MJEWEN Summer 2013 Mentor Group - OPEN (Page 13)

It wasn't too hot, in the 70's at race start, but the water is warm enough that you don't need to wear one. Plus Nebraskans are just tough. :-)

Edited by crissy_jo 2013-07-16 6:55 PM

Terry - Free race entry? That is awesome!! And Ironman? Best of luck on your training and racing for the race.

Ken- I just read this article and thought of you since you mentioned you like swimming with the buoy: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon-news/articles/2013/07/byob-master-... I'll be swimming tomorrow at the Y. Maybe I'll see you there! I'm going to run on the dreadmill before hand - got to get back to running more often!!

I saw the race photos were posted from the Papillion tri. There are a lot of them! I will see if I can post a few or a link to some of the photos on here. I haven't made it through them all, only a fraction of them.

Crissy: Thanks for the article, good to know some ways to use the buoy without it becoming too much of a crutch. I'm sure I'll run into you at the pool at some point, although I'm changing my schedule up and going to be focusing on training for Chicago marathon. I hope to settle into a pattern of swimming Tuesday/Thursday. However, it could end up being something like Wed and Saturday.


I have to have a goal to train for, so my goal is sub-3:00 at Chicago.. and only have about 13 weeks to do it... coming off a pretty sub-par running base. If the swimming goes well, I might do the Last Blast Tri out at Branched Oak later this fall. Then I plan to really, really buckle down and set what could probably end up to be a lifetime PR for the marathon in Boston next spring. Then I think I'll start getting more serious about training for triathlons and actually balancing my training and goals out around developing as a triathlete... which will take years (decades?). Then someday.... I can be like Terry and do a full Ironman. I do harbor dreams of making it to Kona which amuses me alot after starting out in my first triathlon almost last on the swim. Its ok, because that is how my first marathon went in 2011! Anyways, that's the current plan

I am working on breathing technique during my swim and I found an interesting article I thought I would share. I am guilty of breathing from one side. I am also guilty of poor body rotation. I think the body rotation is an easy fix but bilateral breathing might be a bit of a challange.

http://www.swimsmooth.com/breathing.html

Enjoy!
Don

Don, I really learned a lot just by reading the book, Total Immersion Swimming, and using many of its drills to learn proper technique. I am by no means an excellent swimmer, but I do feel I am improving! I think I was a terrible swimmer before beginning my triathlon training. Now I am just an average swimmer. So I count that as improvement!

I wrote my race report for the Mayor's Triathlon (Papillion) and should be able to view it now from my profile page. I took the time to also figure out my overall age group rankings and women's age group rankings:
Overall Men and women age group 40-49:
Swim: 38/71
Bike: 29/71
Run: 37/71

Overall in women's age group 40-49:
Swim: 11/29
Bike: 4/29
Run: 10/29

My race report has the overall rankings of each sport as well, but here it is anyway:
Swim: 150/243
Bike: 92/243
Run: 119/243

I might try to figure out rankings of just overall women's division, as well.

I am not sure what my near goals are, but after talking to a friend last night after a bike ride, I might consider training for an Olympic distance for next year or do another year of sprints and have more focus on speed in my training in the swim and run portions.

Terry, great job on the race entry win!

Don was it you that was talking about how hard it is to start this whole triathlon training program, and especially your running? It made me think of Marc Parent who writes the Newbie Chronicles in Runner's World Magazine. If you haven't read any of his work, it is worth a few minutes of reading. I get a chuckle every time and love how well he can put into words what I am feeling as a runner! (I still consider myself a fairly new runner, as I didn't start running until 7 years ago!) Here's a link to some of his work: http://www.runnersworld.com/person/marc-parent

I am curious about transition areas. It sounds like you have some time before the race to set it up however you want. Is there a standard size? Is it like a little roaped off area? Do people ever steal items that are unatended?

I have read some articles that talk about people panicking between events and knocking thigs around. Is that common?

I also read that you shouldn't worry about putting on socks after the swim if you are only doing a sprint. I'll be wearing socks.

Thanks in advance for your answers.
Don

Don,
You have plenty of time to set up your transition area. if it's a race that requires you to rack your bike the night before, I'll set up my transition the next morning. I'm uploading a file of my most recent racked bike (Cannondale with plastic on the handles and seat) to give you an idea of how much space you have to set everything up.

I try keep it simple. I put my race number and belt in the helmet along with my sunglasses. the helmet is placed on the aero bars OR placed under the bike depending on the space between the bikes -on top of the bike shoes (I don't pre-clip my shoes on the pedals). behind the bike gear are my run shoes and headsweat cap. I don't wear socks on the bike or run.... a little dab of body glide keeps me blister free.
A bottle of water to rinse your feet is helpful depending on your course. and a banana or gel during transition is also nice.

