Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 62)

Looks like folks had good training months and if U had a race this weekend I hope U did great.

I have to go out of town..for work

Hey on a good note, wife finally confessed she wants to do a tri so we went out looking at bikes yesterday.  If anyone knows of a good 52 or small bike, let me know.  She already has the swimming down (makes me mad) and the running..but the biking will be her challenge at 1st but it will come quick for her.

I hope to be back Saturday...

Train hard

Karl

Tracy - that sucks about the fire and your stuff getting stolen. How awful!

Vero - how did your race go?! We all want to know.

Warren - That sounds like a nice weekend on the lake, congratulations on your anniversary!

Samantha - great job on hitting 30 miles in a week. I've been trying to do that, but life seems to get in the way all the time!

Jonathan - I'm glad you had a good time in Costa Rica, it sounds like you did some really cool stuff!

Stan - What an awesome ride and a big congratulations on the money you raised.

JoAnne - I'm glad you got to run with your son. I'm sure he enjoyed it as much as you did. FWIW my cadence stays in the mid to high 90s most of the time. It just seems to be where my legs gravitate towards.

Paul - Great to hear the shingles are lessening and congratulations on a solid bike.

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I finished yesterday's sprint in 1:33:27. It could've been under 1:30 but I had a pretty slow run because of the damn side stitch again!! RR is here:

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=443763

Next race is an Oly at the beginning of July, although I haven't actually registered yet! I need to bike more - if there is one thing I learned from this weekends race, it's that a good bike will fix many problems in other areas!

On a long term note, I'd like to finish an Ironman at some point, but it looks like I'm going to have to move that up to next summer or fall. Sara and I are thinking of having kids in the not too distant future and I'd like to get my finish in before we do. I'm going to do a half this fall, a half in the spring and then hopefully a full later that year... Then I can back off the crazy training hours and do a few races just to keep things fun.

Finally (this is a long post) my Dad won a trip for him and I to travel to France and report on the Le Mans 24 hour race for Sirius XM. I don't know what we're going to have to do yet, but LeMans is something I've always wanted to go to, and it should be fantastic!!

Okay... I think that's all!

AJ apologies for not wishing you well on your Tri this past weekend. I hope it went well for you. Congrats to you and your wife with the baby. I finally had an opportunity to check out your website and it looks good. Glad to hear from you and hope you check in with us to let us know how you are doing with the training and the fundraiser as well as with everything else going on. It seems like you are going to have your hands full with the baby and trying to train for your events.

Warren I am glad to hear you had a great weekend and was able to spend some quality time with your wife. That is so hard to do with everything going on but it is great when you are able to that.

Samantha congrats on the run totals for this week and this month, keep it up.

Paul glad to hear that you are feeling better and are able to get out and do some more training. I hope you continue to feel better and are able to get more work in.

John congrats on your sprint tri this past weekend. That is a good time and it is great to see that you see room for improvement. Also, congrats to you and your Dad on the trip to France that sounds pretty sweet. I hope you both enjoy it.

Just a little update on the training front. I put in almost 14 hours of training last week including the strength training. No wonder I feel so tired today! By far I think that was the most I have done to date. The highlight for me was the bike, my right hand is starting to come around and I have almost all my strength back in it but I have opted to stay on the trainer until it feels 100%. I'm close but on Sat I did my longest ride yet albeit on the trainer. I was able to get in 2 and half hours and managed a little over 44 miles. Not a big deal I know but for me the fact that I was able to keep pedaling that long and actaully not feel like my legs were going to fall off means I am making some progress here. I was able to follow that up with an 8 mile run on Sunday and not feel bad so not a bad week and weekend all in all. I guess my body has stopped protesting and is starting to get with the program

AJ - sorry I missed you buddy. My granddad died of Parkinsons and one of the races I did this year was a Parkinson's benefit race. It's a great cause!

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I'm going to try and post a picture of my bike position. I think it may have something to do with why I end up with a side stitch during bike to run transitions. It looks like I'm a little hunched on the bike and I think the curve in my back (black line) is causing the problem when I straighten up to run.

Any idea what I can change to help make my back straighter? Assume the saddle is at the correct height for my leg length (although this doesn't really show it).

Thanks!

(Cascade-Lake-Bike-Position-Analysis.jpg)

I went for an open water swim!!! My first one this year, aside from the tri.  I was really thinking how crazy I am once I got to the lake... There was no one there.  Except for the lifeguard.  (I was surprised by this actually.)  At least I knew I was safe if anything happened to me.

OH MAN ME TOOO!!!  I absolutely love the Tour.  Can't wait to watch every minute!!!

Training just sucks sometimes, doesn't it?  You're stronger because of it.  Trust me, sometimes it's good to know how to just push through and suck it up when you feel weak.  It'll help you in the future in race situations.

Wow, winning a trip to France seems pretty dang awesome!

