ASPHALT JUNKIES Summer Bronzing Crew - CLOSED (Page 86)

Again, thanks to all of you!

I will get this thing under control and see where it leads.  I hope to get into see the ortho that got me on the road and running after my ACL reconstruction almost 10 years ago.  But I may need to see someone else, like an NP first so they can order an MRI.  I will be getting it looked at for sure!  honestly I hope they try some steroids first to see if that will calm everything down and get me on track without the surgery.  If I have another meniscectomy that just means more removal of tissue that could sideline me in the future.  The meniscus does not grow back of repair itself, much like cartilage.  Once it's gone, it gone!

Dina,  I am certainly regretting my decision making skills yesterday but I know my assessment to be pretty true, for the most part.  As I ran through the course making faces of obvious pain and spectators starting at me probably wondering why "this guy is still running," I asked myself many times what I was doing this for?  I could only come up with a few reasons.  All of them rooted in pride!

Thoughts along these lines:

• I can't DNF!   Only weak people DNF.  I have to prove I'm not weak.
• I've never quit a race yet so why would I start today.
• If I don't finish this race, people will think I gave up.
• I talked to some teammates immediately prior to the race about what would make me slow down.  My exercise induced bronchospasms, plantar fasciitis I've been fighting for a year, etc.  And I didn't want them to to think I wasn't tough enough to keep going.
• I also thought about some of the teammates that I knew would be well behind me if things went good, and I kind of wanted them to see how badly I was struggling so they would know I wasn't just tired.  So I pressed on.......in foolishness.

It's funny now that I have had some time to think about it.  The last thought seems to sum up the whole issue pretty cleanly.  Pride!

Sorry Dina.  I'll have to take the true lumps for this one.  I thought of all of my options and chose to drive on through pride so others could see my toughness.....................and foolishness.

That's a great ride and time!  I would have loved to have done that hill climb too.  You're going to be ready to kill your 140.6 in a few weeks.  That century ride was another great workout to get you ready!

I agree all of us struggle with pride but with the knowledge I have about the condition of my knee and how it feels when I am working beyond a sure recovery, I was way out of line.  I have been in and out of this pain before and I knew what was coming and some white ribbon with a medal hanging off of it seemed to be more important.

Thanks for your prayers too.  I know I've got a year but I see a base and fitness disappearing if I have to have surgery.  There isn't a question in my mind about completing IMWI, only if I'll do as well as I would have liked.

Edit:

BTW, I corrected the link to my race report.  I am not sure what happened other than I copied the link before I saved it and made it public.

Oh, KARL, I'm so sorry to hear about Pam.  I hope she heals quickly and can confidently go outside running again.  You bad, bad husband for laughing....I assume you're now sleeping in the dog house. 

Thanks for asking, about me, KARL - I'm doing amazingly well.    DIRK told me that all the cheesecake and donuts I've eaten in the last week were good for my recovery so I've continued devouring everything in sight.      I took Monday and Tuesday totally off.  My training mileage for Tuesday through Friday added to 3 miles on the run and 11 miles on the bike but I felt good enough to then run 8 miles on the trails on Saturday afternoon and another 10 yesterday.  Yippee!  As Phil on Duck Dynasty says, "Happy..Happy...Happy" - that's me!   Or maybe it's the sugar high.     I wonder if WARREN'S finished off his 11 flavors of ice cream yet??

What a century ride, WILL!  Glad it was fantastic and I'm sure with going that fast for that long gave you the assurance you need heading into B2B that you can get it done well.  Thanks for showing the elevation graph - that one "hill" looked to be a doozy!

You just couldn't put the wetsuit away, could you TONY?!   Good for you.  Sprints are fun and I hope you have a great time.  I'll try to remember that it's 2 weeks away and not wish you good luck next weekend. 

I bought a heart rate monitor many years ago and dug it out again since I'm reading "Iron Fit" by Don Fink and am in the chapter about zone training but the thing is a goner.   I think I'm in the market for a new one and am wondering what direction to go.   Any insight from you guys would be appreciated.    I DON'T want to get all caught up in analyzing a ton of data like you Garmin 910XT folks like to do but I would like to get a combo GPS/HRM for swim/bike/run.  Something simple to use because I'm technology challenged.   Any recommendations?    Do you all know your HR zones and do you use them to train by?  I've mostly trained by "feel" over the years. 

Have a Marvelous Monday everyone!

