Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 141)

Absolutely not okay.  Where is the left one loose?

If you have 30 minutes of free time, you might want to listen to this interview with my friends who are recovering from the hit-and-run.  Pretty amazing stuff.

In other news....I'm really bummed about losing my sweet dog.  I originally got her as my running companion.  She went blind at 2 years old.  Her nose got the best of her after that and she proved to be more of a liability while running.  She was just my sweet, 70 pound, lap dog.  I miss hearing her yipping and barking when I drive home.

My husband (who came after the dog) said she always lived a happy, crazy, ecstatic life.  She ended it just as abruptly as she lived every moment.

He's right.  That crazy, damn dog always kept me on my toes.

We buried her on our property yesterday.  My toddler gave her a truck and her favorite squeaky toy.  Such hard lessons for a 3.5 year old boy to learn.

So much sadness, lately.  We are coping.  I plan on doing the time trial next weekend.  I'm not expecting any stellar performances.  My training has not been adequate lately.  Showing up will be a major accomplishment.

OK.....enough of this crap.......carry on with happy stuff.....thanks for reading.

I am listening to the interview right now.

Lis and I were just looking at pictures of dogs online and were thinking about the 2 dogs we have owned and had to put down.  One because of old age and the other because of stomach cancer.  The latter was a couple of years premature and that worked against us as a family.  This one was mostly my dog and I took it quite hard.  I had raised her to hunt waterfowl with me and she was, to anyone's observance, my dog.

When I had to put her down it was as difficult a thing to have to do as I can remember ever having done.  I was with her when they applied the solution and stayed until she was completely gone. 

All this to say I have a direct connection to your loss and know how deeply it can hurt.  Cheyenne and Chief were as much a members of the family as anyone else and we all mourned when they died.

So much has happened to you over the past several weeks and there really are no words to express that can provide much solace.  Just put your arms around those you hold dear and keep them close for comfort.

Tracey, I was picturing your dog's death from your description and I can imagine how much more shocking this type of death must have been for you vs. one that gives you time to prepare yourself.

On the bright side, if there's any, it would also seem that your dog didn't really know she was dying and must have gone in as pleasant a way as possible.

My old dog is going to probably go any time now.  She's 14 about now.  She seems to be going blind and moves slowly.  She even stumbles and falls sometimes on our walks.  But she's at her perfect fighting weight and still trots around like a puppy when we go for walks...so who knows?  But I can't pretend to be as attached to my dogs as you.  I just took in these annoying dogs to give them a home and some comfort in their last years. 

You mentioned getting her as a running companion.  I am considering a running companion after my senior citizen dogs have moved on.  I hear that Weimariners are incredibly good dogs for athletes.

So, on other news...I got in the pool today.  First time back.  I did 2000meters total.  I did some kicking on my back, then some one-arm freestyle.  Then I put on some fins and began some sets with the team.  I did the 4x150 and the 4x100, 6x50, 8x25 all with find and one arm...and doing it that way I could keep up on the time interval.

The water felt 'right'.  That will make sense to any of the more accomplished swimmers who have spent periods of time away from the water...you can lose your sense of the water and it feels foreign and you don't quite get it....I felt that way last year after my surgery when I finally got back in the water.  That time I was out a number of weeks more than this time and it took me a few practices to breath right, feel relaxed, find my position and to remove the extra drag that had creeped in.

This time, probably because I've only been out about 2.5 weeks, I didn't feel that and am pretty upbeat about it.

Yes, Warren!  more details please.

Some people do have feet that are 2 different sizes.  I've heard of them going as far as to find 2 of the same shoe in those 2 respective sizes. 

I have also heard of inadvertently mismatched shoes in boxes so that you get 2 different sizes by accident.  And I also assume factories can mislabel shoes too.  But since this is consistent for you across 2 pairs of shoes it makes me think your feet are slightly different.

It's obviously better for a shoe to be 1/2 size too large than too small, so your current pair will be the best option if you have this problem.

The 11 1/2 are loose all round everywhere on the left foot, and the 11 is tight everywhere on the right.  I measured my feet this morning by tracing them several times, and my right foot is larger than my left.  It's not a trivial difference - about 3/16 wider and 1/4 longer.  Seems like a crazy amount.  What the hell?  It can't always have been that different.

If I was made of money I guess I'd buy two pairs and use one of each.  If anyone knows someone with the opposite problem, I'd be game to team up with them!  Ideas?

