Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 55)

My allergies and a mild cold completely floored me yesterday and sapped all of my energy.  My HR was a little higher than usual for my run.  I'll be taking it easy so I don't get really sick.

In other news, 11 chicks have hatched.  One is not doing good.  She's in my bathtub right now with lots of heat.  Hope she makes it.

Hey Junkies!

I'm back from a week as a cabin counselor for eight 5th grade boys. It was quite an experience.

On the fitness side it gave me an opportunity to build leg strength without running. 15 total hours of hiking over four days. It also helped keep my mind off not being able to run during that time.

I did a short run Saturday afternoon with my wife and had no knee pain for the first time since mid April! Hooray! I'll be doing another short easy run this afternoon to test it again.

My next race is just 2 weeks away, so I'm really hoping the knee is up to training again.

----

I haven't had a chance to get caught up reading how everyone has been doing, but I did see Dirk's picture on Facebook for a 2nd overall! Awesome job, Dirk!

I have seen different variations of things to mark a swim course.  The rope from this past weekends race was the easiest to see because it was a yellow rope.  Other things I have seen are steel cables that have buoys tied to them, buoys tied to anchors and one rare occasion there were boats marking the course and you had to swim around the perimeter of the boats.

I have seen more steel cables than ropes and you have to watch getting to close to these.  Many of these can have broken strands of wire that will cut you or your wetsuit pretty quickly.

The marking line, if one is used, should be able to be seen fairly easily because it will be anchored near the shore line.  Take a look at the swim entry of your next race and see what you can find.  If it is rope or cable take an inside line and stay close to but not on the cable.  Oh and don't do what I saw a guy doing this past weekend...........pull on the rope with one hand and try to swim with the other.  Besides being illegal it wastes a ton of energy because it is incredibly inefficient movement.

I will definitely be on the lookout!

I ran 2 miles last night and picked the pace up to about 11 minute/mile average. So far so good; still no knee pain!

No run for today, just swim and maybe some time on the trainer tonight. Then I plan on going Wednesday and Thursday for short runs to see how the knee holds up on back to back days.

I also did 1450 yards continuous swim on Sunday evening. That was my longest swim yet.

2 weeks until my next sprint and 7 weeks until my first Olympic!

Time for my weekly check-in. About all the time I have lately.

I had a brutal bike ride today. Nothing but intervals and climbing! I feel like I was put on a midevil (sp?) rack and stretched past my limits. This is my last hard day this week and I will put in one more longer ride. On the 3rd of June I am participating in "The Most Beautiful Bike Ride In America." It's actually a Luekemia/Lymphoma benefit. One lap around Lake Tahoe.

Here is some info:

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride - Sunday, June 3

It's that time of the year again when nearly 3,000 cyclists from throughout the United States come to Tahoe to ride around the Lake. For many, nearly 2,000 riders, they are here as a personal challenge and commitment to their friends and loved ones who have been inflicted with the Leukemia/Lymphoma disease. Each passionate rider has raised at least $4,000 to be here and some have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund the research to discover a cure for these deadly diseases. This event is the largest fundraiser for Lymphoma/Leukemia Societiy in the nation - one year they raised nearly $8,ooo,ooo dollars.

I know this is just a ride, but the competetive side of me wants to see if I can best my previous time around the lake. 72 miles at 3:30:00. Should I just enjoy it, or bust my a$$ and go for it. I know some of the guys I ride with are going to be there and will be going all out.

On another note, I broke 600 miles this month on the bike. A new best for me and another week to go to reach my goal of 650 miles. I'm also nearing my 80 mile running goal for the month. I know that's not much to some of you, but that is a lot for me, especially all the biking I'm doing too.

To everyone, great races this past weekend and everyone keep up the hard training!

I hope your knee holds up to head down to the race!

With all this talk of sighting during a race, what is the lake like at Rancho Seco Park.  Does the swim have cables holding the buoys?  Is the water clear?  Anything else I should be aware of?  I plan on doing a little ride out there on Saturday after the Sprint race to check things out.

That Sucks!!!

I always carry a spare tube, a tube repair kit, a couple of tube levers, a bike multi-tool (has alan wrenches, pliers, screw drivers, etc.), spoke tool, Co2 cartridges (2) & cartridge inflator, zip ties (assorted sizes), electrical tape & super glue. Oh and cell phone & money.

I keep everything in a seat bag.

Matt sorry to hear about the flat that does suck. I'm like Stan I actually carry two spare tubes in my Xlab rocket pocket bag. I also have a saddle bag with a multi purpose tool kit along with the tire repair kit, spoke tools and CO2 cartridges with the inflator and I always ride with my cell phone.

That's really about it.  I carry all these things except for the zip ties.  I have had 4-5 flats over the past few years.  I also carry the same wedgie bag under my seat for all of my races but I did think abou t leaving them off for last weekends race for a very slight decrease in drag from the profile of the bag and the extra weight too.

