The Bees Knees

First, congratulations to everyone who raced this weekend: my Coach Michelle at Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs, Mary:IronMatron and Bree Wee at IMCD, Caratunk Girl and Running and Living, Krista and Coach Liz. I hope I didn't miss anyone, but if I did feel free to leave a comment cursing me out.

Second, and this is awesome news, I have reached and surpassed my fundraising goal for Team In Training and I have, in part, all you bloggy peeps to thank for it!! If you haven't donated (don't hide behind that computer screen, I can see you), feel free to still donate here. Every dollar counts, so even a small donation means a lot. Thank you.

After my ass whoopin' on Saturday, I had a two hour bike ride on the schedule for Sunday. I decided to go out and torture myself for what actually ended up being 2:22. Add to that it was hotter than Hades out, I was sufficiently trashed when I got back home. I stayed in the big ring for about 90% of the time and pushed my speed. When I thought I couldn't go any faster, I forced myself to go faster. My legs were properly devastated.

I did receive a really nice comment from 'DaveW' on my previous post about the race clinic (I can't link him since it doesn't look like he has a blog). As it happens, he was also racing that day in the 'real' race that was going on at he same time. It sounded like he may be a member of the CRCA (Century Road Club Association), the group that sponsored the clinic along with Radical Media (women's cycling team). In his words:

"I am more upset to hear that CRCA provided such poor (or nonexistent) support in a clinic. What's the point of the clinic? And it's conventional wisdom that in the first year of racing you will get dropped often, so wouldn't you think they'd ensure that getting dropped would not effectively cut you out of the benefits of the clinic? I hope you will let CRCA know what happened and let them know how useless such a clinic is."

Dave, I want to thank you for this. I was wondering about this a lot; what did I gain from doing this except maybe a fire in my belly to work harder. Did I learn anything about racing? Did I get any kind of advice? Yes, until I was dropped. I read a lot about the Radical Media team on their own blog going into the clinic and they have certainly picked up their fair share of members from running this very clinic. While I am sure their intentions are well placed, and I love that there is support for women's cycling out there, I can't help but wonder if they don't also use this as an opportunity to cherry pick some new fast riders. I am not against that, but as you say, Dave, it was a clinic that did not benefit those of us who were left in the dust.

Now, the knees of my title....my knees in particular. Since Mosseman I have been feeling some knee discomfort. I have had my bike fit and refit by a certified fitter with all the crazy shit bike fitters use to give you a proper fit. He is actually very good. I have been focusing a lot lately on proper pedaling to see if that will relieve the issues I have been having. It isn't bad, but I don't want it to get worse. So I am throwing it out to you (mostly cuz I am sick of Googling "knee pain"). If you have had issues with your knees in the areas indicated in Exhibit A, please let me know what caused it and how you addressed it. Saddle too forward/back, too high/low, cleat position (I am using Look pedals and cleats (gray) so I do have a bit of float), etc.

Exhibit A

Ok, no jokes about the knees please, I know they, in fact, are not the bees knees. I've spent the better part of 4 years crawling around on the floor with my kid, so they are in rough shape. I thank you for your input.

My presence is being requested by a small person who has asked me to be done in two very short minutes. As opposed to two normal minutes, I suppose. I'll have to finish this later.

Later....Great. My son asked if he could see my penis. Do I "pee out of my butt?" It's time to have that conversation. Sigh...

So maybe you heard of these two from Australia? She won't marry him until he completes an Ironman competition. I think she has done one before and they were both doing IMCD. I followed him along with my other bloggy peeps on race day and he did finish it! My husband was of the opinion that once he crossed the finish line he should tell her to fuck off. Ok, he didn't say it like that, cuz he doesn't really use that kind of language (apparently I am the one with the potty mouth, or potty keyboard). Here is the video pre race:

Video post race: