Baowolf's Beginner Banquet -Sorry all tables are full no room.. (Page 16)

A good idea to line up the tire on the tube stem.  If you forget you can always just mark the tire with a pen or pencil (or a rock) when you take it off to change it... depending on what you have with you.  Also if you have bike gloves you can keep the glove on to feel for the offending nail or wire rather than your bare hand... if it cut your tire, your finger may well get bit. 

Nice half mary time, that puts you around a 3:30 marathon give or take. 

It doesn't take much to recover from a sprint, but I would try to avoid racing the next day.  But then we see how long I can just go out and walk without jogging 8). 

Busy here, end of the school year and though I do not take classes myself anymore (BA, MA, Ph.D., CAS, etc.)  so I know how much fun taking tests can be.  My last test for my administrative credential was a time pressured 6 hour essay test, so much fun.  That was even more fun that the two licensing exams and the general and subject GRE on the same day. 

Emotionally disturbed kids make you feel how they feel.  It is generally not a good place to be.  Very brave of you to take that on, but it requires a lot of patience, a lock on your fridge, no sharp knives, no valuables in the house, no internet, no cell phones, no credit cards, only basic cable at most, locked cabnets and it helps if you live 20 miles from the nearest house, store or rest area.  Simulating a jail environment and then once the boundaries are clear allowing them to earn some privledges is probably the best approach.  It is truely amazing what these kids have been through.  I am currently writing up reports on two of them.  One will likely be a lifer in jail within the next 5 years. 

Good deal on getting in the swim class, 1500 m for a starting swimmer is a LOT!  Let us know how that goes.  My swimming is focused mostly on keeping my body flat head to feet and tilted side to side with some effort at improving my catch and pull with a high elbow.  Usually I can get one of thsoe working at a time. 

Nice weight loss there.  I am down about 40 pounds from before I started training for Tris.  It goes on sooo much easeir than it comes off. 

Dennis--that's quite a change from the pics (and I'm LOL about the "not been distorted" bit).  Nice job!

Ceril--the foster child situation sounds really intense.  Glad to hear things are more peaceful now.

Troy--nice job on the half-mary, and impressive time! 

Did my tempo run after dinner today, just after the rain tapered off.  It's rare for it to rain for more than an afternoon at most around here (and most of the time it only rains for an hour or so), but it started raining Tuesday night and didn't stop until around 4 today.  My rain gauge says 3"!  We needed that, for sure.  Anyhow, it was damp and cool, and other than dinner not having digested as much as would be optimal for a tempo run, it was good to be out.

Troy - congrats on your PR!  And also your first brick.  Have a feeling there will be some speedy triathlons in your future.

Dennis - WOW!  Great job on the weight loss.  You seem to be in a really good place in terms of training consistency too.  I'm sure you'll find ways to stay active on your vacation.  Think I'll pass on the chest hair !

Ceril - I admire your courage in jumping into the masters swim class, and sounds like it's been really good for you!  LOL on having to check notes and calendars...I'm so with you on that!  Seriously tough situation w/ the fostering.  No way to truly know what is involved until you are in it.  And balancing that with keeping your family safe (physically and/or emotionally)....my hat is off to you for doing that for any length of time.  And congrats on the weight loss!  Gotta take it however it comes

Steve - you are making me have flashbacks to the CPA exam....3 days of fun - NOT!  I have a walking dog I can loan you, she will get her leash in her mouth and bring it to you, but may lead you on a squirrel sprint or 50.  You ARE walking, right??!! 

Lisa - glad you got some rain....wildfires everywhere this year.  Nice tempo run!

Will head out tomorrow to camp at the state park where the race will be held on Sunday.  Camping is a loose term for it...my friend has a big camper w/ slideout, microwave, A/C, you name it.  Weather is supposed to be really nice w/ a temp range of 50-70, yay!!

Yes luck with the races.

It appears we have some lost sheep.  Feel free to inspire them so that they can get back into the fray. 

Trivia questions, how are you most likely to get penalized during a triathlon?  What is the penalty for that offense? And can you actually get disqualified from a triathlon and what would it take to get DQd?

Didn't get my swim in last night due to my kid's TBall practice running late.  It was storming this morning so no swim then either.  I couldn't tonight because of a party for my boss I must attend.  So I went to my downtown Y, first visit, knocked out 1750 in 46:41.  I found a way to fit it in.  As long as I get my long run and bike in this weekend, this will be my first week without a single missed workout.  I'm starting to find my balance in the water.  For the first time none of my 50yd. times were over 1:30 and I had quite a few in the 1:15 range.  My technique starts to degrade of course the last 25% due to fatigue but as long as I'm making constant improvements and address my weaknesses, I'm happy.

For the trivia question I think the easiest penalty is not having your helmet on while working with your bike.  For instance, taking off the helmet in T2 before you've racked your bike.  I would say drafting is the #1 rule violated but rarely enforced in most races.  There's a PDF I've seen that I will link to tomorrow after others have had an opportunity to answer.

K not spoiled at all here.  Thought I would link some pics from my house.

What my kids do instead of swimming.

 Me in the pool. 

Who wants to do Hill Repeats!

Yes, bike trainer, Bowflex and Treadmill in 10x10 room, with laptop for movies of course.

Oh and another pick of my youngest 3 at the last race.  The waterfall is 130 feet tall. 

I haven't seen or participated in a tri yet but I would say either getting on your bike before the mount line or getting off after would probably be one that is scene quite a bit or not having your helmet on all the way.  You've got me on what the penalty would be though.  I am sure there is quite a bit that could get you DQd in a tri... pushing off the kayaks or other assists during the swim, drafting in the bike... taking a taxi to the finish line.  The list is probably never ending

Marcus

Steve,

I think the most frequent penalty is drafting.  The penalty is normally around 2 minutes.  Now with the invent of IPODs and MP3 players, I think that will soon bypass drafting. 

Ken

I put in a brick bike/run every Saturday.  Yes your legs feel odd and you can be running faster or slower depending on what your bike cadence was compared to your run cadence.  You can turnover faster than usual on the run and not be getting the feedback that your legs usually give you.  If you do not have the fitness this can crash you later in the run.  If you have the opposite you can work into the run for longer races, but need to suck it up and press though the deadness in the legs for the shorter races.  Practicing bricks helps you to get the pace down despite the feeling.

Swim feeling a little better this week.  My weekly swim TT of 1000 yards continuous is down to a 2:08/100 pace, ya not fast but shooting for a 2 second improvement each week at this point.  I also did a flat out 100 yard at 1:43/1000 ish.  The 100 yard dash was harder than the TT.  I think I can get the TT down to 2:00 over the next 2 weeks, but after that... not sure if I can hold the faster paces for longer.  I am trying to inch up the base pace while holding form and also throwing in some pyramid workouts to get used to the faster pace.  Arm strength is improving and a 3000 yard swim doesn't kill me anymore.  Perhaps there is hope on the swim.  I certainly will have to earn everything below 2:00/100 though. 

What workouts do we have going on this weekend?  I know we have some racers, so go rock those races!  Everyone check in with something. 

It's 4:45 here and stepping out the door in the next couple of minutes for a 10 mile run.

Went to a party last night and didn't drink anything but water.  How's that for commitment?

Thanks for all the well wishes!  Really nice to be part of a group pulling for each other.

Marcus, when is your first tri?

Troy, I have definitely noticed the faster running off the bike without realizing it.  Feel like I'm going incredibly slow, and look down at my garmin and go, huh??

Dennis, that's some serious commitment there!  I'm with you though -  told my friend to leave the wine at home.  Wine + camping + time on our hands = not smart night before a race.  Hope you have a good 10 miler!

Nice pics there Steve!  But that swim treadmill kind of gives me the shakes.  Actually any kind of treadmill does.  Beats a big commute though.  Nice outdoor terrain...bet your family loves the summers outside!

I received a cheat sheet w/ most common penalties in my race packet, so won't spoil the penalty trivia game too much. Will say that glass containers in the transition are apparently a big no-no.  And I'm wondering what constitutes a 2nd ipod offense.   I mean I only have one ipod, so 1 ipod only = 1 offense = 2 minutes?? --- hmmm.....might be worth it on the run.  It's a joke....mostly

Waiting for my gym to open for a short confidence building swim before we head out.  Noticed my swim suit is starting to disintigrate, oh boy...more stuff to buy! 

The swim treadmill is actually fun.  What is less fun is that you set the pace speed and then it makes you swim that pace the entire swim.  No slacking allowed at all or you get smushed agaist the back and your tonails trimmed.  It is really nice for testing improvement and I never have to sight or turn at the wall.  Determining how far you have swum while you are under water is a bit more challenging.  I end up counting strokes.... so ya a 2000 yard continuous swim set is 1000 strokes for me.  I think it tops out around 3.5 mph pace... I'm not close. 

Ok so dropping any trash like Gu wrappers, water bottles, etc. in a non designated trash area is a penalty.  What is the designated area?

How can you get DQ'd before the race starts (having to do with your helmet) if you are not even in the transition area at the time?

Most would probably question your running form and increasing mileage too fast.  When your foot hits the ground, what part hits first, heel, front or the middle?  If it's the heel then you need to definitely look into changing to a midfoot strike.  I have very little knee issues after changing to midfoot.  Have you been fitted at a running store for proper running shoes?  I know these are the same questions everybody asks but they do make a huge difference.

As far as new pains for me, my right foot is a little sore from the top through the bottom in the middle.  I think it might be from my elastic laces being too tight.  I don't have a run planned until Tuesday so like my other little pains hopefully it will go away.

Oh and the helmet rule I remember reading now.  Not having a USAT/CPSC approved bike helmet.  I remember trying to find something verifying that my cheap Giro Transfer was approved.  Never did but I did confirm the Giro Indicator was and the Transfer is just an Indicator without a visor.

Carol - we call that kind of camping, "Glamping" ( I guess as in glamorous camping)  We also have a camper, not big, but has a full bathroom, a kitchen, heat/air conditioning and most importantly a pretty comfy bed.  Hope you have a fun time!

Did not compete in my scheduled tri last night because of health issues and I was worried that if I jumped into it without training in the last 2 weeks that it would be too soon and cause me to lose whatever progress I've been making towards getting better.  However, it felt pretty anti-climactic to not even show up - so I volunteered for the race.  It was in-gym - so I helped count laps and I rode with them during the hour ride in the spin studio - hopping off my bike to refill waters and generally be there to do whatever.  Then I hopped on the treadmill next to my other buddies to cheer them on - so I ended up having a pretty good brick workout, an hour on the bike and 30 min on the treadmill, while having some fun.  I used my inhaler before we began and that seemed to keep me breathing alright.

Hoping to be that much better by monday to start on my 3x3x3 training schedule for the next 10 weeks.

Steve - awesome pics - I would like a water treadmill! been eyeing an aquaspa for a while now - but can't really justify the cost.  I've been guilty of buying exercise equipment and having it gather dust far too many times!  (although I'm hoping that I've changed my ways!)

Hmm today I swam 3000 yds and ran 3.75 miles after work.  Tomorrow I am commuting to and from work on my bike so that should be a good 14 miles each way.  After that I run into a slight problem.... my scheduled training program ends about two weeks early because of a tri that I canceled from our 'extended winter' here in MN.  Soooo I guess I will kind of have to make up some workouts to fill in the time until my first tri.

Carol my first tri is going to be on June 5th!  21 days and counting!

Hope everyone has and awesome weekend and good luck on your race and training!

Marcus

You win, if your helmet is not properly certified, you just get DQ'd day over.  I always check when I buy a helmet that it says it is certified.  If you buy online you need to be careful not all helmets are certified.

Good run stores typically videotape you run on a treadmill and show you how your foot is striking to determine how much stability you need for your shoes.  I'll check your logs in a sec my interent is like 10 min to load a web page.   You don't have to strike midfoot, but you do have to have your foot land under your body.  Overstriding is the big thing you want to avoid, healstriking versus midfoot is a complicated issue.  I mostly midfoot so I follow that philosophy, but if you change from heal to midfoot you have to do it slowly or you are likely in for some muscle issues.  You are not overdoing the run or bike.  Weight lifting really won't help at this point, but may agrivate them.  You may want to do more walking instead of running, so run/walk program until the pain subsides.  You can try ice and heat and such to help them recovery.  Do you have any medical conditions that may be contributing to the pain?  A hotub/bath after a walk or run wouldn't hurt and may be enjoyable.  You can add stretching to your routine, but don't stretch muscles that are already hurting... makes em worse.  You have to let them recover and then build in the stretching.  

I wear prescription goggles, wear them to my bike and then put on my prescription glasses.  I hate contacts.  If you have contacts you can just wear them with clear goggles, totally up to you. 

Man 85 mile bike ride in 25-30 mph winds today (no tree cover), kicked my butt.  It was my first outdoor ride after my crash where I broke my collarbone.  Was an interesting twing of emotional discomfort when I was at 40mph down a hill with 30 mph wind gusts... hrm.  I'll hit 300 miles for the month biking this weekend and 20 hours of workouts this week 8).  I haven't reingured my legs, but they are not ready for prime time for quite a while.  I shouldn't run on them for at least another month.. and I may follow that, for the most part.   

Yes your laces are probably too tight, I did that like 2 months ago and am still paying for it.  I have to wear my laces sooper loose on my right foot now for all my runs/walks until the thing decides to clear up.  Very annoying.  Ice it and stuff will help, no compression socks though, will make it worse.

Marcus you can repeat your longest workout week 2x and then taper, or depending on where in your build your plan has you, a recovery week than your last build week gets repeated then short taper (couple days) for your tri.

Whoever had the rules linc handy can toss it up now so we can see all the rules, ya I'm being lazy 8).  

I'm sure I missed something... hate internet being mostly down just reask something if I miss it 8). 

There isn't any need to double up your workouts given your current number of workouts per week.  Doing a 2 mile run and a 3 mile bike in the same day shouldn't be an issue.  Although... how is your bike fit?  If your seat is too low... it will make your knees hurt. Google bike fit so you can see what it should look like and then have someone take a pic of you with the foot on the camra side of the bike at 5:00.  I'm not sure what kind of bike you are riding, mountain, road, cruizer, so that will affect things.  But the diagrams will help you see how you want a slight bend to your knee so that the right hip bone lines up with the outside knee bone bump which lines up with your outside ankle bone bump.  Anyway the diagram helps but as I said my interent is buggy. 

As far as run goes, I would probably go shorter more often than longer less often to help ease in to things.  Rather than go 2.5 miles 2x per week I might go 1, 2, 1, 2, 1 miles or 1 2 1 1 or some such depending on your schedule.  Walking as much as you need is fine and you can even walk the whole thing on one of your added days, just to get your feet moving and your body used to things and then just ease in to it. 

Yes I wouldn't bother with new shoes, however... if you went to a place like Fleet Feet and had them video you running and measured your feet and let you try out some brands (yes the let you jog around the block in shoes) you can find out what you want for your next pair and you can look on the web to see if your current shoe has the level of stability you need (peace of mind).  Your shoes could be fine, would be nice to know 8).  Shoe fit is less of an issue with lower miles and more of an issue with higher miles per week, so by the time you are ready for a new pair...you should be ready for a new pair.     

10 mile walk in the snow and wind today on the way to church this morning.  Two people stopped to ask me if I needed a ride to town.  Yesterday when I was stretching on the bike, well on the side of the road next to my bike someone stopped and askied if I needed help.  Hrm maybe psychological after riding into the wind for 90 minutes, but no just stretching thanks for checking.  2+ hours walking to cover 10 miles... so slow 8(. Still snowing, guess I will have to bike on the trainer again, just too mizerable out there.  Hrm shovel the lawn and then mow it...nah wait for another day.  

So why should you not wear cotton socks on the run?  What do you do if you get a "black tonail? Is there such a thing as a gender specific saddle?  Why not just bring a snickers bar with you on the bike, they are cheaper than Powerbars? 

Smart to vollunteer rather than race... though you probably had about as much fitness as before you got sick.  I should not have raced my last race, first place ribbon though... hrm, a pricey one. 

How did the races go?

I biked almost 38 miles this morning.  Took me 2:42.  Started around 5:00am.  I like biking in the early morning because of the lack of traffic.  When I left I didn't have a specific route planned out.  After the sun came up, I roamed and explored looking for new roads to ride.

I did 2 stupid things this morning:

1. My left shoe wasn't clipping in that easily.  So I decided to just start unclipping my right foot instead of my left to eliminate that issue.  Well guess what happens when somebody's used to leaning to their left when stopped, they do it even when the left is still clipped in.  Didn't fall though because my left pedal struck the ground giving me just enough time to unclip my left foot and save myself.  I did bang up my right calf on the crank and chain though.  All is good now.
2. This one I need to be shot for.  About 30 miles into my ride I come upon an intersection I don't go through much on bike or in the car.  Long story short, I run a stop sign to make a left turn, when the car on my left had the right-of-way and wanted to turn left also.  Luckily they were paying better attention than me and didn't T-bone me.  I knew better than to do that I cursed myself for the rest of the ride home.  That will not happen again.

I finished out my week (Mon-Sun) with over 12 hours in training.  An all-time high for me.  87 miles on the bike and 18 miles running.  This will probably be my best over the next few weeks due to a sprint tri next weekend, some vacation time, and then a 11.5 mile run race in a few more weeks.  It'll be June before things settle down.  I will then be 100% focused on my HIM in September. 

Also, foot feeling a lot better today but still a little sensitive.  Tomorrow is a swim day so that will give it a little more time to heal up.

And yeah, where are those race reports.  Everybody survived I hope.

Cotton socks absorb sweat and will rub to help cause blisters.  Not sure how to cure black toe nails, but just have them removed if it becomes an issue I guess.

For those that like running a lot like myself, I can recommend the movie "Running on the Sun" that can be found on Youtube.  It's about the Badwater 135 mile ultra marathon.  A great book about running but he also talks about triathlon is "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running".  And if you haven't read it, "Born to Run" is an instant classic.

For Podcasts about triathlon I also must recommend "Endurance Nation" and "IM Talk".

Just thought I'd share some of the things I use for inspiration and to keep myself in a training state of mind even when I'm not training.  I'm obviously a little OCD about things and have gotten obsessed.

Oh and Steve, snow in May.  I think I'd have to move.  Of course when I'm riding 60 miles in the 100 degree heat here you will say the same to me.