Vineman 70.3 Tips Part 2

So last month I wrote this post on tips for the Vineman 70.3. I hope it was helpful for anybody who might have read it!

That post was actually an entry into the Fitness Journal Discussion Board as a response to somebody who had asked about the race.

After my post, two of my buddies, Pat & Jim, chimed in with some additional advice. I thought I'd post it here as well.

T-MINUS TWO WEEKS TO VINEMAN, EVERYBODY!! Let the countdown begin. I AM SO EXCITED! Now let's all hope for great weather that isn't sweltering. ;)

Vineman 70.3 Tips Part 2:

From Jim C:

A few more things to add to Sarah's report on the course. We rode most to the course today (only approaching the course from the other side.

1st - I would highly recommend that you have well-lubed shifters as you will be constantly changing gears. I was surprised how often I changed along the course.

2nd - I found it best to keep the pace up and use lower gears when possible.

3rd - You can stay in the aero bars for a long time, so you should get used to that position (most of my training has been on my road bike, and I found my beck getting REALLY stiff today.

4th - BUTTON DOWN THE HATCHES! What I mean, is that these roads have some major bumps and rough areas. We had computers falling off, water bottles coming out and tool kits being bounced out. Tighten things down.

5th - Save some for the run, it is easy to push these course fast and burn your legs out. DON"T DO IT!

From Pat K:

Westside road over the past couple of winters has gotten worse and the road has a lot of pot holes and rough patches.. The only thing i will add to Sarah's & Jim's report is that at the end of Chalk Hill rd you turn left onto Faught rd. Before you turn onto Faught rd make sure you shift down to an easy gear there is a sneaky little hill as soon as you turn and it catches a ton of people in a big gear every year..

Injured.

Now, I'm not the sort to sit and throw myself a pity party. I don't run around going "poor me! poor me!" What I am doing, however, is being really frustrated. I HATE BEING INJURED.

Here's the deal: I began teaching spinning classes about 8 weeks ago. Now, up to that point, I was spinning once, MAYBE twice a week in addition to the weekly ride. I wear tennis shoes in class and put them into the toe cages. So for the last 6 weeks, I've had at least two intense spinning classes/week, and for two of them had 3 (I subbed for somebody). Still, felt fine....

...up until two weeks ago when I began having some pain on the top of my foot. Didn't think anything of it. Then two Saturdays ago we had our awesome ride from Fairfax out to Hwy 1, down the coast and back up, up UP Bolinas Ridge to ride back inland past Alpine Dam and back down to Fairfax. Later that day I went for a 1 1/2 hour trail run through Redwood Regional Park which was also AWESOME. That night I went to a concert at the Fillmore where I stood for 4 hours, literally one person away from Mr. John Butler (TOTALLY worth standing...he was AWESOME!).

Sunday...the top of my foot was totally swollen and I could barely bend my toes without having pain shooting through my foot. I tried to do a light 45 minute swim that afternoon but even the force of the water on top of my foot hurt too much. I got out feeling very upset and defeated...Vineman was 4 weeks away!

Doctor visit last Friday...doctor says he's sure it's not a stress fracture b/c I'd be in a lot more pain if it was. However, he does think there's some pretty bad swelling of the tendons from OVERUSE! So, as I worriedly said "BUT I HAVE A HALF IRONMAN IN 3 WEEKS!!" he said "well, my advice to you is to rest as much as you can in the next week. If you can rest a lot, ice 3 times a day and take the NSAIDs three times a day, I have every bit of confidence this will get better in a week and you'll be fine."

All last year, everybody harped on me to 'train right.'

So...heeding YOUR advice and the doctor's...I made a decision that will help me to be ready for Vineman so I can go kick some triathlete @$$ instead of kicking some WC Velo cyclist @$$ and ruining myself. Hence, did not make that awesome, awesome ride last Saturday which was a battle royale, to say the least. It sounded like lots of fun. [Sticking out bottom lip here and pouting] I HATE missing fun. >:-P

Still, it was the right decision. I know my race day competitiveness would've come out to play last Saturday, and it really was the last thing I needed for my foot. Swelling is getting better. I have a different doctor appointment today with Dr. Hannaford. Seems he's the running guru. I'm already going to get orthotics for my shoes because I have nearly flat feet, but it will be nice to have another opinion from somebody who really JUST works with athletes. However, I was impressed with my podiatrist I saw through my insurance as well.

So, we'll see what happens. The interesting thing I've noted is that for the last few weeks, I've been training about 11-12 hours/week and never felt better. I've taken the last 3 days off and my back is SO STIFF! Amazing how our bodies show us how much they love exercise.

Still working on my report from one of the best weekends of the year - the Berryessa Swim/Tahoe Ride. I need to convert my videos so that I can hopefully upload them to YouTube so that I can post them in the report. That will come soon...

More later. Let's hope the foot keeps getting better, because I WANT TO ROCK VINEMAN!!