kalalau's Group - FULL for now (Page 14)

I only have two, but it's enough to make me care.  

Good luck on your race!  We'll all be cheering for you in spirit.  Don't get me wrong, I still love running, but tri training can be more fun. I can see why you're looking forward to it. 

Go get'em Steve!  Make us proud.

...and good luck to you pacing tomorrow!  It's not an easy job to do well.  Looks like the weather should be good for you both!  :-)  I'm intending to ride Columbia again.  

Wow, very nice! Have fun in Columbia!

I would like it a bit warmer.  Although running in the cold is faster, I would rather just be comfortable. :-)  I am on the fence whether I should do the full distance or not.  Such a decision. :-)

Did you see the Navy pacers when you did it?  Did you notice how they were, if they came in on time, etc?

Hey we wrote at the same time and you got in before me. :-)

I am planning on biking the NCR Trail on Sunday if you are up to it.  You might be a little tired though. :-)

There is a bike ride in Newark, DE next Saturday.  The Icicle Metric.  22, 31, or 62 miles.  I'm waiting on the weather and to see what the girlfriend is planning that weekend.  I am already scheduled for the White Hall 15k that Sunday.

Great pacers are awesome.  Nice job on coming in so close to your mark.  I'm sure the group was very thankful to have had you there, especially the first-timers.  It's such an amazing experience, I cried too...well that and I'd been lost in the masses that are the MCM finish for about 45 minutes when I finally found J and my friends.  :-)

Thanks!  Ugh yes the MCM finish is awful with that crowd.  All I wanted to do was sit down but yet you can't for a good amount of time. 

Steve's results are posted!  7:13!  Wow, 7 hours sounds like a tough race.  Must be a couple of hills out there. ;-)  There must've been a lot of suffering out there by everyone.  It'll be neat to hear the stories.  Good job Steve!

Wow, I can't imagine what that was like. 7 hours is a lot of time for "hating life", "why I am doing this?", and "I am never doing this again" thoughts.  Very cool, you are a HAT finisher, an ultra marathon trail runner. 

Do you think that the GI issues were from nervousness?  

Man, hearing about french fries, oreos, and Coke makes me wish I did it. :-)  Was that your personal group that did that or someone else?  That's when you know you are in a serious endurance event, when you start talking about bizarre foods that sound like you are having dinner. :-)

Did you have a decent amount of friends and family that came out?

I was really lacking motivation to do any training today, and most people would've taken a day off after a marathon, but I went out for a bike ride today and it really made almost all of the soreness go away.  It's probably not smart to push it the day (or days) after a big race, but taking an easy bike ride, or swimming, can really work out the soreness.  Now Monday I can take a nice break day!

It's common to get sick after a big race because your immune system is all screwed up, so it's not good to push it too much after the race.

I thought it was supposed to be cold today, but I bet it was 65 degrees out there.  Wonderful day.

Dave and group, I love reading how everyone is having fun and pushing themselves well.  Its great to be able to read these entries and reading up on how you are all doing and the questions and scenarios are great!

I have had most of my questions answered at one point or another.  Nothing real new either to report.  I have  been sticking to my training, tweaking my diet.  Dave, thanks for the great articles on nutrition.  Last week I started getting into gels, I went to the store and bought 1 of each, I think I am personally sold on the Power gels and the Hammer gels.  I have not tried the Power gels with "4x sodium" I will probably start to train with those after the sprint in April.  I finally made it outside and I am real happy with where I am at right now.  Although I can for sure tell you, my ambition ends with the Olympic size, no HIM and no way IM, much respect to all those that make it to those levels of performance.

 I am strating to anticipate just how hard the race will be in Tempe with that heat.  I am glad I will be out there 2 weeks prior to get acclamated to the heat and to have a chance to tweak my nutrition.  If you have any tips for dealing with the heat, I would love to know. Now, for what I feel maybe a really dumb question, so, do you always wear a wet suit over your tri-suit?  Or can I get away with wearing a tri-suit only?  My sprint in April has us in a swimming pool for the swim and in Tempe the water temp is in the low 70's.  I realize if you are doing a race in San Fran, you HAVE to wear a wet suit in those waters, I understand that...just curious.  Is there a cut off temp that you must be aware of?  In late August for the Chicago Tri, same question, that water is warm enough to jump in and swim off a boat, so can you get away with just a tri suit?

