MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 175)

CURT - Thanks for sharing your RR. I agree with Anne that it looks like your training is geared toward distance and this race wasn't. From your comments, it looks like you already know how to fix that if you want to: interval training. Nice job sticking it out in that "washing machine" of a swim. I've heard similar comments from people lately. I wonder if mass swim starts are getting more aggressive. There was a lot of pushing and grabbing at my last race start, and I got sort of run over while rounding the final buoy. When I told a fellow athlete later they said I should have elbowed the offender. I think I stood there stunned because that never would have occurred to me. I just try to focus on doing everything I can to continue to move forward. Lashing out would waste energy and make me slower. Maybe there's a noble element of sportsmanship and fairplay and respect for fellow athletes and the rules in there somewhere, but the top of mind thing is going faster and hitting people won't help that!

STEVE - Nice race. Thanks for the RR. I'm particularly impressed by your ability to run off the bike. And that swim wasn't half bad either . I think you've been sandbagging us about your swimming abilities. Also like that you take pride in those fast transitions. I'm still pumped about having the 8/358 T1 last weekend. I will take the small victories.

CYCLING MOJOS - I've been thinking a lot recently about ways to get a little more "free" speed out of my bike leg. After watching this video: http://triathlon.competitor.com/2012/07/gear-tech/video-go-aero-on-the-cheap_58156 , I think I want to start with my water bottles. Right now I have two bottles in the triangle of my frame which is bad. I'm thinking of getting one of the behind the seat bottle cage mounts. Although the single is probably fine for most races I've done to date, the future-proof option (read HIM or IM ) is to go with the double version. Something like this: http://www.xlab-usa.com/carbon-wing.html . Anyone have experience with this sort of set-up? Wondering if this sort of cage contributed to STEVE's bottle launching this past weekend?

Not quite ready for an aero helmet yet, and I'm a little nervous about twisting head and neck injuries in a fall after some articles I've read. Thought the new ones that were introduced at the TdF were appealing with a much shorter tail on them such as the S-Works + McLaren TT helmet.

So that leaves aerobars. I bought a cheap, heavy, steel or aluminum one-piece unit last year when I got my road bike. They were never really comfortable partly because of the impermeable pads which held sweat so after riding for a little while, my arms were resting in a pool of disgusting salty water and the skin would get irritated. The other issue was probably the overlong stem I had and not a problem with the bars themselves and that was general fit. I felt too stretched out in them and had too little control over the bike. And, as a result, I didn't use them that often, so they became a heavy, unattractive accessory. So I took them off and will probably sell them.

So, long way of saying, I'm considering new aerobars and a front horizontal mount water bottle system. Something like this: http://www.trisports.com/profcarstryk.html this: http://www.xlab-usa.com/products/aerobar-systems/torpedo-mount.html

Any thoughts on those? Aerobars might have to wait until next season; or maybe I should just save for a tri bike. Although I could do the the rear water bottle mount now, and it would be transferrable to a new bike. That $20 off of a $40 purchase at Trisports.com for renewing my USAT membership is pretty tempting.

DAVE -

I don't know why this posted as an empty one, as well as the two below it.  Ack!

I'm just here as a quick "hit-and-run", but have a few minutes so i'll do some quick response.  Might as well fill in the two empty ones below, so --- ONWARDS!

DAVE again -

I agree with you on swim aggresssion, and how to respond to it.  A few thoughts:

• For whatever reasons, I think RDs are getting by with bigger waves.
• If there is more aggression, it might be coming from fairly new people who figure the best defense is a good offense.
• When I am in a tight spot, I will either make myself real skinny and work at keeping my head protected, or slip back and go around.
• Although there are lots of scare stroies about getting swum over, that has only happened to me once, and marginally at that.  My take on it is that the best swimmers don't need to do that, and they're the wones who have the speed to manage it, if so inclined.  But most will figure it is very risky, due to the chances of being clubbed or grabbed by the swimmer they are going over, and it is just so much wiser to accelerate and go around.
• Buoys area different matter, and anything can go at those spots.  It's not deliberate, but just mildly panicky people hoping to avoid contact and, as in the second one above, will take up an offensive stance.
• Lashing out is a physical drain for sure, and also an emotional drain.  That's why I kind of "turtle-up", get calm, get long and thin....or back off and go around. 
• An advantage to backing off is that you can then draft off the person.  Sometimes if I am sandwiched, I will drop back a few feet and voila -- my face is even with their feet, which is an ideal drafting spot.  Or, if it's just one guy bopping into me, I'll either drop back to that same position relative to just him, or fall all the way back and get on his feet.

