Baowolf's Beginner Banquet -Sorry all tables are full no room.. (Page 14)

Yeah, nutrition is so important and at the same time, so hard to manage, IMO.  Today was a good example of that for me.  I direct the handbell choir at church and we were playing today which meant I needed to be there earlier than usual.  I'd set my alarm with high hopes of getting a shower and breakfast before I left but due to children and their needs, breakfast didn't happen.  I grabbed a luna bar, ate half of it on the way, and finished the other half later.  I think.  That or it's still floating around in my purse.  Then because my parents were coming up for Mother's Day, I headed home to eat a quick lunch and head out as soon as possible before they arrived.  In retrospect, I should have eaten or packed more snacks when heading out but I was in a hurry and only brought a package of Clif blocks.  Two miles into the run I'm starving and realized my fueling mistake, but there wasn't much to be done about it.  The Clif blocks helped but I have no doubt the run would have been improved with extra food.  (Also extra water, because the park I was hoping would have a water fountain didn't and it was 80, and also from not miscalculating the distance of the run, thus turning my planned 11 into a 12.25 instead.  And while we're at it, it would have benefit most from sleep, seeing as I've gotten about 5 hours each night for the last week due to those darling little children who so enrich my life when they're not turning it upside down.  /tangent)

Still, it was an awesome day for a run and the trails were beautiful.    I also managed to finish turning over the soil in the garden tonight and it's a relief to have that done because it's such a pita chore.  (Yes, in theory I could have the hubbie do it, but he doesn't go deep enough because he claims he "can't" and rather than discuss the physics of why my 6'3" husband somehow lacks the strength to push the pitchfork far enough into the clay-laden dirt while his 4'11" wife is able to, I just do it myself.  Less whining, plus I get bragging rights.  And strong arms.  ETA:  he doesn't whine about everything, just about jobs he doesn't want to do, just so I don't give the wrong impression.)

Good morning everybody.  Went for a one hour bike ride this morning.  Spent a lot more time in the clipon aeros.  Starting to get used to them already.  I have also figured out that I can maneuver my right hand to the shift up without getting out of the bars.  That's great because if I'm down-shifting, there's a chance I'm starting a hill and will come out of the bars anyway.

I'm paranoid about injuries.  This morning I started getting a pain in my upper calf, near the back of the knee.  It stayed for the last 15 minutes of my ride.  I got home, googled it and learned it was probably just a little strain and I should harden up.  Feels better already.  Along with the after race pain on the outside of my knee.  I guess it's better to be aware of what's going on than to ignore things.

Very nice pic of Steve & the Mrs!  You guys look very happy and relaxed.  That waterfall is a great backdrop.

Dennis, I think being a little paranoid about the injuries is probably a good thing.  So easy for little things turn into bigger things w/out proper rest and/or treatment.  Do you have a history of IT band issues?  The outside of the knee thing sounds suspiciously like that. 

How's everyone doing to start off the week? 

MTA: started doubting my memory, but I think Kared DID have a tri on her schedule yesterday.  How did it go??

Wow Steve, You and your wife are an inspiration to us all!

Dennis! So proud of you! You rock!

For me, I finished my very first Sprint Tri on Mother's Day at Disneywith my wounderful daughter watching.  Does it get any better?

Details: Had to rack the bike the day before. Had to WALK the bike a mile to rack it, ugh.  On the way back to the "Dopey" parking lot after the race I realized why people invest in a TRI specific backpack.  I had a hard time getting back with my Lands End bag / transition bag.

Set up transition was morning of, opened at 5am.  So my major type A personality was there 4:50am.  I am soooo glad I brought a plastic dish pan and 2 liter with water to fill the pan.  The swim was a lake with "White sand" and then ran into mulch.  Needless to say by the time I got to my bike my feet were a mess.  Hence glad about the water.  I too walked the transtition routes the day before, so finding the bike during the race was not a problem.

Problem: Swim!  I had never -practiced swimming at 7:00am therefore never practiced with what to eat.  I had before bike and runs.  About 1/3 way into the 800 meter course I felt very weak.  I questioned if I ever would do another.  Then thought of Dori; "Just keep swimming".  Water was perfect! No wet suits allowed, it was say... 78*.  T1 sucked. just over 4 min.  But in retrospect, I chalk some of that time to the very long path out before mounting.  So not too bad. Passed a lot of breast strokers, not too much bumping. That part really wasn't as bad as I had anticipated.

Took some GU at T1 since I felt so weak.  Really helped. Bike was awesome.  Had fun passing a lot of people.  Only was passed by a few, and they FLEW past me! The course had six 90 degree turns, which I am not real comfortable making at high speeds and two turn arounds on a two lane road.  These slowed my time a bit. Guess I should practice cornering more.

T2 went pretty well.  Just over 2 min.  I remembered to take off the helmet!

Run was better than I thought.  I tried to keep pace with a few women, which I think helped me.

Overall stats:

800 swim, 12 mile bike, 5K run

1:38:51

Overall place 157/820  Age group place 14/95 !! Yeah me!

swim 19:54, bike 42:37 run 29.57.

Can't wait to do it again!!! Crazy aren't we?

What will I do different? GU before race, work on T1, like Dennis work on better bike mount, SWIM way more than I am currently. I had an absolutely great time.  I found the night after that I was not as wiped out as I am after a half marathon. Six weeks before my first ocean Tri...........-Karen

Congrats to everyone on great weekend events.  It is so refreshing to read the race reports.  I know for me it just adds to the overall tri experience, getting to re-live it with you. 

Nice tri, very good age and overall placement.  Yes I take a GU 15 min before the swim for any Tri/half mary or longer run race. 

I started Monday with a 4000 yard swim at 5am.  I did a pyramid 1000 yard steady, 500s faster, 200s faster, 100s faster, recover.  If I have time I will walk 4 miles at lunch and then bike 40 miles after work and then hrm eat or collapse into bed tough choice will call it later.  Long day at work today, lots to keep me busy.

Way to go Karen!  Sounds like you had a great race, and not too shabby on the AG and Overall place either .  Surprises me that you had to walk your bike that far and put it there night before, but I guess it depends on the venue.  It's nice hearing that the swim was not too traumatic as far as the contact went.  So you are really hooked now, right??

Did a bike/run brick this morning.  Bike included hills, 20-25 mph S wind on the way out, and my friend who is faster on the bike than me -- all of which pushed me a bit.  And have I mentioned that people in the park are clueless?  Riding through the park is the best way to get to a decent stretch of road, but geesh!  You would think that if they saw a bike coming they would try and not block the ENTIRE path.  This happens time and time again, so I guess I need to look at it as an opportunty to get really good at the whole unclipping quickly thing. 

I just noticed my "Way to go" reply to Karen never posted somehow.  So I'll do it again.

Karen: Way to go.  Awesome times and places.  I'm glad I'm not the only one who had a slow T1.  I'm just happy to know that I should be able to cut a full minute or two off my next race just due to fixing transition issues.

Steve: I notice you're doing a lot of walking.  Is that due to your injury or do still walk a lot even when you're injury free.  I actually enjoy walking but haven't been doing much of it. 

• Would you recommend that I maybe get in a few miles on my lunch hour when possible? 
• What are the benefits besides active recovery?
• Should I aim for a particular heart rate zone when I walk?

Carol: Are you getting accustomed to the clipless pedals?  I still have some issues clipping in my left foot at times after I get moving but am remembering to unclip without even trying now.  I did actively remind myself during the race to unclip at the end because I could see me being more worried about T2 than actually getting off the bike safely (like this guy).

You have all been busy doing amazing stuff. Good job to the weekend racers. Steve I am praying you have a quick recovery so you can continue preparing for your IM. Where are you doing it? I will be a volunteer at the Coeur D Alene IM this summer and I am really excited about it.

Carol you do have great patience!

I have been going though transition after transition. Graduation, traveling home, traveling to be in a wedding. My workouts are taking the hit, but I am getting in what I can. Did my first outdoor bike last Thursday and it was decent. Life is going to start settling down and I will be able to be consistent once again.

No I am walking because I injured my hamstring during the race on Saturday worse than it was injured from the marathon.  So I should probably not run for 2 months, which gets me to 20 days before my ironman.  Which means that I will be running the IM marathon without any run fitness again this year due to injury.  Not ideal. Walking will allow me to keep some of the other muscles somewhat activated and I should be able to get in about 24 miles walking a week... sooo slow 15 min miles.  I will likely not listen to myself and start lite jogging sooner than I should. 

I really try to avoid parks on a bike clipped in.  Fortunately we have no bikepaths or sidewalks or anything remotely civilized.  When I was in Santa Barbara one year I was on the bike path and one lady was walking her 3 dogs down the middle of the bike path even though there was 15 feet of dirt/gravel/sand to walk them on just to the side of the pavement.  She had this look that she owned the path and dared any biker to deny her.  She had one leash in her left hand and two in her right hand purposefully spreading the dogs out.  And then motorists complain about cyclists riding on the road instead of riding 17 mph through a crowd of folks walking side by side an the bike path.  Usually they are on a cell phone or have earphones in for music and can't hear you anyway.  Very unsafe.

