SBR Utopia - OPEN (Page 187)

Craig Alexander tweeted that it was the worst wind he had ever raced in.  The heat did not sound fun either.  Congrats to both of you on getting to the finish of a tough day.

Yes I did! It was perfect up north!

Congrats racers!!! Looking forward to the RR on BT :-)

We had an awesome weekend of camping, fishing and hanging with good friends. I rode out on the bike course on Saturday to cheer folks. Ironically I flatted at exactly the same spot that I flatted during that race 2 years ago! Didn't bother me so much this time, LOL.

We did the Xterra relay today...came in 1st place by over 20 mins. I was the swimmer (you have no idea how strange that is) and had to start in the male swim wave...I got pretty beat up, men definitely hit harder! I came out the water in top 10 though and hubby held onto that on the bike, and our runner was a rockstar! Such a fun weekend.

And Kim, it was so painful to watch the car thermometer keep going up on the way back to Phx. At least I head for Scotland on Thursday...guaranteed cold weather!  

Not whiney at all...a great read Jason and thanks for sharing your experiences. I still say congrats on a very impressive finish! 

I saw it as you bringing in the feeling of what it was like being out there. It's darn frustrating dealing with conditions like that and that's how it came across. It's an important part of the race (especially that one) that should help a lot of others in knowing it happens and to be prepared in dealing with it. Nice job sticking with it!

Originally posted by tri808 Thanks guys. I truely hope others can learn from this. Being almost 48 hours detatched from it, I'm actually pretty happy with the entire experience. I got down to goal weight, my swim improved relative to the field by almost 10% and my overall finishing placing was pretty similar to last year despite going into survival mode. Next race is the 40k TT this coming Sunday. A race much more suited to my strengths.

So this was all a subtle way of showing how worthless swimming is?

Jason and Melissa - Great reports, I love hearing about tough days.....

Thought I'd post a quick pic from the result of my RETUL fit.  The top pic is my original fit.  I have to say, I looked at that and said "that's not right."  But none of my buddies ever said anything....  I had ridden 5 hours that morning, and the fitter said "you deserve a medal for that."  He was actually very excited because he was going to get to make some real significant changes.

 Bottom pic is on the RETUL bike, which my bike was adjusted to match.  Have not ridden it other than on the trainer and a few minutes outside, but he made substantial changes.  Saddle up 2 cm, cockpit down 2 cm, out 4 cm....   It's a very interesting process, basically like going to the eye doctor.  He starts out in a generic position, then makes a series of small changes, and asks how each feels.  he doesn't tell you, but he'll get to a point where he would never set the bike, and let me figure out the fit was not right.  It was not that hard to tell when something was off, or when the movement had gone too far.  He also has a powermeter and can read the power for each setting, to see if and where it goes up and down. 

Very interesting process.  This guy currently fits many of the pro tour teams for their TT, and has fit Rinny, Cave, Dibens,etc.  Crowie is coming in 2 weeks.  He is the sh&t

Hopefully the pic posts...

(FIT.jpg)

Mat Steinmetz????

The second pic does look a lot more comfortable!  So your seat was too low?  I didn't think that was possible...  

Originally posted by brigby1

Originally posted by tri808 Thanks guys. I truely hope others can learn from this. Being almost 48 hours detatched from it, I'm actually pretty happy with the entire experience. I got down to goal weight, my swim improved relative to the field by almost 10% and my overall finishing placing was pretty similar to last year despite going into survival mode. Next race is the 40k TT this coming Sunday. A race much more suited to my strengths.

So this was all a subtle way of showing how worthless swimming is?

The pain....    it stabs deep into my heart....   

Jim Manton at Ero Sports.

Speaking of Mat, Jim has a lot of interesting stories about the pros.  Including that of Mat yelling at Dibens not to start the run at Kona 2012, which she did anyway.  Plan was for her to crush the bike course record and then not start the run, but she was :20 ahead, so she went for it, and we know how that turned out. 

Her foot healed, but she overcompensated and had to have knee surgery, which apparently did not go well.  He's not sure she can come back.  Good lesson in sticking to your plan

Originally posted by tri808

Originally posted by marcag

Originally posted by tri808 Thanks guys. I truely hope others can learn from this. Being almost 48 hours detatched from it, I'm actually pretty happy with the entire experience. I got down to goal weight, my swim improved relative to the field by almost 10% and my overall finishing placing was pretty similar to last year despite going into survival mode. Next race is the 40k TT this coming Sunday. A race much more suited to my strengths.

Will you do it again next year ? If so, what will you do differently in your preparation ?

I don't know if I'll do it in 2014, but definately again. My training won't be much different. Of course I'll focus on my weakness in swimming and try to improve my run as well, but I feel that I was well prepared. Race execution and my mindset is definately what I want to dial in. Knowing when to back off on the bike and racing within myself. Treating it like one race instead of 3 separate timed races that add up to one.

That one sentence says a whole lot. Thanks.

turns out Bree Wee ran 15 miles.  She allowed herself to be misdirected and had to retrace her steps 

Thanks, that makes me feel better about mine wavy line. 

Originally posted by mndymond So cool story... Crowie was on my plane back to the mainland. I couldn't muster the courage to ask him to sign my Honu poster...and then when I finally did he was getting his 3 kids ready to board...and that felt inappropriate. Lol. People were congratulating him (I'd say 80% of the plane had done the race...so many bikes loaded on) and he's a super humble, chill guy. Next time...next time....don't be a chicken. That's twice now...once with Andy Potts and now once with Crowie...

Courage mon ami. Repetez apres moi:  vous s'il vous plait signe ma cuisse?

That's about all I got with my US pigeon french. I'm sure some of your Canadian brethren can offer better assistance before you head to France. 

*blushing*