Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 71)

So I missed out on the registration of the IMCA in Tahoe. I was hoping it would be open till today (payday), but it didn't. So it looks like I will have to volunteer and get a spot for 2014. 

I don't think it got above 60* here today!

Ok, someone wants to do a fall marathon.  Is that Joanne?  Or maybe I'm just confused because you said a while ago that you were looking to BQ and I'm pushing you to run one soon.  I'm a pusher ya know.

BTW, I can think of a lot of people that would love to swim 2000 yards for a workout and have a 1:50 average like you did this past Monday.  I'm not saying you can't get faster, just that I think you're pretty darn fast already!  Heck I don't swim my workouts with faster averages that 1:50 average and I guess I can hold my own in the water.  Point: you're already a strong athlete, don't sweat missing some WO's occasionally.  (That said, I need to listen to my own sermon.)

If there is I don't know what they would be.

If anyone knows, please let me know.

Jo63 - 2012-06-21 8:54 PM Tony...sorry I have no clue Dirk I want to qualify but for Kona,someday no BQ mfor me I am looking at doing th MCM haven't decided yet because I can get my nieces bib. So I am pretty excited I had my bike fit back in march and have been having some issues, so I had been trying to get in with the guy who fit me for this bike and my road, so anyway I was on hold a bunch of times and no one ever picked up and in the process started looking around their website only to discover they do Retul fitting. Long story short I ended up getting a Retul fit today...wow what a difference, I learned tons and can't wait to get on my bike for a long ride with no pain!!

Interesting and glad the fit made a significant improvement for you!

I'm going to be a downer - having a crappy training week. I upset my back last week while we were at the Magic Kingdom by holding up my children so they could see the lights fantastic parade. They are much too heavy for me but what is a parent going to do right? It took a few days and I did only easy workouts, we were traveling back home then anyway so no major set back. The back feels fine now.

Then on Wednesday when we got home (after riding in the van for 2 days) I hit my favorite trail for a run. It was awful, my legs felt horrible, it was 94 degrees and humid, no air on the trail. It was really just rotten. I woke up yesterday with a tight/sore spot in my achilles.  I'm just feeling very frustrated. I have two races I would like to do, one a 5k on the trail I run on all the time tomorrow. The other a sprint tri next weekend. I'll probably skip the trail run tomorrow as the achilles still hurts today and the tri is more important to me. I'm not sure how to move forward with this little issue though.

Should I try running on it a little, aqua jog, no running until it feels better? I road my bike yesterday (which was another really awful workout in 90 degree heat and swirling winds), just tried to pick a route with no hills and maintain a fast cadence instead of working the higher gears. It seemed to be fine but I really wanted to get back home and do some speedwork and intervals on the bike before the tri next weekend. 

I'm also back to having headaches now that we are home. I did not have one headache the whole time we were in Florida. It was so nice.

Just call me Debbie Downer.

It band is still bothering me.  I ran 3 miles to the gym today and worked chest for 40 minutes, then ran home, 1 mile from home it started hurting again and i walked the last mile home, that is ONLY 5 miles w/o pain, OK I overdid it last weekend but I cut it way back.  I thought 6 miles w/ a break in between would be a cake walk.  Please advise...

I've got swim lessons today at 1:00

I think I figured out what is wrong here. I found a thread in the BT forums and it seems like a common problem with the P2. I included the link below for anyone else who might run into this.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=219308&mid=3005567

JoAnne glad to hear about the better bike fit. I hope that works out better for you.

Dina I hope your achillies and back feels better and I hope you are well enough to be able to do the Tri next week.

Karl sorry to hear about the ITB issues. I hope you can get that worked out and I will defer to the guys with more experience here. I had problems with that in the past and for me I did some stretches to try and loosen it up. I pretty much ran less and rested it until I could handle more miles without the pain and tightness.

