Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 149)

Jeff, keep your over-training-obsessive-compulsive-injury-scoffing-self in check!  It's the "off season" you know!  I know you're all to familiar with how to deal with injuries, so that's all I've got for a lecture.  Just take care of yourself, all right?

Thanks again for the advice on the tires.  If it's crappy weather again, I'm going to run over to the bike shop to get some new tires and stuff to go tubeless.  At this point, I may just go for a wider tire until I get the hang of this as well.  It maybe a bit heavier and slower, but I'm not going anywhere by having to put my foot down either.

You may also be pleased to hear that I started a weight training routine.  I'm doing a circuit about 3 times a week.  So far all I have got from it is extremely sore muscles that make me absolutely hate running. :-)

"hate running"?  You must be doing leg strength work too...keep it up...however it's very smart to start initially easy and gradually ramp up so you don't end up having days you can't train!    (I once did squats HARD without having done them in a LONG time and actually pissed blood the next day...and nearly had to go to the hospital).

Just to be clear, your current tires CAN be run tubeless if you want to.  But if you want something more durable that's fine too.  Look for 2.2" wide tires.  And that's what I would get even if you were getting your fastest race-only setup.  The wider the tire, the less pressure it needs and the greater the traction... that's faster.

Bontrager sells a rim strip for going tubeless.  That's what I have on my bontrager wheels that came on my Superfly.  You can use that or you can also get a Stan's rim strip.

As for tire selection, there are a lot of good options and you may not find any of these available at your bike shop and that's fine.  I highly recommend the Kenda Smallblock 8 tires (they have a 29" model #212509 that is 2.1").

Bontrager's 29-2 (expert) model # 427131 has a little more tread, which is Winter riding friendly.  It's a heavier/sturdier version of the 29-2 than the Team Issue which is race oriented.

You can also get a 29-1 (your current tread design) in more durable versions.  The 'team issue TLR' is the same as you have but it's been beefed up with a more durable sidewall for greater puncture/cut resistance.  That's model #430703.  There is also the 'expert' which is also heavier and thicker, and cheaper...just not as fast as the previous one I mentioned.  That model # is 430121.  These are both 2.2" tires.

As for my heels...this is a chronic thing that stems from a 'bone spur' on the back of my heels.  Taking time off won't heel it.  I've tried.  A few years back when it first flared up, I only ran that summer when racing...that was it.

Then last year when I had my shoulder surgery I was suffering in bed for 3 weeks, then went another 4+ weeks without running.  When I started up again there was no improvement.

I have a bone spur just under the achilles tendon.  Between this bone spur and the achilles is a bursa.  Whenever I plantar flex my foot (such as extending the foot back behind me when running) the bone spur is pushed in to the achilles and the bursa gets squeezed.  I may need surgery to fix this.

The point is I either retire permanently from running, or I keep running with discomfort.  There's probably no other alternative....although I will probably try all of the last-ditch efforts before surgery.  Next up, modifying my expensive shoes by cutting holes in the heels and getting cortisone injections in to the bursas.  I began last night with DMSO cream, and I am going to talk to my Dr. and PT about getting a prescription for the PT to treat this with ultrasound.

Jeff, good luck!  I hope thereapy helps!  I remember my grandfaster having heel spurs, not exactly what you have but he said they were painful.  He finally had them ground off...but that was years ago.

Gosh folks, I hope Tony is doing good.  Sounds like they took a pounding.

Warren any news from your wife?

Here is my RR

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=466263&posts=2&start=1

Just got my power back about 15 minutes ago- woohoo! Still we got hit very hard out here on Long Island over 900,000 without power and major flooding which has literally changed the lanscape around Long Island, NY and NJ. Looks like the restoral efforts are underway thankfully and hoping many others are going to get the power back soon. Still many people have lost their homes to the flooding or suffered other damage to their property and homes. We were very fortunate to not experience any home or property damage. Not sure about the marathon this weekend but it seems very, very unimportant right now. Not even sure how they are going to do that with all the airports closed and mass transit shutdown.

I've been a little absent here recently and I apologize.  Late last week I was feeling like I had been reduced to about 1/3 the energy I am used to having.  Last Friday night I slept for 9.5 hours and was still tired in the middle of the day and this NEVER happens for me.  I usually am completely fine with 7-8 hours sleep average every night.  I just felt trashed!  Sunday I felt much the same and even took a short nap while taking in a little bit of football.  I have no explanation for it other than I might have been tired from picking my training back up after a ow volume month.  It seems I have recovered now and I am feeling much better, just in time to start picking my running mileage up.

