jsnowash's training group - FULL!! (Page 11)

Thanks, Marla. We had a blast! I will be interested to hear how your swim goes. I try to employ the TI methods. It's very different than the competition style swimming I had as a kid. It's also strange concentrating so much on the mechanics. Good luck with your walkathon! 

Kiwi,
I'm sure the decision to forgo the ride was the right one. Good luck with the Bassman! Be sure to give us a race report! 

WHAT??? You let your real life interfere with posting on BT???

How could you let that happen???

Sounds to me like a good call on skipping the ride last weekend.... Riding in low visibility makes me nervous. Those cars have a hard enough time seeing us with it's NOT foggy!!!

Good luck at Bassman this weekend! I've done that one a couple times - nice flat course, and usually some actual home-made post race food! Have fun, and let us know how it goes!



Who else is racing this weekend?

I know Fernando & I are both doing the Broad Street run on Sunday (10 mile running race)
Lovey and Steve are both running Half Marathons
Keeley has Bassman International Tri

Did I miss anybody?

Yay for getting your bike back!!

Sorry - I can't offer any magic bullets for hills.... The best training really IS going out and riding them... If you want to get stronger on hills, you could incorporate some hill repeats into your training. Find a nice hill with something like a 6% - 10% grade that takes you a couple minutes to climb. Do seated climbs up the hill in the largest gear you can that allows you to maintain a cadence above 60-65 rpm. Start out with 2 or 3 repeats. After you ride up, take it easy on the way back down and get some recovery between repeats. You can simulate this on the trainer too, but nothing really takes the place of riding up real hills....

And don't feel too discouraged about a 15.5 mph average for a training ride on the Got the Nerve course. Go take a look at past results, and you'll see that that pace puts you solidly in the middle of the pack, probably slightly ahead of the middle of the pack, on the bike. And you'll be faster than that on race day.

Just how hilly IS the Got the Nerve course? I should decide whether to take my road bike or tri bike for the race.... I definitely climb better on the road bike, but am faster on the flats and rolling terrain on the tri bike.... decisions, decisions.....

Yesterday I completed a goal - yahoo ! lol.  I ran my first 5km ever and my pace was 7m10s/km and avg. hr was about 166 and (drumroll please) No bruising on my legs.  It was on a treadmill and I found that even after a cool down I was extremely wobbly and disorientated so I'm wondering if maybe treadmills do that to me.  I'd really like to get outside and run but it's so cr@ppy here with rain/sleet/snow, I really need to find some good insulated leggings to run in, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad.  Also, my Newtons arrived yesterday, I had ordered the Neutral racer but they sent the Universal racer, I'm thinking I might keep them anyway as I can't seem to find a difference between the two.  My VFF's should arrive by Monday next week so I'm super excited for that.  

As I had posted before, I finally let my family in on my training, more importantly my iron-dad.  Well turns out he hates my bike and the LBS that I bought it from and seems to have found a list a mile long wrong with my bike.  To make a long story short...I'll never be able to show my face in that LBS ever again since my dad chewed them a new one...that sux because their are my Tri Clubs LBS and our Clubs biggest sponsor. 
List of problems were as follows:

- Backwards shifting (think exact opposite to how everyone shifts into their big/small ring and through their rear cog - ex. I push my right shifter away to make pedaling easier)
- Crank set was so loose that it was shifting 3/4 inch in and out of the frame which also interfered with my magnet and cadence meter.
- Crank arms on assembly almost fell off because it had not been tightened (they really were that loose)
- Right pedal tight and won't spin
- Brakes drag, front and back so when you pick up the back end of the bike the back tire will not move at all.
- Brake assembly front and back (don't know tech. term) twist side to side and should be tight
- Can't get my chain from small ring to big ring (compact crank)

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded post.  I've been sorta bummed since Monday about this whole mess.  And to add to all of this my very first Tri EVER...is put on by this LBS...so as if that won't be uncomfortable.  Now for the "inspires" mission.

Sounds like they should be the ones that are embarrassed for doing such shoddy work.  Nothing wrong with demanding quality workmanship. 


My training this week.  Trying to meet my goals this week but still fighting my cough.  My bike is in the shop (creaking in my cranks) but hopefully will get it back today but too late to get my ride in outside.  A little adversity this week but that's alright.  Just makes us tougher.

Caleb

P.S.  2lbs away from losing 30lbs since I've started.  Woohoo!

Caleb: Wow, great job on the weight loss!

Jessie: I agree with Caleb and his comments about shoddy work. YOU didn't do anything wrong! Keep up the good work with the run. I feel your pain. At about mile 2 my HR goes crazy--for me that is about 163. Slowing down a bit and concentrating on my breathing helps. I have no problem with stamina on the bike or swim.

Jessie: I agree with Caleb & Keiren. Sounds like that bike shop needed a good chewing out! IMO setting you up with a bike with that many problems is inexcusable! ESPECIALLY if they are your team sponsor!

Glad your run went well, and NO SHIN SPLINT PAIN!! That's excellent news!!!

Caleb: I hope your cough/cold clear up soon!!!