I did CDA last year and will be doing Vineman in Santa Rosa CA area this year.  Hopefully next year I will be healthy for an IM.  The really hard part about the longer races is that you train for 10 months and then if you pull something then you don't get to compete at the level you trained for or have to drop out.  It definately adds a different kind of challenge to training.

Oh look it is snowing outside... lovely.  Almost time for my walk.   

Hey Dennis, yes, clipping out is going much better.  Only fell on day two of trying them, and haven't messed up since -- on that at least.  But the thought of stopping unexpectedly ala park path dogs and peeps still makes me nervous and yes, irritable.  Doesn't help that another cyclist came FLYING around a blind corner on the same path the other day, and almost hit me and a walker as I was passing.  Partly my fault for passing at that point, and partly his for going way too fast on a shared use path.  I feel so much better when I get to the highway to ride!   

That video was priceless!  I didn't know whether to groan in sympathy or laugh, so did both!  Need to watch it again before my tri this weekend...could easliy be me, and would just hope noone was there to film it! 

Congrats to all of the Racers this weekend.  Looks like everyone had a successful event and learned a thing or two about how and where to improve next time.

I did not get anything in over the weekend.  Went for a bike ride with a friend on Friday night and found out an old friend was in town for the KY Derby.  Met up and had a couple of beers which lead to an entire weekend of excess ending with a relaxing day with family on Sunday for Mothers day.  It was a ton of fun but I am a little upset with myself, should have known beer the night before my planned early long run is not going to work.  :p

Wow, you all are killing it!  Looks like I will need to step up.  26 days and counting.

That video was just painful to watch.  I am pretty darn good at unclipping as I do quite a bit of riding in the city and suburbs but who knows, it might slip my mind during my first tri...

Alright question, my first tri is only a 440 yd swim which is pretty darn short and I am debating using a wet suit.  I am scheduled for a half mile swim in my later tri and then a mile in my olympic one so I will wind up buying a suit.  Just wondering what you all think about me using one on a short swim like this one.

Keep these awesome race reports up!

Marcus

I used a wetsuit for my 500yd as did probably 85% of the other racers.  If you gotta spend the money sometime, might as well go ahead and do it.  Xterra has a 50% off code here on BT so you can get a full sleeve vortex3 for $200.

First swim workout today.  almost drowned

Was attempting a 100m free, 100m kick and a 1200 free, but that wan't happening.  Just did 2 100 frees and 2 100 kicks.  Than did a 25 m all out free (26 seconds) and then tried to count how many strokes in a 25m.  I think it was 26, but I might have missed some strokes when I felt like drowning.

Glad I have a few months of swim training.

Karen--nice job on the tri!

Carol--I also yell "on your left" and if that doesn't do the trick, I use my bell.  If people are wearing headphones though, they often can't hear me.  It's no big deal if I'm alone because I can go around on the grass (yay for my hybrid!) but if I have the trailer I wait until there's an opening.

Dennis--the video cracked me up.  I don't know what it is about people forgetting to unclip, but it's still funny.  Also, it has convinced me that if I get clipless pedals, I'll get a platform/clipless combo so that all my trail rides won't have any added "remember to unclip" stress.

Steve--have you thought about pool running to help you recover and keep your running fitness?

Troy--sorry the swim workout didn't go very well.

Headed out to do a 9-10 mile ride this evening only to discover my tire was flat.  Good thing I took the bike maintenance class a mere week ago!  Changed my first tire, but it took me about 20 minutes so I only had time for 6 miles instead.  Even then the sun had dropped behind the mountains halfway through the ride.  Happily the second half is mostly downhill and therefore much faster, and I'd brought my bike headlight and taillight for extra visibility even though it was still quite light out.

Troy-Drowning. Definately not good! lol Don't worry we all felt like that the first few times.  As I posted earlier, when I felt like that, I'd flip over and back stroke.  I associate that to walking in a run.  Gives me time to breathe.  You'll see improvements!

Lisa-You go girl! You changed a tire! I've not had to do that yet.  Actually Sat morning before my race Sunday I bought a bag and tube etc just incase I had a problem in the race.  Glad I didn't! I am so worried about getting a flat, especially the back tire! Changing it would totally mess up my nails! lol

Anxious to start working out again with th lull of last week preping for the race and yesterday in recovery mode.  Can't wait for tonight. I've decided to follow the OLY training plan, even though I am only scheduled for sprints. 1 1/2 bike 30 min run.

