Tri/tbay group closed (Page 20)

September 13th is my HIM.  I'm ready for everything at this point except the 1/2 marathon.  I'll be ready for that by the end of this month.  I have a big enough base that I just need to get some long runs in the 2 hour neighborhood to be ok.  The intervals I did last week really helped (even if it was just psychological).  I could feel the difference when I put my kick in with a half mile to go in the 10k.  I was flying like back in the day.  This week is 6-8 x 1200M.  I talked with an old teammate of mine and we have agreed to email each other our times so we can't skip out on interval workouts.  Man, we had some epic battles both in practice everyday and at meets.  We pushed each other from 1:55 halfs to 1:52 between our Junior and Senior seasons.  Ugh, I'm getting queasy just thinking about two laps sub 60 in total oxygen debt the last 300 meters.

Mike, I need an equipment review of your Zoot shoes.  I'm going to be in the market soon and I'm debating between Avi-Stoltz (I run on trails 95% of the time), Go-Lites, Zoot and NB trail runners.  I have a really good shoe dealer with a very knowledgable staff (two Ironman finishers on staff) but they are 100 miles away.  I don't want to drive there and have to make a decision based on no research. 

Hey Guys,

It looks like everyone is in there prep for their A races upcoming. I did a sprint last weekend, small event but a good course especially the bike. I'm just not strong enough on hills to get that avg I was looking for. You can read my racereport, a bit dissapointed in the performance about a B- at best, but 3 month since last tri. So I'm not sure what I should have expected. I did get second in my AG, YEA. Had to get to ST. Pete for the remainder of the swim meet so I didn't even get to hand around and get my award. Got 2 months to HIM, so I'm picking up at week 5 of my HIM plan and I'll go from there. I'm looking at a marathon in Palm Beach on December, I'll see how the run volume goes for this next event and decide it I'm at a level I can do it. Its more for just doing the distance than a result, got to see how the body will feel at that distance before I decide to commit to an IM>

I'm excited for everyone, big events coming lots of preparation and hopefully we'll be sharing some good stories and reports.

Thanks for the review Mike!!  I ran into a great deal on some Nike Lunartrainers, the ultralight training shoe.  I picked a pair up for about $70 along with the Nike+ iPod thing for another $29.  I like them, other than the fact that right out of the box I went for an 8 miler with no socks on and now have blisters all over my feet.  Dumb.  The cushioning was great and the weight was FANTASTIC!!  They are huge in the toe box, so after I ran I tightened up my yanks and that took quite a bit of the play out of the front of the shoes.  They are black, so they should at least look better after the trails.  My Brooks were good shoes, but the seams in them cut the insides of my feet up really bad and they let in everything from the trail.  They have about 400 miles on them, so I figured it was time to phase in a new pair.  I'll rotate them for a few weeks then retire the Brooks to garage days.  The Brooks smell terrible and have been relegated to outdoor/garage at all times they are not on my feet.  

The run I went on last night was awesome!  I felt really good and could have really busted it had my feet not been in flames after about mile 4.5.  I trotted the last few miles and ended up averaging just over 7 minutes.  The iPod said my fastest mile was 6:40.  I have a half marathon on 8/22 and I'm shooting for 1:24 for my goal time.  This is a small race ($20 entry fee) and I'll probably be running in front by myself (judging from the last three years' results, average winning time is 1:42) but I run more relaxed when I'm leading anyway.  I just want that mental edge going into the HIM that I have competed and put down a good time at that distance of race. 

I have really changed my viewpoint on what my race goals will be for the next few years until my kids are gone.  I think I'm going to concentrate on olympic length tris and mountain biking until it's just me and my wife in the house.  These last two years are going to go fast and I don't want to miss them putting in 15 hour training weeks.  Plus I don't like the damage the longer races do to your joints, so I'm going to do them sparingly when I do decide to go to that distance.  I'm definitely not quitting what I've started, just tempering the Ironman enthusiasm for a little while. 

Good Day,

I had a good week of training last week, look forward to duplicating it in the coming weeks. The relative lack of swimming this year has now been exposed, so I'm going to up the swim for a few weeks. No rythym to the stroke, and just don't feel strong on the swim at all. I'm looking forward to the remainder of the year, I hope the weather in Jacksonville for HIM has cooled a little bit by then,early October. Its Florida who knows.

So I've  been comtemplating doing a Marathon, I can't believe that I'm actually kind of looking forward to having a go at one. There is one in December that is close to home, but it is very small, can't imagine being out there by yourself basically might as well be a training run. So it's looking like going back to Jacksonville in December is the way to go. Its' less expensive $60.00, fairly large event 2500 and a Boston Qualifier, so there will some studs, and lots of  people to keep you company while you plug along. Like I said I'm acutually excited about trying it. But my mind and body have never been past 13.1, so we'll see. My legs feel pretty good so I don't think getting the mileage up is going to be a problem, just got to commit and go do it. The wife doesn't know about this yet.

Steven, my youngest leaves for college next week. We take her down to FAU on Wednesday, the oldest has moved into an apartment their as well. We take furniture for her and then on Friday the wife and I are empty nest. WOW. Not sure that opens up more time to train, but it will be different and we'll move into the next phase of life. Your probably making a wise choice to watch your kids finish their HS days and enjoy them. The youngest one thinks that we should drop her off at the curb at the dorm and be on our way, that isn't setting well with MOM! It's great to see her excitement, looking forward to independence and still call us MOMMY and DADDY.

Hope all is well everyone, look forward to hear how training is going for the upcoming events.

Good Run Mike, how are you feeling towards your two events? I know your A race is the marathon, remember to watch the weather forcasted for the event, they have had issue up there. Most likely will not effect you since you train in the heat, but just in case be watching. It looks like you are putting most of your emphasis on the run, which I understand, but try to get in some decent bike mileage before you go to OKC. I'm six weeks out for my HIM. Swim OK, had a good bike ride on Sunday 53 miles on the TT bike, lost 5 pounds as well, but by the time I went  to bed I had regained the water weight. Most of ride was in the aero position, was comfortable so a confidence booster. As always the run will be the issue, did a 30 minute brick following was working on finding the pace that is going to allow me to keep moving forward. I'm not going to(well I hope not) give in the walk like I did at my first HIM. Thats the plan, so I've got to find that happy pace.

Anyway hope all is well with the group, Olman you've got an event this weekend, go get em.

Wow, not much activity since I last logged in.  I've been busy with a family reunion, house projects, training and racing over the past two weeks. 

I did my first half marathon this morning (and my first run over 10 miles ever in my life).  My goal was 1:24, finished in 1:28.  6:47 or 48 per mile.  I was by myself the whole way as there wasn't much competition at the race I ran.  Miles 5 and 6 were the hardest due to minor stomach cramps, but then I was good.  Felt really good at mile 7 and kicked it down a little bit for the remainder of the race.  I ran almost identical splits for the first and second halves of the race, 1 second difference between the two.  This race will give me a lot of confidence going into that half ironman in a few weeks.  I need to push hard on the bike over the next three weeks with lots of threshhold rides.

I gotta go, my dog is wrestling with the puppy we're watching.

Ok boys Race Reports!!!!!

Steven are you kidding me? Thats not even right you can go that fast and never have even done the distance. In my dreams. But great job on your pacing, you were very close to your time goal so mission accomplished. It won't feel the same after the bike but you've got a clue now as to how will go.

 Happy Birthday Mike!!