apw0397's group - CLOSED (Page 13)

One foot in front of the other, that's the key.

I only use mine when running on the dreadmill. But here's one of songs from high school that I love to listen to. Good if you loved alternative back in the early 90s.

Alice in Chains - Man in the Box, No Excuses

Beck - Loser

Blind Melon - No Rain

Bush - Glycerine

Candlebox - Far Behind

Nine Inch Nails - Wish, Closer

Offspring - Come out and play, Self esteem

Pearl Jam - Jeremy, Alive

Queensryche - Silent Lucidity

Smashing Pumpkins - Crash With Butterfly Wings, Disarm

Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun, Spoon Man

Sponge - Plowed

Stone Temple Pilots - Creep, Interstate Love Song, Plush

Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fall Down

Weezer - Undone, Buddy Holly

Everyone falls. At least you got it over with inside. Hopefully you had a soft fall. Keep practicing and get outside as soon as you can. The sooner it becomes second nature, the faster you'll get.

Howdy folks. Hope you all had a great weekend. I had a great 3 hour ride on Saturday, but then on Sunday an old "friend" showed up on my run. I've had achilles issues on and off since Fall 06. I hadn't been having any issues in 3 or 4 months, and then suddenly it started hurting again.

Listen to your body. If it's telling you it's injured, don't try to train through it. I'm not doing any running until my race on Saturday. A week off from running isn't going to hurt me any.

So, now that my mind is in racing mode this week, what questions do you have about racing? Strategy, setup, nutrition, etc? I'm here as a resource for you.

Also, my schedule is so crazy these days. I've been depending on getting most of my workouts in while my dd is in school, but I am going back to early morning workouts very soon. Which stinks. I don't so much mind getting up early, but that means I'll have to get to bed early again, which cuts into spending time with my husband at night. That 9:30 bedtime really cuts into the time I can spend with my husband. It's been nice having the evenings with him. Okay, so that's more of a vent than anything.

Also, I had 3 bike workouts scheduled per week in the beginning, but I'm thinking that might not be necessary. I thinking the 2/2/2 would work fine for me.

Early morning workouts are a great way to get the day started. That's the good part. The bad part is that you really have to make sure you get enough sleep. Otherwise you aren't going to do yourself any good.

2/2/2 is a good strategy for shorter distances. As you get into longer distances, you have to add extra workouts. Not really much way around that. However, they don't have to be super long workouts, just extra time, like maybe a 3-5 mile run, 1 hr ride, or a 45 minute swim.

Here's my sprint race strategy in a nutshell.

If possible, I like to wake up 3 hours before the race. I take a quick shower to wake up and get the blood flowing. For breakfast I eat an Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Clif Bar and sip on a bottle of water up until the time transition closes. I'll go ahead and put on my HR strap, tri shorts and tri top. The rest depends on the weather. For example, it's probably going to be in the 40s on Saturday, so I'll wear a jacket and windpants plus socks and shoes. Summertime I'll just pop on a superhero t-shirt per traidition, wind shorts, and flip flops.

I like to get to transition right when it opens. I don't like to be rushed. If it's open racking, I try to find a spot on the outside of the rack that I can get out as fast as possible. When I rack my bike pre-ride, I hang by the front of the seat with the front wheel pointed in the direction I'm going to be leaving. I make sure that my computer is reset, my gears are in the right spot (typically 1st gear in the big ring), and my pedals are in the right position (I like to have the right one up so I can clip into it first - personal preference). I haven't mastered the art of clipping in my shoes and jumping onto a moving bike yet. Maybe one day I will. Anyway, I put a single bottle of water on my bike. Find a landmark or count the number of racks you are from the swim exit. You don't want to be running from rack to rack trying to find your bike. Then get an idea of which direction you'll be going. Which way are you coming from the pool? Which way do you take your bike to the mount line? Where do you come in? Where do you leave for the run? Run through it mentally a few times. Heck, I've even walked it before.

