Professional Bike Fit

At the beginning of the season biking was my favorite part of training. It was new and exciting and I really enjoyed my rides. But, as the season went on it became less enjoyable. The pain started in my knees and has made any ride over 15 miles incredibly uncomfortable. I can feel the ache in my knees through the rest of the ride - sometimes so much so that I want to quit. After the ride it doesn't bug me to walk or run but any kind of squat or deep knee bend brings the pain back. It will decrease after a week or so, but return just as soon as I hope on the bike again.

A professional bike fit is a significant investment, but it really is the best way to ensure a comfortable and efficient ride. So, Sam and I are heading up to Westchester tonight to have a professional bike fit done by Ed Cangialosi. He was highly recommended by fellow blogger Jon (SwiCycloRun) and after we talked to him on the phone and checked out his website we decided to give him a try.

Each fitting will take about 90 minutes and includes:
- A discussion of cycling goals, needs, riding style and experience.

- An assessment of flexibility and range of motion.
- Measurements for current position with regard to frame size, saddle height, crank arm length, top tube length, stem length, handle bar width, seat tube angle, saddle positioning and setback.
- Body measurements for inseam, foot arch height, and shoulders.
- Adjustments to position starting at the foot-pedal interface and working all the way through the body to the handlebar reach.

I'm really looking forward to this experience and I can't wait to see what type of adjustments he will make!

Training Rut

Ever since my I fell a few weeks ago my training has more or less gone out the window. I was feeling so strong and keeping up a great schedule but then it just went downhill. For the week and a half following the fall I was limited in what I could and didn't want to over exert myself or push to hard and not be able to race in the Lake George Triathlon. Then, last week after the triathlon, I got a cold. Nothing to write home about - stuffy nose, sore throat and generally just feeling like crap. I just lifted weights on Monday and skipped the gym on Tuesday and Wednesday. I felt better on Thursday so I went for a 4ish mile run, took Friday off and did some track work on Saturday (I'm trying to work on my running form).

My mom was in town and we did a ton of walking including the Greenwich Village Food Tour (I highly recommend it) and an awesome vegan dinner at Blossom Cafe. Sunday we planned to do a long run but it was raining in the morning so we skipped it, ate breakfast at an awesome diner and then went and saw In The Heights on Broadway. We had a great time!

The next two weeks aren't looking like they will be too full of workouts either. I drove my mom to the airport before work so no gym today. I hope to get a run or two in this week and then my first half marathon is on Saturday! The following week we are home Monday and Tuesday but on Wednesday afternoon we leave for California for a wedding packed weekend (the first wedding is on Friday night in San Diego and another early Saturday afternoon in Lake Tahoe). This should be a very fun weekend, but it won't have many workouts.

I do have a few things I want to post about in the coming weeks though so hopefully I won't entirely fall off the face of the blogosphere...

Lake George Pro Pics

The professional pics are up from the Lake George Triathlon and I thought I would share a few for you.

Sam and I talking before the start of the race - this is my favorite picture of the day!

 The Swim

My swim wave starting:

Finishing the swim

The Bike

The Finish

Look how terrible my form is! I do not know how to make my left arm not cross over my body. No matter how hard I try it always ends up swinging all over the place the minute I stop focusing on it 100%. Any suggestions???

The winner is...

I did the drawing for the winner of my first giveaway, a copy of Sarah Reinertsen's new book, In a Single Bound: Losing My Leg, Finding Myself, and Training for Life.

I wish I could give a copy of this book to everyone of you but unfortunately I only have one copy! For everyone else I highly recommend picking up a copy at your local library or even buying a copy at the store!




First, I typed the name of each entry (twice if the person also blogged about it) - 22 total entries.

Then I cut them up and put them in hat...

I closed my eyes and reached in...

And picked the winner!

Congrats Stefanie! You can send me your mailing address to kristagager (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll put the book in the mail! I've decided that giveaways are fun! I hope to make giveaways a semi-regular appearance around here!


Special thanks to my awesome husband for serving as the official "Commitment is Liberating" photographer!

Race Report: Lake George Triathlon 2009

The Lake George Triathlon was a great event! I am so glad that my arm healed quickly and I was able to race!

While we were driving up to Lake George on Friday afternoon we heard the weather report for the following day. I had checked the weather and knew it was forecast to be sunny with highs in the mid-60’s. What the weather report told me was that it would actually be very chilly in the morning - mid 40’s with some wind gusts… Hmm… I was starting to rethink my gear but it was too late to do anything about it now.

