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The Dominon - Beginner Focused Group - Closed (Page 18)
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 2017-06-08 4:12 PM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
Veteran  604   Cleburne, Texas |  Subject: RE: Against my will, I bought a wetsuitI have a sleeveless and love it. Helps keep you up on top of the water. I'll wear it every time I can! |
| 2017-06-08 6:24 PM in reply to: #5208205 |
595 | Subject: RE: The Dominon - Beginner Focused Group - Closed Will get my totals up soon. On vacation. |
| 2017-06-09 9:58 AM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
| 499 | Subject: RE: Against my will, I bought a wetsuit Good purchase! A friend of mine prefers the sleeveless one as well.....I'm to meet him sometime to use it; like you, I've been holding off buying. Wow....just realized most yards in the water this week since mid March....5600 yards; all outdoor swims at a pool in a park nearby; water has been perfect. |
| 2017-06-09 11:30 PM in reply to: 2NewKnees |
| 595 | Subject: RE: Against my will, I bought a wetsuit Thats a chilly swim you have planned. I have a sleeveless wet suit I got in a package deal with my bike. All of my wet suit swims have been disappointing. I seem to swim slower. Fortunately Im in NC and rarely is the water cold enough. I swam in the ocean memorial day weekend. The water was lovely. Soon it will be to warm |
| 2017-06-09 11:36 PM in reply to: nrpoulin |
| 595 | Subject: --- Well May was a down month again. Had lots of empty days on the calendar. I have had a full schedule with family stuff and haven't been able to get another race on the calendar and I think it is effecting my motivation. I like to race early and often. In a typically year I race monthly starting in March. I have 1 tri so far. I have nearly stopped swimming, and continue to bike and run. Run is pretty consistent but would like to keep it closer to 80 but 65 miles is good. Would like to get bike above 175, and swim up to at least 10k. Swim 1h 16m 08s - 4250.00 Yd BIKE8h 36m 11s - 143.02 Mi RUN9h 39m 11s - 65.05 Mi |
| 2017-06-10 6:07 AM in reply to: nrpoulin |
Veteran 604 Cleburne, Texas | Subject: RE: --- Hang in there and don't beat yourself up. Life happens! |
| 2017-06-10 6:34 AM in reply to: nrpoulin |
| 541 North Grafton, Massachusetts | Subject: RE: Against my will, I bought a wetsuit Originally posted by nrpoulin Thats a chilly swim you have planned. I have a sleeveless wet suit I got in a package deal with my bike. All of my wet suit swims have been disappointing. I seem to swim slower. Fortunately Im in NC and rarely is the water cold enough. I swam in the ocean memorial day weekend. The water was lovely. Soon it will be to warm I did get a chance to make it to the lake for a brief open water swim test with the suit on. I had my son with me and it was nearly 8:00 by the time I got in the water, so I kept it short. I probably only swam 200 meters with it on, but I think it was a worthwhile purchase. That water was pretty damn cold! Some of the water did get into the suit, but the insulation from the cold was definitely there. Just for kicks, I did strip off the wetsuit and jump in with only my neoprene shorts I bought last year (nothing on top except my tri jersey). Maybe I was already a little warmed up from the first bit of swimming, but I was able to handle the cold well enough. I probably only swam 100 meters that way. I think the biggest deal was just getting my face down in the water. The rest of it wasn't so bad. I see now why people wear wetsuits for races. Man, I felt like I was floating on top of the water with ease! It seemed like I was just skimming along without a care in the world. It definitely had my body position better than I would have swimming without it. I can only guess that my swim time for a race with that suit on would be improved, possibly significantly improved. But I'm still torn on just how often to wear it. I'll start with this race and see how it goes. I've long felt that the wetsuit should only be worn for this very situation, when the water is too cold and it is needed for insulation. I feel like too many people use it like a crutch or almost as a "cheat" to improve their time. At one of my Oly's last year, people were freaking out losing their mind when they heard it wasn't wetsuit legal. Me, I had a big smile on my face because I knew the playing field had been leveled. The question now is if I feel like keeping that playing field leveled for wetsuit legal races and wearing mine more often. I'll still do all of my training without one so I am prepared to go without, but I may decide to follow the masses and wear it on race day when it is legal. |