DAVE once more -

I see that while I am filing in empty spaces, JEFFTX has responded to you, presumably the bike stuff.  So I will wait til later to say more other than to tell you now that it was a behind-the-seat system that the bottle was launched from.  My go-to side is on the right, and I've known for a while that the "tension" in that cage is weakening, so I wasn't surprised that I lost the bottle.  I can't remember whose cages I use (X-Lab?) there, but they are close to upright.  Some beackwards angle, but not much.

More later!

If you are considering those aero bar set ups then you might as well save for the bike. Anything you add to your existing bike will be a compromise of fit and function and likely be less than optimal when compared to a properly fitted tri bike, In the mean time consider an aerodynamic frame mounted bottle over the behind the seat types or perhaps the profile aero bottle on existing aerobars.

Your concerns about the helmet maybe overblown a bit but I try not to dwell on crash stuff-it's bad luck.

Got out early for a short fast bike ride.  Hardly any breeze at all for a change.  Managed 26kph in 20K which is a best for me to date.  Not my goal speed yet but getting closer.

After the ride I went to the Lake to swim again.  I already felt good about my bike ride and when I arrived at the lake the swimmers were 50/50 with or without their wetsuits.  My swim group fellows decided to go with their wetsuits which suited me so we got ready and went in.  The water was cooler than yesterday and a lot calmer as well.

Once we started swimming I didn't think much about the fellows of my group and just focused on my own swim.  There were lots of swimmers out and today I came my closest yet to a head-on collision.  At about half-way I was aware of a swimmer 3' to my right when someone hit my left leg.  I looked to the left to see a swimmer only inches to my left - oops!

Then a lady without a wetsuit passed me like I was treading water.  Can't let that bother me.  I soon reached the Sicamous and turned around for the return leg.  I felt slow and attributed it to my bike ride.  I still felt good and soon reached the Peach.  In waist deep water I stood up and stripped off my wetsuit and walked out of the lake to see that I was actually ahead of my swim group.  So everyone complemented me on my improvement (especially having seen me barely able to finish two lengths in January).

I can't imagine how I came out ahead of them but now I sure wish I had an accurate way to keep track of my time on a swim and maybe also an accurate distance as well.  The calmer water today sure made it easier to swim.

The Prodigal Son Returns

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a good summer. I sort of fell off the wagon after my last triathlon back in June. I am now 25 pages behind but will try to get caught back up.

I got really busy with my kids' baseball and softball, had a vacation, and a 4-H fair week which messed up my training schedule pretty seriously. I was so undertrained I almost decided not to do the sprint I had scheduled for last Saturday but decided to go ahead and use it as a practice. That decision took away all the pressure. 

The weather was perfect. It was about 80 F and overcast but never rained. I ended up doing better than I had a right to expect. I have added a race report but the short version is I took the swim really easy. did better on the bike than I ever have, and ran ok to finish 47/225 overall and 6/11 in my age group (I think.) It was motivational and has me looking to sign up for a third tri this year to finally get my first USAT ranking.

GEORGE -

Ah-ha!  And THAT'S why i think you might be happier doing the Apple sprint -- all that ability to swim and bike bigger distances than in a try-a-tri!  Any closer to a decision on that? 

Fine work on the bike-swim combo, and maybe the reason you swam ahead of the group is because you caught a mean draft off that fast woman.  Wouldn't it be nice if the wicked fast swimmers could actually be drafted off of for more than, say, 2.83 seconds?

And, way to go with the best-ever bike pace for 20km; you've got yourself a new benchmark to shoot for!!

DOUG -

Welcome back!  i was wondering if you had split the scene for good, but no more need to wonder.  It sounds like your summer has been very fine ------ and that there is no need to train hard, cuz you do well enough on minimal trianing.  Nice work if you can find it!

I peeked at the results after reading your RR, and congrats are in order for having the best swim of the age group.  As for NOT having the best run of the a.g.........there are some fast cats in your region!  A few of those times were blistering; no flies on those guys!

Yes, find a third USAT race and get that ranking!  they're tabulated results and rankings differently than before, and it's quite hard to gauge where you're at until you have the three that count.  I think overall it's a better system -- but only for those who have at least 3 USAT races.

