MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 151)

Hope you have a great race tomorrow Jeff. You've been lucky to have been able to train in the heat so at least that will help. Have you been able to do any of your open water swims without a wetsuit?

JEFF -

I can't quite believe I'm saying this, but for tomorrow it may well be beneficial for wetsuits to be not-legal.  Why?  Because if it's close enough right now to that 78-degree threshold, then wearing wetsuits would effectively cause people to dehydrate on the swim --- and of course that's not desirable on a day on which keeping hydrated is critical.  It would help quite a bit, though,  if you have a sleeveless suit; do you?

All that said, I would probably opt for my wetsuit were I there -- and hope to high heavens i could re-establish decent hydration levels early on the bike leg.  Normally I wait about ten minutes before drinking on the bike, but tomorrow at KS70.3 it would be a whole different approach!

The current weath chan forecast has a high of 93, and that -- as you said earlier this week -- won't be reached until early afternoon.  I think the graph had 80 being reached around about 9 a.m., and that would put you a fair ways into the bike, right?  And to my mind, 80 isn't bad at all, so if it can just keep creeping upward sfrom there......you might not feel all that much discomfort.  And as JOHANNE said, you're no stranger to the heat, training it as diligently as you do.

By the way, are you there yet?

ANNE -

Ah-ha!  I see the results!

Interestingly, your run pace today was about exactly what you did last Sunday; did you plan it that way?!?  I'm figuring you are pretty pleased with that, given that conditions today (wind; running on uneven grass) cannot be as good as they were last Sunday, right?

Better swim and bike times than the woman above you.  NICE!!

Lordy, it's grand to see an entire set of tri race data for you!!!!  It's been a long time comin'.....and we'll see more tri race stats from you at Leamington next weekend!

I can hardly wait to hear how you felt in all respects today.  WELCOME BACK, TRIATHLETE!!!

CURT and JOHANNE -

I'm off on a ride now, but I'll get to you two later this evening! 

I am "here". The bike is in T-1, packet picked up, body marked, checked into the hotel getting arranged. Yes I am not too concerned with the heat now, late afternoon high isn't. Hopefully I am out of the water well before 8 (6:50 start) so maybe 7:30-35 swim exit. It is windy and the water has a mild chop but noting dramatic. It is of course up hill out of the water and an uphill transition then a head wind out to the course.

I do not have a short sleeved wetsuit, I suppose if I am going to do this stuff I might consider one? Someone said the water was 77.5 today. I suspect they find a magic spot to get it legal, I will wear it if it is. I feel ok about my swimming but never venture very far out in the lake without and feel more confident with it for long/deep swims. If the temp is too high they will start wetsuit wearers in the last wave so I will not do that, just take my chances.

I took ibuprofen this morning and my ankle felt much better. Even with all the walking at the race site it didn't start to get sore again until late. I hate to say it but I think this is a posterior tibial tendonitis issue-oh well.

Hope you have a great race tomorrow Jeff.   Wow, 77.5 is WARM.   Our water today was 72 and it was VERY comfortable.  I did wear a wetsuit just to be competitive with everyone else.   Only a handful w/o.    Ken and I feel the same as you about feeling more confident with the wetsuit for the long/deep swims. 

Hope the ankle behaves for you. 

THANK YOU!      We had a great day, despite the 26km/hr winds and heavy rains.   At least it was warm. 

You are funny.   I am pretty good at picking a pace on stand alone runs but today was a crap shoot - whatever was going to happen would happen.    I was able to do what you suggest when running off the bike - small strides, high turnover and stand straight and tall, but the legs were SLOW, SLOW, SLOW.       It took a couple of km before they started to move faster.

The bandaid fell on in the 1st km of the run, but fortunately didn't aggravate the original blister and cause me any further grief, thankfully.  

I have put a brief (for me) summary in my training blog, and will do a real race report later.  

Thanks for your support Steve.

Anne,

Yea on your race! I don't see the race results so I'll have to wait for your report

Johanne

Thanks Johanne.   I am really happy to be able to do a full triathlon again.    I was 3rd (out of 3 ) and was the oldest woman.   I was surprised at how easy going I was and despite the bad weather, still having fun.   It was so important to me to do this w/o hurting myself.   Although one guy did give me a direct hit to the eye in the swim w/u when I was treading water talking to someone.  

Going to write up a more detailed report tomorrow.

JOHANNE,

Finally sat down and checked out the pictures and commentary on your trip to France.   I cannot believe how great the pictures are.   I would want to print and frame some of them.   And I liked the way the meals and desserts kept popping up every few frames.    

The whole trip sounds wonderful. 

First OWS of the season. Dave and I went with our friend to a canal that he swims in and I loved it. Great scenery and I loved just being able to swim without turning every 25 yards 3344 yards in 1:22 which at this point in the season should have me out of the water in less then 2 hours at IMAZ which is one of my goals. When we got home, Dave and I went on a 2:22 bike ride. Lots of headwinds on the way back but I still felt good for the day. We followed it up with snacks and wine tasting with all 3 kids at a local winery we belong to. I think I'm going to bed by 8:30

Johanne

Thanks! I have sooooo many more pictures too Yes, I'm planning to print a few out to have around the house. It was a great trip and AMAZING  food! I gained 5 lbs but I think I have most of it off already. I'll get on the scale Monday

GANG!

Computer hassles up here, for no apparent reason, so i will do it in snippets to prevent losing something ginormous.

Onwards!

JOHANNE -

Well, I'm impressed!  There you are, first OWS of the season, and you blithely knock off all that yardage -- and in 1:22, no less!  I'd be very surprised if you weren't out of the water at AZ in closer to 1:45, as you will no doubt benefit from a big draft for the first 10-15 minutes.  I'm just sayin'!

Equally impressive (okay, not quite so impressive) is the follow-up 2:22 ride; no wonder you've lost the 5lbs gained on your trip!  And if you do go to bed by 8:30, rest blissfully in the knowledge you earned it!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.............

JEFF -

My heavy-duty thoughts will be with you for sure, but I will be leaving for Syracuse at 5:15 a.m. and won't return until a bit after midnight; so, no tracking from me.

FWIW, 388 sounds like a fine number; may it serve you well!

JEFF again -

I'm going backwards, so just saw your post about water temp and the wetsuit.  After I wrote you earlier, I thought more and there was no question in my mind -- I would wear the wetsuit for a half-iron if the water was 77.9 and the air temp 104.  I think as I said earlier, i would trust my ability to rehydrate, rather than my lack-of-ability to do 1.2 miles even quasi-decently without a wetsuit.

After 7+ years of doing this stuff, I finally got a sleeveless -- top, that is.  I wear a DeSoto two-piece, so an advantage to that was I was able to just get the top, thus saving some small amount of money.  It really is a different animal, sleeveless, and for people with master mechanics in the water, that is the prefertence as it doesn't mess with upper body form at all.  If you are looking for a sleeveless wetsuit, just wait a while and a deal from Xterra will appear here at BT.

Glad the ankle is feeling better, and if it is PTT, that is better than it could be.  I have found PTT to be a nuisance, but not a deal-breaker, and like many tendon issues, it often improves as a run progresses.  i hope it works that way for you tomorrow.

Try to take ibuprofin with you on the run.  I'm not thinking so much about the ankle as the possibilities of a crushing headache from stressing so much under the sun and in the heat.  But again, all your hot-weather training should help hugely in this regard.

Pace wisely, and NEVER miss getting something at every single aid station.  Have as much fun as you can out there tomorrow, Jeff!

JOHANNE again -

Myy closest OWS ia about 35-40 minutes away, but when I go to Ottawa for it ---- I get to enjoy Ottawa either/or before/after.  Perfect!  In fact, about two years ago I pretty much ditched my time-honored "swimming hole" in the St. Lawrence River in favor of a great spot in Ottawa.  I now swim in the Rideau River just upriver from the Rideau Canoe Club, and I follow the looooong buoy line the club puts out for its canoeist and kayakers.  It is almost better than ideal, although I do have to try to time it so I'm not swimming when the serious canoe/kayak crowd is out in force; mostly I succeed at that.

Nothing yet on the MRI, but i'm scheduled to see my sports doc on the 29th to discuss it.  i just got that call today, so I figure something showed up.  That would eb good.....I think.....depending on what it is......although at this point I'd just like to know what exactly the problem is.....I think.

Your thoughts on doing a homebrew HIM are valid, and I'm sure you could pull it off.  There are aspects of the Real Deal that are useful, but they are not essential-- especially with the cost of HIMs being so prohibitively high these days.  An alternative you might consider, especially if the competitive bug keeps chomping at you, is an aquabike.  that would give you a chance to kind of hammer the swim and bike and see what you have, all without worrying about running afterwards.  But some aqbks are the same cost as the complete half-iron itself, so that wouldn't help money-wise.

My former coach used to go nuts with me and my love of racing, and he was always working to rein me in and keep my eyes on the prize.  Before IMLP '04, which was my first, he and four friends traveled from Ohio to do Musselman half-iron, two weeks out from IMLP (which all four were also doing).  I desperately wanted to do the half as well, but he forbade it....and I settled on the sprint instead.  That was something, anyhow, and I do have to admit that he was right in his stance.  he ahd done 9 irons up to that point, and the otehrs had each done 4-6 or so, so they all knew what their bodies could handle so close to an iron.  For me, though, it was all still unknown, terra incognito, a crapshoot. 

(FWIW, i think the half-iron would've taken too much out of me so close to the iron.  The four of them had the advantage of being much yyounger than I was, too.  So it goes....and so it went!)

CURT -

Interesting musings, to be sure.  It takes a while for most triathletes to get the point you're thinking is at right now, and when it happens it usually means that improvements have happened and are happening, and that confidence has every reason to be elevated.

And for you, it makes sense.  There are the reasons you state in the "95%" paragraph, combined with your remarkable consistency, combined with your acquired experience....and it's time to start thinking about different approaches to racing.

As for red-lining, I'd recommend waiting a while -- and maybe a pretty big while, too.  My first red-line efforts came in '07, and I staretd triathlon in '00, so it was a looooong while for me.  thats'ot to say I "cruised" for all of those first seven seasons, but for me it was a massive difference between working hard and pushing myself into uncomfortable zones, and red-lining.  And, there were many, many increments between crusing and red-lining, so i was able to keep myself amused and engaged and ever-improving.....without entering that acute sufferzone of red-lining.  That's what i would recommend for you, too.

Injuries area very real possibility with red-lining, and it's why i never do pure speed sessions with my running.  Even though i think i have a good grasp of my running mechanics, in actual fact they change when I do true speed work.  This mostly involves too much strain on my achilles, and that is not a palce I want to visit.  Ever.  (But it has happened, those visits....)

So for me, to red-line in a race is really to ride the hard tempo-effort for the majority of the run.  if it's a 10km in an oly, i will maybe "allow" myself 2-3 minutes to get into the groove of my stride.....and then for the duration it's riding that edge the whole way.  For sprints, with the 5km, the acclimation period is brief -- hopefully less than a minute.  in both cases it's about establish fast turnover immediately, but without the complicating influence of top-end speed (in a tempo-run framework).  Does that make sense?

Remind me to tell you about "learning" to ride the bike HARD in a race, as this was key for me in moving to the next level.  I will just say quickly now that it was in '06 when a torn meniscus restricted me to aquabikes, so I never had to worry about running off the bike.  It was just all about pushing myself on the bike as hard as i could.....and then the following season when I was back doing triathlons again, I had to work hard to balance the hard bike (dialed-back some) with the ability to run well after it.  There, that's about half the story right there!

Your post is a superb one.  I think you should keep it as a very honest assessment of where you're at in early June of '12.  (I mean that seriously!)

You will be out of the water well before 2 hrs.   I am a slow swimmer and I did Lake Placid last summer in 1:45.  

Hope you had a good sleep. 

Hey Curt,

Just taking a breather, and catching up on some posts.   I read Steve's response to you and agree with everything he says (he has given me the same guidance over the past couple of years). 

I also agree with your thoughts on how to handle your first tri of the season, especially after doing my 1st full tri in a couple of years.    I have been giving some thought to my training this year and the run races I have done.   This is the first year EVER where I am being successful in the racing plus feeling good (no aches or pains) and most importantly, no injuries.  And always having energy for other aspects of my life. 

I decided to wait until doing Binbrook and see how I did before I came to any concrete conclusions.   And the conclusion I have come to is that right from the start of my tri 'career' I have always done TOO much training, TOO fast, and TOO hard.  It always was so easy because I was fit cariovascularly (sp?) and really competitive, but my skeletal frame, muscles, tendons and connective tissues couldn't handle the strain.  Rarely took a day off.   And I NEVER listened to the coaches.   How could it possibly take that long for the body to learn to handle the strain, I thought. 

This year my training has been minimal; I have done NO speed work; and I take LOTS of recovery days.   I actually have been a bit concerned about being under trained coming into this first tri.   But having the great day I did putting in a moderately hard effort (say high Z2) in awful conditions, resulting in a good swim (apparently course was a bit longer than 750); a 27.3km/hr bike avg on a not easy course with 26km/hr winds and doing a 7.5km run off the bike with no walking, definitely proves to me it's all about SMART training, not about volume and intensity.   And we both feel great today. 

Actually one more contributor to our success this year is our change in nutrition.   It should not be downplayed.

Which I think is the way you are leaning.   SO, I would suggest you keep that approach and have an awesome, injury free, season. 

TRINA,

Sorry to hear about the UTIs.   I had a big problem with them in my younger days and then when I got married.     Not for many years now.   I use the shorts as you suggest and the chamois butter but I think that is more for the possible chafing.   Sometimes if the padding is too thick that can cause more sweat and moisture than a thinner padding (which is what I use now).   Also need to wash the shorts after every use, which most women do, but apparently not the men.

Taking hot baths can also contribute to the problem and using any scents or soaps.   I mostly take showers and when I do have a bath, take a shower first, so I'm not soaking in any bacteria. 

I'm going to send you a PM on another possible cause.  

Good luck resolving this.  

Hoosierman Completes the Hoosierman Sprint Triathlon!

I will post an official race report later when official results are available but wanted to tell about the preliminary results etc.

I had done this race the previous two years. I got second in my age group last year due to a fluke -- lack of participants. This year they cancelled the olympic distance so I knew many of those athletes would do the sprint which would make a podium finish much less likely. 

When I arrived I could see that the bouy for the swim was at maybe 125 yards off the beach. I thought maybe they were going to drag it out deeper a little later but they never moved it much. The swim course was supposed to be 500 yards. It was maybe 250 with a long run off the beach that counted as swim time. That is a bummer for me because I am a strong swimmer. If the swim had been as advertised I am sure I would have finsihed 2-3 places higher in the final standings. I finished the swim in a little over 6 minutes. Transition time was 1:50 or so -- it could have been faster but I decided to wear my gloves and one got stuck. 

The bike course is rolling and has two or three really steep spots. I was able to finish it in 33 minutes and change for exactly 18 mph which was my goal. Transition to the run was about 1 minute. I passed about 10 riders on the bike, most on the first hill out of transition. Dueled one lady -- we passed each other 5 times but I got the last one going in to transition 2. This leg was really improved. My first Hoosierman I must have been passed by 80 riders. This time I passed more than passed me.

To make up for shortening the swim they added to the run. I estimate it was more like a 3.3 or 3.4 mile run. It has an uphill trail run for the 1st half mile, then downhill trail for another half mile, then the rest on pavement. Finished the run in 27 something which worked out to 8:40/mile if you believe it was 5K which I don't. The fastest finisher I saw for the run was 7:00/mile. 

Swim time was 24th overall, bike was I think about 50th, run was about 40th. Good for 36th overall out of about 150. Finished 6th in the 40-44 age group if you subtract the 3rd place overall finisher who was 43. My overall time was a little over 1:09:00. My goal going in was 1:10-1:15 so I guess I am happy but I don't really know what to make of the time compared to last year since the course was messed up and the field was much more experienced than the previous years. Anyway I improved my time by about 14 minutes compared to last year I believe for what that is worth. I feel pretty good and think I could go out and do something more if I had to. Previous years I came home and laid in bed for 4-5 hours, then got up and limped around for a couple of days.

Doug,

That swim was short! I can't imagine only being in the water a few minutes. It's probably going to be hard to compare this race to your other years results with the course change but I think the way you're feeling post race is a good testament to improvement Congrats on a good race!

Johanne