kenj's group closed, training hard and having fun!! (Page 18)

Went for a run this morning in glorious weather. It was overcast and low-mid 60s which we never get here this time of year. The cool front was supposed to bring rain but no such luck. Going to try to swim tonight.

My husband is out of town all week which can make evening training a bit more tricky so I need to work a little harder to get everything done this week.

Question about shoes on pedals... don't they shoes get in the way on the back side? I get that you use rubberbands on your way out but what about on your way back? My shoes would totally get in the way. Having volunteered in my share of transitions I see this a lot and the shoes end up popping off the pedals and the guy has to run back (bike in hand) and pick up the shoe. I wonder if this is a way to avoid this.

Went for a run this morning in glorious weather. It was overcast and low-mid 60s which we never get here this time of year. The cool front was supposed to bring rain but no such luck. Going to try to swim tonight.

My husband is out of town all week which can make evening training a bit more tricky so I need to work a little harder to get everything done this week.

Question about shoes on pedals... don't they shoes get in the way on the back side? I get that you use rubberbands on your way out but what about on your way back? My shoes would totally get in the way. Having volunteered in my share of transitions I see this a lot and the shoes end up popping off the pedals and the guy has to run back (bike in hand) and pick up the shoe. I wonder if this is a way to avoid this.

Great Job Ken!

Vivian, I am happy for you! A new bike is always exciting. Are you using mountain bike shoes/cleatspeddles or road bike peddles? 

I am trying to get my new peddles (Speedplay) and cleats dialed it but it has been tough. I have been to the bike fitter twice and am going to have to go again as my knee acts up everytime I ride. This has happened before but we finally got it figured out with my old set up.

We made an offer on a house today and it looks like we might be under contract tomorrow. This is one of the reason's I have been away a bit. 

I am meeting with my coach tomorrow evening to do a "run session"  Basically he is going to try and help me with my running. I have to say I am a bit nervous about this. It is silly but I can't help it.  I think I am going to be a bit embarrased (self conscious). 

The place where I do my OWS opened yesterday. Some crazy people actually went it the water. Some without wetsuits. I think the water temps were in the low to mid 50s and the air temp was 36 degrees.  I would never have survived that. I can't breath when the temps get that low. 

I hope everyone is doing well.

I rarely do group rides any more.  They talk more than they ride. Unless it's a long Sunday ride.  I may leave with them and then break off on my own when they turn back for home.

Good pool workout with Masters today.  Best times yet.  1:46 100s several times and a 7:52 warmup with is the best ever.  RPE was lowest ever at the same time.  Stroke efficiency drills rock.

I am meeting with my coach tomorrow evening to do a "run session"  Basically he is going to try and help me with my running. I have to say I am a bit nervous about this. It is silly but I can't help it.  I think I am going to be a bit embarrased (self conscious). 

I understand how you feel. I've known my coach for a couple of years and he had been coaching me for a few months when I met with him to work on my run form. He had me run the way I usually run and video taped me and we were able to look at it on his lap top and he was able to take some stills. He then had me make some modifications to my form and took video/stills again and it made a HUGE difference. I am not super fast but definitely faster than I was before! Cardio shape is still an issue but I find it easier for my body to go faster even if I can't hold it as long as I would like.

Maybe the guys I saw lose their shoes in T2 had them at the top/bottom of the crank rather than 3 and 9, makes sense. I have a sprint coming up, maybe I will start practicing this. The bike portion is only 10 miles so every second counts.

This past Sunday I enjoyed my first non-wetsuit OWS of the season. Not a fan of wearing the wetsuit so this made me a happy girl. The water was chilly at first but felt great. A very good friend is doing her first Tri this Sunday and I was encouraging her to get in the open water. She was very glad she got in!

I was reading Vivian’s post about un-clipping her shoes on her new bike and I thought I’d pass on a little tip that I practice every bike ride.

I’m not the fastest tri-athlete but I do usually nail my transitions. Now that it’s a little warmer out and if the driveway is dry I practice my transitions on to and off of the bike every ride.

In transition I leave my bike shoes clipped on my bike. This works really well for sprints where time is so critical. In T1 I take my wetsuit off as quickly as possibly grab my bike and run to the mount line. I then ride for a ¼ mile w/ my feet on top of the shoes. I then reach down and insert my feet into the shoe and close the Velcro strap. I use shimano tri shoes they have one big velcro strap and it works really well for this technique. To keep the pedals from flopping around I secure them with rubber bands, the band just breaks free on my first downward peddle stroke.

