Roger (Jim) here.
Car spending vs bike spending, really I'm not too cheap, but there's nothing the jerks my chain more than dropping money on automobiles. I choose to live in Auburn and work in Sac, so I have to suck it up I guess. Maybe it's the $3.30 a gallon that has me chaffed tonight...really not likely though it's this...
If you read an early post this month, I dropped $800 on my Dodge Dakota to get it fixed prior to going to Old Pueblo. That's a lot chafe, and seriously, I hurt every second it took to sign the receipt for that damn plastic card.
Anyway, back from OP, that damn truck was making some racket. I took it into Midas near work today. It appeared it may be a quick fix, a simple refacing of the rotors and I'm out and it's cheap. But kharma is an ugly girl and when she called today, she had some nastiness to share... $700 to fix my brakes, turns out the rear drums were out......arghhh!
Not happy, I say okay, pick up the truck much later than expected...and insult to injury miss the Victory Velo night ride (add I'm more upset). So I get on the freeway to head home and what do I hear that SAME damn noise from before....so I'm thinking $1500+ and my truck runs like the piece of crap it was before I dropped it off at the Dodge dealership and or Midas. What the hell, I know the auto places are hurting but this just sucks.
I'm determined to just trade in this truck on the way home, but I know I have three Rogue Mocha Porter's at home to rest my nerves and Amanda and the kids to make thing seem reasonable. Ughhhh!!!!
So I started out bike vs car right well.....here's the funny thing I'm sick inside for dropping $1500 in the last month on my truck that helps me keep the roof over our heads...but I didn't think twice about dropping $500 on a wheelset for my 29er? Strange....very strange...than again my commuting by bicycle each year saves me over $3k a year. Guess I'm still $1k up. I did mention my truck is making the same racket...so I'm thinking I'll lose that savings too. LOL...
Sorry for the ranting, rambling post....gotta go...kids and Rogue Porter are calling.
Goodnight.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
AZ, Snow, and well...I don't know
Roger (Jim) here.
Well that was a strange and adventerous trip...the trip I'm talking about is Amanda and I going to Tuscon for the 24hrs of Old Pueblo. To hit the highlights...
I spent $800 on my truck to repair an idling issue the week before. Of course it seemed fixed until we were an hour into the trip. And now an idling an issue it wasn't, the Tach was racing from 2k to 4k...uhhh oh! We made our way to Patterson Ca. with the hopes of finding either a dealership or an auto parts place. Fortunately, an Autozone was their!
This leads me on a tangent, a tangent about our Google world! Prior to my trip to have my truck fixed, I simply googled the symptom and the make of my vehicle. I found 100s of hits on the issue and the fix. Now, I'm not ready to diagnose and take direct health advice from the internet, but from now on, I've made the jump on car care. I took that info to the dealership, think they would have fixed that part.....no, everything but! Last trip to that dealership.
Back on point, so into the Autozone I go. "Do you have a throttle postion sensor?" "Sure, he replies." He hits a few keys on the computer and wanders back into the aisle head cocked back to the upper teirs of the inventory. Back he comes with handsize box. That's it? I ask. "Yep. That'll be $47 with tax. " I hand him the plastic card and head out to do my best parking lot mechanic impersonation.
I look at the simple device, two bolts is all it requires. I search the side of the throttle body for the current device, since I now have a face with a name. I locate it, and what do you know there isn't even anything to take off to get the device off. Five minutes later, the new device is back on. I start the truck, the idle is smooth. We back track through Patterson, the idle is smooth, the acceleration is smooth. An hour of driving 70 mph on I-5, it's confirmed the lil $47 device fixed what the $800 at the dealership couldn't.
Scoreboard...Google/Internet 1...Dealership 0!
We spent the rest of valentine's day driving to Phoenix. It was uneventful except for the last hour or two. I'm not a good night driver, the reflection from lights really screws with my rods and cones and I get the heebee geebees. Toss in double trailer semi's hauling ass at 80+ mph and I'm pretty freaked at this point. Fortunately, we made it safely to Phoenix.