| 2017-06-10 12:56 PM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
Veteran 604 Cleburne, Texas | Subject: RE: Against my will, I bought a wetsuit I've been the only one in a crowd of people w/o a wet suit before. I didn't place as high as I hoped on the swim and I'm sure that made a difference. Most of the races I've done have a temp range where wet suits are legal then another temp range where you can wear a wet suit if you choose but you're not eligible for awards. Lastly is the no wet suit temp which I've seen before. It's not cheating if it's rules say you can do it. It's a piece of equipment like anything else, areo helmet, carbon wheels, (legal) speed suits, etc. |
| 2017-06-10 9:06 PM in reply to: HelmoAlkou |
| 541 North Grafton, Massachusetts | Subject: RE: Against my will, I bought a wetsuit Originally posted by HelmoAlkou I've been the only one in a crowd of people w/o a wet suit before. I didn't place as high as I hoped on the swim and I'm sure that made a difference. Most of the races I've done have a temp range where wet suits are legal then another temp range where you can wear a wet suit if you choose but you're not eligible for awards. Lastly is the no wet suit temp which I've seen before. It's not cheating if it's rules say you can do it. It's a piece of equipment like anything else, areo helmet, carbon wheels, (legal) speed suits, etc. No, I didn't mean to imply that anyone was actually cheating. I completely understand that it's within the rules to use a wetsuit as long as the water temp isn't over something like 78 degrees. It was more of a mindset. My feeling was that the purpose of the wetsuit really should have been exactly the reason that I bought one. The water was really too cold to swim in without one. But being from New England, swimming in water with a temperature in the 75-77 degree range is just so comfortable. It just seemed to me like there really wasn't a "this water is too cold" need for the wetsuit. Therefore, the only reason you were wearing the suit was not because the water was too cold, but because you wanted an advantage to improve your swim time. I get it. It's legal to a certain temperature. And even then, above a certain temperature, you can still wear it but you won't be eligible for awards. But as my wife said to me, I'm "hammer and nails". I assume she meant that I'm tough and strict and that means I feel like you shouldn't wear a wetsuit unless you HAVE to, not just because you WANT to. I was loving it this past summer when I was racing an Olympic and it wasn't wetsuit legal. All of these people were losing their minds because they couldn't wear a wetsuit. I'm sorry, but I feel strongly that if you can't complete the swim without the wetsuit, then you never should have signed up for the race in the first place. While everyone else was freaking out, I was walking around with a big smile on my face because I easily knew I could finish that swim without a wetsuit, no questions asked. Should you really have to rely on a piece of equipment to get you through the swim? My personal belief is that the answer should be 'no'. And, yes, I know there are plenty of equipment choices out there that people can legally use in a race. Generally, the things you've mentioned are going to improve the athletes time. But they aren't going to be NECESSARY for them to finish that leg of the race. Do you think that these athletes that use an aero helmet couldn't complete the race with a regular helmet? I bet they can. But it certainly seemed like there were people that didn't think they could complete an Oly swim without a wetsuit. I guess I'm a bit of a purist (or hard ) when it comes to that, but that's how I feel. And I'm entitled to my opinion just as much as the next person. But that's fine, you want to wear your wetsuit in 77 degree water, go ahead because you can. But I won't be. |
| 2017-06-13 8:44 PM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
| 541 North Grafton, Massachusetts | Subject: First OWS in the wetsuit My tri club had an OWS for members tonight, so I grabbed the new suit and took a drive over after dinner. They have a number of buoys set up in an area off a private beach, so it's a pretty good set up. The only problem was that I didn't know how far a single lap around the buoys was. Overall, things went really well. I didn't have any issues with the suit at all. I know I've read about people feeling claustrophobic, but I didn't feel any of that and my suit is really snug! My biggest concern was that the suit would cause issues with my shoulders. I've had multiple surgeries for torn rotator cuffs and a torn labrum. As I sit here typing this email, everything seems to be in good