Matt Gilmartin's 2nd Quarter Group- back in the pool! FULL HOUSE (Page 10)

Picture of my 96.5 mile ride 2 weekends ago.

Mariah - you;re killing it on the bike! You look like you're doing a Time Trial and not a 96.5 mile ride in that picture. AND a Century in the living room??? How long did it take you to be able to ride that long?

As for my race, no wetsuit and no kicks to the face. I think wetsuits are kind of a rarity in Florida, especially once it starts creeping towards the summer months and on the gulf side. The water gets gross in the summer, it's too warm. Luckily, my wave was rather small so I managed to find a few pockets to swim without getting jabbed. My take home lesson for the day was I definitely need some more OWS practice before I tackle the Oly distance. The bike and the run were actually pretty enjoyable. Definitely appreciated my brick workouts prior to race day, I knew my legs could carry me the entire way.

Aaron, the race I'm interested in is the Morton Plant Mease Tri (http://www.mpmtriathlon.org/). I've heard it's a pretty decent race. It's right in Sand Key so location is decent. 

I only made it 50 miles I started having saddle problems right away and within the first 3 minutes was ready to stop. Then at mile 10 or so, I needed to refill my bottle (only had one of them since I forgot the other one in my husbands car and he is out of town) and paused my Garmin, but instead of pausing, it decided to try and transfer all my data and then refused to connect. I ended up having to put the information in manually. I tried resetting it and making sure that all previous information was cleared, but it didn't help. Instead, I have 3 separate entries that I had to manually input. I really couldn't take the pain of the saddle and decided to call it at mile 50, which was incredibly difficult to endure, but I did and don't really look forward to getting back on the bike for a few days (or weeks). I think that I wasn't really recovered from the last one and that is why it just wasn't working for me...so sad.

Things are gearing up! 

  I am now three weeks out from my first tri.  One bump in the road has been my bike.  My husband and I went to Utah to mountain bike (Western Spirit - great outfitters and guides!!), I realized how much I wasn't liking my road bike.  Frame hits too high, hands too small to shift the left gears without practically getting off the bike to do it (Shimano 105's).  Back to the drawing board.

  One of the fitters at the REI flagship store spent 2 hours with me trying to either change the bike or come up with a different bike.  They have a great return policy.  At the end of 2 hours - nada.  Tried a special order from Cannondale - out of stock.  Local tri and bike store - another hour of trying to find a frame that would fit very short person (44 cm) and Shram shifters seemed to be the ticket for my stumpy hands.  Interestingly enough, back to Cannondale.  This lovely beauty was in stock and is now on it's way.

  Moral of the story - should have started with a fitting to find a closer match from the get go since I appear to be on the very end of the bell curve when it comes to short legs, long torso, and really stumpy hands.  The good news is that all body parts work just fine, but needed to find a supportive bike! 

  Swimming - have begun to regularly get the body roll into the stroke.  Breathing is bilateral but still swallow water every now and then. Yummy.  This week the focus is on the stroke to get more power into the pull.  I treasure the time I get to spend in the pool.   And tonight is swim night!

  Best to all!

Injury Update: I got my stitch out (I did it myself with sterile tools) and went to the pool yesterday.  If you ever want to improve your catch, so you don't push down on the water, stab yourself in the arm.  My bicep has been sore since the injury and swimming last night I could feel everytime I was using my bicep.  By focusing on my catch and pulling back without pushing down the pain went away.  I still took the swim pretty easy, but it felt great to be back in the pool.

I also found out that the tri I was planning on in August has been moved to early September, which gives me more time to get my swim endurance up!  It also allows me time to fly out to Washington to visit my brother, whom I haven't spent more that a couple of days with since his first deployment overseas almost 4 years ago.

Note: It is not a nerve pain, but a muscle soreness in the bicep.  I think when I injured myself I jerked my arm back quickly and strained my bicep.  It is getting better day by day.  The doctor said I didn't cut the tendon, that the blade entered parallel to the tendon and missed it.

