days a week to 10 days off and am unable to string together consecutive running days.  If you run only 3 days per week you never develop the full adaptation it takes to achieve the ability to train solid mileage.

I really could have probably done a good easy mile this morning, especially after some cycling but I didn't.  I'll do more running this weekend, but probably not full runs.  My training will be impacted by the shoulder rehab to some degree for at least 3 months, but I should be on a full load of cardio (biking and running) within a couple of weeks.

The way I look at the off season is that this is when the races in June, July and August are won or lost.  It's actually wiser to consider October-April as your ON season and May-August your off season.  You can actually step your training down during those months as you race and train enough to maintain the fitness gained through the winter months.

I will admit that the 10 day layoff was nice to have emotionally though.  If you are training intelligently you will never physically need a break (total break...ie. no workouts), but we will all need an emotional break unless we are taking regular days off from training all year round.

I can finally post a couple of pics from the trip.  I actually had to resize them a couple of times because the file size I have our camera set to record the pictures is large enough that the online picture resizing tools won't allow me to use the images.

Here they are..........

(BT Smokeys.jpg)

(BT beach.jpg)

.......and a couple of more

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Dirk, you seriously out kicked your coverage!

I would love to learn to body surf!  I would like to learn to swim ocean surf period...

When you were leaving, you looked so sad and downtrodden!! 

I grew up body surfing for hours and hours at Salisbury Beach in MA.  We'd ride the waves in until we were so numb our moms would force us to come out!  The ocean water tends to be a bit chilly up here in New England.  Fun times.

You're not telling me anything I haven't known for more than 25 years buddy.  The thing is she doesn't believe me when I tell her that.

Body surfing is pretty easy.  Put a board under neath of me and........Well, it's ugly.  Very ugly!

Yeah, we we both wishing we had the time and money to be able to stay around for a while longer. 

It was actually a pretty inexpensive trip considering the condo in Florida was totally free.  Well except for the cleaning fee that was $67.  And we got the money for the cleaning fee back when Lis got to work on Thursday.  The doc she works for wanted to pay us back, saying that she intended to pay for the cleaning as a gift to us.  Lis tried to argue with her and make her take the money back but the doc wouldn't hear of it, left the money in front of Lis on her desk and walked away.  She is a really kind person and Lis and I couldn't be more appreciative.

hmm... I sort of like that!  I think that could work as extra motivation for me thinking of it that way...

My half marathon is next weekend (Oct 21).  I am having mixed feelings.  The past few weeks I'm not really feeling in any of my runs like I feel good, and it worries me a bit.  Today though when I started off (short run) I actually did have the feeling that this run feels kind of good...  So I'm hoping that's a good sign. I will run my last "long" run (which will be more of a medium-long) on Sunday, and it will be interesting to see how I feel then... I'm hoping I will feel good about it!  Or else I really don't think I'll be all that confident for the half...

Jeff, spot on, the winter is when you win or lose races.  Thanks for saying that, i think most people do the opposite.

Tony, good luck w/ the marathon.

Sam, good luck w/ your 1/2 and hope you are getting your running legs on.

Dirk, great pics and glad U had a fun trip.

Warren, that swim video hits to close to home...lol 

Allison, how is your dog doing?

Tracy good for you in the breast cancer ride!!!

Jo, are you fully recovered now?  Ready for another vacation?

Dirk thanks for sharing the pics, looks like you had a great time there and I agree with Jeff you couldn't looking and sadder in your leaving picture.

Tracy good luck and have fun with your group doing the ride for a great cause like breast cancer awareness.