Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 158)

Tracy, good luck, let us know how it turns out!

Tony, Happy Birthday. 

Matt, great run.

Dirk are your running problems cured?  Nice run.

I'm getting a trainer for Christmas.  I've heard the Kirt or Kurt whatever it is, it is a fluid trainer is the best.  Any input?

Does anyone make make insulated water bottles that fits on a bike?  I'm thinking hot coffee on those cold mornings on the bike would be sooooooooo good.  I am so sick of winter I can hardly stand it!!!  I'm supposed to go on a 37 mile ride tomorrow but it is supposed to be 50 degrees, I'm not sure I'm going.  The guy I've contacted told me to put plastic bags over my feet.

I was at the bike shop and they guy there said wheels make a huge difference in speed.  He had me hold a standard starter wheel and I could feel the vibration while turning, it still turned easy, then I held a $350 wheel and it had no vibration and spun forever!  Would that make a big difference?  Also how durable are they?

Well I have officially started a 1/2 marathon training plan.  This is the 1st time I've ever had a plan, normally I just wing it.  Still looking for a pool to swim in that is heated.  I envy ya'll so much that have one!

Thanks all for the birthday wishes. I need to get my butt moving shortly and get my run in this morning. It looks pretty nice out there so I want to take advantage of that. I really want to eat without any guilt tonight and eat I will. I am definitely going to have a very large serving of ice cream!

Karl I have the Kurt Kinetic road machine. It is a very solid fluid trainer so you can't go wrong with that one. They just came out with a power meter for it as well so if you decide to get it you may want to consider that. It is pretty reasonably priced. I am thinking about getting the power meter for it today. The trainer I really want and I have been working on my wife for months now is the Computrainer but it is like $1500. That one you can basically ride all the major Ironman courses virtually and you can design your own courses. I am hoping to pick up a used one in March when I get my bonus (a good one I hope). I want it for the Ironman Wisconsin training. It will probably be the only way I get to ride the course before I do it.

mambos - 2012-11-16 9:07 PM Ok I think there is something wrong with me! I have found that I enjoy putting myself into misery! 7 mile run tonight on the dreadmill, as usual when the last mile comes I kick it up a notch, and then another not h, and then another notch, and then another notch! Started mile 7 at 6.5 on the speed, finished at 8.4 and loving it! It's a shame it's too dangerous to run hard all the time! . followed the run up with a 800yd drowning session! Tomorrow is at least 3 mile run and some time on the trainer, Sunday is a short run (no less than 11 miles)! Should be a easy weekend . . happy birthday tony

Matt way to go, very nice run on the trainer. Hope you are having better success with the swimming as well.

JoAnne welcome back and I am glad to hear that you are feeling better. Listen to your body and take care of yourself. There will be pleny of opportunity for redemption and you certainly have what it takes to do an Ironman. By the way I am guessing that you did not sign up for Florida Ironman 2013? I know it sold out in about a minute.

Today's been an eventful day but it has mostly revolved around the fire fighters death and funeral.  At about 9:15 this morning Lis and I were parked along the route that would take Asst Chief Haudenschild from the funeral home to the church where the service would take place.  There was about a half mile of fire apparatus in the procession that took about 10 minutes or so to process by.

We went to the grocery since we were on that side of town.  Then we had to rush home so I could get ready for the funeral.  I left the house pretty quickly after getting home (didn't even help put groceries away).

As I drove to the funeral I thought about all of the times I spent on a piece of fire apparatus en route to many different kinds of emergencies.  The things I felt.  The things I thought of.  The emotions that my mind would go through as we responded to accidents and fires.  I remember thinking about things outside of the response.  Things of family and friends.

I remember as Lis and I had kids that things seemed to take a bit of a change because everything wasn't about just me anymore.  I had to take care of a family.  What if I made a response to my own home or Lis and the girls were involved in a horrible accident.  Things took a turn for certain.  I also thought about what kind of emotions and suffering my family might have to deal with if I were to be killed in the line of duty.

Today I saw some of that pain.  But I also saw a true brotherhood come together in an overwhelming support of their family..................Their own family.  Hundreds of fire fighters from all over the state and out of state.  It was a very moving experience, yet one I am not interested in experiencing again in my lifetime.

10-7  - Out of Service

10-24  - Assignment Complete

Asst Chief Mark Allen Haudenschild - 686

I am still suffering some but it is slowly getting better.  I have massaged the scar tissue away and it is no longer an issue but I have some other stuff going on now that is a result of not allowing the healing to take place sooner.

The KK traininer are some of the best ones on the market, as I hear.  I don't have one myself but I am sure that most people would recommend one.

I definitely don't use coffee on the bike.  Coffee is a diuretic and would likely go right through you and you would have to find some place to have to get off the side of the road and leak.  Besides, if you dress correctly you wouldn't need to drink warm coffee to stay warm.

