Quakertown Triathlon T Minus 3 Days

Cathy and I will be doing our second Quakertown Tri (Sponsored by Piranha Sports) this Sunday, we're both excited and much more comfortable than last year!  Cathy's husband Mike will be joining us for his first Tri, having purchased a 2XU wetsuit.

After working with Cathy's swim coach for the past month, he's already swimming a mile!  Cathy will be riding her sexy new racing Specialized, I will be riding Phil's old Klein which I have named "The Blue Beast", and Mike will be riding a $100 Schwinn (with which he still beats Cathy on her new fancy bike).  In a flurry of texts yesterday we compared the expenses of Tri training.  Aside from the improved bike, Cathy spent about $180 on swim coaching.  I only spent $10 on a couple of Master's Swim classes; but after weeks of doing the breast stroke had to spend $180 on new bras at Victoria's Secret.  Cathy and I both agreed that our husbands didn't mind our spending habits involved with training because it's keeping us in good shape!

Greetings Earthling, brace yourself for immediate disintegration. 

After months of avoiding injury, I managed to re-tweak my knee last week leaving for work.  Carrying my 11 pound Morkie and work bag, I thought I was stepping onto hard surface but landed in mulch instead.  As soon as I felt my ankle twist, I took the weight off of my right leg and caught myself with the left.  I knew my left knee would be sore immediately, I was just hoping it was nothing major.  Sunday I had a fantastic ride, but the run afterwards yielded some IT band pain which I had also experienced after last year's tri.  This week we're doing iontophoresis to the front area which David calls "the insertion point", and he has taped the IT band from the back which last year fixed the problem instantly.  David calls the tape we use "medical duct tape" because it's very strong.  There was something about doing a 'fibular glide' while taping and anchoring to the tibia - whatever he does, it releases the tension.  Insurance companies don't want to pay for Ionto because they consider it "experimental" but it also fixed some bad wrist tendonitis that I had this year.  It's only used in certain circumstances, but it does work and has been around a long time.  If we ever treat an insurance company exec, I would love to say, "Oh we could fix that with Ionto but according to your company it's experimental."

        

Hopefully we'll have great stories & pictures to share after Sunday; and Mike will join our Blog Team with a post about his first big event.  Go Us!

Where have I been?

As much as I would like to say I've been doing a secret training plan in the Swiss Alps, the truth is less exciting - I've been at work!  The last few months have been a challenge of a different sort.  One of our office staff members had a sudden health crisis, and was unable to work.  In our hopes that she could return, we chose to wait several weeks before hiring someone.  The charity sports auction, of which I am a committee member, was also fast approaching April 14; there were final meetings to attend, posters to hang,  and a music playlist I was in charge of compiling.  This and pulling double duty at the office, was leaving little gym time, but such as most of life - shit happens.
At the time Derrick had not found a job yet, so I put him to work Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8-1 at the front desk.  He was impressive greeting and scheduling patients, entering the schedule into the computer, taking co-pays, and sending faxes.  I was happy to know first hand that wherever he got a job, they would be lucky to have Derrick.  A job interview in Richmond the week before Easter proved fruitful, as he was offered a position the same day.  The company owners went out of town for a week, giving him time to think about the offer and the prospect of being in "the real world".  He visited a few apartment complexes on the way home from Virginia.  I wished I could be there with him, but I needed to be at the office and after all, this was going to be his decision.
That Thursday, the stress and long hours had their effect -  I came down with bronchitis, dashing any hope of getting caught up (or going to the gym) over the long Easter weekend.  Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday were spent at the office but didn't get as much done as I had hoped.  Saturday Derrick accepted the job, and we made a deposit on a nice apartment in a gated community.  There was a lot of organizing to be done - and despite antibiotics I was still hacking and miserable.  Dad came to the rescue with his cargo trailer, and on Sunday picked up furniture from our storage unit.  The week was crazy as usual with an overbooked schedule of patients.  Derrick worked at the office and packed while also arranging utilities at his new place.  Saturday was the sports auction, Sunday I drove to Richmond and back to help move Derrick into his place as he would start work the next day.  Monday I thought I would finally catch my breath, when mid afternoon I learned that the sports auction founder's house was burning down!  Tuesday I had planned gym time, but helping our friends was more important - they had 3 daughters, a dog, and no house.  I stopped by what was left of the house, and found myself choking back tears at the devastation my friend must have been feeling to see his house in ruins.  It was a new house, and they had just moved there in January.  The house was a total loss, as were most of their belongings.  When people are faced with such tragedy and you ask them, "what can I do?" they are so overwhelmed there is no answer.  So I chose more specific questions and came up with some things I could get immediately that would help.