I also remember you asked about wiehgt.  Since Nov/Dec I lost about 5 lbs.  I believe it was mostly muscle because I was building mass prior to that in the fall.  I have kept steady at about 182-184.  My nutirtion is about 60-40 carbs to protien.  I eat as much whole grains as I can, but stick to rice, breads, cereals and pastas.  I am getting more comfortable with raw veggies, but veggies and fruit.  Gatordae, furit juice and water to drink, no soda and recently no alcohol.  Milk w/ protien for a recovery shake after every major effort.  Red meat once a week, but mostly chicken and fish.  I use a little bit more salt than normally, which is to say I usually do not add salt at all, so now I am.  I just always feel like I could be doing more or less of something. 

I am starting to get into gear, Ill exapnd on that next within the next day or so.

Look forward to hearing from you Dave and keep up the "awesomeness" everyone...yes, I make up words on my sapre time...

I am really impressed that your "easy" bike ride following your marathon was 3 hours long.  :-)  

I have to share that I am really excited about my brick yesterday.  After a fairly hard ride on Saturday, I did another (shorter) but probably more difficult ride Sunday after a 2000 yd swim (fastest ever), and followed that up with a 10:03/mile run...and I don't feel too bad today!  I feel like I am improving all the time, and that the biking has really helped my running.  Now if the weather would only stay nice so I can be outside all the time...

I haven't signed up for Frederick yet, but intend to before the price goes up at the end of the month.  Steve, you in?

Thanks. :-)   Well it was just a nice la-ti-da ride to look at the purdy birdies.  I was pretty weary when I reached my turnaround point, but after I had an energy bar, I felt really good to face the 21.5 mostly downhill miles back home. :-)

It helps that I did not push myself to my limits in the marathon.  I probably would've tried 8:30 pace or faster if I was by myself, so :30 per mile is a lot slower, so I wasn't as beat up.

Wow you had a good weekend!!  Congrats!  That is pretty fast.  I'm excited for you.  That's a noticeably faster runner there.

Hey Dave!

Wow I am impressed with how you are locking in with your nutrition.  Very impressive indeed.  You are pretty focused.

Yes, being out there in AZ for two weeks ahead of time will take care of your acclimation.  I haven't seen that much of a performance drain anyway even if you did head out there right before the race.  I've gone from Maryland to Honolulu thrice in December to do that marathon, and thrice to Disney in January for that one, with no huge performance issues.   I haven't done my best at those times, but I wasn't dissatisfied either.

How hot is it going to be in AZ?  Hmm.  I seem to remember Ironman Arizona last April was really really hot.  Ok, for an OLY I might consider taking a salt tab or two during the race, and one before the race.  You can reduce the amount if you like.  Some people go crazy with the salt tabs but I've seen that lead to trouble.  Since you like Hammer products, you could do Endurolytes.  Make sure you train with these for some long sessions first to make sure you can handle this stuff and still perform well. Since you are going to try the 4xsodium power gels, maybe that will be ok.  Go and compare the nutrition labels and see if they are similar.

Also, when you hit the aid stations on the run, if you are overheated, consider taking a cup of water and dumping it over your head.  It's an amazing feeling when it cools you off.  If the water is cold enough, it gives you a jolt enough to make it all the way to the next aid station.  You probably don't need to dump water on your head on the bike but play it by ear.

If it's a known hot race, they will probably also have sponges soaked in ice water for you.  You can take these and put them in your shirt, under your hat, etc.  Some people run for miles with them.  I squeeze them on me and get on my way.  They are a wonderful thing.  It's also possible that they will be giving out cups of ice.  You can find places to stuff the ice like under your hat.  I saw a video of some guy in an IM where he wore a long sleeve shirt so he could stuff the ice in his arm sleeves to cool himself down.  I wouldn't recommend that though, it doesn't seem right.

Keep the fluids going.  Keep your pee clear.

Yes I almost always wear a wetsuit over my tri suit if it is wetsuit-legal, meaning 78 degrees and under.  Getting near 78, it's starting to get too hot to wear one.  But it makes you so much faster, there's no reason not to wear it if you have one.  72 doesn't sound ridiculous for not using one, if you want to just wear your tri shorts.  You can look up the pics from last year's race and see how many people are not wearing one.  People's tolerance for the cold is each his/her own.  Plus, the shorter the race, the less impact the wetsuit will have so you have that going for you.

I don't know about the Chicago Tri, I would have to look that up and see what the temps are going to be.

That makes me wonder what kind of wetsuit Becky has; she hasn't mentioned wetsuits at all.  Somehow I think she has a tri-worthy wetsuit; she's on top of it.  We've got a pretty cold swim coming up in Columbia.