Will great long ride this weekend! Holy smokes you have really got to be feeling confident about your IM now. But please be careful out there!

Karl your story about your wife reminded me of the first time I crashed on my bike oh so very long ago. My husband and I were just young newlyweds. I was out on my mountain bike and hit a dirt path. I got caught in a deep rut cut from a tractor while coming downhill, hit the rut wrong trying to get out of it and spilled over the front of my bike. I was by myself and my bike was trashed. I had to walk home with two bloody knees and a scraped elbow. I got back to the house hubby takes one look at me and starts laughing! Hope your wife can  lace up her shoes and get back out there soon.

Brenda I am also tech challenged. Half the time I wear my Garmin but forget to push start or change from bike to run! I have purchased both a Garmin 305 and Garmin 310XT used off the of the classifieds on BT. The 310xt was sold with a HR strap that I wore a few times last winter when I was trying to use Trainer Road. I think I've only wore it 2 times running. It does not fit me very well - a little too big so I have a hard time getting it to stay in place. I'll probably try again to set zones on my bike this winter when I get bored but I just can't get excited about doing that for running. I'm afraid it will tell me to run even slower than I already do . That and I get very frustrated when I can't figure out why these little tools don't work - dead battery, not wet enough, too wet, whatever. It gets to be too fussy for me.

Thanks for the links and info, WILL, TONY and DINA.   I'd heard someone else mention DC Rainmaker so I'll have to check out his reviews.

Wow, WILL, that was a close call.   Way to have good bike skills in staying upright!

Thanks, DINA - I'll check it out.

Way to go WILL on getting a TON of miles in!  You. Are. So. Ready!

 OK, I'm a girl who likes to match colors.  The 310XT is gray with orange accents.   That will NOT go with my yellow tri bike and outfit.     I found a brand new 310XT on Ebay for $199.  Not sure if the $170 is a good deal from the guy on BT since his is used.  

The 910XT is all black.  Nice.  That will go with everything.  Found a brand new 910XT with the triathlon bundle which has one bid of $399 and ends today.  Seller has over 3800 reviews at 100% so I'd be confident.  What to do, what to do?  

My hubby had given me X dollars a couple years ago to buy a tri bike and I still have some funds left over from that gift.  The 910XT would just about finish it off so I want to make sure I'm using it wisely.   Thanks for letting me know I'd be getting "da bomb", TONY!   I think if I had enough for a power meter that would be a more useful tool but, alas, I don't.    My son just got his acceptance letter to Indiana University and I started looking at college costs.  IU is relatively cheap at $25K a year compared to the places my daughter wants to go.   She's throwing out names like TCU and Notre Dame.  Yea, right, those are 50-60K a year.  Spending money on me and this sport is going to be non-existent.   I'll be praying for some scholarships.  How in the world do families pay for college?  Yikes!

OH and thanks again for the DC Rainmaker site.   Great info on there on all kinds of stuff.   I think I could spend my day reading everything but I should really go get something accomplished today.   

Here are my totals for the month of September.  I would like to have been on the bike a little more and even a few more miles running.  the bike crash took away close to 200 miles of riding I would have done and maybe a few of the running miles as well.  I hope to get  more riding in this month but I'll see how my knee works out over the next week and listen to my PT's advice.............and follow it.

Bike: 12h 58m 13s - 249.89 Mi

Run: 11h 38m 12s - 80.34 Mi

Brenda,  I would suggest you take a hard look at the 910 XT but it is a bit technical, although not hard to understand how to work.  However, I have a question about the 910 price.  Does the $399 include a HR monitor?  The prices I had seen not so long ago indicated 2 price points with $450 being the one with the HR monitor.

The great thing about the 910 is the swim information you can get with it.  The better reception in the water (quicker satellite acquisition) is somewhat of a highlight which is only for better tracking information while swimming in open water.  What I like the most is the stroke counting features.  That can be an indicator of poor form and to quick a stroke count.

Yes, DIRK, it has a HRM.   I see where the watch and HRM are generally around $449.  With the "triathlon bundle" the cheapest I found outside the Ebay listing is $499 so that's what makes this one a sweet deal.  Of course, it's on auction and it's one bid is at $399 so who knows what it'll go for in the end.  The down side of this watch for me is the 20 hour battery life.  I kind of have more ultra's in my sights and the battery wouldn't make it through a 100 miler. Can't a person get it ALL????      Here's part of the description: