The Dominon - Beginner Focused Group - Closed (Page 20)

S: 24,273.6 yards
B: 294.81 miles
R: 76.08 miles

I'm done with my long races for the year. I have just one triathlon left; a sprint tri on the 12th. And then I switch my focus to Burning Man for the next couple of months and take a break from training, so my numbers will really start to drop this month.

I've noticed our little group is winding down. Even Chris kind of checked out in May, saying he was really struggling with motivation this year. I haven't been as active on this site, myself, as I have been in the past. I'm more involved now with my local tri club, as well as a couple of women's triathlon Facebook groups. However, I know some of us are now in this group for the fourth year, and it's always fun to keep up with each other's progress, as well as hear about the newer triathletes' experiences.

I'm curious about the signage. Was 20 km the first time that they had actually posted a 70.3 distance sign? It would seem strange for them not to have had distance markers at every km of the 70.3 course. Do you think there were other markers and you just missed seeing them? I have my first 70.3 coming up in about a month and I'd really like to avoid any mistakes. I'm wary of the distance on my Garmin sometimes, too. I typically compare my Garmin to the distance markers on the course to get a sense of whether it is ahead of or behind the course markers.

I commend you for making the effort to finish even though it looked like it was after the 8:30 cut off. I'm sure I would have done the same thing. The records might say someone didn't finish, but in your mind you know that you completed the distance despite what the official timing says.

I don't remember the signs on the run that clearly, but I do remember on the bike the signs differentiated between the full and the 70.3. Those for the full just said "Ironman # km", while those for the 70.3 said "Ironman 70.3 # km", so it was very clear. The "70.3" was in bright, green letters and hard to miss. On the run, I remember seeing the distance marker signs and knowing some were for the full and some for the half just by the number (e.g., "40 km" was clearly for the full because the 70.3 run is only 21 km). And, for the first part of the run, the full and the half were on the same course, and they had distance marker signs every 2 km. I'm pretty sure those signs were all said "Ironman # km", rather than "Ironman 70.3 # km."

However, the half had an earlier turnaround point than the full, and that's when things got fuzzy. I remember seeing a 15 km sign, and then a 16 km sign not too far after that one. It seemed really odd at the time, but I just thought someone had placed it incorrectly. In hindsight, the 15 km sign was probably for the half, and the 16 km sign for the full, but it just didn't register with me. Now I know to actively look for the "70.3" designation on the distance signs and ignore anything else. Also, since both races were happening at the same time, it probably would have been wise for me to at least review the full course so that I was familiar with the differences. Had someone not caught me at the half turnaround point, I would have kept going because most of the runners at that point were the full distance athletes, and I was just following everybody else, not paying attention to the signs.

I think this is something you'd need to be concerned about only if your race has both the full and the 70.3 on the same course at the same time. When I did the Cd'A course, it was only the 70.3 (the full is later this month), so there was no sign confusion. Also, the Cd'A course is pretty straight forward. The Whistler course, however, starts and ends with a series of confusing loops. When I checked it out, they had just begun marking the course, so I was able to familiarize myself with the start, but not the end. I still couldn't tell you how the course goes at the end. It was a series of confusing loops through the woods, parking lots, Olympic Village, and streets, that made no sense at all. I had no idea where I was those last 3 km. I could hear and see the finish line at 19 km marker, which is also another reason I believed I was closer to the finish line than I actually was. By the 20 km marker, I could no longer see or hear it.

I hope this helps!

For my 70.3, it's the only race that day so I shouldn't have any competing signs to worry about. The only thing I'll have to keep my eye on is that the run course is two loops, but the loops are different. The first one is an 8 mile loop and the second one is 5 miles, but they share some common terrain. But I've done other (shorter) races where there are multiple event distances on the same course, so I'm at least used to the fact that I'll have to be diligent about keeping an eye on the signs.

Great job Cass. Two 70.3 in one year is pretty impressive. Sorry to hear about the confusion with the course.

I have been on vacation for the last two weeks but have been able to put some solid run miles in. Randy what race are you doing?