Karl,  I didn't want you to think I had missed your race either.  I was simply to tired to spend time commenting on much, although I kept up on the reading.  That said:

You race seems to have worked out very well regardless of where you finished in your AG.  As Matt said, this was your first race and it should have been something that you looked forward to finishing and putting in the books as a success in and of itself.  Don't get hung up on where you finished in your AG or overall.  BTW, I doubt very seriously that you finished last and there is much to be said for that.  You may have a long way to go to get to where you want to be but you are miles and miles ahead of the guy on the couch.  Your health is better because of your training, you probably have less stress in your life and your are likely a much happier person in general because of the dedication to training that you have taken.

Congratulations!!!!!! On a job well done.

Now, for the speed on the bike.  Interval, intervals and more intervals!!  Grab a trainer if you don't have one and focus on Jorge's cycling plan that was suggested by Samantha.  I used it last winter to get a strong focus and I feel like I made stupendous gains in my cycling ability.  Here's the link: http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/trainingplans-list.asp?h=1  Toward the bottom of the page is the description for the "Winter Cycling with Heart Rate" program.  Read about it from the links on this page, then download it to your personal training log.  There will also be a thread starting very soon if not already to help with questions.  I highly, highly recommend this program!

I'm glad to hear that you have gotten your power back.  That means that I can unpack my bags and sleep in my bed for a few more nights.  I was headed out there to make sure they took care of you but I'll just cancel my trip.

We have had our own outages to deal with from the storm but they are minimal in the grand scheme.  One of our subsidiaries has 120,000 out.  It is our Appalachian area in Va. and W. Va.  I am sending a partial crew there first thing tomorrow morning to assist wit the restoration.

As far as the marathon, I can't imagine a total cancellation, but I can certainly see it getting delayed for a couple of weeks.  In the meantime I wouldn't stop running or trying allowing your fitness to slip.  As soon as you know what they are planning on doing give us a quick post about their plans and we'll try to adapt something to make sure you stay in tune.

Lis keeps telling me to get a check up for a heel spur too.  Just in case.  I'm feeling fairly confident that it's PF from the things I've read and the treatments that have worked so far.

Your description of the achilles tendon pain is something that is foreign to my symptoms.  Although some time ago (February-ish) I had something like that going on.  I did a lot of stretching and was able to get totally rid of that problem.

BTW, doesn't cortisone help deteriorate muscle and tendon tissue?  If so would it be counterproductive to use this method of treatment?

I seem to be fighting off a cold.  It's very mild so I took the whole day off.  No sense in beating up my body after I beat it up on Saturday at the race.  There are so many people around here that are sick.  I might take most of tomorrow off, too.

In other news, today a surfer here was bit by a shark.  He was taken most of the way to the hospital by a fellow surfer that didn't know him.  He's expected to survive.  You should see the photos of his board!  Holy cow!

Dirk I hope you aren't working too hard and I can only imagine what these guys out here are going to go through the next two weeks trying to restore power. I know they will be working around the clock to get power restored to everyone. The damage is substantial. All I can say is I am grateful to all who are involved with the restoral effort. I know our power company LIPA doesn't have a great track record with these stroms but we all know that they are out there working round the clock to get everybody back up and we all appreciate there efforts.

As far as the marathon goes if they go this weekend I am ready and will be running if not I will have a plan B for it and will let you guys know as I always appreciate your advice and guidance.

Hang in there.  I used to live in NJ.  (BS from Rutgers.)  The pictures of places I used to go are horrifying.

Tony, thanks for checking in and letting us know you are OK and had no damage. Whew that was close!  Still praying for others from the storm.

Dirk, thanks for checking in on my race.    I will definitely have to get a trainer because it is getting cold.  Hope you are not to busy geting everyone their electricity back.  I will check out the site.

I want to do a 1/2 marathon Feb 2nd I think.  I can run comfortably 4 - 5 miles w/ long run being about 6.  I am currently running about 5 - 6 days a week but  the winter is here is it may be cut down...  in case ya'll don't know...  me and cold weather just don't get along...give me 90 and I'm good.  It was 43 today at 4:00 am and I couldn't go out.  kind of did yoga instead...

BTW, I did love my 1st tri.  I can't wait to sign up for another which I think will be March 30, then I want to do an olympic but have to swim more.

Ya'll all have a GREAT day!