My swimming partner had told me about a "master's swim class" Thursday nights, and was begging me to come.  I was still coughing, and agreed to go if she agreed to give me CPR - should I sink to the bottom of the deep end.  After coughing and hacking my way through the workout (my first in 3 weeks) I did feel better and announced my comeback!  It has been a slow return to the nice base I had built up earlier in the year, but I'm starting to feel good on the bike again.  I haven't done half of the training I did last year, and might as well be doing a TWT.  But I feel confident I will survive, just not sure about improving on my times of last year.  The only good thing is that I haven't gotten injured because I haven't been doing much.  As opposed to Cathy's new fancy bike and her fitting guru, I have opted to ride one of the kids' road bikes which is lighter than mine, with a shorter top tube that suits me better.  Hopefully May will offer no new emergencies and I'll be in good enough shape to put in respectable times for the Quakertown Tri early June.  On a lighter note, I got carded while ordering a glass of wine at the Macaroni Grill this weekend.  My husband quipped that our waitress must have been drunk, but still - Go Me!            

A Bicycle Fitting at Cycle Center of Stamford

Nate Rex at Cycle Center is a master at Bike Fitting

Before I had started shopping for a bicycle this time around, I hadn’t heard of a “bicycle fitting” beyond a seat adjustment.  Since I was now becoming a more serious cyclist, however, the concept was now prevalent in articles I was reading and shops and exhibits I frequented.  And, as with most things regarding amateur sports these days, the advanced computerized methods available to professional athletes are now readily available to us amateurs.

Besides a great staff – I met and talked with many of them throughout the process – Cycle Center in Stamford, CT offers a free computerized fitting with your bicycle purchase.  Most of the shops I visited still charged something for this service even with the purchase of a bicycle in the price range I was shopping for so this became a key reason for purchasing my bicycle from them.  In addition, through out the process they had taken a lot of time to educate me and had a very low key approach to sales.

Nate Rex is their certified master bicycle fitter and, according Cycle Center’s website, was one of the first 20 bicycle fitters in the in the nation to become certified for a fitting process called BG FIT which was developed by Specialized Bicycles.  According to the website, Specialized worked with medical professionals, doctors, and physiologists to develop the system “to help cyclists ride faster, longer and in greater comfort, while reducing the chance for injury”.  They have a school that was developed by Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine.

Nate has been working in bicycle shops since the age of fourteen and it’s apparent that he truly loves his chosen profession.  I think one of the loves of his life besides his wife and child is the BG FIT computerized system he uses for a bicycle fitting!  Nate showed me the manual method he used to use for a fitting and, being a lover of all things tech, I also became infatuated with the video computerized program.

Nate had me ride my 51 inch framed bicycle on a Cycleops trainer and took a video of me riding before any adjustments.  In the before image that you can see that on the left, I’m a bit hunched with not enough extension. The first obvious adjustment required was the height of my seat.  My long legs actually would require a 54 inch frame.  The next obvious adjustment required getting my short torso to not have such a long reach.  Nate said that my torso actually would require a 48 inch frame.  So for that adjustment, Nate swapped out the handlebar post to something smaller.  With each adjustment I was hopping on and off the bike for a video analysis that allowed Nate to instantly measure the precise angles of my legs and arms.  He also adjusted my cleats and fit me in a way that would help with the bike to run triathlon transition.  In the after image, you can see that my spine is more neutral, allowing my weight to be more evenly distributed.


The "Before" and "After" videos of my bike fitting

Nate spent a good hour or so with me.  Apparently, I’m a tough fit with my long legs and short torso – and that’s why a Women Specific Design (WSD) is the best for me.  Nate said I’m actually borderline on requiring a custom fitted bike for the optimal fit.

I rode my new baby home from Cycle Center meandering through the back roads of North Stamford.  I had mapped out my route to avoid highly congested traffic roads and to take it easy on the hills.  Unfortunately the map didn’t mention the grooved pavement I encountered and, not knowing an alternative route, I proceeded anyway figuring how long could it be?  It was long!  Probably about 3-4 miles of an uncomfortable ride!  While the remaining 5 miles was smooth sailing, I’m obviously looking forward to my first “real” ride on my new baby.