Up early on Friday we trek through Florence and have breakfast at the Old Pueblo Cafe...kharma...maybe...but it was actually the only breakfast place in town except BK. It was raining now and cold. I bought the AZ Republic and went straight to the forecast for the weekend. "Showers until noon and clearing on Friday. Saturday cloudy and dry. Sunday warming." Great.
Bellies fat, we head South (yes South as toward MEXICO!) to Oro Valley and the race site. Quickly rain turns to sleet, turns to snow. This aint good. Sean and Mary call and say to not hurry out there and instead go into to town and hang out till the storm stops. We do just that. By 1 P.M. there's breaks in the clouds and after several errands we head out to the race site. Now to get to the race site, you have to drive 9 miles of dirt road. When it's dry it's not bad but quite washboarded. In the rain/snow it's a different story. Lets just say it took $10 to get all of the dirt from my truck after getting home. It was quite an ordeal.
Through Friday, Amanda and I, Skip, and Sean and Mary sat in their trailer most of Friday, discussing the accuracy of weather forecasting. Late in the day we made our way down to registration and ran into Nat Pellman my long lost buddy who actually planted the bug for me and 24hr racing. Also ran into Scott the CCCP promoter which was great because he let us know it wasn't full yet. So I'm heading to Oregon in June, woohoo!
Trying to sleep was interesting. We were sleeping in a tent which already had ice on it by the time we laid down at about 9 P.M. Thankfully, I brought a large moving blanket to lay on top of our sleeping bags, which without what had made the night even more unbearable. We listened to the alternating of rain on the tent, to silence as the weather switched from rain to snow and back all night. At one point, Amanda was trying to get out to go to the bathroom. She was attempting to find the zipper to the tent but couldn't I told her where it was but she said it wasn't. I reached across to where I thought it should be and it wasn't there. I dug my hand deeper down and quickly came to the realization something was wrong. Eyes beginning to focus, I looked up and could see except for a small pocket over where we lay, the tent was collapsing under the weight of ice and snow. We stood and knocked the ice and snow off the tent and were able to get it up enough for Amanda to get out of the tent for some relief. Did I mention this was a six man tent!
After a very cold night of snow and no sleep, the wet stuff stopped falling at about 3 a.m. Miracuoulsy for the most part dried out by noon! It was still cold though and I started the race with long sleeves, a vest, and knee warmers.
The race:
The race went off well, I got toward the front of the mass and had a nice pace through the first two laps and was somewhere in the top five of the SS category. That works itself out over time so I was more concerned about consistency. My pits were good ranging from 3 minutes to 7 minutes as the race progressed.
After two laps in, Perpetum just wasn't doing well with my belly. I switched over to Powerbar Endurance with a combination of cream of wheat for calories. Things were going good and I was in a very steady state of lap times. Chatting with folks from New York, regulary seeing Nat Pellman and Dave Nice through each lap.
Something happened though at the end of lap 8, that had the wheels of my race starting to falter. I put down some of cream of wheat and wasn't feeling nauseau's at all. I went to wash down a couple electrolyte pills and one kind of went down sideways causing me to gag. The gag reflex and 10+ hours of racing equaled everything coming up. I tried to nurse nutrients back into me during the next lap, but something else began to occur too. I couldn't stop peeing. Three times during that lap. I came into the pit and thought maybe it was a bonk. I rested drinking and eating for the next hour, almost ready to quit. Amanda got me out of the pit and I was on my way. Through the bitches I was fine, but by the Corral Trail I had loss power and I was feeling kind of drunk. I also again had to pee. This happened five times during the lap. When I came into the pit, I was a bit concerned with how I felt. I've bonked before and this wasn't like a bonk, it was something else. I was shaking from the cold (27 degrees reported out on course) and a lil incoherent from what ever going on with me. Amanda took me to our tent got me changed and into the sleeping bag. Unfortunately, I was done. Was it the blow and go that got me screwed up? Was it the change from Perpetum to Endurance? Was it too much water leading into the race had depleted me? Was it the very cold night? Don't know...really, probably was a combination of all the above.
