grandhavenbill's group - FULL (Page 11)

I am definetly still here... just lurking.  Since I am just beginning and have no experience to speak of, it's more appropriate for me to watch and learn rather than offer any advice.

I have an indoor event this Friday which will be my first multi-event. I will post how it goes.

I obviously don't say it enough, but htanks for all of your advice and willingness to post.

Chris

 Hey Chris.  Great to hear from you.  Please...after Friday night you are going to have a whole lot more experience than me.  Kick some a$$ Friday night!!!  Can't wait to hear abt it.

John

John,

Sorry for the late reply, I'm travelling for work and have not had a chance to check in for the last few days....For your Sunday race, it definitely counts as  your weekend workouts!!  I would suggest doing your Friday ride as planned but taking your Saturday run down to an easy couple of miles just to keep the legs fresh.  I'd also do the swim, but maybe knock it down to 500-750 yards focused on form.  While you are doing these workouts, visualize yourself at the race kicking some serious booty.

Easier said than done, but don't get stressed.  Make it YOUR race and don't worry about what anyone else around you is doing.  It is REALLY easy to get sucked in when everyone is doing their thing setting up transition before the race.  Just stay focused on you and what you know works.  NOTHING NEW on race day!!  If this is a mass swim start, just take it easy.  Start to the outside and give yourself plenty of room.  A few extra yards from starting wide won't matter to your overall time.  Getting mixed up in the "washing machine froth" of everyone else will....

Good luck, you are going to rock!  Looking forward to that race report!!

glad to hear your still here Chris. Good luck this weekend on you indoor tri. I wish I could make it but will be out of town this weekend. Looking at doing one next month though, so keep up posted on how it goes.

John - good luck Sunday on the sprint. By Sunday night I will be the only (active) one left without any triathalon experience. Looking forward to hearing how it went. Hope it is flawless, but would like to hear what you had difficulties with. Equipment, T1, T2.... or anything else that is unexpected.

Alright, it's back to business for me. I've slacked a bit the last couple of weeks. Eating has been terrible. Back to logging everything I eat. Need to spend more time on the bike. Joined a bike contest on the Michigan thread that should help motivate me.

Hey Guys:   I pulled the plug on the race this morning.  Air temp was 30 (perceived was 24) water temp was 58 and wind was blowing 15-20.  I started this whole tri thing with the 1/4 IM in Galveston next month as my goal and signed up for this sprint well after the fact.  If this was my goal I would never have thought about not going.  But there was no way I was going to risk getting sick or hurt.  It really sucks becasue I was fired up and ready to go but i think it was the best decision. 

Chris...how did your tri go?

looks like my call was a good one....from houston tri club forum..

i heard they cancelled the swim due to the rough waters from the north winds and did a duathlon instead.
we should be hearing from the participants soon.  jan"

john

I had a BLAST at the indoor event! Since it was my first time stringing the events together, I learned alot. With 15 minutes in each event, it was a nice sampler.

In the swim, I had a hard time finding a good pace. I started out too fast and started to drag toward the end. My final count was 810 yards with an average 1m 51s for each 100.  Realizing that this is well above the 520 yard average for a sprint, I should be able to find a good beat before the next event.

The bike was fun. I was able to keep a really even pace of 25mph and completed 6.38 miles. The spinning bike was familiar but a very controlled environment. Since I began training at the beginning of the year, I haven't been on the road yet. With the spring, I will need to get outdoors and start tackling real courses.

Running on a treadmill is never great but the time seemed to fly by. By the time it started, I was in the groove and enjoying the whole thing. I tried using an MP3 player for the first time and I loved it. The beat kept me going and kept my eyes off the timer. I was able to run my fastest time completing just under 2 miles (1.96) at 7m30s per mile.

It was well run and the environment was very supportive.  Heats were run on Friday night and Saturday so I have no idea how many participated. Results haven't been posted but since it was my first event, I'm not expecting much.  At least I have personal bests that I can now work on pushing out.

