shmeeg's Winter Madness Mentor group - OPEN TO HIPPIES (Page 20)

Yeah, this used to be a sleeper race to qualify for Kona and 70.3 championships.  Not so much anymore....  The race now sells out and attracts alot of talent.

Take your camera Jay!

Thanks so much.  My experience is pretty much zero.    I started training last November with the idea of doing IM Cozumel this November.  I picked Coz as it is very local to me. 

I have been a mom since 1994 and not exercised at all until 2 years ago when I started walking.  I was a fish as a kid so that is helpful.  I dropped about 15 kg about 1-2 years ago and have another 10 to go.

My typical exercise temps are 30+C and 85% humidity.  I only swim in the sea so I'm also at the mercy of the sea (this week has been way too rough to swim).  I am a devotee to the BarryP runnign program after chasing chronic calf tears for the last 2 years.  I'm hoping compression socks, rolling (Trigger Point) and drinking Barry's koolaid will "fix" my chronic leg issues (always same leg).

Ok, I can't find the list of questions I'm supposed to answer so here goes...

I'm currently running 6-7 x week ala BarryP.  next week I'll be at 20:40:60, with M 40, T 20, W 40, Th 20, F 60, S 20, S 20 (one of the 20 days can be optional).  I bike generally 40km T, Sa, 60 km Th and 90 km S.  I just started delving into training HR zones and I'm finding I need to up the intensity there.  I didn't think I was a slacker there but maybe..  anyway, I generally ride 160-230 km/week.  Swimming is a crap shoot these days as the winds have been absolutely awful and the water too turbid after 2 local shark attacks for me to be comfortable out there until the weather dies down.  But this is typical march weather.  I don't sweat the swimming that much as I was a fish as a kid and I figure I can wait until more typical summer weather to get long swims in.  I swim out to the reef (about 150 m) and head back to shore.  That is 1 lap, about 300 m.  Makes it hard to do intervals so when I do something like that I just count strokes.

I looked at the TriFuel and BT HIM training programs as I'm thinking seriously of an HIM in June but since my swimming is dependent on the weather and I'm a BarryP devotee, I use them as a VERY LOOSE model.  I guess I'll worry more about an actual program closer to Cozumel as I'm not sure I'll do the June HIM, I might go to Guatemala (closer) for their HIM in August.  Decisions...

I did my first triathlon 13-March and would have taken my AG had my leg not cramped and I had to limp/run the last km.  I was 4th woman out of the water and lost FOUR PLACES in transition, coming 8th INTO the bike.  Geez, I guess I need to work on transition. 

I could do another sprint on 17-April but it is a hefty fee - around $65USD.  The Sprint I did in march was only $35 or so.

I guess that's about it? 

I definitely am.  My shift will be over before the pros finish so I'm hoping to get close to the finish line for some candids.

Welcome Kathy!  Looks like you have a pretty solid training plan and have done some good research already.  How do you like the BarryP plan?  I have it bookmarked on ST for future use.  I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

Chronic calf tears? That sounds awfully painful.  did you determine what was causing it?  You have a pretty heavy training load if you're doing that many workouts every week, does volume affect it at all?

That's awesome for your first race, placing in a single digit spot is an accomplishment, no matter how many races you have under your belt!  I'll look back through the thread, I posted some transition info early this year, I think it helped the other members cut T1 times.

Here in the states, $65 is about average for sprint distance entry fees, do you get any special shwag/goodies for the higher fee there? 

Ok, here's some past posting on transitions:

**TRANSITION AREA:
You will see all kinds of shitshows in the transition area.  You want a small footprint, there's probably going to be lots of people around you.  Stake your claim, but don't take up so much space that you're an a$$hole.  A small bath towel is enough to put your bike/run items on.  Don't be one of these people that brings a bucket.  You don't have enough time that you're going to SIT DOWN in transition.  It's usually dark during setup in the early morning hours.  Bring a headlamp or small flashlight.  It will make your life easier.

Some other things to maybe bring: Electrical tape, rubber bands (for flying squirrel mount types), extra tire tubes, CO2 cartridges, bike tools, knife, rubber gloves (to avoid grease all over you if you have to fix any bike drivetrain issues), chalk or colored tape to mark 'your bike rack'.
I actually have a cheap plastic toolbox that I bring to all my races w/ most of this stuff in it and it stays in the truck unless I need something from it.  Better safe than sorry!

