Left.Right.Repeat - CLoSED for the season - will reopen Jan 2013 (Page 17)

Fantastic!

My sister came in from close to Brussels (BE) my niece is also Belgian but lives in Den Haag, which is a beautiful town.  I do speak Dutch as my mother tongue...  Only benefit of traveling is seeing my family fairly regularly over there.  

The infrastructure for biking is pretty amazing in Holland for biking; definitely want to do a biking vacation there at some point.  Really should have done it when I lived at home in Belgium, logistics are a little harder to organize but nit impossible from here

I'm back!!!  Lots of great stuff going on in here over the weekend while I was off racing.  Congrats on the finish lines, weight loss, and great workouts.

I had a great weekend as well and walked away with a new HIM PR of 6:24:55.  Swam in 44:29, T1 of 3:25, biked in 3:20:25, T2 of 2:14 and ran in 2:14:22.  

The swim was better than 2 years ago, but I felt like I struggled a bit.  Couldn't really get my breath at first and was breathing every 2 strokes when I normally do every 3.  First time in the wetsuit since IMFL in 2010 as well.  Need to work on that.  

I was happy with the bike, but still need to do some work in that area.  I would really like to get to where I can average 17+ for the longer rides.  Hopefully I can ride lots this summer.

Run was ok, but it was hot and I walked more than I would have liked.  Walked through most of the aid stations making sure to drink water, dump water on the head, and eat some ice.  I ran with my own gatorade since I can't stand the Perform.  Took some enduralyte tablets early on, but they fell out of my pocket so I couldn't take more.  

Overall, I was very please with my race based on the amount of training leading to the race.  I know where I'm at and what I need to work on now for IMAZ.  I'll post a detailed race report in my race logs sometime this week.

You folks have been busy!

Briana's effort was a great PR for her! Mine -- not so much. But my goal was to finish, and finish vertically, neither of which I accomplished last year. Mission accomplished this time! A few kicks in the head on the swim, a flat at mile 12 on the ride, and "I ain't no runner!" so it is what it is.

I decided last week to start the juice fast today, AFTER the 70.3 - and given my performance yesterday, none too soon! i went down to the gym at work this morning and weighted in, so we will see how it goes. With today being the 8-year anniversary of the heart attack, I figure losing a few LBs is probably a good idea.

It was great to see a number of folks do so well yesterday - Briana and another friend (who is also doing IM Texas), Kelli Williamson and Tim O'Donnell... awesome day! Once again, a great conversation with other BOP "runners".

Could indeed be the case of an ill fitting suit.  I had it fitted in AZ when I was there, and they assured me it was the right fit (after trying on 4 I was exhausted), I may not have pulled it up high enough yesterday because there seemed to be water accumulating around my pelvis, which made me feel like I had a water balloon where my butt is...  I am going to try it again and see if pulling it up higher makes a difference.  Otherwise I will need to find another one

Way to go Brianna and Pat!!!  

Great job on the PR's Brianna.... and Great job on the Verical Finish Pat!!  you guys rock..

M.

Have some good friends in/from Wassanar.. a mini sprint from Den Haag...Ha.. Love me some Belgian Meals!!! not to mention Chocolate....  My wife and I love to get up in the morning.. drive to Antwerp for bfast... putt around...make way to Brussels for dinner.. drive back to Nunspeet with severe "man that food was awesome buzz".... I know you understand...

Easy to bike in Holland... lots of trails/paths joining everything.. and soooo flat!! ha..

Okay I am going to ask a personal question here and I am sorry if it is too personal and knowing me I am probably the only one having this issue.

Does anyone have issues like saddle soreness (particularly the women) after shaving the bikini line and then riding the bike for a long time?  I have used Glide, Chamois Butt'r, and now dznutbliss and nothing seems to work. I am curious if anyone else experiences this and what you do.  

Yes, you are still waiting on race reports, at least from me!  

I'll try to get to all of them this week, but I admit I usually do a report on my blog over the race report here on BT.  I'll let you know when they are up.

Ann, surely you are wearing goggles, right?

My call on the saddle soreness is 2 fold. 

First, make sure you have a saddle that will fit your needs.  I trtied several different saddles before settling on the Adamo.  Bought mine used on the classified section.  Try this.

Second, the second most important part of the equation is to get .  For you newbies, thats the 2 round things on the fron....Wait wrong thread.  means "time in the saddle".  The more you ride, (with the correct saddle), the better it will get.  Eventually, you will be able to ride a full ironman without to much saddle soreness.  Either that or everything else on your body will hurt so bad that you forget about the buttock area!

That's all, must leave to get back to the "other thread" I was talking about!

I kill myself!

Kathy,

I had a long ride on Sunday and I noticed soreness, but that was without shaving.. but I decided earlier in the day to not plan on shaving until I get a little more used to riding for that precise reason.

Thanks for the congrats, folks, and congrats to Briana and Pat as well!

I have played in open water before, but not tried any serious swimming. I'm more worried about the cold than anything, so we'll see if I can't find a wetsuit and get some practice in the lake... though that's only about 50 degrees it seems. What temperature do you all start getting out there in?

Saddle soreness:  Boys, you may want to skip this section

I also believe it has a lot to do with shaving.  I have started waxing the hairy bits rather than shaving as the shaving always created issues and soreness, and sometimes even felt like I was having a yeast infection (which I was not) because of the little cuts and hair follicles that would inflame and infect.  My soreness has mostly come from exercising on hotel exercise bicycles.  I have yet to be sore on my saddle, It came on my bike when I bought it but I love it: Adamo full gel road with the slit in the front.  Between that and waxing I have not had soreness in months.  My longest bike rides however have only been 1,5 hrs (but a lot of it in aero) so that may have something to do with it too....

I guess I should have explained myself better as it is really not saddle soreness that I am experiencing it is more with what Pam described.......the shaving bumps and ingrown hairs, etc that causes the tenderness. I had heard that waxing would helped and was wondering. I guess I will have to give that a try cause I have this issue on both my tri and road bikes.

Doing much better. Txs.  Nervous about going back in the pool tho.

Although i do get saddle soreness, I so know what you are talking about.  I get redeness in the creases where the shorts meet.  I don't shave or wax, just don't need to.  I also invested in an expensive seat an Italian one "Selle Italai"  It didn't help either.  An adamo seat was recommended to me for this problem but haven't sought it out yet but probably will.

Let me know if you come up with any cures.

I started waxing myself rather than going to a place to have it done.  My brazilian cleaning lady gave me some tips.  I just use the Sally Hansen Lavender wax that you heat for 1 minute in the microwave and then the trick is to use pieces of jeans (I have plenty of kids jeans my kids grow out of) that I cut into strips and then use the raw side.  For some reason those grab the hairs much better than the paper strips the do it yourself kits come with.  I do this every 3-4 weeks and it seems to tame hairs everywhere you need them tamed.  It takes a little getting used to...  I just hate the prices places charge for waxing compared to in Belgium where it costs about 20% of what they charge here.....

I also love not to have to shave all the time...  There are much less bumps and ingrown hairs