Asphalt Junkies Spring 2013 - Closed (Page 24)

Due to the green eyes, the name Jade comes to mind.

Beautiful dog!

Since it hurts walking, definitely don't run.  Minimize walking/standing as much as you can and/or figure out a way to remove that pressure when walking.  For instance, the right pair of shoes or sandals might help, or one with a higher or lower heel...or walking around on the heel of that foot, keeping the toes off the ground as you walk around the house....anything to minimize the amount of stress being put on it at this point in your injury cycle.  That will give you maximum heeling speed.

Dina I'm looking back it right now and thinking I am going to take today off. I'm honestly so toasted from that work out yesterday when I looked at that week 6 day 1 workout I'm like there is no way I can do that that way I feel today. I'm even passing on the swim toady I am that worn out.

On the puppy front we have cleaned up a lot and did as much puppy proofing as we could. Now we need to hit Petco and start knocking down the list of things we need. We are going to bring her home on Saturday. I really would like to do it sooner but we need to make sure we have everything ready for her. I'm hoping the training and housebreaking is going to be a little less challenging than with a 6 week old pup but I'm sure it will be a challenge none the less.

Hey Samantha how are you feeling today? It sounds like you've been falling apart on us lately. Have you had to dial back an on the 100 run in 100 days or have you been able to stay with it?

Had a swim meet on Saturday.  I swam 7 events.  (the max of 5 individual and 2 relays)  The first and only one that was important to me was the 500 yd freestyle because I like to use that to gauge my fitness.  I was a little disappointed with my performance because I really felt like I was at a new level right now with my swimming.  Both from recent practices and even during the race itself.

The shoulder was a non-issue, although one of my events was the freestyle relay.  When I raced my 50 in that I only swam at about 100 yard race pace tops.  Here is a historical perspective from my past times in this same meet in the 500.  Notice how I've struggled to improve over time. 

'08  8:35, '09  7:56, '10  7:55, '11  7:36, '12  8:03, '13  7:33

But this year's race experience was far different than any in the past.  Usually I start to suffer early and by the halfway point I'm swimming half alive and half dead with oxygen debt.  This time the race felt like it should, comfortable at first and gradually building in pain until the last 100 was very painful but no pace drop off.

I also did the 100 breast, 200 breast, 100 back, 200 back, the breaststroke of the Medley relay.

I warmed up by running 3 miles and then swimming for 10 minutes prior to the 500....after that I didn't do any re-warmup for the rest of the events because I didn't race them hard.  I was just after left-over team points in those events.

I KNOW!  I was actually thinking about this... I didn't have any notable problems over the summer/fall, and suddenly I'm having all these issues over the winter!  I guess it's good it's happening now?!  Maybe I need to go back and check what the difference was.... well for the swimming it's because I wasn't swimming much back then, and for the hip I'm wondering if it's just been so long since I've seen someone about it (I don't think I went at all over the summer), maybe it's time to get back in for consistent regular visits.  I am actually very much considering giving physical therapy a try again (I was not pleased the first time) and see if I'll have a better experience this time around.  My hips obviously didn't fix themselves over the past year (my hips are misaligned which is part of the problem), so for prevenatitive purposes, I am thinking to get this a bit better.

For the 100/100, it may be slightly wise to cut back on some runs, but.......... not yet!!! I will keep them all at the minimum this week, with no intensity. (unless I run into major issues of course...) I've recently been doing around 25-28 miles per week which is not something that's foreign to me, so I just don't really think that is the sole reason, although it could be the contributor.  Before starting it, I think I did a few weeks of around 20mpw.  Also for this most recent butt issue, I believe the squats I did (free motion machine) contributed to it.  I don't think the long run I did earlier in the week helped, as previous to that it had been nearly 3 weeks since I had done a long run.  Generally, based off of what my chiro/ART specialist said, I feel my butt muscles became fatigued, which could make sense based on this stuff I mentioned. 

My elbows don't hurt with typing!  But I should still try to minimize any movement which were previous irritators because I'm not completely healed quite yet!

Samantha, thanks for the update.

Jeff, you are an animal or should I say dophin!

Jeff, thanks for sharing how you warmed up.  That is an area I've always pondered about- how to warm up before a triathlon. 

What does everyone do as a pre-race warmup?

HEY!  No more man bashing or I'm going to have to come over there and take a bike ride with you two! 

Hahahaha!!!! 

1. The arch of your foot could be related to the plantar fascia being strained but the ankle would seem to indicate something else.  The arch sounds similar to some of the pain I have had as I have dealt with my PF.  You could do normal stretching exercises used for the calf muscles.  One I have been doing for a short time is placing my toes against a wall, about 4-6 inches above the floor and dropping my heel to the floor and allowing that to help stretch the plantar and soleus muscles.
2. Cadence sensors are pretty easy to install but I kind of agree with Tony.  You might check with the LBS to see if they will install it for free and take advantage if available.  Something to keep in mind about wireless is that many of them have speed indicators that work from the front wheel and if you try to use them on the back wheel they don't work well.  It seems they don't have the signal strength to make it back to the cockpit of the bike with any effective strength.  This is not the case with all of the wireless models but something to consider.

I've also had to put in a lot of thought about it.  I just can't be simultaneously primed for all 3 events.  In some races I have tried a triple warmup, but it takes so long with all the other pre-race setups that it's extremely difficult to fit it all in.

But when I have done it, I felt like I was back to square 1 coming out of the water anyway.  So for a while I settled on just getting in a very good swim warmup.  But I found out through my swim meets that running is a perfectly fine warmup for swimming.   You would think that the arms need a warm-up but swimming distance seems to need relatively little arm muscle such that the muscles can warm up just fine during the early part of the race.  Your mileage may vary, but my arms are never a warmup issue.  I've never felt them get fatigued or bloated with lactic acid early in any swim.