**This helped me immensely when I was looking to get fast in transition

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1488

**Here's another good article that should help recover some of the lost time between the water and transition area

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=115 

Wow!  I guess I need to figure out what is slowing me down so much.  I know I was wobbly after coming out of the water but I did have everything laid out on a towel (I actually watched the people around me setup their transition and then I tried to copy them) but I did wear socks and I remember that that seemed to take a while to get on.  I can't even begin to understand the flying squirel thing   I think it will just be trial and error and I'll just have to practice and see if I can identify what is holding me up.

Thanks so much!

I have a long ride (well for me it is long) on Sunday - we;re heading out for 90 km.  Last time it took us 3.5 hours (including stops) and I was horrified that we were that slow.  I'm hoping for 3 hours tomorrrow.

A couple questions if I can be so bold, how important is a HIM before an IM?  I'm either going to have to travel 3-4 days to Veracruz for my HIM in June or 2 days to Guatemala in August.  My IM is at the end of November.  I'm actually toying with the idea of doing my own HIM but I know it wouldn't approach the race adrenaline you get (I was really surprised how much I pushed myself on my Sprint just being in a race environment) but still would give me the mental plus of knowing I could do 1/2 an IM distance, or would training take care of all that?

I really can't follow any plans right now - I'm only doing BarryP for running (so far so good) and I'm ahead of all the plans in riding right now (but I just do what I feel like doing and so far I feel like pushing the HR at times and pushing the distance).  I started at 160km/week back in November (after 15-20 years off the bike) and that just seems like baseline to me.  Everyone in the forums say you're nuts not to follow a plan but even loosely following the BT HIM plan (last excuse - I can't do lots of swim mileage as I have a bum shoulder from a badly recovered AC joint separation back in the early 80s) so I just ignored their super swim week.  Maybe if I paid for membership I'd have a plan that would fit my needs? 

Lastly, I recently did an LT test and plugged the numbers into the BT calculator.  Apparently I should be doing most of my rides (I did the LT on the bike) at Z2.  For me that is 127-137.  I then rode the next 2 rides in that zone (130, 135 for 2x 40km) and the next ride (60km) I attempted 125 but my legs just weren't having it.  I was mentally toasted also and had an awful ride until I turned off the HRM and then had fun.  Course, it could have been I was on the tailwind side of the ride also, but we weren't slacking and I was breathing heavy at times.  Is it possible that sometimes you just can't get your HR up even when you're working hard?  I'd much rather have a fun ride than be worried about my HR - that totally takes the joy out of the ride.  Do I need to strive for Z2 on each and every ride?  If it seems like you just can't get your HR up there what do you do?  Going back through my logs, it looks like I was doing rides in the 130s pretty regularly without even trying to and I was having fun, so I think I'm just going to ignore the HR on the ride and just ride a good effort and not worry about the HR?

Thanks so much for any light you can shed on this old (50yo) n00b.

thanks so much for the awesome advice.  Any thoughts on rest days?  I have family harrassing me to take a weekly rest day.  I do note that my legs seem constantly tired.  I could afford to do only 160 km bike a week and take out one of the 40 km bikes and make that my 1 day off of running.  Does everyone do a rest day?  Should I scale back my cycling at all?  I'm up to 3 hours/week running and I think I'm going to hang there for this month and see how it goes.  If I stay healthy, I'll go back to my slow increase.

I'm thinking of either another sprint on 17-Abril or an offroad 1km swim (or it might be 1.2k can't remember), 20km offroad bike and 8km run early May.  They say the elites take 3.5 hours to finish.  I'm not sure how an offroad tri could help me but it sounds fun (the run, on trails).

OMG! That is just horrible - I am going to hope that somehow they make their way back to you, or that you have great insurance that will cover some awesome new bikes. That has to be such an upsetting experience.

My DH once left his work bag outside after returning from a couple of weeks working in the Northwest Territories. Had all his coveralls, boots and insulated coat in it (very necessary when you work in that cold!!) He was so upset and knew it was going to be costly to replace - found it an hour later abandoned near the local park. What luck!