shape and no worse for the wear. I logged about 2000m without any Body Glide and I seem to be fine, no chaffing. I looked at 3 or 4 videos on youtube on how to get out of the suit. I practiced a couple times in the yard with the kids spraying me down with the hose to get everything wet. I pulled the suit down to my waist like you would do after exiting the water as you head towards T1. The two times I practiced, I was able to get the suit off in 20 seconds and 17 seconds. I feel pretty good about that amount of time, especially since the suit got stuck on my ankles/feet both times. Any suggestions from the wetsuit veterans on how to avoid that? I thought I remembered the owner at the store saying something about tucking a little of the suit in around the ankles. I do remember she said that some people apply some Body Glide at the ankles. But I wondered if tucking the suit in at the ankles would help any. The suit was definitely an advantage in terms of my pace. I was about 15 seconds faster per 100m. Even in just a sprint of 400m, that'll save me a full minute or more. I'll lose a little of that back in transition, but I'll have a real good chance of finishing in the top 1/3 of the swim. |
| 2017-06-14 11:14 AM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
| 499 | Subject: RE: First OWS in the wetsuit Congrats! Great info that you shared..... |
| 2017-06-16 11:15 PM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
| 595 | Subject: RE: First OWS in the wetsuit I think what I remember when I looked at that was body glide and a maneuver where you stepped on part of the suit removed one leg. Then stepped on the suit and removed the other leg. If you get 20 you are probably fine. Will your race have suit strippers? Nate |
| 2017-06-17 5:33 PM in reply to: nrpoulin |
| 541 North Grafton, Massachusetts | Subject: RE: First OWS in the wetsuit Originally posted by nrpoulin I think what I remember when I looked at that was body glide and a maneuver where you stepped on part of the suit removed one leg. Then stepped on the suit and removed the other leg. If you get 20 you are probably fine. Will your race have suit strippers? Nate I've tried that "step on part of the leg and lift the other leg out" maneuver, but the suit always gets stuck on my feet. The suit is pretty tight, so the size of my foot relative to the size of the opening is preventing me from pulling that off. The race itself is a small, local race and they just don't have enough volunteers/staff to provide strippers, so I was on my own. I'll post a race report later once they put up the official results. Bottom line, the removal of the suit went about as good as it did in practice. I did apply some Body Glide around my ankles and feet, but it didn't help. But I knew that it was likely my feet would stick, I was prepared for it and I didn't waste time continually yanking on my leg. Once it didn't work the first time I just lifted my leg, got my fingers inside the cuff, and stretched the opening and got it down over my ankle. I don't have my T1 time, but I'd bet it was close to the same time as last year. |
| 2017-06-18 8:29 AM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
| 541 North Grafton, Massachusetts | Subject: Summer Solstice Sprint First race of the summer is in the books! I had hopes the rain might hold off, but the skies opened up and rained on my parade just as the race was starting. Despite the bad conditions, I managed to shave an amazing 16 seconds off my time from last year! LOL This was my first race with a wetsuit and I would have expected any problems on the swim to come from that. Turns out it was about the only thing that didn't go wrong! When the race started, I ran into the water and dove in. It seemed like the moment I hit the water I got a cramp in the arch of my left foot. I have largely avoided the foot cramps in my training this year, so that was a surprise. It took probably 50 meters, but I got it worked out and it didn't come back. But just as that was gone, my goggles started taking on water. This was the biggest issue on the swim. Every time I turned so I could see the buoys or other swimmers, water was getting into my eye and I couldn't see. I tried closing my eye every time I turned to that side. But it ruined my navigation and it made me start to panic a little. I stopped at least 3 times to flip my goggles to get the water out. The effect on my navigation was probably the biggest problem because at times I could tell that I was at least 50 feet away from the buoys. Way, way off course! Despite all of that, I still managed to shave 18 seconds off my time from last year. I'm willing to bet that would have been at least a full minute if it wasn't