Nate

It's a small, non-Ironman branded race. The one I'm doing is called the Big George (http://www.adkracemgmt.com/race/lake-george-triathlon-festival-big-george-triathlon-half-iron-distance/#.WY-F6lWGOM-). They do a 2-day triathlon "festival" in Lake George, NY. There is an Olympic distance race on Saturday and then Sunday is the HIM. It's a pretty area on a great lake. I grew up only maybe 45 minutes from Lake George, so I'm familiar with the area. The bonus is that my tri club chose this weekend as the club weekend, so I will have some club members out on the course with me! And with the proximity to my family (Mom and my two brothers), I'll have my own cheering section.

Looks like a fun race. I will be rolling solo for my first 70.3. How is the training coming these last few weeks?

We just got back from vacation. Was able to log 30+ miles a week running but no bike a very little swim. Actually ran more than a HM on the last 3 Sunday's. Last year my longest run was a HM race. Gonna race an Oly this week and break my streak. My swim is way down, and I will have to put some good rides in the next few weeks. Hope i can piece it together.

Training has been going OK. I had a real set back in my training in June. In a 14-day period, I only did 2 non-swim workouts. The greatest damage was done to my bike and the effect was that it basically set me back over a month! I did a ride of a fraction over 42 miles on June 3rd (averaging 17.3 mph) and was feeling great about where my bike training was. After coming back from vacation, I attempted a long ride on June 25th and my legs absolutely locked up with cramps at the 47 mile mark. I wouldn't get through another long ride without cramps until July 22nd and I had to back way off my pace, finishing 45 1/2 miles, but only at 15.88 mph pace. I did complete 52.7 miles last weekend, but really had to nurse it for about the last 8 miles and came in at 15.68 mph. So I should be in good enough shape to finish, especially considering that literally the last 3 1/2 miles of that Lake George course are downhill at nearly 3% grade. But I'm not sure I'm going to be able to ride it as well as I was hoping. I'm aiming for 54-55 miles this coming weekend and then I'll start a 2-week taper.

In hindsight, I should have tried to do more during our vacation. I should have dragged my butt out of bed in the morning and done some running. It was a bit of a perfect storm of not doing much on vacation, also having a really poor diet while on vacation, and then being busy once we got back and missing workouts. If I had only missed roughly one week of training, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. But basically going 2 weeks and doing almost nothing set me back a long way on the bike, which was going to be my biggest struggle. I'd already done the swim distance and I've done a couple HMs. But I'd never come close to doing 56 on the bike. I'll get there and it'll be very important for me to pace myself properly. I just don't know that I'll get the result I was hoping for on the bike.

Sounds like you're in a similar boat. At least you got in a good volume of running. Hopefully that helps you avoid the same fate that I suffered. Of course, I think you were in better shape on the bike that I was to begin with, so I'm sure you'll have a better shot at the 70.3 bike than me. Good luck, buddy!

I guess I'm officially into my tapering for my first ever HIM! Saturday I finished the full 56 mile bike ride (actually 56.19!). I survived a flat tire (my first ever roadside change) and losing my supplemental salt (at the tire changing site!) around mile 43. You bet I went back to the site of my flat after the workout was over and retrieved my salt vial. That stuff is expensive! I followed that ride up with a nearly full length HIM swim of 1900 meters on Sunday.

I'm just curious what other experienced 70.3ers do during their taper period in terms of distance or volume. I've reviewed numerous online training plans and they all seem to say something different During the week, I'll be keeping my workouts all around an hour in length So runs in the 5-6 mile range and bike rides in the 16-18 mile range. I'm really only mostly interested in what to do this coming weekend, one week before race day. Two or three of the plans I looked at had a decent length brick on that last weekend. I was considering something like 28/6 (half the bike and roughly half the run) or maybe a little more bike with something like 32/4. Thoughts? (Anyone besides me, Nate, and Cassandra out there?)

R.

I am here!!! but I am not experienced on this.
I decided to only limit tapers to 1 week. With two weeks i feel a little flat.
Half distance sounds reasonable. Just don't push to hard.

Whats your nutritional plan?

After my Sunday run I have now done 4 straight weeks with a run over 13.1. Last year 13.1 was my longest run, and I did it once!

