MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 194)

I feel like a slug!  Everyone here is so active and I have done little work this summer/early fall. Lots on the bike work with a MTN bike race and a Cyclocross clinic - and this weekend I did a Chi-Running clinic which was very helpful in reducing Knee pain but not hip pain...

Anyways... I hope to get back in the swing of things with my triathlon training.  I have had a hard time getting into the pool to swim and had to cancel my last races (Mossman and Nations) as I just can't swim more than a couple hundred yards without shoulder problems.  I am going to work on strength training this off-season and make sure I can compete next season.  

I look forward to going back of the 30 or so pages to see how everyone is doing!

Alex

Hey gang.

I've sometimes disappeared from the boards for a while mostly because I didn't think I had anything important to say. I am going to consciously try to make some more posts just to keep things lively.

I had a tough 12 mile run Saturday. No one from my running group showed up. It was pitch dark and it was hard to get going by myself but I persevered. I did end up walking a little bit towards the end as I got demoralized, or as I ran out of sugars to burn. I'm still a little sore from that run so I took the night off from running.

My swim times have been really steady for a long time without improvement. I am starting to be able to swim sets of 16x100s with every one less than 1:22. 

I sometimes run in a road racing series called the Magnificent 7. I've run three races and have enough points for fourth place in my age group. The top two are way ahead, but the third place guy is up by only 1 point. He was my nemesis all last year but has apparently been hurt almost all summer. He just ran a race a couple of weeks ago, but I would actually beat him now head to head at least until he recovers. I would love to make top three for the season so will probably do some extra races while I can still beat him. I am considering doing a 5K and 10K in French Lick, Indiana on the same day in mid October to boost the points. In theory I can place in both based on last year's times.

http://www.mag7raceseries.com/standings.html (Men 40-44)

I've about committed to the Jaguar triathlon at IUPUI, a college in Indianapolis on October 7th, and the Monumental 1/2 marathon in Indy in November. I'll probably be doing Mag7 stuff until mid-December. 

Trina - Great race report.  Lots of tribulations but you persevered.  I'm curious about your "Almond Joy" Oatmeal - whats in it?  I eat oatmeal most mornings.

Since you're looking for a cooler HIM you should check out "Oliver Half Iron".  It was June 17th this year and it was reasonably moderate temperature wise.  The swim happens in Tuc el Nuit Lake which is only warm enough to swim in by May 24th-ish (our Queen Victoria Day long weekend) and even then it was pretty cold.  By mid June it should be a nice comfortable temp.

The Oliver area is about 35km south of Penticton and in July and August it gets hot (It's where I saw 53C in the sun on my bike computor last July 8th).  The area is an agricultural area primarily focused on wineries.  If you're at all curious about it you could look up race reports here on BT and in particular you could read some of the reports by Dr. Leah.  She writes some pretty good RR and gives a good feel for the race.

A fellow from Wisconsin that I've met at IMCanada twice says he finds the best way to get here is he flies to Spokane then rents a car and drives up.  Or you could fly into Vancouver and drive 5 hours to the Okanagan.

I don't really expect you to do it but it might be fun for you to check it out.  There is also a "Desert Half" in Osoyoos which includes Richter Pass (part of IMC route) in its bike route but that is in July and can be hot!

I do intend to do the Oliver Half myself someday.

My 3rd swim in the pool today.  Not as much fun as in the lake but Actually was a lot of fun today.  It wound up there was 4 of us in our lane and we were pretty closely suited to each other so we swam more or less continuously for an hour without any passing and maintained a pretty consistent spacing between us and at what felt pretty fast to me.

The hour was over in a flash and I felt like I had done a really good work out.  A quick trip to Tim Horton's for coffee and muffin wiped out my good work though.

Hoosierman - 16# 100s all under 1:22 sounds really good to me.  I didn't really pay any attention to the clock so I have no idea how fast I was but I'm sure I wasn't up to your pace.  I'll have to try and pay more attention to my times.

George,

Our pool has a big clock on the wall. I've got our lifeguard trained to turn it on when the pool opens. It's much easier than trying to use a watch and sometimes you can see it during the swim to check your pacing.

