No Racing For Me This Year

It's official - there will be no racing this year.

Between the recent "setback" I had at physical therapy on Friday, and the sudden (albeit obvious in retrospect) bit of clarity around my situation, I've realized that there's no way I can do any sort of full-on racing this year.  Yes, I could do the swim and the bike legs of most any triathlon with the required amount of intensity required.  But any run I do will be a jog at best.  Even by September or October I just won't be able to pound out miles at a pace that will be competitive.

I have to admit that this past Saturday and Sunday were a bit tough mentally.  After the non-PT session on Friday, and with a sore ankle, all I could do this weekend was realize the cold hard facts.  I'm disappointed to say the least.  But as today has progressed, I realize that this - again - is just the logical outcome to breaking an ankle that I should have come to grips with sooner than today.

Racing come this fall - Wishful thinking? Perhaps.  Oh, hell, yeah of course it was wishful thinking.  Denial?  For sure.

However, with that all said and done, my goal now is to stay fit, and get my running back up in the late fall so that I can hit the triathlon season early next year and make up for lost time.  I may still participate in a couple of events, as I pondered a while ago, and just turn in my chip after the bike leg.  Not exactly what I was hoping for this year, but considering the circumstances I think that's the best I can manage.

Weekly Workouts And A Minor Setback

I had some good workouts this week.  Monday was an off day (always enjoyable), and Tuesday was an easy ride with one of the athletes that I coach.  But Wednesday through Friday had some higher intensity workouts - I was damn psyched as I was feeling good, and was pleased at how my ankle was feeling.

Since a couple folks have asked what kind of workouts I'm doing while my ankle is on the mend - here's a sample from this week:

Wednesday:
21 mile ride.
18.7 mph average speed (Pushed it a bit on this ride.  When did I get all Type-A?)
Avg HR 138 / Max HR 162
671 calories burned

Thursday:
3,000 yard swim.
Warm up
400 yards easy
8 x 50 stroke drill
----------
Main set
2 x 400 swim on 5:45
600 pull
2 x 300 swim on :30 rest - descending
----------
200 cool down

Wednesday wrapped up with a late afternoon physical therapy session.  A treadmill walk and jog session - which I was really looking forward to.  3 minutes of walking, followed by 4 minutes of running / jogging at an easy pace.  Rinse and repeat 3 times.  This was followed by 90 minutes of sweat inducing drills, stretches, weights, isometrics, and physical pulling / tugging / torquing. Damn.  I was spent.

I won't go into details, but I wasn't limping when I got there.  Seriously.  More on that in a minute.

Friday:
25 mile ride
17.2 mph average speed (thankfully a more reasonable pace today)
Avg HR 131 / Max HR 164
719 calories burned

Here's the setback - Friday's PT session was reduced to icing and stretching as my ankle is acting up from yesterdays "run".  Very sore and very swollen.  I'm told we're stepping back a bit for a couple sessions.  With that news, all my weekend workout plans have changed.  No cycling this weekend.  Just one swim workout and multiple icing sessions on the ankle.  It's a bummer, but nothing disastrous.  I'm told it's nothing major, and we just stepped up the running a little too quickly.  More importantly, as the cycling and swimming workouts aren't hurting anything (as they're non-impact) this is just a normal event that's to be expected.

A bit of a bummer, but things feel better already this morning (Saturday).  I'll get a swim in this weekend, but today will be spent icing my ankle and watching a lot of TV.

Becoming A Bike Commuter

I've been talking about it for a while....about riding my bike to the train station as part of my daily work commute.  As we're a one vehicle household, my wife JL and I coordinate our schedules so I can be dropped off at the train station to head into Manhattan before she heads off to work herself.  Not terrible, but during the morning "rush" in our area, it's just a hassle.  And, c'mon, it's just the smart thing to do.  I walk to the train when I can (it's only a 15 minute walk) so why not save some time, and fuel, in the process?

I was in no way going to ride my road bike to the station.  Nor was I going to ride my TT racing rig (that would just look stupid!)  As I was in the basement trying to figure out how to build a commuter bike by cannibalizing an old mountain bike and a slightly used hybrid bike I stumbled on my very first road bike.  An aluminum frame Trek with a triple crank-set in front and base / entry level components.  Wow, I actually used to ride this thing?  Not to be all snooty, but damn. 

Okay, I'm off my carbon fiber soap-box.

What a perfect bike to become a commuter rig.  The triple crank-set would make the hills to and from the train station easy to deal with (without breaking out into a sweat) and a few additional accessories will ensure that my work clothes don't get wet / dirty / greasy.  I made a quick trip to my bike shop and picked up a few things:

• Non-folding, cheap, 700 x 25C tires - thick, puncture resistant, with a bit more traction than 23C tires.
• Snap on fender kit.
• Dual sided flat / spd pedals.
• Fresh handlebar tape.

I washed the hell out of the bike - really had to work on the drivetrain a bit - and got it back into a functional state.  New tires went on, fender kit was attached, and loud and obnoxious candy apple red handlebar tape finished things off.

I replaced the black road saddle that was currently on the bike with the stock saddle that came with my TT rig. (It was promptly replaced by a far superior ISM Saddle.) This was a good option as it's white on top and I wouldn't have to worry about my pants potentially getting black marks on them.  I resisted the urge to 'pimp my ride' by adding a mustache, or bull-horn handlebar to the mix.  Although as I type that I think I may need to do that this weekend.

A quick spin around the block and everything seemed in order.  The next day was it's maiden voyage to the train station.

