ASPHALT JUNKIES Summer Bronzing Crew - CLOSED (Page 18)

OMG.... How old is he again? I think that's kinda cute to be honest.

My girls are 2 and 4. My husband (daddy) is 6'1" weighs about 235, benches almost 400 pounds, and is in law enforcement. I'm hoping that between me and him, we set standards high for our girls and that they will leave boys in the dust.... I know those boy crazy years are going to happen no matter what and I am hoping to take as many pointers from Jeff that I can get in the meantime.

QUESTION about racing back to back weekends.

I've signed up for my first Oly distance tri on 8.10.2013.... Lots of our tri club members are racing a Sprint race the weekend prior on 8.3.2013. The sprint race is the first race I ever did and it would be my first rematch as well as my 1 yr anniversary in the sport. Many of them have been encouraging/pressuring me to race the Sprint on 8.3.2013.

I'm not sure if it is a good idea. I know the extra swim would be great experience for me, but not sure I could pace myself (but it is just a sprint). I know I will want to shave off time from last year. However, will I over do it and not be prepared for the Oly distance the following weekend? I'm so on the fence about this decision. I feel like doing the Sprint will help calm my nerves for the Oly distance, I just don't know if I will exert too much at the Sprint race. Plus, it will be very hot both weekends here in South Georgia.

The Oly Tri -- features a HIM distance at the same location in April. My goal is to do the Oly distance in preparation for the HIM.  

Oly Tri - Down river swim, hilly bike course, flat run

Sprint Tri - Short  lake swim (300 yds), hilly bike course, mostly flat run

All feedback is welcomed. Anyone ever raced back to back weekends?

Originally posted by Jo63 Need a little help on bike shorts, and this may be dumb question of the day Does the padding reduce after a certain amount of wear? And this is for the ladies what brand do you wear? I have been having a lot of trouble with mine not sure if it's fit or that I have been wearing them too long. I would like to find something that is somewhat comfortable for my next race.

I'm not sure if the padding reduces, makes sense to me that it would. I always buy whatever is on sale and so far I have 3 pair of zoot shorts and a pair of skirt sports that I wear the most often. What kind of trouble are you having? Are you using any kind of chamois cream or anything? I have never had much trouble with chaffing (if that is the issue) but for longer rides I use the cream on my skin and on my shorts both.

Oh, and I keep forgetting, thanks for asking about my sister in OK. She has been north of all the bad stuff so far so no damage!

I had an OWS last night in my friends pond. I am happy to report that I had my most comfortable swim yet in the wetsuit. Maybe I am starting to break it in a little. I forgot my spray and thought I would never even be able to get it on but I used the plastic bag trick and it slid right on the easiest it has yet! Then I remembered what Jeff said about squeezing my shoulders together so I did that while my son zipped me up. My last swim in the suit I could not wait to stop swimming and this time I didn't want to stop!

Of course my kids jump right in with only their swimsuits on .

Originally posted by Jo63 Need a little help on bike shorts, and this may be dumb question of the day Does the padding reduce after a certain amount of wear? And this is for the ladies what brand do you wear? I have been having a lot of trouble with mine not sure if it's fit or that I have been wearing them too long. I would like to find something that is somewhat comfortable for my next race.

My choices for training bike shorts are Sheila Moon or Giordanna.  I love them both.  For triathlon / time trial racing, I like DeSoto.

Do both of them!!!!  You'll be fine.

I'm probably going to do Sprints on back-to-back weekends, too.  The first one is my target race.  The second one is just for fun.

Originally posted by Jo63 Need a little help on bike shorts, and this may be dumb question of the day Does the padding reduce after a certain amount of wear? And this is for the ladies what brand do you wear? I have been having a lot of trouble with mine not sure if it's fit or that I have been wearing them too long. I would like to find something that is somewhat comfortable for my next race.

The pad will decrease in density over time but you should be able to use the shorts for thousands of miles before there is a lot of discomfort.  I have had 2 pair (Pearl Izumi Attack and Desoto Forza (with 400 mile chamois)) that have lasted for more than 2 years and around 10k miles between the 2 of them.  They seem to be fine right now but I think the Pearl's are getting a little more wear and I may be getting another pair soon.

I would say that if they aren't tearing at the seams of the chamois and they're not too uncomfortable, keep riding in them.  You might consider using the worn down pair for shorter rides of 20 miles or so and use newer one for longer rides.

Jeff is the master of back to back races and has been known to race back to back days, not just weekends.  BEAST!!!

I say do both races and race all out for both.  The sprint will have little impact on you a week later, especially if you take a day to recover following the race.  By the time you hit the Oly you'll be trained for the longer distance and a sprint would be a nice warm up.

One way to maximize your fitness for the 2 races being that close together is to dial the volume to Oly training distances for as long as possible prior to your race.  If you go into the weekend with 3 months worth of volume building training the sprint race will feel like nothing from a recovery standpoint.

