Tri/tbay group - CLOSED (Page 10)

Congrats Brett! Hey I don't see a new profile pic from your race! Just kidding! Yeah so I found out that there is a tri store in New Tampa-Ironman 360! OMG what an awesome store! I had recently bought some k-swiss blade lights from Feet First and I only tried on the right one in the store cuz I had my son with me and he is wild, so when I got home I put in the yankz and put both on and the left one had so stitching near the tongue of the shoe and it was rubbing  the top of my foot. So I took them back and the lady was like "maybe you have them tied to tight" What?! Um really? like I don't know how to tie shoes? Anyway, She finally said she would get another pair shipped from the Tampa Store and I could see if those are better. Anyway, so I found out about the Ironman 360 store here on BT and decided to pack up my son yesterday and go. Well, the guy that helped me Jon, couldn't have been more helpful, went thru every shoe and explained which one was good for the type that I was looking for. He put up with my Tiny Tornado who liked to pull all the socks off the displays!So I scored some Mizuno's and I am really happy with them, although it has been less than a day!  Let's just say that they have won my business even though it is 30 minutes away!!! Oh btw they also have a website and will ship to you!!

So this week I am going to the Mad Dog's OWS at Pass-a-grille beach. Gotta get used to the salt water for the Oly in April! I will let you know how it goes! Have a great day everyone!

Hey Gang,

Boy have I been out of touch.  I spent the last 40 minutes catching up and I'm very impressed with the performance of our group.  You early racers have set the bar pretty high -- I hope the rest of us can live up to the pace you set!! 

I've had a tough time keeping up with workouts recently.  Work and family stuff keep getting in the way, especially on the weekends.  I like Roy’s tag line and I refer to it often – do what you can when you can.  It’s almost become my mantra this last week or so. 

Finally, this morning was a solid 5 mile run and it felt great to be out again.  Tomorrow will be a trainer ride -- it’s still too dark to ride at 5:30 in the morning, then another run on Friday morning.  I’m working toward a 10 April Duathlon here in Jacksonville (run 2.5 mi, bike 14 mi, run 2.5).  After that it’ll be time to start swimming again.

Good luck to all with your upcoming training and races. 

Mike

Okay,

1st OWS update:

Walked a mile up the beach to the Don Cesar Hotel with I would say 50-60 peeps in wetsuits. What a sight it must have been for the tourists, so I am thinking the whole way (wow this is far they might have to call the Coast Guard)! Anyway, got in and started swimming, the water was really choppy like a washing machine but I survived! I really didn't get tired or feel like I was out of breath, stopped a couple of times to sight because everyone was all over the place. So I continue on my way being thrashed in the salt water and all of a sudden I feel my right arm come in contact with a human face. I stop, look up and I guess I gave this guy an upper cut(sorry) he's like "it's okay" Whoops!!! Better him than me is all I am thinking. :0) Finally finish at about 40 minutes, have alot of work to do, but overall I felt Great.  I can get 3 more group OWS in before the Oly,  I am also going to step up my time in the pool too.

Hi Everyone,

Ive been keeping an eye on the boards.... very pleased to see how people are progressing. I cant

wait to get out there.

Does anyone else feel the excitement about warmer weather ? (I know the FLA folks are already getting some)

I am hanging in there... and planning on doing my first small walk / run this weekend. Shoulder feels pretty good - no pain, doing PT. Follow up Ortha Dr is in 2 weeks. I hope to get the all clear then.

Later on.

- Vin

Excitement?  Maybe dread is a better word

Was out this AM for a 50 mile ride and it started to get WARM towards the end.  Not looking forward to those 98 degree days.

Good luck on the run.  Remember to take it slow.  I know it's hard but it's really the only way to fully heal.

Hello to you all,

Good to see everyone is active and training going well. Vin I know you are active in spirit, hope you get a good report from the Doc. Took a vacation day today so I got to get my workouts in early for a change. Went to the pool for a morning  swim, then the dentist(YEA) and then went for a bike ride on one of the trailheads near home. So Im going along when I feel what I hoped was a leaf or small acorn from a tree in one of the vent holes in my helmet. Nope Wasp!!!!! got me good this is the second time it has happened. Fortunately I'm not allergic in a big way. But as I write this afternoon the left eye is a bit swollen. Oh well it happens. Anybody else have a similar story for us.

Courtney how was that first taste of good old sea water??? Tastes great doesn't it. Good job on getting through it, you'll be glad your are getting a chance to practice in the open water.

Good to hear from Corey and Mike, glad all is going well.

Thinking about getting Aerobars before the Oly on the 17th. Do you think it is enough time to get used to them? Thanks, Courtney

I'm gonna disagree a bit with Roy here.  17th of April?  Hmm, maybe.  Seems a bit tight.