Jen, typically they will have 4 people in the water.  The timer/counter will start you every 10 seconds.  Flip turns are OK and totally legal, but they can be a PITA if you're swimming with folks who don't flip their turns.  And yes, you climb out of the pool and run to transition- they'll typically put the timing mat outside the transition area, so your swim time might be a bit inflated if you have a long run to T1.  Pool swims are tough in my opinion, there's a lot of passing and you can get slowed down a lot.  That being said, if you're afraid of OWS or this is a first race- by all means do it in a pool!

Melinda- glad to hear the progress!  Bike fit is huge- you're definitely doing the right thing by taking the time to get it all right.  Keep up the great work

I just did my first sprint triathlon Saturday!  SUCH an AWESOME experience! I had so much fun!  It was at a state park and had a pool swim. It was a 200m swim, 10mile bike, 2mile run. I specifically chose this as my first race because it was the only one I could find with a 2mile
run! Ha! I would have rather swam two miles than run 3.1   In my
training I was confident I could do the race distance, it was all of the other“what –if’s” that I was nervous about.  

Here is my race report.

I went the day before to pick up my race packet, and stay
for the pre race meeting so I could get an idea of what was going on.  I turned in an estimated swim race time about
45 seconds slower than what I do because I was afraid things would be nuts and
I was going to be slower.  I had read
stories about this race that people lied about their swim time and it created
havoc in the pool with people getting clustered up and stuck on the wall.  They gave me my race bib and I was number 94
out of what I knew was going to be several hundred people.  I halfway freaked.   I expected to have a number in the 250ish
range.  Frankly speaking,  I think I swim slow, and I seriously thought
they had screwed up my swim time!    

Race day:  I was running on about 3 hours of sleep.  Nerves coupled in with sleeping beside my 2 year old toddler in the bed who acts like the Tasmanian devil in his sleep kept me up all night.  I was too excited to be tired, though.  I got ready, got my transition bag ready, and
hopped on my bike to ride down to the transition area (we rented a cabin and it
was sooo convenient).  I had a special sheet of paper that I was supposed to take with me to make sure I had my area set up right, but I forgot it. J 

Transition area:  I got there about an hour and 5 min before the race started.  The bikes were racked in groups according to your race number.  My bike was literally going on the SECOND row.  I was so
worried about never being able to find my bike, but the second row was pretty freaking
awesome.  I was stoked, until I saw the people beside me.  Almost all tri bikes,
some road bikes, with their front tires nicely resting on the ground.  I tried to rack my bike the same way but it was swinging in the air, which seemed weird and not right.  I stood there for a minute, looking for another hybrid bike to see how it was racked, and didn’t see any.  So I asked the guy and girl standing a little ways down “Should I rack my bike like this when it’s swinging in the air?” The
girl replied “Yeah, that’s ok”.   I set up transition:  helmet, race belt,
glasses, shoes, socks rolled down so they are easy to get to, towel rolled out so I can dry my feet off easy, and my visor . Since I am brand new at this, I was keeping it simple-tri suit with no
change of clothes, and the same pair of shoes on bike as running.  I taped a gel pack to my bike so I could just rip it open and take it a few minutes before my run.   I had never practiced this before, but I was sure it was going to work, and since I knew I could NOT open one of those gel packs with only  one hand I had no other option but for it to work.  Went to use the bathroom.  Went ahead and took a gel pack then (I always need lots of carbs to survive).  I listened to some of the rules again from the announcer. I read my motivation phrase taped on my bike that my 2 yr old son says all the time
“come on, mama, RACE”.  THEN I remembered.  The run from the pool to the
transition area was almost like .1 of a mile, and I have never been able to run barefoot without the fascia in my feet and legs flaring up big time.  The day before, a girl asked if we could put
a pair of shoes near the fence of the pool as we exit so we could run to transition in shoes and they said yes.  So I got on the cell phone, called my friend, asked her to meet me at
the road with my other pair of shoes.  I put my race shoes on, (jogged as my warm up) down the road where I could get another pair of shoes.  Even if it slowed me down, I needed those shoes because  I wanted to be able to walk for the next 2 weeks, and running barefoot on uneven
terrain would have ripped me up.  I took my extra pair of shoes, set them by the fence, and went to go get in the pool.  Oh, by the way, they had pumped water into the pool for several days.  It
was about 68 degrees.  Had to go use the bathroom again.  Then  I found my family and my little boy and gave hugs, took a couple of pics then went to get in line.