for the wetsuit. T1 went about as well as could be expected. A little slower than last year, primarily due to the wetsuit. But I feel like I got the suit off as well as I did in practice, probably taking no more than about 20 seconds. The other issue was that I had put my socks and cycling shoes in plastic bags to keep them dry and getting them out of the bags and on my feet also slowed me down. I was just a little slow getting started on the bike since the exit out of transition was a little uphill. Otherwise, I pretty much killed it on the bike. I could tell from the get go that I was pushing hard on the bike. I had forgotten to put my bike computer on my aero bars, so I was just winging it. I passed a lot more people than there were people passing me. My overall bike rank of 48/139 (34%) clearly shows my effort on the bike. My average pace of 19.22 mph is my best ever pace in any race. T2 went pretty well. Again, the rain played a factor. I was a little cautious dismounting since I didn't want to fall on wet pavement. In addition, my running shoes were still in my bag in transition, so that didn't help either. Luckily, a kind volunteer pointed out to me that I was running out of T2 with my bike helmet still on! LOL She was also kind enough to take it from me and return it to my spot in transition so I didn't have to run back myself. Keeping up my trend of cramping (in almost every single tri!), less than 1/4 mile into the run and I had to stop twice to stretch a cramp out of my left calf. After that 2nd stop, they didn't come back. The cramps and a hilly start to the run had me clock 8:59 for the first mile. I roared back with a vengeance, clocking 7:57 and 7:52 for miles 2 and 3! I crossed the finish line with a run split of 25:43, which was 15 seconds faster than last year. My overall time of 1:10:54 was 16 seconds faster than last year, which felt like an accomplishment given the crappy weather conditions. It also felt good given how much I struggled on the swim. Luckily, it didn't kill my performance, but it is something I can improve upon next year. Even with the rain (which adds a whole new element to the race when it's hitting your eyes at 30+ mph on the bike!), it was a good race. I really like the fact that the race is on a Friday night. Race report (if that wasn't enough for ya!): http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp... |
| 2017-06-18 7:32 PM in reply to: nrpoulin |
| 35 | Subject: I Am A Triathlete My first race is in the books! Wow, what an experience! I participated in the FirstTry triathlon in Linden, MI. It is a beginner focused event with a 300 yd. swim, 9.2 mile bike and 2 mile run. My times were about what I expected and while I did not set any speed records, I also was not last. The swim was much more difficult than I imagined. The open water with many around me began to freak me out. I actually thought about tapping out early on but was able to calm myself down and got it under control. The segment I thought would be easy was more difficult than I thought. What I should have completed in 10 to 11 minutes took 14. T1 was good but the run from the lake was uphill about 500 yards. The bike went well with limited issues. My training areas are flat and the course had many rolling hills. Definitely need more hill training. T2 was 1 minute and easy as I biked in my running shoes. The run was hilly and part of it was a trail run. It is where I struggle most and I my time was about where I expected which I thought was good given the terrain. This has been a dream since I was in my 20's. this was a celebration of 18 months of hard work and 150 pounds gone. I still have a long way to go but am proud of my progress. Time to pick out my next event! Going for a Sprint. |
| 2017-06-19 10:08 AM in reply to: mistercdub |
| 499 | Subject: RE: I Am A Triathlete Congrats on a fantastic outcome for your first event!!!!!!! |
| 2017-06-19 10:11 AM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
| 499 | Subject: RE: Summer Solstice Sprint Congrats on a good race....especially in sticking with it on the swim!!!!! |
| 2017-06-24 3:47 PM in reply to: mistercdub |