After a terrible night of sleep (I rarely sleep well before a race – especially in a hotel) we awoke at 5:45am to a very chilly morning. We quickly packed up our gear and walked down to the race site. The morning was beautiful but it was really cold and windy too!

Sunrise over Lake George

Transition at 6:30am

While I was setting up my gear Sam came over and asked if I had noticed the lake:

Me: “Umm yea… I noticed the lake.”

Him: “Did you really look at it.”

Me: “Yes. It looks beautiful.”

Him: “Look harder.”

Me (looking at the lake): “Oh crap.”

Him: “Yea.”

Once I really looked closer at the lake I realized the strong wind was making the lake very choppy with a strong "current" pushing against the shore. All of our swims have been in very calm lakes so this was going to be a new experience for us.

The sun is almost up!

 I wasn't kidding when I said it was cold!

We went to pick up our timing chips. The timing chip straps were like plastic zip ties. We have velcro ankle chip straps that we bought earlier in the season but I had never needed mine so I didn't bother to bring it along (big mistake - more on this later). Sam found his in gear bag. Here he is triumphantly showing it off!

 Transition was filling up...

 Pre-race picture - I was so cold I didn't want to take my shirt off until it was absolutely necessary!

Finally it was time to race. I was getting cold and crabby and ready to get the show on the road! We headed down to the water about a half hour before the start so we could test out the water. It was warmer then the air although I still didn't go for a swim because I knew I would need to get out and stand around for 20+ minutes before I could start.

Swim – 1500 meters

26:22 / 1:32 pace (100 meter average)
2 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 12 of 119 Females / 67 of 394 Overall

The original swim format included two guiding buoys (red) and then two parallel buoys (purple) at the end to get around and then angle back to the swim. But, the first two guiding buoys got blown off the course by the wind so we just had to focus on the last two buoys. The water was a comfortable temperature but the chop and current made this swim the most challenging I have done yet. I kept telling myself it would be easier after I rounded the buoys and headed back to shore. Unfortunately, the way the wind was blowing I was really having a hard time staying on course and sighting. The swim exit was marked with large white flags but they seemed to blend in with the shore so I didn’t know where to go. I just kept swimming until I could see the exit. I was in the pink hat wave and I hardly saw any pink hats around me so I had a feeling I had done well. It turns out I had the 2nd fastest swim time in my age group!

Transition 1

4:00
15 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 75 of 119 Females / 276 of 394 Overall

T1 was long because you had to run out of the swim, down the shore, and across the road. When I got to transition I remember thinking to myself “I don’t care how slow this is.” I was pretty beat after the swim and I was still cold. I threw on my bike shoes (luckily they fit me) and I thought about throwing on the long sleeve technical t-shirt but I didn’t want to overheat on the bike so I went without.

Bike – 24 Miles

1:33:27 / 16.0 pace (mph average)
14 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 76 of 119 Females / 328 of 394 Overall

We had rode the bike course a few weeks ago so I had an idea of what to expect. I knew the first half was mostly flats and smaller hills and the second half was much more hilly. About 3 miles into the bike I heard Sam yell “Hey! Rock Solid!” and he flew right past me. The bike was mentally challenging for me. The hills seemed bigger then I remembered and I was freezing for the whole ride. About half way through my right knee started to bug me and my feet were numb from the cold. At about mile 19 we were climbing yet another hill and a guy passing me said “This is unbelievable!” and I responded “I know! I just want to run!” Me? Wanting to run?! I was so happy to make the final turn into transition.

Transition 2

1:23

12 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 48 of 119 Females / 173 of 394 Overall

T2 was uneventful. Switched into my running shoes, grabbed my Watermelon Sport Beans and Pomegranate Luna Moons, a hair tie and my race belt and ran out of transition. I forgot to take my sunglasses off and ended up doing the whole run with them.

Run – 6.2 miles

1:01:47 / 9:58 minute/mile

16 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 85 of 119 Females / 327 of 394 Overall

The first two miles of the run were terrible. My feet were so numb it was like I was running on stumps. I was afraid of tripping again so I tried to pick up my feat and just hoped my feet would thaw out quickly. The run was two 3-mile loops. The first mile or so was all up hill and it was painful. I quickly ate my Luna Moons and tried to focus on picking up my feet. After about two miles the feeling was returning to my feet and I was feeling pretty good except the plastic timing chip strap was digging into my ankle. I ignored the pain and just kept running. After I completed the first loop I was feeling good! I ate a handful of Sports Beans and tried to really push my self to pick up my legs. I saw a woman up head wearing a pink shirt. She looked like she was running a bit slower so I focused on trying to pass her. After I passed her, I set my sights on someone else and kept pushing myself. With about a half mile left I saw Sam walking towards me.

