Penn State's mentor group - CLOSED! (Page 100)

Do it!

Its the 'cheapest' option for me, relatively close and nice, free housing.  I still toy with doing St George again and if things go well I may sign up in Nov or Dec if its still open. 

Looking at the elevation chart I believe it's 400 ft of climb over 20 miles. Compared to many of the other IM's it's flat as a pancake. There is a gentle slope up to the turn around but I've done it and I was fine. The road back into Tempe can get pretty fast. The run is also virtually flat. This would be the IM that I would start with and I believe that the course along with it being in AZ makes this one of the popular IM's out there.

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Edited by PennState 2010-08-16 2:22 PM

That makes sense. Maybe you need to move out west with some of us

For many reasons you've already mentioned, I think its easiest to qualify at IMSG; northerners don't want to train in the snow, southerners are intimidated by the hills.  Of course the snow part is a major issue for you

I've been off the run and bike for 6 weeks now, and I'm debating if I should go back at 8 or 12.  I'm getting restless but I also think I improve alot on water jogging, weight lifting, and swimming.  The main thing for me is to not get back in that injury cycle again I was last year and have a solid year of training and races in 2011.  I know its a cliche on this site but I have alot to prove next year.

I know alot of people are anti weight lifting but strengthening my core and legs should help prevent injuries in the future (knock on wood).

Hi everyone! I'm finally back online - I was at a bachelorette party in Las Vegas this weekend so I've been totally MIA. Left Friday night and flew back Monday morning. The party was for one of my friends from my tri club but we got no training in while we were there, just a lot of time at the pool (but no actual swimming) and a lot of partying. I'm looking forward to getting back on track starting with a run tonight.

Looks like everyone's training is going well. I love all the talk about IMAZ!

I've been doing a lot of analysis of IM qualification times (granted, only in my age group) from all the various races over the years recently.  One noticeable trend is that the earlier in the season you race, the less of a rolldown there is.  This makes sense since later season races may have people who finish high enough to qualify but have already qualified earlier in the season.

This makes me doubt IMSG is the easiest to qualify in.  Most slots will be taken, and most of the field is equally disadvantaged by the early season race and/or race terrain.  Qualifying times may be slower, but in general I suspect that the effort and fitness required to KQ is fairly even across the board among North American races.

From what I've seen, the real secret to getting an "easier" KQ is to do one of the less popular international IMs.  My guess is that travel issues mean either less talent shows up to the race, or less racers are willing to travel to Kona, or both. 

How often do you guys change out chains? I'm thinking my bike has over 1000 miles on it and I was just wondering if it was a wear item that you replaced at a certain distance.

I changed mine on my old Felt (Shimano Ultegra) after about 5k miles, but that's because a link was broken.  I think its 10k that's recommended to change it.

I have about 4k on my Campy chain and its running great!

I would suspect that its both. I was looking at the same stuff for Clearwater spots a while back and think i came to similar conclusions.

It really depends on how well you've maintained the chain and the rest of the drivetrain.  Keeping it greased and throughly cleaning the cassette often will get you the best mileage, but if it's gotten neglected you could easily need a new one within just 1000k miles.  There really is no set mileage at which to replace them since maintenance, riding conditions (winter, salt on roads, lots of rain, etc), and storage of the bike (especially in high humidity locations like the east coast) play such a large role in it's durability.  The biggest thing to consider is that replacing the chain is MUCH cheaper than replacing your cassette and/or crank, so if you're worried about it, it's best to replace it so it doesn't wear down the other components prematurely.

Another thing to consider is what material the chain is made of.  I believe most general use chains are Cr-Mo.  I think the higher end stuff (Dura-ace) are plated with Nickel which helps prevent rusting.  I've heard of some stainless steel, but I think they are pretty rare.

 Replacing it yourself is really easy, if you decide to go that way, I have an awesome trick I learned when I was a mechanic that helps with figuring out how long to make it.  I don't have much time right now, but it involves using an old spoke that you bend to hold the links together as you adjust the length of the chain.   If you want me to go into detail on that I will... but I have to head out right now and get to my running group.

 

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Edited by PennState 2010-08-17 7:08 PM

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Dylan-thanks for the link!!! Some interesting points of view on there about posting an IM finish on a resume.  Looks like it doesn't belong there, but you can bet your a$$ that I'll bring it up in an interview if I have the chance (and it's appropriate for the conversation)!!!!!