Karl I am on Long Island downstate and east of NYC. I am all the way out on the east end on the south shore in a town called Mastic Beach about 70 miles from NYC. The south shore is facing the Atlantic Ocean with an island called fire island which is parallel to the Long Island. I am pretty close to the water and only about 15 minutes from beach here. It is pretty typical suburbia on Long Island but it is less congested the further east you go. More open spaces out east but nothing like the open spaces you have when you head upstate away from NYC. It is far less congested when you head upstate. The east end of LI would have more of an upstate feel to it as there are a lot of areas not developed or less developed than you have the closer you get to NYC.

I struggled with Achilles issues all last year.  I can tell you what NOT to do for sure.  Don't run hard in training if it's tender.  You can actually run without using your Achilles much at all, Jeff is really the expert at explaining it.  If he doesn't pipe in this morning, I'll make an attempt but I'm nowhere near as clear as he is.  And take care of it now, don't let it get chronic or curing it is MUCH harder and longer.

In terms of rehab, I highly recommend finding someone who in the field who understands the endurance athlete's body and how to diagnose and deal with issues.  My ART guy and the PT who got me involved in tri are those people for me, I suppose it could be anyone in the field but they need to understand the specifics of what we do.

For amateur advice - the stair exercise worked well for me and I do negative calf raises on stairs twice a week year round.  And try this stretch.  Flex your foot upwards a little, put your toe against the wall or a pole or something like that, and slowly and gently lean into the stretch.  Hold it for 4-5 seconds, and then release.  Repeat 10 times for each leg.  Gently is the key.  This type of stretching should never even approach hurting.  Do that sequence 3-4 times a day.  When I had just a niggle in my Achilles, this worked well.  When it was bad due to me being stupid with harder running - unfortunately only a several week complete hiatus from running along with some ART sessions totally solved it.

I will bet the very high heat softened the tire casing allowing it to expand.  The 100psi of air inside created the pressure to expand it once it softened...and the increased volume then lowered the pressure to 90.

It's something I've heard of happening.  If you have your tire just a millimeter away from the seat stay that's asking for trouble.  Aerodynamically, it's been found to be faster to put a 1/4" of space there because the spinning tire pulls air through with it and that air has to be split by the seat stay as it rotates, instead of rolling through. 

You have adjustment screws inside your dropouts that allow you to adjust the spacing.

Dear Debbie Downer...

First, I want to try to set your mind at ease....the feeling crappy is almost certainly due to the heat.  What you describe is absolutely normal for hot weather workouts until you are acclimated (which takes about 2 weeks of regular exposure to the heat while exercising).

As for the achilles, I am happy to hear you say that you will avoid the trail run.  Running on trails is certainly the hardest thing on your achilles.  In order of decreasing stress on the achilles (terrain-wise): trails, hilly road courses, streets (curbs and such), running track/treadmill.

Your achilles will probably be fine soon with no interruption to your training if you keep your run workouts confined to a treadmill or running track for a little while and keep your running speeds slow.  Pace plays a big part in how much stress the achilles sees because the faster you run the longer your stride, which results in the foot extending behind you much further before leaving the ground, hence more ankle flexion.

In addition to changing where you run and how fast you run, consider riding your bike for a few miles before each and every run while the achilles is tender.  It's a great warmup that will help to keep the achilles from being aggravated by those first few minutes of 'cold' running.  If you are running inside at a gym, they should have exercise bikes you can use.

You've caught this early before the achilles is bad (probably), so I don't see any reason to be concerned yet, plus the crappy workouts are explained by the heat.  So I think you're still quite on track.

Oh, the tecnique thing that Warren mentioned...It's possible to run (when going slow anyway) with out using much calf muscle at all.  Just let the ankle stay limp (on both sides...don't start limping).  It may take some concentration but just turn off your calves...Actually, consciously you are turning off your push-off from your toes.

Jeff thanks and I found the thread last night about this. I agree with your assessment and I will take your advice and take care of the adjustment this evening.