Jmk-brooklyn's mentor group- FULL! (Page 8)

Tapering.  I have a bike/run brick tap tomorrow morning.  Nervous as my ITB issues have crept back up.  I've been babying the knee, but we'll see.  I will try out my new tri clothing.  Remarkable unflattering, but hopefully I will be too engrossed in what I'm doing to care.

hahaha!  That's pretty much how I feel about tri clothing.  Yes, as long as your clothing is not uncomfortable, you won't think about it during the race.

Went for a 20-mile ride yesterday, but that was nothing compared to the miles and miles of walking I did in Central Park. We've got some friends in town, and we did the Central Park Zoo and Museum of Nat. HIstory in one day. Whew.

I did a long (8-mi) run on Friday night and my legs are a little sore, so the walking all over the place didn't help a lot. I'm taking my son to the pool in a little while, so that'll feel good.

The 5-borough Bike Tour is in NYC today. 50,000 people on bikes all over the city. It's fun to watch. Luckily, I don't have to drive anywhere.

So how did it go?  I don't think I've ridden 100 miles total on a real bike!

How was the century?

I got in a long swim today. Fantastic weekend in the big apple. Hope the temperature stays where it is for a couple of weeks.

I watched the Liege/Bastogne/Liege race today on Versus. I really enjoy watching bike racing. It's a great activity when you're doing other stuff (like being on BT, cleaning, cooking, etc.) because you just have it on in the background and then when you hear Paul Sherwin or Phil Liggett get excited about something, you look up at the screen. Then you go back to what you were doing until the last 10k of the race or so.

Do you have a foam roller (or does your gym)?  If so, work on that IT band for the next few days.

I have this kind -- http://www.optp.com/Pro-Roller-Series.aspx

There are a lot of YouTube demonstration videos on foam rollers as well.  I have these ones bookmarked.

• Top 5 Foam Roller Exercises
• Foam Roller Exercise Video
• Diet.com Gym Equipment 101: Foam Rollers Part 2 

In addition, your local running/tri store may have The Stick.  This is good as well.  I brought my Stick on Cycle North Carolina last year and the first day, the folks I was with were like, "What's that?!"  By the third day they were asking when I was going to get it out because they wanted to borrow it!

Edited by jmkizer 2010-05-03 7:12 AM

It went pretty well, I think.   I have some mixed feelings on this one.  The average speed was what I expected.  This was my first century in 2008 we averaged 17.7 that year. Last year we averaged 18.6.  This year we did 18.3 with the heat (I drank 7+ bottles of water during the ride and was still parched!) and with riders dropping like flies along the way (several people I know were sagged in).  So from a purely numbers perspective, I was pleased, however I don't feel like I'm in the same
(cycling) shape that I was this time last year and I am looking forward to improving on that.  I want to feel stronger on the bike and when I am with a group, I want to be one of the stronger riders in the
group. 

My friends Doug and Tim were both sagged in.  I've ridden several centuries with Doug and two Cycle North Carolinas with the two of them.  They are strong riders.  The heat just got to them.  It was 92 degrees with 18 mph wind when I finished.  92 was a record high.  We've done all of our training in 70 degree weather so no one was acclimated to the heat. 

Needless to say, I was not ready to run a marathon after doing riding Raven Rock

Looking forward to Giro coverage starting next weekend on Universal Sports! 

My wife's cousin did that yesterday, had pretty good weather. It must be cool to ride across the Verazanno bridge.

Got in a 7 mile run on Saturday and a 30 mile bike ride on Sunday morning. My daughters just got new bikes from their grandmother this week so in the afternoon I went with one of them to Hecksher park and got about 8 miles in with her on the mountain bike....by far the best "workout" of the weekend!!

Sad story in Newsday, this poor woman was killed by an impaired driver yesterday about 1.5 miles from my house. I pass this spot pretty much every time I ride, It'll be kinda sad passing that spot now. So senseless.

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/cops-say-driver-who-killed-bicyclist-was-high-on-drugs-1.1892509

Nice Job! I'd take those averages in those conditions everyday of the week.

I really don’t mind racing in the heat, so I don’t mind mid-80’s and sunny. I think some people prefer it to be a little cooler. Granted, I don’t do a lot of long-course racing, but I find it pretty easy to cool myself off during the race. The heat is only really an issue on the run.

X2 on the foam roller/stick. Whatever you do, get one of the ones that’s very firm and not one of the soft white ones that you usually find in the gym. The hard ones hurt a lot more but they’re more effective and they last longer. If it’s really painful, you can always put a towel or a yoga mat between you and roller until you get used to it.

