Beer Drinker Appreciation Society - Open For Business (Page 149)

How did it go, Gretchen? I need to learn from you your consistency, amazed on how you keep track of your sessions..... After my HIM veeeery lazy, just few runs here and there, and some spinning at the gym: tomorrow will go out with the bike.
My plans: half marathon in November, looking for an attractive HIM in May (Barcelona?), and dreaming with a full IM in late August-early Sept.

Juan

Thanks Juan! My race isn't until tomorrow, so I've just been sitting around obsessively watching the water temp today. As of last check it was 79F, but on a downward trend, so fingers crossed for wetsuit legal!

Woot!!! Oly this morning! It was awesome--the race I trained for all summer and it could not have gone better! I beat my goal time by a little over a minute and had an absolute killer swim! I posted a race report (http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=535856) if anyone is interested. I also got second place in the Athena category!! Award was a pretty cool water bottle that I'm totally taking to work tomorrow!!

On tap for the rest of the day is a lot of laying on the couch watching football, I mean...recovery!

Hope everyone else is having a killer Sunday!!

Well done Gretchen

Awesome Gretchen! your consistency has obviously paid you divedends today!

Congrats!

Awesome, Gretchen!!!! Congratulations!!! That was so nice of you too giving that guy a tube! Kudos!
A well deserved beer to go with football!
(I'll admit, tennis is on here)

Holy cow, Justin! I'm glad you're okay! How is your bike??

I completed the White Lake fall HIM on Saturday, good news is I took first in Clyd, bad news is I also took last in Clyd. The race directors had a scale set up at packet pickup (something I've never seen before). and I guess none of the others were actual Clyds. Good for me though. Got some awesome Pint glasses as a prize.

I got up at 0445 and ate a peanut butter sandwich and a banana. I then drove the 13 miles from my aunt and uncles house to the event (The first water hand off was in front of their driveway). The weather was cool and in the mid 70's the forecast called for rain water temp was 84 degrees so no wetsuit. I got to the lake and set up my transition area. I did some light stretching and hung out until race start time. I was in the third wave to start (in water off a dock). Once again my swim was not going well, I am not sure why. When I looked at it on my garmin after the race I was holding a 2:30'ish 100yrd which is not terrible for me. I am guessing I just need to get more use to swimming in the open water rather than the pool. About 500 yrds from the finish both my calves cramped up, I tried to swim though it but they were just getting tighter and tighter. It got to the point that I could no longer stay about water. I rolled onto my back and flagged down a paddle board. He came over and I told him that I was OK just cramping up. I held on with one hand and pulled each foot releasing the cramp. I swam the rest of the course without incident. I walked/jogged to transition and drank some water got my stuff on and started the bike.

On the bike I drank a bottle of skrach with base salt, just in case a lack of salt or dehydration was causing my cramps. I was not thirsty but I figured it was for the best. I was making great time and holding 20mph for the first part of the bike. I knew they only had water bottles on the bike course so I had taken an empty nuun bottle and filled it with an extra serving of skrach and salt. I stopped refilled my empty bottle and dumped in my mix. Shortly after a strong head wind kicked in. It was the storm moving in. The wind was strong and stayed a head wind for what seemed like forever, everyone I passed on the bike commented on it, and along with it came the rain and plenty of it. I was still holding aout 14-15. Being a cool day I was not losing water as fast as on the 90+ days when I was training. At the second stop I decided to try the old water hand off without stopping. The vols were lined up 3 deep each holding a water bottle, on the first 2 I wasn't able to hold on but the third I was. I was actually in shock. I drank about half of it and tossed it in a large pile from the faster people. I did the same thing at the second hand off, but got it on the first try. I ate my peanut butter sandwiches and was feeling pretty good. I had some saddle discomfort but I'm not sure why, I have ridden longer every week during training and never had any but it wasn't terrible. I was feeling like a real biker so God wanted to deflate my head just a little, which happed at the dismount line. I pulled up and stopped the bike unclipped my left foot, but the transition area was to the right and I had kind of turned my wheel a little to the right which had gotten into the soft sand. As I started to fall I attempted in vein to unclip my right foot over and over, but realized the attempt to hold onto my real biker status was futile. I turned my shoulder brought in my leg to protect my knee and fell. Since it was right at the dismount line what I can only assume was about 100 spectators and volunteers came to ask if I was OK. I was laughing and told them I was fine but my pride stung a little. Racked the bike put on my shoes and was off.

I could feel blood running down my right leg and could tell I had a little scrape which was caked in a mixture of blood, sand, dirt and maybe a little shame. At the first aid station I wiped it off with a wet towel. My plan was to walk run but I felt ok so I ran the first 3 miles, then switched to a walk run. The sun did come out which turned it very muggy but not overly hot. Finished with no further incident.

My goal going into it was to beat my time on Beach to Battleship from last year. I knew that it would be tough since I was not going to have the current on my swim which is my weakest event. Despite my swim being 17 min slower I was able to shave 3 min off my total time. Most of it on the run, and a few min on the transitions which were not as long of a run from the edge of the water to the transition. My bike speed was almost the same. But the best part is that I am not walking funny today. I actually didn't take Sunday off and am able to work so that is a big improvement over last year. my total time was 6:36.








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Congrats, Scott!!! What a race and a nice time too!! Well done!
I love the part about having a little sand, dirt, and I think you said shame in your booboo after the fall. Yes, that will sting! I'm glad you were able to work through your calf cramps! I don't think I'd be psyched to swim 1.2 without my wetsuit - haven't had to do that in open water yet. Kudos!
I hope you got to enjoy a frosty one after the race!

I'm a little behind. First off, good job Jenn on 8th place. Always feels good to be in the top ten. Congrats Scott and Gretchen. Sounds like everyone's season is coming along well. I had my last bike race of the year this past weekend. It was the provincial criterium championships. I was racing against the #3 ranked crit racer in the U.S. (who happens to be Canadian). Normally it's reserved for the 1/2 categories only but since my coach was the organizer, he slipped me in. I ended up placing 8th in a very tough fast race. 43.5kph (27mph) average speed. The three guys who place top 3 were all the one same team and ended up lapping the field. Having a team is a huge benefit. After that race, I applied for an upgrade to cat 2. Waiting on that now.

Now that the bike racing season has ended, I'm shifting my focus to running. Have a half marathon planned for October. The Scotiabank Waterfront Front Half in Toronto. I want to beat my half PB of 1:45. I also want to get back into the pool. This fall I'm starting 'Operation Skin and Bones" I want to be under 70kg (154lbs) by Christmas (currently 77kg). Next summer I'm going to be driving around the US/living in a beat up old car to compete in the national road race and criterium calendar so I'm planning to be as lean and fit as possible.  

Anyway, here's me in my fancy new Robocop helmet at crit provincials.

Edited by adempsey10 2015-09-14 2:54 PM






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Great job all racers !! Our BDAS club is kicking a$$!!

Scott! awesome report. 1st place is 1st place! you have the hardwear to prove it!

Alan Robocop helmet! sweet, good job on the race!

Well done, everyone! I am living vicariously through you - only one 1100 yd swim yesterday since my race last weekend and I felt like I hadn't been swimming in a month - so weird.
It's beautiful and 75 out today - you'd think I'd be out on my bike! I am on that fine line of getting over a cold/sore throat and being very exhausted - sore throat revisited last night/this morning and not a great night's sleep so I'm going to baby myself just a bit longer. I just picked up another flight student though so need to take advantage of these nice days before I'm flying everyday! LOL

So I was going over things I've learned about myself from training/racing this summer and could throw this out there as a topic for the week just for the fun of it to keep up conversations.

Here are a few I came up with so far:
1. Swimming - I learned that even though I'm training distance (HIM) I still need to keep speed workouts a once a week priority minimum. Also, if I truly want to improve my swimming I will have to commit at least 4 days/week to it. (per my swimming husband's recommendation - he says 3 days helps you maintain but to truly make gains you should swim at least 4 days a week). I am hoping to see improvement in this area next summer with dedication over the winter.

2. A renewed effort on core and glute med work - this isn't just for running. My bike fitter commented that many people truly don't use their abs when they ride - I need to learn how to do this better/at all because I just don't yet have raw power. (working on it!)

3. Good food really does make a difference and sometimes it takes a bit more time but it's well worth it. My body hates grease. With my new food portables book I look forward to using other than highly processed foods for my longer workouts/races. GU's have their place, don't get me wrong - but eating too many during a race could have you running for the woods! LOL

4. It's actually okay to take a short walk break - heck it made me faster and I didn't feel like crap at the end! Bonus! (still a mental struggle to do this and I'd prefer at least in races to not walk but we'll see what next year brings!) The point - be open to new training techniques!