After hanging my bike, I turn on my Garmin and set it to Bike mode. I also make sure I turn off any heart rate alarms. Then I hang my helmet on my aerobars. Inside my helmet I put my Garmin, sunglasses, and probably this weekend I'll put some gloves. On my aerobars I'll also hang my race belt. If you don't have one, I highly suggest one. It's only about 7 bucks. It has a place to put your race number so you don't have to fool with putting pinholes in your shirt, and you can get pouches for it to carry your nutrition. In my race belt I have one gel. I like Strawberry PowerGel, but everyone is different.

On the ground under my front tire I'll put my towel, bike shoes, running shoes, and socks. I put my socks on and then pull them down inside out to my ankles. That helps me get into them a little faster theoretically. Next I Bodyglide my feet. Lots of Bodyglide. Blisters are not my friend. If there are any othe clothes I'm going to need - like a jacket for this weekend, I'll hang them on my seat. If you have clothes that aren't loose fitting that you plan on putting on after you swim, it's a good idea to turn them inside out and Body glide them. That will help them go on easier.

After that, I head over to the chip table. They have straps that come with them, but I have a neoprene one that is more comfortable. Once I get my chip, I double check everything. Then I drop whatever clothes I'm wearing that I'm not swimming in and head inside.

If possible, I like to get a 10 minute warmup in the pool. For sprints, it seems silly to warm up longer than I'm actually going to race, but I want to make sure I'm warmed up before I jump in and go all out. Also, if you are going to be swimming pretty late in the order, you still want to do a warmup just to get an idea of how the water temp is, etc.

This usually leaves about 20-30 minutes or so to walk around, chit chat, help out anyone that needs help, etc. before the prerace meeting and the start. I take a gel about 15 minutes before I figure I will get in the water.

For a pool swim, I usually will put down a swim time that is faster than I think I will swim. The strategy is to hope that whomever is behind me can actually go that fast, and they will pass me. Then I try to hop on their feet and draft. However, don't plan on that to happen. I will sprint the first 50 and try to catch the person in front of me. If they have a good pace going, I'll draft off of them. Otherwise I'll pass them.

Once out of the pool, it's a dead sprint to my bike. First on is my Garmin, then sunglasses, and helmet. Then I do a quick dry off of my legs and feet before putting my shoes on. I ride sockless, which saves a bunch of time. Trying to get on socks when your feet are wet is tough. If I have a jacket to put on, that goes on. Then I put on my race belt with the number to the back. Don't want it flapping around when I ride.

Regardless of order, before you unrack your bike, make sure you have your helmet on. Some race directors, including the one doing this weekend's race, will penalize you if you don't have your helmet on when you are just running your bike to the mount line.

Now I'm at the mount line. I start my Garmin, slide on, and clip in my right pedal. Then I'm gone. No sense getting into too big of a hurry here. You don't want to crash with everyone watching.

The first few miles of the ride, don't get over-excited. Spin around 95-100 RPMs and get your legs. This can take a while. Then it's time to drop the hammer. I still try to stay around 80-100 RPMs, but that's not an issue. I spot the first rider ahead of me and charge at them. When I get about 5 feet away, I whip out on the left and pass them. This is considered "legal" drafting. Don't stay on their wheel very long, though, or you will get penalized. 3/4 of the way through the ride, mile 9 of 12 for example, I'll take my other gel with some water. Then it's a dead sprint back to transition. The last half mile or so I'll back off a gear or two and up my cadence to get my legs ready to run.

The faster folks will be out of their shoes, riding on top of them as they head into transition. I'm not there yet. So I unmount and clippity clop back to my rack. This time I rack my bike by the brake levers. This is a bit faster.

Helmet off, shoes off, socks on, shoes on, reverse belt so the number is to the front. Change Garmin to Run mode and start it when I cross the mat.

