MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 171)

JOHANNE,

Thanks for the nutrition advice.   For some reason, I am really anxious about the big training day tomorrow.   I've done lots of HIM swim/bikes no problem, so it must be running off the bike that is causing the problem.     I've laid out a plan, and printed it off (otherwise I will forget) and hopefully it works.     

Anytime I agree, if I was doing an aqua bike I wouldn't worry about nutrition as much (I'd still get it in but I wouldn't worry about how my stomach would feel running) but adding the running is another story. You'll have a good day to try it out! Let us know what you did and how it worked.

We're going out for a 3.5 hour ride and a 30 min brick run tomorrow. Then we're going to Dave's company picnic where I'm going to try to eat healthy

Yo!

The weekend plans, as planned, didn't unfold according to plan, and I am now back home.   I see that the ladies have ruled the roost here in my absence, but that was a quick look without reading for detail and info; I'll get to that soon.

Onwards!

DAVE -

That's okay about the 4:30 arrival tomorrow -- it'll be good prep for an earlier arrival on Sunday!

I envy the living daylights out of your swm times -- just want to have you hear that again.  In yet another feeble attempt to find the secret to a good swim time for myself, i bought Sheilas Taormina's book, titled something like "Swim Speed Secrets".  It's new, even though she has been around a very long time. 

Back about '01, she created quite a stir over at www.slowtwicth.com when she wroet a series of three artciles that essentially challenged the Total Immersion tenets.  This resulted in her exchanging posts with T.I.s own Terry Laughlin, and while it was all very cordial, their positions were very far apart.  Sheila's position was largely that in order to have good speed, one needs to have a fairly high turnover, which at the time Terry wasn't espousing at all.  Over time his position changed some to come closer to Sheila's, and a quicjk scan of the book (bought last night) hints that maybe she has come around some herself so that T.I. isn't exactly anathema for her.  I'm not sure about that, though; it seems a stretch!

Keep keeping us posted about things related to you and Pitt Tri!

JOHANNE -

I think I will scrap the idea of doing the Old Orchard beach oly, which is a Rev3 race.  The entry fee is a painful $175, AND it is the week before Labor Day, meaning that accoms will be very, very dear.  So, with all due respects to Rev3, they haven't really designed a race that is inexpensive enough to even consider -- unless I'm feeling very loose and frisky with my money.

A well-established race along the Maine coast is Lobsterman, and entry for that is a mere $105.  And even though it is in Freeport, ME, with tons of great shopping, the date is Sept 15 which is into the off-season, in terms of accoms.  And when I did it a few years ago, we stayed in the campground OVERLOOKING Casco By, and which was a four-minute stroll to transition.  No comparison between Lobsterman and Old Orchard!

Sigh.

I've pretty much decided to sign up for the Summerland Sprint I just want to confirm my wife's support.  She has been good so far but I haven't tried to go too fast/frequent yet.  Also, I've heavily volunteered for IMC and I'll lose a week of training but I think I'll be okay.

The Xterra sounds to be a "lite" one - easy walking paths and nothing too tough on the bike.  I'm only lukewarm interested though.  The main thing is I'm running out of events for the season.  I may be able to try a few short run events in the fall but I'm not a great runner.  There is Cultus Lake but I'm not sure my wife's support includes long distance drives so maybe next year I can do the Cultus or Stanley Park Tri in September.

No panic on the carbopro.  I'm excited about it but I don't have anything demanding coming up for awhile.

Yesterday - I went for my 1st run in about 10 weeks.  I was very slow but I didn't worry so much about my speed as just wanted to get a time to work from.  I'll try to go out often from now on to get ready for the Sprint.  After the run my thighs were pretty stiff so I decided to go to the lake for a short swim.  I went in without my wetsuit and it was pretty cool to start but I had a nice half-distance swim.

Today - I went out for a fast 20K bike ride - on a fairly flat course - 6 traffic lights each way slowed me down but it was a fun ride.  Then I went for another swim in the lake.  Today I was determined to swim 900m from the Peach to the Sicamous then to turn around and atleast start back towards the Peach.  I made the swim all the way without any difficulty and paused at the Sicamous only long enough for a beginner paddleboarder to get past me then I started swimming again just planning to swim 200 strokes but I felt really comfortable and just kept going all the way to the Peach.  So I swam 1800m continuous without any difficulty.  I have no idea of my time for the swim. 

When I was most of the way back to the Peach I saw a $50 on the bottom in about 7' of water so I interrupted the swim to dive to the bottom and grab it.  Darn! It was just a honey stinger package.  It sure looked like a Canadian $50.  I carried out the garbage bit.

As for the age-group finish in the Kelowna GranFondo.  Just completing was a great feeling and crossing the finish line was extra fun so I'm keen for more of that "drug".

