Mesteren's Group - CLOSED (Page 12)

So this is my first race weekend yay coming up. I'm so excited. And darn well hope that my last two weeks of training dont count like someone mentioned earlier because well, there not something im proud off. I really gotta get this time management thing down now training with baby and hubby back to work plus running his own business, so he has long hours welcome to world of construction.

Niezels is also running a race this weekend so go dutchies go.

Hoping anyone has any last minute suggestions. Thanx

Great to get caught up on what everyone is doing, it's inspiring to read of your races and training.  I have been out of training mode with a kitchen remodel and am antsy to get back at it.  The trails are finally drying out here and I need to hit them.

Holly: thanks for sharing the OWS info, I'm going to go practice that soon and won't put it off now.  Also jealous to hear you got to watch Chrissie Wellington.  

Nicki:  Good luck this weekend. Looking forward to hearing how it went.  I think the first one may be the easiest because it's all new and you're learning.  So have fun and soak it in.  

Christi

So I finished my first sprint race ever. Come check out my report if you'd like. I took me just under 2 hours  1:57. I learned lots on what not to do. but had a great time no matter what.

1. Swim like Holly said plenty of OWS before your race, I didnt and it showed. I pretty much froze and ended up breast stroking most of the way.

2. Show up on time, way on time, I ended up scrambling even before the race. That cant have been good.

3. Know your capabilities when riding hills on the bike ie what gear to be in etc. So you dont crash. Lesson learned the hard way.

I had an awesome time. It may have poored rain, I may have freaked swimming in the cold OWS water and crashed my bike but I finished. That was my number one goal. goal number was achieved to finished within two hours. Goal number not yet within 1:30 maybe next time things will go smoother and ill be a better athlete well see.

Yup already thinking about my next sprint

Congrats Nicki and welcome to the club of triathletes. You rockstar. For the record: Seeing your post after viewing the youtube link of mesteren does give a whole new perspective to your fun while racing in the rain ;o).

So I had my second race last saturday. Ugh it was a hard one to race. Final time 1h 24m 54s for a 500m, 21K, 5.2K.

The swim was in a small canal that went via the gardens of several houses. an out and back for 500m. The canal turned out to be very small. And starting at the outside did not have the desired affect of finding space to swim. It turned out to be a fight for some space for the first 350m and final 50 (gathering to the steps out of the water). All in all I wasn't able to get a rythm during the swim which did eat up more energy than I hoped for. Though I could not take over a lot at the same time only few could take over me. Result: 0:13:54 (49/118) inc. T1.

Due to rain the Parc Ferme was very slippery. Luckely my "awesome" slide did not get captured on the camera. T1 went a bit slower than hoped for. Though happy I did not stress over the fact that putting on wet shoes (yes the rain) with wet feet would take me more time.

The bike course was 2 laps around the small village over the roads usally used by farmers. That with the rain made the course a bit muddy. This would end up to be the hardest part of the race. Though I did get a nice pace at the start, I lost my rythm on my way back of the first lap (at the 7K point) By that time I felt I was out of energy (poor breakfast). The headwind there didn't help me much. Only while bike in town I was able to get a bit of pace. At the start of the second lap I even did no longer noticed that I had tailwind (never a good sign ;o) ). And during the second lap a lot of people did take me over. Result including T2: 0:42:09 (46/118). Avg speef on the course 30.5K where I was aiming for 32 - 34K.

T2 was a lot better than T1. Basically it was it has to be. Drop of bike, helmet and shoes. Get other shoes and start running. When I left the parc ferme I did get a look on the time board. At that point I knew a normal run would get me around 1h25m which was my goal. So from there I basically went for a more of a "relaxed" run. during the run I was able to chat with a guy that had the sole goal of finishing before his brother. Sharing our opinion on the sport with the agreement that though it is painfull and no fun at all thinking about it while running through the rain fighting cramps you know you want more once you finished. I guess the lady in mesteren youtube film is right ;o). Result 0:28:53 (96/188) for a total of 1:24:56 (70/118)

Main learningpoints. Keep training rythm going, eat better in advance to the match.

