Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 143)

Steve,

I think the post you are looking for is on Page 171.  So how did I break my toe????? I already said it was really unspectacular and it was.  Two days earlier I tripped over the stop my husband put in the garage where I am supposed to stop my car. He just hates it when I drive through the den.  So  the two middle toes on my left foot were swollen and black and blue.  Then when heading for bed 2 days later I hit my foot on the foot of our bed and broke my little toe.  It was dark and I was perfectly sober.  I think that is the first bone I ever broke.  So now running hurts. I swam today and that was fine so I will do that this week. There is no way I can put on bike shoes. 

Next week I am working at the turnaround for a 50 K through the Catoctin Mountains.  I did it last year and it was a lot of fun.  I guess I need to start building for Nation's.  Let's see BUILDING.. Oh I'll think about that tomorrow.  There is a little Scarlett O'Hara in all of us. 

Ellen

Thanks Ellen for the page reference. Now Steve doesn't have to rewrite it for me! That's a bummer about your toe Now you can just work on building for the Nations swim until it heals. 

Alex, hope your race was good this weekend. Did I miss your rr?

David, bike shopping sounds fun. I've never tried electronic shifters. Do you have aerobars on the bike you ride now? I'm toying with the idea of adding them to my road bike. I just got this bike for Christmas and I really can't get away with getting a tt bike plus I love my road bike so I'm going to make it work for as long as I can. Has anyone aded aerobars? Opinions?

I had a great weekend of getting back into the workout mode. Good bike Saturday with Dave, good run Sunday, 5.26 miles with a 9:29 min/mile average which is fast for me. No walking and I stuck to what the workout was supposed to be. 10 min of warm up, 30 min of going hard and 10 min of cool down. This morning we went to swim and got 2750 yards in. I have a bike later. I feel pretty recovered for the HIM which is great. I'm giving serious consideration to doing an IM next year. Dave and I are volunteering at IMAZ in November and I'll sign up with priority registration the next morning if I decide to pull the trigger. 

Happy Monday to all,

Johanne

Ellen - Sorry to hear about the toe, I hope it starts to get better so you can put those cycling shoes on and hit the pavement.

David - Man the Felt bikes look awesome and nice price tag for what you get. Keep us posted.

Alex - Ok, race is over and you had plenty of time to rest, now lets see that awesome race report and dont forget we need photos..

Johanne - I have a road bike with Profile Design T2+ clip on bars. I realyl like them and it's really easy to get used to getting in the aero position and controlling the bike.  I thought about trying to sell my road bike and getting a full tri bike, but I got such a great deal on the road bike that I would hate to give it up.

Well tomorrow morning is time to kick some hill butt. I have been riding this 16.4 mile hill route for about 2 months now and my best time on it was 1hr 2min at 16.38mph.  Funny thing is when I did this back in May I was trying to make it a hard hill workout where I kept it in the big ring up front and about 2 rings harder then I would normally ride.  Last week I did switch gears alot to get the best out of my legs and I was about 30 sec shy from beating the PR time.  It's really a tough ride there is about 8 really nice size long and tall hills.  Tomorrow morning its time to tighten my tight shorts and lock in for a brutal hell on wheels ride.  VRRMMMMM VRMMMMM (that was my internal motor). 

I hope everyone has a great day today.

Sorry for the delay in getting out my race report... but here it is sort of...

321/3552:07:0613/19ATHENA

237  --   22:17
3:03
258  --   57:00
1:53
345  --   42:55

Swim -- 22:17
The swim was pretty much the same as my last race. I started out slowly and got into a rhthym after about 100yds. Only had to stop to sight twice, otherwise I was able to sight while continuing some forward movement. I was ok with my performance but still lots of room for improvement in both technique and speed. I totally pull to much with my right, my stroke really needs to be balanced out.

T1 -- 3:03
Not too bad, got out of the wet suit pretty well. Once again struggled a bit with the socks and bike shoes and I didn't change into the bike jersey, I just wore my rash guard for the whole race. It was overcast most of the day so it didn't get too hot.

Bike -- 57:00
Very disappointed here. The bike is usually my strength in the race and while it was longer than a normal sprint I should have done better here. My average speed was only 16 miles per hour. That dropped from 18 in my last race. It was a relatively flat course with only 1 long, somewhat steep hill and a couple of shorter ones.

T2 - 1:53
Not too bad again, got out of my bike shoes and into my running shoes pretty quickly. The pier was wet so running with my bike shoes on was tricky.