Truth be told, I think the trip time was cut in half compared to driving.  While I did stop at all the traffic lights (rush hour is no time to blast through a red light) I was able to, on the right shoulder, zip past numerous cars queued up at each intersection and traffic signal.  The fenders dealt with bits of gravel and small puddles very well.

Arriving at the train station I circled around to the side with the bike racks and had to find some open space to lock up the bike.  There were tons of bikes and scooters already filling up the area.  With the bike locked, I couldn't believe how little time this took.   Going home took a few extra minutes that evening, as it's more uphill on the reverse route.  But that's fine - who cares?  No more coordinating schedules or taking cabs - at least until the winter.

AM Ride With A New Guy

AM ride with a new guy

A few days ago I got an email from a friend looking to hook me up with a 'friend of a friend' to ride in the mornings during the week.  Awesome!  Sure thing!  Email introductions were sent, and after some back and forth we met up this morning for a 20+ ride.

We met up at the appointed time and corner.  Matt seemed like a nice guy.  Pleasantries were exchanged, and off we went.  I noticed that he was in the "big-ring" and as we started out, I noticed that I was too.  We both accelerated quickly, got to a pace that was most likely a little too quick considering the lack of warm-up that I had, and started to cruise. 

The speed didn't slow.  We were talking, asking the usual "get-to-know-you" questions, but the pace was up there.  Neither of us would shift out of the big-ring in front, and we kept the pace high.  I realized what was happening......it was typical, neither of us wanted to slow the pace for fear of looking like he couldn't hang with the other.  Or at least that's what I projected.

We continued.  The pace continued.  Yes, we both turned into "that guy".  Neither one of us would let up.  We started out hard, and kept it hard.  Big-ring all the way. 

Avg pace for 20+ miles was 18.5.  Not too quick for a flat loop, but this loop has some hills.  And yes, neither of us would get out of the big-ring for the climbs either.

All hills were attacked.  Out of the saddle climbing.  The conversation continued on the climbs.  Granted the questions had to be kept short - as did the answers - so you could keep breathing and avoid passing out.

Me (on a short, steep, hill.  Out of saddle in the big-ring): "So...(pause) *heavy inhale and exhale*....you from Texas originally?

Matt (on same short, steep hill.  Out of saddle in the big-ring): "No...(pause) *heavy inhale and exhale*....New Hampshire"

Finally, with 2 miles to go to the end of the loop where we would split off, there was one last small-ish climb.  I got half way up and my legs cried "no mas".  I shifted out of the big-ring, and announced: "that's it - I'm done".  With that, Matt immediately slowed, shifted down, and relaxed.  Damn it.  All I had to do was say that 8 miles ago?

You get the point.  We turned into total Type-A jackasses.

And we're riding together again on Friday.

Pre-Ride: Check Your Equipment

I was out on a training ride with one of my Podium Training athletes this morning.  It wasn't going to be a long ride, this athlete is gearing up for a sprint distance triathlon in a couple months, and I think 16-17 miles was in the cards today.  Anyway, all was good - about half way into the ride, and we're picking up the pace a little.  My athlete was down in the aero-bars, and we had a nice stretch at tempo pace.

Suddenly:  Bonk.  My athlete has dropped back on a fairly flat stretch so I start to slow.....slowing some more.... Um, still slowing..... What's going on?  We went from a nice pace to maybe 10 mph (not kidding).

I was informed that they just lost their mojo.  Okay, no problem, we'll spin easy for the rest of the ride.  But as we continued on, even at a slow pace, my athlete was just dragging.  Finally, I was informed - while their legs felt like rubber at the moment - that a "rubbing" on the front end of their bike might indeed be coming the brakes.  We pulled over and, sure enough, the brake pads were so tight that they were rubbing against the rim of the front wheel.  The calipers had the brake pads just about locked down on the rim.  I could hardly spin the front wheel when I took a look.  No wonder this person was spent - this ride must have felt like doing hill repeats for ten miles.

I did give this person a mild scolding for not checking out their equipment before rolling out that morning.  Everyone should do some basic checks on their bike before heading out.  Even if it's for a short ride.  Spin the wheels: any wobble or brake rubbing?  Check the brakes: stopping power is good?  Spin the crank arms and shift gears a few times: All shifts are crisp and no issues with the drivetrain?  Check the handlebars: Able to turn without cable or headset issues?  Tires are inflated and you have spare tube, air / CO2 / tire levers?

All in all this takes about 2 minutes - Max. 

Granted, we got a laugh out of it in the end.  If this were race day, that would have been one tough bike leg.

More importantly my next concern was about the bike shop that was being frequented for the maintenance on this athlete's bike.  I say this as I know it just came back from the shop for a basic tune-up. How could a mechanic, any mechanic, let a bike leave their shop with the brakes adjusted down this tightly?  Didn't they check things over once (or twice) before taking the rig off the stand and signing off on the work?  I was sort of stunned, as I know what bike shop was used, and I had thought them to be a pretty good place to go.  That opinion has changed a bit.

The moral of this story?  Always, ALWAYS, check your bike before heading out on a training ride.  And, make sure you've got a good mechanic whom you trust at your bike shop.

You can always do what I do once you do find a reputable shop and mechanic: Buy your mechanic a case of excellent micro-brew or craft beer a couple of times a year and make sure you're on a first name basis with the entire staff by doing the same.  It does wonders when you need a quick tweak on your rear derailleur and it's a busy Saturday at the bike shop.