Gray Guys/Girls Maturing Triathlete Mentor Group (Page 26)

When I am on vacation I try and stay active each day and allow some of that activity to "replace" my workout(s).  For example, if I go hiking with the family for a couple of hours, that easily can take the place of a run.  If I'm at the beach all day with the grand-kids, that can be substituted for  the swim I may have missed.  When I am on vacation, I want to enjoy my vacation.  That said, it's pretty easy to get a run in anywhere at almost any time - just go do it.  Don't overthink it.  If you get in 60-90 minutes per day of activity you won't lose much fitness if any at all.  Once you get back to focused training, any lost fitness will quickly come back.

When you get back, simply pick-up where you left off.  Chances are, you will come back refreshed and ready to get back to a normal training schedule.

Hi All, I finished my ride on Sunday without any problems but we have been fairly distracted by a whole lot of fires in our province and covering a pretty vast area.  We have some family up north in Quesnel and Horsefly that are in some of the fire zones.  Our nephew is hemmed in by fires and is safe for now but he can't leave because he has animals.  So far he is not in an evac area.

Then our youngest is in an evac "alert" (one step short of an evac order).  She says they are packed and ready to go.  We were planning to help round up and transport animals but the situation is changing hourly and right now we can't get there (there is only one highway north).

Locally we are fine but we have several older people that we look after and they're nervous should anything flare up here.  We're sure we have nothing to worry about but the smoke is pretty thick.

I'll write up a report on the ride as soon as I can.

Kelly ... nice job!!  It's always great to see progress.  I suspect most in the group here are at the point wherein improvement is 'incremental'.  There's a golf analogy ... it's much easier to go from a 25 to 18 handicap, than drop  from a 2 to 0 hcp.  Even so, it is always great to know one is getting better!!

2 bike rides this week in absolutely sweltering heat along with an early morning Maffetone paced jog.  I don't know how hot it is for the rest of the group, but avg temp for my last ride was 97f and 105f max.  With hi-humidity this makes for a brutal ride.  My point here relates to hydration and keeping enough on me during the ride to stay well hydrated.  So for even a short 15-20 mile ride, I still take 3 bottles of supplemented water ... 2 in the cages and one in a jersey pocket.  As my grandmother always said," I'd rather have it and not need it - than need it and not have it"!

Ciao ... Dorm

Kelly,

Were you able to get to Whistler and ride the course?  How'd it go?

Hey George,

I absolutely understand about the fires.  We deal with fires every summer down here in Southern California.  We've had them where the only impact was smoke from a few ridges away to open flame coming down the hill behind our house.  Several years ago, when the flames were coming down the ridge behind the house, an air tanker dropped a foscheck load about 100 feet from our front door.  I'll never forget that.  The plane was so low I could see the pilot's face.  On that particular day there wasn't time for evacuation.  We went from a very windy, warm uneventful day to flames in the entire valley in a matter of minutes.

Hope everyone stays safe.

Kelly,

I always love to hear when someone has had a breakthrough moment in the pool.  I always tell people, put in the yards/meters and the day will come it all comes together.  Instruction helps, but go still gotta put in the time swimming - then one day, it all of a sudden "clicks" and you are suddenly swimming considerably faster.

Glad to hear you had your "ah-uh" moment.

I am still working hard and have a 70.3 this coming weekend.  I am still fairly distracted with the fires and I am not keen to be racing Sunday.  I am hoping to make the best of it and have a good time.

We hear each year about the fires in California and we usually are not as bad but this year's fires have been worse than usual.  As you say, we find the situation changes almost hourly.  The biggest problem for our daughter is the threat of looters.  They are still in their home and ready to leave but not yet ordered to leave while many people have left and looting has been an increasing problem.  I think I would rather they leave and be safe and not worry about the looters.

Kelly - Great swimming.  I'd love to knock 10 secs off my pace.

Dorm - I've been running in heat lately (95F) but generally I try to avoid the heat of the day so I am out as early as possible for my runs and rides.  Usually 6 or 7am.  Sometimes earlier if the weather is going to be particularly hot.