You are going to have FUN on Sunday! Looking forward to hearing about it

Great to see that someone in the group is tackling that distance.  Your 1/2 way there in your training.

Yes, aging up does have some benefits.  But there are still some really fast folks in the group I'm aging up to and beyond (your a perfect example of that).  What I see around here is that as you age up the fields get smaller but the quality of the core group of people in those AG's are pretty darn good.  So, we will see what happens.

As for REV3, I'm pretty certain it will be wetsuit legal.  It will be close, but they will find someplace on the course where the temperature is wetsuit legal.  However, it's not something that I'm concerned about now.  I made the decision to pull the plug on the race yesterday.  I would have been going into the race undertrained and although I think I could get in half way decent shape by the end of October I wouldn't be in great shape.  I also still have some added family related responsibilities that I don't see easing this year.  Couple those with the fact that I got sick starting on Tuesday of this week with a bad summer cold (cough, headache, stuff up head, etc..) which to this day is still lingering and I it just screamed out that this race is just not panning out right for me.  I was so excited about the race coming to my backyard, signed up the day registration opened, but life just got in the way.  I'm not one to jump into an endeavor 1/2 heartedly so there you go....  Honestly, when I told the REV3 folks that I was withdrawing it felt like a big burden had been lifted off my shoulders.

Regarding REV3, they are 1st class organization.

So, I'm talking your advice and "pacing" myself.  Goals are to get moving again, get the weigh off, and be ready to race in 2013.

Good luck with your race Dave!!

Had my BIG training day and I think overall, it went pretty well.   Starting to feel a bit better about running for the HIM.   Feeling pretty good today.  

SWIM:    J. Dyck Quarry. Did pretty well - a bit faster than I thought I might - especially with no w/u. Got there at 7:10 and registered, wetsuit on and into the water at 7:30. They suggested everyone be out of water by 8:30 to be at Caledon community centre in time for bike start.

I took the entire swim at a comfortable pace just to make sure I could do the distance, so I'm thinking, if I have a good day, might do a bit better on race day.

Sighting was good.

BIKE: 

Walked back to car after 10km run.

DAVE -

Assuming you blazed through the swim, you must be a few miles into the bike by now.  Wheeeeeee!

ANNE -

Wow.  What an accomplishment for you (and anyone else who did it, for that matter)!  I had some idea of what you were in for from your earlier posts.....but somehow missed some of the details.  The loomingest one was two separate bike segments, which for me would've been more psychologically demanding.  I couldn't tell for sure from your report if you did his recommended 40km loop, with the climbing and all, but i think you did (it is the "REALLY didn't sound appealing" part that throws me off!)

Well, whatever, it puts you in great shape for the minimal relief of the Nat. Cap. course --- two brief "climbs" of 100-200m, and a rampish "ascent" to the Hog's Back, all embedded in what is a gradual incline on each southbound leg, and the reverse heading northward.  Ougtha be a cinch for you, after yesterday!

GREAT run, Anne!  Definitely not for the faint of heart, but you seemed to have handled it in great shape -- even the non-water parts.  But I think you know how I feel about that --- it's great training for "going without", whenever that happens, and it also makes it more beneficial to use fluids in an actaul race.  I think of it like swinging a weighted bat in the on-deck circle of a baseball game, and then you go up to the plate with you regular lightweight 33oz bat --- it's suddenly so much easier!

Finishing with a run with a climb is never either fun or easy.....but again, it's great training.  I guess I would lump that into the above paragraph, where one suffers in training to make things easier in races.  Works for me, anyhow!

Interesting observation on those chips!  I was never a fan of Pringles, but at IMLP in '04 I had a small canister in my bike special needs bag --- and were they ever good!  i don't know who turned me on to them as a race-day food; maybe I read about them somewhere.  Anyhow, they too are baked, or at least formulated in a way that reduces/eliminates the greasiness, and due to that I can eat them 'til the cows come home.  I am normally a huge fan of regular chips.....but they turn nasty on me when I exercise, just as they did for you.  BELCH!

Are you and Ken now going to become Caledonrats?

And, did you see my description to you of the proposed bike route next Sunday?  If so, does it sound okay?  I'd like to avoid out-and-backs to get it to 90km, but I think some will be necessary.

Is today a rest day for you??

HOKIEJEFF -

I think when I wrote about pacing yourself, I was referring to your return here and catching up on all the posts.  But, of course, it (pacing) applies perfectly well to getting back into all of this SBR silliness!

I'm sorry that Rev3 fell through for you, but it tells me something when I bail and feel a huge weight off my shoulders, too.  This always seems like a great example of "discretion being the better part of valor", but of course it involves both ego concerns and money matters -- neither of which are so easy to salve and solve.  I get the hint, though, that Rev3 was very generous in refunding you something or other, and for whatever thet could manage -- hats off to them!

