The (magic) Stick

I tend to go a little crazy at pre-race expos (and sports stores in general) but the $16 spent on The Stick at Grandma's marathon last year was absolutely money well spent. I am convinced this nifty little device has rescued my hamstrings more than once. It's essentially a massage tool that is very easy to use. However, as with everything regular use is the key. I've been pretty dismal on that front, just picking it up when I feel tightness. But recently I've been trying to use it for 15 minutes every night - hamstrings, quads and calves. And given the absence of tightness in my hamstrings the mornings after tough workouts I think it's working. Just need to keep it up...

Biking in the wind

Pam's theory is that we will be biking in the wind all summer long - but that come IM Arizona in November it will be totally calm. And we'll fly. I sure hope she is right. It would be just reward given that we seem destined to train in dodgy weather conditions. This evening was no different. It looked like we'd have to cancel but by 6pm the severe weather warnings were expiring and none were too close to Plymouth anyway so Pam, Eric and I decided it was worth a shot. It was either that or Eric might have found himself shopping at Gear West again, without having road-tested his fabulous new Trek Madone 5.2! It was fun heading out on rt. 24 with the wind behind us. Not so much on the way home, after a loop around Lake Independence. But the rain held off until close to Lifetime and we managed to average 17.8 for approx 30 miles so can't complain about that.

end of post.