The Other Way - Training by Feeling and Racing to Train - OPEN (Page 12)

Well my race on Sunday was super fun, great shirt and a nice cold beer.

infact the beer girls liked my mushstash so much - I got 2 extra ones! 1 beer 1 ticket, well not for the guy with the awesome stash.
Now i don't sport the double - just playing around one day...my everyday stash looks like my icon. sorry no photo on this computer at work.

I'm in the old guy group - 45 to 49...normally everyone takes off and all i do is get passed all race long, or I'm in the woods all by myself...Well I hung with my age group for a good part of the 1st 1/2....then they slipped away and the older guys behind us caught up and passed me too!!! Well a few did.

Funny part -
So the beginners had a shorter race and merged on our corse towards the end....Well then these cute as a button girls, no more the 10,12 or 14 years old with pencil thin legs and big old 29er bikes passed me too! Lets just say I WAS PUT IN MY PLACE. LOL "excuse me sir, passing on the left"
omg - did i feel like a old fart!
it was a super fun day
I will sign up tonight for the next race in a few weeks, shorter corse - 700 racers!

Hope everyone has a super training day!
pb








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yikes! i guess I should have look at that photo - what a dorky smile...I wonder who's birthday it is in the background?

30 min weights - Back/Bi

15 min elyptical

2 miles on the dreadmill - 18 minutes - yep pushed it pushed it.

I think this is an awesome idea! I'd love to do some "homemade" triathlons! You could even make your own t-shirts, if you wanted to. Or let the kids make them for you; I bet they'd love that! I also had someone in one of the triathlon clubs advise using racecenter.com to look for triathlons, instead of usatriathlon.org as you can find some non-sanctioned races on racecenter.com with lower entry fees than the official, sanctioned ones. I found some sanctioned ones there for $28 per race, which is pretty cheap. (You could pay more if you wanted the t-shirt option.) The non-sanctioned ones also don't have the additional $12 USAT insurance fee, if you're not already a member.

Is it OK to leave gear behind at an aide station? If so, I have the perfect jacket for it. I grabbed an old jacket at work the other day, and I could wrap it around myself 1 1/2 times. Wow! I have no need for it anymore, and it's pretty beat, so it would be a great one for the trash bin.

I ran into a friend last week, and she offered to let me train in her private lake. She says she swims in it all the time in the summer, and as long as I stay out of the weeds, I shouldn't run into any leaches. Leaches? OMG! I never thought about leaches! Gross! Anyway, I ordered a wet suit last week, and it should be here by Friday. Hopefully, it will fit, and then I can wear it when I practice in her lake.

April totals:
S: 9,980 yds
B: 148.1 mi
R: 25.31 mi
Gym: 2 hr 35 min (treadmill, stationary bike)

May goals:
S: 10,000 yards
B: 200 mi
R: 50 mi

I have a good start on the biking, but not so much everything else. My swimming has improved greatly; I'm pretty happy with it.

In follow-up to my post asking everyone's opinion on swim paddles: Just thought I'd share that I did wind up ordering a set and they are my new favorite toy! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!
They offer incredible feedback on stroke, hand placement for pulling through the water, body rotation (if using with a buoy), etc. Swam last night's workout with them, a total of 1300m, probably 1000 with the paddles, varying between freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke (to avoid repetitive use injury) and a few one armed drills. I'm pleasantly sore today. Not bad, but enough to let me know I was doing something right. Nothing a little morning yoga didn't fix.
Have a great week!

^^ shouldn't the pool guy just have given you some ^^

A local Tri club here runs a TTT Try The Tri.
Aid stations by volunteer it's a super sprint that costs $10 at your own risk w some lifeguards available

Totally…. I volunteer a lot….. As long as you have your name somewhere on it….. Should be a OK…… Most events have a registering area and that usually where we take hats, shirts, jackets, personal water bottles, etc……. Super score on the friends lake action…. Take full advantage of it!!!!

Ha, ha, ha! Pool Guy doesn't swim; just repairs and maintains everyone else's pool.

Ok,
I had a GREAT RUN tonigh.

5 miles - my furthest distance outside!
I ran in just under 50 min (I had to slow and stop a couple times - traffic lights and yeah I got lost so I had to look at a map on my phone while moving very slowly)......

So Im feeling good about my progress!

Nice job on the 5 miles!

5 miles was my longest run for several years. If you are prepping for sprint races, it's really the longest you need to go for now. Stay with that distance once or twice a week and work on gradually getting faster.