The last water station on the loop was staffed by a group of about twelve girls. They were yelling, "We are superheroes! Here to save you with water and Gatorade." If you look closely they are all wearing underwear out the outside of their pants. They were hilarious and made me laugh both times I passed them.

Almost there! Just .1 left!

Finished!

A medal! For me!? Sweet!

Final Result

3:06:59
12 of 25 Age Group (25-29)
60 of 119 Females
283 of 394 Overall

 

After the race we helped ourselves to the awesome food tent. There was cheese pizza, subway sandwiches, fresh fruit, cookies, water and chocolate milk! Yummo! Then we waited around while they announced all the winners and handed out the raffle prizes. I was really hoping to win a pair of compression tights because even though I really want a pair I do not feel like my workouts are hard enough to actual warrant buying a pair. But, if I won them it would be an entirely different story... Unfortunately, I didn't win any tights. But I did get that awesome medal, a nice water bottle, and a great long-sleeve technical race shirt!

After the race we headed back to our hotel, showered and changed and then we headed up to A&W for a post race feast! I had a root-beer float, a veggie burger and an order of cheese curds! It was delicious and hit the spot! After our lunch we went back to the hotel and took a 3 hour nap!

We enjoyed the rest of the weekend with a walk along the lake, a delicious dinner at a local brewery and a much better night of sleep. In the morning we packed up and headed down to “Around the World, Around the USA” mini-golf. Sam had challenged me to a rematch after his embarrassing loss last time. Unfortunately they were closed and the hours weren’t posted so we decided just to hit the road. I guess he will just have to wait until next year to challenge me.

Oh, and remember the plastic timing chip strap I mentioned earlier? It dug into my ankle so badly that I have a cut all the way around and now my ankle looks like this:

Ouch! I'm thinking of writing an email to the timing chip company and attaching this picture. The most amazing part was that I secured it at the last hole which means it couldn't have been any more lose. I don't have big ankles so I wonder what some of the bigger guys ended up with!

Last Day for Giveway

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway for a free copy of In a Single Bound. This is an inspirational story that anyone can appreciate! Sarah tells her amazing journey including accomplishments such as breaking the 100-meter world record for female above-the-knee amputees at the age of 13, completing Kona Ironman in 2005, and competing in The Amazing Race in 2006! Click here to post a comment and enter. Be sure to check back on Monday when I announce the winner!

The Lake George Triathlon was great! My shoulder didn't bother me one bit and it was a great race all around. I promise to be back with a full recap soon! Enjoy your Sunday!

We made it to Lake George! We picked up our packets, checked into the hotel, ate a yummy pasta dinner and double-checked our gear bags.

It is chilly here and it will be in the 40s tomorrow morning! I forgot we were going so far north! I should have packed warmer clothes... On the plus side the race shirt is a technical long sleeve and I will definetly be wearing it tomorrow morning!

I'll be back tomorrow with the results! Don't forget to enter the book giveaway (2 posts down).

Two Thumbs Up!

I went to the pool last night to test out my shoulder before Saturday's race. I was sneaky and successfully hid my shoulder from any lifeguards so they didn't stop me from swimming (it still looks a bit dodgy).

I jumped into the pool and immediately started swimming. My shoulder felt pretty good and I was smiling under water that the swim wasn't going to be a problem. After about 300 meters it started to get a bit stiff. Nothing painful but I didn't exactly feel awesome either. I didn't want to push it so I just swam another 250 meters and jumped out. I am happy to report that I will be racing on Saturday! It won't be my best race but I'm confident I will be able to finish each event without risking any damage.

Two Thumbs Up!

P.S. Don't forget to enter the giveaway for Sarah Reinertsen's new book, In a Single Bound!

Book Giveaway! In a Single Bound

This is a momentous occasion on "Commitment is Liberating." My first giveaway! I am giving away a copy of Sarah Reinertsen's new book, In a Single Bound: Losing My Leg, Finding Myself, and Training for Life.

I ordered Sarah's book 'used' on Amazon last week (I get all my books as used) and when it showed up it was actually brand new! I read her awesome memoir in just three days. The book is about her amazing story of growing up with a physical disability, overcoming unbelievable adversity and finishing multiple marathons and an Ironman!

