MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 150)

Yes!  Although the last couple of days it's been raining here so I'm sticking to tri training and golf. I play in my first golf scramble tomorrow. I'm aghast that I've only been playing for two months and will be playing in front of other people - but I'm taking my friend Nancy (my mountain bike buddy) who is really good at golf. I figure her golfing greatness will cancel-out my suckage.

Glad you had fun in France - loved seeing the pics of your family have fun...it's so difficult to get the kids to go on vaca once they're grown. Our son has finally bought into the notion that vacation with your parents isn't a bad thing after all..especially since we pay for his! 

Yikes. Hope you and your wife feel better soon! As hard as it is for most triathletes, sounds like some rest is in order?

Thanks! I doubt whatever little bug we have is all that bad, she somatasizes pretty readily so assessing the severity of her symptoms accurately can be a challenge

I can soooo tell you're in the mental health profession  LOL!

GANG - Speaking of health problems, I am at an impasse. It seems like I constantly get UTIs, so I consulted a urologist and had a cystoscopy performed Tuesday. Everything looked good except I had another UTI! Didn't even know it.

Anyway, the urologist told me that the likely culprit is my bike saddle. Friction and bacteria - both ever present on long, hot rides, are conducive to UTIs in female cyclists. Male cyclists do not have this problem, btw. 

To make matters worse, if I keep taking antibiotics for these UTIs, the antibiotics will become ineffective at getting rid of the infection. The doctor said he sees a lot of women cyclists with this issue, and recommended bike shorts with thick chamois padding (I wear these), plenty of chamois butter (I have tried it but saw no improvement in comfort...just a icky squishy feeling), having my saddle adjusted to where it is less likely to rub (my saddle is tilted slightly forward as it is), and springs under the front of the saddle (that's not going to happen, not with the type of bike I have), and finally, drinking copious amounts of water during the rides and eliminating immediately after the ride is finished. I already drink copious amounts of water and due to my sweat rate, I rarely need to urinate after a long ride.

I'm pretty much at a loss. Any ladies here have experience with frequent UTIs caused by their bike saddle? 

TRINA -

Three things I'm sorry about:

1.)  Your continued bouts with UTIs, but it's very good you are working wuith the professionals on it.

2.) That I ahve no advice to offer.

3.) That my Celtics couldn't close out the sweries last night and have a date with yoru Thunder.  Of course, once that happens (which would be tomorrow night in Miami) then you and I will have to not like each other for as long as it takes for one team (no doubt the Celtics) to vanqucish the other.  Now, however, we get another 38 hours or so to be friends and play nicely with each other.   ANYHOW, congrats to the Sonics -- I mean Thunder!

JEFF -

Sorry to you, too, for your current bout of mulligrubs.  But that'll happen at the end of a long training period (as in months prepping for this), and also in the week leading up to race day.

And, of course, you DO know that anything you do between now (and even beginning several days back) and Sunday will confer absolutely no performance benefits come Sunday, and that your best chance for a best performance lies in getting rest and staying properly fed and watered.  And as race distances increase, the need for a soft taper week also increases, so if you are feeling panicky that you're not getting much training done this week AND feeling cruddy as well, don't; it's all good!  (Well, the feeling cruddy part isn't, but I'm assuming that'll improve by Sunday.)

That last parentetical comment is one I really mean, and not simply a throwaway booster-blab.  I have had many, many races in which race week has featured perceived injury and/or illness......and by race morning all is well.  I refer to these as "phantom" conditions, and I'm hard-pressed to explain them other than to think it's my mind running rampant as an important race approaches.  I sure can't explain why they miraculously disappear by race day when one might assume they would be at their worst, but blessedly it doesn't work that way.

I can't guarantee that what currently ails you will disappear within the next 44 hours, but if your psyche works like mine......you might well be in ideal form when your wave hits the water at KS70.3.  Here's hoping!

TRINA again -

I re-read the ITU post, and I hear you about fdrinking copious water and stll not needing to urinate after a long ride.  But what if....

....you "learned" to urinate while on the bike -- even when you didn't feel the need to?  Many triathletes are very adept at this, and the word on the street is that the woman find it vastly easier than do the men.  Yes, it's a but messy, but nothing that (a) a splash with a water bottle would help you yourself, and (b) that a quick clean on the seat post-race wouldn't solve. 

