Swimming for speed

I swam tonight and whilst driving home, had a few thoughts...

- did 25meters in just under 15 seconds
- did 50 meters in 34 seconds (very fast for me)
- if I learn to flip turn, can I do 50 meters in under 30 seconds?
- can I then manage 100meters in 1:15?
- getting a bit carried away - I was exhausted at 34 seconds for 50 meters
- my swim stroke is just about there, so if I focus on speed, will my stroke automatically get better?
- I've been doing 50m repeats on 1 minute (finish in 45 secs with a 15 second rest) - I recently did this 16 times in a row
- Can I do 50 meter repeats on 45 seconds? sounds painful - would have to do 35 sec 50m - would definitely need to learn to flipturn
-My fastest 100 meter is 90 seconds - I'm not ready to try to break that record

I worked on my kick - my new theory is to do 25m kick, 50m freestyle, repeat... instead of 400m kicking. The reason is that when I freestyle, I forget to kick! I think if I can get my brain kicking, then do freestyle, the kick will start to be a natural part of my stroke. Seems to be working... time will tell.

I'm also working on my pull... something I've never really done, so I'm pretty weak in that area. It really shouldn't be a 'pull your arm' instead it should be a 'pull your body over your arm'. Well, I was pulling my arm a lot and my arms got tired. I've got a lot of work to do on this.

So, I think my body and head position are good. My breathing is almost there. Now if I can get my kick and pull working well, and do a kick turn, I should be on my way to being a moderately fast swimmer. Goal is to be able to swim 2.4miles in open water in under an hour - very challenging goal - my best time so far is 1:09.

rules of the road revisited

In previous blogs I attempted to justify blowing through stop signs and traffic lights. Bottom line, I will follow the rules of the road from now on.

Why the change of heart? I've been reading a lot about this issue and talking to people about it. I'm not in that big of a hurry. I don't really want cars to be be pissed off at me when I'm on a bike. I usually follow the rules of the road anyway. I don't have THAT many stop signs and traffic lights that I deal with. By making my own rules, I run into many cases that are not so clear-cut, so I was sometimes finding myself in precarious situations that really were not necessary.

I've already started this practice and it really isn't that hard. It does take a different mind set. In only a few cases is it frustrating (coming downhill to a stop sign with absolutely no traffic around), but I can live with that.

Prolotherapy

"Prolotherapy uses a dextrose (sugar water) solution, which is injected into the ligament or tendon where it attaches to the bone. This causes a localized inflammation in these weak areas which then increases the blood supply and flow of nutrients and stimulates the tissue to repair itself. "

It turns out that my Plantar Fascia is torn - the wonders of modern miracles - the ultrasound...

So all of this stretching I was doing for a year to improve my PF has probably continued to make it worse... not to mention the night splits and Strassburg sock that continued to pull on my foot at night, not letting it heal...

I've had 2 Prolotherapy treatments - Sept and Oct... next one is Nov 23rd. It doesn't seem to be getting much better - we'll see.

I can always go for the PRP (Platlette Rich Plasma) treatment, but this is $800 a pop out of pocket. My Dr. tells me that will be a much quicker healing process (2-3 treatments), but that's a lot of dough.

So, I'll stick with the $100 Prolotherapy treatments for a bit longer - Dr. tells me 4-6 treatments, but could be more.

Unfortunately this is all taking too long and I'm going to want to run this winter or I might just go insane! I wish I had started earlier in the summer!

Swim Tip - breathing

I read a while ago that you should look straight down at the bottom of the pool when swimming... wrong.

Recently I stumbled upon much better advice that seems to be working well.

First, your head position should be looking slightly forward, not straight down. This position helps with the next step.

Next, try to keep one goggle eye in the water and the other one out when taking a breath. This helps to make sure you don't lift your head too far out.

This seems to be helping me quite a bit. Still working on my right side, which wants to pull my head too far out.... I get it right about a quarter of the time on that side and about 3/4 of the time on the left side.

Squeeky bike... some quick fixes

My bike was making this terrible creaking noise evertime I climbed a hill and put a little torque on the front. It sounded like it was coming from my handlebars.

I hate taking my bike to the bike shop - I want to be the master of my domain as much as possible, so I began my research to try to figure out what was wrong.

Based on advice from 'experts' on the web and my "Zinn and the art of bicycle maintenance", I ended up taking my whole head tube apart and greasing it up. No joy.

It turns out, that all I had to do was take my front wheel off and on again and the noise went away.