I've been working out my nutrition on the bike. I've got 3 bottles on my bike and I know 2 of them are 24 oz, not sure about the 3rd but it has to be about the same. I put several Nuun electrolyte tabs in water in 2 of the bottles and the 3rd bottles is water mixed with Gatorade Endurance powder. I mostly just drink to thirst, but it worked out almost perfectly on my 56 mile ride this past weekend. I basically emptied all of my bottles by the end. I have both gels and chews on my bike and I take either two chews or one gel about every 30 minutes. I also use a salt lick and try to take 1-2 licks about every 4-5 miles. That plan got me through my 56 mile ride this weekend with no cramps and no GI issues (and over 8 minutes better than my minimum goal pace). I'll probably approximate that approach during the run, too.

Nice job on the long runs. I haven't really done much for long runs leading up to this race. Since my half marathon in May, I've maybe done a couple runs of 7 miles, one of which was last week. I'll do at least one 8-mile run and I may decide to squeeze in a 9-miler somewhere. But honestly, I feel like I don't really need them in order to finish my HIM. I did my 7 mile run at almost 9:00/mile pace and my HR was towards the bottom of Zone 3. I felt like I easily could have finished 13.1 at that pace. I'm sure I'll do at least one more long run, but I feel like I could get away with not doing it.

When is your half again? It was local, right?

its in South Carolina on 9/30 http://www.toughmantri.com/toughman-south-carolina/.Its about a five hour drive from here and I will head out friday morning so I can check my bike in ect. I will be traveling solo so no support crew

The bike course appears to be rolling hills, we will see what that does to my bike pace. I was thinking 40 min for swim, a touch over 3 hours for bike and 2:15 for the run. No sure how I will preform with 6 hours of activity. I will need to eat more on the bike and run that usual. I am sure I will figure it out. On olympics I just do gels but I think after a couple hours of gels I will need more. Not sure what is offered on the course. Plan on spending the night after the race there so I can take my time driving back.

I'm a little surprised to see that it says the total elevation gain on the bike is a little under 1900 feet considering the elevation profile. The difference from highest point to the lowest point is only 173 feet. You'd have to repeat that 11 times to get to 1900! I mapped the course for my HIM this coming weekend and I believe it has a total of somewhere in the 2500-2700 ft range. The brutal part is going to be that a lot of that comes in the first 3 1/2 miles. It's a steady uphill grind for the first 3 1/2 miles and that ain't gonna be fun! And I'd kill for your run! Less than 300 feet of total elevation gain over a half marathon sounds like a dream!

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure what to expect in terms of my calorie needs either. I've done 3 1/2 hours on the bike and not felt like I had any kind of deficit, but it's going to be a whole other ball game going for more like 6.5 to 7 hours. I read that the body can't absorb more than 60 g of carbs per hour, so more than that really isn't going to do you any good. I haven't had any problems with energy on my long rides. It has always been an electrolyte issue. So I've modified what I'm taking in from my drinks and I've added a salt lick. That and smart pacing seems to have done the trick because I've finished all of my 50+ mile rides without cramps. I plan to stick with my nutrition plan that I've been training with. The only possible exception is to take in a small amount of solid food during T2, possibly an energy bar. The run course for my half is supposed to have bananas at every aid station, so I can eat something more on the course if I feel I need it.

Well, you've got about a month to get some of these things worked out. Good luck with your training. I'll post a race report after my half and I'll be sure to let you know how my nutrition plan worked for me.

Here are my August totals. Happy with my training volume overall but need to move some my run effort to swim and bike. My swim volume is up from last month by 2600 yards, but still not where it should be. Bike is actually down by 80 miles, likely related to being in NH for 2 weeks without a bike. My run volume is up by about 35 miles. I have also added core workouts twice a week. Few weeks left to race day.