I like the idea of using the same shoe in two different sizes, but NOT using different inserts...because that's obviously going to change the length of your legs due to the different thicknesses.  Unless of course one leg is longer than the other as well!!!

So, I moved my seat forward almost an inch last night and then up probably a 1/2 inch.  What a difference!  I still have some tweaking, but it feels more stable already.  I still have to work on my fork.  We will get results for that early next week.

Tracy, I am so sad for you.  It brings tears to my eyes.  I know I will be going through something very similar soon, as my dog's health continues to deteriorate.  Most nights I'm not sure that he'll make it through until morning.  It's really hard seeing him like that.  My 3 year old told me the other night that she doesn't want him to go to heaven to be with Jesus yet, that she wants him here with her.  It made me cry.  It's so hard. 

I have a bit of a dilemma here.  I am headed out to the Hilly Hundred any minute.  I have been having issues with my seat being crooked, and I can't seem to figure out how to untighten the bolt to unturn it.  Even worse, when I was removing it from my trainer, the back wheel came completely off.  I should know basic bike maintenance like this, but I am clueless as to how to reattach it.  Is there a youtube video out there or can someone describe the process to me?    

Check this out for your rear wheel.

Not sure how your seat attaches...is there a "quick release" like your wheels have on them, or is there just a bolt down at the bottom of the seat tube where it attaches to the fram?

Allison, this video looks pretty good at showing the process of installing the rear wheel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIYE6z5W0o8

When it comes to the seat, there are a whole lot of different designs for clamping the seatpost.  I suppose since it's canted off to one side, that you must have a bike with a round seatpost.  So there will be a bolt in the frame near where the seatpost meets the frame.  Probably just behind the post.  That's the bolt you loosen to raise/lower your seat and will also allow you to twist to center your seat.

It seems you are speaking about your mtn bike.  This is good news about the seat.  I'm glad that after you made the adjustment you could easily notice the difference. 

Don't forget to find that ideal tire pressure (as low as you can get away with) because it makes the biggest difference in traction-both straight and cornering.

Let me tell you about part of my learning process in mtn biking.   I didn't have any knowledgeable mtn biker giving me advice so when I started mtn biking I naturally put the bike in a position very much like my road bike when I was on the hoods.  It just so happens that my preferred road bike position (at the time) was with the seat slammed really far back.  I had most of my weight over the rear wheel.  It made it very hard for me to negotiate switchback climbs as well as seated climbs that were steeper.

But the biggest problem I had (and I didn't know why at the time) was that I would often lose traction in turns and go down hard.  This is the FRONT wheel losing traction mind you.  So I had no idea how the fast riders did it...I would lose traction and they wouldn't.  What did they have that I didn't have?  Turns out they had physics.

A tire's traction is determined by the friction between the surface and the tire AS WELL AS THE WEIGHT PRESSING DOWN ON THE TIRE.  So my front tire was too light to maintain traction.  The secret to great cornering traction is to have weight on the tires.  If you have too little weight on the front tire you crash hard.  If you have too little weight on the rear tire, it slides out and you almost never go down-it just fishtails.

So here comes my new 29er this spring and the bike's STA is steeper and the seatpost has no setback and I move the seat back as far as it goes and I'm still pretty forward.  But I notice how great my traction is...Then I tried the standing turn technique which further evens out the weight on the 2 wheels and the world is completely different now.

Best of luck setting up the fork!

Dooohhh.  I hadn't thought about the effect of the insert on leg length.  Back to the drawing board.  Insert on top? 

Jonathan, just don't do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WzBLmW-2kc&feature=related

And don't do what these people do! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KWKWFSouU&feature=related

Warren, if the size difference in your two feet is new there may be a reason that you should ferret out, such as a circulatory problem or something like that.

However, if you are a 2-sized person you've been doing fine for quite a long time without even noticing it....the last pair of shoes that you had without noticing this was?????  Sounds like 3 pairs ago.  Do you still have them in your closet somewhere?  Take a look at them and see how they fit and how they fit each foot differently.

Quite honestly, if this has been a long-standing difference then your body has done just fine with it and you shouldn't need to take any new steps to deal with it.  Just go with the larger size shoe that is big/just right and not the just right/small size.

