Newbz' group is FULL (Page 17)

It was "Dear John."  It was okay for a chick flick.  At least there was some military shooting and stuff to keep me from getting to bored.  There was a part where a Spec. Ops. soldier choose his country over his girl, I liked that part.  The woman didn't understand and I told my wife, she wouldn't understand either.  Oh-rah!

Headed for my long swim.


Edited by DirkP 2010-02-26 2:47 PM

haha yeah.

that and she's out of your league are the only movies i have even seen previews for recently.

I haven't seen the previews for Out of your league.  I did tell my wife that we had to go see Green Zone immediately following Dear John just so I could have my "man card" back.  We didn't go see it so now she has both my balls and my man card in her purse.  Now I think I am growing boobs and starting to talk with a higher voice.  LOL

The swim was pretty tough but more because of cramps then anything.  I have had more problems with cramps since coming back from Oklahoma than all the swimming I have done since starting in September.  I think I am getting plenty of potassium with the bananas and other sources I eat.  Right now I am at a loss to put a sure reason on this.  I am thinking I am pushing off the wall hard on my turns, but it doesn't seem to be any harder than usual.  I've wondered if I am staying too tense after pushing off but I don't know what's going on.

Any suggestions?

My guess would be either hydration or lack of swim fitness. because of the layoff you might just not be used to swimming agaibn. also if you did a hard run/bike, or any run/bike before swimming/calves are tight, etc, that would do it.

I usually am hydrated pretty well, at least I think I am.  My run was in the morning with several hours between the swim.  Other swims have been bad for cramps but not as bad as yesterday's.  I had a lot of cramps yesterday!  I caught them all before they had a chance to get very bad, except for one and I had to stretch it out for a couple of minutes.  I hadn't thought about lack of swim fitness as a cause though.  I guess I never thought about cramps from something like that.

I ran 6 miles today and felt very good.  No knee pain at all.  That's 2 runs in a row with no pain whatsoever.  Next week I am going to go for 7 miles and start the base building for the half marathon in May.

I spent some time making some adjustment to my aero set up and it seems to feel okay.  One thing is, I tried to raise my seat and about all I did was reach for the pedals.  I tried several different heights and adjusting the seat forward but I could never feel like I was not reaching for the bottom.  My hips were rotating a lot at the first adjustments so I kept working the seat down from there.  As it stands right now the seat is about 1/4" higher than it was when I started.

Am I missing something with the height adjustment?  My wife said I still have an inclined back so I am still not very flat.  I didn't have her take pics this time though. 

My ride went decent, I stayed aero for 15 min at a time and was comfortable.  I kept my HR in the low 150's and didn't feel like I had to sit up to try to get some air.  The original position (before any adjustments) I def had to do that.

seat height wise it looked good before, but as you move the saddle forward, you need to go up a well to keep the same distance from the bottom bracket.
btw that was smart way to find saddleheight, going down till you stop rocking (also a good way to tell when its too high, if your hips are moving around).

I'd say ride this for afew weeks and then post photos again and see hwo things feel then. give it a bit of time to get comfortable and get used to it.

I finished my first marathon yesterday and BQ'd!!! 2:08:44 - I will write up a report a little later.

Dirk - I had some bad leg cramps last year when I was training for my ironman - here is what I discoved (from my blog back in April of 2009 - this is one of the reason I do the whole blog thing - so I can learn from my experiences):

I think you meant 3:08:44. That is an awesome time. Congrats on the BQ. All the hard work you put in really pays off. Have a great day and I look forward to the race report.

------------------------------------

Yeah - no doubt - 3:08 - oops

Mardi gras Marathon Race Report - from my blog ( http://hubcitytri.blogspot.com/):

I had brought 5 different shirts for the race. I had a contingency for everything. I had 3 sleeveless shirts, a short sleeve shirt and a long sleeve shirt. I knew that I would not be wearing the long sleeve shirt but just in case.

I knew that it would be cold / cool prior to the race but I was planning on running hard. I did not want overheat in the later stages on the race. Race morning would be in the high 30's / low 40's.

I decided on a triathlon Zoot sleeveless jersey because it had a ½ length zipper. I had also brought a pair of tube socks that I had cut the ends out of – these would be my disposable arm skins. In addition I also had disposal gloves and a disposal long sleeved cotton shirt.