Vero glad to hear that you are able to run pain free and hopefully no issues this week. Looks like you are also make strides with your swimming as well that is great to hear.

Stan you continue to kill it on the bike with all that mileage you are racking up. Great to see that you are getting the run mileage up there as well. Good luck with the upcoming ride as it is for a great cause and if it were me yeah I think I would try to set a new PR for myself.

Tracy hope you are feeling better and can get back to training. Also hope your chicks are doing well.

We have 10 chicks!  The one in the bathtub is doing fine.  She's back with the rest of them.  We named her Chilly.

I'm not feeling great but I got my workouts done today so I can't complain.

Zip ties???  Awesome!!!  I'm going to add those to my bag.  I can see soooo many uses! 

TBF uses large white and orange triangular buoys held down by anchors directly below them. They are very easy to spot while swimming. There are no cables or ropes except near the start and finish along the park's regular roped swim area.

Rancho Seco lake was fairly dark water in September when I did a tri there last year. You couldn't see much more than 3 or 4 feet down into the water. The water around the start area got pretty dirty with all the racers wading out, but once you are ten or twenty yards out it clears up.

When we camped there in June last year the water seemed a little clearer, but I never swam outside of the roped swim area that time.

The run up to transition from the water is across a little rough sand and then mostly grass. The grass area got a bit muddy in spots with all the wet racers running across it.

For flat repairs/bike adjustments I carry a spare tube, patch kit, tire levers, a couple allen wrenches, and a small screwdriver in a Specialized "Dirtbag" seat bag. It also has room for my wallet and keys.

Then I also have a Sunlite top tube bento bag that I carry my cell phone in and a gell or two.

I also carry a Lezyne ABS Road Drive Frame Pump.

Stan, You've had huge riding success in the recent months.  My goal is to get my cycling up to around 500 a month but things always seem to get in the way a little.  Something always seems to end up taking precedence over a longer ride here or there.  Congrats on the big rides.

For the trip around Tahoe, do whatever feels right that day.  The guys you're riding with in your group may just want to stay ahead of a larger group of riders or something.  Whatever you chose it'll be a great ride and for a great cause.

Tracy, Do you raise the chicks for any reason?  It sounds like you've been feeling a little under the weather for a few days, do you have a cold or something brewing.  Start pounding some antioxidants??

Vero, It great to know your knee seems to be felling much better.  Just keep bringing things back slowly and make a few adjustments when they are needed.  Are you still trying to keep your cycling mileage a little higher to support strong muscular balance?

__________

On my own note: I am still working on the porch doing finishing type things.  I am able to fit a little bit of training in when I can but not last night.  Lis planned a couple's massage for us in the evening so  igot a couple of things done to the porch and then had to get ready for that.  It was a great opportunity for me to get a little bit of time to rehab and get someknots worked out.

Tonight I plan to ride 30 miles and possibly do a 3 mile run.  I also may be working Friday so I am not sure wht kind of long run I am going to get in this week.  I haven't had 2 weeks at this low a volume for a very long time and it's killing me.  I hate these kinds of weeks!

Stan, crazy riding.  I would love to get that type of time on the bike.  As far as the charity ride goes, I say plan to go for it.  If your group wants to hammer it, why not enjoy the day with them and just do it?  If you change your mind the day of the ride, take it easy and enjoy being part of such an awesome event.

Another option is to treat the segments separately, if the ride is broken up with support stops.  I have done a huge 2 day charity ride back here a few times, and the ride is broken into segments with “rest, support and party” stops at about 20 mile intervals.  I rode with a group a few years back who weren’t into hammering, so I was planning to take it easy and enjoy the festivities of the event.  It turned another of our group was interesting in getting some work in, so we picked a few of the segments each day, hammered those, and then waiting for the rest of group to catch up.  So we enjoyed both some hammering and some festivities.

Also, it was my first experience riding in a group and I learned how different it is to ride in a “ mini peloton” (we could always find a line to catch on with).  It was amazing to cruise at 22-23+ mph back when I could barely maintain 19 on my own.

Matt, I probably overdo it, but the roads around here are absolutely awful.  For longer rides, I carry 2 tubes and 3 canisters of air, a homemade tube repair kit, bike levers, a few allen wrenches, and my cell phone.  The first two years I rode I had zero flats.  Since then, it seems like a weekly occurrence.  I've actually used all three airs twice, including one ride where I got proceeded to get a fourth flat (which also trashed the tire) and had to call for a rescue since I was 15 miles out.

Dirk, I'm with you.  Work is absolutely killing me with late nights and I'm in a huge training funk.  I really hate missing runs, but I've just been so tapped on energy I've taken the excuse way out instead of HTFU and making the  runs happen.  First tri is 18 days away and I still haven't been in the water in months.  I'm planning some big riding and swimming this weekend at the lake.