The other creaking noise I've found easy to fix is at the cleat/pedal. Just spray a little lube on your cleat and this often solves the problem.

Of course, there may be much more serious problems, but I like to start with the easy fix first.

Group Ride - not so meditative

I recently wrote how long solo rides create a meditative environment for me allow me to experience a timeless internal state of relaxed awareness. The wind blowing in my ears, my steady breathing, automatic shifting of the gears, steady pumping of the legs all contribute to creating that environment for me.

Yesterday was a group ride and there is clearly too much going on at one of these to get that meditative experience. That isn't a bad thing because these rides are great for the social side of things. I got a chance to talk to Jules about his Philosophy instruction business while riding down the road at 20 miles an hour. Jules is one of those interesting guys on these rides - he rides a sturdy (heavy) touring bike - no cleats - cotton T-shirt - sneakers, etc., yet somehow manages to hang with a pretty fast pack of riders in the latest cycling technology known to man. He is a Dutchman that takes multi-day cross country international cycling tours with his family, including children and wife.

We also had a few flats in the group yesterday. Everyone pitched in to help - no complaining even though it was raining and cool. 14 riders all patiently helping or waiting for the task to finish so we can get on with things.

When we got to the 10 mile stretch down 282, 6 of us took off and moved at ungodly speeds, pushing our bodies to the limit. My legs were fried.

time travel

In the zone, you are left to your own thoughts and the world around you zips by and everything is automatic.

I just came back from a medium length bike ride (2 hours) just out to enjoy the fall leaves... no course in mind... no training goals... just go.

I'm not sure if it's the continuous body motion that creates this meditative atmosphere, but time just passes so quickly as if I'm in a trance. Same thing happens on long runs.

do more, feel better, live longer...

A couple of years ago when I started this blog, I put on the title 'do more, feel better, live longer...'

I nabbed this from my company's mission ' to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer '.

It sounded pretty good at the time and I felt that I should shape my life around it.

Last night I was in a reflective mood and starting asking myself if I am living up to this goal? Am I using my good fortune to help others do more, feel better, live longer?

I think so...

Every day at work I am a contributor in a large group people working hard to eliminate or reduce the impact of serious health issues like Cervical Cancer, Swine Flu, Lymphatic Filariasis, Malaria, Aids, and so many more - www.gsk.com. This is a big one for me. I've worked in a lot of industries before, and while Big Pharma gets a bad rap sometimes, the reality is that there are tens of thousands of good hearted people working with incredible passion every day to create medicines to help improve the quality of life and save lives.

In my view, a pill or a shot should be used only when necessary and after already living a healthy lifestyle. So, in my personal life, I focus much more of my time on 'the healthy lifestyle' side of things...

Outside of work, I informally coach people, and challenge riders, runners, triathletes to become stronger / better.

I like to praise people for their achievements, small and large - I am constantly humbled by those less capable individuals working so hard every day just to stay healthy or participate in a race or set an example for their children.

I try to lead a healthy life and share my experiences, and hope to inspire those around me as I have been inspired by others.

My hierarchy of needs starts with good health as my foundation, and I firmly believe that I am much more capable of being a positive influence in the world if I am healthy.

Many of life's pleasures are healthy (riding a bike, going for a walk, eating fresh berries) and I balance that with a moderation of things that are of dubious health benefit (an occasional beer or glass of wine, spicy food, red meat). Keeping things balanced should keep one healthy whilst enjoying life.

...it will never be enough, but I'll keep trying in my own small way... and keep asking myself - am I doing enough?

riding fast - riding safe

A+ ride yesterday – survival of the fittest. It was a good time, and everyone was smiling at the end of the ride. Sure we dropped some people, but we had the A- ride behind us, so they would have been picked up.

One guy got in my face early in the ride telling me I was going too fast… I don’t know why someone would come out to an A+ ride and complain about the pace. Fortunately the ride leader had a talk with him, but only after he nearly took me out by swerving within inches of my front whilst I was leading the group at a fast pace – not sure why he chose that moment to debate the speed of the ride.

Once we got through that early hiccup and the group got into a groove, the ride got to be lots of fun. Dick was there to push the pace with me on the big hills. Tim and Ian were showing me how to rotate quickly through a pace line – it’s a pretty cool skill – something we should practice more – could come in handy if we ever race together. Victor kept everything running smoothly and I did my part to keep things safe at high speeds.