Yup.  For Christmas Josh and I got each other wetsuits...it made for an amusing picture when we tried them on and posed next to the tree...

His is a Zoot and mine is F2R; both are full sleeve.   They should be perfect for Columbia, getting on the warm side for Eagleman, but you go with what you have.  We haven't tried them out in the water yet, even in the pool.  Hopefully soon.

Yeah Becky is too focused to not have a wetsuit. :-)  I hadn't heard of F2R.  They look like they have some great deals going on.  You can get a farmer john wetsuit for $105 and a full wetsuit for $130.  I didn't check out the available sizes though and these are clearances so "all sales are final."

F2R

Some people like the farmer john (sleeveless) models because it gives them a better feel for the water.  You also get an extra bonus of getting it off quicker.  The "shorty" styles are even more quick to get off because the legs are short as well.  F2R has those for $85.  It's so fun when you have your wetsuit stuck around your feet and legs in transition. :-)  Need to practice that.  And imagine you are in a race.

Anyway, when you get shorter legs and arms you are also reducing your warmth and bouyancy.

I am definitely in for the full @ 4:15 pacing.  Ugh, 6:30.  Was it that time last year?  I know it was early and I was caught in traffic.  This time I will get to bed earlier. ;-)  Uh huh.

How's your recovery going?

I only intend to do the half.  I figured if I stuck to Dave in his 4:15 full group, I'd get my half PR, but I'd be happy with 2:10.  

Hi Everyone! I think I may finally re-joining the land of the living! I was back at the doctor for the 3rd time yesterday. They are 99% sure I have mono (even though I had it when I was younger). The pain is starting to subside a bit and I am hopeful I will be up and around soon. I can't wait to get back to the gym! I can't even imagine how long it will take me to get back to where I was.

 Becky - Your logs look incredible!

 Dave - Great job on your marathon! 

 Steve -  You're my hero! 7 hours running...WOW!

Abbiesue, I hope you feel better and stronger sooner than you anticipate.  I must say, I already think half marathons and marathons are just too much, and I never asked but have always been curious with the ultra distance runners...do you ever really stop and appreciate the distance, or is something you just work yourself into?  When I tell people I am doing triathlons, most look at me like I am crazy.  I then tell them that I am doing the shorter distances and no where close to an IM.  It does not help, they still think you are crazy.  The second questions is what got me started?  I just combined sports I liked and just thought it would be fun to put it together, no real thought....is that the same with you guys that really enjoy the long distasnces?  Do you just start and wonder if you can go farther and then just train harder to do it only to realize one day, you just did it without miuch thought?  I am just really curious...

I am now struggling with the quesiton I brought up beofre.  I see some athletes are doing the Tempe and the Chicago without wetsuits.  I personally want to believe that I can get away without one.  The only thing that is messing with me is the glide factor.  When I first put on a jammer, I was amazed at how that felt in the water, again complete novice in the water here, so would a wet suit really make that much of a difference?  And is that difference worth the trouble?  Would I save some time swimming and then lose it when taking off the suit?  I cannot reconcile the opportunity cost of time on this one.  Honestly, I think taking time to take them off would just drive me crazy, stick of butter or not.  The Tempe Tri says that wetuits will be a game time decision, either way the temperature will be above 70 and can get up to 80.  Obviously if its above 78 they are a no go...with The Chicago Tri I see some of the guys do it without.  I was really intrigued at studying more on Craig Walton, two time Chicago Tri champ, but his site is down and there does not seem to be too much out there about him.  Dave, do you know of any resources where some of these triathletes training sessions are available to study?  I would love to know how some of these guys train and prepare.

 The other question I have is the aero bars...I believe the Sprint is too short for aero bars to make a difference and the Olympic may be a toss up, I think it depends on the course.  If it has more straight aways I think it makes more sense to have the aero bars, but with the Tempe tri, its not as straight forward, so I have been suspecting I may just go without the aero bars there too.

http://www.tucsonracing.com/TATinf.htm

 You can find the maps and info at the link above.  I did a 15mi bike to 4.75 mile run the other day and felt great. I managed to reach my time goals, I am over 20 mph on the bike and I finished the run with a pace under 7min/mile. 

 Thanks again for all the nutrition help, the only question I will have is how to structure my diet a week before.  Some say to try and eat real lean 2 weeks out to try and burn off the slight flab 1-2lbs some say wait until the week before to lean it out a bit.  Otherwise, I feel real good about my nutrition especally after reading those links, thanks again.

 Stay healthy and safe everyone...