Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 147)

Tracy congrats on having an awesome TT and smashing that record today. That must have felt pretty sweet afterwards.

Samantha it showed up as triathlon and it did follow a soccer game here in the EST. I did record it on the DVR and am hoping to watch it later on this evening. I hope I got it because I did not get a chance to watch any of the live feed and I really did want to see it.

Thank you, everyone!!!!  I'm not going to do a race report until I get the official results.  They will be out tomorrow.  Here is a Junkie race report! 

The weather and road conditions were almost perfect.  Roads were dry.  Temps were in the 50's, however, it was really humid.  The fog burned off minutes before the start.

I really was not prepared for this race mentally or physically.  My bike time has been sub-par recently.  I didn't even bother taking my tri bike to the shop for a "check-up" before this race.  Because of my lack of training, I decided to try a new race morning routine.  I know that's a cardinal sin, however, I told myself "what the hell do you have to lose?"  (I'll save my pre-race routine for the real race report!  Tee-hee!)

I started the race knowing how fast I would have to ride.  I was seeded as one of the last riders.  Ugh!  This course is a two lap course so I knew the fast dudes that went first would pass me in short order.  Sure enough, at three minutes, the first dude passed me!  I kept an eye on him and watched how he negotiated a couple of crazy corners.  I followed his line, then I never saw him again.  (That fortunate experience was an education!  I took one of the corners at 19mph and it scared the crap out of me!)

I finished the first lap right around the 15 minute mark.  I was feeling reasonably good so I decided to go for it.  I managed a negative split and I KNEW I got the record!

My average HR was 172 and my max was 178!  I kept my effort level pretty steady for the whole race.  It was just under barf level.  No, I didn't barf at the end but I could barely stand up.  (Shut it guys!  I know I didn't go hard enough! )  There is no way I would have been able to run after this race.  I definitely rode harder than I do during triathlons.

I ended up averaging a little over 23mph.  The course record is 28mph.  (That guy didn't show up today.  Weird.  He's always at this race.)

Thanks for reading.  I'll let you know when I get the race report done.  As you know, I'm bad at those things.  I'm really tired right now.  Cheers!

No kidding!  Lot's of "what if's" here.  No worries.  I learned some things.  It's all good.

Warren I envy you man I am a big time Cowboys fan and would love to see a game there one of these days especially a matchup against the Giants. Enjoy the game and hopefully the weather doesn't cause you guys too much of a delay. Have a safe trip back and I can't say I blame you I hate flying to begin with but turbulence and the wind scare the heck out of me.

You Rock!! That is awesome!

Warren I'll hit you up on Facebook and I would love to see pics of the "Death Star". Enjoy the game with your sons today.

Tony, hope Sandy treats you alright!  There seems to have been an earthquake on the other side of the continent by western Canada which triggered a tsunami warning for Hawaii overnight (warning subsequently canceled but still!)... I wonder if the end of the world is really nearing?!

Well I got in my first swim today in 2 months!  It started off rocky since I could not get my goggles to stop leaking so I was stopping every 2 seconds.  Regardless, it was good to get back in the pool, and this is the start of my winter swimming improvement plan!!!    Okay, no actual "plan" right now, and I don't know how this is actually going to pan out, but there are two main areas I'd like to work towards truly improving this winter... one, I'd like to improve my half marathon time (April half), and two, I'd like to consciously work towards improving my 800m tri swim time... which means I'd like to be doing both swimming and running 4-5x a week.... which is the part I'm not sure if that'll work out.  Still thinking about what exactly I'll be doing!  Although November will be a time to build towards that, i.e. maybe 3x/wk for now.  With the half marathon done, I can finally start looking onwards!

In other news, I'm hoping there will be a world series game tomorrow.............

Samantha I think we'll be ok just lot's of wind and rain. I'm more concened about the wind then the rain. On another note I can totally relate to the swim expierence. I have been going to the pool as much as I can in an effort to relearn how to swim properly since I was doing about everything that you could possibly do wrong. I was there 4 days last week and am going to do the same this week. I became so dependent on the wetsuit and pull bouy I literally can't swim freestyle unaided anymore not that I was a very good swimmer to begin with.

The last two weeks I have been working on learning to breathe bilaterally and am having very good success with that. My technique is much improved as well. I am keep my head down better and am rotating properly to both sides now. The biggest thing I need to work on is my balance. I am having a hard time putting laps to together when swimming freestyle almost like I have no endurance. Part of it is my balance and part of it is my anxiety and inability to be more relaxed. But I am working on it and I am seeing improvement. The key for me is to stay positive, be persistent and make sure I swim as much as I possibly can. I think it will pay big dividends if I stick with it especially before I start the IM training in January.

I hope the Tigers can hang in there as well and make it more of a World Series. I really didn't expect it to be so one sided. 

Wow, Tracy!  I'm very impressed.  What a great piece of work!  It's so nice to have something positive happen in your life.  Can't wait to read the race report!

I had a 5 mile run today that was the slowest run I have done this year to date.  I think my body is just worn down from hard biking, building the deck and not enough proper nutrition.  I'm going to try to do as much resting today as I can...maybe even watch a little football.  Whoa...crazy.

We got the tsunami warning.  Didn't amount to much.

Good goals and nice job getting back in the pool. I was out of the pool for a month - the longest time I have not swam in 10 years. I needed the break but it felt really good to get back to it and I really didn't feel like I lost that much. Do you have a masters class or lessons to help you improve or just swim more? I can't make the swim for fitness class at the Y this year but it is always fun and motivating to swim with a group.

You are going to be busy!!

I'm thinking about how to help you relax and feel the water. When I am swimming I can feel how the water moves over me all the way from my finger tips to my toes. Try this drill if you can, put on some swim fins and push off the wall with your arms in front of you like you are superman flying through the sky. Just kick and pay attention to how the water feels moving over you all the way from your fingertips to the tips of your toes. Tip your head in different positions and see what happens, tilt your arms in different positions and see what happens. Just focus on feeling the water, no time, no speed, no IM training.

This is a good time of year to play around a little and I learned a lot about feel for the water from doing all kinds of different strokes from drills to butterfly to flip turns. It is amazing what you can learn about how your body moves through the water from a simple dolphin kick. Learning flip turns a couple of years ago helped me dial in my head position.

We have started some home improvement projects in our unfinished basement this weekend. First step - painting the cement block walls. We borrowed my FIL's paint sprayer but couldn't get it to work! UGH, we had to paint in all the cracks and crevices by hand. I kept telling myself the same messages I say to myself during a race - don't give up, keep moving forward LOL. But we finished yesterday right before lunch. Whew. Next is the floor and framing up a closet and bathroom.

At least I got to listen to some of the Kona race during the painting .

Happy training week everyone!

Oh, and I moved my bike seat down 1/4 inch. My rear end did not shift around  and my knees have not hurt at all! I'll try to get a new photo up and see what you all think.

Dina thanks for the advice and I am planning to spend time doing those superman or pencil drills to work on attaining better balance in the water. Glad to see you have had success doing that. I need to be doing the same thing to work on not only my balance but also learning how to become more relaxed in the water. 

This is an 'assess my stroke' video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9FhQVp1at4

But it's my son from the pool yesterday.  I haven't taught him how to swim this is just him picking it up on his own.  He doesn't know how to breath yet but we can build from this.