| 595 | Subject: RE: I Am A Triathlete Originally posted by mistercdub My first race is in the books! Wow, what an experience! I participated in the FirstTry triathlon in Linden, MI. It is a beginner focused event with a 300 yd. swim, 9.2 mile bike and 2 mile run. My times were about what I expected and while I did not set any speed records, I also was not last. The swim was much more difficult than I imagined. The open water with many around me began to freak me out. I actually thought about tapping out early on but was able to calm myself down and got it under control. The segment I thought would be easy was more difficult than I thought. What I should have completed in 10 to 11 minutes took 14. T1 was good but the run from the lake was uphill about 500 yards. The bike went well with limited issues. My training areas are flat and the course had many rolling hills. Definitely need more hill training. T2 was 1 minute and easy as I biked in my running shoes. The run was hilly and part of it was a trail run. It is where I struggle most and I my time was about where I expected which I thought was good given the terrain. This has been a dream since I was in my 20's. this was a celebration of 18 months of hard work and 150 pounds gone. I still have a long way to go but am proud of my progress. Time to pick out my next event! Going for a Sprint. Congratulations Triathlete! When is your next event? |
| 2017-06-24 3:55 PM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
| 595 | Subject: RE: Summer Solstice Sprint Originally posted by rjchilds8 First race of the summer is in the books! I had hopes the rain might hold off, but the skies opened up and rained on my parade just as the race was starting. Despite the bad conditions, I managed to shave an amazing 16 seconds off my time from last year! LOL This was my first race with a wetsuit and I would have expected any problems on the swim to come from that. Turns out it was about the only thing that didn't go wrong! When the race started, I ran into the water and dove in. It seemed like the moment I hit the water I got a cramp in the arch of my left foot. I have largely avoided the foot cramps in my training this year, so that was a surprise. It took probably 50 meters, but I got it worked out and it didn't come back. But just as that was gone, my goggles started taking on water. This was the biggest issue on the swim. Every time I turned so I could see the buoys or other swimmers, water was getting into my eye and I couldn't see. I tried closing my eye every time I turned to that side. But it ruined my navigation and it made me start to panic a little. I stopped at least 3 times to flip my goggles to get the water out. The effect on my navigation was probably the biggest problem because at times I could tell that I was at least 50 feet away from the buoys. Way, way off course! Despite all of that, I still managed to shave 18 seconds off my time from last year. I'm willing to bet that would have been at least a full minute if it wasn't for the wetsuit. T1 went about as well as could be expected. A little slower than last year, primarily due to the wetsuit. But I feel like I got the suit off as well as I did in practice, probably taking no more than about 20 seconds. The other issue was that I had put my socks and cycling shoes in plastic bags to keep them dry and getting them out of the bags and on my feet also slowed me down. I was just a little slow getting started on the bike since the exit out of transition was a little uphill. Otherwise, I pretty much killed it on the bike. I could tell from the get go that I was pushing hard on the bike. I had forgotten to put my bike computer on my aero bars, so I was just winging it. I passed a lot more people than there were people passing me. My overall bike rank of 48/139 (34%) clearly shows my effort on the bike. My average pace of 19.22 mph is my best ever pace in any race. T2 went pretty well. Again, the rain played a factor. I was a little cautious dismounting since I didn't want to fall on wet pavement. In addition, my running shoes were still in my bag in transition, so that didn't help either. Luckily, a kind volunteer pointed out to me that I was running out of T2 with my bike helmet still on! LOL She was also kind enough to take it from me and return it to my spot in transition so I didn't have to run back myself. Keeping up my trend of cramping (in almost every single tri!), less than 1/4 mile into the run and I had to stop twice to stretch a cramp out of my left calf. After that 2nd stop, they didn't come back. The cramps and a hilly start to the run had me clock 8:59 for the first mile. I roared back with a vengeance, clocking 7:57 and 7:52 for miles 2 and 3! I crossed the finish line with a run split of 25:43, which was 15 seconds faster than last year. My overall time of 1:10:54 was 16 seconds faster than last year, which felt like an accomplishment given the crappy weather conditions. It also felt good given how much I struggled on the swim. Luckily, it didn't kill my performance, but it is something I can improve upon next year. Even with the rain (which adds a whole new element to the race when it's hitting your eyes at 30+ mph on the bike!), it was a good race. I really like the fact that the race is on a Friday night. Race report (if that wasn't enough for ya!): http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp... Overall those numbers look pretty awesome Randy. I checked them out on Connect. I you sure the race distance was right for the swim. You were 12th overall, and your GPS looks pretty straight. Solid bike and run too. I didn't look at your last years race but a bike pace PR, and a race course run PR looks like you are in good shape for your next race. When is it? Is it the half? Do you find your club to be motivating? |
