Hashers and Mashers - Open (Page 7)

Originally posted by Sammeg


My name is Ted(although my kids call me Toad), I’m 45, married for 19 years and have twin 11 year old girls. Basically I’m hitting the reset button and starting my training over. My last race was an Oly in September of 2011….well that’s not completely true, I did a 5k Zombie mud run 2 weeks ago….does that count?

Last year I was training(inconsistently of course) for the Marine Corps Marathon when I gave in to Morton’s Neuroma and deferred my entry to 2013. Shortly after that, Hurricane Sandy started tracking up the east coast…of course I mocked the strength of any storm named Sandy and made multiple “Grease” references. I believe, purely out of spite for my insolence, the storm took direct aim at lower Manhattan and devastated my company’s DataCenter. Soooooooooo, being as my role is running Distributed Systems operations, I spent the next 8 months rebuilding our Data Center and Disaster Recovery environment requiring relocating myself(not my family) to NJ during this period.

I’m up 20 lbs since October and have done essentially no training. I have a couple of sprints, and a tough mudder on the calendar. I’m also beginning Hal Higdon’s Novice Marathon plan in 3 weeks for MCM at the end of October. Realistically, my goal is consistency, recovering my fitness, dropping from mid 190’s to mid 170’s and staying healthy.

BTW, I see my old friend Grandpa Dave is in this group who shares my hate of the Yankees and Love of Vizslas.

Originally posted by oriolepwrWell guys/gals Yesterday I completed 102 mile bike ride virtually only with "spinning" classes and much experience as prep. (Chain-dropper barely made it through, was making a weird noise around mile 85-102 not sure what it is yet)Today I became unemployed, My 12 year old daughter Announced a female "change of life" OMG BTW My 11 year old daughter produced a 20 page report on possible job opportunities and "down sized" homes waiting for me when I got homeMy wife tells me how happy she is for me. Happy?? she is incredibly supportive. I've had a ton of touching messages/phone calls of support/ I am a bit overwhelmed. today.Oh and my fridge broke. and needs to be replaced. Now I have always used training as a way of dealing (medicating?) with stress, and such. Soooo I already have 7+ hours in this month. I am motivated.. and well more time to do it. So if you are going to beat my training time, you are really, REALLY going to have to want it badly. I may even sign up for a 70.3 afterall.

Originally posted by johnthecat

Had a minor breakthrough on my running tonight. First time in years I was able to do a full 5k without any walking. Slow pace though 34:25 for the 5k. Now I just need to carve 10 minutes from that time.

Originally posted by Fresno_Joe

Wow Dave, really sorry to hear that.

Originally posted by strykergt

just did my peak run before taper time just in time for my HM next week....

Originally posted by johnthecat

Had a minor breakthrough on my running tonight. First time in years I was able to do a full 5k without any walking. Slow pace though 34:25 for the 5k. Now I just need to carve 10 minutes from that time.

Originally posted by strykergt Friends: Went to the mall this weekend, and dropped by several stores to find the right aero helmet.Once i decided whats comfortable for me went ahead and borrowed from a friend with the exact size. I went for a 30 mi ride and tested Aero position and my friends helmet. I realized alot of things they did not mention in their reviews. 1.) Forget your looks I look like a POWER RANGER WANNABE. 2.) Aero helmets can be claustrophobic, it took me awhile to realize that. 3.) I also learned no matter how much you like the kind of helmet it is not your decision. Your head decides for you which is more comfortable do not buy anything yet until you fit it out. I am glad I did not buy anything yet. 4.) I made sure it is hot out there to test its ventilation , at 94 deg.F I was able to tolerate it and wil do it again. It will be to each to his own preference. Ultimately i did felt i became faster at an average of .5 mph atleast for me. If you are going for speed I would recommend it. For now I would say pro bike fitting is priority before the aero helmet. Fitting is expensive here could cost up to $250.00, have to start saving again. Anyway anyone who who have tried it let me know before i make my final decision. Cheers Carl

Originally posted by cadnams

Hi Cameron. Welcome aboard. Jump on in I say...!

Now... I'm hoping one of the group has some experience with bike fitting. I spent last night tweaking my set-up to see if I could get to a position that I liked. Trying to avoid having a bike fit at the moment.