Much of what you read is really personal preference. The best way is the way that makes you feel confident and in control of your gear.
I don't wear socks but recently bought two pairs and will try them out. I have consistently been experimenting with fuel: gels, shot blocks, cliff bars, hammer perpetuem/heed drinks, cytomax, etc... peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bananas, trail mixes..... and have been honing in on what works for me.

I hope this helps...

Thanks everybody... Ken, I'll have a lot of questions for you about running..... and in preparation for my full distances next year I have registered for The Great Floridian Traithlon AquaBike event - 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike ride in October and a 200 mile bike ride in November- the RAAM series in Daytona Beach.

I am brand new to the idea of Triathlon's, although I have always had a love for bikes and biking I have a new love for running. Swimming has always been fun for me. I did some long distance swimming on my own when I was a teen but that was because I wanted to stay in shape. I am a long way from a teenager now. I am ready to learn where to start. I would like to do a mini Tri next year and have one in mind. I am already training in my runs but not sure where to start as far as swim and bike. I have a Norco Yorkville Hybrid, I love my new bike! I guess my first question would be, is this a good bike for starting out? Second question is, how often should I ride, how far and also how often and far should I swim? OK 4 part second question. LOL

Erynn,

If you want to try triathlons out and just do the super sprints your bike will be just fine. If youeventually find yourself wanting to do longer distances, or feeling the need to compete and perhaps get on the podium for your age group I think you will find yourself wanting to upgrade to at least a road bike. They aren't as comfortable to ride as the more upright bike you have bought, but you get less wind resistance and can go faster. So for now, stick with what you got. I wouldn't mind riding one of those on my commute to work! I currently have a cross bike - very similar to a road bike - and I already want to upgrade to a tri bike. :-)

There are some great beginner training programs out there. This site has some free ones. I think one is called couch to triathlon, similar to the couch to 5k programs. Swimming for me was had to get the hang of. I started this late winter or early spring. I found one of the local Y's taught a class on how to improve your position in the water and took that class to start off with. Then built on to it following a program I found online that I liked. I plan to switch to an intermediate training program at the end of this and hope to find a triathlon to do at the end of that program. You might find yourself doing the same. There are so many programs out there so it is easy to find one that works into your schedule. This is where I found mine: http://www.triradar.com/tag/triathlon-training-plans/ They have one called "The absolute beginner's plan". http://mos.triradar.com/Training_Plans/Absolute_Beginners_Plan.pdf

Hope that helps.

Don,

Denise talked me into not wearing socks at our race last weekend. I'm glad she did. Saved time on the transitions. I put anti-persperant and rubbed it in my shoes so my feet would slide right in. As an added bonus they smelt fresh and clean at the end of the race. :-) I didn't even notice I wasn't wearing socks during the race. My mind was on other things, like trying to breathe, being thirsty, and counting the people who passed me on the run :-) I did end up with one very small blister on the top part of my foot close to my toes were the end of the tongue must have rubbed. So next time I'll lube the shoe up further inside. I only focused on lubing up the opening of the shoe.

Watch some youtube videos on triathlon transitions. I think I have watched 1,000 videos over the course of this year on swimming technique, transitions, and other triathlon related things.

Crissy

Wow! Thank you so much, I will definitely be checking those out! I love my bike but I would like to eventually have a road bike as well. I used to ride a ten speed back in the day lol...a lot different on this bike I have now. I was thinking of getting some attachments for the handle bars to lean down and ride with. I am a runner, I did my first half two weeks ago and doing my next Saturday. I am excited! Thanks again for the advice and links.

Hello everybody! I'm back from almost 4 weeks of vacation - and glad to be back home.

Welcome Erynn, April and Don!! I'm so glad to see you guys and all your great questions and input!

Congratulations to Chrissy, Ken and Denise on the Papillon tri! Awesome pics, and you guys really look great despite a hot race. How do you do that? My post-race pics are nothing to post online. Chrissy, that's nuts about your retainer!

Terry - how exciting that you are doing a full in January! It doesn't surprise me one bit, though, because you have had such an amazing season and you have the drive and determination to get the training done. I look forward to hearing all about your training plan.

Ken - sub-3 in Chicago? Wow, now that sounds like an awesome goal.

Emile - Yikes, that brush with death sounds way too scary for me. Any idea of the circumstances around this drowning? I get goosebumps just thinking about that. One of my OW fears in the ocean is a dead animal. After seeing a dead whale wash up onshore in NC, partially decomposed, the thought occurred to me that this huge thing could bump up against you out in the water. GAH!!

