Mad Manatees 2015.3 CLOSED (or Poptarts? Pet pics?) (Page 18)

I ended up changing the plan a bit.  A 10 mile run on Saturday at slightly faster than race pace.  Today did a 2100 yard swim about race pace and then an hour hard on the bike.  I put new tires and the disc on, used my good aero helmet, race kit.  But the ride felt horrible.  I was pushing hard but speed just was not there.  I was riding a very familiar route and was never this slow.  I really started doubting myself.  Got home a little dejected and then realized my brake pads were applying constant pressure on the rim.  Doh!!!  Glad I caught this now.  

So the hay is definitely in the barn now.  Nothing left to do but shave my legs.

Was going to say, a lot of things have been going on for you!

hahahaha!  I need to catch up but first I need to share this:

"He glanced over at the scheduling board where groups signed out clusters of terminals for virtual meetings.  One of the bigger groups on campus was the cycling club, a habit more loathsome than jerking off in Adam's opinion. These people actually simmed bike riding.  They spent their time on foreign worlds, riding bikes, their brains flooded with endorphins from simulated exhaustion.  Adam could always sense when he was interfacing right after a cyclist. The seat would remain warm for hours, the stench of sleep-sweat in the air. It was disgusting." (from The Plagiarist by Hugh Howey)

blah blah blah My team game in first place but I am so disappointed. 

Congratulations on your podium finish!  I hope that you had a great time!

Whew!  So glad that you put the race wheels on for a test ride sooner rather than later!

I know.  I'm my toughest critic, and I have a tendency of being too hard on myself.  In some ways its good and others not so much.

As others said, you had a busy May.

Also, the weather this year was surely not exactly the same as last year.  That can definitely affect pace.  How were others times compared to last year?

(and don't make us break out the world's smallest violin for you!)

sorry, you had a rough for you ride, but congratulations on having a good race and getting a team win!!

ugh, I've done that before- it is not fun!!  Like Janyne said, glad you caught it before the race!

The bike for others is kind of iffy.  They had an "elite wave" where you could start with a group before everyone else, and then the relays started after.  Our swimmer was so good that he caught up to the elite wave and came out in front of a lot of them.  Because of that I got to see a lot of the front.  Unfortunately when you mix a group of people with similar speeds together on a fast bike course drafting has a high probability of occurring.  I had two pacelines of about 5 bikes each pass me during the ride, so I'm taking most of faster averages with a grain of salt. 

One of the guys I know pretty well got 2nd overall with a partial thanks to said drafting.  Drafting has been an with this race for a while, and having that elite wave did not help things.

So even thought I didn't get the bike average I wanted.  I can at least say I rode it honest.

How crowded was in? Been in a few races around here with similar type elite waves and haven't had any issues like that. I haven't had the fastest swim, but have biked fast up through those who did so did get to see a number of other people on the course. Overall race size varied from 200 to 450 or so. The first wave was no more than 50 people.

And definitely understand the disappointment. We've often brought up not using placement when it doesn't look good as it may have been a strong crowd. For me as well it also goes the other way in that the crowd could have been fairly weak (relays often can be in ones I've seen). The win can help to feel a little better, but no need to be completely elated with it if you're not.

More important that time or finishing place, at least in my world.

Congrats

Matt

Think the first happens to everybody, and the difficulty of that run course is really overlooked quite often! This is one course where finishing is often winning for a lot of people.

Have you tried rubbing them with baby oil? I used an oily lotion for mine. That worked pretty good.

Ummm... actually kind of makes is WAAAAY more funny. 

Congrats on taking down one TOUGH race!

Matt

ETA - as what my kids call "The hairy human primate," I've had... let's say issues with race tats in the past.  Agreed that baby oil is a good start - especially if you rub in a circle to kind of pill the sticky part up and pluck it off.  Hoping you're not quite as furry as I, though... 

Good job, MR Matt and Randee!!  Maybe you didn't get the results you wanted but you both definitely deserve to feel proud of your results.

Congratulations on tackling a really tough course! And you're right, finishing is winning.  The way I've gotten those tats off is to scrub really, really hard and remove a few layers of skin

Congrats, racers! 

Matt - totally better to finish honest than be a drafter.  No doubt you will get back in your groove now that your life is getting back to normal.

Randee - great job on a not easy course, as you said, especially the run.  Oh, and regarding the tattoos, I seem to recall seeing something about using packing tape.  Put a piece of packing tape over the tat and it will pull most of it off.  Repeat with more tape until it's done, that is, unless you like the lint and cat hair look.

I've always heard Quassy and "tough course" in the same sentence.  After this weekend, MT will look easy!

Speaking of Quassy, my former Masters coach, Eliot, totally ROCKED Quassy this weekend, finishing 4th overall (not including elites).  We're so incredibly proud of him!