The first mile is around 80% effort. My trick is to pass double digits on the run. So I start counting as soon as I get out. Most of the time I can do it. It's a good motivator. Mile 2 I usually hit a mini-wall. It's a harder effort, probably 85-90%, and it's mentally draining. The last mile is all out. Drop the hammer and give it all you have left. Think of something that makes you angry, a song that gets you moving, or whatever gets you to the finish. This is what you worked for. Go for it. Finish.

So, now that I've basically written a novel...questions?

Nothing wrong with Gatorade in a sprint. If you have a 20oz bottle of it, that's 125 calories. A Powergell is 110. So that's similar.

I just happen to hate Gatorade with the burning heat of a thousand white suns. It's too sweet and sticky for me. The big advantage to gels is that you get it all at once rather than a little bit at a time.

You shouldn't need much nutrition during workouts less than an hour. Once you get over an hour, you will need some calories. It's not about hunger, it's about keeping your energy levels topped off. On a run longer than an hour, I do a gel (110 calories) every 30 minutes. I take in a few more calories per hour on the bike, around 250, on rides 90 minutes or longer.

Practice this during training and it becomes 2nd nature.

24 hours to go now. Going to be frakking cold getting out of the pool. 32 degrees is forecast for 8am tomorrow. Ouch.

Y'all have a great weekend.

Well, it was freaking cold but lots of fun. Considering I lost a shoe on the way to the race and had to buy a pair from Wal Mart, I think I did ok. Race report here.

How was everyone else weekend?

• Feb 23 - apw0397 - Cowtown Marathon
• March 8 - apw0397 - Athens YMCA Sprint Triathlon - 300m swim, 13.2 mile bike, 5k run
• March 29 - TriPainter - MAP Triathlon - 500m swim, 12.4 mile bike, 5k run
• March 30 - sonnyk - Ocean Drive Marathon
• April 4- charleston- Cooper River Bridge Run 10k
• April 5 - TriPainter - Charlotte's Finest Duathlon - 5k run, 15 mile bike, 5k run
• April 6 - ryannmo - Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, Wahington DC
• April 12 - TriPainter - Charlotte Racefest 1/2 Marathon
• April 12- crozetiga - Jay Dix Challenge to Cure- 10k
• April 13 - apw0397 - Playtri Half Ironman - 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
• April 19 - crozetiga - Shakespeare's Maxtrax Duathlon- 2.5 run, 15 mile bike, 2.5 mile run
• April 20 - sunmonkey72 - Desert Sprint triathlon (500 meter swim, 14 mile bike, 3 mile run)
• April 20-charleston- East Cooper Tri .6mile swim, 16mile bike, 4mile run
• April 26 - sunmonkey72 - Ja Jolla Half Marathon
• May 4 - TriPainter - White Lake Sprint Triathlon - 750 meters, 14 mile bike, 5k run
• May 4 - crozetiga- Merrill Lynch Race for Sight Triathlon- 440 yard swim. 14 mile bike, 3 mile run
• May 4 -ryannmo - Frederick 1/2 Marathon
• May 18 -ryannmo - Columbia Olympic Triathlon
• May 26 - sunmonkey72 - Saddleback Half Marathon
• May 31 - charleston- Low Country Splash -2.4 mile open water swim
• June 1 - sunmonkey72 - San Diego Rock "n Roll Marathon

Next up for the group is the MAP triathlon on the 29th.

I've decided to skip my Ocean Drive Marathon on 3/30. Snowboarding interfered with the training

I am registered for the NYC Marathon in November though. I'll see if I can get a sprint in as a replacement for the missed Marathon...

So I won this tri bike (Kuota K-factor) from a sweepstakes and it got delivered to RA Cycles in Brooklyn. They've had it for over 2 weeks already but they kept telling me they are too busy to assemble the bike. Is that normal?? Should I just pick it up and bring it to my LBS and pay for assembly myself?

Woohoo!

It's Friday, what are the weekend plans for everyone?

My wife has a Sprint Tri tomorrow morning that I'll be jockstrapping. Then she'll drop me and my bike off on the way home for a 3 hour ride. Then a 1 hour ride on Sunday.

Hope your plans for the weekend are good ones.