| 2017-06-24 4:13 PM in reply to: nrpoulin |
| 595 | Subject: RE: Summer Solstice Sprint I've been in funk since my HM, really since my early season sprint. I just hadn't been able to find a race that worked with my schedule. I finally committed to something about two weeks ago and it has been good motivation. Not sure I will have the bike and swim volume to do an Olympic well but July 8th I will travel to Williamsburg to do a Rev3 Olympic. This will be my second Olympic event ever. Registering has given me the training boost I needed. I also felt like my weight was stuck and I needed to drop a couple extra pounds to get to racing shape and started using the 21 day Fix diet plan. Its been helpful and I dropped that stubborn weight and now I am at my race weight from the last few seasons, but I think I can drop it a little further as my BMI is still about 27. Don't have anything that I have registered for yet after July but hope to do a local race in August if my work schedule allows. What do people have on the books? |
| 2017-06-24 5:30 PM in reply to: nrpoulin |
| 541 North Grafton, Massachusetts | Subject: RE: Summer Solstice Sprint Originally posted by nrpoulin Overall those numbers look pretty awesome Randy. I checked them out on Connect. I you sure the race distance was right for the swim. You were 12th overall, and your GPS looks pretty straight. Solid bike and run too. I didn't look at your last years race but a bike pace PR, and a race course run PR looks like you are in good shape for your next race. When is it? Is it the half? Do you find your club to be motivating? Well, I did feel last year like the swim distance was long, but my navigation has been bad enough that it's hard to tell. I've attached a pic showing my two swims, but unfortunately the zoom isn't the same so you don't have an exact comparison. The one on the right is from last year and you can see it at least looks a little more like a triangle. The one on the left is from this year and it looks more like home plate! LOL But my stats from 2016 show 563 meters for the swim and this year it was 589. I know I was pretty far off course this year, but an extra 189 meters seems a bit extreme if the course was truly 400m. Anyway, I swam the same course as everybody else, so the bad performance is on me. Total mix up on my part. I wasn't even remotely close to 12th on the swim. I must have thought I was entering the total number of participants in my age group, which was 12. My overall swim rank was 76th (out of 139 that finished). The bike was my best segment, finishing with a rank of 48th. The run was a pretty decent run for me. I had to have lost at least 20 seconds during the two times I stopped to stretch my calves, which would have been more like 25:23. But there are no timeouts, so those 20 seconds count. Given past performances, that's a pretty good sprint distance run for me, so no complaints. Among my 5K runs during sprints, 25:43 was my 2nd fastest. I would feel better about what kind of shape I'm in if I hadn't taken a week off from training while on vacation (up in the White Mountains!). I did run once and I just ran today shortly after we got back. My next race is an Olympic in 2 weeks. I'm going to look at it as more of a "training" race than an actual race. I'm going to try to hold back a little on the bike and the run and then my plan is to run at least an extra 3 miles immediately after crossing the finish line. I'd like to get a sense for what 9+ miles of running feels like after the Oly swim and bike, which is only 22 miles. Not exactly the same as the HIM, but I think it will be good experience. I don't fully utilize my tri club, so don't go by me. With two little ones and a third one on the way, I almost never make it to any of the club workouts. I know they hold a mini sprint tri every Wednesday night, they do track sessions, OWS probably 5 days a week, strength training, brick workouts. Lots of stuff that I'd love to participate in, but just don't have the time. I think if I could get to some of those things I would find it really helpful. (Solstice_swim_comp.jpg) Attachments ---------------- Solstice_swim_comp.jpg (49KB - 16 downloads) |
