MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 166)

GANG!

Starting sometime tomorrow I'll be out of touch for a few days.  Part of this is a brief trip with Lynn to a conference, but the other part is my first race of the year -- Mossman (sprint) in Norwalk, CT.  Never did this one, but won free entry to it by winning the a.g. at the same-name oly last August.

We'll see how it goes.  I have not done too much high-intensity stuff, but bricks last week and this morning are mildly encouraging.  Both were 20.3km bike and 5km run.  Last week on a decent day was the bike in 36:05 and the run in 22:36.  Today was windy and very hot, and the bike was 36:23 and the run was 23:39.  I'm not wild about the drop-off in run pace, but I figure with aid stations and competition to inspire me, I can get back into the sub-23 range on sunday.  AQnd today was, still 7:37/mile, so i won't quibble too loudly.

I think I'm comfortable with passing on Musselm,an sprint tomorrow -- just not sure I'm up for two red-line races on consecutive days this early in the season!

DAVE again -

I LOVE the data from the July 7 Masters swim.....but will need a lot of time to make full sense of it.  I think I just proved to myself that while I have spent some fair chunk of time looking at Garminized run and bike data, I have yet to lay eyes on swim data.  Intriguing!

Does it make helpful sense to you, the swim data?

DAVE once more -

Did you do the VO2max cycling intervals, and if so --- are you still upright and mobile?!?

And, yes, 1/10 of a mile at 5:30/mile DOES count -- think of it as a building block on which larger blocks will be stacked over time.  It never ceases to amaze me how much of what we do with this stuff is characterized by things that seem well nigh impossible at Point A.....but then by the time we're at Point E, say, we are so far beyond where we were at Point a that it's pretty much laughable.

So, you do 1/10 at 5:30/mile pace now, and by season's end you should be able to string together a whole raft of 1/10s at that pace.  And therein lies the key of diminishing run times!

Have a great learning-time searching for Monongy, and you're right -- it'll be superb sighting training (and pack-swimming training).  I take it you're doing the 1.2 option, which really does make sense.  The 2/4 is great for hard-core swimmers or those training for an iron-distance.....or I guess those just looking for a curious little challenge!

is it wetsuit-legal?  probably not, I'd guess.  I just heard from the RD of Mossman, which is in long island Sound, and even that is questionable for wetsuits; it'll be decided Sunday morning.  I didn't figure that L.I. Sound would be flirting with 78F, given its wide and close connection to the Atlantic, but there you have the ravages of Global Warming, once again, folks!

I suspect this is worrisome for the RD, especially if the water is choppy on Sunday.  It's one thing for people to be wetsuitless in a sweet little lake, and another if the water is acting up.  My guess is that if the temp is 78 or above......the course might accidentallyonpurposebymistake be mismeasured short.  Just a hunch.

And if this is non-wetsuit, it'll be my first ever -- and that's in about 100 triathlons (and six aquabikes).  I guess it's about time for me, huh?

Nah, save the $'s for some nice tri equipment!

Yo, Gang!

This is probably the last post until sometime Tuesday, although if one of our motels has a desktop off the lobby, I'll avail myself of it.

I'm feeling fairly psyched for Sunday......but will split my own self-interest with Big Mojo to JOHANNE and DAVE.

As for the rest of you tri-troopers, have great weekends --- and stay cool if that's humanly possible!

See you in a few!

Back from my open water swim race. I waited around for a couple of hours until the last swimmers were in and then some, and the officials didn't seem any closer to tallying the results so I left with the hope that something will be posted online later. There were 47 participants between the 1.2 and 2.4 mile options. They didn't have timing chips, but rather used a stopwatch and handed each of us a numbered spoon as we exited the water. I got spoon number 4. I think I was 4th of 8 in my heat (>40 men), and I know one woman bet me by about 5 minutes (my high school swim team nemesis). So maybe 5th overall?? Not sure.