SWIM 2h 04m 02s - 6600.00 Yd
BIKE8h 34m 20s - 151.21 Mi
RUN19h 55m 43s - 131.31 Mi

Swim: 3h 22m 50s - 9250 M
Bike: 16h 48m 39s - 281.57 Mi
Run: 6h 12m 14s - 40.19 Mi

I think my August totals were right around where I wanted to be. Maybe a little light on the run. Despite my taper week, my totals were higher in 2 of the 3 sports. My swim volume was up by about 1000 meters as I built back to the full race distance. My bike total did come down about 37 miles, but a big chunk of that was due to my taper and also because I was forced indoors for a couple workouts. My trainer distance is never like the distance I do outside. My run volume was actually up 3 miles over last month. I still don't have high run volume, but I still feel good about where my run is and that I'll be able to get myself across the finish line.

Race day is taking an ugly turn. Two weeks ago, the forecast looked great. Today, it looks horrific! The current forecast for tomorrow is for 51 degrees and rain at 7 a.m. By 2:00 in the afternoon, it shows a temperature of 56 degrees ... AND RAIN! So basically, it's going to be cold and raining constantly as I try to finish this race in 7 hours. I had started to feel that I was selling myself short and that maybe 6 1/2 hours was going to be possible. I'll still give it every effort, but I don't know how that's going to be possible in these conditions. I may have to just go back to wanting (hoping?) to finish. You know, if I can stave off the hypothermia!

Well, my first attempt at the half-iron distance was washed away but the remnants of Harvey. Despite race temperatures that never reached above 52 degrees and a constant rain that was fairly heavy most of the time, I was doing pretty well. The swim wasn't quite as good as I had hoped, but I reached the beach in 39 minutes and change. By the time I crossed the beach and climbed the hill out of beach area to cross the road towards transition, my watch had recorded a total of 40:53. I know the weather was bad all day, but I'm not sure why my morning went so poorly getting set up and half of the stuff I needed for the bike ride wasn't even on my bike. By my watch, including jogging through transition, my watch recorded T1 as 7:45! Mostly due to the fact that I had to get my stuff out of my bad and onto my bike, plus I had to fish my clothes and bike shoes out of my transition bag. Still, I was out of T1 and onto the bike.

I was making a little better time than I expected on the bike. Despite the poor weather conditions, numb hands and feet, I was ahead of my estimated pace by a little and was managing to keep myself on target. As I was approaching the 40 mile mark, I saw a bunch of bikes all stopped in the same area. I worried that there must have been a big accident and a bunch of people crashed. As I started to slow, I heard the worst words I could possibly hear on race day, "they're cancelling the race"! I was extremely pissed! Here I am 40 miles into a 56 mile bike ride and NOW they're deciding to stop the race?! Oh, now, after more than 4 hours of racing, now you're worried about safety and people possibly getting hypothermia?! It seemed like an extremely strange decision. I'd put the over/under on curse words at 30. I was swearing up a storm for quite a while.

At least they told us that we could finish the bike if we wanted to, but not to kill ourselves racing back because it wasn't going to count for anything. You better believe I rode the last 16 miles. I wasn't exactly going at race effort, and I never paused my watch so that the 1-2 minutes I stopped to hear the announcement, curse the rain, and then finally be told I could continue if I wanted increased my time a little. But I completed 56.2 miles in 3:30:37, just 37 seconds above my estimated time! I dismounted and stopped my watch at 4:19:16. I think I could have done the run in 2:15-ish, with maybe 5-6 minutes for T2. That would have put my finishing time somewhere around 6:40? Under those circumstances, I would have considered that a major achievement! Instead, I got near hypothermia and a couple cups of hot cocoa. What a complete waste! All of that training and effort and bupkis to show for it!

Article from a local (Lake George) newspaper on the race cancellation. http://poststar.com/news/local/miserable-weather-puts-brakes-on-tri...

Edited by rjchilds8 2017-09-05 7:47 PM

Well Randy that really sucks. Sorry. I saw your swim and bike on Garmin connect and kept checking back to see what happened. Actually checked the race site a few times. I was hoping your watch died, but concerned that you got hurt. I am glad you are okay. Any thoughts to trying to get in another race? this is a good reminder to pack for all weather. Will be sure to bring some riding gloves and perhaps some arm sleeves or light jacket.

