MS'ers Training in 2013

[ActiveMSers]

Holly smokes, Larry! Thank goodness you are (relatively) okay. "At least it was my old bike." Classic. Gear first, body second, a true cyclist!

[pawpaw]

Heal fast!

Larry- at least it was another cyclist and not a car you tangled with head on. It sounds like you took a serious beating- broken ribs are painful.
I'm glad you didn't hurt your new bike.
Take it easy for a while- taking those deep breaths will be a challenge.

Pell

[penkalet]

Merde, merde, merde! I will say.

What a bad luck . I hope you heal fast but still give some time to your body to recover.
Enjoy planning you trip to the blue ridge Parkway confortably in your arm chair!
Let us know.

Alain

[AMFADVENTURES]

In search of a Silver Lining

Thanks for your concern guys. Dave, the most pressing thought I had was “There goes my season”. But it looks like that may not be the case. A little down time, a few weeks of indoor exercise and I hope to be back at it. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like a season ender. Having MS has undoubtedly changed the way I value time.

Pell, looks like you’re off the hook for the century on the HH. Also, I’m already feeling grateful for those smooth Kentucky roads, just the thought of a bump on the bike sends shivers through my core. Although I haven’t been on the trainer yet, the HH is firmly in our plans.

Merde indeed Alain! I will get through this but in the mean time, I’m looking forward to training vicariously through everyone else’s efforts so don’t slow down. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on cycling with 10,000 other riders in the Houston to Austin 150. What a blast that should be.

I am finding a little silver lining. I had hoped we were done with the blizzards here but no, there’s one raging outside right now. We’ve already accumulated 8 or 9 inches, it’s snowing sideways, and it’s predicted to continue for 4 or 5 hours yet. DW has resigned herself to dealing with it, myself being under strict orders to avoid any strenuous exercise.

I also had several rides with a couple of young women lined up for this coming week. Rather than canceling the rides, I’ve sent out invitations for them to bring their bikes and trainers over for an indoor session. Seems like a good way to make the best of a bad situation, yes? I may not get any takers on the trainer sessions, but I’ve already had offers of chocolate chip cookies!

We Shall Survive,
AMF

[penkalet]

Hello Larry,

I am glad you are already more optimist about your recovery but don't mention it too much if you want to be spoil a litlle longer by your wife and friends lady!

On my end, this week, I rode only 3 times for 130 miles. Not as much I wanted because I was planning to do 100 miles this weekend at some event but could only do the 45 miles because of bad weather.
We should have great weather this next week so no excuses, will see!
I wish great week to everyone.
Alain

[AMFADVENTURES]

Motivation

“The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
The realist adjusts the sails.”
William A. Ward

I haven’t been back on the trainer, I don’t even have it setup yet, but today is the day….to get it setup that is. Things are progressing about as I expected, certainly no worse, I still see holding the course with a bit of sail trimming to accommodate a slow slog into the wind.

The weather has affected almost everyone across the country. It occurs to me that there is a certain fat, ground dwelling rodent in Pennsylvania that needs to be schooled in the fine art of weather forecasting, or converted into a pair of bedroom slippers.

Good luck this week Alain, hope you get the weather you need.

Larry

[pawpaw]

Keep healing ...

AMF, glad you are seeing slow progress. Be careful not to push too hard, too fast.
I seem to have lost my motivation. I did ride Saturday and did the spinning class on Sunday. Since then, it has snowed and rained and blustered. It was over 40 this evening, but we couldn't seem to bring ourselves to ride.
Alain, I hope you are having better luck with your weather so you can continue training.
Our preparations for France have taken a nasty turn. Mike is scheduled for knee surgery April 17th. It is our hope that this will resolve his pain and that he won't have to be off of it for long. We shall see. We did buy trip insurance....

Pell

[penkalet]

AMF,
Back to you on Mr Ward!
Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records. ”

Is the doc told you when you can baby steps on your bike?
Last year you make us look pretty bad on our training motivation so here is the revenge of the nerd!!
This week I have done 4 rides for 190 miles with fair weather but not as fast then last year, yet!
Two more big weeks to get to 14 mph target.
Question: How many days do you stop trainning before the event? I was thinking two !
Pell,
Sorry to hear about Mike knee and I understand you lost some motivation on the front of the uncertainty. but that was smart to get a trip insurance !
Let me know how thing evolve.
Good week to everyone

[teena marie]

Hi Larry,

I haven't visited this thread in a while and I'm so sorry about your accident. Here in Montreal, we're getting a little sprin finally, after a huge dump of 30 cms.

The treadmill is good and I hope to be starting with a new trainer who can help with the spin bike. I've also had some good outdoor walks and overall feling pretty fit.