The larger size will have more room in front of your toes on the smaller foot and I assume will need to be pulled tighter in the lacing to fit the same snuggness.  This shouldn't be a problem.  It's probably the most uniform solution...much better than adding thickness that could change more of the shoe's dynamics.

11 1/2  Holy Cow!!!  Maybe you better try these on?  I think they would have plenty of room for your clown feet.

Check this out...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE9_NAdtjCs&feature=share&list=UUj3ansG_77rxY8s0zPHrwGw&fb_source=message

It's a video that a guy put together to chronicle my daughters' first foray in to mtn biking.   Jordan practiced all summer and has done a couple of small road tris.  Morgan had never mountain biked until a few days prior and has/had never done a triathlon (she relayed this, so only canoed and mtn biked).

The 3rd girl is Morgan's friend Farrah.

Those look like PAIN!!!

But it does look kind of fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vZnWxqwFOs

That is just awesome....thinking about buying the full DVD.

That was awesome!  Congrats to Morgan!  It looks like the girls had an awesome time.  I imagine they will cherish the video as they get a little older.  I'll bet they are watching that video over and over.

I also noticed a cameo appearance from the old man there too!  Nice!  Now, if that video goes viral I can say I knew a star.

I am racing a 5k this Sunday afternoon.  It will be the first race since my HIM last month and I am doing it on minimal mileage for what I am used to.  I actually feel under prepared which really sounds ridiculous for me.  I am so used to much higher mileage week than I have been running for the past month.  I know I am very well prepared but I am also a lot heavier than I was at the end of the triathlon season.  I have gained 7 pounds because of my lack of activity and the poor eating habits that I had been able to sustain during all of my training.  And then there was the vacation Lis ans I just came home from.  Wow!  Is about all I can say!

For the race this weekend I hope to set another PR but I can't help but wonder if the added weight is going to slow me down enough to keep me from setting another PR.  The last 5k was 19:58 and I would like to trim some from that time.

Samantha and Dirk good luck this weekend with your races. Hope everyone else has had great weekend and good luck to anyone else who may be racing this weekend.

I will be heading out soon to get one of my last long runs in before the marathon. I am planning on doing a 20-22 mile run. It will depend on how I feel but I am hoping to do more than 20 today. I am pretty sure I am good shape for the marathon but this last run should confirm it for me.

X2 Jeff great video and congrats again to you and your daugther. That race looks like it would be a blast to do.

Thanks Tony..... I am quite interested to see how it goes myself... I really think it could go either way... earlier in the week I was feeling like my legs felt pretty good, for the past couple of days I am feeling as though they are more tired than they should be!!  (Might have done more walking and up/down stairs than I should have...)  Oh well.....

I did go to the race expo yesterday, and it got me slightly more excited!  I haven't been to many (if any?) big race expos, so I was slightly impressed!  And I liked the atmosphere.  It made me think maybe I should do more good-size races...

Samantha I know the feeling. I did my last long run today and I really did not feel like doing it but it turned out to be a great run. I did my longest non-marathon run ever, 22 miles. It was at an easy pace but was not an easy run. I definitely had to HTFU during this run today.

I ran these loops in the neighborhood which were a little over 2 miles. I made it challenging as it included a nice long false flat and two decent hills which I ran out and back on my loop so I figure I did about 10 loops which would have had me go up and down those hills 20 times!

It just took me so long to get into this run. My head was not into it until about 9 miles in. I was running fine and felt good phyisically but mentally I just did not have my head into the game. Once I got my head into it I felt better but the run got tougher as I went on. I think around mile 13 the wind picked up and it just seemed like I had to run a lot into the wind. By mile 15 I really wanted to call it a day but with all the voices going on in my head I decided to listen to the one that said we are going to get 22 miles in.

The last 7 miles were pretty tough. I just embraced the pain and endured the suffering but I did finish it out pretty well. I think this was a great run for me. I think physically I am good to go for the marathon but mentally I was not so sure but after today I think I am ready. I think I needed a good tough run like this before the marathon. It's been over year since the last one and I think it was a good reminder of what to expect and to know that I can push through it.

That's it for me nothing more to be gained by doing anymore long runs. I will start to taper for the marathon which is two weeks out now. I was very worried about not being able to do it since I did not follow a marathon specific training plan but I think all the training for the triathlons epecially the work on the bike more than made up for it. I am really feeling much better now going into this marathon now and am very much looking forward to it.