Baowolf's Beginner Banquet -Sorry all tables are full no room.. (Page 10)

Thanks for the tips Conan from your Open water experience.  I have done a few but I just purchased my first wetsuit and plan on getting out in tomorrow, weather permitting.  Looking forward to it.

BTW...I may have missed it but is there a place where everyone listed their real names?  I like screen names but if you care to share your real name please copy mine below and append to your next post. 

Batlou = Brian

ETA:  Forgot, HM went about as expected.  My running has not been up to snuff and I paid the price today.  Held around a 9:15 pace as planned but fell apart around mile 11 and pace dropped way off.  Finished in 2:07.  Perhaps if I actually train a bit at some point I might break the 2 hour mark.  Next HM is in October so I will try to properly prepare and see what happens.

Well, today's race for me was not very good.  My race report will tell the full story.  Bottom line I need to get a swim coach asap or settle for being a BOPer.  Finishing time 1:19:25.

Grats at finishing at that pace Brian, must have taken a little suck it up and get er done.  It looks like your long runs leading into the half mary were around 5-6 miles.  You are really gona want to build your run miles before your next HM.  I would aim for a long run of around 15 miles and running 5 days a week.  Your race pace was faster than your typical runs of half that distance.  So minimum distance 30 miles per week with minimal long of 15 three times prior to the race and you will find that you can hold your pace for the duration of a HM race. 

60 mile bike on the drainer (18 mph) with 2 mile brick run at (8:00 ish mpm)... 60 is a lot farther than 40 at this point in my build. 

I have done a mass swim start with 2500 people without getting kicked in the face.  If you are smart and not overly unlucky you should just have some mild bumping here and there in a race.  I haven't gotten seriously clocked in any Tri yet, knock on kelp. 

Snow is all melted today... hope to get outside on the bike in the next week or two as my long bike increases.  Hope all did well in their races today. 

Brian - nice job on the 1/2, even if it wasn't quite as fast as you wanted.

Ken--congrats on your race too!

Samantha--my running workouts are intense, but I've been running for a long time and am training for a 10K at the moment.  My other workouts will be much else intense for sure!

Steve--I'm just using the numbers that the Runner's World Smart Coach program spits out.  i've used it for a number of other training plans and it's done me good.  My 10:30ish paces tend to be with the stroller or sometimes, just me doing a slow long run, especially if I pick a hilly route.  The training plan thinks I should be doing long runs at a 10:15ish pace, but I figure the point of it is distance not speed, so I'll run it at whatever feels good that day.

Here's my user/realname cheat sheet, if anyone wants a copy.  I think this is everyone:

mn_av8or - Marcus
Baowolf - Steve
squirt - Carol
anthalynn - Samantha
cherifortin - Cheri
CKslowpoke - Ceril
conanzchic - Kenzie
trigator - Karen
Big Tice - Nate
dhwebb - Dennis
Batlou - Brian
kmatt318 - Ken
johnthecat - Markus
Jacedude - Steve
tjsmom117 - Dawn
MEVT - Marc
t-royboy - Troy

No running today or yesterday.  It was snowing when we got up to the mountains and continued to snow pretty heavily.  This morning it was on and off, so I took a shower and put on my running clothes but then DH needed to work on some more plumbing stuff.  By the time he finished we really needed to be heading back home, and honestly, it probably wouldn't have been good to run along the road with the snow and limited visibility anyhow.  Then we drove back home (which wasn't too bad in the snow, thankfully), fed the kids and went to book group.  By the time we got home and dropped the babysitter off it was almost 11 and I wimped out on doing a treadmill run.  I'm going to try a short strength workout and try getting some extra sleep instead.

Best part of being in the mountains?  More sleep.  Something about high altitude and mountain air makes me super tired. I feel asleep in the chair at 10:30 while holding the baby, woke up around 11, found PJs, crawled into bed and woke up 10 hours later.  It doesn't really make up for all those 4- and 5-hour nights, but it helps.

Hope all the other racers did well this weekend!

Off I go...a Virgin no more!  Send positive vibes for me....I am worried about the swim today! 

OK...finished my sprint today!  Nothing incredible but I met my goals.  I finished and had fun - under 2hours!!!!

