Today is Not That Day

Bike fit, round 2

I wrote a couple weeks ago about my bike fit and new saddle. Alas, I still wasn't comfortable... my last long ride had me jacking with my seat (raise it, lower it, raise it) to keep my right foot from going numb, and my shoulders were hurting. 

So I just went back for round 2. My fitter replaced my 172.5 cranks with 165's, and wow... what a difference. I was a bit worried about making that big of a change, but it's not overtly noticeable. I can tell I'm spinning more easily, and my knees aren't bumping up against my torso... so now I can relax with a flatter back in aero, which puts less pressure on my shoulders. If you're not 6 feet tall and you're riding 172's, I'd highly recommend getting shorter cranks. 

We also swapped out my stem for a longer one, so now I'm a bit more stretched out and comfortable on the bike. And lastly, switched out my seat to another of the same brand. The shape was just a bit off, with the right side slightly higher, which I think may have caused the numb foot. 

And ta-dah! New fit is on the left, old/original position on the right. I look at the one on the right, with the seat so much lower and farther back, and can't believe I rode my bike in that cramped position. Really looking forward to my long ride this weekend to try it out! 

My second half

My second half marathon now in the books! I ran the US Half in San Francisco this past Sunday... what a gorgeous race. Weather could not have been more perfect, and the route is spectacular (albeit hilly... 1300 feet of total elevation!) The great news: I went from 2:30 on a flat course at Surf City in February to 2:10 on a very hilly course in April. Score! 

Of course it's not a totally fair comparison... I half-ass trained for the first one and was out sick & traveling for a month. I also had a lot of hip flexor pain that forced me to stop and massage it out every.single.mile. at Surf City. But thanks to consistent training, hill work and an A.R.T. magician, I was actually able to run this one relatively pain free (although knees and feet started getting pretty cranky by mile 11).

Plus, I'm pretty sure I would have been slower had it not been for an overconfident coach who said, "there's no reason you can't run a 9 min/mile based on your 5k times." To which I laughed heartily as I'd figured a 10:10+ pace based on the hills and my training runs... but that thought nagged at me during the race. Hmm... ok. What's the worst that can happen? So I blow up and walk the last couple miles... better to know now than at Honu. So I pushed a bit harder, and I'm pretty darn happy with my 9:57 pace. Still have 2 more months to train and would love to shave off another 10 minutes. I think I can!