I was asking about wetsuits because I was kicking around the idea of coming down to do that race.....but now I will rethink it, seeing as how you won't be there.  But the course sounds wonderful, and I can sure see why it appealed to you -- even beyond the fact that it's right in your backyard.  I will continue looking at it from time to time and see how/if my body handles "advanced" training.  You probably didn't see my post about the MRI results on my hip, but it's a labrum tear that has cut into my ability to "go long".  So, the short of it for now is that I'm not sure I can manage the bigger bike miles required for a half-iron, but a late-season HIM would be ideal --- or at least if I hurt myself, the rest of my eason isn't scronched!

Venice aside, i am also kicking around the idea of getting to Florida for some other late-season race, or two, with ideally one on a Sat one on the Sun.  Anyhow, I will keep kicking this convoluted idea around in my scattershot brain! 

Finally, your assessment of a strong core group of older triathletes is pretty accurate.  The % of guys in the older a.g. who have been around the block a few dozen tims is much higher than in the younger groups, where people are in and out due to family demands and job shifts.  It always rattles me when one of the "old guard" guys disappears from results and rankings......and I worry about what has taken him down.  Illness?  Injury??  Death???

The greatest of the great in my broad peer-group is one Steven Smith, from Granger, IN.  He was the top USAT 60-64 last year -- as a 64-year-old!!   I am sure he swept it in his five years at 60-64, and while he wasn't 100% infallible, his skills were colossal and he won about 99% of his a.g. races.

This year, though ---- no results for him anywhere.  So, i wonder waht ahs ahppened, and the best-case scenario for him is that he realized he would have NO challenges in 65-69, so maybe he just decided it was time to move on to something else.  MMA, maybe?  Pro rodeo? 

Are you still looking at some smaller-length races for this season?

DEFINITELY a rest day!       Off to a Blue Jays/Detroit game in TO with Ken and my son, Erich and then dropping Ken off at the airport.   

Before I forget, thanks for the bike description.   I think Ken put in on Ride with GPS and it looks great.  

Also, I DID do the 40km, albeit reluctantly, but I eventually got into it.    

I actually tried the chips because I remember you mentioning it a long time ago.    I will do it again.   I'm going to have to do some work though on nutrition on the run because I don't really like to stop and 'eat' and even with gels I have to walk to get them into me.   I think I am going to take a bit longer in T2 and have a piece of my raw 'cake' which worked really well yesterday.   Ran right after it.   It digests so easily because it has all its own digestive enzymes and my body doesn't have to work to produce the enzymes to digest.     The Vega bars worked good - plant based.     Didn't seem to need as much fluid as I thought I would.    Didn't feel dehydrated but I might have been a bit, because I was actually craving a Pepsi.   I haven't had a pop in 25 years.  

Think I forgot to mention my swim pace - took 50 minutes (2:16) of easy swimming.   Have accepted I will just have to be slow this year and work on next year over the winter.  

I can see Ken and I making a few Saturday trips to Caledon area for sure.    Closer than Collingwood and alot of other stuff in the area.  

Hope you have a great day.   Looking forward to next Sunday!

GEORGE -

Oh, man, I hear you on the short season -- blink up here, and it's about all over.  That's part of the reason I race in the U.S. mostly exclusively, just to extend the seaon as much as possible.  That is especially important from early Sept on, when tris mostly evapoarte in the north here.  But if I travel "only" as far south as New Jersey or Delaware, i can get into early Oct....and each 200 miles further south seems to "buy" another week of racing possibilities.  This season i can hit Oct 13/14 weekend by going to southern NJ.

Those new Canadian 50s are so bizarre they could be just about any bright, shiny object.  Levea one on a picnic table in a park, and a jat will come along and grab it to use as appealing nesting material!

Very goo resolve on your un, and you're fully right to not focus on any aspect of speed right now.  Just work at getting comfortable completing whatever distance you set for yourself, or maybe even better -- time instead of distance.  I can still remember my early days and feeling that what are now incredibly short distances were, back then, big accomplishments.  that is awhat is so nifty about this stuff we do --- what appears impossible now, will in due course seem second-nature (well, at leat doable!).

As for you and swimming, 1800m continuous for ANYONE is huge.........and there you are, knocking it off with impunity.  SWEET!!

Onwards to Summerland!

No point in guessing. Results are up.

13/48 age group

83/358 overall

http://www.piranha-sports.com/Results/EntryDetail.aspx?RegistrationID=47892

Sounds like you had fun.  2:28 sounds pretty fast to me.  Your super secret Oly time is my not so secret goal sprint time.  Makes me think of Mike Meyers in "Wayne's World" when he bows before Alice Cooper...."I'm not worthy!  I'm not worthy!"  