Training-wise, my trip was not good. I averaged only 1 run per week :-( and a few swims. Not good, but my priorities were just different for those weeks and family things trumped training for me.

Back into the swing of things!! Upcoming races are 8/11 - sprint tri, the last of the summer series. I am running but have not updated my logs in forever. No swimming or biking since I have been back... yet.



Edited by melanfi 2013-07-19 7:24 AM

Thank you for all the helpful answers I have received. I am really learning a lot here.

I am going to my in-laws hunting camp in the Allegheny Mountains this weekend. I'm guessing that it will be an opportunity to do some hill work.

The powers that be have finally released the obstacle descriptions of the Beast On The Bay. My teammates and I have been reviewing them. The unknowns are what haunt us. One of the obstacles is listed as a maze. At mile 7 of a 15 mile event, I do not want to have to backtrack because the path through was not clear. Several obstacles are just 8" piles of sand that we have to run over. We are thinking that they may start at 8' and but the end of the day they will probably be more like 2'.

Denise - Great race! Thanks for the pics it is cool to see several people in the group together at a race.

Terry - Very cool on signing up for the 140.6! I will be several years before I get a chance to do one. My kids need to get a little older before I can devote that much time to training. Right now it is a trick to get in my HIM training.

Melissa - Glad to hear you had a good vacation! On your question about the drowning. What I heard was several people jumped off their boat to swim in the middle of the lake. The guy that drown got tired and tried to swim back to the boat by couldn't reach it.

Erynn - Welcome! Your bike will be fine to get started with your training. I bought a hybrid to several years ago to ride with my wife for cross training on my non running days. After a year or so on the hybrid I knew I wanted to try a tri and moved up to a road bike.

Don - The best advice I can give on transitions is practice them at home. I will practice T2 several times before every race. I will set up T2 on my front porch and take off for a bike ride. When I return I will dismount like I plan on doing in the race and go through T2 and take off for a short run. Also, always remember to take off your helmet in T2 every race I see somebody running with their bike helmet on. I actually saw a guy last year during my 70.3 running with an aero helmet on. I felt really sorry for him running 13.1 miles in 90 degree heat with an aero helmet on. Have a great trip to the Mountains!

I plan on going on a 3 hour bike ride this afternoon. The first 2 hours I'm going to ride with a buddy who likes riding a little slower than I do. So I will take it easy the first 2 hours and then kick it up to race pace the last hour.

Melissa, Glad to hear you are back from vacation. Maybe letting your body get some rest will actually be a plus for your upcoming Tri. Sometimes when I have allowed myself some rest time, I just feel better mentally, as I realize how much I missed training, and then I enjoy it more.

Crissy, I apologize. I realized (I think) I had been spelling your name wrong everywhere. I edited the photos with "Crissy" as the caption, hope that is your preferred spelling. If not, just let me know and I can edit again. Also, glad to hear the no-sock thing worked for you. I didn't realize you went without that day. I agree, it does cut down on transition time and because I have been going sockless for several months now, my shoes now have enough BodyGlide in them, that I rarely even have to use it anymore for my feet. Fortunately, I have never acquired a blister.

I volunteered at the Omaha Triathlon today. It was warm and sunny. It was too hot for the swimmers to wear wetsuits, so I heard some of the swimmers commenting that their swim times felt slower. I enjoyed volunteering and seeing some familiar faces and meeting other volunteers. (Volunteers even got free food!) I think athletes that compete in races should volunteer at least once a year, just so they realize all the work and time it takes to put on a race and how sometimes, even though there are best laid plans, some things change at the last minute that may affect the racers, but it is beyond anyone's control or put into the hand's of a volunteer's decision on the spot. The racers today were very grateful and so polite to the volunteers, but I know this is not always the case. I know that sometimes I forget to "thank" the volunteers and know they could be doing something else instead of standing out in the heat or cold helping at the race. I was so amazed at the athletes today and watching the para-athletes was so humbling, as well.

Hope everyone's training is going well. Have a good week!

Denise - no worries on the misspelling of my name. :-) My given name is Crystal, and I get called Crystal, Crissy, and Crys (pronounced like Chris). My name gets spelled all sorts of ways! My friend did the Oly distance in Omaha today. She got 3rd in her age division. She's speedy. I have to race against her next week and she's going to kick my a$$. :-) I think it's great you volunteered at the race. And I agree, everyone should work on the other side of the table at least once.

