Back in the saddle...

Literally! After spending most of yesterday sleeping, I feel much better today. Don't know that I've completely shaken my flu (still taking the extra Vitamin C), but by early this afternoon by body was saying "get up off your butt and do something". So, I went for a 15 mile ride. I probably could have ridden longer but I started too late and I got dark on me.

125 days and $921 to go!

Life is like riding a bicycle. You don't fall off unless you plan to stop pedaling.
-Claude Pepper

I've been downing lots of Vitamin C since Christmas morning. I think it's doing some good, but it's taking longer to shake this thing than I thought when I wrote this three days ago. What started as a head cold seems to have moved into my muscles. I just feel generally achy and a little tired. Maybe my body is trying to tell me to slow down a little. :-) Think I'll pass on the training for today. I'll keep popping the "C" though.

I was able to do a couple of runs on woodland paths when we visited my brother and sister in-law in Floyd's Knobs, Indiana, a couple of days before Christmas. I love running through the woods.

Since we returned home on Wednesday I have been able to ride my bicycle for 15 miles, 7 miles, and 15 miles on Thursday through Saturday. The temperature was in the 30s each day but a nice warm shower when I returned home thawed me out. :-)

My ride was cut short on Friday when I noticed that the bicycle chain appeared to slip slightly every few revolutions. I looked down and could see that it was badly in need of lubrication. So, instead of pushing it for 7-8 more miles I decided to return home to investigate. I discovered that one link was damaged to the point of almost falling off. If I had ridden much farther I would have broken the chain for sure. After playing around with a spare link and a chain tool for awhile and getting nowhere, I decided to go to the bike shop to see what they had. For $2 I bought something called a "master link". A simple repair using this link and I was back in business.

Happy New Year!

Vitamin C takes on the common cold

As I write this, I am chasing off the last vestiges of a cold I contracted on Christmas. I woke up with nasal congestion. That happens occasionally to me but it usually wears off in an hour or so. When this lasted more than a couple of hours I decided it was probably a cold. The first thing I do when I detect a cold coming on is reach for the Vitamin C. Yes, I know, this sounds more like a cliche than a remedy. But, I'm not talking about a few extra glasses of orange juice or the Vitamin C they sometimes put in throat lozenges. I'm talking about downing enough Vitamin C to saturate my system.

I normally take two 500mg tablets of "C" every morning as a maintenance dose. But, when I feel a cold coming on I up that to two 500mg tablets every couple of hours. So, instead of getting 1000mg per day I am saturating my body with 5000-10000mg (5-10 grams) of "C" per day. This is similar to the daily dose advocated by Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling. Maybe it is just the placebo effect, I don't entirely discount that possibility, but it surely seems to work for me.

Anyway, we spent Christmas morning at my mom's house. When we returned to my daughter's house I asked if she had any Vitamin C - figuring that she probably did. In the course of the evening, I downed probably 5-10 grams of "C". Didn't sleep particularly well that night since my head by that time was completely "clogged". But, yesterday, my head started to clear as I continued the high dose and today I am definitely on the mend. If the weather cooperates, I'll certainly go for a ride. That's my brother's cure for a cold: Just"ride" it off! :-)

Over the river and through the woods...

I love running trails. I had the perfect opportunity to do just that this past sunday and monday. My wife, one daughter, and I went to visit my wife's brother's family in Floyds Knobs, Indiana. They have a nice farm with several dozen acres of pasture, ponds, forest, hills, and of course, trails. So each morning, around 7:30AM, I went for a 40-45 minute run on a trail from the house around a large lake on their property and back. I had company on these runs, of the four legged, furry variety (dogs). "Q" and "Boomer" were only too happy to join me on each run.

Q, being the older of the two, runs at a pace that is closer to mine. But, his huffing, coughing, and hacking can get a little annoying at times. He means well, he just wants some company. In his effort to stay close, he has a habit of dodging right in front of me from time to time, so I have to watch that I don't accidentally trip over him while I am watching for loose rocks, slippery spots, and other things in the path that might send me sprawling. Despite my best effort, however, I did hit a slick spot of leaves the first day and bloodied my knee a little. The second day I hit a patch of ice but managed to break my fall with my hands to avoid hitting my tail bone on some sizeable rocks.

There are some impressive hills on this trail around the farm. Maybe I can find a similar route closer to home so I can better prepare for the Wildflower triathlon next May. Learning to love the hills! :-)

134 days and $1085 to go!