Let me know whats next

I definitely want to give it another go, it's just a question of when. My wife is due to deliver our 3rd child in less than 3 weeks, so I just don't think I can take the risk of signing up for a race an then she goes into labor while I'm in the middle of it. So the earliest possible attempt wouldn't be until next year. Then the question becomes one of logistics and whether or not I could fit the timing in with the increased family size. My wife said it would be OK, but in part I worried that she just said that because she knows how disappointed I was about not getting to finish the race. I'll train the same over the winter to set myself up for a possible training plan to get me ready next year. But it may not happen, in which case I can see me not making the attempt again for a few more years.

To be honest, I think I was dressed fine. It was cold, yeah, but I wasn't suffering. My hands and feet were really cold, but not so bad that I couldn't continue. After finishing the bike, as long as I could get my shoes on, I would have gone out for the run and been just fine. I saw some people on the bike that weren't handling it so well. Their teeth were chattering, hands shaking, etc. None of that hit me until after I had stopped. As long as I had kept going, I think I would have been fine. And hopefully my body heat would have been better retained on the run. If I could handle 25-30 mph on the bike while coasting, then I think I could have handled it while constantly moving on the run.

I am tempted to do my typical season ending sprint in a couple weeks. But with it being so close to my wife's due date, I'm not sure I'll be able to. It will suck to end my tri season on such a sour note. But I also have my eyes on a few running races to close out the year, so I'll still get my competitive fix!

Thanks for looking out for me and your concerns. Other than being frustrated and disappointed, I'm totally fine. I'll be back, baby!

Happened to jump onto Facebook to see what was going on and saw a message from the guy that runs our triathlon club. There was a half-iron distance race this coming weekend up in Maine (Pumpkinman!) and he was able to talk the race director into re-opening registration for our club members. I signed up with 6 minutes to spare! LOL Bike course looks like it will be easier than the one I just did in Lake George. According to the map, it has about 1000 feet less of elevation gain. I'll need to keep my pace under control and not get caught up thinking about how easy it's going to be and then try to blast away. Still, I won't be surprised if I can come in 5-10 minutes faster than I predicted for the LG course. I'm pumped to have a second chance now since I've done all of the training and maybe it won't be wasted after all! Woohoo! Forecast says mostly sunny with a high of 70, so that's good.

That's awesome!

Can't wait for that race report Randy, and Scott!

So after some who'in and ha'in, I decided to race in Tawas again this year. Went into the race looking just have a good time. My training this year has been minimal mostly due to a nagging injury (plantar fasciitis). My most conistent discipline has been the swim, but not all that great either.

The swim started out watching the HIM, Olympic, kiyatri, and women's sprinters take off before men's sprint could start. Water temp 61 F, air temp a balmy 50 F, calm winds and mostly sunny. Water is mostly flat for Lake Huron. We finally get counted into the water and then have to wait for the women to get past the second bouy. Finally start after waiting about 5 minutes in the "warm" water and nothing extravagant happens. I swim my race and garmin has me out of the water in 12 minutes.(8th out of water as I'm told by an FB friend) T1 is across the street. Feels like its a mile away as I'm running my feet are burning every time I hit the pavement. Finally get to my bike, strip the wetsuit and gear up.

The bike route is out and back. I'm passed about a mile in by one biker. Going out is into what little wind there is and also slightly uphill. Feels like I'm barely moving. Evenly I believe I do catch and pass the biker that passed me and pass many more. Finally get to the turn around and then the fun begins. Downhill with a tail wind! Maxed out at 31.9 mph. Had a 2 mile stretch where I averaged over 24 mph. Passed more riders. Bike time by garmin: 37:45. T2 comes along.

T2 goes well. Out in about 1:30 to the run portion. Both feet feel like they have balled up socks in them. Knowing that my socks are not bunched up I run through what I assume are numb feet! First mile clocks in around 8:05. Notice what I believe is an AG competitor pass me. Continue to run my race. Mile 2 clocks in at 7:57. Still feeling good and have counted myself in the top 10. Cruise through mile 3 in 7:41 and finish according to official results at 7th overall and 2 in AG. Final time 1:19:18.

Feel great about my effort. Looking back, I wish I would have put more time on the saddle and I would have had 1st in the AG. Oh well, had a blast on the course. Not sure if I'll make it back next year with kids in school now it makes things a bit more difficult.

