ASPHALT JUNKIES Summer Bronzing Crew - CLOSED (Page 70)

Good Thursday Morning Junkies!  

Welcome back, DIRK!   Enjoy your run.  

Thanks for posting the IM bundle deal, JOANNE but I plan on just signing up on Monday and finding a 70.3 closer to home.

Got both WARREN and JONATHAN's athlete tracking in my phone.

MATT - I'll do my best to keep track of you, too.

Of course, I'll be seeing TONY throughout the race day.  

Oh, JENN, you made me laugh out loud.  Yes, you can do an IM with a year's notice.   All the way to California and having a place to stay sounds like a very fun thing to plan to do.  Just. do. it.

I had no idea what abalone was, TRACY,so I had to look it up.   I gotta say, the google images don't make it look too appetizing, but I'll take your word that it was delicious. 

Hope you took other's advice here, DINA and stopped beating yourself up over taking some rest.  You had an awesome race so just rest in that. 

How's the swimming going, KARL?

The excitement for this weekend's epic races is growing!  I forget if anyone else has a race on the calendar..  WILL?, DEREK?  VERO?

GOOD LUCK to everyone!   I know you'll make us proud, no matter what the race day brings you. 

I'll be racing a mini sprint tri called the Superman. It's a Men's only race on Sunday, the day after a Women's Triathlon Festival this Saturday. They decided to give the guys their own event but they made it a Hero costumes encouraged event. So it's a dress as your hero (Fireman/Police/Comicbook character/etc.) event. I'll be sporting my new blue compression shirt with Superman logo on the front. Havent decided on a cape or not. Kinda wish I'd bought some red tri shorts for this one. Oh well, black will have to do.

Karl I am also curious how your swimming is going?

I am joining a couple of local girls for open water swim practice tomorrow. They are new to triathlon, one girl owns her own fitness studio, is in excellent all around shape, very strong, she has raced cycling and run races but is new to swimming. The other is an amazing runner - 3:10 at Boston this year, she does not spend much time cycling but she could be really good. She is really struggling in the water. They have been working with the swim team coach for pool lessons but coach does not swim open water so that is where I come in.

Tuesday they both swam 2 x 400 out into the middle of the lake and back. I really tried to emphasize how great that accomplishment was, especially since it was their first open water swim!

I am trying to think of everything open water to tell them, sighting of course, get comfortable breathing on both sides if at all possible, emergency stroke/float just in case, be prepared to be touched/bumped, what am I missing?

My recovery is still very slow. Lots of little sore areas in my legs that feel like if I push any intensity will become bigger sore areas and possible injuries. I did get a massage yesterday so hopefully that will help speed things up.

Yesterday I had an easy spin all in the small ring on the trainer. Today I swam 2000 yds then ran 2 miles very easy on the treadmill with 4 min jog, 1 min walk and so far my heel does not hurt. So I will stick with this easy come back to running even though it is pathetic and boring.......

I have an etiquette question about the swims with friends also.

One of the ladies has a house on the lake and that is where we are swimming from. They are paying the swim coach for help, not paying me (I don't want to be paid, don't expect it, just explaining the situation). They just invited me because they know I swim and race tri.

So, is it terribly rude if I do my own workout? Like last time I waited with whoever was last in the water, made sure no one was in the water alone, encouraged etc. and got the nickname of "lifeguard". This time I would kinda like to swim a hard set of 3 x 400 descend for time but that will mean I am not really paying attention to everyone else. Or I could take it easy and help while they swim then just do my own thing at the end.

Thanks .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MUY3hLC8JQ

Hey!!  We can't all go as the Flash!

I don't think there is anything wrong with you trying to get e workout in at all.  They know you're a triathlete and probably assume you want to get a swim in too.  If you think it's a good idea you can ask them if they have a problem with you swimming while they are doing their own workouts.

Another option would be to attempt to time your sets with theirs, so that you are getting done in time to see them finish or start and provide insights at the end of each set.  You could plan to take longer breaks and make your sets harder to compensate for the long break.

As far as the tips you would like to give them, I think you're pretty close to nailing it.  If they are new to swimming I think it's important to make sure they know they shouldn't be in the water by themselves unless they have an emergency flotation device.  Someone can be onshore watching, as you have already been doing, but they need a partner to keep an eye out.  Sighting would be the technical thing to discuss since they aren't used to doing that in the pool, but you're doing that too.

Tapering does have it's pitfalls: edginess, frustration, pent up energy...........  The list could go on and on.  But you're almost there.  I am sure today is dragging by like watching grass grow or paint dry.  You'll get there............eventually.

Make sure to post your bib number once you pick it up. 

Man!!  There is a lot of action this weekend.  3 of the Junkie racing and I have a few others racing other events I would like to follow.  2 more are doing Rev3 Cedar Point.  1 is doing the half and the other the full.  There will be plenty of activity for me tomorrow.  However I am planning a ride Sunday morning so I'll see how things roll out.

The bike:

I believe it is fine.  I am pretty sure I am going to take in to my LBS and have a solid inspection done.  My inspection would seem to be there is nothing wrong with it.  I can't even find a scratch on the frame.  The only place I can find anything at all is on the fork, which happens to be carbon, and it appears to be superficial.  I have tweaked the handlebars back to align them properly and I even took her out for a ride last night.

Injuries:

They are coming along.  I went to a follow up with my doc yesterday and he was pretty pleased with how I looked and how I am progressing from the healing perspective.  All of my wounds, he said, looked really good and were healing nicely.  He was ready to take the stitches out until I told him the elbow wound was still seeping occasionally.  He told me he would wait until Monday to remove them.  I them asked if Lis could take them out and that's the route I would like to go.  Lis is a little apprehensive because she is worried it will hurt and she apparently has seen enough painful expressions on my face recently.

My take on the injuries are mostly the same as the doc's.  The only issues I have been having is the slight pain in my shoulder when doing some specific things that would equate to lateral shoulder dumbbell raises with weights and my knee.  My knee is painful to straighten once bent for a while and painful to bend once it's been straight for a while.

As I rode last night my knee was pretty painful when trying t apply a lot of power.  I was unable to accelerate fast at all because the pain was pretty sharp and intense as I was at the top of the pedal stroke when the most power is being applied.  Then, at the bottom of the pedal stroke, there is a dull, harsh ache that is continuous.  Basically I can ride as long as I keep the power surges to a minimum and I spin.  That said, when I got off my bike last night I was hobbled pretty good for about 30 minutes.  I took some ibuprofen to get some inflammation out and it may be a good idea to get on them for a few days but I am always reluctant to take meds on a regular basis.

Running feels pretty decent.  I ran 5 yesterday and 5 already this morning and I am planning another 5 this afternoon.  I feel the need to split my running up to keep from abusing my knee but it really feels pretty decent during runs.  I was planning 10 miles today anyway, so breaking them up into separate runs may provide a decent break yet keep some fatigue in my legs.  I may also run 7 miles later just to get a better "long run" feel.