Time to get in the pool! 
I was a little nervous, but at that point, it wasn’t that bad because I was already seeing what was going on in the  pool, and it was comical. Everybody had to swim down one lane and under the rope to cross over to the next lane and continue until the distance was done.   By the time I was in the pool at number 94, it seemed like things were getting interesting-groups of 6 people right
together in one spot swimming,  clusters of people stuck on the wall trying to get to the next lane.  NO ONE did flip turns, it would have almost been dangerous LOL. They were starting us in about 6 or 7 second intervals.  One guy actually stood up, a little frustrated, and walked up to the wall in the shallow end. People were  putting their heads up to see what’s going on and where they are at. (I got this all on video).   One of my goals was to NOT go all out on the swim, in desperate gain of a few seconds or minute, only to give out a lot of strength.  I had no problem
keeping my goal-no one could swim fast, there were too many people flailing
around.  On my second lap I passed 2 people.  On the third lap I passed a few but don’t know how many because the 3^rd lap lane was two lanes wide.  On my last lap, I looked forward,
saw a very tall guy swimming some crazy kind of side stroke with a mixed
scissor-breast stroke kind of kick that stretched 2 meters wide. LOL.  I saw him kick the guy beside him, and had I
not been looking forward, he would have kicked me in the head.  I raised my head up and swam a little just to see what was going on and how to maneuver around.  Then it was up the steps and out of the
pool!   My thoughts: “I don’t know WHAT
just happened, or how long it took me, but that was a LOAD of fun”. 

TRANSITION:   Find
shoes by the fence, stop put them on, girl runs by me saying “that’s a really
good idea I wish I would have done that”.   
Found my bike really easy.  Dried
feet, put on socks (very easy), put on shoes (very easy, I put my shoes on like
this every day haha!), put on glasses, put on helmet, put on race belt (they
accidentally sent all of our tri tats and stickers to another state-all we had
was our BIB and our body markings).  I
kept it simple, since I’m new and forgetful on a regular basis.  Took my bike, walked (yes, walked) it out of
transition, then hopped right on.  

BIKE:  I’m not kidding, here are my first thoughts on the bike during the first 2 minutes:    “Swim was hilarious, here’s part two! I have never biked with anyone else around
me, ever!  Gotta be careful!  Don’t look like a drunkard swerving.    I
can’t stay close to the right there are too many cars parked on the right side
of the road, I’m too afraid someone will open the driver side door. Hope I
don’t get a penalty. What gear am I in, ok, just set back, pedal for a few  minutes, gather thoughts, then focus, take a
sip of water.  CRAP I’m drafting.  DUDE in front- speed up I’m NOT hitting my
brakes. (hahaha)  I already hear  ‘ON YOUR LEFT’. “    Once I settle in, people really start
passing me, guy in front of me has taken off. 
Me and my little hybrid are settled in, and all the road bikes and tri
bikes are whizzing past me.  I started to
get frustrated, then  a thought hit
me.  If they are coming from behind, that means I
can swim faster than them, right?  HA! It
was a fun thought, rather it be true or not. 
The bike ride was two loops, and it was mostly flat, nothing like the
hills I’ve hit around my roads.  After I
settled down a little, I REALLY began to enjoy the bike ride.  There were several people who threw their
chains off their bikes, but I didn’t see any flat tires.  I studied everyone’s bikes and their
gear.  LOL.  Passing people was a thrill, because I never
really expected to really pass anyone on the bike!  Obviously, I really had NO idea what to
expect out there!   I did push it but not
too hard because I am such a bad runner that I have always been afraid to go
hard on the bike.    