To the LADY JUNKIES:

JEN and DINA - Thanks for the tips on posting pictures here.   The exact keystroke by keystroke instructions by Dina were perfect for my pea-sized brain.  I tested it out and it worked!   You're both awesome!  And yes, Jen, do BOTH races! 

TRACY -  Congratulations on your camper purchase!   We have a toy hauler too and it's perfect for camping and racing.  You'll have a blast making great family memories.   It makes racing so much more fun to pull into a campsite and be able to sleep in comfortable surroundings and your own bed on the night before a race.  I only look to do races now, where we can camp at or close to the race site.   Fun, fun!

JOANNE -  I'm jealous that you have a group to do OWS with - way to get in the water.  Can't believe with you being north of us that your water was already in the 70s - lucky!  As far as bike shorts, I'm no help.   I have a few pairs of Pearl Izumi (shorts and capri length) that I haven't worn in several years.   I train in tri shorts because the chamois pad in bike shorts is too thick for my comfort.   I got a new bike seat (Selle SMP TRK Lady) and it's so comfortable that last week when I did my 50 miler, I only used regular unpadded compression shorts and had no issues.    Have you tried different bike seats?   Just throwing that idea out.

ALLISON - Hope all's well with you and your training.   I know you're busy making beautiful smiles on people - I enjoy seeing your client pictures on Facebook.

JACKIE - I know you put up a bio but I don't think you've posted since page 1.  Don't know if you're still with us - you'd mentioned in your bio about being unmotivated - hope you're getting inspiration somewhere, if not here.

Speaking of unmotivated - I woke up today not feeling like doing any training so I'll take the day off.  Last night I started to clean out our camper from sitting there all winter and it's a big job so I'll work on that this morn.   I'll do enough squats, lifts and running back and forth to the house that I'll call that a workout.       I found out on Monday, when I finally went to see a podiatrist, that I have arthritis in my big toe.  I'd been having burning pain there during runs of 8 miles or more for the last couple years.   I thought it was a bunion but it started hurting just getting out of bed so figured it was time to have it checked.  He recommended getting a carbon fiber insert initially, then surgery.  The surgery would take me out of commission for up to 4 months so I'm opting out of that for a while - who has time for dat? 

Have a great day EVERYONE!

Brenda - You totally rock! This is the first time I have seen a 'ladies only' Junkie post! LOL! Sorry to hear about your toe; however, it is good to have an answer as to why it has been bothering you.

Junkies - Thanks  for all your feedback about racing back to back weekends. I am now fired up to do both! Just don't tell my hubby yet.

Maybe if I tell him to golf during the Sprint race weekend he won't be so bothered by the fact that I am racing both weekends.

Jen, if I was trained up for an Olympic I would definitely do a sprint the weekend before if the opportunity was there (and the finances could handle it), especially one that I had that kind of history with.  Just like everyone else has said, I think you’ll be fine doing both.

I had a pretty unpleasant open water swim yesterday evening. My friend Jesse and I headed out to the lake and when we got there it smelled like someone had been gutting fish and left the discarded bits out in the sun. We got in and started our swim and all seemed to be going well when suddenly there is a log or shallow area where there shouldn’t be right below us. Reaching down you couldn’t touch anything, but it really looked like being in shallow and somewhat murky water.

It appears that a temperature shift or perhaps increased inflows had churned up some of the sediment from the bottom of the lake and we were seeing the suspended particles lit by the sun.  You could not feel the particles in the water, but you could see the color difference. It was completely random and the whole way across it kept repeating at varying distances and widths. Nice dark water then suddenly it looks shallow for a bit.

I have never been bothered when getting tangled in a bit of plant or even bumping into lots of small bits of driftwood floating around during a swim, but this sort of constant unexpected change in color and seemingly in depth was very disconcerting.  We swam across and back once (half a mile total) and both found it so disturbing to our swim rhythm that we decided to skip the rest of our planned swim.

I am headed out of town for the weekend but I hope to get a couple of work outs in.  We are heading to Ohio to see family so I am not making any workout promises.

My plan is to get a long bike with a group, if I can find a ride, and maybe a semi-long run.  We'll see how it goes.

I'll probably keep up on the posts but may not be posting myself.

Have a great trip to the Buckeye state, DIRK!   I have no doubt you'll at least get a run in.   Enjoy family time!

VERO -  Ugh, that swim sounds uncomfortable in the weird water.  Did you talk to anyone to get an idea of what the cause was?  

DEREK -  You're making me a better mathematician - I'm always trying to convert your workout distances into miles. 

Who's racing this weekend (I'm too lazy to check past posts or individual race logs)?   Seems like MATT always has something on the calendar.   Anyone?....anyone?