ALEX -

Welcome back!   I was down in Darien for ITPman this past weekend, and I scanned through the list hoping to see your name..........but, alas, no.  VERY nice race, if you ever get the chance to do it; recommended highly!

Of course, i'm sorry you had to bail on Nations and Mossman, but!  There's always next season, and the one after that, and so on.  Strength-training will be helpful, and really -- there is no end to the different approaches you can take to getting the shoulder back to where it can swim and compete.  I generally feel that there is some therapy out there for every person with any condition ---- but the trick is finding the one that works.  It is maybe telling that my most serious cases have come down to patient medium-to-long-term REST to get them resolved, with a smaller nod towards other players in the recovery process.  I dunno.  I just try to be open-minded to options, and if one seems to make some sense and is affordable, I will at leat consider it very seriously.

Anyhow, keep in touch, please!  It's good to hear your cybervoice.......and it'd be nicer to hear more of it! 

DOUG -

That 12-miler sounds un-fun --- so congrats on toughing it through to the end.  Also congrats on being wise and taking a night off in the face of soreness.  Twelve miles is not peanuts, so whatever messages your body is sending you should be respected.  Especially in light of........

Your plan to move up into thrid in the Magnificent 7 series!!!  You're poised to do so, and the quickest way to throw that plan off the tracks is to get injured.  So, today's rest day will only help as you move forward to other of the road races.  And French Lick ---- isn't that where one of my all-time favorite Celtics, Larry Bird, came from??  As for the races there, you know, if there is some decent spacing between the 10k and 5k on the same a day, that's not a bad training day for Monumental.  It'll bring you to within 6.1 km of what will be required at monum, and all with a nod towards a speed/intensity component -- which may or not be called upon in the half-marathon, but still, it's there.  I will look at the specs on that race series later.

Finally, I gassho at you once again for your swim prowess.  I swim in 25m pools, but even if mine were 25y, i still couldn't do 100s in 1:22 -- let along 16 of them.  Mercy!   I can well-nigh annihilate myself with ONE 100 at, say 1:35, but to think of lopping off 12 more seconds to get it down to 1:22 is inconceivable.  Not even being able to execute sharp (or any)flipturns would help me, i'm afraid!

GEORGE -

Wiped out that good work, you say?  I don't think so!!!

Grabted, if the good work is measured in terms of calories burned and then not replenished in any wayshapeform, then I guess the good work is gone.  But I prefer to think of your "good work" in terms of (a) getting familiar with the pool, and (b) swimming "more or less continuously for an hour".  Now, THAT'S the good work component that really counts!!!

Thanks for the spped compliment from a day or two ago.  I was really happy with that run, and I've been very pleased with recent runs-off-the-bike at races, but for the one on saturday I had some "help".  A guy, age 58,  who i passed on the bike caught me on the run at about mile one (it was 5.1 miles).  we ran together for about a mile, periodically chatting, but the onus was on me to work at keeping up with him.  At about mile 2.5 he began to pull away......but i worked to keep within no more than 30 yards of him.  I narrowed that to within about five seconds for the final half mile, and I guess all I'm saying is that he was my "rabbit" --- and within him or someone of huis running ilk, my own time would've been a good half-minute slower, probably.  Playing that rabbit game carries risks in terms of possibly bliowing-up, but I played it well enough at ITPman to pull it off AND finish without feeling that I had just had a close-death encounter! 

Steve,

Yes, Larry Bird is the hick from French Lick. That town has changed quite a bit with legalization of some casinos and renovations of a couple of old and beautiful hotels. The area was a hot springs type of resort back in the day but had fallen into decline by the time Larry came along. It's nice again now.

The 5K and 10K are pretty much back to back. There would be about 30 minutes of rest between. I would have to dial back on the intensity of the 5K then survive the 10K.

You've done 1 marathon, a longa$$ swim, a century on steroids followed by a run/walk/hobble and I think you've won the mental tough guy award!

Thank you!

I should check with the Marathon Maniacs to find out of the tri marathon counts

JEFF -

Nope, not a silly question at all.  There are the two obvious choices for answers.......and FOR MY OWN PERSONAL PURPOSES, I don't count my two IM runs as part of my marathon total.  (And when I say "purposes" there, well, there's not really any purpose to taking the position i do.)  