Meulen - 2011-04-05 12:25 PM

shmeeg - 2011-04-05 2:11 PM Dudes.  Bad day at my house.  I woke up to find I had left my garage open last night.  Both my TT bike and road bike were stolen.  I fackin loved those bikes. 

that sucks!!! Hopefully insurance will cover and you can get some new toys!! Look at the bright side, shopping is fun!

Thanks guys.  Yeah, I filed an insurance claim this morning.  Hopefully they will cover it even thought it's totally a bonehead move on my part.  The problem is going to be w/ my road bike that I bought from my friend.  I don't have any sort of real receipt for it and he's going to have to write some sort of letter saying he sold me the bike and what components it had and such.  I dunno how well that translates into replacement value.  I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.  I was really looking forward to this duathlon in a couple weeks too!

shmeeg - 2011-04-05 12:11 PM Dudes.  Bad day at my house.  I woke up to find I had left my garage open last night.  Both my TT bike and road bike were stolen.  I fackin loved those bikes. 

No frickin' way!  So sorry to hear this.

I've worried about this myself.  Once I get my crap organized in the garage, I'm going to devise some king of locking system for al my bikes.  Like most of us here, we have a lot of money sitting out there just sitting behind a flimsy door.

Man, I'm sorry.  Sure hope you find the little punks that them!

On the trainnig front, I'm a little sore this morning.  I was out practicing on the Sea Otter XC Course and took a little spill.  Just some abrasions and bruises, but crap, as I get older, there stupid things take longer to heal and soreness lasts longer.

New bike rides well, but there definately are some minor nuances that I'm finding between a hardtail and a full-suspension bike.

Less than a month now for my trip to Colorado!  Made the final arrangements for shipping my bike, so everything is set now.  I'm like a little kid... with each closing day, my excitement and anticipation grows.  This ride has been on my to-do list for years!

By the way, if anyone here needs to ever ship a bike, check out www.bikeflights.com .  The company is a volume discount shipper with FedEx.  I saved about $80 buying shipping through them instead of directly from FedEx. 

Cool man! I'd love to train or race in Colorado some day.  Awesome training grounds there.

Meulen - 2011-04-06 6:25 AM this scares the He!! out of me too!!! I've got an alarm system on the house. I've been thinking about putting a sensor on the garage and upgrading the system to an iphone app compatible system. They can hook it up so you can check to see the door is closed from your phone, anywhere, and close it. Personally, I like to keep my expensive bikes in the house. I've been keeping them on the trainer in the living room lately!

I am thinking about asking the owner to go in for 1/2 the cost to put a security system in, and some motion activated lights.  Probably wont happen again, but if they scoped the place for the bikes they took, they'll probably see the new bikes if I get  new ones.  I'm definitely keeping my next bikes inside. 

Hey guys.  So sorry to hear about your bikes, Jay.  I'd be really mad.  Hope you find some sweet new rides (keep 'em on a short leash this time!).  I need to read over the last few pages of posts, looks like there's some good meat in there.  Been busy with my family and work so training has taken a hit.  The rally I did was great.  A nice spring time ride in the country.  I did the 67 mile with some good hills and big wind and felt really strong (for me).

Goals give training focus, so I hope everyone is still training and working towards their goals.

Nice work Bruce, sounds like you had fun!

It looks like all the winter mentor groups have gone the way of the archive.  Spring groups are forming soon and the spring/summer groups are much more active w/ the season in full swing.  I'll still keep an eye on this thread and if anyone posts anything, I'll respond.  Good luck w/ your season and future races!

Really sorry to hear about the break-in Jay, that blows man.

Haven't kept up with the Forum much, hard for me to build in to my rythym, but i've been using the BT site to track all my training...first Tri is this Sunday, no more wondering I guess. I did the 16 week swim focused training  - probably about 80-85% of the workouts and I was able to build the volume alright, but I'm a little dissapointed in my speed in all 3 areas. We'll see what happens when there's  adrenaline involved. I'll post results/report here.

Good luck, I'm sure you will do well.  The race environment always seems to make it a little easier to push that redline pace.