I've attached a pic of me on my trusty 15 year old ride. I've added aero bars, a forward seat post and an ISM saddle. Just thought I'd see if anyone can see any problems with my set-up. It's not too aggressive because I can't drop the bars any lower (I've already lowered the stem below some of the spacers). But that's cool, because I think comfort is key for me. If I can't stay in an uncomfortable aero position and need to sit up then I'm not going to be too aero..!

You can't see from the photo but I've widened the aero bars for comfort. I now have wider elbows but closer hands. My main source of discomfort has been my shoulders from being squashed together. It relates to my ill constructed shoulders more than anything else (I have a minor shoulder problem) but I'm hoping wider elbows will help.

I have measured all the angels (hence the lines drawn on the photo). I am very analytical by nature, can't help it...

Anyway, if anyone has any comments I'd been keen to hear them. It looks OK to me but I have zero experience.

I'm heading out tomorrow morning so I will see how it feels on the road.

Thanks all...!

Originally posted by strykergt

Friends:

Went to the mall this weekend, and dropped by several stores to find the right aero helmet.Once i decided whats comfortable for me went ahead and borrowed from a friend with the exact size.
I went for a 30 mi ride and tested Aero position and my friends helmet.

I realized alot of things they did not mention in their reviews.
1.) Forget your looks I look like a POWER RANGER WANNABE.
2.) Aero helmets can be claustrophobic, it took me awhile to realize that.
3.) I also learned no matter how much you like the kind of helmet it is not your decision. Your head decides for you which is more comfortable do not buy anything yet until you fit it out. I am glad I did not buy anything yet.
4.) I made sure it is hot out there to test its ventilation , at 94 deg.F I was able to tolerate it and wil do it again. It will be to each to his own preference.

Ultimately i did felt i became faster at an average of .5 mph atleast for me.
If you are going for speed I would recommend it.

For now I would say pro bike fitting is priority before the aero helmet. Fitting is expensive here could cost up to $250.00, have to start saving again.

Anyway anyone who who have tried it let me know before i make my final decision.

Cheers

Carl

Originally posted by oriolepwr



TED!!!! happy to see you here! :-)

OMG you and me both need to get on TRACK, I have weight to lose and a marathon to gear up for as well. You have been through ALOT! MCM you WILL DO THIS!!!!

Ok Grandpa Dave needs to go to bed now. you kids try and not make too much noise now. ;-)

Originally posted by Sammeg



Major suckage on the job Dave but you have an amazing support system and a great perspective on things, and hey you could always start cooking again Mr. White.

MCM is a carrot dangling in front of me but not sure how realistic based on my current fitness. We'll see.

Originally posted by TomsTri-ing

Hi ALL,

Sorry I have been AWOL since early May. It started well, then went totally down hill, with out a bike.

Hamstring acted up on a run in Pittsburgh on May 6th. So stared to take a week off so I didn't make it worse.
Then, sometime over Mother's day weekend my brother passed away. I didn't find out until that Tuesday. So, I lost that week.
At the same time my girlfriend and I broke up because of all the stress. We are currently trying to see if we can make it work, she takes all my tri pictures.
Hence, the depression and stress of the new job was taking its toll.

Today, I finally ran 2 miles, 1 month later. 7 weeks to my next Tri.

Dave (Bro) I'm so sorry to hear about your job, but we talked about it a while back. I wish the best in finding one soon. I also hope you saved the Cucumber Gatorade from the failing refrig.

So, here I am again, back in the saddle.

Great to see new faces and Toad is back.

Tom

Originally posted by TomsTri-ing

Hi ALL,

Sorry I have been AWOL since early May. It started well, then went totally down hill, with out a bike.

Hamstring acted up on a run in Pittsburgh on May 6th. So stared to take a week off so I didn't make it worse.
Then, sometime over Mother's day weekend my brother passed away. I didn't find out until that Tuesday. So, I lost that week.
At the same time my girlfriend and I broke up because of all the stress. We are currently trying to see if we can make it work, she takes all my tri pictures.
Hence, the depression and stress of the new job was taking its toll.

Today, I finally ran 2 miles, 1 month later. 7 weeks to my next Tri.

Dave (Bro) I'm so sorry to hear about your job, but we talked about it a while back. I wish the best in finding one soon. I also hope you saved the Cucumber Gatorade from the failing refrig.

So, here I am again, back in the saddle.

Great to see new faces and Toad is back.

Tom