I first heard about Sarah after watching her attempt her first Ironman in Kona in 2004. She didn't make the cut-off time for the bike and could not finish the race. But, she is a fighter and she came back in 2005 and kicked butt at Kona, finishing in just over 15 hours.

I really enjoyed Sarah's story and I think all of you would too. You will definitely laugh and you might just cry a bit too. So, with the spirit of giving, I'm going to giveaway my slightly used copy to one lucky reader!

To Enter:
You can enter to win up to two times. For one entry, simply leave a comment on this post. For an extra entry, you can blog about this giveaway on your own blog. If you do this, please leave a second comment that says something like "Extra Entry: I blogged about it."

- Contest Ends Sunday, September 20, 2009 at 11:59pm Eastern Time

- If you're not a blogger, you can still comment, but if that's the case, make sure to check back on Monday to see if you've won - I may have no way of contacting you.

- The winner will be chosen at random by a random number generator. If you’ve earned multiple entries, you will get multiple numbers, thus bettering your chances at winning!

Now, I know I've entered about a 100 blog giveaways and I've never received anything, but, I really don't have too many readers so you actually have a good chance of winning! Good luck!

Back in the Saddle

I'm back in the saddle :) We headed up to the Bronx River Parkway for bicycle Sunday. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and perfect for a bike ride. I was a bit worried that my shoulder or hand might cause me some trouble but I rode 26 miles pain free. The only bothersome part was that I was having a hard time finding a comfortable position with my left hand, but this was nothing major.

The true test to see if I can race next Saturday will come on Wednesday when we head to the pool. My shoulder has been feeling pretty good - the post pain comes from the tightness/pulling where it is scabbing (sorry this is gross) and I'm hoping that will be less and less as the week goes on.

In other news, I've been sitting at the computer watching the live coverage of the finisher's for Ironman Wisconsin for the last two hours. Only two months ago I was telling people that Ironman was not my goal. Now, I'm sitting hear imaging the day when I will hear, "Krista, you are an Ironman!"

P.S. This is my 100th post!

Hope

I was in so much pain on Wednesday that I decided to get my shoulder checked out by the doctor. She sent me for x-rays to check for fractures. After waiting 24 hours she called me back and gave me the news. The x-rays as "unremarkable." No breaks, fractures or other obvious damage. Music to my ears!

{source}

I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be able to race next Saturday but I have a bit more hope today. I can carry things with my left hand, open the child-proof bottle of Ibuprofen and lift my arm over my head. Sort of. This is all pretty exciting considering the fact that I couldn't even open the refrigerator with my left hand on Wednesday, but I'm still not healed enough to do any real physical activity yet. But it's still 7 days away. The human body is amazing. I have hope.

Ouch Update

I woke up feeling even more sore today so I'm staying home from work so I can keep my wound open and get lots of ice on it. I feel discouraged and frustrated. Our last race of the season is 10 days away and my eyes are tearing up just at the thought of swimming. I know 10 days is a long time though so I'm holding onto the hope that I'll be ready to go by race day.

My hand is scabbing up nicely. My pinkie finger was very tingly yesterday - sort of felt like it was on the verge of going numb. It think it was from the swelling around the base of my finger. This was freaking me out last night but it is feeling a bit better today.

My shoulder is still the worst. The open part isn't scabbing over and it burns all the time. My entire arm is really sore and I can't lift anything (hell, I can barely lift my arm). You can also see the scratches on my chin in this picture too.

I'm still so thankful that it wasn't worse. I could have easily broken my arm or wrist or scratch up my face a lot worse.

So I'm stuck at home and already super bored and it's only 9:40am... I'm watching re-runs of West Wing but nothing is holding my interest. I'm such an active person so it's driving me nuts that I can't do anything... Maybe I'll go for a walk in a little while.

Fell down and went boom

I tripped and fell on my run this morning. I was doing a short brick with a 20 minute ride on the stationary bike at the gym and then out for a short 2.5 mile run. With about a block to go my right toe caught the crack of the sidewalk and I went flying. Luckily my left leg, hand, and shoulder broke the fall... I fell on my left side and I think my arm got caught under my body but I still managed to avoid scraping up my face too bad - although I do have some scrapes and bruise from my chin up to my temple on the left side. My shoulder and hand got the worse of it:

I think everything is mostly just soft tissue injuries. My shoulder is really sore and it is hard to lift it but I think (hope) that is just from the bruising and swelling. I'm really lucky that I didn't break anything and that my face isn't too scratched up.

After I spent the next 10 minutes balling my eyes out Sam got home from the gym and cleaned me up and bandaged all my wounds. As he so kindly put it, "This is what husbands are for." I'm at work right now but I don't think I will make it the whole day. Isn't this why I have sick days?