Anyway my time for this Half Ironman distance swim was 35:13 according to my watch. I'm pretty happy with that, particularly given how little I've been swimming. It works out to 1:38 / 100 yds. I think it bodes well for the shorter distance Olympic swim in two weeks. I was particularly happy with how I paced it. 

Not quite sure what to make of my line. I felt like I was swimming pretty straight. The Garmin map looks pretty jagged, but that could be partially due to limitations in the technology: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199119639

The guy who runs my Masters swimming program won the 1.2 mile overall. Fellow Pittsburgh tri club members won the overall for the 2.4 men and women.

Anyway, nice, low-key event that I would definitely do again. Weather was cool (air was cooler than the 83º water), and the current was negligible. It rained a little, but I didn't mind it, though it made sighting a little more challenging.

Looking forward to hearing about everyone else's race weekends. STEVE! JOHANNE!

STEVE - By the way, there will be a big Pittsburgh Tri Club contingent at Musselman if you decide to go. Look for white, black, and gold.

Anne congrats on being a National champion! Just like the rest I'm looking forward to reading a race report

Dave, some awesome data that you can record on your watch! On your OWS swim data I think it may be hard to get an accurate idea of how your line was because the watch is most likely not completely accurate, and piecing certain waypoints together, but you knew that already. Still a very nice OWS! Could you do this as part of a HIM? Or would you be fried after such an effort (I know I would be, and be 15 mins slower!)? 

Steve good luck at Mossman! Nice names for tri's you have in the US, Vineman, Savageman, Musselman, etc etc.

I rode in the 60km Medio Fondo today (a shorter version of the Gran Fondo).  We were up at 5am and drove to Vernon arriving 90minutes early then waited for the 9am start.  After the start we immediately started climbing a respectable hill.  We also merged with the Gran Fondo riders.  These 1st GF riders were the lead group and very fast but I was still passing a lot of people on my own.

I had no particular goal other than finally finishing.  I was slow on the hill climbs as usual and there were some pretty good climbs and a total of 737m (2418') of climbing in the 60km.  I still managed to keep passing people and I felt I was riding fast for me.  Lots of 30, 40 and 50km/hr was a shock to me.

In the last 5K I was pushing myself hard and I was maintaining a fast pace for me and still passing a few people.  I love riding through intersections and turning corners at speed without worrying about traffic.  Then finally passing two more people as we cross the finish line and the announcer calls my name but can't pronounce my last name but I didn't care - came to a stop and walked into the bike lot and was surprised to find my wife waiting for me and catching a photo of me receiving my finisher medal that I had completely forgotten about as I came out of the bike lot.  It was actually a pretty skookum medal - not especially attractive but fairly substantial.  The really best part of the ride was the really tasty and ice cold beer and turkey sandwich after the ride.  I don't drink more than 12 beer a year but a cold one on a hot day and after a good ride...tasted really good.

In the end I finished 37th of 78 nicely M.O.P. but in my AG I was 2nd of 6 for the M60-69.  I was 20th of the 37 males in the mediofondo.  And, I finished!!

But the real P.O. was after all that and arriving at the finish line about 25 minutes faster than I expected, my pace was an average 23.6kph including all the climbing.  No improvement, no faster than my typical ride pace.  I was certain I had a faster average pace coming.

Yikes. Have I ever mentioned the time I was laying in bed in our houseboat at Catfish Bay when a tornado hit? I was by myself and didn't check the weather before I went to sleep. Woke up to stuff falling off shelves - looked outside and saw debris flying horizontally - went to grab my car keys so I could abandon ship and my knees started to buckle I was so scared. I had to order myself to move my legs and get the heck out of there. ::shudder::

Dave - AWESOME time on your OWS race. You are super fast in the water! Congrats on 4/5th place~

Johanne - Good luck with Vineman today! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Steve - Hope your sprint went well - your older, injured body still moves way way faster than mine. I'm sure you tore it up!

Everyone else - have a great Sunday!

