Why it isn't a good idea to (always) train with men

[Nanci]

PS, nice article about our wimpy little hearts and iron-poor blood!

Nanci

[KSH]

Give me a cup, and I can pee anywhere, anytime.

[salsabike]

That was a really interesting article. And peeing is THE big issue for me, since I have the proverbial pea-sized bladder. I'll take any tricks and tips on that one that I can get. I asked my jock family doc if she could arrange for a transplant for a bigger bladder but she just snickered.

[Brandi]

Ok peeing in a kayak in the ocean is really hard! Since we are on the subject of peeing. Went out with dh a couple weeks ago early in the morning after having two cups of coffee. Well we paddled out and it hit me! I couldn't go back to the launch site. There were no bathrooms on the shore. So i thought ok I have this travel coffee cup I will scoot my butt up and use it. Not so easy! Our boats are the sit in type not sit on. I had to stay very balanced, try to get my pants down and pee in this cup. Anyway i had to wash out my boat when we got home! Didn't mention it to my dh, just said the inside needed a good scrubing! smelled musty to me I told him. I am not sure if the freshette would work in that situation. Besides that is a very pricey gadget there.

[WrensMom]

I haven't tried the freshette thing in a kayak, but I have used it on a small sailboat, and directed the pee into a plastic bottle to get rid of later. It's pretty slim, and when you get used to using it (a lot of it is the mental thing of relaxing the bladder muscles when you feel like you shouldn't), it's easy. It is kind of pricy, I guess, but it lasts forever. I have had mine for over 10 years now.

[Lenusik]

It is a very good article for me to read because constantly ride with my husband. I truly became faster and stronger because of that. But he has way more power. Our rides are definitely not every day race training, so I am never mentally exhausted. I cannot relate to this part. I know that he is physically stronger but I still believe that training with him helped me a lot. It is rather a motivational factor for me.
I do know couple of women who can beat the heck out of a lot of me riders in the group. These girls are super riders and not intimidated by any guy.
I would send this artcile to my husband and see what he has to say about it.

[Nanci]

Brandi, is it too cold to wear a swimsuit in the kayak and get into the water to go??

Nanci

[Kathi]

It is a very good article for me to read because constantly ride with my husband. I truly became faster and stronger because of that. But he has way more power. Our rides are definitely not every day race training, so I am never mentally exhausted. I cannot relate to this part. I know that he is physically stronger but I still believe that training with him helped me a lot. It is rather a motivational factor for me.
I do know couple of women who can beat the heck out of a lot of me riders in the group. These girls are super riders and not intimidated by any guy.
I would send this artcile to my husband and see what he has to say about it.

Last year I would have agreed with you, as I almost always ride with my SO and the guys in our bike club.

However, this year is another story. Recovering from knee surgery and regaining my strength have given me a different perspective.

Since I spent most of my winter and until mid April on the trainer I built a really good cardio base, my exercises in PT brought back some of my leg strength but when I finally started riding outside and I tried to keep up with my SO. I couldn't do it. I was so worn out. I rode with my heartrate at a comfortable pace, wasn't overdoing it or so I thought. Everytime I rode at a pace that I was used to the next day I felt like I'd ridden a century instead of just 20 miles. Climbing and wind really did me in. Sometimes after a seemingly easy ride I was so tired that it took me 2 days to recover.

My therapist said I had not developed the muscular endurance I needed. I didn't want to get dropped by the group so I started training on my own. I used Chris Carmichaels book "The Ultimate Ride" as a guide, did his field test to determine the heartrate I needed to be training at, developed a program for myself, followed it and just rode by myself.

A couple of weeks ago I rode with my group again. One guy commented that the injury didn't hurt my climbing as I was climbing better than ever. I've noticed that too, when I climb my hrt is lower than it was last year, the climbs feel easier and when I did my first 56 miler last week I still felt strong at the end.

I"m still not where I want to be but I believe my results so far are due to leg work that I wouldn't have done without the injury, increased core strength and focused training.

Next year I'm seriously considering getting a trainer.