There were a couple of moments where trucks passed the group at precisely the wrong time, endangering an on-coming car in one instance and a couple of on-coming cyclist in another. Near the end of the ride, I was at the front of the group again and my front wheel hit a rock and nearly took me out as I zigged and zagged for a very long 1 second to get it under control. No one else seemed to notice. Fortunately, no harm during the day, but it highlighted one of the challenges of riding with a big group.

After a shower and a burrito and bean salad, I took a nice 30min nap, then did yard work.

Overall, it was a pretty good day.

The curse of the three legged dog and the dead snake

Riding to work yesterday on wet roads, making a 90 degree downhill turn whilst passing an unlikely cyclist on a foggy morning when my tire hits a newly smashed snake in the middle of the road. Fortunately my spidey senses kicked in and I stayed upright - just - and avoided a painful body-hits-pavement scenario.

Riding home on the same day, I'm on a long gentle descent straightaway moving at 30+mph along a row of parked cars when a very cute fluffy black three-legged dog steps out from underneath one of the cars directly in front of me. He/she was as surprised to see me as I was them, and my reflexes once again took over, saving me from that devilish hound.

MTB with Ian to Marshman

So I decided to ride up to spectate Marshman, a local sprint triathlon at Marsh Creek, and asked Ian to join me in a bit of Mountain biking while we were up there.



After a late start, we headed down Hillsdale at 25+ MPH in sub 50 degree weather. It was tough to stay warm in the first couple of miles, but eventually warm blood reached our extremities and we had a nice easy ride up to Downingtown and along the Struble trail. When we got to the trail head, we saw the cyclist racing down the road toward the 282 turn. We made our way 100meters up the hill and carefully crossed, taking some nice pictures of the cyclist before we continued our off-road journey.





After 12 miles on pavement, it was nice to get off-road and do some single track. When we got to where I thought the race start/finish was, we found out it was on the other side of the lake. We took a break and a picture of the fog clearing off the lake, then headed back along the trails to the other side of the lake.


Once on the single track again, I almost forgot about the race and just enjoyed the trails, but this was a fairly short ride in the woods and soon we were back on the roads heading to the race.

It was fun being at the race - the energy level is high and everyone is having a good time. I got to see some friends, including Andy H (he actually one the race!), and met his friend who came in third, then saw Rob J who came in 4th. Pretty funny. I rode with Andy a few times this summer, and of I've run and raced with Rob many times before. Small world.

So we headed back to the trails, and I soon realized that I am way out of MTB skills - just not riding enough. The first clue was when I endo'd going over a pile of logs, which would have been no problem a couple of years ago. Then, about 20 mins later, I was following Ian down a partially overgrown single track, not particularly difficult, but I wasn't really paying much attention and my front wheel went slightly off the track into the wet grass and I was down for the count. Ouch. It didn't help that I only had one treaded MTB tire on the rear, so my slick road tire on the front did not handle tall wet grass very well.

Anyway, most of the riding was awesome. My skill level is spotty. On the way home, we did small section of Harmony Hill which was fun.

Good times. Peace.

agressively defensive and sometimes illegal

We were all taught to drive defensively. When riding a bicycle, being a defensive rider is even paramount to one's safety.

When riding in a group, I like to be the one in front, especially on the downhills. I typically have no trouble going faster than everyone anyway and I don't like the restricted response time a group of riders has when one rider makes a mistake or runs into trouble.

When riding in traffic, I do as much as I can to stay away from the cars. For example, I will ride through a red light if there is no cross traffic and if I have an upcoming turn which will take me out of traffic.

Sometimes I use other cars for protection. Going through a stop sign at the same time as a car is a good example of this.

I also try to stay highly visible. Lights and reflectors at in dusk/evening of course. Riding in the middle of the road when making a left turn sitting up high, signaling with my arm. I have a bright yellow backpack - pretty hard to miss.

Of course having a good cruising speed gives drivers more time to see you. So I try not to lose momentum when going up a hill. Sometimes that means buzzing through a stop sign or not slowing too much at a turn - of course I would only do this if I can see the cross traffic from the distance.

my first bike race

I've done plenty of racing... triathlon, adventure racing and running; but until now, I haven't done a pure bike race.

Yesterday I rode the Univest bike race. (http://www.spartacycling.com/rides/) ...

Wake up at 4:40, in the car by 5 at the course by 6:15. Race start 8am - could have slept an extra hour.

Constant drizzle sucked the energy out of everything.

Lined up too far back with someone I knew and spent the first 20 minutes weaving through wet roads, on-coming traffic, and slow / inexperienced riders to get to the lead group of riders. Bobby Julich, celebrity pro rider was at the front group which was pretty cool.