I think it just comes down to the fact that i actually trained specifically for any stand-alone marathon (6? 7?) I have done, whereas for the two irons, that run "training" I did would not have cut it had it been for a stand-alone marathon.   And, in fact, i would not have been too pleased with either of the times I posted in my ionman runs had they been stand-alones, although they were fine enough in an ironman setting.  But that aspect is less important than the other one, that being that i didn't train specifically for the marathon.

Finally, and similarly, i don't count any of the runs in my 16 or 17 half-iron runs in my list of half-marathons, or the ?? oly runs I have done in my 10km toatl, and the same for sprints and 5km runs.  BUT THAT'S JUST ME, and I know people who have done, say, two stand-alone marathons and three iron-distcne races --- and they lay claim to five marathons.  That's fine, that's fair, and it works for them and doesn't hurt me at all, so it's all good!

(I have a similarly twisted view towards "being an ironman", and at some point soon i will try to remember to divulge that.  Stay tuned?)

JEFF again -

Three days into your recovery.....how're ya doin'?

Sort of tired but alert. I will take a little jog this evening and perhaps back in the pool tomorrow. No special aches and pains, an odd little "tweak" along my right shin but it could be anything

HEY,

On the road again this week so little to no computer time.   Just wanted to say congratulations to STEVE and TRINA.   Another great race for you Steve.   Some things never change.     Liked reading your race report Trina.   Brought back memories of mine. Sounds like we had a lot of the same thoughts and trials to work through.   Although I differ from you in that I don't mind the heat.  Was wondering what that Almond Joy (clean eating) oatmeal is.   I like oatmeal before a race.  

GEORGE - envious of your swimming and being able to do it with some buddies - I don't know if I've been in the water 3 times this month.   

JEFF - Glad to hear you're not feeling too bad after the IM.   That's pretty impressive.   Taking a break from the S/B/R - not because of the weather - actually pretty nice up here - just need to give the body a taste of something else for a few weeks.  We really enjoy hiking this time of year.  

JOHANNE - How'd your HIM training day go?   I keep forgetting when your IM is?   

ANNE -

I race report from TRINA?  Where??  (I think I once-again missed something!!!!!)

Did you see that john salt is adding Belwood next year?  And I guess you've seen the big push for IMC to relocate to Muskoka.  I suspect you know how I feel about THAT!!  (Hint: )

Off to find where TRINA has placed her RR!

Trina's Race Report

TRINA -

Ack!  Sorry I missed it when you posted it!  So......

Last things first would be to support any notion you have of doing a late-season HIM somewhere roughly northish.  There are lots to choose from, many of which are gorgeous, and I can give you a few suggestions if you want.  Let's keep this plan on the back burner, okay?

Second-to-last things next, that would be your perception of "limiters".  The two easiest ones to address are the strength of your bike and run, and relative inexperience, and you are already doing this by determining that they will improve with time.  SO TRUE!!!  It is also great to hear you say that your running continues to improve each year (and month??), and that is also so true -- especially when the weather doesn't work against you.

As for your weight, yes, that is a probably a factor, and yes, i am sure it will dip down as you continue doing all this silliness.  I don't know what your weight is, but i know it has bothered you as long as we've been together here and in the previous group.  I have said many times that I'm never sure to what degree my own weight plays into my performances, and what is ideal, and at what weight I am definitely hurt performance-wise, and also the converse -- at what weight I start showing improvements.   Like: Is 178 too high to run well?  Do i start showing speed improvements at, say, 174?  Is 168 "ideal"?  How about 165?  I never have great answers to any of those.....except that 178 IS too high to run as well as I can.  (I think.)

What are coach's thoughts on your weight?  (And, BTW, her posting of that sign was awesomely wonderful.  I gassho in her general direction!)

