Crazy Busy Weekend

Before getting rolling on the subject of this post, I just wanted to mention how amazing it is to me that people can think chiropractic is quackery. I spent 2 weeks with a hamstring that was basically partially cramped. I thought I had damaged it by over training. Nope, it was a pinched nerve in my lower back. One quick adjustment and it was immediately better. Within a few hours I wanted to run. The next day it was as if I never had a problem. Whew! I was starting to change my expectations for my upcoming races because of that hamstring. Now my biggest concern is allergies. Generic Claritin 24/7 and the netipot are my main weapons. Hopefully that is enough.

The big weekend:

I hate to say it, but the summer rush has begun. Last weekend was PACKED full, very little time to rest. Looking forward it pretty much stays like that until the fall. So what was going on that kept me/us so busy?

Saturday morning: Genine has a 15K race about 20 minutes away. This would be her longest run ever. Most people would make sure they are tapered and ready to take on the longest run they have ever done. Genine? Well she did a 3 hour bike and 30 minute run the day before! Her run went well. She is looking forward to getting faster but she hit her goal time and best of all, felt good after the run. Gronsky’s Pancakes for brunch following with friends is always a nice bonus. Then Genine had to go to work.

I on the other hand had some bike tech work to do. I wanted to make some changes before going out on my ride/run. This meant stealing some components from my road bike. Things did not go as planned. Something very simple stopped me dead in my tracks. I was swapping out the front brake and the cable had one bad wire in the wrap. When I cut the crimp off the end of the wire, that one thread unraveled all the way up and through the brake cable housing. Not a big deal, except I didn’t have another cable. Well there are 3 bike shops within 5 minutes of my house, I’ll just call and see if they can fix this for me so I can go do my ride before it gets too late. 3 calls, 3 strikes…. I guess I’m going out on my road bike. Only I had to swap saddles, pull pedals, put a brake back on and replace the broken areobar pad on the clip-on areobars, before it would be ready to ride. Not the bike tech job I was hoping to be talking about on the blog today. Ah well, I learned some good lessons.
I finally arrived at my bike course at 4PM. 3 laps around the Buckman bike course. That might sound boring to some people but I feel this is probably the best use of my time. The road bike felt foreign to me for about 30-40 minutes. The saddle was too low for the entire first lap. That causes huge low back problems for me, fortunately once I adjusted it up my back became agreeable again. I was surprised at how much slower I was riding that course on my road bike. Yes I was pacing myself for 3 laps but I also think that because I was trying to stay in aero, I was often in the wrong gear longer than I should have been. This is a course where I am shifting constantly. For the road bike to be as fast as my tri bike on this course, I’d have to do without the aerobars.

I should also mention that I missed having my speedfil during the ride. I do a much better job with hydration using that system than with bottles on the down tube.

I was riding with my new Adamo Podium saddle. I adjusted it after each lap, it definitely felt the best during the 3^rd lap. Just over 3 hours of riding.

After my ride I had to run, first brick of the year. It wasn’t very special. I couldn’t make my legs move quickly. I was 15 minutes into the run before things started to feel decent and my speed and HR started to rise. That’s not a good sign for the Olympic distance events that are fast approaching. Of course I won’t be on the bike that long before my run. Or at least I hope not. All in all a good bit of training tho’. Now it was time to EAT! (as in the Time to Eat Diner).

When Genine got home from work we flipped through the photos I took at the race that morning. Next think you know it’s after midnight.

Sunday: Up early to head to the NJ Marathon. Jim and some other friends from my hometown were racing today. I had figured we would talk on Saturday to plan how to meet up and all that. Well that never happened. I knew Jim’s goal pace, so I drew up a timeline and took a course map and headed for Long Branch. I had no idea of what to expect for parking or traffic. Fortunately, the drive down was simple. I had about 20 minutes to find parking and get to the course before they pass by. I luck out and find good parking right around mile 10. I walk over to the course and right on time (a bit early actually). There is Jim. I start cheering for him, but he was not expecting hear anyone on the course cheering for him. So it takes a bit before he looks over and sees me.

Shortly after that, I spot Chris and then Marty. Chris also eventually realized someone was yelling for him and saw me. Marty was with a pace group that was pretty thick and didn’t see me.

Well now I guess I’ve got a couple hours to kill before the finish. The half marathoners started to show up in the mix. I spot Bridget, one of Genine’s friends. We will surprise her with a bunch of race photos, I guess.

Fortunately it was a beautiful day. So I just stood along side the finish chute and cheered people along for a couple hours. Because the half marathon was finishing before the marathoners (well some of them did anyhow), when the escort for the marathon winner passed through the crowd of half marathoners, I never spotted him.

When it got to the time that Jim was hoping to finish in, I tried not to be distracted by the other spectators. (fascinating who you meet at these things, a set builder from manhattan, Mooseman athletes…) Anyhow, I’m watching for Jim and then I spot Chris. My first reaction is, DID I MISS JIM?!! But then I see he’s running right beside Chris. Ha! Not far off their goal pace either.

We eventually meet up at the finish and I go back to my car. Along the way I spot one of the guys from our old Masters Swimming group. He’s doing the Mooseman half and then Lake Placid. It’s funny to me to actually see people that I know considering the small percentage of people I do know in this area.

We went out to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. If ever you should be allowed to eat their dessert it would be today right? Well everyone talked about which cake they were going to get at the start of dinner, then nobody got one. Kind of funny.

It was great catching up with everyone.

Monday: Electricians working at my house so I stayed home to manage that. Then I had a 4000m swim workout, the mainset being 30x100 with :15 break after each. That was a big swim, it went well, the breaks seemed to get shorter and shorter along the way. The last 25 of each felt longer and longer as well.

Then I figured I’d head to the bike shop to get that cable fixed. Because it’s now bike season, it was busy. Fortunately I was able to get it fixed without leaving it for a couple days. More about the bike fixes next weekend.

Now it’s Tuesday and I don’t know if it’s allergies or my weekend, but I feel very very tired. I need to make sleep a priority.