Here are my crazy, steady pace splits:

• mile 1 = 8:08
• mile 2 = 8:02
• mile 3 = 8:05
• mile 4 = 8:06
• mile 5 = 8:03
• mile 6 = 7:53
• mile 7 = 8:00
• mile 8 = 8:06

Sounds like a really great race Tracy.  A very solid showing on your splits and your time.

I love that you could find the right person to tag onto and be able to pace hard the whole way.  I have done something similar at a few races but I have never known the person I was trying to catch or just keep up with. 

Congratulations of a spectacular performance!

GREAT race Tracy.  Also let us know if your friend BQ's.

Tony, how was your birthday?

Dirk, glad you are better.

Karl thanks for ask it wound up being a really good day for me.  I got to go out to dinner with the family and a nice dinner and that large seving of ice cream last night all guilt free!

If you are interested in that Kurt Kinetic trainer check out Sunrise Tri. That is the bike shop that I use and they are really great. I buy stuff from them all the time. They are having a sale of the KK trainers. They also have packages where you can get the trainer and other KK accessories together. I believe the sale ends this week but may be worth checking out. I bought the KK power meter/bike computer yesterday from them on sale.

https://shop.sunrisetri.com/display/5302/0/

Chicago Fire.  I like the show quite a bit and it does a represent fire fighters in a fairly good light.  The loyalty is depicted very well from the shows I've seen.  The "you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us" attitude is one that is common among fire fighters.  When I was on we had a rivalry with another of our engine houses that bordered on foolish and stupid because there was a general disdain for each other.  "We're better than you!"  "No we're better than you!" thing had went on for years before I got on the dept.  BUT, if another department tried to mess with Engine House No.2 ("the other house")  you had better pack a lunch an bring an army because it was about to get real.

The actual fire fighting in general isn't even close really.  When you are inside a building involved in a fire it is impossible to see.  Here's an example of what it's like inside a normal house fire: turn out the lights and close your eyes.  What do you see?  Yeah!  That's what we would see.  Nothing!  A good fire fighter has the ability to use his other sense to a much higher level.  Touch is something that is vitally important as you are feeling your way through a building......Right hand search.....Left hand search.  Feeling the temperature changes is critical too.  You may or may not see some red/orange glow but you WILL feel the heat.  Ceiling temps in a normal house fire can exceed 1200 degrees and heat at the floor can be around 200-400 degrees in the room involved in a fire. 

I have been in fires that have softened and even partially melted some of the face protection used for auto extrication.  You normally keep all of your essentials in your turn-out gear and on your helmet for quick response to any incident.  I have an old leather helmet that I melted the bork shields to the point that they went from straight to curled from the heat.  (I have some pics of that helmet somewhere.)  I have also seen an SCBA mask (not mine) that bubbled from the high temps.  That mask was obviously removed from service.

Okay.  That must be way more information than you were looking for and not even much to do with what the original question was............Obvious ramblings of an old dog.

As Xterra sounds awesome.  I would love to do one myself some day but I would have to do it on a lead sled of a mountain bike.  A hand me down Murray as a matter of fact.  And I have no idea about any technical approaches to mountain biking either.

______________

On my own note:  I went ahead and placed an application in for the Wattie Ink team.  I don't expect to get on board with the elite team but if I did I can see some pretty big benefits if only for a year.  The down side for me would be that I have been asked to be on a local team and I would likely have to turn that down.  I may have a couple of things to consider if both offers end up on the table.

I put in my application, as well.  Slim to no chance.  No harm in applying, though.

Tony, thanks for the website. I'll put in a good word for you and maybe they will give you an extra discount on your next purchase. That trainer is actually about $120 cheaper than here is town.  The bike shop I use is good but EXPENSIVE.  I don't understand but I would rather make $40 on a sale than nothing...  Hey did you get the one with the extra 12lb weight?  What are the benefits???  Is it worth the extra cost?

Samantha, Xterra sounds fun.  I see a lot of them on TV and would love to do some but having that many bikes might cause problems....lol  Wife was OK w/ me getting a road bike, tri bike but getting a mountain bike too...not so sure about that one...lol

Dirk, thanks for sharing about the firemen.  That was very interesting!!!!!

Karl thanks and I will vouch for Sunrise Tri as well if you decide to use them are a good bike shop with a good group of people. They cater to the Tri community as they are more then just a bike shop and carry just about anything you need related to Triathlon.

I do not have the 12 lb flywheel just the standard KK road machine with the base riser for the front wheel. I did order the power meter but haven't gotten that yet. It's a great trainer. I guess the benefit of the heavier flywheel would be for simulating long endurance rides but I don't think you really need that. I think that would be for someone doing hardcore training via the trainer for endurance. I have done rides up to three and half hours on that trainer and it's just fine. However if you are training for the Tour de France you might want to consider it