Regarding the side stitches during your run... as someone who has had side stitches during sprints, I am currently of the belief that it seems silly to try to slow down to ease the stitches... because if you keep running slow until you feel alright, since a sprint is so short, the race is over!  Did you try pressing against the side stitch as you were running?  For me, that allows me to continue on at the effort I'm going instead of slowing down.  Of course, if that doesn't work, maybe your only option is to slow down, but...

Also out of curiosity, did you drink a lot during the bike?  I know there's a lot of debate between causes of side stitches, but for me, I think eating or drinking too much may contribute to it. (Sure, it could be pacing too...)  Including too close to the race start.  Ideally I am now aiming to finish up eating and most of my drinking 3 hours before my race start, and try to drink minimally during the race (since it's a sprint.) Oh the mystery of side stitches.... 

The swim leg is rumored to have been a little short but I think that is bogus because I measured it an dit was at least 300 yards longer than USAT rules.  Seriously, I did hear it was a little short and likely was with my fish like time.  I am not sure I can swim all that fast.  I did take a look at the overall results for the first time to see how I did in each of the individual events.  Swim - 7, Bike - 7, Run - 2  And you thought my swim was my best event Pshh!

I'm glad to hear you're getting over the mess you've been in!  I am equally happy to hear you are ready to get back into training too.  Your ride doesn't have to match anyone else's but your ability.  And given what you have been dealing with it is quite understandable.

Fixed that for ya!!

Lis and I will be married 25 years in October and you are very correct!  It's amazing she still hangs around me after some of the stuff I have pulled over these years.  It is really great that she and I can spend time together and enjoy each other more as we get older. 
Congratulations to you and your wife.  She must be a heck of a woman to deal with a man like you!

I don't think your back position looks bad.  It's not likely that you'll ever get rid of all of the arch in your back.  Something you may try is getting a longer stem if you think you can get something better positionally.  Does your back hurt over most of your rides?  Long rides?  If you get a longer stem it will stretch you out more and require more use of your arms for support.

Jeff will be able provide a better assessment than I can so see what he has to say when he has the time to post.

Samantha, A 30 mile running week sounds pretty exciting.  Milestones make this sport pretty spectacular sometimes and something that makes the extra work worth all the pain.  I hope you can continue to increase your mileage and maybe get that marathon run that you were talking about a couple of weeks ago.

Tony, A 14 hour training week is no joke!  I am not sure I have had a week with kind of time to train.  I may have been close a couple of times but I am not sure I have ever made it that far.  I'm not too worried about that until I get up to IM training levels in a couple of years............MAYBE!!

Vero,  I NEED to see a RR or it didn't happen.  I need some evidence that there was actually a race.  Make sure you include a couple of details about how your wife did.  This was her fist one right?

Jonathon,  Training for an IM with Kate being pregnant should be ok provided her due date won't conflict with the race. 

Junkies: thanks for all the positive vibes!

John - LeMans wow - I grew up down the road from the Speedrome  - short track - gone to Indy for years  - Clermont drags - NASCAR - crew chiefed a go-cart in college -  LeMans would be awsome - I want a report!

Jeff - I know you wrote some suggestions on pedals - where your foot needs to be relative the pedal - ball of foot on middle of pedal? better a bit back? I've been looking thru the pages - but can't find your info- please send me a link. thanks.

Cleats all the way back on the shoe so that the pedal spindle is behind the ball of the foot if possible.  It helps free up the calves from the non-value-add work of transmitting upper leg force to the crank so you will run better off the bike.  Plus I think it helps you use your glutes.

There is nothing about your bike position that would cause your side stitch.....except that a proper bike position has you bend at the hips.  So cycling, even with the perfect position, can contribute to the stitch when you run afterwards.

But there is probably a solution and it's not a change in the bike.  If you are getting a stitch, it's probably the combination of adrenaline, riding the bike hard, running hard, and having undigested food in your colon. 

Whatever you eat on race mornings, stop.  Try having only liquid nutrition on race day...and NO MILK. 

That's my best advice.  Let me know if it works.

Oh, interesting.  You don't consume any solid foods race morning?  I don't think I have heard that before.  What do you typically consume for "breakfast" before a race, and while we're at it, just generally leading up to the race for that morning, liquids included?

Also general question, what time does everyone have their last big meal the night before a race? (and do you snack after that meal?)

Hi all,

Sorry I haven't gotten the race report finished. Work and home life kinda blew up on me. I'll try to get it done and posted today. For now here are some highlights:

The tri was a sprint (880yards/16miles/3miles). My goal time was 1:52 (conservative since I didn't run for most of May) and I finished in just under 1:42.  I was 22nd out of 29 in my age group and 136th out of 421 overall.

This was my wife's 2nd tri. She did do a super sprint with me last year (400/8/2). She raced in the Athena class with a goal time of 2:25 (also conservative since she had never raced this distance).  She finished in about 2:15 in 6th place in the class. They award the top 5 in each group and she only missed top 5 by only 2 minutes.

I do a variety of things.  I don't suffer from side stitches anymore, but in my previous athletic life as a runner back in the old days I was absolutely plagued by them.  My solution was to avoid dairy for 24 hours before a race as well as any food within 3 hours of the start.