Set up easy...I was one of the first there.  SHould have warmed up more but I didn't know what to do...Went out for a brief dunk...wow cold!  (noticed problem with wetsuit right way!) - got out waited for slow line to move forward.  Got butterflies when I hit the mat.

The swim was terrible...very choppy water and cold (to me at least at 59 degrees).  I never got into any sort of groove in the swim and couldn't breath in the water.  Had to work to keep myself up...my wetsuit that some boy sold me was NOT AT ALL right -(zip upi the front kind...maybe for surfing???) it was dragging me down the whole time and I had to muscle through every stroke.  Rookie move mot to test it before hand... I rolled ever every so often for a break on my back... and was grateful for the rest. 

T1 - No problem, seemed quick to me...

Bike - Napa Valley = Hilly course.  Big up and then big down...up was hard but I passed several folks along the way. Down was fun...FAST...maybe 25MPH...but I felt in control the whole time.  Muscles in legs started to burn up in last stretch of Bike.  Ate a gu too late...gave me icky tummy on the way out to run...Also, feet went numb again at mile 5 desipe the new shoes.  Ugh...I have to figure this out.  Overall, I got into a great groove in bike and I liked it.  I am strong!

T2 - No problem.  Again seemed quick.

Run - Now I thought this would be the most difficult of the race but I felt good the whole time (except for the numb toes for the first mile).   Noone passed me until the very end and had I moved into a sprint I could have passed her at the final turn.  I smiled for the photographers who took a bunch of photos, my fellow participants along the way and the cute little deer I saw in the woods.  A good day.  Now, I am hungry....eggs?  Eggs and beer???? Yes!

Smiles for everyone here too,

Cheri

Grats Cheri glad you had fun.  That wetsuit.. sounds like it is made for DIVING... not even surfing.  They don't care if you sink diving, you have ballast.  Swim wetsuits zip in the back, are boyant and do not abuse your arms with every stroke.  I usually try to avoid calories or fluids 10 min before the run starts to 10 to 30 min after it starts depending on the length of my race.  If it is hot, well you may  not have a choice on fluid intake.

Huge accomplishment Triathlete! You are now officially part of a very select group.

Congrats, Cheri! You rock!!
I have a sleeveless wetsuit that I just tried out for the first time and I REALLY liked it. Gives you freedom of arm movement. It's from Xterra-they have a $99 entry level one and super discounted if you get any of the others. Use discount code: bt for 1/2 off. Probably about 7 of the 10 people at my swim clinic had Xterra wetsuits, so they must be doing something right!

-Kenzie

Woooohhooo!! Cheri, way to go .  Sounds like a great day!  Sounds like you were really strong on the bike.  Now we just have to get you a proper wetsuit.  Conanzchic had good advice on the Xterra, though sounds like anything other than an anchor would be an improvement.  So glad you had fun, and now you're really hooked, right?

Dang Ken, your run is seriously speedy!  I'm sure the swim will come along...it just doesn't seem to respond to the same dynamics as running.  Now enjoy the good, and the rest is just the next challenge .

Brian, nice HM!  That seems like a very good time to me, and so hope you don't mind if I celebrate a bit with you! 

Lisa, thanks for the cheat sheet!

Great work Cheri and Matt!!  Enjoy those eggs and beer!

Marcus

You do have to remove the old picture before adding the new one btw.  I'm not great with that stuff.  It also can't be too big (data or size wize).  Thats about all I know. 

Great work this weekend all our racers.

Good Monday morning!

Cheri - your race is not quite over yet....you need to post a race report 

Wetsuit question - I managed to put a small tear in my wetsuit the first time out.  How/with what can I patch that?  I know duct tape fixes most things, but wondering if there is something better!

OK, I've lost my ever-lovin' mind and signed up for my first OLY race on 10/2/11.  That wouldn't be so weird, except it's the US Open.  Happens to be in my neck-o-the-woods, and I've been assured by others that mere mortal AG peeps like me are welcome.  Even met one at church yesterday who did it as his first last year.  So now I have a goal to scare me for the whole rest of the summer!

@Ken:  Congrats on your race, you have got some serious running speed.  When you get your bike and swim up to those standards you will be a serious threat to podium at each race. 