RUN:  (I do NOT like
to run).  My only goal for the run was to
jog the entire time, never to walk.  In
my training, I was pretty confident I could do that with no problem, so in my
head I thought that if I was feeling good, I would try to push my run
harder.  I was very familiar with the
feeling in your legs after you get off the bike and try to run.  However, I had NEVER trained where I jumped off my bike then immediately tried to jog DOWN a steep hill.  I just wonder what I looked like, because it felt like I was playing fast twitch hop scotch.    I did get settled into a nice jog, feeling
that I would be able to jog the whole thing and reach my goal.  Then I came around the curve and saw the hill going back up, there were about 7 or 8 people in front of me and almost all of
them were walking the hill.  I would like to say that it helped knowing the finish line was right up around the hill, but it didn’t! The thought of not reaching my goal and having to walk because of that stupid hill made me sick.  I just kept repeating to myself “jog, don’t walk, jog, don’t walk, jog,  don’t walk”.  Leaned forward, dug in, and chanted. As I passed a lady, she said “Are they playing  a sick joke on us?”  I replied  “they weren’t  JOKING when they said a ‘short steep hill near
the end of the run’  they were LYING”.  Several of us broke out in laughter, and that gave me the boost to keep jogging up the hill.  I remembered two guys and their bib numbers
were very close to mine, they were on the hill walking together.  SERIOUSLY, I’M GONNA JOG PAST THEM IF IT KILLS ME.  And I DID!  As I topped the hill, saw my son, reached
over to give him a high five before I crossed the finish line, they took off
and passed me!  Running through the finish line was GREAT.

However, what was most AWESOME?  1. Knowing I trained hard, and accomplished
my first sprint triathlon. 2. I did it when I only had time to work out on
lunch break, and short times on two afternoons during the week.  I often wondered if that alone would keep me from ever being able to do this.  I knew though that if I could stick to 5-6 consistent training days a week, even if it was less than an hour, that surely I could do this  3.  I stuck to my workout schedule and had so much fun training and learning.  4.   I had such low expectations of how I would do and was seriously surprised: I placed 8 of 19 in my age group, 56 of 142 total females!  (I think there ended up only being ~390 in
the triathlon, but I saw a bib number of 593 so I’m not sure if they had
aquabike and some other things or what was going on).

Hope I didn’t ramble too much, I just know that every thing
I read on these forums for the months leading up to my race helped me, and I
hope someone can get something out of this big wordy race report!   

 HAPPY TRAINING! 

Great RR Newbie99! I'm so glad you had a good time because in the end, that's really all that matters. 

Your plan to take it easy and settle in sound like they worked well for you and from the tone of your e-mail, it sounds as though this won't be your last tri!!

Placing in the top 1/3 for your first tri is AWESOME! I think that you will go far in this sport - oh, and don't worry about not having a road/tri bike...that will come and then you will FLY on the bike! 

CONGRATULATIONS again!

Excellent Race Report - I appreciate the time you took composing and sharing your experience. Thanks for sharing.

Bryan

April- first, congratulations on the accomplishment!

Second- great race report- you absolutely captured both the physical and emotional aspects.

Third- your finish is great- I think you might have found a sport you're better at than you realize.

I'm so glad this forum helped you... the members of our group ROCK!

Matt

Thanks for the awesome support everyone! 

If anyone is interested in watching some of the swim videos I have, PM me and I can email them to you. My friend who videotaped them literally learned how to record on a camera the night before (bless her IT deficient heart), and there are some clips of concrete and sky.  However, in the few seconds of clips that we do have, there are some WILD things going on in that pool if you watch closely.  Very funny. 

Back to training in another day or two!! Wahoooo

April,

I'd love to see it- can you send it to me?  I think you have my e-mail address too?

If you have video of YOU swimming I'll analyze it for you, too

Matt

Great job with the first tri and with the race report! I love reading these things. I was wondering how your race went. Pretty impressive. The swim sounded like a lot of fun, I'd love to see the video too. I'll PM you my email address. Congrats again, glad it was a fun and rewarding race!