Ow and to celebrate my new bike (expected to arrive in 2 weeks ) ) I've entered the Luik-Bastenaken-Luik tour. It follows the course of the yearly classic race of the same name.

It will cover more than 150 miles via a hilly course including some climbs with 20% max and over 10% average.  It is planned for the end of July. Weeee!!!

You ROCK!!  Way to overcome the weather conditions, the stress of the OWS, and a freakin bike crash and get it done......and under 2 hours.  AWESOME JOB!!!!

Wow, you had it tough out there this past weekend as well.  Awesome job and way to push through....and with a pretty darn good time as well!!

Perfect way to break in a new bike!!   You must post pics when it comes in.

Great job Nicki!  Thanks for sharing your experiences too.  I finished my race in about the same time and I didn't crash my bike.  Wish I had thought to breaststroke, I just stopped a lot.  

Hopefully you have a smoother race next time.

It rained on me during my first tri.  I brought plastic bags to cover my stuff, but didn't use them.  The race started dry and was suppose to remain that way. I stacked my bike shoes on top of my running shoes, then folded my towel over the top of the shoes and socks, just in case.   It started raining with about 3 miles left in my bike ride.   I was flying down a winding road in pour raining, trying to avoid lines on the road.  It stopped by the time I reached T2, socks were wet from the bike ride but running shoes were fine. It did make it hard to get my feet in my running shoes.  Otherwise, no big deal.  I live in Oregon, we are used to dealing with it.

Hi Gang,

     Like Mesteren, I've also been lacking motivation in my biking. I don't know why, I just haven't been able to motivate myself to get out there. I've been swimming like a fish and trying to run more. Maybe because biking requires a more concentrated effort to load my gear, load my bike, go to the "safe" biking area, etc. The heat and humidity in Austin is also becoming unbearable, making any workout feel twice as hard to do.  But I know I have to stop being a slacker and log some miles to get my legs back. Watching the Tour de France has helped to re-energize me a little, but also envious of the nice road bikes that probably cost more than my car. 

     I do however get a pass this last week for my lack of training. I lost my grandfather last Monday and had to make an unplanned trip home to California. I took an entire week off to help with funeral preparations and just spend time with family. I was fortunate enough to see my grandpa when he was stable two weeks prior, as I had flown in for my brother's graduation/fathers day/mom's bday. I will miss him, but know he is in a better place without any pain or anguish. 

     I'm still debating if I will be able to do another race. These trips, plus another upcoming wedding where I'm a bridesmaid are straining the budget a bit. But I may have to find an affordable one to keep myself motivated. Any advice on how to do this? 

I slacked on my bike all spring, the weather did nothing to inspire a ride.  Now it's hot (85 degrees, yeah and we have no humidity, so I'm just a softy) and I loving early morning, or late evening, rides.  So refreshing to be out and done before 7am.  Workout done!  I always get inspired by the TDF.  When I want to whine about a ride I think about the fact that it's not really work compared to what those riders are doing.  So for now, that's working.  I'm still trying to stay away from the run/walk to give the hip some time to chill.  

Need to get back to the pool!!!  Hope you all find your motivation again.

Christi

Haha, I hear you all on the lack of motivation... since I finished my race I have barely done any training at all... It's just been TOO HOT!  For the past 2 weeks the average daytime temp has been about 35 and in the evening/night it barely even drops, almost never going below 30!

I did get in a fantastic ride on Thursday morning... again, it was a scorcher, but since this is my only week off work, I figured I had to get in at least one good ride.  65km in 2:20 (took about 3 hours, with traffic light stops, and a couple water refill stops).  Temp was around 35, sun was out (but I started a 8am, so not too bad).

On a complete side note, anyone want a google+ invite?  It's kinda the new facebook, only in beta so far, but I'm in, so if you wanna try it out just let me know (PM with your gmail (or other) address.).  Not sure if you need a gmail account of not, but if you have one, it should work for sure!