Hello All,

I hope everyone has been doing well.  Been busy with work and training.  I just have a few questions on swimming and Jeff and Dave answered one of them about strokes in 25yd pool. My other questions are.

1) Pull buoy - Never been a fan before but I finally got use to it and it's not that bad.  When I use it, it sure makes the swimming easy then w/out it.  I guess my lower body is doing so major dragging.  is there any drills that you can work on to help improve the drag?  I know Steve once mentioned in our last mentor group about swimming down hill, still dont understand that but if anyone has any ideas please post.

2) I'm registered for Ironman Miami 70.3 on Oct 28th and they say the waters are usually around low to mid 70's.  Currently I'm on a roll on dropping weight so I did not want to buy a wet suit and then loose more weight where it is to big.  I think I read once about you can rent one, does anyone know of a website where you can rent one?

I hope everyone has a great week.

Look up TI balance drills. Swimming downhill and "press the buoy" Basically consciously think about head low, unnaturally low, imagine your chest and lungs are a buoy, which is essence they are and you are pressing down on that

I rented, and later bought mine from wetsuitrental.com

STEVE's Results Clock Time 1:13:01 Overall Place 82 / 531 Division Place 2 / 15 Wave 5 Swim 13:37 Swimpl 178 Bike 35:36 Bikepl 53 Run 23:49 Runpl 123 Penalty

2nd AG! Congratulations!

Johanne just finished. 6:57:15. Wow!

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DAVE - and group -

Those are the goofed-up results, with:

(a) T1 times added to bike,

(b) T2 times added to run, and

(c) the "division" including everyone 60+

When it gets sorted out, it will be 2/9 for M60-64, and the following times:

S -- 13:35

T1 -  1:47

B -- 33:51 (22.2 mph)

T2 -  1:14

R -- 22:33 (7:16/mile)

Very pleased with bike and run, and T times were pretty good.....and the swim was what it was.  The guy who won the a.g. was a "punk" who hasn't even turned 60 yet, and won't until October.  Those kids!

Distances were 1/2-mile swim, 12.5-mile bike, 3.1-mile run.   Very hot and humid, making 1:13:01 pretty demanding.  More later!

GANG!

In a motel in CT, fighting with Lynn's tiny laptop, making that last post about as lengthy as my swim time today!  So, I'm just finishing up with this and will wait to respond to everything else until I get home Tuesday.

Good race, really, and somehow I managed to have a good run off a strong bike despite going too deep on the bike.  No matter how many years i do this stuff, and how many races rest under my belt, I still make "rookie" errors early in a season.  I probably should've done a few more bricks over the past couple weeks, just to get that feeling of balance established in my system.  Live and learn?

I can't carp about the time/pace for the bike/run combo.....but I paid a good bit for it in terms of suffering during the run, and then drinking prodigiously post-race.  I'm not sure I have ever felt quite like this.....and this one was just a sprint!

VERY glad to have bypassed thge race yesterday, as it was even hotter in upstate NY yesterday and  wouldn't've been able to handle today's half as well.  As it turns out, I'm not sure I've combined a 22.2mph ride with a 7:16/mile run before, so that's cause for some small pleasure.  Overall, though, it's good to just be back competing again --- this is also the longest I have gone into a season before doing my first race......so maybe I'm best-served by racing later and less!

See you in a coupla days.

I never thought of skookum as a local only word.  Its a Pacific Northwest native term fairly widely used (in BC and Washington) to indicate a well made or sturdy thing or person. 

Quick check in from me!

Vineman was great 24:56 PR. I, of course, set some goals and had fun working towards those  I was so happy overall because I was not quite ready for this distance and it was better then expected. Mentally it was a good race because I has to push myself and it helped me realize that I could push and get the result I wanted Go figure!

More tomorrow! I'm tired!

Johanne

Thanks for checking on me Dave!

Steve and Johanne congrats on your races! Johanne I'm still working up the courage to sign up for a HIM next year, you might just give me the push I need

Steve, holy schmokes! Awesome speed!