I've done seven 24hr races and I've never had one where the negatives out weighed the positives. I guess I was due. I got myself screwed up somewhere and I guess sometimes that happens. I take consolation that my training and preparation leading up the race was spot on and I was actually where I wanted to be at that point of the race.
Even more important it was a great lil adventure for Amanda and I, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. She was wonderful and especially as she's dealing with her own more serious injury than my overnighter. Thanks honey!
And thanks to Sean, Mary, and Skip who made a cold weekend very fun!
Next up is maybe Boggs and for sure the Coolest 24hr race.
Well that was a strange and adventerous trip...the trip I'm talking about is Amanda and I going to Tuscon for the 24hrs of Old Pueblo. To hit the highlights...
I spent $800 on my truck to repair an idling issue the week before. Of course it seemed fixed until we were an hour into the trip. And now an idling an issue it wasn't, the Tach was racing from 2k to 4k...uhhh oh! We made our way to Patterson Ca. with the hopes of finding either a dealership or an auto parts place. Fortunately, an Autozone was their!
This leads me on a tangent, a tangent about our Google world! Prior to my trip to have my truck fixed, I simply googled the symptom and the make of my vehicle. I found 100s of hits on the issue and the fix. Now, I'm not ready to diagnose and take direct health advice from the internet, but from now on, I've made the jump on car care. I took that info to the dealership, think they would have fixed that part.....no, everything but! Last trip to that dealership.
Back on point, so into the Autozone I go. "Do you have a throttle postion sensor?" "Sure, he replies." He hits a few keys on the computer and wanders back into the aisle head cocked back to the upper teirs of the inventory. Back he comes with handsize box. That's it? I ask. "Yep. That'll be $47 with tax. " I hand him the plastic card and head out to do my best parking lot mechanic impersonation.
I look at the simple device, two bolts is all it requires. I search the side of the throttle body for the current device, since I now have a face with a name. I locate it, and what do you know there isn't even anything to take off to get the device off. Five minutes later, the new device is back on. I start the truck, the idle is smooth. We back track through Patterson, the idle is smooth, the acceleration is smooth. An hour of driving 70 mph on I-5, it's confirmed the lil $47 device fixed what the $800 at the dealership couldn't.
Scoreboard...Google/Internet 1...Dealership 0!
We spent the rest of valentine's day driving to Phoenix. It was uneventful except for the last hour or two. I'm not a good night driver, the reflection from lights really screws with my rods and cones and I get the heebee geebees. Toss in double trailer semi's hauling ass at 80+ mph and I'm pretty freaked at this point. Fortunately, we made it safely to Phoenix.
Up early on Friday we trek through Florence and have breakfast at the Old Pueblo Cafe...kharma...maybe...but it was actually the only breakfast place in town except BK. It was raining now and cold. I bought the AZ Republic and went straight to the forecast for the weekend. "Showers until noon and clearing on Friday. Saturday cloudy and dry. Sunday warming." Great.
Bellies fat, we head South (yes South as toward MEXICO!) to Oro Valley and the race site. Quickly rain turns to sleet, turns to snow. This aint good. Sean and Mary call and say to not hurry out there and instead go into to town and hang out till the storm stops. We do just that. By 1 P.M. there's breaks in the clouds and after several errands we head out to the race site. Now to get to the race site, you have to drive 9 miles of dirt road. When it's dry it's not bad but quite washboarded. In the rain/snow it's a different story. Lets just say it took $10 to get all of the dirt from my truck after getting home. It was quite an ordeal.
Through Friday, Amanda and I, Skip, and Sean and Mary sat in their trailer most of Friday, discussing the accuracy of weather forecasting. Late in the day we made our way down to registration and ran into Nat Pellman my long lost buddy who actually planted the bug for me and 24hr racing. Also ran into Scott the CCCP promoter which was great because he let us know it wasn't full yet. So I'm heading to Oregon in June, woohoo!
