On Thursday morning I brought Mrs. Z into Landry's to get her spring tune-up. She is getting all ready to go outside--new bar tape and a new chain--and new-- not sure yet. They still have to call me to tell me the billions of things I need replaced or fixed. Pat, one of the guys who works on my bike, also looked at my shoes and laughed at me... I think you need some new cleats, Mary. Yeah, I kinda knew that. They are so worn they kind of slide in and out of the pedals when I ride. My seat has also seen better days. I have ridden/rubbed the seat about three layers down. Pretty soon I will hit its skeleton. Ek!
Pat and I got us talking about cleat placement on the shoe. I have been wanting to moving the cleats from the forefoot to the mid-foot, but I wasn't sure if this would be okay. If I did so would I be an injury waiting to happen? The thing is, I have metatarsal pain in my forefoot because of Morton's neuroma. Sometimes it just aches when I ride because the cleat is placed directly on top of where it hurts. I told Pat about this, and he said that people with my foot structure often move the cleat back on their shoes, and that sometimes this even clears up the whole neuroma problem! Ah!! That would be SO wonderful! He also recommend I get wider shoes. My Sidis are very narrow and don't accommodate my wide, bunioned feet/toes. This might also help with the pain. I'm excited. Of course this means I need new cleats, new shoes, and a new fitting--. It's always something. Hopefully this will be well-worth it, though.
What else?
Last week I had a depressive dip. They happen. I was an irritable b.i.t.c.h. all week. I wish I had some reason for it. Alas, it just came on--and man was it powerful. I felt like crap until Thursday, when it lifted. Now I feel great just because it finally DID lift. It could be hormonal... maybe even- g.a.s.p.- pre-menopausal. I don't want to think about that.
This week I found a venue at which I can do stroke analysis in the pool. I'm thrilled. I am going to be a personal trainer (of the aquatic variety) at the Vanderbilt Club in Norwood. What this means is that I can take clients to the pool and work with them on becoming more efficient with their stroke. If you are interested in this service, let me know!! Email me: mary@trimoxiecoaching.com. I'm working with my first client next week. I will promise to be both funny, smart, and oh--I will also help you to improve your stroke. No offense here, but if you swim anything like the majority of people I swim with at open swim, you could use some careful, focused help. :) ha!
I also hope to teach some classes at Vanderbilt- of the Your First Triahtlon type. LuLuLemon Athletica has also asked me to do some teaching. I will be offering a seminar in their Dedham store in late April called Your First Triathlon. Should be fun! I'm pretty excited.
Tomorrow I head to the metropolis of Clinton, MA to run Stu's 30K. I'm driving down with a bunch of GNRCer's -- two of whom are athletes I'm training for Boston. They are both in ripping shape right now, and I fear I don't have a chance in hell of beating either of them. Oh well...
And BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I am not planning to race Stu's.
Boo! You all know I love to race. You also know I have an extremely hard time not racing when I'm in a race. But I will try this time. I will try.
I observed that although I had a great run at the Boston Prep 16 miler, and another great run at the Cape Classic 10 Miler, I had a hard time recovering from those races in a timely fashion. With the 10 miler I really went right back into training, and I think it may be that that ultimately caused me to get sick a few weeks back. Basically, I can't let the happen again. I need to be able to go right back into my training, and I need to be able to do it without getting overtired, overstressed, and sick.
So. I need to NOT race it. I plan to take it out conservatively until about mile 10. At mile 10 I will pick it up a bit, and I will try to work the final 4 or 5 miles of the race pretty hard. That will be a solid effort--but not one that will put me out for a week. You know? I debated not running it, because I truly do not like to run a race if I can't race it, but I want to see my peeps, and I want to run with a group. So there you have it.
Sorry for the dull nature of this post. I will be sure to write a super sexy race report after Stu's. Happy Training, people.
12 comments:
I'll be interested to hear about how it goes when you move your cleats back. I read about that on joe Friel's blog but don't have the guts to do it. ;)
Enjoy your run! 30K is a good distance to 'not race' b/c it's not a super-standard distance like 10K of 1/2 Marathon where everyone knows times and all that. You're smart to not drill yourself into any holes by going too hard tomorrow. I definitely learned that last year- about how when you race hard, it takes longer than you think to really recover.
Looks like you have alot of fun stuff going on with your coaching. Have fun at STu's. Wish I was going and running.
Yes, you may want to read Joe Friel's blog posts about moving the cleats. V interesting!
Congrats on all the new developments. I'll send you an email about the stroke analyses after Boston, because, well, I need it badly! And I'll bring some folks with me, too:) I won't be at Stu's bc, like you, I have a hard time not racing, and I want to race the 1/2 marathon I have in 2 weeks. I have been pushing my body too much in training (problem of my life) and I worry about injuring myself...hrr!
It looks like you are making a lot of connections in the community. Have fun at the non-race.
I can't wait to hear your race report and how your runners training for Boston did, please share! I really, really, really can't believe you're not going to race it but we'll see! I love your competitive nature, it's almost like it helps me feel okay with being competitive!
have a great time, enjoy. Be smart. Can't wait to hear how your athletes did? Is andy running?
i hope you don't fuck your knees up. i'd have a bike fit person look at that. have a great 30k. you will kill it, i am sure.
I, too, have issues not actully racing during a race. In fact, I had never not race a race until about a month ago. And wow, it was a challange holding back...but alas I am 15 weeks pregnant so they'll be no racing for me for some time. Boo! Anyway good luck at Stu's!
for running-only races I will usually feel good again somewhere around X/2 days after the race, where X = number of miles raced. that can be a long time! hope you enjoy yourself whether it's speedy or not!
Good luck keep it under control tomorrow. And I'm glad to hear the coaching is picking up some momentum.
well you know how horrible my feet are with neuroma issues....surgically removed 1 and it's hasn't helped...anyway, I did this. I moved my Cleats AND I got a different/Wider kind. I'll show you. I have Sidi's too..but they're not narrow. I can't do narrow either.
Good luck tomorrow!!!! I hope it's a good solid Run.
talk soon. A
Wearing out your seat down to the shell is PRO! Riding worn cleats, not so much. Stay on top of that. I need a big toe box too. For the past season I've been on Bontrager RXLs and they have more room and ventilation than anything I've tried before. They come with stock E-Soles too. You can put the cleats pretty far back (not mid-foot, but back for "normal" setup) with the stock drilling. The quality of the buckles and the upper is not that great considering the price of the shoe, but I guess these days $280 is less than a lot of shoes. I think Landry's sell the Specialized BG shoes too. I've never tried them but I know a lot of riders who rave about them. Like you said it's ALWAYS something with bikes. Get used to it...
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