What a long day!!

We received an e-mail yesterday afternoon stating that our LRS was goin to be participating in a roadside clean-up for the little town it is located in and asked for volunteers to join in and help the clean-up efforts. All participants would receive a free t-shirt. We try to volunteer whenever we have a chance as a way of giving back. So anyway, we get out there and no one else shows up except the "Friends of (city name)" Commitee...really disappointing since this shop does a lot for its athletes and there were about 30 or so that did a work out and were leaving as we started the clean-up. We were getting ready to start when we were approached by a committee member and told that children were not allowed to participate :0 We were going to have to leave, but the LRS owner told us that he appreciated us coming out and that he was just going to have us "work for" him and clean up the road in front of his store instead of actually participating for the "Friends..." group. Whatever... We ended up taking the children down a half-mile stretch of road and picking up trash with them. I would venture to say that we collected close to, if not more than, 10 lbs!! The kids ended up getting their free t-shirts which excited them!

Afterwards, the LBS was having an Orbea demo at a local park. My husband and I have been kicking around the idea tha we may need to purchase mountain bikes once we get to Germany, so this was an opportunity to test ride different bikes out on actual muddy trails! It was great fun! We actually got there a little early so we could help set up the tents and get the grill going (somehow I ended up being the grill master even though I was the only female out of about 20 or so guys). The Orbea guys thought we worked for the LBS since we were helping with everything, so they weren't helping us test ride a bike!! Finally I put my bike helmet on and just stood there in front of their van. As soon as someone looked at me, I handed him my ID and told him which bike I wanted to ride. It was a fun ride, but totally different from the road! It was seriously squirrelly and I almost bit it a couple of times! My husband got to ride on a proto-type bike that they haven't even advertised yet. He rode a few MTN bikes but fell in love with the proto-type...wonderful - that one will probably be WAY more than his budget!

We hung out there for about 3 hours before meetin up with some friends from the Wounded Warrior Project for frozen yogurt. We got to chat with them for about an hour before our children and their children started acting too wild!

We then stopped at Red Robins for a hamburger since they sent me a free burger coupon for my birthday. It was the first time since last September that I've had a hamburger! We just got home and got everyone cleaned up and ready for bed!! Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!

It has been a challenging week for training. Work commitments and now a 4 day weekend at my parent's home in West Texas where there is only running to do for training. On top of that the diet has gone out the window with all of the food! Man is it hard to loose weight here!

On another note - Matt et al - my training plan shows me as swimming and then it list running or biking. Should I be doing them in that specific order or does it even matter?

3 weeks until my goal triahlon on Father's day/50th Birthday so I gotta press in and finish this phase of training well.

Bryan

It seems like everyone has had a few problems getting training in lately.  This weekend we went down to my in-laws to visit and my wife went to a bridal shower...and there was a tropical storm.  So, of course, with driving 6 hours each way, and a big storm, no training got done.  I was scheduled for a 300 m swim, which is huge for me, but that will now be pushed back to this coming weekend when we will drive back down for ANOTHER bridal shower.  My wife and I have 7 weddings to attend from March 2012 through March 2013.  We are attending 7 of the 10 we were invited to, why do all of our friends have to get married in the same year?

Hopefully, this week I can swim 3 times and run a few times.  This weekend I'm going MAKE time to train, because I need it.

Someone explain to me exactly how the Co2 cartridge works when changing your tire, specifically regarding tire pressure.  Everything I keep seeing just says to "attach it and inflate the tire".  (OK, how do I know if it's the right pressure for my tire?)

thks

-April

April- it's not an exact science.  You ride a hybrid bike, right?  Your correct PSI should be between 35-45.  I believe that equates to about a 1/2 can of Co2, roughly.  The nice thing about a fat tire bike is that you can "feel" the pressure.  Get the exact pressure at a break/pitstop.  Awesome question!