Run -- 42:55
Once again I have no stamina for running. I can bike all day but running is just the pits! I probably walked more than half of the run. I know that I haven't been training in this disapline enough but I don't expect my times to get worse... I am trying to have patience with my knee so I need to cut myself a break here...

Overall
I guess it was an ok race. I didn't feel great. Because I stayed in a hotel the night before my sleep was off as well as my nutrition. I felt dehydrated for most of the race so I am sure that impacted my results. With the extra 4 miles on the bike my 2:07 overall time was acceptable.

It is really easy for me to get down on myself if I don't feel like I am improving... my run is just so difficult.  I feel stronger overall than when I started this journey but still struggling with the run.  I guess it is something that you need to build up slowly.  Running was always just something that you did while playing a sport... not a sport itself (my view of life in high school)    

Thanks everyone for the support!!!!  

Alex

Alex - Dont beat yourself down, those numbers are awesome.  It looks like me and you are in the same place.  I can bike all day with no problem, but once those running shoes go on, it all goes to the pooper.  I realize that I need to work on my running, but that is just so hard to do. After 7 months I'm still unable to run 3 miles without stopping.  When I started this training 7 months ago I couldnt run 1/2 mile without walking and now I'm up to 2 miles, so I guess that is improvement, but I was hoping to be at 3 by now.  The biking I would bike 8 miles and would be dead, but now I can ride 30-40 feeling good.  Keep up the training you are doing great, especially with your knee issue. Last month my sprint I finished the 5k in 47:37 so you beat my time by 5min

Well Im off to see if I can put a new PR for my hill ride.  I hope everyone has a great day

BOOOO HOOOO    No PR this morning. Time was 1:03:08 and PR is 1:02:??.. I really thought I had it.  I was pounding away on the bike, I really must have been cranking it out back in May.  I counted cadence about 10 times and it was always 90-95 except three times it was 86, 86 & 89.  I really felt good off this ride.  I even had the Military Drill Seargant yelling at me in my head.  I should have done a quick 1 mile brick but dont have time, I have to head off for mass and bible study then work.  I hope everyone has a great day today.

That's to bad I hope everything is okay.

Thanks!  I am trying to stay positive.  It is just running is so difficult right now.  Hopefully I will get it sooner or later...  I did a spin class this morning followed by a quick 5 min on the treadmill just to see how my legs felt.  Then strength training so got in a good 2 hours of work.  I had the day off so spending on training and then pampering with a massage...

Alex - Great job, keep it going. 

Jeff- Sorry about the entry fee.

I do have a question on the Kinetic trainers.  I realized I have a few items in storage that I can sale and If I can make enough money I thought about getting a trainer since that is a big ticket item and this money dont come around all the time.  I was looking at It seems that I want to get the road machine version, since I was told I want to get a fluid trainer if I get one.  Question is what else do you need to buy other than the trainer.  I know I need to get that lift to put the front tire on, but also do I need to get that computer, since my wireless uses my front time and not the rear one.  

stevebradley - 2011-07-26 8:52 PM JEFF - Sherman Collision? Oh, my, what happened?? I am sorry about the IMWisconsin entry, but at least by doing Rdman you will save many hundreds of dollars -- entry fee is probably at least $300 less expensive, and then there is the reduced travel. Heck, Redman my even have a decent refund policy, something that is sorely lacking in the M-Dot races! FWIW, IMWisconsin is a TOUGH course. Many people don't think it will be, but the endless rollers on the bike course kill many athletes and leave them on death's doorstep for the run. If you ever do a comprehensive search on comparative IM times, you will see how sneaky-hard IMW is. Only IMSt.George is meaner, of the North American ones. Just so you know!

Well aything can happen, I just don't see myself recouping it before Sept 12th. My wife "tapped" another car from behind in a right turn lane, that "tap" came with a $4100 repair estimate and allegations from the previously uninjured teenage driver that she was now injured. So my brilliant plan to save money with a high deductible has been thoroughly trashed!

Obviously I have other late season options such as IMFL or AZ but Redman maybe the plan.  Wife picked WI because she wanted to see it.

1600 meters tonight in a WAY over chlorinated pool, I think-burning eyes, very dry mouth and dry face, running nose and sneezing after each swim at this location.