Although I don't have an Ironman Finish listed on my resume I do have this paragraph at the bottom of my resume:

An active person who follows the philosophy to work hard and play hard. Having run multiple marathons, half marathons, ultra-marathons (races longer than 26.2miles), numerous triathlons, as well as a half Ironman triathlon.  I am currently training for multiple marathons, two half Ironman's and a full Ironman triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, 26.2 mile run) still to come this year. The ability to set personal/athletic goals and develop and follow a training plan to accomplish these goals translates directly to the ability to organize tasks and stay focused in order to meet deadlines in the work environment. If you can stay mentally focused in order to run for 10+ hours at a time you can stay focused for work a 15+ hour day if a critical situation requires it.

Maybe I'm unique, or the culture of Colorado is unique, but I think putting something like that on it says a number of things, above and beyond what it says about how it translates to a work ethic.  I was looking for a company with culture, a company that's enjoyable to work for and will understand when I need to take a 4 day weekend or days off for a race.  A company that also doesn't look down at me when I go for a run during lunch as if I'm not focused on my work or that it will somehow make me less productive.  
What I found was that it actually brought more attention to me as a candidate instead.  It was something that gave them a look at who I was beyond just the standard cubical dweller.  During some of my interviews I even had a couple people peak their head in during the interview just to ask what Ironman and/or what ultras I've done.  They weren't even interviewing me, but they wanted to know because they had done/are doing ones as well.  I had another guy (who ultimately became my boss) who started the interview with: "Before we get to the technical stuff, I see you're an active person.  I just wanted to let you know that we're very supportive of that.  I'm not at your level, but I do go for an hour and a half run during lunch once a week."

If nothing else it helps you stand out from the rest of the resume files they have in their email.  They'll remember you, for good or bad  But in the end, I was kind of picky and wouldn't take a job with a company that doesn't support the lifestyle I enjoy... well, unless I was unemployed for 3 months instead of just a month and a half like I was.  Then maybe I would have been less picky if I was falling behind on the mortgage.  

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Edited by PennState 2010-08-18 5:20 AM

I work for my family's business and have most of my adult life so I have very little input from a perspective employees side, but can offer my perspective as an employer.  I wouldn't list finishing an Ironman specifically, but would list triathlons or endurance sports (as Fred mentioned) under hobbies or interests.  When I am looking to fill a position I am looking for a personality fit within our company as much as I am for skill sets.  During the interview I'll use things listed under hobbies and interests as a conversation starter to get the person talking about themselves.

ETA: Yes, most of the people I work with find what we do amusing, in a circus freak show kind of way!

Edited by kenj 2010-08-18 6:54 AM

I broke a chain while riding right before IMLP and messed my front derailleur up big time.  I just never really thought about chain wear, which was stupid.

My opinion - buy a chain wear indicator and replace it when it says you should.

And Fred - I 100% agree with your assessment of how to KQ!

I work in IT; no one cares about triathlon.  In fact its better I don't bring it up.  This is a field full of introverts and the best thing to do is talk about their interests, not mine.  Of course I guess that's true in any case.

I missed training last night, I had a meeting go until 8; it may be a good thing, my triceps and lats are fried from last week.  Out of curiousity, what would the fishes here do if they could only train on the swim?  What would your typical 'swim only' week look like?

Again, perhaps it's more to do with the environment I was looking to work in and perhaps the overall view of 'being active' that Colorado has compared to placing in the north-east.  But I feel putting it on my resume was a major benefit for myself.  Obviously this is an anecdotal thing, but I was laid off and within a month and a half had two job offers to decide from.  Both were VERY supportive of my lifestyle outside of work.  But I do believe it's about how you present the information.  You could easily present the information about your outside of work activities as being detrimental to your focus on work, but you could just as easily use it as an example of how you deal with time management, setting and achieving goals, and staying focused on the task at hand, and how you deal with the stress of balancing work + family + training (ie. let them know that when it comes to the three, you realize that work and family are the hire priority)

Just because people think we are 'crazy' for what we do, I think most really admire the dedication that it takes to do something like an Ironman.  The two thoughts are not disjoint.  If you can convey that work and training compliment each other instead of work against each other I think any manager worth working for would appreciate that kind of dedication.  If they want you to be available to work 90 hour weeks, then you're not only going to not be their top choice, but hopefully they are not you're top choice either.