Melissa - I understand about the vacation and lack of training. That was me a couple weeks ago. It's frustrating to not get workouts in, but I'm sure the family appreciated all the extra time they got with you. :-)

I bought some aero bars this weekend. I put them on my bike. They are very adjustable and it took me forever to get them just how I want them. I bought Profile Design T2+ DL I'll probably adjust them about 100 more times. Took them for a spin today. Hopefully they pay off in my next triathlon with a little faster bike time. :-) I also lower my handlebars 1". Should also help some.

I saw a very nice carbon road bike on clearance at the local bike store. I'm still a bit afraid of full carbon bikes, but she was pretty. I drooled for awhile. It had battery operated Shimano derailleurs. I never knew they made such a thing!

I recently came across a website that you can plug in a photo of you on your bike and it will help analyze the angles of your joints and let you know how to better adjust your bike (move seat up/down, handlebars, etc). Don't know if that interests any of you but if so I can post the link. You just need to have someone take a photo of you on your bike from the side.

Edited by crissy_jo 2013-07-21 7:27 PM

Hey, Crisssy.. I'd like to take a look at the photographic bike adjustment page...

Denise, volunteering is a lot of fun. I've done it a few times and gone to a couple of other races to watch friends....it's definitely a different view of the race.... without all the associated stresses.

I took the week off from training after New York because I lost my voice and had a fever for a few days..... BUT i gave myself until Friday at 10am to get over it so I could get on with my training.... I was able to get up to Clermont, FL this weekend and to do a long ride on Saturday morning. Clermont is where we have many hills in Florida, it's our Tri-Mecca so to speak. I did loop one of the Great Floridian Triathlon -about 45 miles, but i made a wrong turn and ended up going about two miles along a wet dirt road to get back to asphalt......that was excruciating. Went back on Sunday for an hour recovery ride.
I Posted a few photos form New York in the album...

I hope everybody's training week is good .......

Terry - Cool pics thanks for sharing. The swim caps they gave aren't very visible? It usually seems like they try and make all the different swim waves caps a very visible color.

Crissy - Keep us updated on the aero bars. I added a pair to my road bike last year and it made a world of difference.

Denise - I keep telling myself I need to start volunteering at a race but I keep using the excuse that they are all so far away.

Yesterday I got in 51miles in about 95-98 degree temps. It really wiped me out. I've been doing all of my riding inside in the AC. Yesterday just reinforced that I need to get out and do all my long rides outside from now until my race in Sept. I got up this morning and did 9.3 mile run.

Here is a link to the site to upload a photo of you on your bike. It's www.triracebook.com. Free to sign up. Once you sign up click on the tab titled "My TRB" From there you can get to another tab titled "Bike Position Inspector". That's where you will upload a photo. There is a tuturial video to tell you what angle to take the photo and what position to be in. I needed to lower my bars...which I already knew, but good to confirm. :-) I could go another inch if my bike would let me.

Terry, I can't seem to find your photos. I've tried a couple times but just can't locate any.

crissy...

go to my photo and click on it.
you should see another box open up.
click on view albums........
then just click on the photo that you see... I think its a beach scene...

emile..
there were many assorted and various colorful swim caps.... we had the luxury of having "silver" caps (more like gray).... the announcer said that it was appropriate for the over 50 group to have sliver caps.... ha ha

crissy- it took me quite a while to get used to being down in the aero position, but now that i'm used to it... i find it difficult to sit up and ride. It took a concentrated effort to ride for at least a few minutes every ride in aero, and then increase the time each ride.....

emile... how was the hydration on your outside ride??

Terry I rode for 3 hours and went through 60oz. I ran out about 15 minutes before reaching my car.

emile..
there were many assorted and various colorful swim caps.... we had the luxury of having "silver" caps (more like gray).... the announcer said that it was appropriate for the over 50 group to have sliver caps.... ha ha

crissy- it took me quite a while to get used to being down in the aero position, but now that i'm used to it... i find it difficult to sit up and ride. It took a concentrated effort to ride for at least a few minutes every ride in aero, and then increase the time each ride.....

emile... how was the hydration on your outside ride??

I am still very unsure of myself in aero. My road bike also has the clip on bars. Maybe I will try playing with their position.

Terry - great photo of you riding your bike with the bridge in the background.

Emile - I can't imagine getting up for a 9 mile run after that grueling bike ride. Good for you that you managed it. With the high temps you guys are having, it's probably hard to get that much hydration into yourself to compensate for the loss on a long ride. Do you use something like endurolytes?

I had a nice 6 mile run the other day. Today is track at 6 p.m., and I am hoping for a late afternoon shower. Otherwise, it will be very hot. I think we are doing 800-meter repeats.