Does anyone see a reason why I should not follow a OLY program rather than a Sprint? I just miss the L-o-n-g runs and bikes on the weekends that are not built into a sprint plan... Let me know what you think. -Karen

I need help.  I think I may just be a little thick because I am lost. 

I am looking for a master's swim class but the local Master Club requires you to be able to swim 1000 meters.  Should I just call around and look for adult swim lessons?  I called a couple of places asking for Masters swim classes and they referred me to the Masters Swim Associations. 

Sorry to hear about your swim, unfortunately most of us have been there.  I can recommend you find a coach/class/masters swim/TI class, something to help you along.  But a large part of it is just working on drowning less while moving forward.  Much of what you will need is balance in the water.  There are a ton of drills for that.  But the drills won't actually help you balance and breath in coordination.  That just comes with practice and lots of water in the lungs.  It will get better, but count on a solid 12 swims before it feels at all decent.  The drills help, but at some point it is just the doing of it.  Later you will have to work on form more to get efficient, but first get through the "land animal in water" part.

The closest pool is 100 miles each way.  My swimspa is not deep enough for aquajogging and I am not sure my hamstring would like that much either due to the lifting motion of the right knee with the resistance of water.  The lake is only 45 miles away, but as it snowed yesterday, water temps will still be hovering sub 40F, so not willing to go there yet.  On top of that I got a stinger in my left calf lastnight on the bike.  I was in the same gear I have done the last 2000 miles in over the winter, not high cadence, not grinding, low intensity, high zone1.  A tad bit frustrating.  Hopefully I will be able to spin in a lower gear at a slower pace, otherwise I might be out of the IM entirely and done for the season.  I realllly hope my shoulder holds up for swimming or I will be sad.  Mind you it is not the shoulder that got opperated on that is giving me problems, but the other one.  It will all work out, I will retool, regroup and rebuild.  I have not completely given up on the IM yet, but my time expectations are... being adjusted.  Don't read this as a downer, just updating folks as to where I am. 

Anyway, glad everyone is having adventures.  Learning to swim, trying out clipless pedals, increasing swim, bike and run distance, endurance, going to races and doing well.  Take a look back 1 year ago and tell me what you would have been doing at this time of the year if were not already in triathlon training?  Sunny today, warm, life is good.  

 If you have the time and the fitness an Oly plan will have you rocking a sprint better than a sprint plan will (unless you are ellite and have a personally designed sprint plan with high intensity stuff and such).  The oly plan will give you the endurance to hit the bike hard and then hit the run hard also.

Thanks for the comments on the swim difficulty.  12 times!  I was hoping more for 4-5.  Oh well.  I just have to find pool time.  I live right by the RecPlex in Pleasant Prairie, WI, the new olympic pool addition is awesome (we call it the cold pool)!  There are plenty of coaches there for the Baracudas that I will definately be befriending

For anyone who is struggling w/ swimming, just know you have lots of company.  I've probably mentioned it before, but I wouldn't even put my face in the water a couple years ago.  Listen to Steve.  It WILL get better!

Yep, I yell "on your left" if I'm approaching anyone from behind.  Still utter cluelessness in many cases.  Probably time for me to quick complaining though and just do like my t-shirt says and enjoy the ride!

Steve, hoping your season is not as over as you are thinking it might be.  Know you don't want to back off when you need to be building to reach your goal, but maybe a bit of rest is in order for the short term.  You know...the kind like normal people take ala couch and cool beverage of your choice! 

OK, since I have a race coming up this weekend, I was thinking about the whole "don't do anything different on race day" thing that Dennis mentioned.  Then a friend posted this on his facebook page this morning:  "David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. 'I cannot go in these,' he said to Saul, 'because I am not used to them.' So he took them off." (1 Samuel 17:39).  Know we're not exactly fighting Goliath, but it sure seems applicable to the whole triathlon thing!

Steve, thanks for the encouraging words on using the OLY plan for sprints. To "Piggy Back" on that question: The OLY plan specifes things such as: morning swim afternoon run. Unless I get up at 4am, morning ANYTHING (except Sat and Sun) just won't work for me.  So question is, do you think it would completly mess up the plan if I did back to back like swim then run, or bike then run in the afternoons? In three weeks school is out for the summer (remember I am an elem teacher) and then I can work out twice a day as the plan outlines.

Thanks, and I know your frustration and not wanting to throw in the towel for the season. I got a stress fracture in the tibia...there went my first marathon, over trained again, there went the next marathon...Remember there will always be another season, but you only have one body. Take care of it. -Karen

Ceril and Carol- Good Luck on your races this weekend! You will rock!-Karen