I know that sounds radical, and it's just a thought pertaining to the last suggestion he made.  But if the last thoight about eliminating immediately after a long ride is deemd helpful.....then maybe during the risde would help more?

Have you looked into this at the women's forum at Slowtwitch?  I'm sure it's been covered over and over through the years, as most people at Slowtwitch are incredibly free with their thoughts and opinions.  The women's forum beagn about 5-6 years ago and was set up so women could talk very openly about gender-specific matters, so I'm just guessing that your situation has been addressed there.

GO CELTICS!!

TRINA once more -

My wife, Lynn, is osteoporotic (showing signs of osteoporosis) and it took several years to begin to get this under control*.  It was first diagnosed when she was maybe 55-56, and she has stabilized by taking Alendronate, as well as supplementing with calcium and vitamin D and --- doing lots of dairy.  As for digesting it adequately or not, well, I think for people who have trouble, they know it; for the rest of us, we do fine enough to make it a non-problem.  If you digest diary well and enjoy it in its myriad forms, I feel fairly strongly that it can only help you.

*"Control" being measured by when test results showed stabilization, as opposed to continued decline.

STEVE,  

I know you are working your way through the long list of posts, but just in case you miss me, ,  I responded to this one near the bottom of page 186.    I have more thoughts to add to that post now. 

Glad to hear skipping the race isn't bothering you much.   That's a good sign.  

We haven't given the National Capital trip any further thought right now.   Too focussed on Binbrook, Leamington, maybe Welland and then Edmonton.   I do know the bike will be more along the line of time versus distance.  Your suggestions sound great about heading down to the St. Lawrence and taking a dip in your old swimming hole.   I would want to tag along for sure.  

Going to send another post about Binbrook now.

JOHANNE -

Glad you're back again (jeez, i wish you'd stay put more!), and your return to action has been impresssive.  The first day was a good choice with the esay run and swim.....and as for that bike ride, well, you know what they say: "If it doesn't kill you it will make you stronger."  3325ft of climbing is quite challenging (who are these women, anyhow?!?), and the fact that you pulled it off (and it didn't kill you!) after the travel layoff speaks really well of your pre-trip fitness levels.  Kudos, kiddo!

Let me know how the knee fares on those runs.......and enjoy the OWS!!  I have now done a whopping 12 since May 18, with #13 slated for later today.  Last year was far more typical, with the first being on May 29 and just 5 or 6 by this point in June.  Some aspects of Global Warming can't be beat!

Your mention of pastry leads me to comment that on Wednesday I made it under 170 for the first time this season, and it correlates with a reduction in pastry/pie/sweets over the past five or six days.  I had been bopping around in the 172/173 range for quite a while, so the swoop to 169 was more suddent than I expected.  It is tied-in somewhat to an increase in workouts, too, so I guess it's not just a result of decreased sinfoods. 

Anyhow, I'm happy to be there (sub-170) again!  many years it doesn't happen until into August, although last year it was also early.  I generally feel my ideal racing weight is 165-168.....although i haven't gotten below 163.5 (and that for just a day or two last year) to judge how that would work for me.  I have no inclination to get that low, just because, at 6'2", I suspect it might border on being unhealthily light.  Not sure, but not about to work hard to test it, either!

Enjoy the OWS!!!

Other than the mystery pain in my left ankle I am feeling better. The forecast now has settled on a comfortable 90 degree high and the hourly has that occurring about 3pm. I should be done well before then. Most of the bike will be in the upper 70's into the 80's, the run will be in the mid to upper 80.s Winds south at 12 with gusts to 24. I am about to head for the Farm soon then to Lawrence in the morning

Thanks!  I think it will be a good season, just need to start getting consistent about training.  Sounds like you had an amazing trip... What are your race plans for the season.  Right now my A-Race is Nations Aqua-Bike but am looking at a few sprints before then...

Alex

ANNE -

Yes, I hadn't yet gotten back to those posts.  My progress is as leisurely as the drfiting of the continents!

Second things first:

--Raw would've helped, like by a lot....but I'm not suere i would like it as much.  But knowing you are revelling in it make sme want to check it out in decent detail.  Keep bugging me about it!

--Lynn has a dehydrator and has used it for prepping for her canoe trips.  It works really well to make big things small!

Onwards!

STEVE- THANKS!  I really appreciate the analysis.  It is something I don't really know how to do yet, looking at hr and effort over time...