If you ever do a run/swim combo workout you may notice the same thing....just change or strip to your bathing suit and get in the pool and swim at triathlon race pace and see for yourself. 

Although I do always go through a shoulder loosening process.  This is easily done after you are called to the starting line.  I usually do some pushups.

Even when I've done a cycling warmup I don't feel that I still have my cycling legs primed once I get done swimming, so I just have to let my legs burn and yell at me for a while at the beginning of the bike segment.  I sort of  yo-yo my legs during the first mile or two.  This just means that I ride until my legs are burning then back off and soft pedal until it subsides, then do it again.

And I'm talking about short, intense races here.  Doing a longer race (either Oly or HIM depending on your level) the pace is slow enough to work in to it gently without needing any huge warmup anyway.  But warning: always do some warm-up before the swim.  Don't start the swim without your cardiovascular system primed...this may be the cause of many of the triathlon deaths that we've seen over the years.

Samantha to be honest I did very little warmup before any of my tri's this past year. I think I was so nervous and so worried about having everything I needed and set up properly I sort of neglected my warmup, it really was an after thought. After reading Jeff's post though I should really reconsider that. I know I should be doing some type of warmup though. It's good that you brought this up.

I warm-up by peeing in my wetsuit...does that count?

No..in all seriousness, I get out there and do one loop of the swim course for short distance stuff.  Get a feel for the start of the race and get my bearings.

OMG....You're so funny!  All of my triathlons have not allowed swimming the course.  Total bummer.

I talked to a local Coast Guard guy (who is a rescue swimmer) last summer about this very subject.  He said that I should get used to doing several push ups before the start time.  That's all the warm up he gets in the confines of a helicopter when heading out.  I'm going to try his approach this year.

This question is meant for the whole group but I'm really targeting Karl.

Since I am not running due to a hurt foot, I want to keep some of my leg power.  I'm turning to strength training.  Besides using the leg extension machine and hamstring curl machine, what other strength exercises can I do that will not involve my ankle joint and support strengthening the muscles used for running.

I'm riding my bike but I can't do much hammering.  It hurts.  Zone 2 efforts are my max right now.

Tracy here are a few thing for you to try, I've never dealt with ankle issues so you can try them and if they hurt stop doing them.

Barbell squats, toes slightly pointed out, going down to at least your thighs parallel to the ground.  Then do narrow stance, toes pointed to the front, can't go as low here.  Don't go real heavy on any as form trumps weight here, you do not want to hurt your lower back.

Leg presses, narrow and wide.  Rep out here, if you put your feet higher on the rack, it has less ankle movement.

Walking lunges holding dumbbells are really good but these might hurt your ankle.

old standby, lean against a wall, feet about 2 feet from the wall (knee should make a 90 degree bend) thighs parallel to the ground and hold it.

If you can't do any of these, try this, get a bar or dumbbells but get a moderate weight for you and put it on the floor.  Now with your knees slightly bend and feet shoulder width apart pick it up keeping your back straight and stand up, keeping your knees slightly bent and put it down to where it almost touches the floor and stand back up.  Repeat 10 reps for 3 sets

I have more but try any of these and if they don't hurt do them a lot but not every day as it takes time to heal.  That is the problem I had with running, I thought you should run 2 - 3 times per week, which the Junkies finally got in my hard head that I was wrong but it is true for lifting.  I would work your legs no more than 2 - 3 times per week depending on how heavy you go.  Real heavy 2 times, light maybe 3.

Let  me know if any of these work out for you.  Good luck Wish I was there to show you in person.

one more thing, I know wife never got the pic posted here on lacing her shoes but she did get it to upload on her page.  She is Pink Socks you can see the pic of her lacing. She was doing ultras and marathons and the top of her foot was blistering.  We are fortunate here that the running shoe store owner won Silver in the Olympics a while back and now is working closely with Florida State track team and they give lots of info back and forth.

Anyway, this cured her problems with the blistered and swelling of the top of her foot.  If you want to get directions for lacing them ask her.  I do not lace mine that way because it is ugly and I'm not having the problems she had but then again I don't do ultra's.

Yes - peeing in your wetsuit counts. LOL. At least that is what my dad has always told me to do once i get in the water with a wetsuit on and he has been surfing in wetsuits for over 40 years.

I think I could really benefit from a swim warm up before my wave starts - it just sucks that the women's waves are usually last, so we are waiting around for up to 10 minutes sometimes.

K- I can post the pic on here if Pam will e-mail it to me.

Hey Junkies-

Just checking in. I am flying home tomorrow and am so anxious to get back into my regular routine. I've been stretching regularly and doing some excercises at the park everyday where I take the kids to play, but I am itching to get some good workouts in. My grandmother broke her hip in November and is in a convalescent facility - while visiting her yesterday I got to help her with physical therapy and had a blast. I have much more respect for phyysical therapists now. I realize there are those people who are like us - desperate to recover while still training and people that are the opposite - those who no desire to get better or undergo the challenge of rehab. Time to go - before my Hubby furrows his brow cause I am on the computer when I am supposed to be on "vacation." LOL.

Good idea to replace the running with something productive.  Too often an injury sidelines us and we lose the discipline or habit of that training time.

Leg extensions are very important for a runner!  Kudos.

Also consider working your hip flexors!!  There are usually a variety of cable machines in the gym and they should have a variety of attachments, at least one of which will hold your foot or ankle so you can work your hip flexor. 

See if you can work your glutes.  There may be a machine that allows you to isolate your glutes.  If not, see if you can do leg presses with your toes in the air and only your heels touching the apparatus.  That should keep your foot from being stressed (maybe).