And while you're signing up for a third, pick out a fourth, too --- a cushion, or insurance, don't you know!

Great to have you back (and hope you stick around a wee bit!).

Poo on an unhappy run today.  The right knee is still problematic from the change in pedals and cleats, and now instead of a hint of ITB tightness, it is now the more widespread ache of chondromalachia patella.  Bah.  So, it's back to my bike guy as soon as possible. 

And new shoes (but same time-proven model) led to a couple of small foot woes, but i think they will go away soon,  My labrum was pinchy today, which is maybe okay timing because I see my specialist tomorrow for a different interp of the MRI.

Reading about the Orioles' Brian Roberts, out for the season with a torn labrum, and Canadian traithlete Paula findlay, who had a horrific race at the Olympics a few days ago due to a torn labrum..........and I should be VERY thankful that I can mostly function really well with mine.  WHEW!!!

Sorry to hear about the run.      Good luck getting things sorted out.    Ken and I made it out for a 96km ride today, averaging 27km/hr with a negative split, in an area that is perfect training ground for Ottawa.   Was a bit surprised at how well it went.   Thought my legs might be pooped from Saturday.    Still working on race report...

DAVE, yet again -

A few hours later now, and I've viewed that video -- pretty good info, well worth cionsidering.  Also worth considering are JEFF's thoughts, and although i wasn't thinking that way, I can tell you that in '00 I bought a decent road bike and had it retrofitted with a few tri toys -- Profile Design aerobars, a fast-forward seatpost to make my position more aggressive, and a set of cages for behind the seat.  That system worked well for the three late-season races (my first three tris) in '00........and then by April '01 I had bought my first designated tri bike, a Cervelo P2K.  So, in effect,  spent a couple/few hundred dollars on the road bike to make it more aero-aggressive...........and it was all for naught within about nine months with addition of the tri bike.  So, if you are hoping to get a better bike within the next year, it might well be worth waiting to see how that one suits you and how you are fitted on it.

As for the helmet, I too say to wait.  One of the points in the video was to "invest on getting comfortable with the aero position", and until you do that, the helet won't help and will maybe hurt.  The hurting part will be because you haven't gotten used to holding you head in a position where the pointy tail of the aero helmet doesn't spend too much time sticking straight up and thus creating a lot of drag and resistance.  FWIW, i didn't get my first aero helmet until just about exactly two years ago, right after doing the Double fronhofer and posting strong bike times, and figuring I was "finally worthy"!

My thought on safety is that the aero helmet is like an egg shell ---- and that when I crashed in '09, i would've been in big trouble if I was in the aero helmet.  The regular helmet took a good beating and got cracked and needed to be retired immediately...but it saved my head from serious percussive injury.  I have seen the ear flaps on my aero helmet develop cracks and bends just from everyday stuff, and heaven knows what would've happened to helmet and head with the force I salmmed down on the pavement.

Also from the video is the possibility of working with a bike fitter, and the cost of doing so.  Could be big and pricey, like maybe budget a back-up $400 (maximum).  Hopefully the new bike will come all dialed-in perfectly for you...but I wouldn't count on it.

Final thought from the video is a "clean way" of setting up bottles.  For me, It's not clean.  I ahve the two behind my seat, and I guess my rump shields them from too much windflow; call that a draw.  I have one on my down tube, right where he says it sghouldn't be.  but that's for my tire levers, CO2 thingy, a spare tube, and a few other items -- better there than tucked under my seat in a pouch that is crammed in and impossible to get at quickly. I have a Profile Design aerobottle with a straw that sits between my aerobars, a standard old-school set-up.  I see the aerologic in the type of set-up in the video, a conventional water bottle parallel to the ground, but I love my set-up because:

• I store gels in the top part.
• I put gel wrappers back in there after I use them.
• I find it easy to pour water from an adid station bottle right into the gaping top.
• It's a great place to store an aid station banana.

These features makes long rides, and long races, that much simpler and accessible.

As for aerostats, well, I'm never sure how much the small stuff matters in the presence of my large body looming behind the bars and in front of the caged bottles.  I heard his point about air swishing around between arms and hands when resting on the aerobars, but I guess I'd want to see that qualtified and then factored in along with the FRONTAL DRAG of my 6'2: body, complete with abnormally extra-long torso.  I'm just sayin'!

ANNE -

Trying to avoid doing a "spoiler" here for all the Americans who have to wait until primetime to see this stuff, but...