Trying to sleep was interesting. We were sleeping in a tent which already had ice on it by the time we laid down at about 9 P.M. Thankfully, I brought a large moving blanket to lay on top of our sleeping bags, which without what had made the night even more unbearable. We listened to the alternating of rain on the tent, to silence as the weather switched from rain to snow and back all night. At one point, Amanda was trying to get out to go to the bathroom. She was attempting to find the zipper to the tent but couldn't I told her where it was but she said it wasn't. I reached across to where I thought it should be and it wasn't there. I dug my hand deeper down and quickly came to the realization something was wrong. Eyes beginning to focus, I looked up and could see except for a small pocket over where we lay, the tent was collapsing under the weight of ice and snow. We stood and knocked the ice and snow off the tent and were able to get it up enough for Amanda to get out of the tent for some relief. Did I mention this was a six man tent!
After a very cold night of snow and no sleep, the wet stuff stopped falling at about 3 a.m. Miracuoulsy for the most part dried out by noon! It was still cold though and I started the race with long sleeves, a vest, and knee warmers.
The race:
The race went off well, I got toward the front of the mass and had a nice pace through the first two laps and was somewhere in the top five of the SS category. That works itself out over time so I was more concerned about consistency. My pits were good ranging from 3 minutes to 7 minutes as the race progressed.
After two laps in, Perpetum just wasn't doing well with my belly. I switched over to Powerbar Endurance with a combination of cream of wheat for calories. Things were going good and I was in a very steady state of lap times. Chatting with folks from New York, regulary seeing Nat Pellman and Dave Nice through each lap.
Something happened though at the end of lap 8, that had the wheels of my race starting to falter. I put down some of cream of wheat and wasn't feeling nauseau's at all. I went to wash down a couple electrolyte pills and one kind of went down sideways causing me to gag. The gag reflex and 10+ hours of racing equaled everything coming up. I tried to nurse nutrients back into me during the next lap, but something else began to occur too. I couldn't stop peeing. Three times during that lap. I came into the pit and thought maybe it was a bonk. I rested drinking and eating for the next hour, almost ready to quit. Amanda got me out of the pit and I was on my way. Through the bitches I was fine, but by the Corral Trail I had loss power and I was feeling kind of drunk. I also again had to pee. This happened five times during the lap. When I came into the pit, I was a bit concerned with how I felt. I've bonked before and this wasn't like a bonk, it was something else. I was shaking from the cold (27 degrees reported out on course) and a lil incoherent from what ever going on with me. Amanda took me to our tent got me changed and into the sleeping bag. Unfortunately, I was done. Was it the blow and go that got me screwed up? Was it the change from Perpetum to Endurance? Was it too much water leading into the race had depleted me? Was it the very cold night? Don't know...really, probably was a combination of all the above.
I've done seven 24hr races and I've never had one where the negatives out weighed the positives. I guess I was due. I got myself screwed up somewhere and I guess sometimes that happens. I take consolation that my training and preparation leading up the race was spot on and I was actually where I wanted to be at that point of the race.
Even more important it was a great lil adventure for Amanda and I, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. She was wonderful and especially as she's dealing with her own more serious injury than my overnighter. Thanks honey!
And thanks to Sean, Mary, and Skip who made a cold weekend very fun!
Next up is maybe Boggs and for sure the Coolest 24hr race.
A Rough Couple of Weeks
Amanda here.
We just got back from Old Pueblo where Jim raced. It was quite a trip and race, but I'll let him fill you in on that.
I'm finally feeling better but cannot resume my training for races I had planned. It's very discouraging since I have trained hard since November.
Two Sunday's ago I fainted causing Jim to call the ambulance. I was sweating profusely and couldn't communicate with him so he freaked. I had been having chest pains for a week so he wasn't sure what was going on.