Tracy thanks and it is pretty bad in a lot of areas. They are not exaggrating anything you guys are seeing on the news.

Where is the treadmill you will be running on?

As for that cold outside running...take it from a guy that lived and breathed running in Minnesota...I'm like you in that I hate stepping outside and being cold for the first mile.  So I would dress for the START of the run, not the rest of it.  We get warm and sweat all summer, why not winter too?  It's not like you will freeze to death if you get wet from sweat.  You just want to avoid getting sweaty then having to spend the night stranded in the woods! 

Since that won't happen, bundle up!  Or as an alternative you can do what I did.  I would put on 1 too many layers and run a 1 mile loop, drop the extra layer at the house, then do the rest of the run.  And Voila!  No freezing!

I also run a lot on the treadmill and have all the same issues with boredom as anyone else.  You must watch movies!!!!  I am fortunate that my Y has a cinema room that plays movies all day every day right in front of the treadmills.  I can go 8 miles during a good movie without remembering I'm running.

But you should always be able, at the very least, to put movies on an iPad via iTunes (for a whole winter of happy training it would be worth $150 for an old model iPad).  If you have WiFi at the location of the treadmill, you can just stream shows from HULU.

It has been known to weaken tendons.  The injection (according to my reading) is supposed to be guided by imaging so the needle misses the achilles and injects in to the bursa underneath.  Missing the bursa and injecting in to the tendon is considered potentially risky for the tendon.

The deleterious effects are only a concern (according to previous discussions with Doctors) if you have more than 2 or 3 per year.

Hey, checking in on a computer finally.  I still don't have the smartphone thing totally figured out, even though I work in high tech I'm generally a low tech person away from my job.

We're still in Dallas waiting for our flight which will get us back to New Hampshire tonight.  Minimal damage to our town and power is back on at our house, though a lot of people in the area are still out.  Kathy made it through ok, though the generator had some glitches.  Dirk, I think of you now whenever I see those brave lads working on power lines even before the storms are over.

I am also one of those weird ones who love running outside as winter sets in.  However, this year I will be doing some treadmill running for two reasons.  One is to do the form drills Jeff has suggested.  I think doing the energy conservation and relaxation drills really helped me become a more comfortable runner.  Also, I like the feeling on my joints of running on the treadmill occasionally.  It really feels like a running massage compared to outside running.

I still plan to get outside for the most part.  There is no bad weather, just bad apparel.  If possible, I prefer to dress really warm and shed as I go, either doing loops or dropping some stuff behind trees and such and going back later - that's weekend strategy.

Jeff, I know you are well versed in dealing with pain, and it sounds like you have a complete handle on what's going on. Understanding the difference between pain and injury is so important.  Though your ability to work through pain and continue to train is amazing.  One key for all of us to learn from Jeff is how he adjusts workouts and form to be able to train through some things which would send most of us to the sidelines.  But sometimes, the sidelines is the right place to go.

Tony glad to hear you are doing ok out there and Warren I hope you get home soon. I'd be getting a little anxious by now to say the least.

Tracey good call giving yourself a rest day.

I'm with Warren on running and weather. I've been running for so long now the weather is almost a non issue. I run outside in almost anything, although my husband forbids (or tries anyway) for me to run in lightening or on the trails when we have strong winds. I take that back, windy & cold days like we are having right now will keep me in on the treadmill. Sometimes if the weather is bad but I also can't face the treadmill I will just split the difference and do a little of both.

I have a short run and a bike ride on the plan for today. We have had some builders here since 7:00 this morning putting up the walls for our closet and bathroom in the basement which is also where my bike, trainer and treadmill are so I will have to wait until later. I don't really want to workout in all of that sawdust plus my daughter will have to come downstairs with me and she would put herself right in the middle of everything I'm sure . I am so excited about this project in the basement I can barely stand it!!!!!

I'm having some progress with my back too. I've been doing the isometric exercises the MAT therapist gave me after I swim and I am able to go on the rest of the day with zero discomfort! When I look back to where I was at this time last year I realize how far I have come. It's just been a very slow process.

Warren glad to hear you might be getting out of Dallas today and that your wife managed to get through the storm fine. Looks like the airports here in NY are slowly but surely starting to open with some limited service. Things here are still a big mess. I hope you get home soon and safely.

Dina good luck with your basement renovation project. Hope that things go well with that and it turns out how you hope and glad to hear that you are making progress with your back.

I can't believe they are still looking to proceed with the NYC Marathon. It just doesn't seem like the right thing to do with everything else going on here.