Awfully tough watching poor Simon today......and could things hardly have gone worse for Canada's tri medal hopefuls? 

And as for Paula, well, that situation is just plain ugly.  I'm not sure how else it could've played out short of her staying hung out to dry, and I suppose SW did the right thing in defending her.  There's lots to study in that debacle......and if it means that heads will roll at TriCan, well, u=you might guess correctly that that wouldn't bother me too much!  But still.

Good commitment on making Monday a long training day.  And 94km -- that's a couple more than I had planned for you!  Mine, too, however, would've been mostly nicely suited to The Canadian....so there!

Sunday was terrible, howeve, with huge winds and a whole batch of t-storms and lots of heavy rain with them.  The only advantage would've been that the return half would've had a fierce wind at our backs, but all the lightning activity would've (that's three "would've" usages in this sentence!!) ruled out a swim in the St. Lawrence.  Plus, those howlers from the SW would've (there it is again!) made a swim very difficult, piling up the waves almost frighteningly.  (In my earlier days, I swam in that stuff whenever I happened to be there with them, but it was always too wild for my comfort.  Over the past four years, say, I haven't done a single wicked-water swim there...whcih is part of the reason i no longer swim there, period.)

Finally, the only Ottawa swim site currently open is Mooney's Bay; all the Ottawa River ones are closed due to bacteria levels being too high.  I never heed those warnings anyhow -- which is good, as the beach at Mooney's will lilely be "called" soon.  (But as I 'freelance" on the other side, there's no one to chase me off.)

Poor Paula, poor Simon. 

Finished my race report for Saturday's event.   Since then have done a 96km tempo ride on Monday and a 40km ride today with 26 minutes at threshold.   It was a windy day and I was a bit tired but managed to get a 30.7 (19.1mph) average speed, which I am quite excited about.  

RACE REPORT: Canadian National - Ottawa - 3:23:46, 1/2 age group.

Up at 4:15 and out the door at 5:40. Had juices made the night before plus raw buckwheat 'groatmeal'. Did 15 min of morning yoga. Ate breakfast in the car on the way. Wanted to get to race site early because of limited free parking. Got to Terry Fox sports complex just after 6:00 and there was a steady stream of cars but still a few spots left. Headed over to transition with tri bag and bike and left Ken to do his thing. Was the first one there for the Olympic event and got the first and best spot on the rack at the end and close to bike exit. LARGE transition area with a VERY long run from swim in to bike out over rather thick grass so was glad not to have to do that.

Picked up timing chip at 6:30 and then went to body marking to find that they use the 'buddy' system and athletes mark each other. Talked to a woman from New Brunswick who was there with her daughter who was racing one of the draft legal junior races that morning. Admired her French braid and asked if she could do my hair. Said she would be happy to and did a really nice job. For some reason I seem to be really relaxed at the races this season and had lots of time to set things up, talk to people, do my dynamic stretching, head out to Hoggs Back road and spent 15 minutes doing some walking, running drills and running.

There was a race orientation mtg at the beach at 8:00 with swim start at 8:30. Got into the water at 8:10 for 15 minutes and then out for the mass (135 people) beach start. It looked like there were WAY more than 135 people, but it was in a small area which must be why it looked like there were so many people. Water was calm.

SWIM: (2:19/100 meters)

It was sort of 2 lengths of 750, starting from close to where we would exit the water. We were to swim in a diagonal to an opening between the buoy lines and carry on to the 3rd orange buoy and turn around and swim straight back to a 90 degree turn into shore. I didn't start swimming for at least 30" after the horn went. It was chaos so just stood at edge of beach until there was room to walk into the water and room to try to swim. Very difficult to see with all the bodies in close quarters and just went with the herd and hoped to heck we were heading in the right direction. Couldn't even tell if and when I had gone through the opening. Kept trying to sight for the orange buoys and finally felt some relief when I caught glimpse of the big one where we were supposed to turn around. The masses from the start were long gone but there were still lots of bodies around me and I continued to pass one after another and able to catch alot of bodies to draft on. After the turn around still passing bodies and finally getting a good groove and continuing to get stronger, smoother and faster. I imagined I passed at least a dozen or more people and I must have because I think I ended up beating about 22 people. The swim actually felt longer than 1500 meters, not sure why. I wasn't feeling tired, it just felt like I was in the water a long time and was pleasantly surprised to see 34.40 on my watch when I exited the water.