I don't plan on giving up my attempts at running.  I know what I really need to do is get miles into my body.  They don't have to be "running" miles but I think if I can condition my body to run/walk I could get better at it. -- And it probably wouldn't be as painful on my knees.

I think after reading your thoughts that I did work pretty hard the previous 3 miles before hitting the wall... I need to keep track of my output and see if I go out too strong and don't really know how to pace myself for that length of a race.  Which may definitely be the case since I haven't raced that distance before. 

My legs feel pretty good, I swim tomorrow morning and will do a longer ride on Sunday.  It is Monday when my more aggressive training schedule will start.

I want to take a look more closely at my data as well and start tracking my training HR more closely to see what strides I can make.

Thanks!

Alex

STEVE,

The weather is looking a bit better for Binbrook, in that the thunderstorms are predicted for late in the afternoon and the forecasted winds have died down.    Now calling for 15* (I think), cloudy and rainy with 15 km/hr west winds.   The route has alot some westerly riding but lots of south, east and north too. 

I got some rubbing on my right heel on Tuesday (top of heel/base of achilles) and the skin rubbed right off the little blister that formed.    Now I have to figure out what shoes to wear and how this will affect my running.   I don't want to wear the shoes that did it because they will just aggravate it further.    I bought the new racers I wanted yesterday (Saucony Kinvara) and the heel bed is nice and low and no bulk at all to it and actually sits just below the affected area, but when I run it will touch it.

Ken doesn't want me to race in them, but the owner of Runner's Choice feels that won't be a problem if a get at least a little run with them today.     But I also don't really want to wear them in the rain and mud tomorrow. 

Plus, I'm know going to have to wear socks, (yuck) and at some point should probably have a bandaid or something on it. 

And I don't really want to wear the clunkers I wore for the HM even though I probably should, for the comfort factor.

HELP!

Even more so today, I'm deciding that this event won't be a 'race' for me.   The swim is going to be a real joke.   Was in the water once this week.   Around the Bay and then HM really screwed up my training schedule and although I feel fit enough, am feeling insecure about not following the training program properly.    I'm hoping the next 3 races will somehow correlate into a solid training effect for Edmonton. 

As I expected, I am in the last (5th) wave - women 45+.   From the sounds of it there might be 200-250 in this event.  Not huge.   I'll be lucky if there are 3 in the 60-65 group.    I should be happy about that - I could still suck and come in 3rd.

I am still looking forward to tomorrow, just don't expect much.  

ANNE again -

I just noticed that your posts were just a few above the one from JOHANNE that I just responded to about 10 minutes ago....so i wouldn't've been far behind even if you hadn't just prodded me!

I will look at your log later for the nitty-gritty factoids about your super bike-run session on Tuesday, but as you describe it, it sounds 100% perfect in a few different ways.  The paces are superb, and the mellow HR that went with them make them even more tasty.  The 7.5km at Binbrook should be a very good test of what you can sustain, and I'm not sure if it's better or worse that the Binbrook run isn't 5km.  That would've been a great test for short, but the 7.5 will give you an indication of where you'r eat right now, looking forward to longer stuff later on.  It'll also keep you restrained, which at this stage in your progress might be a better thing than pushing limits -- and especially with Leamington coming up next weekend.

And watch that uneven grass!  No need to twist anything before your tomatoland trip!

I am off to Syracuse Sunday morning, and gave some fleeting thought to looking into openings at Binbrook and doing that an then heading over to Syracuse....but that seemed too crazily convoluted.  And with that forecast, well, I hope you have fun riding in those winds!  At least at some point they will be at your back, but starting off by going into them is not ideal.  Not the end of ther world, though, either, and it'll be a good time to see how small you can make yourslef and how "tight" your tuck can be.  Think "armadillo"!

I'm glad you'll be along for the post-NationalCapital ride.  I am still playing around with routes and distances, but knowing that it sounds good to you and Ken to make it to the St.L will nudge me to try to make that work.  I know you don't want to think about that too much now......but it would be for the Sunday, yes?  I ask because I am thinking of racing elsewhere on Saturday (Nat Cap day), but I haven't signed up and don't have to if you would want to do it Saturday afternoon as a "logical" dessert after Nat Cap!  let me know, just roughly, what you are thinking of for timing, when you get the chance.

Wanna PM me your address (again?)?  I have some stuff to send you.