Thanks Chris -
Only sprints this year and super stints!
Hoping to work up to a OLY next season

Week’s totals:

S: 4,020 yards/2:35
B: 90.7 miles/9:28
R:

I got my street bike up and running today and tested it on one of my standard routes. It beat my best time on my mountain bike by 30%, and with a bit more practice, I should be able to meet my speed goal by the end of the month. Riding it will take some getting used to as I haven’t been on a street bike in 34 years and am not used to the drop-down handle bars. They’re a lot less forgiving than the wider, flat bars I’m used to. Plus, my gear shifters are at the ends of the bar (inserted in the ends where bar end caps usually go), which is a little awkward, and I keep getting confused as to whether I need to push a lever up or down for the gear I want. I very nearly dumped myself several times, but with practice, I will get a lot better. The nice thing is the gears shift like poetry, rather than jerky and clunky like my mountain bike. I don't even feel it; I tell it to shift, and it does, immediately, and without complaint! I do need a different seat solution as I am kinda sore, and I need to make some adjustments on my brakes.

My swimming has improved immensely, especially since I got my new anti-fog goggles. The old ones, which were also anti-fog, fogged up so bad that I’d have to stop every 40 yards and clean them. I don't have to do that anymore.

I did two 440-yard (1/4 mile) sets tonight, which is the best I’ve ever done, and in the best times I’ve ever done. I’m really happy as this means I have met my speed goal for my first triathlon. Nothing to do now but practice more and get better!

I haven't done any power walking or running this week. I've been doing longer bike rides in an effort to make my legs stronger, and I think it has made a big difference. However, I will have to put more effort into this discipline as my first event is just a few weeks away.

My wet suit came in yesterday and it fits! It’s a little snug, but I can get it zipped up without too much trouble. I also tried on my tri shorts and tops, and they fit now, as well. So, I am just about ready for my first event on May 31! I even have a spare tube and frame-mount bike pump!

Awesome!!!

did some speed work today.

Warmed up
1 mile at 8.5 min - yeah that's pretty fast for me.
1 mile at 9.5 min - I walked a few paces when I turned around - cost me a few to 20 seconds.
1 mile at 12 min.
That third mile I walked 25 yds then sprinted 50 yds (measured by telephone pole distance).

Felt pretty good about it - legs were burning at the end.


I haven't done any swimming since my Tri three weeks ago.


Edited by Clarkey77 2014-05-12 9:09 PM

Clarkey77 - awesome times on your runs!

I did a mini tri today: 10.6 mile ride on my street bike, stopping several times to adjust the seat. It's faster than my mountain bike, but I'm still not happy with my speeds. I'm still also very unsteady on it and stopping sometimes has me hop-skipping on one foot, hoping not to fall over. The brake levers are also in a really awkward position, making it difficult to pull on the brakes when going down steep hills. The good news is my first tri--in 19 days!--is on flat land, so I don't have to worry about that too much. I can ride my flat routes for the next couple of weeks and concentrate on speed, instead of power. I just need to get better acquainted with the bike and feel more confident riding it. After that event, I will take it in for some professional work as my second tri of the summer is a mountain bike-only event, so I can be without my street bike for a while.

I also did a 1.6 mile power walk. I would have gone a full 5K, but I was getting pretty hungry. After dinner, I hit the pool for 900 yards without stopping. I don't know why I had so much trouble even last week. It seemed I had to stop after every 40 yards to catch my breath, but now I just keep going and going. I could have gone on longer, but I didn't want to push it. I'm still not fast, but I have the stamina, so as long as I don't panic and drown myself, I should do well.

How is everybody else doing? Who has events coming up? I like reading everyone's event reports.

Glad to hear that you are practicing!! Wish I lived near by because I would be more than happy 2 adjust your bike 4 ya. I will be looking 4ward 2 hearing how the next 17+ days treat ya. And 2 answer your questions: I am doing well. Worked w/our Downtown District Association setting up 4 the Music & Arts Festival. I volunteered 4 the Beethoven 5K on Saturday. Super Fun!!! As 4 events, volunteering 4 the HITs Ironman this Saturday. And I won't have a race report of my own until this summer.

Also, has anyone heard from Paul??? Paper Boy?? I kinda get the feeling that this group has, well, I don't know.

Hi all - not much happening - rain, chance of rain, thunderstorm, thunderstorm warning, bla bla bla it is in the forcast for days to come. But every morning I have been lucky to enough to get my runs and bike time in.

2nd mtb race this sunday - cutting out of work early Wednesday to go ride the trail - getting excited, tonight switching tires, bike maitance packing my pack sack.

I don't think my May 31st tri is going to happen, to close to sons graduation party, the in-laws are coming from texas for a week! to stay at my house! my house is very small - my wife is already freaking out about her folks.....poor kid....she is way to hard on her self and nothing we have is good enough for them.... so that weekend really needs me to be around doing the husband thing.

Good news - I returned to the dump this weekend - happy to say, no crashing, no blood, not evan a scratch from the thorns!