A 500+meter run up to transition and my bike. Had my wetsuit off to my thighs pretty quickly which made it tougher to run so just stopped and whipped it off and was able to run faster the rest of the way.

T1: 5 minutes had passed from exiting water to when I ran over the transition mat at the bike exit.

BIKE: (29.04km/hr or 18.1mph)

Took another 50" to run from timing mat out to the road and the mount line and get on bike. Got feet into shoes pretty quickly and up to speed quickly as well. However, in retrospect, should have pushed harder, all out, to get that speed up to the absolute max. I have mentioned this before in previous races, that if you don't get that speed initially, it is almost impossible to gain, unless you are doing an HIM, although fairly easy to maintain. My speed after the 1st lap was 29 and each lap after was within 2" of each other.

When they described the course as flat and fast I thought there would be more of an opportunity for 'even' pacing and possibly over 30km/hr which is what I have been doing on several training rides - pretty easy 32-33km/hr. However, you really had to work in a couple of places where there was the slightest incline (heading towards downtown Ottawa, under the first bridge) with the headwind and then the short 'climb' coming into the turn around, and heading out for another lap.

The other 'mistake' I made was taking my feet out of shoes after the turn at the last lap coming into the dismount line - a slight incline and I allowed my speed to slow right down getting feet out of shoes. Next time will probably take feet out before the last climb.

Stayed areo entire time, drank OK, and ate 2 of my raisin walnut truffles (raw). They literally melted in my mouth which was kind of cool - no chewing - one at beginning of 2nd lap, then beginning of 4th lap. After the race I realized I had forgotten to take out the extra water bottle between my legs. Not a big deal, but still extra weight.

Good dismount and although nothing hurt or locked up, was REALLY difficult to walk, let alone run, but I made myself run at least to the timing mat. Then I just walked slowly, not caring about the T2 time today. Wanted to walk and loosen the hips up for the run which I was a bit nervous about. Mounted bike, running shoes on, grabbled palm bottle and walked to run exit then started to run.

T2- 3:12 This was crazy slow compared to my usual 1:10-1:15.

RUN: (7:35/km, I think)

A short steep downhill on the exit and then onto pavement. As soon as I started running I had a knife like pain in my left foot pad. This has happened 2-3 times this season, usually on the right foot. Had to stop for a few seconds and tried to work it out to no avial, wondering if I should take my shoe off but I remembered squinching my toes seemed to help, so did that for a few more seconds and started to run again, squinching as I ran and the pain disappeared within a minute or two.

My goal on this race was to push the bike hard and see what negative effect it might have on my hips and the run and just get the run done. Things seemed to be moving well, but I still made the decision to run slowly, my big concern being able to run the 10km without injuring myself. I am still a little leary about hurting myself after being off for 2 years. I am fairly confident about safely doing a 5km off the bike and after this event, starting to feel more confident about doing a faster 10km. Will put more focus on the run for my final event in September.

It was REALLY hot and no reprieve from the sun. Water station at about 1.5km. Stopped briefly to refill my palm bottle, drink a cup and take off again, so didn't lose too much time there. At the 3km mark saw Ken running back on the other side so he was about 1km ahead of me. He yelled over that I had a better bike than him again. Kept a steady pace, not feeling too badly because I wasn't pushing hard, so not breathing hard, but not slacking. Splits: 7:20; 7;13; 8:03 (water break); 7:19; 7;00; 7:06; 8.06 (water break), 8;53 (BIG water break, running through sprinkler), 7:31; 7:16.

Thought it was cruel that they made us run up the short, steep incline INTO the finish chute and turn around for the 2nd lap just 50 meters from finish line. This time out I stopped for a minute at the water station and drank 3 cups of water and refilled my bottle and dumped water on my head. Just past the turn around, about 7.5km a family had set up a water station with big glasses of cold water and stopped here again for another minute, drinking and pouring water on my head and body. I could not believe the salt pouring off me both times I dumped water on my head. A couple of families had set up sprinklers and 2 young boys were spraying people with a hose.

Once I got to 8km I knew I could finish. Had a bit of a shock when at 9km my right heel started to REALLY hurt. Could feel the shoe rubbing. Had felt my little toes hurting a bit but no big deal. The heel killed me the last 500m but I didn't let it affect my stride. As soon as I got through the finish line, I took my shoes off and saw an ugly looking, broken, bloody blister on my right heel/achilles and my little toes looked like they were going to burst and fall off, the blisters were so big. I guess my feet really swelled up from the heat?