I was trying to introduce myself as America's woman champion, but I said the french word "Champignon," so I introduced myself as a mushroom.
-Nancy Neiman Baranet

What a beautiful day! The sky is clear, the roads are dry, as soon as the temperature reached 40 degrees, I stole a 15 mile ride on my bike. Winters in the "north country" are like that. It's sometimes hard to get out to run or bike. Open water swimming is certainly out of the question. This makes the occasional opportunities like today all the more wonderful. My friends in Florida would say to me that this is the perfect argument for moving to Florida. It's hard to refute them. But I'm afraid I would wilt in the heat the rest of the year. I do enjoy the cold weather - most of the time.

I did spend a good week in Florida, returning home yesterday evening. I was able to get in 3 runs of a little over an hour and 2 runs of a little under an hour. Temperatures in the morning were actually in the 50s and 60s which is a little cold in Florida, even for this time of the year. Had some success avoiding the leg cramps too.

We were in Florida for Mako's Christmas party on Sunday evening. Sunday morning my wife and I drove the 3 and a half hours to Key West, had lunch, and drove back to Ft. Lauderdale.

I found out that one of my new colleagues at Mako is a triathlete! He has been doing triathlons for about 2 years and has heard about "Team In Training". We spent some time sharing "war" stories about our training and racing. He has recently completed his first "Half Ironman". So, I will be looking to him for pointers as the race day nears. :-)

Merry Christmas!

Driving the Florida Keys

Sunday morning, my wife and I drove from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West (about 3 and a half hours), ate lunch in Key West, and drove back to Ft. Lauderdale. Seems a little crazy, but the drive down the Keys is really beautiful and not in the least boring. It's a great way to see southern Florida!

Resolving my leg cramps

I've gathered more evidence this week that the various massage methods work to relieve and prevent leg (particularly calf) cramps. It was a good week to test it out. I was in Florida for most of the week - home now - and was able to run each morning that I was down there. The weather is just about perfect with the morning temperatures in the 50s and 60s. Sunday morning I ran about an hour and 15 minutes. I felt two sharp "twinges" in my right calf on the lateral side. Shortening and slowing my stride each time was enough to allow me to continue to run. When I finished, I could feel a new trigger (tender) point near the site of the "twinges". Three times each day, I massaged both calves by sliding my thumbs from achilles tendon to knee 30 times each. I also concentrated on the new trigger point, putting just enough pressure on the point so that the pain subsided a little with the pressure. I can still feel the trigger point as I write this but the tenderness and swelling is definitely reduced from last Sunday.

Anyway, long story short, I was able to run for over an hour on Monday and Tuesday. I backed off a little on Wednesday and Thursday running about 45 minutes each day. But I finished Thursday's run with a pretty good kick. The great news is, I felt no further pain in either calf after Sunday's run. I am growing more and more convinced that massage will resolve these problems for me, allowing me to really enjoy the training runs again.

140 days and $1710 to go!

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
-H.G. Wells

Brrr! It's cold. I'm generally not a fan of riding my bike when the temperature is below 30 degrees. But, these days I'm not so particular since the days of 60, 50, even 40 degree weather are gone for now. So, I braved the temperature this morning, since the roads are clear, for about 7 miles.

It's been a good week. I got two 45-50 minute runs in while I was in Florida earlier in the week. So far, no problems with calf cramps. I continue to massage my calves every day using either my thumbs or a massage stick. From a colleague, I found out there is a third technique called Myofascial Release, which I am going to try. So far, so good!

I went to a Team in Training bike clinic Wednesday evening and drooled over all the nice bikes. I'm thinking seriously about getting a second bike, one that is built for riding in triathlons. We'll see. At least I think I will stop by that store to have my road bike adjusted to fit me. See what difference that makes.

I'm still looking for a good place to swim laps, so I can try out some of the drills I am learning at the swimming clinics at Oberlin College. Maybe I will check out the Painesville YMCA.

Should I take the plunge?

This is scary. I'm seriously thinking about spending $1000 - $1500 on a triathlon bike. I have already been thinking about getting a second bicycle. Ever since I found myself grounded because I had to wait for a part to arrive, that has been on my mind. There is a bicycle shop in Cleveland, Bike Authority, which will custom build a triathlon bicycle in that price range to fit me. I can also have them adjust my trusty road bike to fit me, even though it seems to "fit" pretty well already. When I started riding my $75 garage sale special some 4 years ago I never thought I'd be talking like this. Am I hooked, or what! :-)

Myofascial release - cure for my calf cramps?