Looking for some guidance as I get ready for my first tri of the season -- it's two weeks from tomorrow.  Sprint event with 400 yards in the pool, about 13 miles on the bike, and a 5K.  Last year I did 11:19 on the swim, 18.2 mph on the bike, and averaged 8:28 per mile on the run.  Effort last year was a slow build with pushing the run fairly hard until the cramps hit me.  Figured out the cramping was a result of hydration and fixed that issue by the end of last season.

So here's the deal, I know that I can go out steady / treat this as a medium-hard effort work out and probably top the times from last year.  I'd feel great afterwards and it would be a good start to the year.  My training's been really consistent (bike's a little light) and I feel 100% prepared.  The alternative is to kick it up a notch -- including a near red-line effort on the run.  I'm pretty sure that I'll be fine doing so, BUT I've not done and red-line efforts and I'm spooked about potentially hurting myself.

FWIW, this AM I did 1000 yards in the pool very easy and held a 2:37 pace and then rand 3 miles at what felt like a medium-easy effort at an 8:44 pace (http://connect.garmin.com/player/186781737). 

I'm about 95% certain I'm going to avoid the red-line stuff and enjoy the day.  Further, think the smartest thing to do (long term) is to use the same approach for all of this season.  This is my third year doing tris and the first where I have been really diligent.  My cardio conditioning is awesome -- literally do not think I have ever had this sort of stamina in my life.  On the down side, my strength is a bit off and my speed is abysmal (ultimate irony in that I always played the power sports and was the fastest guy on the team).

Appreciate any insights on how to approach next week, the season, and the long term development path for tris.

ANNE once more -

I'm with Ken.  Not trying something new on race day is great advice, especially when it is something that messes with one's biomechanics.  That would be bike adjustments....and shoes!  Unless you have been running in something that has a low heel-drop, as does the Kinvara, it could cause problems for your Achilles -- especially if you are thinking about "speed" at all.  But even without speed, the low heel-drop is aking the Achilles ot do more work, and requesting that for 7.5km is asking a lot.  In fact, I would say that unless you have been in a shoe with a similar profile, you should (a) alternate shoes for a couple of weeks (or maybe 8-10 total runs), and (b) ramp up distance VERY slowly.  For the latter, that might be along the lines of 1.5km, then 2km, then 2.5km, then 3km, then 4km, then 5km in the Kinvara.

Of course, all that changes if you have been in a low-profile running shoe, but if not then I'm sticking to what i just said.  I know that's not what you really want to hear.....and it's possible that you could wear them tomorrow and run in them with impunity forever.....but on a ridk-benefit scale I see the risks as being huge.  Achilles problems can resolve incredibly slowly, and given how far you have come it would be worse than a shame to see it go down the tubes so suddenly.

Anothe rthougyt is that even though you got a blister from Tuesday, those shoes work well for you -- that is, you can run crisply in them.  So now it's a matter of nursing the heel to allow you to do Binbrook tomorrow without having a disaster* down there.  A band-aid is one idea.  Vaseline is another.  BodyGlide is a third.  All three together is a fourth. 

Changing tack some, one of those small donut things, used for corns, might help.  If you can afix it successfully, it will isolate the affected area within the hole of the donut, and you shouldn't feel a thing.  Afixing might involve tape being over it, but that'd be okay, right.

Another option is to cut away the part of the show that did the rubbing.  as I read your description, I see it as being right at the top of the heel collar, so a small area there is expendable -- especially if the shoes are destined to be bumped by the Kinvaras.  You could either cut away an expanse of the top of the heel collar, or it might be enough to just make a small vertical slit so the heel collar had some "play" via that opening.

Were it me in your shoes (and with your blister), I would go the bandaid/BG/Vaseline route AND the show-surgery route.  I also would not wear socks, figuring that is just a different source of rubbing/friction --- and hoping that I did the bandiad thing correctly.

Finally, Kinvaras aside, are you in two shoes currently?  I see a mention of "clunkers" at the HM, and I wonder if the ones that you were wearing on Tuesday were something less clunkerish.

Finally-finally, I just re-read your post and see that even in the Kinvaras, they will touch the blistered area.  So, NO!  No,no,no,no, NO!  NO KINVARAS AT BINBROOK!   The risks are huge, and even if you do a small run in them today, jumping up to 7.5km is way, way, way too much --- unless you are used to low-profile, low-heel-drop shoes already!!  (I love having the option now to use differnet fonts and stuff.......although you probably just want to strangle me!)