STEVE-- Thanks for the encouragement and words of wisdom...  I definitely need them.  I just struggle with keeping things in perspective, it is my semi-perfectionist coming into play...  I did a strength workout this morning..no swimming/running or biking... it was good to focus on just one thing.  

Since I was off from work yesterday I stopped by my LBS to talk with the owner about upgrading.  (I also needed to reserve a rental road bike for my friend who is doing Philly with me in a couple of weeks -- the real reason for stopping) But I have been thinking about a new bike for awhile.  My current Giant is about 10 years old.  With all of the road riding I do, and no real plans to do anything above an Olympic length race (even in the future) I am not looking at a tri specific bike.  The LBS I go to carries Trek, Giant and Felt.  Do you think it wise to shop around further or go with one of these names... This is the LBS I have always bought my bikes at, the owners are great (always in the shop), willing to talk bikes and trade offs of what to do when... just really awesome people, so shopping around probably isn't something I will do.  But I guess that there is the Specialized and Cannondale brands to possibly look at... I don't know if jumping up to a full carbon frame from any of these 5 manufactures can be a wrong move...

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Alex

stevebradley - 2011-07-27 7:35 AM JEFF - Tough IMW course aside, Wisconsin does indeed have considerable charms, probably more so than the venues for IMFL and IMAZ....and Redman, too, for that matter. And Madison is a splendid city in all regards, and made even better for someone who has left-of-center social-political leanings. Milwaukee is also surprisingly attractive. Good state! Back when we had a nice core of badgers here, what with Sarah and Lori and Laura. But Laura left us very early, and Lori hasn't been here in well over a month, and Sarah was last here maybe 3-4 weeks ago. So, it's just me to tout Wisconsin's virtues to you! The teenager your wife "tapped" is another reason why teenagers have a bad name. The kid's a punk, but in all likelihood spurred on by parents who are trying to score a sweet settlement for nothing. At what point did we become a dis-functionally litigious society -- last 25 years, maybe? Lawsuits and bogus claims fly around like leaves in a hurricane, and I guess we shouldn't be surprised that insurance companies can be a bit testy at times. Bah. FINALLY, thanks for the updated plans as of a few days ago....and it does sound like there is method in your madness! I suspect it bothers you to have to pass on old standbys such as Hotter 'n' Hell, and all I can do is empathize with your plight. Having said that, though, I'll quickly add that I have a long rap sheet of instances where I over-raced at critical times, and subsequently suffered less-than-optimal results in races that actually DID matter to me. I was still prone to this nonsense two seasons ago, but last season and whatever I can craft out of this woebegone season have shown me to have finally learned my lesson. The short of it is that I can't have it both ways -- lots of racing, and having the best results where and when it matters (key races for USAT rankings points). So, keep fighting the good fight about making your priorities clear, while also enjoying the act of racing and treating "B"- and "C"-priority as great learning experiences. After all,enjoyment and learning are the two key reasons why most of us are doing this triathlon stuff!

Well I was prepared to forgive/ignore their politics and just enjoy what I know to be a pretty state and nice city. I tend to lean right of center with a strong libertarian streak. The bogus claims work because the insurance companies rush to settle due to the cost of fighting it. I am an advocate of tort reform for sure but for as long as politics remains dominated by lawyers I doubt it will change.

 There is a rush of sorts to my approach to this. My wife and I have off and on conversations about a baby, and I am not getting any younger (wife is 26). I also understand the way my focus and attention cycles, at some point, within 2, maybe 3 years my focus will shift. Hopefully I will never again completely abandon being active but, at some point Im going to want to resume building all that furniture I set out to build, or finish that instrument rating or build an airplane or some other aviation goal, if we make that move to the family farm in Kansas that old farm house and related issues will become my focus. So, I am making the best of this current phase.

HH has all the name recognition and sense of moment and history (30th year), but also has the downsides of 10,000 crazy people, many of whom are not trained or prepared, a largely unattractive city and occasionally some brutal conditions, not always hot-"windier n hell, and rain are prospects, but probably no rain this year.

 AZ is a place we both have wanted to visit, I have relatives in Fla but November is never a good month for us travel wise. My secret interest was IM CDa. I will enter the Kona lottery, who knows maybe that's what the Triathlon Gods had in mind anyway.

There isn't much interesting about OKC for us. It really is a nicer town that people give it credit for, but not real attractive.Redman will likely be hot, the roads in the area are marginal but I can handle that. The swim can be shallow in places-almost walkable and if the current drought continues it will get worse.