Okay - so I'm trying to plan out my season.... I had considering targeting a fall HIM as my goal race this year. But NOW, a group of friends is committing to run the Philadelphia Marathon in November, so now I'm thinking about making THAT my goal race for the year. I must admit, there is something slightly appealing to knowing that I could focus my training mainly on one discipline over the summer. I would still do several tris this summer, but nothing longer than Olympic distance. I hope to decide soon - the registration fee for the marathon goes up on Saturday, so if I'm gonna sign up, I should do it this week.....

I have heard great reviews about the Philly Marathon. I think you cannot go wrong with either event...good luck choosing. We will cheering for you either way. 
I think I found the hill climbing problem. I have been relying on my commute to work as my bike training. I mapped that route and the Gretna one. Turns out I've been doing 0.6% grade with a 660 ft climb over 22 miles, as compared to 2.1% 1677 ft elevation over 15 miles. I will pause my bike commute until after the race, and train mainly on hills....maybe even learn to like them???

So I am trying to get back on track with my training with all this schedule change.
I dont have any long stretches of time so I am up for doing frequent short workouts.

I have the Frederick Half MArathon on Sunday. I am considering the Baltimore half in October.

The race organizers have this thing called the Marland Double. If you do any combination of the Frederick full or half marathon in May and the Baltimore full or half marathon in October, you get a special third medal to add to your collection.

I know its silly but half my running group is doing it just to get that third medal. We all want that medal.

Has anyone done the Baltimore Half? How hilly is it really?

Lovey

Hey Lovey,

Looking at your training log, it looks like you've done a good job of getting back on track with your training! Huge Kudos to you - I know your schedule is a killer!!

I can't help you with any info on the B'more 1/2 Mary.... you might try either searching past race reports or post a question in the Maryland forum - I'm sure you'd get some good feedback there!

Short run and easy swim on tap for me today. Tomorrow is a rest day. Yay!

As promised, went on a hilly course today. Felt pretty good despite the 20 mph gusts. Did a brick, and went right into light jog...testing my foot. No pain at all , so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Plan on another light jog tomorrow and a little swim. That will be it until the race, will rest on saturday. Good weather coming our way, so that will be great!

Smart move on the rest. Better to race safe than not to be able to race at all. Good luck on your race!

Morning all!

It's been so quiet lately! Hopefully you're all out training hard, and don't have time to post on BT. hmmm..... seems like I post an awful lot - what does THAT say!!

Rest day for me today. I'll go pick up my race packet for my run later today.

Have a great weekend everybody, good luck again to everyone racing this weekend! Looks like pretty nice weather in our area (a little hot maybe, but for a morning race I think we'll be okay!).

I'm picking my stuff tomorrow. Cannot be there until 3pm (I know they close at 5). Let me know how crowded it looks or how expedited the process is, in case I need to make other arrangements to be there earlier.

PS: Three more posts and I become a "veteran"....haha

Good luck this weekend Fernando & Jenny. Looks like they will be ready for the heat!

Don't forget Lovey, Keeley, & Jeff! They're racing this weekend, too!!!



Fernando -

Packet pick-up was a bit crowded when I arrived this morning, but had cleared out quite a bit by the time I left. What direction will you be coming from? There is some construction on I-95 a bit south of the Sports Complex that had traffic backed up. If you're coming from the north, it probably won't be a problem. There's a baseball game Saturday afternoon, so that could be an issue, although the game will be in progress by the time you're planning on hitting the Expo, so maybe you won't hit that much game traffic. I guess what I'm saying is that there is the potential for traffic to slow you down getting to Lincoln Financial Field, but once you get there, packet pick-up will probably go fairly quickly.

Edited by jsnowash 2010-04-30 3:54 PM

I usually come in from south, but will play it by ear based on traffic reports. I think I will travel earlier, don't want to take any chances. 
To all the gang racing this weekend: best of luck...hope to hear some reports by Sunday night. 
Jenny: I'll be the guy with black shorts, black cap and white singlet.... just like the other 6,645 other guys. I'll be the only one wearing  #12904 though....who knows, maybe I'll see you. 

Good luck to everyone, including myself, who is racing this weekend.
I am excited.

Lovey

Well, I've been invited to join my son with a group of his middle-school friends for a bike ride today. We'll be riding 20-ish miles on a flat, paved bike path. Not what I would normally do the day before a race, but I suspect the pace will be fairly leisurely, and I think it should be okay. It's not like I'm going to shatter any course records at Broad Street tomorrow, anyway....

In other news -- I totally caved into peer pressure.... It's official, I am registered for the Philly Marathon in November. God help me......









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P.S.

It looks like Cat had a race today, too! Sorry we missed that, Cat! You're probably out racing right this minute, or getting ready to start, so I'm sending GOOD LUCK vibes your way! Let us know how it went!

Good luck Jeff, Keely & Lovey, too! Keep hydrated, looks like a hot one!

Oh, I am out of the loop...good luck Cat, let us know how your race goes!

Well, the "20 mile" bike ride turned out to be < 10 miles, and at a pace of around 8 mph (over pretty much flat terrain) - so I don't think I wore myself out too much for the race tomorrow... Such a nice group of kids! It was a pleasure to ride with them.