Here's the thing with food....The night before you should have a suitable meal that fills your tank...as in replenishes all of your body's glycogen stores.  Now you are topped off.  Through the night your body uses a little bit in the way of glycogen but that's just a small amount and if your race is long enough for that much to matter then it's a race that requires nutrition anyway...so that's a different beast (long course). Most of what you read and see discussed pertaining to race nutrition is focused around long course triathlon with a 'slow burn' pacing strategy and I'm not suggesting that is wrong.  I'm just saying that short course triathlon should be approached differently.

With the muscles when topped off have enough glycogen stored for 2-3 hours of intense exercise. An assumption here is that you are properly trained for your race...a couch potato can run out of glycogen within an hour...

As you sleep your blood sugar level is very steady and will typically stay that way until you eat something, then comes the insulin, perhaps a drop....and the ups and downs begin....(notice how if you don't eat in the morning you don't get hungry any time soon?  But if you eat breakfast you are really hungry within hours?) Of course, even if you do eat something, blood sugar becomes leveled off again after your warm-up since exercise normalizes and stabilizes blood sugar levels, so I'm not suggesting having breakfast somehow hurts your race in that you go in to a hypoglycemic state...just explaining why eating breakfast doesn't somehow create a blood sugar environment that will make you race faster.

So far I've been trying to explain how not eating doesn't put you at a disadvantage.  But eating can put you at a disadvantage (remember, I'm referring to short, intense racing here).  In addition to any potential gastric distress you may experience, the digestion process redirects blood to the digestive organs and that's blood that can't be used by the muscles for oxygenation.  I wouldn't be surprised if eating can take 5% out of your body's oxygen supply for a time during digestion (how long I'm not sure...dependent on how much you ate). And on top of that, a full stomach (even if it's water) can interfere with the diaphragm and the ability to fill your lungs.  Of course nobody FILLS their stomach on race morning but the larger the stomach the greater the potential for interference with the lungs, especially on the bike which can put a pinch on the intestines and colon.

Regarding digestion time...race morning is filled with adrenaline.  Adrenaline stops digestion.  So the food you eat will stay there much longer.

Personally I eat a little something on race morning just so I'm not uncomfortable with hunger prior to the race.  I just have something light.  Often whey protein powder in water and perhaps a piece of fruit.  I don't tend to get nervous before races.  If I have a big race some day that does make me nervous I might use my no-food advice. 

I think everyone should be free to eat what they want race day.  But if you have issues related to food then it's a simple no-brainer to cut out the food.

Late day races differ simply in that I try to eat nothing in the 3 hours up to warm-up beginning...and more if I'm nervous (since digestion slows).

My RACE REPORT is finally posted!

I'll agree with everything Jeff says about eating before a short course tri.  I’ll also add that during a tri there’s probably no need to eat anything, and in fact probably best to drink very little too.  I have typically brought a bottle on the bike but get in just a few gulps and I’m fine.  Maybe grab a few gulps out of T2 or if there’s a water stop on the run, but I think in general many of us are overhydrated and overfed for these short course tri races.

I had a weird thing happen in the pool.  I’ll preface this by saying I rarely swim in the pool, so not sure if this is just something I need to deal with until I do more pool swimming.  Well, yesterday, towards the end of my swim, I pushed off the wall and got a massive cramp in my right calf.  It literally locked up my calf and hurt like crazy.  I stretched it out and made it through the last few hundreds, but the calf was quite sore.

I did a fairly easy 7 mile run last night and the calf was fine.  I did some stretching, massaging, and rolling afterwards.  This morning, I rode and it was again ok.  But now the calf is tight and a little sore again.  Is this something anyone has experienced?  Anything to be concerned about?

The calf is almost certainly tight and sore because of the cramp.  It's a very violent and full contraction and even if it's just for a few seconds it can seriously put the hurt on the muscle.  I've had minor muscle tears from severe cramps before that can be accompanied with bruising.

It's no big deal.  No concern.

BTW, I also get cramps when I swim on those occassions that all of the physical conditions are right (not that we really know what they all are).  And pushing off the wall is a prime trigger for my cramps too...either in the arch of my feet or my calves.  I can get them in my quads, inner thighs and hamstrings too if I'm kicking hard which is sometimes part of our swim workout.

I've been getting them a LOT less this year and I attribute it to being in much better shape (since fatigue seems to be one of the primary factors in cramps).

Warren I get cramps in my feet and calfs from time to time when in the pool. I have gotten them once or twice in my hamstrings as well when pushing off the wall. It's usually towards the end of the session. I think it is related to not being hydrated enough. I have been drinking a little more during the sessions when I break and I think that has helped as well as making sure I drink more water that morning prior to heading out to the swim session. It still happens every once in a while but not as much as it used to.

Good info and very interesting. Made me stop and think. I don't really pay that much attention to what I eat race morning besides making sure it is something that I typically eat. For me this is usually a scrambled or fried egg, toast, piece of fruit and coffee. I eat about 3 hours before the race. The evening before I usually eat chicken and baked potato.