STEVE -

Yes, they come up with some funny names for rides/races around these parts. Toad Suck is my favorite, too, and to tell you the truth the name is the reason I want to do it. That, and Arkansas is a beautiful state so I'm sure the race course will be as well. (In my last post I said that it was at the beginning of August - I meant to say it's at the beginning of Sept.)

According to Wikipedia Toad Suck State Park got its name as follows: "Long ago, steamboats traveled the Arkansas River when the water was at the right depth. When it wasn't, the captains and their crew tied up to wait where the Toad Suck Lock and Dam now spans the river. While they waited, they refreshed themselves at the local tavern there, to the dismay of the folks living nearby, who said: "They suck on the bottle 'til they swell up like toads." Hence, the name Toad Suck." 

Rode in the Duncan Dehydrator yesterday. Really glad I did as I'm using all these t-shirt rides to experiment with my nutrition for Redman. For breakfast I drank two Vitamin Water Zeros, ate a not-very-healthy breakfast consisting of a Jimmy Dean Frozen Turkey Sausage and Egg on Biscuit nuked in the microwave of our RV, an apple, and half a Pop-Tart.  At the 1st rest stop (mile 10)  I ate an oatmeal cookie, half a banana and a dill pickle. Second rest stop I ate essentially the same thing. My stomach started growling at mile 25 and I quickly ate a Gu. Third rest stop I ate 3 oatmeal cookies, a banana and about a cup of watermelon. Fourth rest stop I didn't get to eat because Steve succumbed to the heat due to his blood pressure meds being messed-up and I had to tend to him and flag down a sag vehicle for him to ride back to race start, then catch-up with our group. No biggie because by that time it was so hot I couldn't have eaten had I wanted to. Actually, it was in the 90's (F) by 9am. It's just stupid hot here. Anyway, I finished the ride strong but very hungry, and ate a huge plate of pasta with chicken afterward - they had good post ride food at this ride. 

The most notable things I took-away from yesterday's ride is that I need to eat more food for breakfast and during the ride, and that I'm better able to ride hills than I used to be. The entire course was rollers with a few good hills mixed-in every 6-7 miles or so. Don't have the precise grades of the route's hills, so I probably should investigate that later.

I read where you're going to do Fronhofer Double (oly at 8 a.m, sprint at 2 p.m.) on Aug 4 - that's almost the distance of a HIM in one day. How well does this bode with your injury? Hadn't you said you would stick to sprints and Olys for the rest of this season? The reason I'm asking is that there is obviously the in-between race time to consider - does taking a few hours off between distances make that big of a difference in terms of wear and tear on the body? Just trying to learn here...and you are definitely the man from which to learn  

I also hear you on accoms being dear close to holidays. I've often thought about utilizing a website called couchsurfing.org to make traveling to races more affordable, but it's mostly young adults who are members and it would be difficult staying with someone I don't know. I wish someone would come up with a similar program for triathletes, or any athlete for that matter - find a host for your sport and stay with them for free, as well as hosting athletes when they come to your hometown for a race. Make new friends and help make racing out of state (or country) more affordable for everyone.

I will keep bugging you for nutritional advice, as well as Johanne (who has given me some great advice already, I see My coach hasn't even mentioned nutrition. 

JOHANNE -

Thanks for the nutritional advice! I will have to look into the Carb Pro/Heed. I don't like most sports drinks due to the heartburn the citric acid typically gives me - Vitamin Water Zero being an exception - I seem to tolerate it well, but I'm thinking I'll need something more targeted for endurance athletes such as Heed. I also know my body and I do not do well at all without protein so I'm going to have to try and figure out how to get protein during the bike split, because I'll probably just consume Gu/water/diluted sports drinks throughout the run (run/walk for me :P). I'm thinking maybe a peanut butter sandwich stashed in my bento box, but I don't think there's room. Maybe a Cliff Mojo Bar (or two) will be in order, as well as the sweet carb foodstuffs  

ANNE - Saw your post from yesterday. Great workout, and great run splits! Fast! I really doubt that you will embarrass yourself in London next year! And you say you can't compete with the caliber of athletes at the event, but competing you will be and you ARE the caliber of athletes at that event I mean...you raced for the right to race there, am I correct ?  

But I know what you mean - I pretty much go into every race with the same goal in mind, and to tell you the truth as long as I give it all I have and know in my heart that I've trained according to plan, I won't be embarrassed no matter what happens. With the exception of pooping my pants or something.

Great race, Dave!!! Congrats!

Nice job, great results.

Reading everyone Else's posts I feel like a slacker. 105 degrees here and I am reduced to yard work-storm cleanup continues. 

Next week is my first stand alone 5k since April. I got fitted for a new pair of shoes, my first fitting at a running store, Luke's Locker in Allen.  Turns out I had been running in a stability shoe, I had no idea, but didn't need it, I bought a neutral pair of Sauconys. Ill get a run in them tonight near sunset when it is only 99 degrees