Depends on how comfortable you are on a bike.  Dropping down into aero can be scary the first time.  The key, IMO is to relax.  The tighter you grip the bars the twitchier you will be.  When I ride in aero I have a very loose grip on the bars.  You just sort of "flow" with the bumps in the road.

Also, as Roy mentioned you will probably need to adjust your saddle position a bit. 

So it depends on a lot of things.  Worst case you have them there and you don't use them.  Best case you get down in aero and rock the bike.  Can't hurt to put them on.

Sean I guess I did leave out the twitchy part. He's right Courtney it will be twitchy at first. So go some place with a lot of room to adjust to the steering differences. And  like Sean said if you have them and  can use them all the better, and if your not totally comfortable you can always ride the hoods or drops on the road bike.

Sean the run at Disney is HOT!!!!! for me last year I really felt like I was mentally prepared to do the run at Disney. No one I know who had done Disney likes the run, so I tried to prepare for that. The plus your not out there alone, lots of folks going through the sufferfest with you. But its a good race, good bike route. It will be a good  prep race for you.

Thanks Roy & Sean,

Yeah I am thinking of going Sunday to the Ironman Store to look into it. I was thinking Profile Design Carbon Stryke. We will see. Anyway, did the Honda Grand Prix 5k tonight. It was so cool we got to run the track and they gave us a free ticket for the races today, which was also nice! They were just practicing but you get the feel and thrill all the same. Tonight went well, but I had to run with the BOB stroller so no PR for me. Although I did it in 28:03 pushing my son who is 34lbs. and the jogging stroller. Run felt good no hurting ankle and love my new shoes!!!!

Have a good weekend everyone! Beach tomorrow and hopefully a ride on Sunday am!

Good morning group,

Well I survived an extremely hectic week and completed all of my scheduled workouts, though some day and time adjustments were needed to get them done.  Thursday run I took really easy, the Achilles is coming along though slower than I had hoped for. Saturday's ride went well, did 31mi at just under 17mph. I also achieved my second biking merit badge by having to swap out tubes in the rear wheel on the side of the Highway.  I love those CO2 cartridges.

.......................

Brett,

Great job on the PR

.......................

Courtney,

Thanks for the ankle wrap information.  I bought it on friday and will give a try on tuesday. Good job on the OWS, I can't wait for it to warm up around here so I can give it a go.

Happy training all,

Brian

Thanks Brian.

I took it a little easy the week following the half.  Took until Wednesday for the soreness to go away.  I got in pool workouts on Wednesday and Friday.  The weather was not great here in NC over the weekend.  Rain on Saturday and downright cold yesterday.  We had some snow flurries this morning. 

Headed to the pool this morning for my Monday workout.  Felt sluggish but the warmer pool temps probably attributed to that.  Getting really excited now for my first tri in 12 days! 

Awesome Roy! What kind of bike did you get? I know it is in a past post I am just too lazy to look! LOL! Instead of buying Aerobars to put on this loaner Road Bike I have decided to invest in a Tri bike. Probably a used one, not sure what brand yet just started my research, but I CAN tell you that it will NOT be PINK!!!! Um... my swim coach kicked my butt today, here is a sample :

5x50 at every 25 yds she had me get out of the pool and do 10 push-ups and 20 crunches altenating

5x50 at every 25 yds 40 second wall sits and 40 seconds planks

5x50 at every 25 yds 50 flutter kicks and 10 alternating lunges each leg

5x50 at every 25 yds 20 squats and 20 bicycle kicks

cool down 200

Whew! Well tomorrow I tackle another OWS at Pass-a-grille Beach!

Brett you are gonna have so much fun, can't wait to hear all about it!!!

Courtney

We do some sets similar to that with the swim kids on occasion. For them its kind of a change of pace from just swimming and its a pretty good full body type of workout. Courtney if you are pretty sure your going to be active in the sport going forward then getting a tri bike will be a good investment. Take your time looking and you'll find something that will fit you just right. Tri bikes are sized differently than a road bike, the bike I got is a last years BLUE Triad SP, its a beaut. Its' name is BLUE, no girls name for a bike for me it now my trusty steed.

Several years ago at the Dunedin Triathlon on Honeymoon Island, we standing around after the event, I see a guy with a pink bike(all pink) Planet X no clue as to who it is. I'm thinking to myself you better be a stud if your going to have a pink bike. So there going through the award winners, they announce the overall winner its the guy with the pink bike. His name is Spencer Smith, and yes he is a stud. I think I saw him on Sunday in Clermont, I'm sure he had some athletes he trains in the event. So don't discount a pink bike!!!!!!!!

