SBR Utopia Season II - OPEN (Page 50)

Yeah don't mess around with chest pain... I would know.

Seriously Jason, you're a smart guy. Chest pain???  And racing with a hx of several days of chest pain of unknown etiology does NOT sound like a great idea imo. Get it checked out. It may well not be anything serious, but it is one of those "don't ignore" symptoms. Even in a young guy.

As a doc who doesn't practice (been a long time since I went back into business), I have a very high bar before I'll go in and get checked or send anyone from my family in.  Chest pain is on that very short list, though.  At least call your doc., if you can.

Just my tuppence, and I know you didn't ask - but you did post it up, so there you go.  

Agree it's likely nothing serious, but the balance between probability and severity (on the off chance it is not benign musculo-skeletal) tips to getting it checked out - again, IMO.

I hope you're 100% OK and that you get cleared to rip off some legs tomorrow!

Matt

Not really sure how much help the VI metric is in the first place. The reasons for the separation are not apparent by the value given and it's something I can see just be looking at AP and NP anyway (though others may not be able to as easily).

And that's another good thing you brought up. VI reflects the separation there, but what tends to happen when any (or all) of those things  come on stronger is that you'll work sorta near where you were, maybe a little less, but tend to find more reasons to coast or soft-pedal at times bringing more zeroes or low values.

Had a great race today.  2:21 Olympic with a slightly short swim and slightly long bike.  My 10k run time was a PR - open or tri - at 45:10.  First out of the water, first off the bike and 4th overall (out of a whopping 19 entrants....).  3rd place passed me with 400 meters to go but at least I forced him to run a 37 min 10k to do it.  

The crazy part was my saddle nose tilting down about 10 mins into the race.  This is what I had to ride on for an hour.

(saddle-tilt.JPG)

Thanks!  It dropped most of the way all of a sudden and then slowly dropped a bit more over the course of the ride.

I know right!  Hard to compete against those 37' 10k dudes.

Nice job Arend! And you still managed to be first off the bike with that seat position. If we start seeing guys riding with the nose pointed down we'll know who started the trend. Congrats on the 10k PR! 

Sweet PR Arend!  To max out any run distance on a tri is impressive...

Sounds like it was a great race, but remember:  RR or it didn't happen.  

(wrote that before checking, so if one is up, then shame on me!)

And I thought all saddles were supposed to be like that, no?

Matt

Thanks for the wise words regarding the chest issue I was going through.  I didn't manage to see a doctor yesterday as the pain had completely gone away by Saturday morning.  I had the choice of going into the ER, but I wasn't sure what the point was given my pulse, and blood pressure (I checked it while at a drug store in the morning) were all normal the entire time and I couldn't duplicate the pain. 

When the pain was still around Friday night I did a series of self tests to make sure it only occurred while inhaling.  Holding my breath for short periods, breathing more frequently or taking really deep breaths.  The common theme was that the pain only occurred when my ribs expanded and hurt more the bigger breathe I took.  I also could simulate the pain by pressing on my breast bone so I was pretty confident it was a skeletal/muscular pain and not organ related.  I admit that "it's better safe than sorry," and that going to the ER just in case was probably the smart thing to do but do as I say and not as I do.  In hindsight though, looking back at it now, I realize I shouldn't be taking these things lightly.  I'm glad it was nothing.

That said, I did make an appointment to see my pcp for a general checkup and will follow up with some questions.  As I mentioned before, it has been something I have experienced in the past, but just for much shorter periods of time (less than 5 minutes).  I figure the general checkup is a good idea overall as I head into Kona.

And on a racing note, I managed a 2nd place finish at the RR.  It was raining all morning, and really hard for short periods at times...just my luck.  But the race broke up pretty quickly and everyone was being careful on the tight turns so it wasn't that bad. 

I was surprised at the guy who won...as he's a bigger guy and I've TT'd faster than him in previous races...but he was on form and blew me off his wheel shortly a few miles after I got away with him.  I waited for one guy that was chasing and worked with him for a while before dropping him with 8 miles to go.  Another guy was charging hard the last 4 laps and almost bridged back up from over a minute down on me but I was able to soft pedal in the last 100 meters and still take 2nd by 7 seconds.  Winner was up by like 5 minutes...crazy performance on his part.  195 watts AP and 238 NP for 1:48:xx.

Power was actually a lot lower than I was thinking going into the race.  I was thinking it would be closer to 210 AP and 250-255 NP.  But the first 10-13 miles were at a pretty crazy pace.

