Updating the Pain Cave

So I mentioned in an earlier post that my two fan situation when on the trainer was not ideal. We were also running out of padded space for workouts and the elliptical and bike were kind of angled from the TV.

So I ordered up some more foam mats, straightened out the bike and elliptical, rearranged a few of the items to give us more space and a pretty nice pain cave now.

Bling for my Feet

When I went to the physical therapist a while back, she recommended that I get some Hoka shoes for running. I hadn't had a chance to get to the store until last weekend. Then I was finally able to try some on and found a pair that I liked.

I also added some bling to the shoes in the form of a running foot pod. I have had this device for quite a while but never installed it on my shoe.

So I ran with these shoes and the foot pod a couple of times this week including 6.5 miles today and no issues with foot pain, though I did end up with a hot spot on the bottom of my foot that I didn't notice until later. The foot pod works well and seems to be calibrated pretty well. It will be nice to have that when I have to move indoors this winter.

Cooling off and getting dark

I went out for a 1 hour ride tonight and I had to wear my bike jacket as the weather was now in the low 50's. It also gets dark earlier too. My days of after dinner rides are nearly over.

Off Season Training Begins

So after a couple of weeks off from structured workouts, we started back into it this week. Had a good phone call with my coach a couple of weeks ago, discussed the season, and some off season goals. So now my Training Peaks calendar is again full of workouts.

We also stopped at the bike store yesterday and got my budding triathlete a pair of bike shorts and a helmet that actually fits. She was pretty excited about the bright yellow helmet. We also looked at entry level road bikes. They didn't have any in her size in the store, but at least now I know what I am looking for.

A Run because I want to

I am in Green Bay visiting my parents and will be going to the Packer game later tonight, but this morning I decided to go for a run. This spring, Trinity and I found a place to go for a hike by a creek near where I grew up. We found they had a nice paved run/bike trail there. So thats where I headed today.

My goal was a nice easy 3 mile run, an out and back on the trail. It indeed was beautiful, with trees and a creek nearby, the weather was perfect. A fun run.

A Budding Triathlete?

Well after our bike ride on Thursday Trinity has expressed an interest in maybe doing a triathlon next year. She can definitely swim, but she is totally afraid of the open water, so it will need to be a pool swim for now. So we are setting our sights on the Barron WI triathlon that I did in April. They have a Super-sprint distance with a 200y pool swim, a 5 mile bike and a 1 mile run.

With that in mind, we went out for another bike ride. This time I had her work on her gears a bit. She never changes gears at all. So on a nice long relatively flat road, she shifted into some bigger gears and I watched the speed climb! She's got some power in those legs. We averaged 12mph on that hour long bike ride, and she hit 18+ mph for a good portion of it.

She is riding her mom's 20 year old hybrid bike. It has slick tires, but it is big and heavy and probably not the right size for her. We may have to stop by the bike shop in a couple of weeks when we are back down in Minneapolis. This could get expensive.

We also went for a couple of 1 mile run/walks. Like her father, running does not come naturally, but we got through both of them successfully.

Biking with the Kid

Trinity has had swim practice every day for the last couple of weeks prior to school starting next week. She wanted to ride her bike there one day. We had planning on her doing it on Friday but the weather was forecasted to be yucky. So on Thursday her and I rode for about 10 miles. Basically halfway to the pool and back. With an average speed of 8.9mph and 49w of power, this was a super easy spin on the bike for me (it felt good by the way).

Trinity enjoyed her ride though her butt was sore after and I was able to just ride my bike for fun and not training. I hooked her up with her own Strava account too.