Week 4 of Iron Girl Training and the Source of the Pain in my A$$

I had a little setup in the injury category this week but I think I have found the source of aggravation.   During the ride last Thursday night I noticed a pain originating at my right sit bone.  It  wasn't too bad during the ride but a few hours later & the next day it was pretty darn sore.

Friday I did some google searches on 'sit bone pain cycling' & came across a bunch of forums that say to check your bike saddle size.  One referenced an A$$-o-Meter.

Since Mother Nature messed up our open water swim plans on Saturday, I took the opportunity to head to my local bike mechanic to do some research.  I explained to Jim what was going on & the things I read on the forums.  He measured my bike saddle & then had be sit on the Bontrager saddle fitting system aka A$$-o-Meter.  As it turns out my saddle is properly sized to my a$$.

Source

Jim then set my bike up on the trainer to see how well I was fitted to my saddle.  After taking some measurements & watching me ride he said I was reaching for the pedals on the down stroke.  This puts additional strain on the hips as well as bouncing in the saddle.  He dropped the saddle about 1/4" or so.  You wouldn't think a 1/4" would feel any different but it did.  Not just a little but a lot.

The other thing I thought of while I was there is to ask about my riding shorts.  I told him all I ride in are tri shorts.  His response was to only use those during races & use cycling shorts during every training ride.  True cycling shorts have a lot more padding in them than tri shorts.  So I left Scheller's with an adjusted bike fit & a new pair of cycling shorts.

Before heading to our Derby party I dropped of Fuji to get tuned up.  I figured Fuji never hurt me so maybe I should alternate riding Fuji & Jake until I can get this all sorted out.  

I am going to take a few extra days off from riding to give my sit bone some time to heal before trying out the new fit.

Here is how week 4 went:

Sunday:  Barre Amped, Run (C25K W7D1) with LexRunLadies
Monday: Swim 2000 yards, Pilates Reformer
Tuesday: AM Run (C25K W7D2), PM 45 min Spin & Yoga
Wednesday: Swim 1800 yards (including 200 yard TT - 4m23s)
Thursday: 13.4 mile ride out of Masterson Station
Friday: Scheduled Rest day
Saturday: un-Scheduled Rest day (was Open Water Swim w/Coy - Mother Nature intervened)

Did you have any fun Cinco de Derby plans?  Did your horse win?

We have a very popular Mexican restaurant at the end of our street that makes our neighborhood very, very busy on Cinco de Mayo.  When I left for the bike shop at 10AM the music was already blasting out of the restaurant.  We celebrate Cinco de Mayo by complaining at how many cars are parked on our tiny street.  Yep, that is how we roll!

We did go to a friends Derby party.  It ended up being a beautiful day despite the storms in the morning.  I didn't win but I didn't bet either.   Steve did bet but he didn't win.  One person at the party did bet on 'I'll Have Another'.  Her $2 bet won her about $56.   Not too shabby!

Have a great week y'all!