Don't forget the Glide!

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend! We stayed home for the weekend and it has been nice to relax a little, catch up on the DVR and do some housework (hello, clean bathroom!). Of course, we've gotten in a few good workouts too.

Saturday was slated for the long run. My goal - 12 miles. We got to Central Park at about 10am. The sun was out and it was starting to get warm. On the way to the park I realized that forgot sunscreen and I forgot BodyGlide for my ankles and inner thighs. Oops! On top of that I had a slight headache and my shins were feeling sore. Once we parked the car I started repeating to myself: "No sunburn. No headache. No shin splints. No chaffing." Well, it worked for the most part. My headache went away, my shins only hurt for the first 20 minutes and I stayed in the shade enough to avoid a burn. I was less lucky with the chaffing part. After about an hour and 30 minutes I could feel the "hot spot" starting in my thighs. Every step was painful. I tried to run with my legs a bit wider at one point, I probably looked like a jogging cowgirl, but that didn't work so I just went back to pain. After another 20 minutes or so either my thighs went numb or the pain and soreness in my feet, knees and hips distracted me from the rubbing.

The last mile was hell but Sam came back to meet me and he ran the last 10 minutes with me, which was awesome. I was really hurting at this point and it helped to have him jogging along next to me. I finished the run, just about 12.5 miles, in 2 hours and 11 minutes. On our way home we stopped at the grocery store and picked up 3 bags of ice. I had my first ever ice bath and it was amazing. I could certainly turn this into a long run ritual :) It was so much more enjoyable then I expected. If you've never tried an ice bath I would highly recommend it. It was cold of course, but I really think it helped reduce my aches and pains. You can read more about the benefits of ice baths here.

We took it a bit easier today and headed to the pool. Our local outdoor pool closed for the season on Friday so we went back to our indoor pool in Flushing. I was definitely sad to be back but I did get in a good swim. I forgot my watch so I needed to do a workout that I could keep track of without timing myself. I decided on:

50 warm-up
10 x 100's with 10 second rest
Ladder: 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 100
50 cool down
Total = 2700 meters

Tomorrow we are heading to Central Park for a bike ride and then up to Yankees Stadium to catch an afternoon game!

A Brick, Mini Golf and A&W

On Sunday morning we woke up bright and early so we can could bike the route for Lake George Triathlon. The sky was slightly overcast but there was some blue sneaking through and the threat of rain was gone.


We rode the first half of the ride together so that we could follow the directions and then Sam took off for the second half because it was just on single road (it would be hard to get lost!). The course is great and I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to ride it before the race. The first half was mostly flat or sloping down-hill but the second half had a lot more hills so I know to save some energy for the second half. With about 5 miles left I noticed that my ride was feeling "off." I wasn't sure what was going on. I stopped to check for a flat tire but everything looked okay so I jumped on bike and road the rest of the ride and ignore my funny feeling. I completed the 25 mile ride in about 1 hour and 50 minutes which wasn't too bad given how slow we were going in the first half and the hills on the second half.

I left my bike in the hotel room, tied up my running shoes and went out for a 3 mile run. It felt awesome to get a brick in and after my legs loosened up I felt like I could definitely go further (although not much faster). I decided not to push it too hard after my long run on Saturday afternoon. Plus, we had to be out of the hotel by 10:30 and we were running out of time.

After the run I checked out my bike again and my rear tire was completely flat. Apparently I rode the last five miles with a flat tire! Oops! (On our way home we stopped at the bike shop so I could get my tire looked at. Turns out I ran over a piece of glass which broke through my tire and punctured the tube.)

After we cleaned up and checked out of the hotel and headed down town for a game of miniature golf. We played 18 holes "Around the World." Here's me lining up my shot at the Norway hole:

I missed my shot...

Here is Sam at the Canada hole:


The best part about mini golf was that I completely kicked Sam's butt. It wasn't even close - I think I won by about 10 strokes. And, I got two hole-in-ones! After mini-golf we headed over to A&W for lunch. It was AMAZING. I haven't been to an A&W in years and this did not disappoint. I would do a 2 and a half hour brick every day if it meant I could drink root beer floats and eat cheese curds and spicy curly fries.

The food tasted way better than it looks in this picture.

The food was so good and completely hit the spot after our long workout. I can't wait to go back to Lake George in two weeks. I'm looking forward to the beautiful race and I know I'll be chanting "Root.Beer.Floats" for the last few miles of the run!