Take good care,

Teena Marie

[pawpaw]

Off week

Hi all-
This week we are attending the John C Campbell Folk School so no bike riding. Mike is taking a Joinery class and I am taking enameling for jewelry. The classes are very intense so we are generally in class from 9am to 9pm. We did come a day early so I managed a long hike yesterday before orientation-cross-training.
Mike is fairly miserable with the knee. We had to find a Walmart to buy a heating pad. I don't think standing in a wood studio all day is going to help it, but who am I to say.
All of the meals here are family style and hearty- will probably go home with a few more pounds to lose.
On Friday we did ride 27 miles on the tandem at 17mph- felt great. We did the first 10 miles at 22mph- probably a mistake but it was fun.
Keep riding.
Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

Kudos on the 190 miles Alain! Jill (Sulgrifjewls on the forum) had a plan for tapering which seemed to work well. In the last week or two, cut back on the amount of time you spend on the bike by about 50% but maintain most of the intensity. I tried that for the Tour de Tucson last year. Did a short set of intervals early in the last week followed by a short easy ride the next day, took two days off to drive to Tucson, and, if I screwed up at all, it was doing 2 moderate pace hours the day before the race when I should have only done one. Even so, it worked really well as I set a new personal best by 45 minutes AND, although I was spent, I felt good at the end. I’m going to use that technique for all of my rides this year to see if it holds up consistently.

Pell, bummer on DH’s knee, I assume that will take him out of the HH or at least off the tandem. If so, I’d love to ride with you. I know I couldn’t keep up with you guys on the tandem but I don’t think you’d have to wait too much for me on single bikes. If DH can ride at all, DW will be doing an easy 35 miles. We’ll register this week. I keep an eye on your weather there and I do think you’ve had it worse than we have.

Thanks for the update Teena and yes, looks like decent weather might have finally arrived. You said you have a trainer to help with the spin cycle, did you find one that can work with the kinds of weaknesses we tend to deal with?

Got an hour and a half on the trainer toward the end of last week and it wasn’t bad. Going to shoot for around 5 hours this week. The doc says stay indoors for 4 weeks from the accident. It looks like that will coincide exactly with when I think I can handle the bumps and pot holes in the roads that show up around here at the end of every winter, so I plan to get back outside about mid April.

Stay healthy everyone,

[milesandtrials]

AMFAdventures,
I just read about your accident. Leave it to you to make a trip to the ER sound fun! I hope you are recovering well.
Best wishes,
Beth

[penkalet]

AMF, I hope you are getting better and that the weather is looking more like spring.
I am going to follow your advise for the last week before the big one but I still need to push it for this week.
I did 150 mile last week with only 3 rides including a event Saturday of 62 miles in the hill country near Austin. Was great!
Pell, your are a very busy person and tell your husband to watch out for his fingers! I owned a cabinet shop for 30 year.
Good week to every one.
Alain

[AMFADVENTURES]

Transition

Beth, for those who might not be aware, Beth qualified for the Boston Marathon last year and, in less than one week, she will be running it in Boston. She also trained for and went to New York for the New York Marathon. Hurricane Sandy caused the city to cancel the official NY Marathon but Beth ran her own there anyway. Talk about making the best out of the unexpected! Although the training has been a little up and down, it looks like you ended up where you need to be so hoping with all my heart you do well. DW also wishes you luck. BTW, if you get a chance, what does your taper week look like?

Alain, talk about near perfect training! Somehow, I don’t think you’re going to have much trouble with this one, assuming the other 12,000 riders cooperate. I think we’ll have to get you up here for a little more challenge, OR, meet Beth and me at the Pedal los Pueblos in New Mexico! Good luck with the last training week. That taper worked well for me, hope it holds for you. Also, the training schedule I just got from my Colorado MS team has exactly that same taper.

Pell, we’re registered. DW hasn't been on her bike yet but I hope you’re getting ready!

I got 6:30 on the trainer last week, all fairly easy spinning. It took a couple of days to begin feeling decent but started coming easier by the end of the week. If I had any visions of getting back outside a little early though, they got squelched by the arrival of the latest spring storm last night. Hopefully, the ice and snow will be gone by the weekend.

Stay healthy every body,

[pawpaw]

Ready, sort of...

Beth-
Good luck in the Boston Marathon.
Alain- You have managed some good rides. The 62 miler near Austin sounds like fun. I have been to the Lake Austin Spa a couple of times.
Larry- I hope you are continuing to heal. Four weeks inside seems reasonable.
Mike's surgery is a week from today. IF the surgeon just removes the goober (his term) from the knee and doesn't work on articular surfaces, Mike can walk within a few days. We can hope. We both have colds now so we aren't doing much.

I did ride for about 45 minutes yesterday alone. I pushed as hard as I could and managed only 15.5 mph. I certainly couldn't hold that for any major distance. If I can motivate myself, I want to ride alone on the single bike several times a week. I seem to work harder on the single.

Since I am not doing much training, I am trying to lose some weight. Less weight on me should result in faster times.

Pell