Thursday - April 11, 2013
Tuesday and Thursday BAM group rides out of the Blue Ash YMCA at 5am. Rules are that no one is left behind, aero bars are allowed, but no one is permitted to wear a Hello Kitty bike shirt. Especially in pink! Last Thursday, BAM kicked my butt. Today, there were 3 of us and we picked up two more in Madeira at Galbraith/Miami. We rode a great route, see Strava map below, and climbed a great hill. Three of the riders went on to ride another loop, while another rider and myself headed back to the Y. By the time I got home I had ridden 23.5 miles total (about 1 mile of that is my house to the Y and then from the Y back home). The ride average speed last week was 15.7 mph, and was 16.7 mph today! Also, I did not walk any of the hill, where as last week I walked the last quarter mile or so. My HR averaged about 159 and I burned (per Garmin Connect) 939 calories. Strava usually says a few more calories burned, so I'll stay conservative. These group rides are awesome and I see me really getting into them. Plus, from 5:00am to 6:30am I get my workout in, and then I feel great all day. I can't wait to do it again, and again, and again, until I'm one of the stronger riders going for a quick second lap!
I still notice that group rides are nerve-racking with the aero bar shifting. Having the shifters and brakes together, like a normal road bike, is much better than riding non-aero and then reaching to shift constantly. So, I dropped my bike at the shop to have my old "S" bars and brake shifters installed. Also, my back wheel is untru (not straight) and my rear brake pads are almost completely gone. The bike is a 2003 and I think the pads are still original. The bike is holding up well though. I love it. Obviously, I would like a "better" one but the only upgrades I see in my future are stronger wheels and an ISM Adamo Century seat. When you're 225, it's easy to break a spoke when you hit a bump. I've had several spokes replaced and my rear wheel straightened several times. Time for a set of beafier wheels. They run a couple hundred bucks ($150 to $300/$400 depending), so I'll be saving for those. Also, I get all sorts of discomfort on long rides (30+ miles) from my seat. ISM designs a seat with an open nose to better "cradle" your under carriage. These are like $90, but the Century model is supposed to work well for endurance rides of serious distance, though the seat's yellow stitching looks dumb. My rides aren't going to get shorter, so this will come in handy as I start riding 50/60/70 miles each weekend.
Podiatry Visit
If you saw the "graphic" photo of my inflamed foot tendon online, then you've probably heard me bitching about the main joint in my big toes. When they flare up during a run, I have to stop and carefully walk. It feels like my foot is broken and I need crutches. It's been an on and off again issue since spring of 2012, so I finally made an appointment to have it looked at. I went to a foot specialist who took 6 X-Rays and asked me a bunch of questions. Basically, I have the early signs of arthritis in my big joints (not the knuckle, but the joint where the toe meets the foot). Well, this area gets a lot of movement, even for non-runners, so it sucks to have. He said I have spurs growing and in the X-Ray my big toe and inside foot bone (tarsal or metatarsal?) are very white next to the rest of my bones, implying that this area is under a lot of stress and has become "stronger" to adapt to the abuse. Remember my 268 pound runs? Yeah, so do my feet! His options were this and that, but I decided for cortisone shots in each big toe joint. He said this will resolve minor issues, and if they still hurt after 6 weeks it's a more serious matter. Let's hope this works! The shots have my joints feeling tigher, but it should feel better after another couple days. If this does the trick, I'll be very happy. It's just to get me through the season though. He told me that if I want to keep this lifestyle long term, I needed to lose more weight to reduce the impact on my feet. 225 is still a lot, even though I'm down roughly 50 pounds, and I agree. I initially wanted to get leaner to race faster (and look better!) but now I have a medical expert saying it will also help my foot pain.
Here is my Strava data from the bike ride (using iPhone):
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