Dominion's Sprint and Olympic Distance - OPEN !!! (Page 10)

Yep, almost halfway there. Pretty good bike and run month so far. Terrible swim month for me.

I did get signed up for first my 2 races, one of which is a relay for my local shop (SBR Racing). I'll be riding the bike, so super pumped about that. Our swimmer is an ex collegiate swimmer and our runner is a non tri guy (runner only) who is fast and training for the the big Peachtree 10k in Atlanta. We should do well!

Good job on the 5K, Randy!

I skimmed through the article about training while sick and agree with it most of it. I saw the doctor a minimum of three times a year for sinus infections and/or bronchitis for as long as I can remember until I started running. And now, I've been to the doctor three times in the last five or so years and two of those were sports injuries. The third was for bronchitis and that was last week after a BAD allergy attack. I haven't missed a beat in my training or work schedule. Now if it had turned into an infection that would have been different and I probably would have been forced to back off. Over training could lead to a week immune system but you're probably going to sideline yourself with an injury first. Note the importance of healthy eating especially while training. I've been friends with my doctor for many years and we joke that we never get to see each other anymore. His words were, "This is really incredible".

Training is going well. Monday was my "long day" and the heat index jumped into the 90's.  My swim was cut a little short because I ran out of time. I had a flat tire on mile 99.2 and ended up calling for a ride after using my extra tube and three CO2's (I've since resolved that issue!!). But I still got in my short run at the end. It was hard keeping my HR down in zone 1 with the heat. I felt good though and after 25 minutes my run legs showed up. I think my HR would have settled down shortly afterwards if I had kept going. My nutrition/hydration plan went very well even with the heat.  Other than a sore neck from the swim then being aero for so long I had no issues. I'm trying to relax more! 

For rides only 2-3 hours long it's almost impossible for me to keep my heart rate up out of Zone 1. I really need some head wind or a long hill to get deep into Zone 2. I've given up on reaching Zone 3 and 4. My legs just can't work that hard w/o feeling like I'm risking injury, blowing them out, or just completely losing my form. It's been fun and amassing to watch how my system has adapted to the work load over this training cycle. I'm still aerobic  (high zone 1, low zone 2) running under an 8 min/mile but my legs can't hold that for the race and I'm not even going to try!

All and all I'm getting REALLY tired of training!! I wish the race was next week so this would end! This is my hardest week in my plan, next week isn't much better, then I start my tapper. I've started using my race gear in my workouts and sighting during my swims just to make sure everything will go well. I purchased Giro Air Attack Shield to help keep up the excitement and they're really cool (in spite of my wife rolling her eyes). I need to schedule an appointment with my bike guy for a full overhaul soon so I can some miles on it again before race day. And, I'm so tired of eating! I've struggled lately to keep my weight over 160. If I'm not sleeping I'm eating! 

Sorry my post was so long. I finally found myself sitting at the PC in my pajamas with a cup of coffee. I only have a short ride and gym time before work this evening. Now time for second breakfast!

Anyone else have a race coming up? I think Cass is doing New Orleans 70.3 this weekend.

Black/Red to match my bike. Plus that color was 20% off. 

Sorry to hear about your tough day at NOLA 70.3

Keep your head up. Better days are ahead. Your determination is an inspiration to us all. 

Just focus on the big picture. That's what this sport is really about, meeting personal challenges and overcoming the setbacks along the way.

It's all about the journey!

OH! NO! 

So sorry to hear this, Cass! You've experienced my greatest fear. DNF because of something out of your control. 

And don't stop trying!! This just means it's going to be all the more sweeter when you do nail it!!

Originally posted by rjchilds8 Went out for a bike ride today. I bit off a little more than my legs could chew, but I managed to get through the 25 mile bike despite having a little cramping in my quads. I think if I had done the 25 miles on flatter ground it wouldn't have been a problem, but my first 8 or so miles were through my training loop that has two tough hills. That was a mistake, probably too early in the season to be combining those hills with a longer ride. I managed to get through it, but I was suffering the effects of a hard ride. Anyway, I had told the kids I wanted to do this. In part, because I know they want to do another kids 1K run this year. And partly because I wanted to see how my legs felt after a longer ride. I ran the first lap with my 6 year old daughter. She did the 1 kilometer loop in 7:36. I ran the second lap with my 4 year old son. I thought he did great and he finished his kilometer in 8:16. I thought it was impressive for him to only be 0:40 slower than his sister given the 18 month gap in their ages. I'm sure glad I asked them to run with me because I'm not sure I could have run any faster than they did! LOL Over the last couple tenths of a mile, my right quad was really starting to tighten up. Luckily, I was running it at Nathan's pace. I couldn't stop looking at the smile on his face and that really helped me get through it. Thanks, little buddy!

Fun running with the kids. My daughter used to ride her bike with me around the neighborhood when I went for runs. Now she is old enough to run with me. Next year I probably won't be able to keep up!

You bet. It's usually worse for me during the allergy seasons. It doesn't seem to matter which pool I swim in, chlorine or salt water. I usually have about an hour or so after the swim then my nose unloads. Sometimes for hours. It really sucks while on the bike! You might try taking an antihistamine and see if it calms down your sinus so they won't react to the chlorine as bad. Just a guess. 

Threw my back out last Monday. I think it was from riding a stationary at the gym on Sunday but who knows. I managed to get in a few long, slow, and painful workouts in last week but missed my volume goal. At this point I'm not improving anything anyway. Just holding on till race day. I'm three weeks out and my taper has started, thank God! I have a couple of days off this week. Resting today with a swim/bike/run tomorrow and another rest on Wednesday. Oh, and another chiropractor appoint this afternoon. I've really stayed on top of my back/core work but when it goes, it goes.

Have a good week!

The runny nose thing, yes I get that from time to time after a pool swim. It usually goes away within a few hours. I don't really notice it much anymore. I think it is fairly normal.

Congrats on shaving off 14 minutes!

Yep, that is mostly to be expected. I had hoped that maybe 1 or 2 might stick around. Oh well...