Beer Drinkers Appreciation Society (BDAS) --Always Open (Page 20)

I swam! Only 750m (sore shoulder, lack of practice) but I swam! Mini ride there and back too.

Hope you all doing ok?

Thanks all! Today's exercise is drinking beer whilst watching rugby!

There was a really good discussion in another tri group I belong to about the value of the long bike in IM training.  To summarize, unless it's a mental thing there's no good reason to go out beyond 5+ hours in training because of the hole it digs.  While the trainer can be awful (ugh...4.5 hours!!!), it's going to emulate your conditions down in Cambridge.  Pancake flat.  You can't imagine how flat it is there, so you'll be pedaling non-stop. 

You probably have enough swim fitness from years of doing it, so just a few sessions should get you to T2.  Just make sure you get your wetsuit practices in so you don't chafe too much. 

I watched the men's wire-to-wire...first off it's nothing like the sport we do.  Basically swim to get a good bike position, stay with the peloton, then a 10k run race.  Great finishing kick by the winner (I'll let everyone watch it so no spoilers).  The heat really got to everyone and you could see it at the end....probably a bunch of IVs flowing.

An axe-throwing injury, that's a new one to add to the BDAS malady list!

I'm progressing through my first week of actual training with a goal.  Three short, intense trainer rides, a couple of short treadmill jogs, and one short swim with longer ones planned tomorrow and Saturday.  Keeping up with my strength and core work.  I'm feeling the results of my big bike training block.

@Jenn, I'll be scouting out your IM course on August 28th as I have a 40K time trial on part of the same course.  I'll let you know if it's still flat, windy, and occasionally water-logged. 

Bicycle racing has been tough this year, lots of cancellations and nothing really close by.  I'm thinking about a crit up in Ardmore in a few weeks...it seems the Philly area has a really strong race schedule while DC / Maryland has next to nothing.  Bike racing in general is disorganized to begin with (especially when you're used to signing up for triathlons a year in advance!).

@Mike, would you be interested in meeting up for a Hammerman beach swim one of these days? I feel like I should get some open water in. Not sure if you're swimming much right now though. We could also do a swim/bike brick! Although you would almost definitely lose me immediately on the bike

I had planned on some OWS in September there after the crowds go away - it gets really busy there on the weekend but yeah that sounds great.  My first pool swim workout in about a month was today, so I guess I'm ready for my aquabike at the end of September.  LOL

RE:  Masters...Towson Merritt?  Do you need to be a member to be on the team?  I just quit Merritt and am going to join the Y, but might just force myself to swim masters again because I miss having a coach pick on me. 

Watching the Olympics live has taken its toll on me, between staying up late watching swimming and early morning watching women's soccer (ugh, U.S.).  Back to normal now but had a rough night's sleep so wound up doing a slightly shorter workout than planned this morning.  30 minutes on the tri bike adapting to aero then some strength work.  My neck and shoulders are a little sore, but I held decent power for the 25 minutes or so.

We (and by "we" I mean my LBS guy...) figured out what was wrong with my roadie...broken cable.  He said the newer Shimano 11-speed shifters wreak havoc on cables and they should be replaced every couple of years.