I was admitted to the hospital and spent a day ICU since they didn't have free beds in normal rooms, and the last day in a normal room. Within the first few hours blood tests showed I had a
potassium deficiency so they gave me two monster pills which later blood tests showed I was then at the normal level. I was also low on magnesium but not deficient. So, I was told I need to eat better. I think I have been working out a lot and sweating these nutrients out of me, and then not focusing enough on my nutrition to get them back.
The pain in my chest, they think was due to a muscle sprain since it hurts to push and pull and is tender to the touch. So, I just cannot lift things and take ibupropen to reduce the inflammation and discomfort. It's hard to breath and I feel like a weight is on my chest. But, I haven't been having anymore muscle spasms in my chest since the day I left the hospital. It would hurt constantly and then it would get really tight and burn really bad. Today I did have sharp pains when breathing rather than the funny bone feeling in my chest so it must be getting better.
Once I'm better, I see a wonderful cardiologist that investigated me at the hospital. He wants to do a stress test in a month or when I feel better, and another ecocardogram in 3 months. There are some minor things he's checking out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can resume training for races ASAP!
But, if not I'm going to have one amazing garden!
We just got back from Old Pueblo where Jim raced. It was quite a trip and race, but I'll let him fill you in on that.
I'm finally feeling better but cannot resume my training for races I had planned. It's very discouraging since I have trained hard since November.
Two Sunday's ago I fainted causing Jim to call the ambulance. I was sweating profusely and couldn't communicate with him so he freaked. I had been having chest pains for a week so he wasn't sure what was going on.
I was admitted to the hospital and spent a day ICU since they didn't have free beds in normal rooms, and the last day in a normal room. Within the first few hours blood tests showed I had a
potassium deficiency so they gave me two monster pills which later blood tests showed I was then at the normal level. I was also low on magnesium but not deficient. So, I was told I need to eat better. I think I have been working out a lot and sweating these nutrients out of me, and then not focusing enough on my nutrition to get them back.
The pain in my chest, they think was due to a muscle sprain since it hurts to push and pull and is tender to the touch. So, I just cannot lift things and take ibupropen to reduce the inflammation and discomfort. It's hard to breath and I feel like a weight is on my chest. But, I haven't been having anymore muscle spasms in my chest since the day I left the hospital. It would hurt constantly and then it would get really tight and burn really bad. Today I did have sharp pains when breathing rather than the funny bone feeling in my chest so it must be getting better.
Once I'm better, I see a wonderful cardiologist that investigated me at the hospital. He wants to do a stress test in a month or when I feel better, and another ecocardogram in 3 months. There are some minor things he's checking out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can resume training for races ASAP!
But, if not I'm going to have one amazing garden!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Chest Pain, Training on Hold :(
I competed in my first duathalon for the year, www.tbfracing.com. Placed 4 of 13 overall women and 2 of 4 age 30-39. I was happy about the placing and worked hard but when I saw my run times I see more work needs to be done. I do still have a head cold and chest pain, but regardless my run times weren't impressive. And, this was only a four mile fairly flat run, and the duathalon nationals will be 2 run, 56 bike, then another 13 mile run in the hills. I can't get frustrated but must keep pushing on, and would like to increase my tempo run pace. I plan to run the duathalon course this weekend, or at least half, with a couple girlfriends so I can really see what work is left as far as hills are concerned. But, I'm not even sure if I should continue plugging along with my chest pain. My chest has been tight ever since my training run last Tuesday. I read in Joe Friel's book that "If the symptoms are below the neck, such as chest, coughing up stuff, etc. (my situation), don't even start. Exercising intensely in these conditions will increase the severity of the illness and can even cause extreme complications, including death." He also says after you recover to refrain from anaerobic efforts for the same time period as you fought the virus. Hmm, good thing I survived the race this weekend. This isn't good information and if I take heed to the advise this throws my training very off. But, if I don't listen, the consequences could be bad (Coxsackie virus in the heart, bronchitis, etc.) and I won't be running then!
Annelise is awake, so I gotta run (or, walk I guess since I'm sick)
Annelise is awake, so I gotta run (or, walk I guess since I'm sick)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
