Gnu's Group - CLOSED (Page 13)

For the photos, you'll have to resize them using some sort of photo editor.  Whatever you have on your computer should have a resizing option. 

For the strikethrough, it is an option along with bold, italic, and underline on the font.  Just like when you are posting.  Just go into your goals and highlight what you want to cross off and click the strikethrough font little "icon."  Hope that helps! 

Just checking in to see how everyone is doing.  I am 25 days away from my second ever tri and unfortunately probably the last for the season.  I am excited and have been able to ride the bike course a couple of times now.   It is more like a bike tour course - lots of turns but I don't mind since I am not very fast anyone.  As of now, I am one of two registered for athena category so I might medal (haha) as there aren't more than 1 more to sign up between now and the race.  It will probably be my only chance at getting the podium at a race.  We will see.

I have learned that I pedal too much with my toes and need to focus more on keeping my feet flexed.  On Sunday after riding the course, we had the pleasure of the RD for my upcoming tri meet us to show us the run course. I was in so much pain in my shins that I had to stop several times to stretch. I had a really hard time running.  I had the same problem in my first race and it does ease up after about a mile.  Someone suggested getting clipless pedals (right now I use toe clips) but the guy at the bike shop today said it is more a form thing than a pedal things.

Either way, I am looking to make the change. I have sort of narrowed down my selection to speedplay light actions or Shimano SPD PD m520.  They both have their pros and cons but I do have to keep in mind that whatever I get needs to be friendly to my knees.  I welcome any suggestions, advice, comments, etc.

Thanks!

Clipless pedals are on my list for next season.  I'll be curios to see how they help.  Good luck with the continued training...yay for podium possibilities!!

 
I also have one last race left this coming Sunday, and I am SORELY unprepared for it.  But I know I'll be mad if I cop out on my last chance to do a race for next, oh, 9 months or so.  *rolls eyes*  A coworker of mine is doing it too, and she kinda wanted to bale too, but we both are just going to do it.  I knew August was going to be bad for training, so I'll just have to accept what I am capable of and forget about what I am lacking in.  I guess.

Ouch Mike. I read on your blog what happened. Sounds VERy scary.  Glad that you are okay, despite some broken ribs.   I cannot imagine trying to swim with cracked ribs.  You should definitely give yourself some time to heal.

Will the RD refund part or all of your fees if you contacted him/her about what happened?  Maybe you could get a credit for a future race?  Take care of yourself and again, glad you were not more seriously injured.

Hurray, I bought clipless pedals yesterday.  I ultimately decided on the shimano spd pd-m520's which are dual entry so I can clip in on either side.  REI had them for $50 and I had some stuff to return to the store which is why I bought them there.  I did find them at EMS.com for $47 total with shipping but wanted them now, not waiting for shipping.

I also bought cycling shoes at a LBS but could not find mountain bike shoes that would fit right so I ended up with Specialized Spirita road shoes.   Now to figure out how to use them.  It is pouring outside and besides my bike is at a different LBS until Tuesday who works on older american bikes.  For me to be able to use the clipless pedals, I had to change the crank from one with a 1/2" spindle hole to a a crank with a 9/16" spindle hole.  I was extremely excited to find Harris Cycles online had a one piece crank for older american bikes that would work.  While it is not ideal, it was inexpensive alternative to purchasing expensive components. I am hoping to buy a new road bike next year so need to make this one work for while without a huge investment.

I am going to take it easy for a while.  I tried to just keep up with my training and it wasnt so bad in the water.  I had to modify my stroke a ton because I cant really pull with my left arm but it was working.  After I got out and especially when I tried to go to sleep I realized what a mistake it was.  The race is to benefit colon cancer, which my FIL who I was very close to lost his life to.  I am racing in his name.  If it is at all possible I will race.  Even if I just have to limp through the entire thing.  I have several sponsers to help raise money and they are incentive based.  The better I finish the more money I raise so I am very motivated to do this.  Right now swimming hurts more than it did right after I got hurt and the constant pounding of running is out of the question.  I am taking a few days rest and then I am going to try to ease back in.  Even if I DNS I would just consider my entry fee a donation and maybe try to put it towards next years race, not sure.

Thanks for the concern.  I will probably post the pic of my car in my blog a little later but be warned it is pretty scary when looking at it to think that i just got a few cuts and two broken ribs.  Well it is to me.

Hey Mike, I have one of those little green squares moving closer and closer too.  Glad to hear you are feeling like you can make it through the race. I know how important the race is to you.  Just make sure you don't hurt yourself more in the process. 

Will the course be closed for the race?  If not, I would hope they can control the traffic enough to make it safe.  Congratulations on the BF loss.  I hope to be able to report the same sometime in the near future.   I have quite a bit more to lose but at least I am losing again.

I have had some great training sessions of late and feeling really confident for my upcoming race.  I have gotten clipless pedals and fell once and almost fell a second time.  Got some pretty bad bruises on my legs as a result but luckily did not break or really hurt anything.  I had an amazing swim session yesterday - swam 1150 yds non-stop (total of 1450yd for session) and could have kept going if I had the time.  I am also happy to report that I was able to run/walk combo 5k twice now without pain in my shins/calves.  I do have to make sure to take a couple of minutes to stretch but figure it will save me so much time in the long run because my pace is quicker.  My goal for the off season is to improve the run.

Hope everyone is doing well.  Anyone else have races coming up?  Maybe we have to start a new group outside the mentor program  so we don't get archived.  Anyone interested?