Finally-finally-finally, the Kinvaras WILL in due course be great shoes for you.  You have the non-weight to handle them really well, and no serious biomechanical issue to get screwed up by them (racers can be a poor choice for moderate to severe over-pronators).  You going to Kinvaras is simialr to me going to newtons back in late '07, and try to remember the times (and details) I have mentioned in posts the problems I had with the Newtons initially (and for many months, actually).  One of the smartest things I ever did was stick with them.....but that was difficult because one of the dumbest things I did was transition into them way too quickly.  So..........

Off  my soap-box now!

Have fun at the scramble. When Nancy hits that great shot and everyone is looking at the ball, you can run over and take her place No one will ever know! I golfed for a while when we lived in Kansas City but it just takes too long for me. I have a short attention span

France was amazing! For my kids, since they are all adults now, the only obstacle they face between going and not going are work/school schedules. I think they will vacation with us forever if we pay their way. If you ask my husband, that's not happening! It's fun to have them though. We all like spending time together. At one point all 3 of our kids were in steady relationships so we all went on a little local cruise together. We expected them to ditch us all day but we told them we wanted to all meet for dinner each night. As it turns out, we couldn't get rid of them during the day! Good memories in the making

I think urinating on the bike couldn't hurt (at least once you get used to it!). One of my Wednesday riding girls never gets off her bike during a race, she just pee's away. If you are drinking a lot of water while riding and you don't have to urinate right after the ride maybe you just need more water to keep everything flushed? Maybe try drinking a bunch before and during so you have to flush things out during the ride or at least as soon as you're done.

That's all I've got I haven't had any ITU problems.

Johanne

The bike ride didn't kill me and I really NEED to get stronger! My Wednesday group is awesome. I love riding with them and I'm totally the weak link but they always come back for me They are a group of multiple IM finishers and strong climbers. One of the girls just did IMTX in 11:24 and was 9th in her AG. She is very modest and did all her training while her very young kids were in school. They make the rides fun for me

I cut my 1:15 run to 45 min this morning. I felt good but thought I'd be conservative and cut it a little short since I have some big training this weekend. I felt pretty good. I only had some little twinges in the knee in some downhills but overall I felt good. I'll see how it does for Sundays run and go from there.

I envy you for all the ows's you've done! My closest water we can legally swim in is 45 min away so it's just not convenient. Tomorrow Dave and I are going with a friend to a canal that our friend swims in. I'm just looking forward to not turning every 25 yards!

Good job on the weight loss. You tend to be lean naturally just don't let yourself get too skinny! I think I have most of what I gained in France off. I'll wait to get on the scale Monday to see.

Did you ever get your MRI results back?

Johanne

I have an oly in 2 weeks, then I'm going to call the Vineman 1/2IM my A race and IMAZ my big A race In between I think I'm going to do another oly and another 1/2. Disney 1/2 marathon for fun in September and I want to get some local OW swim races just for more experience there.

I love racing and I usually have a hard time resisting clicking on that 'register' button but with IMAZ I really want to keep a good focus on training and not have to taper/recover so much. Signing up for that race was scary enough. Instead of signing up for another HIM in the fall like my plan has me do, I might just set one up locally with help from my local workout friends and Dave. Then I'll save some $

When is Nations? You come out my way for business don't you? Let me know the next time you have a trip planned and we can try to meet up.

Johanne 

We're about at the same tri experience level so I'm not much help

My gut says that this early in the season there isn't any reason to red-line. You've got some great speed on the run already. You have to be pretty happy with your conditioning. Your consistency has sure paid off!

STEVE,

OK, you convinced me.     No Kinvaras tomorrow.    Ken bought some bandaids that are called Advanced Healing Blister Cushions with an oval shape and they stay on forever even in water.   I've been wearing it all day and wore the Saucony Fastwich (Tuesday's race shoe that caused the blister) and it felt good but I didn't run.   I tried smashing down that part of the heel but didn't go further than that.   These shoes still do have a lot of wear left in them.   I bought them a bit before I stopped running and I quite like them. 

The clunkers I was talking about are the Brooks trainers I bought last September to do the walking marathon program and ran in those for AtB and the Ottawa HM.  2 pairs of the same shoe but one with wide width.   They served me well but they ARE heavy.

I am officially NERVOUS now and kind of freaking a bit.   I will be OK once the race starts; at least I used to be. 

My bag is packed is bike is ready, at the door.   Having another 'can't believe it moment'.