Once we caught the lead group, we were moving at a really BORING PACE - I like to go fast and I expected to go fast today, but it was early in the ride, in a big group of unfamiliar riders on an unexplored course in rainy conditions, and everyone was being conservative.

Visibility sucked through my prescription cycling glasses due to the rain and the fact they were fogged up. Water was spraying up into my face from the rider in front of me, so taking off the glasses wasn't a good option either (not to mention my nearsightedness).

At one point, while I was leading the pack, I started to shift over to let someone else lead, and I bumped into the rider next to me (apparently he was looking back to the left and I was looking back to the right - bad timing) - fortunately, no harm done, but a scary moment going 25mph or more in the rain.

5 minutes later as we descend a bumpy downhill, I hear a KLUDUNK - not sure what it is, but a moment later when I look at my bike computer... IT HAS VANISHED - CRAP... Decision time - stay the course or go back and see if I can find this $150 bike computer. I decide to go back and find it...

... there are a few hundred additional riders coming in the opposite direction., visibility sucks and I'm going up hill now and they are barreling downhill at 30mph or more not expecting me... so after scanning for the bike computer for 5 minutes whilst dodging other cyclists, I decide to give up this effort and try to play catch up.

It didn't take long for me to over take the next group, but soon after I passed them I missed a turn. I didn't find this out until I had already gone halfway up a big hill, and an grizzly old dude pulls next to me in an cool vintage car and tells me I missed a turn.... ugh...

... so I turn around, get back on course and hit a monster hill that pretty much everyone is walking up (IT WAS THAT STEEP) - I was glad to have made it to the top without walking, but it took a lot out of me. Brutal!

At some point, I decide to take off the glasses so maybe I can see the course markings telling me when to turn! I catch up with another group, but the splash from other riders burns my eyes, so I pull ahead and ride solo the rest of the course, having to stop only one more time to look at the cue sheet to make sure I was still on course.

I didn't catch back up with the lead group - but was only a couple minutes back at the finish.

I might have to try another race with better conditions.

Shimano SH-R300 Shoes

After a few days of researching various bike shoes, I narrowed the list to two shoes: SIDI Ergo 2 and the Shimano SH-R300.

The SIDI were more money, but had the promise of a good quality, long lasting shoe that could be adjusted to fit my foot as needed.

The Shimano was a custom form fitting shoe that had the promise of a perfectly comfortable shoe after I went through 30 minute custom fitting process.

For about $100 less, I ended up going with the Shimano shoes at $250. That is a lot of dough for me to spend on bike shoes!

So, now I've done a few wrides with these shoes, here is what I think.

At first, I thought I made a mistake. My foot seemed loose in the shoe, I wasn't getting much power, and the tongue was rubbing my right foot on climbs.

I then changed cleat location and pushed them all the way back. That helped a lot with the power. Then Iwas a bit more careful with the tongue when I put the shoe on and was careful not to over tighten the shoe, that seemed to fix the rubbing problem.

The extra room in the shoe actually adds to the comfort. A bit hard to describe, but my foot is snug after getting these shoes heat molded, but other shoes were so constricting, I thought that is what bike shoes were supposed to feel like (of course my feet got numb after long rides in these other shoes). In these shoes, they are fit snugly without feeling constrictive. The main benefit is comfort. After a few long rides and many short rides, I really like these shoes. They are responsive and comfortable.

At first I didn't like the way the looked and almost decided not to buy them, but they are actually pretty cool and very visible in dark situations. Being very light in color, I was worried about them looking dingy. I did a 3 hour ride in the rain, and they still look great (and held up fantastic for the ride).

I've read some reviews suggesting that the heel pad on the bottom of the shoe wears out quickly. I've used them for several weeks on over 20 rides and have not noticed any significant wear - and I do a lot of commute miles that requires frequent dismounts. So, I'm not worried about this. I also checked an 8 year old pair of Shimano shoes that I have put thousands of miles on and have not yet worn down this pad, so I don't think this is an issue.

voodoo donuts

Trip to Portland was cool. Especially voodoo donuts...

dirty old bastard, voodoo, memphis mafia, arnold palmer, mango tango, maple bacon bar... yum

I met a group of touring riders just finishing their cross country tour after graduating from JMU. They left from Harrisonburg PA, and ended up in Portland Oregon. Nice! I bought their donuts and we got a picture together.

Need a plan

Biking a lot of miles, but until my foot gets better, it is hard to consider serious racing...

Off to Oregon next week - maybe I'll get some inspiration!
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Day off - played with computers all day