This was the first tri this year where I felt like I had worked. Ate a banana and drank what water I had. They ran out of water! So we decided to head right to the car where we had some waiting. On the way we walked by the results board and Ken said I came first so we hung around and picked up the 'GOLD' lanyard (sp?). No other prizes for placing.

Got back to car and SLOWLY packed up and then headed over to the water for a dip to cool off and clean off the blisters.

The event was pretty well run with an extreme focus on safety, and very family oriented. We did this race because it is basically the same course for the September HIM and glad we did. The final time doesn't reflect the positive aspects of the race. Gives me something solid to work with on planning my strategy for that event. I paid for the extra 10 minutes taken on the run and the slow

I know!!! I CANNOT believe it!!    Really, I am kind of losing it with Simon.   As far as I'm concerned that was a huge rookie mistake - switching hands going over a speed bump that you KNEW was there.    He seems to be full of excuses the last year.   Can't quite figure him out.    

Paula, I feel for.   The only race she did all year was in Toronto a couple of weeks ago.   There is no way her fitness level could compare to the other athletes.   I had heard that she was getting physio twice a day.   And I am so glad her coach pushed her to finish the race when she wanted out.     Look at Sweetland - she can't finish anything any more.   Too easy to bail.   

I don't think this will spoil anyone's new about the women's triathlon, but I was really impressed with Sarah Groff.    She had a great race.  

Thanks for the update on the Ottawa swimming 'holes'.   When we talked to the lifeguard they said the bacteria count is often through the roof after big rains but drops right back down almost within hours.    The day we were there it was 80 and I think they post the beach at 200. 

Been putting a big focus on the bike the past week or so.   Time to give the run some effort.    Have a tempo run scheduled tomorrow and will give it my best.   Just worried a bit about the blister on my heel.  

ANNE -

I'll have to watch the video again, as so far I haven't been able to pick out anything he did "wrong" to cause the wobble/swerve/crash.  I will have to focus on the hands!

Shepley mentioned at some point him trying to get his feet in at that point, but I didn't see that, either.  but if so, it's reminiscent of me at West Point last year, where I tried to get my feet in on a windy and bumpy stretch of road, lost control, went onto the grassy and wide shoulder, and crashed there.  Soft landing, but as you say -- rookie mistake.

Which will lead me into the next post, below.

ANNE (and ALL) -

Two intriguing things I saw/heard watching the men's Olympic triathlon this morning:

1. The swim starts on a wide pontoon, with athletes stretched out along its length.  Once the gun went, they didn't all swarm towards what could be perceived as the best "line" to the first buoy.  Rather they formed four or five "funnels", each characterized by the lead swimmers and then the rest spreading back behind them.  So, in effect, each group of, say, 15-20 athletes along the pontoon, formed and swam together in this fashion for at least two minutes.
2. The commentators said that the cyclists might stay with their feet on top of their shoes for the first "HALF of the first lap.  I think there were seven laps, and the course had to be lengthened to 43km, so each lap would be a bit over 6km --- meaning that many of them would wait about 3km before getting their feet in the shoes!

How this applies to me:

• I may start off to the side on a race swim, but I try to make it into the "best line" as early as possible.  But watching these ultra-elites today, it seemed it was best for them to avoid the threat of contact and take time to settle into the best line from buoy to buoy to buoy.
• I may take a couple of minutes to get my feet into my shoes, but any longer and i begin to feel "guilty" -- even though I feel I have good "grip" with my feet hugging the rough surface of the tops of my shoes.  At West point last year I crashed when I tried to get feet in within 30-40s of leaving T1, even though (1) I was on a rough and windy road, (2) it was raining, and (3) I knew that within another minute I would be on a beautifully wise and smooth shoulder!!!!  So, had I watched what I saw today before West Point last year, I certainly would've waited that extra few clicks of time to do it safely -- and wehn i was up to acceptable speed.

Take homes:

---- No hurry to get on the perceived fastest line to the first buoy, especially if it would involve too much contact!

---- No hurry to get the feet into the cycling shoes upon mounting!

ANOTHER OLYMPICS-GENERATED THOUGHT

Concerning mount lines:

The rule is you cannot mount before the mount line, but there is nothing to prevent you from running X feet beyond the line and mounting in a clear spot.  I do this regularly......but always make sure I'm at the side so i don't get in the way of anyone trying to pick up speed -- and maybe looking down at their feet or their rings.