After walking the mile to the starting line I milled around corral number one for about 45 minutes. I used the bathroom twice – I was nervous. The first time there was no line – the second time I only had minutes to spare. I was cold and nervous and shaking. I was not as anxious as before my ironman but there was a lot on tension in the air. I wanted to do well. Like I said, there was no fear just a heck of a lot of anxiety.

When the gun fired the elites, corral 1 and corral 2 started. It was crowed at the start but I crossed the timing mat within seconds. I had my ‘virtual partner' going on my left wrist and a regular stopwatch on my right. I got passed by hordes of people in the first 2 miles. I stuck to my plan. I kept to my paces. The half marathoners split off early in the race. I saw many people making the half / full decision. The split was between mile 3 and mile 4. I thought to myself that you had to be having a bad day if you jumped ship this early.

I continued on with the full marathon. My paces were maintaining. In fact, they were maintaining easily. However, I was running about 10 seconds slower than my last 30k race. I had some doubts start to creep into my mind. How could I have run 10 seconds faster for 18.6 miles? I am not sure how I did it three weeks ago but this was a different race.

Anyway, I was sticking to my race strategy, I was going to try and run even splits for the entire race. If I had more at the end (yeah right) I would pick it up. I ran with a couple of older guys for a couple of miles and I was chatting up a storm. We were swapping race stores left and right. I saw Becky from the running club around mile 7 or 8 – she yelled at me and I was sure she was going to tell me to shut up and race (I would see Becky and Holly a couple of more times during the race – they are fantastic cheerleaders!) The older guys started to drop off of my pace a little bit so – I had made this decision earlier – I was not going to slow down at all to talk. It would be okay to talk but I had to keep to my race plan. I dropped the older guys and picked up with a guy that I had met that morning. He needed a 3:10 to qualify and we were running similar paces. I ran with him and another guy for about 8 more miles. At times it was tough to stay up with them. They would drop me at the water stops and I would have to quicken my pace to catch back up. I am not very good at running and drink at these water stops. However, even though I had to quicken the pace to catch back up, I felt it was worth the effort to ride along with them. Although I was pushing it my ‘virtual partner' kept was telling me that I was a little slow. I tried to catch back up to him but I just did not want to get into any danger zones.

At this point we were entering City Park. The half marathoners broke off to finish their race. I had run about 15 miles and I was still feeling strong. The course had the half and full marathoners break apart and come back together twice– after the first break we never actually intermingled – there was always an island or cones separating us. We, the full marathoners were running up the west side of City Park. I recognized this section from the Ole Man River Half that I had run back in December. This was a long flat straight section. I crossed the 17 mile marker at 2 hours and thought to my self, no scratch that, I said it out loud, that there was only about an hour to go. I proclaimed “That we could do anything for an hour.” Even though there was very little wind I had been tailing these guys for several miles. I was starting to push past them. It was time to move out on my own. I left them – I would not call it a pass, definitely not a pass with authority or anything I just got in front and kept going. We rounded the north section of the park and I was worried. I still felt strong but I knew that “The Wall” would be lurking. The temperature had climbed into the 50's. This should not have been warm much less hot but most of my training has been in the 30's. I had to take off my sweat band a couple of times to wring it out. I passed mile 20 and there was such a relief. I was past the first 20 miles and just had a 10k to go. There was an out and back for a couple of miles and then the course would come back into the park for the finish. I ran mile 20 on schedule (7:08 minutes / mile) – just as I had planned. I actually felt really good. I passed several people during this mile and kept to the plan.

This little out and back section turned 180 degrees at mile 21. That is when it hit me. I was running strong because of the tail wind. I don't think the wind was that strong but it did not have to be. Running into the wind I was still passing people but it was hard going. These next 3 miles would be the slowest miles of the race. I lost 59 seconds during these 3 miles. It got hard in this area. And I was alone. I was trying to sight up ahead and reel runners in but they were getting few and far between. In a race this large it is amazing how many people I saw that I knew. At about mile 24 and a half I passed another runner. He knew my name and I looked up. This was a guy named Michael that I had run with at the 30K race 3 weeks ago. He needed a 3:10 to qualify for Boston and I told him to jump on – to finish this race strong. I don't know how it made Michael feel (he finished in 3:11:xx – heart breaking) but it was encouraging to me. I knew the finish was within my grasp and I knew that I could push harder / push farther. I picked it up and my times got back on track. Mile 24 was the absolute slowest of the day (7:32) but mile 25 was back (7:07). I would continue to push hard until the end. Mile 26 felt like it took forever but I was on – it clicked off at 7:13. Down the finisher chute I kicked it up. I saw the clock and it was ticking up – I was damned and determined to not allow another minute click past. I sprinted the last minute and finished by a clock time of 2:08:5X and a chip time at 2:08:44.