Looking ahead, I'm shutting it down for the season. I'll likely continue to slowly work my way back into a more consistent training routine focusing on the swim, bike, and strength training until my feet are happy to run again. Even though the rest of me wants to run. Hope ya'll enjoy! I've been following ya'll, just not much time to post lately. Looking forward to reading more race reports! Keep them coming ! :D

Scott

Hi all,

Love all the race reports.

Now that my season in the UK is finished I'm thinking about winter training.
There seems to be two schools of thought:
a) Short sharp sessions building speed
b) long and slow building endurance.

I'm aiming to do two olympics and a couple of sprints. I'm also considering my first 70.3 late summer.
So I have two questions.
1) Which style of winter training is best and how should it be formed
2) what sort of Strength and Conditioning routines should I be looking at.

Thanks for any help and keep up the good work.

Tony.

Nice job, Scott! Congrats on the 2nd AG finish!

Mission accomplished! I completed my first half Ironman yesterday. Extremely pleased with my overall time of 6:22:57. I'm not complaining at all about my time, but it would be fun to know how well I could have done if I hadn't done 2/3 of a half Ironman just the weekend before. I could definitely feel the fatigue in my legs, but I managed it pretty well.

The morning temperature was probably about the same as Lake George, right around 50 degrees, but not a hint of rain. By noon, it was probably up to 70 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky. But that early morning walk from transition to the pond was painful! Literally! My feet actually hurt because the ground was so cold! The race was delayed about 30 minutes since there was a heavy fog on the pond and you couldn't see the buoys. Water temp was announced at 69 and it felt pretty comfortable.

The swim course was extremely poorly designed. We swam straight into the rising sun heading to the first buoy. You had to choose a line and just hope you were going in the right direction. Bonus, you got to do that twice since the half iron course was two loops. On top of that, you were sharing the course with with athletes from the Olympic being run that same morning. There were times where they crossed my path at a 90 degree angle making for some treacherous navigation. To top it all off, I ran head first into the kayak of a completely unaware volunteer! Luckily, I have a hard head. Didn't hurt, but sure made me stop! I also had to flip to my back twice to get water out of my goggles. Through all of the mess, I manged to finish the swim in 40:20, good for 143/234 overall, my best of the 3 sports.

This race had a mini-race after the swim. There was a long uphill "run" to the transition area that got its own timing. It sucked! But I got back to T1 and then headed out on the bike.

The course was easier (less hilly) than the week before and I was though the first 16 miles at about 17 mph pace. But I could tell my legs couldn't keep that up for another 40 miles and I had to start managing my effort/pace. Still, I didn't back off a ton since my overall average pace was 16.6 mph. I pretty much stayed on my nutrition plan and finished the bike without cramping. My biggest fear was over! Finish time was 3:19:40. My bike measured the course at 55.2 miles, not 56, and my Garmin had it even a little shorter than that (but that's no surprise). The bike was my worst sport (also not a surprise) and my time was good for 194/234.

In and out of T2 without issue, and I was headed for new territory. I had never run after any bike ride of 50+, so I didn't know what to expect. In my head, it felt like I was at about an RPE of 4, but my first two miles were 8:45 and 8:38! Since I felt like I could maintain my effort level for the whole race, I didn't back off. By mile 7, my average pace was 9:15. But fatigue was setting in. Mile 8 was 9:48, mile 9 was 10:22. That's about when I started feeling the pain in the front of my knee below the knee cap. When I felt that first pinch of pain, I would slow to a walk for a little and then pick it back up. Mile 10 was 10:29. Next up, calf cramps! I stopped 4 of 5 times over the last 3 miles to stretch them out. My last 3 miles were 10:50, 11:01, 11:48. Still, the faster early miles paid off and I finished (13.3 miles) in 2:12:31. I was extremely pleased with that time. That put me 151/234.

Definitely happy with my overall time of 6:22:57. For my first FULL attempt (you know, when they didn't actually cancel it in the middle of the race!) at a half Ironman, I cannot complain at all. If you told me at the beginning of the year that would be my finishing time, I would have had a huge smile on my face just like I do now!

Full race report if you didn't get enough already, LOL.
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...