As for dismount lines, the reverse applies in that you can dismount at any point before the line.  This is useful when there is a cluster of dismounters already there, and when i see that I just do my dismount 10-12 feet early and run it from there.  Again, though, that has to be done way to the side, to prevent anyone from plowing into you from behind.  I don't really like this option for just that reason, but i do do it on occasion.

Watch the men's Olympics tri to see what can happen, at that level of competition, to someone who mounts a wee bit early!

ANNE again -

It amazed me to hear Shepley (GREAT commentator, to my ears!) refer so often to how many of those guys had a season riddled with injuries.  Just a few: 

• Kemper's broken elbow that then got infected.
• The guy who had pneumonia, and then needed to be on I-V for ten days, just last month, I think.
• Frodeno, losing six weeks, I think it was, in the spring, i think it was.
• Finally, A. Brownlee who, I'm sure I heard this right, didn't do his first 2012 race until just three weeks ago, due to a torn Achilles.

Those are a few specifics, and there were more that flew by me, but it sjows either how off-the-charts the elites are driven to train, and/or how poor they are at managing their own training and bodies and injuries.  The comment from the head of Tri Can about Paula being a "terrible patient" in that she doesn't back off enough when told to, was actually almost supported by her own comments about herself, and I would guess that many/most of those athletes are in the same boat.

A few years ago there was a big rap against the Australian Tri Fed due to how relentlessly they drove injured athletes.......but the cynic in me makes me wonder if Tri Can, seeing the Australian success at that time (circa '04-'09), might've secretely adopted a similar strategy.  Heaven forbid?

FWIW, things like the Olympics gall me no end.  They become all about winning and making the podium, whereas I view it as Sinead Russell finished 8/8 in the 200m backstroke final, well, she MADE it to the final AND can arguably say she is the 8th best female backstroker on the planet.  Pretty damn good, I think!

But don't get me started on the hand-wringing and accusatory things I hear when Canadian athletes are perceived as "not measuring up".    The mega-funding perhaps isn't in place, but I'd rather see available funding go to desperate social programs rather than elite athletic ones.  And if there isn't fully-adequate funding for elite athletes......then someone like Sinead Russell has even more reason to be proud of her accomplishments!

But like I said -- don't get me started!

A. Brownlee 29:07 10K off the bike.  WOW.  And he slowed down at the finish.

Greg Bennett and Macca had it right, they said that if no team attacked the Brit's on bike it was over with.  I wasn't able to see the entire race becuase of commercials but I only saw one attack on the bike (a NWZ and a RUS) easily matched by Hayes.

BTW:  Stuart Hayes should get 1/2 of the Brownlee's medals.  He did all the work on the bike.

I agree with you.   Hayes was amazing.   My fav is Gomez and I was glad to see how well he ran against AB yesterday.   I love Alistair's running form.  

STEVE,

Enjoyed your observations and comments on the men's tri yesterday.    Am going to remember the mount/dismount and swim comments for next race.  

Had the race not been in Great Britain (it's nice to see the home team do well at the Olympics), I would've been four-square behind Gomez.  Him against two Brownlees was slightly reminiscent of Contador against two Schlecks..........but I like Gomez far more than I like Contador!

Yes, Alastair has phenomenal running form, and seeing the three of them together for so long just accented that fact.  The other two are no slouches, of course, but they don't have The Gift that AB has.  Jeezum!

What good fortune for Jonathan, that he was able to keep up with those other two so as to have a big enough lead over the 4th guy that the penalty didn't even matter.  So, as it turns out -- what a blessing, actually.  How sweet would that be, to work super hard in a race and then get to take a 15s break without it mattering at all?!?

Off soon to get my second MRI opinion, but I don't expect much will change.  But this will be from the guy who injects me, so I want to know how he might treat me differently knowing that my problem is from a tear as opposed to "just" arthritis (which was his pre-MRI thought).

Actually............I showed up yesterday morning for the consult, and was told it was today.  Hell's bells!!!

Then I go for another bike tweak/fit to see if my new pedals and cleats can be jimmied around so that my knees are 100% (okay, 93% would be fine).  If not, then I guess I will have to switch again, to red cleats, which my ancient ones were.  They allow much more float, so having ample float might be what my knees need; it's what i have had for many, many years -- and even more so as the old cleats kept chipping and getting smaller!

Good luck at the consult and tweaking!    What pedals are you using?