Experior and Slornow's Spring/Summer Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 20)

No tri, but I'm doing a 5K tomorrow night. I really want to try and get "5K effort" in my mind; I've been running really easily lately since I've been training hard, but I want to get a feel for sprint effort before my race first tri next Saturday. Getting nervous about it, I already think about it at night!

Hi all,  bike now back from shop and race ready!!  I was a little disturbed when the mechanic told me my derailer cables were way off.  The same shop that tuned it up just 4 weeks ago!!  This mechanic was their seasoned one (their best) who did the work today.  Makes me wonder about the other time they "tuned" it up.  I don't know much about tuning bikes and have to give them my full trust but I'm concerned that maybe they did not do it correctly the last time.   I voiced my concern to the owner but that's about all I can do.  He reassured me.  This shop has done well by me over the last 2 years so I'm going to keep using them.

2 mile swim done this morning.  As my IM approaches, I am going to be doing proportionately more swimming than I have over the last few months.  I'm feeling pretty good with my training and feel I have a reasonable shot at making my goal time for this race.  Of course I know, and accept that with an IM, anything can happen on race day and just finishing is always great.

Jim

Michael: You should really be thinking about writing a book. Thank you so much for your posts. Those are always a pleasure reading and very informative. 

New Gear: I bought a Garmin FR910XT when it came out a few months back. I love the watch and use it for all of my S/B/R workouts. There is so much this thing can do. I am still figuring out some features. I finally invested in some clips and Specialized Bike shoes which made a tremendous difference.  I am using a $250 Walmart bike and the shoes and clips were about the same price. I also invested in after market aero bars which I believe was the best investment I have made for the bike. At the end of the season I will invest in a brand new tri bike. 

No race for me this weekend. I have an Oly coming up May 20th ... 

Big caffeine junkie here ... I can drink coffee everyday, all day! I can drink a cup of coffee 30 minutes before going to bed and fall asleep just like a baby. 

Hey everyone.  I was up until 1am last night putting in final grades for my students.  Finally done!  Now life can return to something normal.

Jamie -- good luck in your 5K.  That's such an interesting distance to run.  It is really really intense during the run, but the recovery is quick.

Caffeine:  It affects me quite a bit.  I have a couple of cups of decaf in the morning, and maybe one in the afternoon.  The amount of caffeine in there is already enough to affect me.  I do fall back on regular coffee during moments of work-related stress, and in fact up until yesterday I had spent the past couple of weeks drinking some 'real' coffee each day.  It keeps me jittery all day...

The studies on racing performance and caffeine have a few common themes:  (1) it doesn't make you faster, but it makes the pain of going fast more tolerable (so effectively does make you faster because it is easier to resist the temptation to slow down); (2) it works somewhat better if you are not a regular 'user'; (3) the amount of caffeine that they give the subjects in these studies is fairly moderate.

I've not used it in races because it really does affect a quite a bit -- it makes me jumpy and jittery and actually a little weak and, um, attracted to bathrooms.  Those are not conditions that I associate with strong performance.  So I think I'm one of those outliers for whom it probably wouldn't work.

But lots of people say it does work for them.  Some regular 'users' have reported more benefit by cutting back use in the several days leading up to the race.

Jamie-good luck in the 5k.  I feel a bit differently about 5k's than Michael.  The last one I did in December I swore I would never do another.  I had a really good race breaking 20 minutes for the first time in 25 years and really pushing myself but I felt really beat up for several days after.  I just don't get that feeling in triathlon races.  Of course, the run pace is not as fast but I seem to recover easier.  Maybe its the variety of the activity associated with triathlon as compared to just running.

Jamie-on another topic. You have a race next weekend. Is it an OWS?  Have you done any OWS in the past?  Even if you have experience its always good to get some practice in before race season. Seems no matter how good/comfortable I feel in the pool my HR spikes during the first part of an OWS.

Nothing big training wise planned here for the weekend. Going to Birmingham tomorrow to watch my son run in a track meet.  Should still be able to get in a run in the morning and a bike Sunday afternoon.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Michael-hope you have a great race and can survive the final few hours of tapering

Randy 

Yeah, I'm mainly looking forward to the 5K as a chance to run faster than I have lately, and the race is only $11. I'm not going to give everything; it's not worth getting hurt with just a week until my first tri race.

As far as the swim for the tri, it is an OWS. I'm going this Sunday to swim in a lake nearby, which will be my first. I am nervous about that. It'll be very weird not to have a lane and to have other swimmers crowding me, so I'm going to try and at least get a little time in a large body of water before the swim. I'm glad it's just a sprint; I would think that no matter how bad it gets, I shouldn't take longer than 20 minutes *knock on wood*. As far as heart rate goes, I'm going to be insanely nervous no matter what; I already get nervous thinking about it. Not scared-nervous, but anxious. I also wore a swim cap last night in the pool for the first time, which leads me to ask, are there sizes? I got a TYR and it felt waaay to tight. I had to take it off after 10 laps. 