Feeling cooked, legs r cooked, sholders tight, heels on feet r hating my work shoes....me thinks training is going just right!

HOPE EVERYONE FEELS SORE TODAY FROM THIER AWESOME WORKOUTS! WE R SO LUCKY! THIS IS WHY WE SLEEP LIKE A BABY EVERYNIGHT!

ROCK ON AND TRAIN HARD
pb

I've been keeping up with the training--have mostly been getting used to biking while maintaining running. Last week we were on vacation in Mexico--where it was hot enough combined with the crappy streets that I refused to do any training outdoors (generally I ONLY train outdoors, I detest treadmills). I did multiple Brick workouts and a fair amount of treadmill running. I seemed to adjust well from the bike to the run and the good news is that my running speed has definitely increased over the past few months. I was at a solid 10 minute mile for quite a while, and now am definitely under it....was easily running 9:22 on the treadmill and today ran 4 miles in minimally hilly terrain at 9:30 (and really, I was only that slow because I was running with one of my slower dogs).

I began swim training yesterday. it's been the area I've been least concerned about stamina-wise, just because I've done a fair amount of swim training for open water swims (that I never ended up going to), and I know a 1/4 mile swim is easily something I can do. With that said, I'm sure glad I started yesterday....although I got into the groove pretty quickly and did the 1/4 mile at a decent speed...I'd underestimated the adjustment I'd need to make. I've been so focused on running/biking, and the use of arms AND legs took it out of me at a decent speed for the first few laps.

I think my biggest challenge now is going to be fitting everything in time-wise. I'll definitely need to swim twice a week at least--and start doing some open water swim work--while continuing to build distance and speed on the bike and maintaining my running fitness. I think I'll almost definitely have to do one of my swim days on a running day for the next month.

The other challenge is that it's summer. One thing I know about myself is that I'm definitely NOT a fair-weather runner....really, I prefer running at 20 degrees in the snow over 65 in the sun. But it will be HOT when I'm doing my tri...I figure given the schedule I'll be running around 10 am, and it should be about 80 then....so I have to start working on this. Heat brings my heart rate up significantly (and I already run with a pretty high heart rate), so I do need to focus on it. Dreading that.

Otherwise I'm pretty pleased with my progress, I think I'll be ready come July for the event.

I watched a couple of YouTube videos on adjusting handlebars, and I got mine in a much more comfortable position. According to a couple of the videos, they were sloped downwards too far, so I pulled them up as instructed by the videos, tested them, and then pulled them up just a few more degrees until they felt comfortable to me. Went on a 10.6 mile ride and had much better control. I love YouTube; you can learn absolutely anything by watching YouTube!

Now I just need to put the handlebar tape on and get a new seat ordered. One of the issues with living in the sticks is you can't just go down to the store and buy what you need. Everything has to be ordered, wait a week or so for delivery, and hope there are no problems. I'm now only 16 days from my first event, so I'm a little concerned it might not get here in time. On the other hand, even though my current seat is uncomfortable, it does work, and I can tough it out for the sprint distance, if I have to.

Padre, your volunteering sounds like fun! I've started volunteering at the local track meets so I can learn more about track and field type sporting events and meet athlete-type people. The kid athletes at the junior high and high school are awesome! I've also been meeting up with a couple of local cycling groups, including one women-only cycling group, and they have been very supportive. We went on a 30-mile bike ride on Mother's Day (not all mothers enjoy Mother's Day), and they left me in the dust on my mountain bike, but they waited for me to catch up at intersections so I wouldn't get lost. There's another ride scheduled for this Sunday, and I'm thinking I might be ready to brave it on my street bike. I didn't feel like putting much effort into my ride yesterday, so I decided to make it worth my while by practicing starting, slowing down, and stopping, and I think that really helped as I no longer almost fall when I stop.

Chris,
I'm so sorry I didn't make it to Jekyll to cheer you on this weekend! I was close; in Richmond Hill, but couldn't figure out how to cheer you on and be in RH by 10am. I hope it went well and I can't wait to read your race report. The weather was PERFECT for it!!

As for me, I've been really proud of my training in the past few weeks, and I'm four weeks out from my event. Unfortunately, I crashed my bike yesterday and I'm going to be out for a day or two for my body to recover and I don't have a diagnosis on my bike yet. It was me vs. loose gravel, and the gravel won. Nothing broken except my momentum and my pride. Lots of road rash, bloody/oozy patches and bruising. I'm sore but have pretty good range of motion in my shoulder and elbow. I guess it was bound to happen eventually, when you ride this much.

Any recover suggestions are much appreciated! I'm planning to try to walk/run tomorrow morning and get in the pool tomorrow afternoon. I'm not expecting much, it will be more about assessing the damage, I think.

Thanks all! Rock on!!