@Cheri:  Awesome finish despite your wetsuits best efforts to drown you.    I have found the biggest difference between my swim in races today vs. my first 2 years ago is handling adversity and remaining calm. 

@Lisa:  Thanks for the cheat sheet, I am bad enough with names in person. 

@Carol:  Congrats on signing up for your first Olympic!  You will do fine and have a great time as well. 

My swim/bike run was cancelled yesterday due to storms.  Not so bad as I probably should have rested up some after my race on Saturday.  Back to it today with a lunchtime, depending on weather and swimming tonight.

So who is racing this weekend?

Looks like you are more than ready (peeked at your log)...go for it! 

Just got back from vaca.  Sorry I wasn't posting at all.

Some followup on my running during vaca.  It was too hot.  Cut down distances on interval day as well as my distances every other day.  Also, I ran on sand, barefoot two days.  BAD IDEA.  Now my muscles in my feet and calves are still burining.

As for the tri stuff:  Went to my first tri meeting at my local Gym.  Got a pretty good schedule to start my weekly swim, run and biking.  Not as much as I originally thought.  But I will follow it pretty well as this is my first tri.  We meet Sundays at 7:AM and do different workouts each of the following weeks. 

My bike (Trek 100) was tuned-up and I got a lot of the accessories needed for race day.  The only thing I need yet is tri shoes.  Going this afternoon to look at some.  Bought some new pedals from the classifieds here actually.

I'd say go for it.  Your logs indicate you are ready and should be able to do this distance without much problem. 

3500 yard swim this morning before breakfast.  It felt really good and part of that is I am back to three swim workouts a week.  My main sets were 1000 yards continuous, then 1000 yards 2 seconds faster per 100 and then 600 yards 2 seconds faster per 100.  My focus this year in swim is not to hammer out high intensity short sets (classic swim instruction) but to establish good form at a slower pace and then slowly increase it.  Back from injury I started at something like a 2:30/100 pace, I then built up some endurance and my past 3 time trial (1000 yards hard sustainable effort) have been 22:05, 21:02 and 20:25.  (2:13, 2:06, 2:02 (pace per 100 yards).  So not blindingly fast, but 11 seconds fater over roughly 3 weeks while maintaining form and without putting in much more effort.   

I have been looking up more stuff on form etc.  Terri (the TI guy) said that if put 2x the effort into running you go 100 % fast, if you put 2x the effort into biking you go 60 % faster and if you put 2x the effort into swimming you go 20 % faster.  He stated that the everage swimmer is 3 % efficient in the water (tranfering energy into speed) and that Michale Phelps is 9 % efficient, while Mr. Dolphin is like 80 percent efficient.  So much of going faster in swimming, unlike runnig or biking is not the engine but the aerodynamics (hydrodynamics) of your stroke.  Mind you having a good engine is really good, but does not guarantee faster swim times past a certain point. 

Based on that todays swim focused on a high elbow while your arm is under water on the pull and keeping my tail up and my head down (level head to foot) and on edge side to side (not too flat, gliding on one side and then the other kind of like roller blading (TI calls this skating)).  The challenge was to keep my effort and form basically the same while increasing my pace.  I can control my pace because my swim torture device (swimspa) has a speedometer of sorts on it like a treadmill.  I set it to go speed x and then I try to swim at speed x (not x-1 or bad things happen).  I'm toying with the idea of adding in another day or two a week just to work on form.... just not sure I have the time as I am building from a 15 hour per week base atm.  Fun fun, if only I didn't have a job I am sure I would have time to do everything I wanted training wise 8). 

So this is swim week.  Tell me:

1) What is the farthest you are swimming continuously currently and at what pace?

2) How many strokes (right hand into the water) do you take per pool lenght (specify 25 yards or meeters)?

3) How fast can you go for a sprint (25 yards flat out)?

4) What is what mistakes are you making with your stroke (leggs sinking, problems breathing, arm straight on the pull, not waiting for your hand to reach perpendicular to the bottom of the pool before pushing back, over-rotating side to side (near 90 degree tilt), under-rotating side to side (near flat side to side, lifting head out of the water to breath), etc.   

I never even tried to do any of these: