Well, I got the bike to the basement. It took several looks at the bike trainer set up video, but eventually, it got turned the right way, and set up was complete. I remembered where the riser (the thing the front wheel rests on) was, in the end, it looked impressive.
I was thrilled to see that the blue flashing light on the WAHOO RPM was working once the back wheel was in motion. I decided to try the Garmin 235 watch first. The sensor paring did not have to be divided by workout mode, so I just went into the setup mode and followed the instructions. The entire process took less than a minute. So I gave it a test spin, almost expecting the system to fail in some way. After about five seconds, it picked up time, distance, and speed, and I just kept on moving, almost out of sheer happiness. I gave it a one-kilometer test, with only minor issues that, in all honesty, can probably be fixed by going in "settings."
I then went into the WAHOO app, for the first time in about two years. After I tapped the first screen, everything went black and stayed that way. Bad sign? I closed the app and reopened, and had much better luck this time around. After the obligatory and expected updates and password reconfigurations, I repaired the RPM. Incredibly, after two years, it remembered the tickerX (the sensor that measures heart rate). After only about ten minutes of adjustments and set up, I was ready to ride!
Exercise mode in WAHOO now had only three screen options, if I remembered correctly, there were more options the last time around, but I am not complaining. Again, it could be a settings thing. Everything is going smoothly, so I decide to try the Garmin at the same time. Upon turning the Garmin on, I notice that the sensor is not connecting, so like a nerd, I pause the WAHOO, get a connection with the Garmin, start moving with the Garmin, resume with WAHOO, and ride with a sense of technical accomplishment that has rarely been seen under this roof.
My test ride lasts about ten minutes, of which I cover about 2¼ miles. The upload to Garmin Connect goes through without a problem. I tried to upload the WAHOO to Strava (it was a longer ride), and after some mild adjustments, it goes through. My Strava score for a ten-minute indoor bike ride? Four. We have some work to do.
To say I was thrilled about how all this played out was an understatement. Everything seemed to go off without a hitch. I do not think the Garmin picked up cadence; I do have a Garmin cadence sensor that I might try to install next weekend. My goal this week is to do 100 kilometers on the bike and then give running a try next Saturday. I would also like to try running outside, as my form is radically different, and I am wondering if an outside run would be as painful. For now, I am just happy and relieved everything worked. Who knows, maybe I will sign up with Zwift!!
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Bad News to Report, but Maybe an Opportunity
On Wednesday, I was planning to do a seven miler on the treadmill. I had everything ready to go and was actually feeling excited to rip it up. As I was strapping my heart monitor on, and getting the electronics ready, I felt something give in my hip area, followed by some moderate pain. I did not give it too much thought at the time; I do have pain in my right leg that comes and goes, and usually, pain in that leg subsides once I get into a decent rhythm during the run.
So I jumped on the treadmill and took off, but after a couple of minutes, I knew something was not right. I jumped off at about a quarter of a mile, with escalating pain in both my leg and glute. Again, I did not panic. I headed to the bathroom for a couple of ibuprofen and globs of Biofreeze. After this weak attempt at self-medicating, I jumped back on the treadmill, fulling believing that I could navigate the 12 kilometers. After about one mile, I was in more than moderate pain. I could sense that the pain was affecting my run in other ways, such as an unusually elevated heart rate, and obvious issue with stride. I jumped off at 1.5 miles and panicked.
The pain was difficult to pinpoint as time moved on. Sometimes it was worse in the glute muscle. Sometimes in the lower back. Sometimes on the right side of the hip. Sometimes in the area between the glute and the hamstring. But always uncomfortable and concerning. I decided to give it a rest for a day and see what happens with a run on Friday.
Friday comes with some relief, so I choose to go ahead with a run and see what happens. My goal is three miles, at something close to, but not quite regular, speed. The first half mile goes pretty well, I am in warmup mode, and I fell my stride is excellent. The pain does not escalate, which I take as a positive sign. I then increase the speed, and everything falls apart. Similar to Wednesday, my stride falls apart, and the pain keeps growing until I have to quit at 1.3 miles. The disappointment is so great that I do not even bother to upload the run to Garmin Connect. My participation in the Horseneck Half Marathon is looking grim.
After drowning out my sorrows by binge-watching episodes of "The King of Queens" (yeah, I might be crushing on Holly just a little) over Friday and Saturday, I suddenly had a "training epiphany." Why not set up the bike trainer in the basement, like I did when I was rehabilitating from the accident? All the running information that I have picked up seems to indicate that cycling is not only a suitable method for cross-training but an excellent way to keep your fitness up. I also know that my Garmin 235 can record a cycling session, although I am not sure how to set it up yet. Off I go to our shed in the dark to retrieve my daughters' bike.
The bike is positioned in the shed so that I have minimal difficulty extracting it. I bring it to the garage and give it the once over. I find the front tire is low on air, but everything else is looking good. I still have the WAHOO RPM sensor attached to the back tire, but no Garmin sensors. So here are all my electronics concerns.
1) Does the WAHOO sensor still work, and if it does, can I smoothly go back to the WAHOO app and record indoor bike sessions? I recall that the sensor was hell to affix to the tire, but once everything was pared and set up, that it recorded the session very well. I never deleted the WAHOO app after I gave up on it for faulty run recording (a three-mile run on the Canal was shown as a 1500 mile run from Newfoundland to Equatorial Guinea) so at least that is still in place.
2) Will the Garmin 235 pick up the WAHOO RPM, and if not, will I be able to affix the Gamin sensors to the bike, and if so, will there still be room for the WAHOO RPM? I am guessing that the Garmin measurement is going to be the default. From what I have read, the 235 can sync with the RPM, but I would like to have a backup. I am not sure if the two Garmin sensors (speed & cadence are separate) would fit, and if they did, could they interact with the WAHOO RPM?
3) If the WAHOO no longer works, should I get a new indoor cycling app, and if so, would it work with the WAHOO RPM? I am optimistically hoping the WAHOO app will still work, so I am not going to get too far into this.
I am crossing my fingers. I am hoping that the bike can be set up with minimal problems, that I can set up the electronics (that you know that I so dearly love) and that they will all sync and properly function, and most importantly, that I can take a ride without the pain in my leg affecting it. I will post again tonight with the outcome. Here's hoping for a successful rehabilitation!
So I jumped on the treadmill and took off, but after a couple of minutes, I knew something was not right. I jumped off at about a quarter of a mile, with escalating pain in both my leg and glute. Again, I did not panic. I headed to the bathroom for a couple of ibuprofen and globs of Biofreeze. After this weak attempt at self-medicating, I jumped back on the treadmill, fulling believing that I could navigate the 12 kilometers. After about one mile, I was in more than moderate pain. I could sense that the pain was affecting my run in other ways, such as an unusually elevated heart rate, and obvious issue with stride. I jumped off at 1.5 miles and panicked.
The pain was difficult to pinpoint as time moved on. Sometimes it was worse in the glute muscle. Sometimes in the lower back. Sometimes on the right side of the hip. Sometimes in the area between the glute and the hamstring. But always uncomfortable and concerning. I decided to give it a rest for a day and see what happens with a run on Friday.
Friday comes with some relief, so I choose to go ahead with a run and see what happens. My goal is three miles, at something close to, but not quite regular, speed. The first half mile goes pretty well, I am in warmup mode, and I fell my stride is excellent. The pain does not escalate, which I take as a positive sign. I then increase the speed, and everything falls apart. Similar to Wednesday, my stride falls apart, and the pain keeps growing until I have to quit at 1.3 miles. The disappointment is so great that I do not even bother to upload the run to Garmin Connect. My participation in the Horseneck Half Marathon is looking grim.