5. Finally...this year I'm learning to "enjoy" my races. Don't get me wrong, I've always enjoyed them on some level, but for me they've been more of a thing to train for and go as fast as you can to get through it, then figure out what I did wrong. This year I smiled more, high-fived racers on the out-and-back runs and accepted that as long as I'm putting out 100% on that day - that's the best I could do and that's that. I still go as hard as I can and of course I still think - if I'd been a minute faster then... but I don't let that be the focus as much. I am serious about training and about the race but I'm smiling more too and it's helped me to be more positive and less self-critical. I am my worst critic and have decided I need to be my biggest fan. Funny, I don't know why it's taken me 45 years to start to figure that out. LOL

I could go on - clearly I've learned a lot about myself this summer, but I'll keep it to 5. Now it's time to refocus - ride for fun in the foliage, get some swims in and gear up for running a few foot races with my hubby and coaching fall baseball for my youngest!

Life is good - embrace it, live it. No regrets.
Cheers!

Oh, PS - So my room was 123, bib was 456, I was in the 7th wave and came in 8th in my AG....now looking for 9! LOL

Edited by aviatrix802 2015-09-15 12:22 PM

So cool!! Look forward to seeing you in VT next summer! I've already told my friends (one is cat 3 and a friend of his is cat 1 or 2) who do the stage races you're on your way and need a tour guide for some gap riding! Look up the App Gap, Middlebury Gap, Lincoln Gap, etc. Here's a link for you http://www.northeastcycling.com/six_gaps.html
The four I hear about the most are the three I mentioned above and Brandon Gap. This particular link is dated 2013 or 2014 but the info is good. Also, check out www.thegmbc.com before you come as well. I know it will be a while but i may as well get the info out sooner rather than never!

Edited by aviatrix802 2015-09-15 12:52 PM

one more!





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So cool!! Look forward to seeing you in VT next summer! I've already told my friends (one is cat 3 and a friend of his is cat 1 or 2) who do the stage races you're on your way and need a tour guide for some gap riding! Look up the App Gap, Middlebury Gap, Lincoln Gap, etc. Here's a link for you http://www.northeastcycling.com/six_gaps.htmlThe four I hear about the most are the three I mentioned above and Brandon Gap. This particular link is dated 2013 or 2014 but the info is good. Also, check out www.thegmbc.com before you come as well. I know it will be a while but i may as well get the info out sooner rather than never!

Thanks for posting these pictures, I was telling my family your story about 123, 456, 7 and 8th and were laughing at me....but now they believe!!
I just got my food portables book after your suggestions, still not tried it but looking good!
Great post!

Juan

Awesome! Thanks, Jenn! I'll definitely be in your area some time next summer. I still have to gather up the race schedule and see where and when I'm going to be places but we'll definitely have to get together for some riding when I roll through. 

Jenn- that is too funny.

How was lake George? I'm thinking of doing it next year. the wife's family lives in the area

Scott, Lake George is good. I did the Oly (Little George) again this year, fired up for Big George next year. I toyed with doing Prince George this year (Oly on Saturday plus Aquabike Sunday) but hung with family. It's a nice lake to swim in, I feel pretty blessed I've had good weather both years. The HIM would have been hot this year (mid-80's is hot for us in the NE).
There is a lot to do there for family while the race is going on - as you know. Great outlet shopping 5 minutes down the road, decent places to eat. The kids can swim at the beach while the race is going on and the post-race food even for the Oly is good - fruit of all kinds, grinders, pizza, chocolate milk, etc. they do a decent job there and the goody bags are pretty decent!
I posted a pseudo-race report on the previous page.
Which race are you thinking of doing? If you come up that weekend and Alan does the Green Mountain Stage race, there's a potential all 3 of us could meet! That would be kind of cool! The stage race takes all 3 days of the weekend though so we'd have to trek across the lake to VT. Maybe I could get you all to our "camp" just an hour north of LG on Lake Champlain. Just thinking out loud here. How old are your kids? They could play with my kids (8 & 10 now).

Oh, maybe we can talk Dave Q and John into doing one of the races - the invasion of BDASery! Anyone else from around NE?

I have not decided on which race to do yet. We would have my In-laws to visit and my brother in law may want to run the race also. The more the merrier as far as BDAS goes. My daughter is 7 so they could hang out and play.

Just catching up, as usual

Congrats to all the racers and placers! You guys ROCK!!!!