Good Friday morning everyone!

This morning I gave the tri gear a try in the pool.  I am wearing 2XU shorts and top.  They felt great overall, especially the shorts.   Total distance of 1100 yards this morning.  I used this workout to work on a series of 100's & 200's to get more into a race pace zone.  Overall I was pleased with the effort.

I was able to talk with the guy in the lane next to me afterwards as I already knew he was competing in the same tri.  Found out he is also in the Clydesdales with me.  As of right now there are 103 signed up and just 5 Clydesdales right.  Cap on the event is just 300.

Plan to give the tri shorts a test on the bike tomorrow as I ride the bike course for the triathlon that is next Saturday.

Right now on the extended forecast the prediction is for rain, but I cannot control that.  Regardless of the conditions, I will enjoy every moment of it.  Plus being 8 days away, it is too far off to put stock in the forecast.

Hey,

Hope everyone in FL weathered the storm okay!!! Took a much needed REST day today! Did the OWS on Wednesday night, boy we got lucky with that massive storm rolling in. We didn't get rain until after 7:30 p.m. it was dark to the North and to the South and just cloudy over us. The water was another thing though, rough and choppy, good for trying to sight and I say trying because it was hard for me to do. Everyone was weaving out to sea and back to shore, but we all made it and I actually did it quicker than last week. Probably had the current helping me, though I wasn't paying attention to that, the whole time I am saying "Please don't let a shark think I am food" there was only maybe 25 of us out there. It was dark and rainy all day so I am thinking maybe they thought the dinner bell rang early!lol! I am all over the place with maybe getting a new road bike or Tri bike, but I think for this race I will just invest in a saddle because the one I have hurts even after just 8 miles. I am going to swim and hopefully run Saturday and then Sunday take my son to the Sun-n-fun fly in! It will be our first Air Show- gotta see the Blue Angels! Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

Yesterday I had the chance to ride the triathlon bike course to get a preview for this coming Saturday's sprint triathlon. 

Some good downhill portions in the first few miles, but then there are some killer hills halfway until T2.  I wanted to share a picture of the elevation from MapMyRun.  You can see that huge climb just past halfway.....wow!  I think I was going about 4-5 mph at that point.  Definitely will be a challenge.

(Bike Elevation.JPG)

Good Morning,

I was able to complete all my training goals last week.  The Achilles issue seems to be on its way out, I think that the ankle brace was the final piece of the puzzle I needed to get over it .....Thanks Courtney!

Sunday I did my first Bike-Run brick!  I rode 35.78mi at an average pace of 17.5mph. I then ran 2mi at a pace of 9:34/mi.  I thought of doing more because I was feeling so good but decided to not push it too hard.  Needles to say I am extremely happy with the results of the last 3 months of training and the support that I have recieved from this group..Thanks All!.

With these results I think I have my Pre-workout nutrition down pretty well.  I also tried some "Shot Blox" that I got from the LBS. Has anyone tried these? They definitely helped, plus they are easy to consume without a mess.

.................

Brett,

That looks like a heck of a climb. You will tear it up.

For what it is worth. This weekend I tried a new matra for a couple of hills that usually eat me up that seemd to really help and at 200# I need all the help I can get. 

I would repeat "Push, Push, Push....." to myself.  The funny thing was, it turned out not to be a motivational thing, but It felt like I engaged my quads differently and I found that I was powering up the hills faster and more efficiently.

Good luck on your race!

Happy Training All,

Brian

Well,

Roy the Fly-in was AWESOME!!! My son & I were there from 10-5 and he did manage a 2 hour nap straight through the Raptor demo! I guess he could sleep thru bombs! Haahaa! He woke up right before the Blue Angels. His favorite part was being able to go in the planes and unbuckle all the seatbelts. I am sure those Airforce boys had fun securing them later!!!!:0)

Also no damage near me, but I did get caught in the storm on the way home from swimming and it was a little scary. Had to pull off and park for a little bit.

Did a ride Monday and decided I needed a new saddle. Went to the Ironman360 store(love it) and got a ISM Adamo Road saddle. They also made some huge adjustments to my seat height, seems that I was at a bad position with the other fitting, i.e. my legs were working twice as hard and I was not comfortable on the Hoods. So took the bike this morning on a 15 miler and felt great, especially on the Hoods since I am not getting Aero's I want to be comfortable here. Oh, did a timed mile swim yesterday at the pool 36:44, and I only used Breaststroke on 2 laps. Whoo-Hoo! I am happy with it and can only get faster I hope! Didn't get to swim at the Beach tonight with the Mad Dogs, but I did run with them and my son in the Jogging Stroller.

Hope everyone's training is going well, Courtney