As my physical therapist used to say, the more it hurts, the more it means that you need it. It really does start to hurt a lot less as you do it more often.

I read about the woman being killed by the impaired driver. It’s an awful story. My usual bike routes take me past a bunch of “ghost bikes” so that kind of thing is never far from my mind. There’s a bike organization in NYC that takes bikes, paints them all white, covers them with artificial flowers and chains them to objects in intersections where cyclists have been killed by drivers as a way of raising awareness. There’s usually a plaque that gives the name & age of the cyclist and the date of the accident.

A split second of inattention can cost you your life on a bike. Always pretend that you’re invisible and never assume that the driver will do what you expect them to do.

Starting to increase my bike training (before did not train alot on the bike) and the saddle I have, from what everyone tells me, is "pretty aggressive".  Thinking of switching, but how long should you give a saddle and/or yourself to break in to it?  I can do 20 miles (with bike shorts) and feel OK, but without the bike shorts I am hurting after 12 miles.

I know I need alot more time in the saddle, but I feel like I should be able to at least make it an hour in tri shorts without the discomfort.  I know saddles are a personal preference, but I want to be sure I give myself enough time in training to get used to it.

By not bike shorts, do you mean tri shorts?  Will your local bike shop take returns on saddles?  In other words, if you get a saddle that doesn't work out for you, will they let you swap it out for another one or do you just end up with a pricey backup saddle?  I'd try another saddle. 

x2 different saddles work for different people. Also, while I agree that you should train like you race, there isn't anything wrong with wearing bike shorts (which have more padding), as opposed to tri shorts (which have less padding) for longer rides. I normally train in tri shorts, but you can bet that when I do the century, I'll be wearing a nice cushy pair of cycling shorts. I have a pair that I got from Nashbar for about $30 that are great for long rides.

Sounds good, I will try another saddle and see if there is a difference.  Unfortunately for me I need the cushy bike shorts right now for rides > 15 miles or so!!!  I am really enjoying the cycling though.

A few follow up questions and comments...

What kind of bike are your riding?  A road bike?

A lot of the guys that I ride with in my Bike MS group use the Terry Fly saddles.  I just notice them since I also use a Terry saddle.  If you are riding aero, the recommendations will probably be different.  I've recently seen a lot of good comments about Cobb saddles as well (180 day comfort guarantee).

I always get my saddles from the LBS and have them put it on.  I can just see me installing it and having it not level or whatever.  (Yes, I know how to use a level but I have special talents!)  That being said, Terry does have a favorable return policy (as does Performance for that matter).

As you may be able to tell, I find saddle shopping to be frustration.  You mean you want me to spend $100 to try it and if I hate it after 100 miles, you'll be willing to have me spend another $100 to try another one?  I can't tell what's gonna work and what isn't just from looking at it. 

My IT band thanks you for your interest in its well being.  I do punish it with the foam roller, but probably not as often as I should.  I bet the routine should be more often than "when I remember it".  It seems to be holding up OK on the few runs I've done.  I really don't want to have to walk any part of the run on Sunday.  I know I need to do more to strengthen the surrounding muscles, but it has taken a back seat to the whole s/b/r.  I guess I need to be more strategerific about how I approach my training. 

I'm covering this week for one of my techs who has the early shift which gets me out of work at 3pm. I was able to get a 5 mile run in, mount my daughters B-ball hoop in the ground and pick the kids up at brownies all before dinner. I could get used to this schedule!

slokat - when I had big IT issues in the fall I went to see a chiropracter certified in ART and Graston. The difference was amazing. Took him about 4 sessions and I was back to new. I had some big black and blue marks and the process definitely wasn't the most comfortable thing I've ever done, but it really worked. I know chiropracters aren't for everyone, but it might be worth a try.

On another topic, I successfully ran the Mountain goat this weekend. It is a local 10 mile hilly race. My time left something to be desired, but I ran the whole thing in hot (84) and humid weather. I was just happy I wasn't one of the many carted off in an ambulance.

Can't wait for this weekend - I picked up my new bike. Looking forward to a long ride!

Nice job on the run!

Where's the bike pics?

Congratulations on the run!  Woo hoo! 

Great job! There’s something oddly satisfying in not being one of those people needing medical aid during a race. It increases the feeling of accomplishment somehow.

And….

Pictures of the bike, please!!!

I'll take some pics of the bike tomorrow. Just snuck in a ride - I am in LOVE!!!! It is wonderful