Tri/tbay group closed (Page 13)

Had several race related dreams last night, all of which included some kind of worst case scenario type thing going wrong.  Bike crash, swallowing water in the pool, I even started crying, stopped running and quit the race at one point.  All of which are ridiculous and absolutely in no way a manifestation of any nerves or concerns that I have.........................right? 

I'm dressed for my Sunday run and my damned iPod is dead, so while that is charging I thought I'd take the time to do my race report.

Learned a lot yesterday, and painfully re-learned something I already knew.  It was chilly, so I decided against wearing my top in the pool.  MISTAKE #1.  That cost me easily two minutes in T1 wrestling with a dry shirt on wet skin.  It wasn't as cold as I though on the bike, should have swam with the top on.  I lost 10-20 seconds trying to get my shoes clipped in my pedals leaving the transition.  MISTAKE #2.  I need to practice starting with the shoes clipped in.  I had Hammer gel for my energy, but had Gatorade in my water bottle and didn't even think about it.  MISTAKE #3.  I spent the entire run struggling to keep from throwing up from sugar overload instead of pounding out a sub 17 5k.  Total cost: 2 mins 23 secs.  I finished with fresh legs and a 140 HR, but threw up at the line because of stomach pain.  My total time was 1:08:22.  600M 9:44 swim, 2:48 T1, 13 mile 34:55 bike, 1:34 T2, 5k 19:23 run.  My goal time was 1:06 with a faster swim time and slower bike and 19 min run, but only 2 mins for transitions.  The moral of the story is I had a lot of fun and learned valuable lessons.  I will be incorporating gels into workouts to determine if indeed I am OK with them even with water.  I will be rededicating to my swim workouts as I have almost completely dropped them over the last month.  I will be practicing transitions regularly.  My training plan has bricks every week now, so I have ample opportunity to work on exactly the issues that cost me time on Saturday. 

I felt really good on the bike and run (minus the stomach ache).  I passed 8 on the bike and 5 on the run and didn't get passed.  My goal on the bike was not to drop under 20 on inclines or into the breeze and crank 24+ on flats or with the wind.  I fell short of that as the longest section of the course was into the wind and I dropped below 20 a few times.  I wasn't able to push as high of a top end as I would have liked, so back to intervals this week. 

Great Job Steven,

Sounds like you had a great time, and also a good learning day. It is likely that some of your stomach issues may have come from the swim and taking in O2 during the breathing portion, this can sometimes cause an upset stomach. Did you ever feel bloated? If so following the swim than this mixed with nutrition can cause discomfort. I have read that under exertion that Gatorade can cause GI issues as well. Some will dilute the concentration to avoid problems. I don't use Gatorade during events much, and maybe only sip or two at most. I use gels with water to dilute so they absorb into the stomach lining properly. Even gels if not washed in can cause issues. What you experienced is fairly common, but you just need to experiment during your training what is going to work. All of you little miscues are common and with practice will go away. I don't know if you saw my response on Friday, but I mentioned transitions are a great way to gain time, or give it away. But not so important this time around, a great learning day.

Congratulations,

Roy

Olman there you are, yes it is almost race day. And your in the calm before the storm, a little sluggish feeling pre-race can happen especially if your training has reduced and your subconsious want you to be out training. You'll be alright. Just be organized, plan out how you think the should go and give it your best. Read back a couple of posts to Steven, there might be a couple of things that will help. Remember its your first race of the season and more than likely transitions will be a little rough. Just stay organized and very systematic in how you go about them and you'll do fine. Look forward to the race report.

Hey Mike, your long bikes shouldn't be an attempt to hold that high of pace, it will be counter-productive. It would be the same as if you attempted to run at race pace on your long runs. Now you can certainly do some intensities during the ride if you feel like it. But primarily it is seat time and leg conditioning. So when you get off of the bike, your legs are not spent and you can't put down the kind of run your desire. There is never a guarantee on the run it will go as planned, but this way you stand a better chance.

Mike:  give us some feedback onthe seat after a month or some longer rides.  I am using a Profile Ti - it differs in that instead of parting the pressure point, it has a big chunk of gel onthe tip,  and Silicone gel will absorb all the road shock you give to it.  It's muuch better than a regular seat, but I do want to hear about this newer design.

-  like u said, those parts can be moved from bike to bike, so it's not burnt  $.

Roy: I believe ya - the butterflies in the stomach deal-I can start feeling them-we're only 2 days away.  I have practiced transitions a few times. The last time I did my practice tri I ended up with a sore middle toe. Never happened while running and it was on the same training shoes.  Any ideas? how to prevent it? 

I just ordered some Look Keos for my new ride, which is ready to roll but I don't want to ride it until after this weekend's race...  you know the "train your race and race your training" deal.  I have also been thinking of keeping the road bike but that'll mean I have 4 bikes (2 tri, 1 road and 1 MTB), my wife will not be happy at all as the agreement was that the money I spend I would try to recoup from the sale of the roadie.  Ughhh!

Good Luck this weekend Olman your going to do great. Keep it safe, have fun and we'll look forward to your report.

Remember don't blow yourself up on the bike, you got to deal with the sand.

Great Job Olman, I haven't read your report yet, but just from looking at your log, you had a great day. That a huge improvement and you should be very proud of your accomplishment. Mike your next up, New Braunfels has to be a cool place to do a tri.

I can't get to your race log.  I went to your race page, but I couldn't access anything. 

Mike that sounds like a fantastic weekend. I never got up to that area while in Texas, but always heard from people who went that it was a great area. I"m glad your feeling ready, now go and do it.

Had an interesting workout day on Saturday, raced in two 5ks, one in the morning and the other in the evening. Both very different, #1 had about 400ft. elevation most of it in mile two. The pm run was hot probably low 90's at race start, legs felt good on mile one, mile two has an elevation change which got the HR up, then mile three just didn't have any finish in the legs, but it was fun doing two races like that. I missed my PR by about 30 seceonds in the second race, hopefully I'll break that this summer. Also I did Mike's curcuit/cardio workout from way back early on in our forum. Only went through it once since I did an brisk 20 minute stationary ride just before. I'll continue to do this through the summer.

Hope all is well with everyone? Steven how's the water situation? We need an update.

Steven, Monday night beer league is not in the contract you signed to be a part of this forum, it clearly states that you can only take part in triathlon related activities, well I guess beer drinking could be a related activity. But not sliding into second base, going horizontal for a fly ball. or stretching a double.  Just kidding, be careful and have some fun.

Roy, I don't drink anymore, but beer league softball is awesome!!  And I fully plan on playing all-out.  I can't imagine doing it any other way.  The team I play on has been together for about 10 years (well the core group anyway) and we all just come to have fun.  It helps when we've won our league 8 of the last 10 years, but I really think it's fun 1st and everything else just falls into place.  Can't be any more treacherous than Muddy Buddys, right Mike?  I looked into that, I'd have to travel about ten hours to do one.  Maybe I'll get my wife on a MTB............Um, I've tried, unsuccessfully.