That brings us to the last of your limiters, that one being your big Bogeyman -- THE HEAT!  You know that i do poorly in it, too, and it is pointless to get into a pishing contest aboyut who suffers the most and performs the worst.  The bigger problem is that THE HEAT is capable of burrowing into both our brains and messin' with performance.  But what i want to tell you -- and really want you to start woking on -- is NOT ALLOWING the heat worm to burrow so deeply that you're defeated by THE HEAT even before the race has begun.  Believe me, I KNOW how a high heat-and-humidity forecast can screw with my sensibilities, and the only way i have to combat it is to be as proactive as possible --- which mostly means using every aid station to its fullest, and to run like a panting dog at times (seriously -- mouth open, tongue lolling), and to focus on running as "pretty" as i can.  That is, I focus on my form in a big way, and for some reason that absorbs a lot of my angst and makes the conditions seem less overwhelming.

As for the aid stations, take as many drinks as they will allow, and douse yourself with one cup at every aid station.  In fact, it is more important for me to douse than drink when it is super-hot, so if only one water cup is offered, i will take a teeny sip and then douse with the rest.  But on a hot day at any aid sattion, even before I get to it I'm yelling "Two, please!" or "One of each, please!"  (There's always the "please"!!)

I dunno, but the biggest thing i can say about the heat is to not allow it to affect you any more than it already does.  I'm not saying that it will ever be your friend, but you hav eto make sure it doesn't become your very worst enemy.  Do you think that's possible?

I'll post now, then return.

For those that like reading blogs. This is from my niece's coach. She and her friend Jenn Harrison were at the same race as Trina and Jeff.

http://elizabethfedofsky.blogspot.com/2012/09/long-course-nationals.html

NO!  I missed that John is adding Belwood.   That is one of my favorite races - probably because it always turns out to be my best race.       I'm really excited about all the cool things we will do next summer but also disappointed that I am going to miss many of my fav races at home.    I did see the Muskoka announcement and thought you would have some feelings on that.    I don't care what happens because I'm not interested in doing an IM, but it would be a good place for one.    We have ridden most of the route more than once and like it and would do it again but I won't pay the money to do it officially.  

Any plans on getting up this way any time soon? 

TRINA again -

Just didn't want to "lose" that one!

I wish I would've remembered to remind you (and JEFF) to "expect the unexpected" -- which often rears its miserable head at HIM or IM.  I'd say it did so with you on the swim, or actually the post-swim:  the long slog from the water to transition.  As I read between the lines, I can see where you would look at your watch at some point and see a time that was disdappointing to you......and carry that with you the rest of the race.  (Any chance it happened that way?)  I cannot stress enough that I KNOW THAT FEELING OH-SO-WELL, but one of the beauties of triathlon is that there is always the next leg in which ground can be gained (or at least not futher lost).  But it is very easy to allow yourself to get behind the eight-ball and kind of psychologically stay there, mired in a misplaced sense of "failure".  From my armchair perspective, it is very obvious that the swim time included far too much of the getting-to-T1 time, and rather than look at the watch and think "I swam that okay!", you probably looked at yours and said "#!*!~+*!*".  Maybe?

As for the transitions, taking the time there needed to be done.  There is no way, really, to get around certain necessities, and if time is lost there, then it's lost.  And as with the above example, when that happens you just have to put it behind you and hope you can gain back some lost time in what's left to follow.  I had one very frustrating situation at a HIM in '09, involving my race belt, and I lost about 90 seconds in T1 trying to resolve it...and then again another minute or so in (and out of, as at the beginning of the actual run) T2.  The only thing I could beneficially focus on was to ride hard enough at some point in those 56 miles to make up some of that lost time....and that helped my psyche (and maybe my total time, too!).

Finally, fo now, I support the idead of playing around with non-solids nutrition on HIM.  That would maybe be too risky at an iron, but for 70.3 miles in could work.  in fact, my stomach rebels enough on me at half iorns that i have wondered about all-liquids, but it just so happnes that I can tolerate solid stuff at least part of the time.  But more often than not, my gut mostly shuts down to solids (including gels), so many of my HIM runs have been done on just fluids.  That works well enough for me, fortunately!

Finally-fianlly, same question to you as to Jeff earlier:  three days psot-race, how're you feeling???

JEFF -

"Sort of tired by but alert" sounds pretty good -- so much better than "dazed and confused", or "curled up in fetal position".  For this, we can be thankful!

As for the shin twinge, assume it is nothing serious.  The fact that you don't have anything more wonky than that, this far beyond Saturday, is a very good sign.  May it stay that way!