I am sorry I am not updating the blog as much as usual. It's pretty crazy around here now. Right now I am finally just relaxing, sitting out on my deck. Fausto and Ari are laying at my feet. Things are calm. The weather is perfect. There's a nice breeze.....
I am racing the Cardinal Harbour half IM in Louisville this coming Saturday. It's a good training race for IMKY. I'll swim in the Ohio River too, just like IMKY. I hope it's a good day. My back has been KILLING me on the bike.
I rode a century yesterday with Mary and her group of cyclists. Great ride, beautiful open roads....
Anyways, we rode from Mary's to Miami Whitewater. I was already having bad back pain and we were only at mile 25. We picked up two other cyclists out there and rode to Oxford. We stopped and fueled up there (mile 50) and I got off my bike and did some stretches. It would feel ok for another 10 miles after stretching, and then the pain would flare back up again. Mostly on my right side. Long rides just HURT so bad now.
A couple of the guys suggested a few changes, which Dominic is working on tomorrow - and if this doesn't help, I swear I will give up long rides after IMKY is over. The pain is just not worth it.
So after the ride, it just felt so good to get off the bike. It was my first century since last fall. And it hurt. I felt pretty good running after the ride. For about 10 minutes. Then I ran out of juice.
I came home and went out for a quick bite to eat with Dominic. My back was killing me. I took an ice bath when I got home and was in bed by 9:30pm. After 10 hours, flat on my back last night, the pain was pretty much gone this morning.
I survived my 1st week with Coach Jen. IMKY is in fifty something days. It's about to get real interesting!
11 comments:
I really hope you figure out your back pain. That can mess things up!!!
Great job on the long ride! You're getting so close to the IM. You're ready. Good luck this weekend.
Not sure if this helps, but every 10-15min on my rides, I shift to a harder gear and stand up for 30-60sec. I find that stretches out the back, glutes and hamstrings, and keeps me fresh when I'm on the aerobars.
Hang in there! 50 days is not a lot of time!
I don't know if you've already done this, but it would be a good idea to have someone with alot of bike fit experience watch you on a ride. It could be that there is some sort of bio-mechanical misalignment, or maybe just that your bars are too low/forward. Someone with experience would be able to tell from you pedal stroke if you might need a shim under one of your pedals, maybe have your cleats re-aligned...etc. I would suggest doing it on the road, since sitting on a trainer tends to hide things, unless you are comfortable on rollers.
This won't translate to your TT position though, so you should have both set-ups looked at. Being biomechanically efficient goes alot further in performance gains than simply getting into a good aero position. sometimes, a position that resluts in the least drag will comprimise your power output to the point that it will make you slower.
In a nutshell, comfort comes first, tweak for speed second.
I think you need some professional intervention if you plan on doing an ironman this year. Don't do any self shimming - you could make it worse. Go see a sports specialist. Maybe orthodics would help you.
Back pain sucks big time. I hope the adjustments help!
Zen and Betty - I have already shimmed my right cleat whcih has helped ALOT. But it's not enough. The next round of tweaks is bringing my bars up with more spacers on the steer tube, and a shorter stem. If that doesn't work, I will have to pay for a bike fit. Don't forget - just because Dominic didn't get certified in BIKE FITTING, he KNOWS what he is doing when he fits someone to a bike. I think most of my problems stem from the scoliosis.
Best of luck this weekend! You are going to do awesome.
As for the back pain... hopefully those adjustments help, but if nothing else, just remember how happy you'll be in IMKY to be running a marathon!!! The pain of the bike is gone with the first step of the run! You will never believe that you could look forward to a run so much.
Keep it up lady! You're doing amazing things!
J..
Keep rocking... wishing I could be there this weekend :)
I'm starting to get the nervous chills... just to finish under 17.. just to finish under 17..
Hugs and luck!
jess
p.s. I could always stretch ya :) that is what I do almost all day :)
Youre great on that! Sweat it all out!You can do it! : ) Pain is but part of our being a runner. Perhaps, it is the wind beneath our wings that pushes us to move on and keep on running. ;)
Hope the back is doing ok. I haven't tried running this week cause of my piriformis so we are in the same boat..but we will do great!!
Good luck this weekend...don't push it too hard on the bike, don't want to blow out your bike. Jen will keep you on track!
-marn
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