At first, I misunderstood. When my colleague was telling me about this I thought it was some kind of accupressure thing. Like, if you pinch your earlobe, your calf cramp would go away, or something... But no! It's "fascial", not "facial"; as in "fascia" not "face"!

Here is a quote from the link she gave me:

"Fascia is a dense connective tissue that surrounds muscle, bones and joints which provides support and protection to the body.

Occuring along the fascia are trigger points [there's that term again!]. Trigger points are areas that are extremely sensitive to palpation and feel like tough, dense knots along the muscle. Some research has theorized that trigger points can cause injuries over time because they are believed to break up the normal structure and operation of the fascia. What once was a uninterrupted fascia, now has knots and scar tissue disrupting the pathways.

Self Myofascial Release is designed to break up those knots and return the fascia to its proper state."

It's very similar to the "massage" therapy I have been reading a lot about lately. The main difference is that they use a foam roller instead of a "stick" or your thumbs for the massage. The techniques are slightly different but they all seem to be aimed at those "pesky" trigger points.

The good news is for about the past week I have been massaging my calves several times every day with either the "stick" or my thumbs. I ran yesterday and today when I was in Florida for about 45-50 minutes each day with absolutely no pain or cramping or even tightening of my calf muscles. Now I have a third massage technique to try and I am gaining confidence that I am on the right track to fix my calf problems for good. Thanks to my cousin and to my Mako colleague (both women, by the way) for steering me in what certainly seems to be the right direction.

Merry Christmas!

From my little brother (with the bike) and me (in the Santa outfit) :-)

146 days and $1920 to go!

I thought of that while riding my bike.
-Albert Einstein, on the theory of relativity

It's been an interesting week. Monday started my training week with 2 unexpected 5 mile training runs in the cold and snow. I had intended to take the day off but found myself with no car and a dentist appointment in 1 hour. What would you have done?

I am still trying to figure out if there is any merit to this idea of massaging muscles to prevent cramps while running. I am not ready to declare victory but I think I may be on to something. I bought this thing called "theStick". At $35 it's a little pricey for a plastic stick with handles, but if it works it will be well worth many times that price. I have been massaging my calf muscles all week with this thing. If it actually works I will let you know.

I did take Tuesday and Thursday off, doing only my yoga routine to stay loose. Cold weather bicycling is a wonderful thing as long as I don't go too far from base so that I can come back in when important parts of my body start to freeze. The best way to combat the cold is to wear layers of light clothes and something to break the wind around your torso and chest. I have found that my Mako Surgical scrub cap makes a great lining for my bicycle helmet.

Short (and sometimes slightly longer) cold weather rides completed my training for the week. Finding myself again without a car on Wednesday I biked the 4 miles to and from the bank to cash an expense check. Friday, I biked to my daughter's office to visit her on her lunch hour. Saturday I started on a 1 hour ride but flattened my rear tube about 10 minutes into the ride. I walked home, patched the tube and then went for my ride. One circuit on the path through the park convinced me that I didn't want to do that again. The combination of snow, ice, and wet board walks had me riding no faster than a walk. It's great training for maintaining your balance on a bike but it is very tiring. Happily, today I got out for a ride before the freezing rain started. It's raining now and I can see the icycles hanging on the branches of the tree outside my back window.

I'm heading for Florida tomorrow morning where I hear it's a little warmer.

Saturday night football

Last saturday evening my high school in Cincinnati, Xavier High School (I was in the class of '70), played the high school just around the corner from where I now live, Mentor High School, for the division 1 Ohio state championship. Recently, Xavier has turned into a high school football powerhouse to the extent that they are now nationally ranked. The game was televised on cable and I watched most of it. Xavier won 27-0. They are quite an impressive team. I am glad Xavier won but I was hoping Mentor would score at least once. At any rate it is impressive for any team to get into the state championship playoff game. Congratulations to all players and coaches at Xavier and Mentor.

Unexpected training runs

Life is full of surprises! My intention for today's training was to do my yoga routine in the morning, which I did; then rest for the remainder of the day. The weather is too cold and icy for bicycling and I was planning to take a break from the running. It didn't work out that way!

My wife and I have one car. That's by design, not by necessity. I work from home most of the time. When I travel to florida I use public transit to get to the airport. We really don't need two cars. Most of the time, one will suffice. With a little bit of planning we can always get to where we need to go. With a little bit of planning...