After drowning out my sorrows by binge-watching episodes of "The King of Queens" (yeah, I might be crushing on Holly just a little) over Friday and Saturday, I suddenly had a "training epiphany." Why not set up the bike trainer in the basement, like I did when I was rehabilitating from the accident? All the running information that I have picked up seems to indicate that cycling is not only a suitable method for cross-training but an excellent way to keep your fitness up. I also know that my Garmin 235 can record a cycling session, although I am not sure how to set it up yet. Off I go to our shed in the dark to retrieve my daughters' bike.
The bike is positioned in the shed so that I have minimal difficulty extracting it. I bring it to the garage and give it the once over. I find the front tire is low on air, but everything else is looking good. I still have the WAHOO RPM sensor attached to the back tire, but no Garmin sensors. So here are all my electronics concerns.
1) Does the WAHOO sensor still work, and if it does, can I smoothly go back to the WAHOO app and record indoor bike sessions? I recall that the sensor was hell to affix to the tire, but once everything was pared and set up, that it recorded the session very well. I never deleted the WAHOO app after I gave up on it for faulty run recording (a three-mile run on the Canal was shown as a 1500 mile run from Newfoundland to Equatorial Guinea) so at least that is still in place.
2) Will the Garmin 235 pick up the WAHOO RPM, and if not, will I be able to affix the Gamin sensors to the bike, and if so, will there still be room for the WAHOO RPM? I am guessing that the Garmin measurement is going to be the default. From what I have read, the 235 can sync with the RPM, but I would like to have a backup. I am not sure if the two Garmin sensors (speed & cadence are separate) would fit, and if they did, could they interact with the WAHOO RPM?
3) If the WAHOO no longer works, should I get a new indoor cycling app, and if so, would it work with the WAHOO RPM? I am optimistically hoping the WAHOO app will still work, so I am not going to get too far into this.
I am crossing my fingers. I am hoping that the bike can be set up with minimal problems, that I can set up the electronics (that you know that I so dearly love) and that they will all sync and properly function, and most importantly, that I can take a ride without the pain in my leg affecting it. I will post again tonight with the outcome. Here's hoping for a successful rehabilitation!
Vacation, COVID-19, and a more blog posts
Yes, it has been quite a while since my last blog post. With a heavy workload and decent but not excellent running level, GITNF has been put on the back burner. Here are some thoughts after a relatively late night three miler on the home treadmill.
My wife and I are on vacation this week. We were supposed to travel to New York City to meet up with my daughter for a couple of days, then head up to Niagara Falls with some stops in strategic locals in upstate New York. However, everything was canceled due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus. I had some beautiful running courses mapped out, such as Central Park, the Lake Geneva trail, and of course, the Niagara Trail (which would have been my first run on foreign soil). To say that not being able to run these routes is disappointing is an understatement. This put me in something of a state of laziness, with a very short run on Sunday and tonights three-miler, both on the home treadmill.
I am somewhat focused on running a half marathon in May, the Horseneck Half Marathon in Westport, MA. My recent training has put me in line to do a half, and the nine miler that I did on the treadmill gave me plenty of confidence. It looks like (as usual) most of the work will be done on the treadmill. Let's see how it goes.
My wife and I are on vacation this week. We were supposed to travel to New York City to meet up with my daughter for a couple of days, then head up to Niagara Falls with some stops in strategic locals in upstate New York. However, everything was canceled due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus. I had some beautiful running courses mapped out, such as Central Park, the Lake Geneva trail, and of course, the Niagara Trail (which would have been my first run on foreign soil). To say that not being able to run these routes is disappointing is an understatement. This put me in something of a state of laziness, with a very short run on Sunday and tonights three-miler, both on the home treadmill.
I am somewhat focused on running a half marathon in May, the Horseneck Half Marathon in Westport, MA. My recent training has put me in line to do a half, and the nine miler that I did on the treadmill gave me plenty of confidence. It looks like (as usual) most of the work will be done on the treadmill. Let's see how it goes.
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