Chris

John,

Sounds like Michigan weather!  Although our water temps are just a bit lower than that......I think you made a good choice.  Without the right gear and having trained in those conditions, it would've been miserable at a minimum.  Those are the types of days where you can easily end up with a muscle pull, or worse.....

Keep that fire burning for your "A" race!

John - 30° Air and 58° water? sounds like a typical July day in Michigan. Did you cancel your knitting club too Sally?

Chris - Great job on the indoor tri!! You've convinced me. I'm doing one in Hastings on March 22. You should join us. Not too far from you.

Bill - How's the BT MI challenge going? Not fair that I have to compete against someone training for a 24hour bike ride. If I bust my a55, maybe I'll log in a week what you log in a day!

John - just kidding up there. You definatly made the right call. Stay focused on the A race!! 

I'm having computer problems at home, so I'm trying to keep up with logs from work.  

LMAO!!!!

Not too far off on the water temp part if you are doing any swimming in Lake Michigan.......which is good because the swim at IMCDA last June was also 58!  Thank goodness for neoprene hoods, they had snow two weeks before the race!  Going from that to a 30-something bike ride though would be absolutely miserable.....I have this vision of the guys riding the mini-bike up the mountain in Dumb & Dumber with "snot-cicles".......

Doing well on the bike challenge, this should be a pretty good month for me on the bike, even better if I can get outside.  Mentally, I have a REALLY hard time with anything over 3 hours on the trainer....

Any of you Michigan guys interested in the Martian Half Marathon on April 5 in Dearborn?  I'm running the full and am probably going to grap a cheap hotel room the night before since it is an early (7:00) start.

Chris:  You need to come to GR and run the Irish Jig 5K with us on March 21! 

Got back in the pool for the first time since November yesterday!  Managed a total of 600 yards (100 of those kicking) before my shoulder got sore and form self-destructed.....Baby steps, right??

Interesting. Possibly. I think it will fit my training plan ok. I'm doing 5/3 25k on May 9th. I'll ask the boss.

Ditto - It should be a lot of fun. It is a big race. Last year there were over 2400 people. For the men, first place is yours for only 4:37 pace. Women, 5:29.

So that didn't go too well. I'm out. I asked my wife if she would mind, and she said "your already doing 2 races a month from now until September." I said "that's not true, you don't even know what races I'm doing." She then proceded to name each race that I'm doing in each month. She was right, again....

Understand, important to maintain that domestic harmony!  Just a suggestion that works great for us, start tying some of those races in with family vacations.  For example, we are going to camp up at Ludington State Park this year for that race.  Keeps everyone happy! 

That's a good idea. Might give it a shot. What race in Ludington? Lighthouse in August?

Yep, that's the one!  I'm not at all a fan of 3D races, but this is one of their better races in my opinion.

Nice!  I'm jonesing to get out there too......Don't think I'll be able to swing it after work today unfortunately, and the weekend looks like a complete washout....sigh.

I did, however, do my long run in shorts this morning!!  It was NICE to only run with one layer, hopefully we get the same temps for the Jig?

Looking out my office window, I am SO loning to be out riding.  Now that the weather is cooperating, I need to purchase a bike and get out there.

I would appreciate any advice about a good starter bike.  I am stretching to a budget of $600 and want a bike I can stick with for a long time.  I am looking at Bikesdirect.com.  They seem to have some great prices and I have done my own maintenance in the past. Any experiences/ ideas?

Chris,

I don't have any first-hand experience, but I've heard good things about bikesdirect.  Assuming you will be doing this for while, I would recommend that you buy a bike with at least 105 components.  You will be likely be unhappy with and replacing lesser grade stuff.

Another option is to start looking at e-bay and craigslist.  There are some really good deals on gently used bikes out there.  I got my start on a ~8 year old Trek 1000 that worked just great.  You will be able to get a lot more used bike for the money as compared to new.

As you start shopping, make sure you know what frame size you need!

I believe it means that they did 1 set of 200 yards in 4 minutes. I saw a full translation of the code including the strokes somewhere on this site. 

Chris