Today, I had a dental appointment. My wife was using the car. It occured to me about an hour before my appointment that I would need the car myself. So much for planning! No problem, I'll just call her cell phone. No answer! Now what! I'll take my bike. See above... "The weather is too cold and icy for bicycling". A quick check of mapquest shows that the dentist is about 5 miles away. Well, here I go! Into my running stuff, grab my wallet, out the door.

Despite the near freezing temperatures, I arrive at the dentist's office almost dripping wet from head to waist. So, I duck into the bathroom. No towels, so I stick my head under the hand dryer. Luckily it's not hot. I was reasonably dry by the time I saw the dentist so no harm there. My adventure (the run to his office) gave me a chance to ask (and get a pledge) for a nice donation. On the run home, it was hard to distinguish what on my face was numb from the novocaine and what was numb from the cold wind. The really good news is: My calves didn't cramp up on me. Still, I massaged them as soon as I got home.

153 days and $2170 to go!

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T. S. Elliot

I spent the week in Florida testing my running limits. I am still struggling a little with tight calf muscles when I run, but I may be converging on a personal solution to these troubles. I suspect that my problems may be related to something called "Trigger Points" in muscles. I blogged about this yesterday.

So, it looks like the solution for me may be two-fold: 1) Daily massage of the affected muscles (my calves) to encourage blood flow and to break up the "Trigger Points" and 2) A 5 minute fast walking warmup to "let the run come to me" as the Kenyan runners put it.

I have already incorporated the walking warmup into my routine and that seems to have helped. I am looking forward to seeing if the massage will prove to be the missing ingredient that will get me back on track. It's frustrating to me because on the longer runs on which I have to stop short it's always muscle cramps that limit the distance I am able to go. I want to get to the point of being able to do a 13-15 mile run once a week before the triathlon in May. That way I will feel confident of being able to "go the distance" on the run (the final leg of the triathlon).

Tuesday I ran for about an hour and 10 minutes. All runs were at probably about an 8 and a half minute per mile pace so I'll leave figuring the mileage for these runs as your homework assignment :-) Not wanting to push my luck, I backed off to a 30 minute run on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday were 45 minutes and about an hour respectively. The good news is I felt strong through all the runs without the serious cramping that has "done me in" before. So I am optimistic that my plan for dealing with muscle cramps may work.

I got into the pool at Oberlin College this morning for some stroke drills. I'll have to say that the thinking about correct swimming form has certainly changed since I swam competitively as a young lad. I was taught to keep my shoulders and hips pretty much horizontal throughout the stroke and simply turn my head to breathe. The drills I did this morning concentrated on turning shoulders and hips vertical and practically staring at the ceiling with each breath. I am confident about completing the 1.2 mile swim at Wildflower but I am having so much fun learning about my stroke that I will certainly continue with this swimming clinic. Besides, it's hard for me to get regular pool time.

I'm gonna figure this out yet!

By now, I'm sure, I sound like a broken record. But this is really the biggest training issue I am dealing with right now. In fact, it is the biggest issue I have been dealing with since I started training about a year ago. This week I think I am starting to make some headway. Too soon to tell but I am definitely encouraged. The material my cousin sent me on Trigger Points in muscles seems to be particularly appropriate to my situation. A bit of googling to get some clarification of that concept turned up the following:

"Calf problems are usually due to micro-traumas that occur with every run. A typical muscle that is exercised multiple times a week is injured on the microscopic level with every workout. These micro-injuries require time to heal. As the muscle is used and the microtraumas occur, an inherit tightening or contracture takes place.
This is the body's attempt to protect the muscle to allow the necessary time for recovery. The downside of this built in protective mechanism is that there is a reduced blood flow to the muscle, this reduced blood flow furthers the contracture or tightening."

Sounds like a "Trigger Point" to me. Here is the suggested solution:

"Use your thumbs in applying an upward stroke to the calves, starting just above the Achilles up to the back of the knee. The key is to get into the calves with enough pressure to help relax the muscle and encourage blood flow into the muscle. The runner should apply 20-30 strokes on both calves."

This must be done with the calf muscle fully relaxed. Sitting on the floor with your back against the wall and your knees bent will keep the calf muscle loose. It is also important to do this massage multiple times a day to properly loosen the "Trigger Points".

Oh, and one more thing. I strongly suggest that if you have hairy legs like mine you use lots of lotion when you massage your calves. Otherwise, it can be quite painful :-)