When I finished I was spent. I was hurting – not a bad hurting like something permanent just sore from the effort. I received my finisher's medal and got my photo taken. I did not feel hungry but ate a banana and a bar of some kind. I also took some sports drink. My face was crusty from salt.

I only needed a 3:15 to qualify for Boston so I knew that I was safe several miles back. This probably let me slip off of my paces. I had wanted to finish in a low 3:07 (as per the running calculator). I have become a better, more patient racer over the past 3 months. During the fall of last year there was no way that I could have come close to qualifying. Now, both the first and second halves of this marathon would have been half marathon PR's in early December.

My race - by the numbers.

2 Cliff bars for breakfast
8 gels during the race (1 before / 7 during)
7:09.00 pace 1st half (1:33:57)
7:13.81 pace 2nd half (1:34:47)
7:11.90 pace Total (3:08:44)

Qualifying for Boston in my first marathon … pretty sweet!

Nice race!  Sounds like you were well planned and prepared.  I am hoping to shatter my PR for the half marathon in a couple of months and I think I should do pretty well.  I am running some faster time in training than I have before and they are very comfortable paces.  I ran a 5k tonight in 23:30 and my HR avg. 155.  I was fairly comfortable and I think I will be able to increase the pace for these runs soon as I am in my 3rd week of re-training.  Next week is a rest week then I am going to start hammering again.

I did another 500 TT tonight.  This is the second one I have done since beginning training.  I didn't plan the TT and I actually didn't decide to do it until about 100 yds. into the set.  I started the set kind of hard thinking I would just try to go a little faster than usual.  Then I thought if I'm gonna to go hard I gonna make it count. I kind of surprised myself with the time at the end..........7:18..........I like it and I am ready to swim again. 

After the TT I took a bit of a longer rest, then moved into some 100's that I planned for 1:25.  I actually came in at about 1:22 - 1:23 for all of them.  This was the first time doing these so I wasn't real sure what my time should be so I checked a couple of splits I normally see when doing 50's x 2 then added 5 seconds.  I didn't think it would be attainable either after the 500 but I was pleasantly surprised.

Craig,
I was beginning to think James, Rob and David were the only ones on here anymore.  It seems we're the most vocal I guess.  Hows the training going for you?

Dirk,
Going good. I have been having a little problem with my plantar problems and actually had to bail on my run last night because it was so painful. I am going to bomb it with motrin and roll it for the next few days. I have a 5K at my daughters school Saturday so I need to make a good appearance for that. Probably won't run until then just to get the extra rest gor the foot.

I have my first olympic of the season on the 21st so I'm excited to get the season started.
Of course I need to swim more, alot more. Great job on your swimming, I have always been able to get by on the swimming but this year is my first half and it will be no wetsuit, so I need to pick it up a bit for sure. That race is in May so I really need to get at it.

Have a great day to everyone.

Dirk - you are speedy int the pool compared to me - I average in the 1:30's per 100 ...

Craig - be careful with the injuries. A couple of days now can save weeks later. I know, easier said than done.

craig, be careful with that, its an injury that is taken care of now will heal quickly, if not can knock you out for months.

ice is your friend here. either an ice bath, for this a pan/bowl of ice water is deep enough, or a bag of ice that you just rest your foot on (while on the couch is an easy way). I do this twice or so at night when this is bugging me, helps a LOT.

dirk, awesome swimming.

micro, vey nice job on the race. how do the legs feel now?


my training is going well, backing off the run focus a bit and dropping the milage back to the high 30s/mid 40mpw range and adding in a bit more quality as the two sports pick up. Swim is coming along slowly, i still dont feel totally comfortable back in the water/shoulder is still not up to par yet but coming along.

bike is what it is right now, spin bike only till i can get my ride sorted out.

I hear you guys on taking care of my injury now. If I don't feel comfortable by Saturday I won't race. I want to be ready for the olympic I have in a couple weeks so it's not worth it.