??? You talking about my new picture?  I like to change them out every year or so

Randy

Jamie, just to throw in my $.02... if you haven't done OWS before, take some time when you're out in the lake to practice sighting.  That's often overlooked.  If you swim relatively straight, you'll probably be more or less fine, but you'll find having the lane in a pool allows you to self-correct without sighting and you may not know your more natural trajectory.  With OWS, you don't have that self-correction.  Anyway, getting in some practice is a great idea.  I really enjoy the OWS - at least after I get around the first turn :-) 

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend.  I'm hoping to bike up on the Parkway for the first time this season.

Stu

Jaime - Speaking of OWS, don't forget on race day to get in some time in the water for warm up.  This was a piece of advice I was given before my first race that was really helpful. I also know from experience (growing up swimming in the Atlantic ocean every summer) that the water always feels a little less chilly the second time you get in. 

Seven weeks til my first race of the season. That ocean is going to feel COLD. (Expected temp: 60 degrees). Can't wait.  

Jimmy: Yes, that's the one! I've been eying it for a while, especially with the husband deploying. Wanted to video the family adventures and send them to him. Also wanted record the amazing adventure races I do!

New goodies: My GoPro Hero2 from my husband! Hoping to get a road bike next month. Was going to get one this month, but my oldest had an auto accident I added my bike money to her new car down payment.

I've missed a lot of last week's "training" to an allergic reaction today. Finally was able to go about my day without Benadryl today and got my p90x on.

I WILL TAKE MY BIKE IN AND GET THE TIRES REPAIRED! There. Now that I've said it, I will do it. Then I'll hopefully be motivated to take my bike on lunch runs up some hills to prepare for the next whatever race. There's an adventure race on 10th of June and an Olympic length triathlon in July. Don't know if I can fully train for it, but I will try. Luckily we can wait till the week before race day to register. Should know by then if I'm ready for it.

Hope your weekends are going swell! Good luck to anyone racing!!

Good luck to all who are racing!

Blanda:  Having deployed myself, gone 14 months out of 2 years I cannot even begin to tell you how valuable home videos of my children were to me.  It would bring tears to my eyes but also a great sense of relief to see them smiling and knowing that they are OK.  Priceless!

Got in a good swim (3000 yds followed by a run of 8 miles).    Taper almost upon me.  Now off to Detroit to take my bike to Tri Bike transport, followed by a Detroit Tiger baseball game.  I haven't been to a Tiger's game since I was a child so I'm really excited. 

Have a great day everyone!  Jim

Hey everyone.  Tough day out there.  Temps were high 80s to low 90s by the end, with high winds for the last 15-20 miles of the bike and no shade on the run.  The top guys who usually finish ~4:00 were finishing 4:20+.  My stretch goal was 4:30, but no way in those conditions, especially with my lack of run training.  I had an OK swim, a conservative bike, and a really, really, tough run.  Finished 4:54 and learned a lot about myself and racing.

Report here:  http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=438778

I'll catch up on the thread tomorrow.  It's been a long day -- off to bed!  I hope everyone has a fantastic Sunday.  I will NOT be training!

I'm getting ready for my first tri this Saturday, and want to check on some USTA rules...do you think this would be illegal drafting?

http://youtu.be/LYTR8jKUIaY

Well, for 15 seconds it would be legal!  Reminds me of the scene from Breaking Away.

Hey everyone-hope everyone has had a good weekend.  Had a good bit of travel over the weekend but was able to get training in. Looks like a busy training weekk for me ahead.  What's everyone got going on this week?

Michael-how you feeling after the race yesterday?

Randy 

A bit sore. Not too bad.  I ran 3 miles very easy and it felt OK.

This week I work on recovery and getting into the swing of IM training.  I'm looking forward to living Jim's IM experience vicariously -- that'll put me in the mood to start getting after it.

Putting it in perspective:  

So I was a little disappointed with my result yesterday, though I think it was a pretty accurate reflection of where I'm at, under the conditions that we faced, so the race definitely served its intended purpose of being a benchmark.

I did the same race as my first HIM in 2009, and while the roads at the end were much better back then, and there wasn't so much wind on the bike, the temperature (which is what really got me this year) was similar.  In 2009 I was over 30 minutes slower overall and I walked a good portion of the run.  And a year before that I was still 40 pounds overweight and couldn't run more than about 10 minutes without wanting to puke.

Sometimes remembering where we came from helps a lot...

Good night everyone.