Firs 38 minutes - 215 AP, 267 NP

And within that, there was an 11 minute section where the race broke up where I was at 249 AP and 280 NP.  So yeah...that really put me in the hole, the last hour my power really dropped off, but the break had been made and positions were established.  That's bike racing though.

With less than 100 entrants spread over the Olympic, sprint (tri and du for both) it was lonely at times.  For the first loop of the bike there were other riders around but once I started the second loop it was me and the road for quite a while.

Good to hear that you are going in to see the doc. An occasional stop in to see them is not such a bad idea. Especially when one is feeling pains and such.

I dunno, sometimes the space is kind of nice, especially with a looped course.

So 13 months, dozens of x-rays, two MRI's, and knee surgery later, my knee doesn't seem to be getting any better.  I had another MRI last week and talked with my doctor about it on Friday.  He said the good news is that I don't appear to have any cartilage damage or signs of arthritis....everything looks good.  The bad news, of course, is that we still have no idea why I'm having problems with it.  He said we could try PRP, but he's not entirely confident about it, as we don't know what's causing the pain.

I asked him if he thought I'd damage anything by running on it and he said he didn't think so (hard to answer given that we don't know what's causing the pain...).  So I've decided to do a solid month of running and evaluate then.  If it doesn't get better and the pain is manageable, I'll probably try to keep running on it.  If it gets worse or the pain is intolerable, I'll strongly consider PRP.

So in an effort to be smart about it, I went out and tried on a pair of Hoka One Ones....they look seriously dorky, but they are nice and cushy, so I bought a pair and have done a couple short runs in them.  My plan is to run five days a week, starting with 10 minute runs each day.  I went to a high school track (again, trying to be smart and not run on concrete...) and ran Saturday and Sunday.  I notice my knee for most of the run, but so far it seems manageable.  Guess we'll see over the course of the month.

Oh, and I got back on my bike this weekend.  My power is embarrassingly low, so I suppose it's a good thing that I'm fairly small....embarrassingly low power output = relatively quick.  Hopefully that number grows

Agreed that sometimes the pain cave is more hospitable when alone.

But... is it just me that finds another gear more easily when I know either I have to bridge up or that I'm being chased?  I find that when there are no visible riders or runners in front or behind (provided there is a long straight/clear section on which to check, or an out and back) that I push hard but not HARD.

Maybe it's a sign (one of many, I'm sure) of a lack of mental fortitude on my part. 

Having said that, let me straddle the fence again immediately.  After my last race (Oly), there were no runners near or far when I finished, so I knew my AG standing was locked in and cruised across the line with a smile and the best looking stride I could muster (kids and Kim were there for the first time this year - oh vanity, thy name is Old-tri-dude).  Buuuuuuuut, when I finished and saw the overall, I could have moved up some 3-4 spots if I'd spent what was left in the tank the last 3-4k of the run (small time delta among the group - just all from different waves).

So, I suspect now I'll always feel like someone is chasing me or just in front (and in need of being run down!), even if I'm alone.  Is that the secret?  Or do you all have the ability to go your hardest without other people around (iow, can you time trial alone on a random Sunday as fast as you race)?

Jason - congrats on the race result and glad the chest pain seems to be in hand.  Sounds like you ripped off some legs early and had enough at the end to drop the wheelsucker for 2nd - very nice!  As for the leader, I'm sure he was using PEDs.  Seriously, though, 5 minutes is an insane margin.  He must have be prepped perfectly for this one.  Cangrats again on the podium!

Matt

Nicole, the medical state of the art is still frustratingly poor at finding causes that aren't super obvious, unfortunately.  Sorry to hear (sometimes you almost wish for a *small* tear or something similar, as then you can take action).

While the Hoka are clownish in how they look, they do seem to manage to be comfy and not slow (I won't yet say mine feel fast, especially after lacing up my Newtons yesterday - those are some faaaaaast shoes, but they hammer the feet and legs).  Sounds like a good plan, after having worked through all the standard approaches.

Here's to hoping that some consistent running will work the kinks out for you!

Matt

I was thinking along the lines of being able to just hammer along instead of it being a slalom course. It's fun, but sometimes I just want to go without having to think so much. The greater the speed difference with the crowd, the more you have to be alert and be thinking ahead.

That sounds like a plan Nicole.  Keeping my fingers crossed for you that the pain goes away and you can get fully back into the game.