We may be the only one's left posting, but that's fine by me. You guys are great. Have a great night guys.

Craig,
I am planning for an early season Oly as either my first tri or maybe a second one if I can find a good one close.  The problem is I dont have a wetsuit and it will be an absolute necessity in early May in northern Indiana.  I have been checking the classified and ebay but note really finding much for the budget I am looking in ($100-ish). 

Sounds like everyone else is doing pretty good with training and racing.  I need to find a good 5k so I can get another good TT in for the run.  Right now I am pretty stoked about everything but the bike.  I really don't have any idea about the bike.  I haven't done a TT for it, so I am kinda nervous about whether I am behind in this area.  I know I need to get the TT done but I think I will wait another week or so and try it outside about the first nice day.

Dirk,
I'm lucky to live in Florida, so a wetsuit is really only needed for the first one or two races. I have a couple friends who have let me borrow suits for two years so I haven't bought one yet. It may be worth it to check in to renting one if you only need one for a couple races. Just an idea.

I actually am giving some consideration to renting.  I found out about a month ago there are a couple of places in town here that rent wetsuits.  This would give me an opportunity to try a couple of brands and make sure the sizing is right.  The race I am looking at is a COLD  one from everyone I've talked to about it.  Water temps. from 55-60. Brrrr!

I also only get to wear a wetsuit for a couple of races. I bought a blue 70 wetsuit online (year end clearance last year) and their sizing chart was spot on – I am a SMT (small / tall – 5’8” – 160LBS). I bought a long john since it is warm here in MS. Total cost was $100 shipped.

Dirk, or anyone else, if you are looking for a wetsuit for this year, i am sponsored by Xterra and am able to get all my athletes a pretty sizeable discount on their wetsuits (30-45% off depending on the suit). if you are interested let me know and i'll get the info along to you.

i think the discount is a bit more than the normal BT discount, and anything you get through my code also applies to my discounts as well/what i am able to offer athletes next season.

thanks!

David

My high school daughters girls basketball team won state tonight.  (My daughter doesn't play she's a swimmer.)  This was the first time they had ever been to the finals.  It was an interesting game because the officiating was pretty bad.  The team they played against was ranked 1st in the state and our girls were 8th.  Final score: Cadets 59 Lions 48.

I got some decent workouts in today, both run and bike.  The run was slower than I would have liked it to be but that was okay.  I suppose it could have been the workouts from yesterday (5k run/2800 yd swim) but no excuses.  They were good workouts.
Cycling was hard but not unbearable.  I can't wait until the weather breaks so I can get out on the road and see what effects the intervals have had on my endurance on the bike.

I got the weather I was wanting today or something kinda like it.  The temp came up to 51 degrees with a slight breeze and sunny.  I am at the beginning of a rest/recovery week so I tried to take the ride kind of easy.  My HR averaged 148 but this includes about a 10 minute WU/CD but if I averaged the rest of the ride it wouldn't change much.

Besides getting outside for a ride I wanted to test the aero bars and positioning.  They seem to be pretty comfortable at this point and much better than staying in the hoods for an entire ride (tendinitis or carpal tunnel or something).  I was able to stay aero for the whole ride, with exception of the intersections and stop signs.  I think everything was decent but I will be curious to see what happens over the next few rides to see if something changes.

Hey everyone,
I ran a 5K this weekend and got a new PR, 20:22. I had been nursing my foot with plantar problems and it felt good going into the race. It was fine during the race but was pretty sore after. I rode the route of my Olympic race that is in a couple weeks yesterday and planned on an hour transition run, but my foot was not having it.

Besides the normal foot pain, my feet were very numb after the ride. I have a semi new bike (Been riding it for 3 months or so), and I have been adjusting the fit. I feel comfortable and could stay aero for about the whole 30 mile ride, but when I went to run, it sucked. I slogged through 3 miles of walking, jogging and stretching and just got frustrated.

I would like some advice as to whether I should not run over the next couple weeks and just double up on the swim and bike and hope the foot feels better by race day. Please keep in my mind I am really focusing on St. Anthony's next month and Florida 70.3 in May. I've already paid for the races so I'm doing them whether I am able to run or not. I would be expecting a big swim and bike though if I can't run the last legs. 

Thanks for reading my ramblings and I would appreciate any advice as to what would be a good course of action and also some input for my numb feet. Have a great day.