Coming off the bike I do it in reverse. I take my feet out of the shoe and ride on top of the shoe for the last 1/8^th of a mile. It’s much easier for me to run barefoot then to run with my bike shoes on during transition. It’s really not that hard and can save a lot of time.

This saves great time..Some getting used to but I did this every race last year in my first season and  I had great t1 and t2 times..

Went for a run this morning in glorious weather. It was overcast and low-mid 60s which we never get here this time of year. The cool front was supposed to bring rain but no such luck. Going to try to swim tonight.

My husband is out of town all week which can make evening training a bit more tricky so I need to work a little harder to get everything done this week.

Question about shoes on pedals... don't they shoes get in the way on the back side? I get that you use rubberbands on your way out but what about on your way back? My shoes would totally get in the way. Having volunteered in my share of transitions I see this a lot and the shoes end up popping off the pedals and the guy has to run back (bike in hand) and pick up the shoe. I wonder if this is a way to avoid this.

Got back from CA last night. HM went even better than I could of hoped! Going from 7200 feet to sea level made a HUGE difference. I don't think my HR ever went below 150 and at the last 1/2 mile it was over 170, but couldn't even tell. My goal was to run it under 2'30" and I did it in 2'18"!!!! I will get a RR up as soon as I can get some time. Course was beautiful and weather was gorgeous!

On my way home, I stopped at the LRS and bought a wetsuit.  Planned on just trying some on and then ordering online, but the owner was there and he offered me a sweet deal on a barely used one. Yeah!

Not official yet, but it looks like we will be moving to AK. So, I will be very, very busy in the next couple of months getting the house on the market. I am sure my training will suffer, but will try my best to at least keep my gains.

Got back from CA last night. HM went even better than I could of hoped! Going from 7200 feet to sea level made a HUGE difference. I don't think my HR ever went below 150 and at the last 1/2 mile it was over 170, but couldn't even tell. My goal was to run it under 2'30" and I did it in 2'18"!!!! I will get a RR up as soon as I can get some time. Course was beautiful and weather was gorgeous!

On my way home, I stopped at the LRS and bought a wetsuit.  Planned on just trying some on and then ordering online, but the owner was there and he offered me a sweet deal on a barely used one. Yeah!

Not official yet, but it looks like we will be moving to AK. So, I will be very, very busy in the next couple of months getting the house on the market. I am sure my training will suffer, but will try my best to at least keep my gains.

Got back from CA last night. HM went even better than I could of hoped! Going from 7200 feet to sea level made a HUGE difference. I don't think my HR ever went below 150 and at the last 1/2 mile it was over 170, but couldn't even tell. My goal was to run it under 2'30" and I did it in 2'18"!!!! I will get a RR up as soon as I can get some time. Course was beautiful and weather was gorgeous!

On my way home, I stopped at the LRS and bought a wetsuit.  Planned on just trying some on and then ordering online, but the owner was there and he offered me a sweet deal on a barely used one. Yeah!

Not official yet, but it looks like we will be moving to AK. So, I will be very, very busy in the next couple of months getting the house on the market. I am sure my training will suffer, but will try my best to at least keep my gains.

Got back from CA last night. HM went even better than I could of hoped! Going from 7200 feet to sea level made a HUGE difference. I don't think my HR ever went below 150 and at the last 1/2 mile it was over 170, but couldn't even tell. My goal was to run it under 2'30" and I did it in 2'18"!!!! I will get a RR up as soon as I can get some time. Course was beautiful and weather was gorgeous!

On my way home, I stopped at the LRS and bought a wetsuit.  Planned on just trying some on and then ordering online, but the owner was there and he offered me a sweet deal on a barely used one. Yeah!

Not official yet, but it looks like we will be moving to AK. So, I will be very, very busy in the next couple of months getting the house on the market. I am sure my training will suffer, but will try my best to at least keep my gains.

Got back from CA last night. HM went even better than I could of hoped! Going from 7200 feet to sea level made a HUGE difference. I don't think my HR ever went below 150 and at the last 1/2 mile it was over 170, but couldn't even tell. My goal was to run it under 2'30" and I did it in 2'18"!!!! I will get a RR up as soon as I can get some time. Course was beautiful and weather was gorgeous!

On my way home, I stopped at the LRS and bought a wetsuit.  Planned on just trying some on and then ordering online, but the owner was there and he offered me a sweet deal on a barely used one. Yeah!

Not official yet, but it looks like we will be moving to AK. So, I will be very, very busy in the next couple of months getting the house on the market. I am sure my training will suffer, but will try my best to at least keep my gains.