| 2017-06-24 5:36 PM in reply to: nrpoulin |
| 541 North Grafton, Massachusetts | Subject: RE: Summer Solstice Sprint Stick with it, bud! Believe me, I know what it is like to lose the motivation sometimes. I always try to remind myself of all of the hard work I've already put into my training and how I don't want to make it all go for nothing if I don't keep up with my workouts. Different people are going to find their motivation different ways, that's just what works for me. Meant to mention in my other post that my HIM isn't until the beginning of September, so I still have quite a bit of time for training. Tomorrow I'm planning on 48 miles on the bike, so I'm approaching the full HIM bike distance. That has been my biggest goal for the year since I have already run the 13.1 miles and I've at least surpassed the 1.2 mile swim in training. It'll feel like a huge accomplishment when I finally pass that 56 mile test! |
| 2017-06-24 8:19 PM in reply to: 0 |
| 35 | Subject: RE: I Am A Triathlete Have not decided yet but will be a Sprint event in late August or early September. Looking at the various races available and evaluating options. Will let you know when I decide. Edited by mistercdub 2017-06-24 8:20 PM |
| 2017-06-25 6:11 PM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
| 541 North Grafton, Massachusetts | Subject: The Call of Shame! I somewhat knew that today's bike ride was a bit risky and it turned out to be true. Something I hoped would never happen happened. I had to call my wife to come pick me up because I couldn't finish my bike ride! The shame! The humiliation! The fact that I may never hear the end of it! LOL And not even 3 miles from home! Oh, so painful. I had my sprint a couple days before leaving to go on vacation for nearly a week. My left calf had some residual pain after my race, so I hadn't done any training for the 2 days before we left to go on vacation. Add in the 6 days we were gone on vacation and today marked the 9th day since my last bike ride. So I knew it might be asking a little too much to complete this ride (longer than I've ever done before), but I threw caution to the wind and headed out on the road. Around mile 20, I hit a wall and my pace really started to fall off. While I kept feeling the hint of a cramp, I pressed on. At 46.5 miles, I called my wife to ask her to start filling up the jacuzzi tub because I knew I'd want a soak after this ride! I told her I'd be home in less than 15 minutes since I was only 3.5 miles from home. Disaster struck at 47.1 miles! As my right leg reached the bottom of my pedal stroke, it locked up. And I mean LOCKED! It took some serious effort to get the leg to bend, all while trying to stay focused on the road and figuring out what the hell to do. I tried to keep my leg moving even though I was essentially coasting at that point, but it locked up again. As I forced it to bend again, my hamstring decided it should also cramp up! Double whammy hammy! I was able to get unclipped and pull over to the side of the road, but I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get off the bike. LOL But I did, then I leaned my bike against the guardrail and sat in the grass off the side of the road. I was eventually able to stop the constant merry-go-round of cramping, which was also joined by my hip flexor. Triple dippy hippy?! I drank what I had left for electrolyte drink on my bike and called my wife to come get me, a mere 3 miles from home. :-( As I was waiting for her, and since my leg had calmed down, I decided to try riding to see if I could make it back. I got 1 more mile and my left leg started cramping. Not as bad as the right, but enough that I had to call it quits. It must have been quite a sight to see as I writhed in cramping hell on the side of the road waiting to be rescued ny my wife and kids. I'll live, but they may never let me forget this day! |
| 2017-06-25 10:41 PM in reply to: rjchilds8 |
| 595 | Subject: RE: The Call of Shame! Saw your bike on Garmin and I was like damn way to go man. Don't know how today was up north but it was hot as F*** here even though overcast. Did you take enough water? lytes? Thats around 3 hours of working out. I have to admit I laughed when reading "double whammy hammy". By the way if don't be to hard on your swim. I think garmin had your pace at 1:36 or something. That is hauling. You built the speed up now you just got to work on sighting. Seems like a damn good race when you look at paces 1:36, 19.2, and 8:13. Just sayin Where are you going in NH? We are heading up for our August trip at the end of July. This year I gonna stay the whole two weeks with the family. Nate |
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