Southwestmba/Andy's excellent adventure group-Full (Page 13)

Nice blog entry Andy! Crossing the finish line at Kona, what a feeling that must of been! Reading it was like pulling into a gas station of good feelings and filling up with joy and excitement! I tried to enter a comment but you have to have a blog to do so? Anyways, it wouldn't let me.

I have a question...I have a sprint tri on Wednesday, the T-Rex Tri, and it's held in the afternoon; is there any nutritional tips or advice to pass on? It's at 6pm and I'm wondering what strategy folks use to eat when getting ready for a late event. I'll probably post this question on the main forum, but I wanted to post it here first.

hi friends.  it's been a while.  i think i've diagnosed myself with tri-depression.  i have what was supposed to be my "a" race on sunday, and just haven't logged the training time i needed to in order to really give it my all.  an injury prevented me from riding for a few weeks, then i was reassigned at my job and had to figure out my training schedule with entirely new work hours...stuff just gets in the way sometimes. 

but, i notice i'm being really hard on myself, and thinking thoughts like i shouldn't even go to the race because i'll be so slow and disappointed in myself afterward.  even though the conditions were totally out of my hands at musselman, going nearly an hour slower than i raced last season really bummed me out.  i'm trying to get in the mindset i was in last year: just finish and enjoy the scenery and experience.  but for whatever reason, it's really hard this time around.  meh.  think some good thoughts for me this sunday, please.

Hi ID!

Nice to hear from you again, although I wish it were in better spirits! I'll leave the advice giving to the more experienced members, but I will say a prayer for you, I have a little experience in that! Oh, and I'll think happy thoughts as well!

Just checking in...IRONMAN CANADA IN ONE WEEK!!! Lol, Andy I am excited for you, I feel myself getting a tad tense just thinking about it. Good luck, good luck, good luck!

I did the T-Rex Sprint Wednesday, an afternoon event. I don't think body was prepared for that, as soon as the man said "Go!" to our wave, leg cramped up before I even took a stroke! So I relied on my arms mostly in the swim; fortunately the temperature was just cool enough to allow wetsuits. My timing chip fell off in T1, as I was taking off my wetsuit, and didn't realize it; I have no official run data for the rest of my event. I did have my Garmin on for the run and was able to personally record that; I was pleased to record a negative split, although it retrospect it was going to be hard not too with my legs shot for the first mile and still getting it together for the second. The bike data I established is approximate but I gave good effort and maintained a good focus.

Apart from the chip incident, I was pleased with the event; not only am I slowly gaining fitness, but mentally I am improving too. I am beginning to FEEL like a triathlete, not just some guy enjoying a fantasy.

I have yet to get my race report together for the ILON tri, I never have the time to do it! If anyone is interested, they are more than welcome to check my training logs; I keep them as updated as possible.

I am 4 weeks away from my first Oly, and I am confident that if I keep my nose to the grindstone with regards to training it will be a successful debut for me at that distance. Of course life can -and will- get in the way; I need to keep focused.

Hope everyone is having fun!

Good Luck with Ironman Canada this weekend Andy.  Enjoy the race.

I was going to be doing the Annapolis 10 Miler this weekend.    The race just got canceled due to Hurricane Irene. Bummer.

I was looking at Ironman Live Ironman Canada coverage, and checked on Andy.  He's out of the water in 1:18.  Nice job!   Keep it up!

Also heard that is was going to be unseasonably warm, about 85-95.  I'll be doing a 2 hour ride in a little while to keep you company in spirit. 

Andy - I think you've achieved uberIronman status.  I remember your report from Ironman UK where you rode for miles and miles on a busted skewer.  Ok - the IMCa hills are tough enough, throw in bike issues and no water, with heat -  I think I would have found it very unlikely to hear my name called for the 6th time.  Great job.  Welcome home.

Grats once again Andy! Good work, good write up. Write ups...that will be my new years resolution, finish my write ups!

Your experience is encouraging, but I've been reading about other folks who have had a far tougher road than you and I, have you read about Matty Long? He is a NYFD guy, a strong athlete/triathlete who was mauled by a bus back in '05 and should have died at the scene. He didn't, and I'm sure a part of that was his multisport fitness, and though he's had a hell of a road back from colostomy bag and wheelchair to crutches to cane, within three years he ran the NYC marathon. To read about him brings tears to my eyes; suddenly all my aches and pains and poor attitude pale in comparison. How do I dare allow a little pain or a less than happy mood alter my whole day? I feel blessed.

If anyone ever has one of those doldrum days, there is a video up of him and his story at Runner's World, google search "Matty Long", it will definitely put things into perspective.

Thanks - A "nice current"  is quite an understatement.  They cancelled the swim (rightly so) due to the unprecented rains we've had this week from Tropical Storm Lee.  The Potomac River current for race morning morning was projected to 10-15 times normal, not to mention a lot of debris and bacteria in the water.  While I'm disappointed, I couldn't swim, it was the right call. 

According to my Garmin, I had my best ever ride/run.  My Garmin said I averaged 20.3 mph!  A huge improvement for me as my previous best was 18.1 mph for a sprint and 17.4 for this race.  Can't wait to see the official results.  Garmin said my run pace averaged 10:07, and if that holds, that's a 23 second improvement for me since last time.  I think just one month on the Computrainer has already given me some dramatic improvements.  Even with the unofficial time I'm really happy with the results.

Keep training and shooting for higher goals!

Well, the 20.3 ended up being 20.1mph for the bike, but I'm very happy with my bike, and still in disbelief.

The run ended up as a 9:47.  I was helped by distance being short I think.

My race report is up.

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/races-edit.asp?raceid=164765

Checking in...my last race of the year is this Sunday, my first Oly! Things were going rather well for me training-wise until I hurt my back a few days ago! It happened later in the day after I came back from a 24/6 brick; perhaps my core is not fit enough for that volume/distance yet? Anyways, that was Saturday and it's still bothering me. I don't think I'll lose fitness between now and the race, and I'm not down about it, but I would like to finish my training strong.

I downloaded a metronome app for my phone to aid my pacing and it really helps; I can't believe how much time I spend daydreaming out there. Daydreaming is a real pace slower! I also didn't realize how I would lengthen my stride every now and then; I would be running along feeling good but notice my pace isn't jiving with the metronome. Sure enough, my stride had lengthened without the frequency staying the same.

I mentioned earlier looking into Chi-running. Since then, I've also looked into Evolution running and between the two have picked up a lot of pointers. As a matter of fact, between the pointers and the metronome I cut 5 minutes off my fastest time at 6.4 miles, or should I say, least slowest time! So my current 'good' pace is 11:33 for that distance but I feel good about my form and fitness; after that brick I wasn't very sore at all -minus the back- and recovered faster than with any other brick I have done. I'm looking forward to more progress!