Fred D and Jason's (Tri808) Half Ironman Mentor Group CLOSED! (Page 21)

I live in Decatur, GA (almost in the city of Atlanta).  Great place for urban biking and running with trails and several group rides available during the week.  I have one daughter and a job that requires me to travel alot right now.  So like most folks, just try to find the window.  I usually get up around 4:30 and get in my training for the day.   

This weekend I did a 10K run this morning and plan to do a 2.5hour bike ride on Sunday before Mother's Day events.  got to squeeze in swimming next week and it has been two weeks since due to travel.

Funny!  Sorry to hear about the tipping too.  I've had my fair share. 

It's neat to read about everyone's training locations.  I love to run while travelling - such a neat way to see a place from a different perspective. 

@TTOM - that's awesome you have a trail that starts in your backyard!!  I have one that starts about 2 blocks from mine.  It's pretty to travel on it and see it change over the seasons.

@jmholzman - beautiful pic.  Very cute!! 

I recovered my day with a 9 MILE run - converted from metric for you folks

I live on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.  I chuckled at Fred's earlier comment that we have people all over the continent...since I'm not on it.

Overall, it's an awesome place to be a triathlete.  Open water swimming without the need of a wetsuit year round, great weather (no winters), and varying terrain.  Weather for cycling is perfect, but the roads are "okay" at best.  It's a small and crowded island, so there isn't a huge selection of safe places to ride, but enough to get the job done.  You just end up riding the same areas over and over again...but considered they are never covered in snow, I'm not really going to complain.  Due to the volcanic nature of the island, we've got lots of flat areas around the shore, and lots of steep climbing if you seek it out.

We do have a decent triathlon community, but the cycling community is rather small.  Despite having weather that could support year round cycling races, we're lucky if we have 10 bike races a year on Oahu.  Triathlons are also limited...maybe 12 a year only up to the Oly distance.  The biggest problem is road closures.  We don't have a lot of roads that we can close without having a huge impact on traffic.

Running races are much more common.  We also have a lot of races that include swim, run, paddle that don't need road closures.  Great place for hiking and trail running as well.

The past couple of days I've been dealing with a scratchy throat, so I wasn't sure what to expect with my race pace brick.

Started out very conservative, and HR was a tad high.  But after an hour, suddenly I felt really good and power started coming back nicely.  Except too nicely.  Got off the bike and started my run feeling good.  Purposely held back and my pace was spot on the first mile and a half.  Then things slowly started to come to Earth, and I realized I bike too hard...especially for likely not being 100% to start.  Ended up going 3.2 miles before my pace was drifting 15 seconds above goal race pace and decided to pull the plug.  I got the information I needed to know.  I biked too hard, and even though there was only a mile left to run, I thought it would be better if I just walked it in and save myself for tomorrow's long run.

On a side note, my new tri top did not work out well for me on the bike.  The way it's designed, it creates a slight "pocket" in my chest area when I'm in my aero bars and turned my tri top into a parachute when descending at 30+.  Maybe I can get it tailored, but likely going back to my old tri top for race day.

So when is the group meeting at your house?

That makes sense. When it got hot in my race, I didn't have a problem on the bike, but it was really hard to keep up with getting enough fluids on the run. I was pretty sick afterwards. 

I think you're on to something.  The problem would be when we all want to do a group ride and Jason rolls legit and the rest of us just want some beer.

A run on Waikiki.. with a hydration stop for margaritas. 

A run on Waikiki.. with a hydration stop for margaritas. 

The possibilities are endless - like the beaches, the sunsets and the blue water.  Ahhhhhhh.

Leaving Fantasy Island and back to the real world, I had a great week of training.  Keeping in mind that this is my first HIM, I'm early on the learning curve, so training is taking me into new territory. 

• First 3000 yard continuous swim ever.
• First 50 mile ride ever.
• Fastest 10 mile low heart rate run ever.  By a lot.
• Fastest, and strongest feeling, benchmark ride ever.

]Good work, congrats !

Edited by amd723 2013-05-12 12:05 PM

Well, just finished my 2nd tri and 1st OWS.  That was an experience.  It was very choppy.  I didn't get a chance to ever practice OWS but I wasn't super anxious either.  They allowed warm up in the water (temp 74F) and I wasn't going to go but someone  encouraged me and I decided to go for it. What a shock! The water was warm and I decided to swim a bit and after the first 5-10 yds my body when into panic mode, I could get a deep breath so I headed back.  Mentally I was confused about the unconscious reaction.  I went again an barely made it out to the first lifeguard and had to hold on for a second. I swam back (freestyle and breast stroke). I was starting to doubt if I could do it.  Stayed in the water just a little more and then tried again and this time I was able to make it to the lifeguard and back without having to hold on. By this time I knew I wouldn't drown but I was able to breathe a bit better and not be too thrown off by swallowing water when I went to breathe.  The swim was very sad. I made but probably breast stroke and sometimes just flipped on back and kicked. I was 39 out of 60 in my age group in the swim but now I am determined to get this figured out. FYI it was only 200 m swim.

Bike was good, alot of turns and very crowded with people not staying on the right if they were not passing. 5th in my AG with 20.2 mph avg, it was very flat.  Run still had the HR issue. HR kept jumping to upper 160's because I was taking alot of short steps vs lengthening my stride. This was due to the recovery from the hamstring sprain two weeks ago. Overall upper  middle of the pack 26 of 60.  

Next is June 2, and it has a 600 m OWS but the lake should not be choppy at all.

My question is: how to conqure the OWS issue. I am not sure just because the water was cooler than I am used to (pool is at 84F)?  Not being able to see in the water didn't bother me, it was just getting the water in the mouth when breathing then my body goes into a 'survival mode' which I can't seem to override so i can't focus on my stroke.

Suggestions? 

I live outside of Wichita, KS. I think there's a pretty decent tri/run/bike presence here, but I mostly stick to myself. I've occasionally ridden with a few friends, but I prefer to head out at my own pace. There are a couple of masters swimming groups in the area that are littered with triathletes, but my schedule doesn't allow me to attend. My biggest complaints about the area are lack of quality hills (there are some good rollers a little east of here, but no really big climbs), the constant wind (which I try to reassure myself will make me stronger in the end!) and no clear water for OWS--all just big muddy "lakes." Out of college I lived right on the coast in San Francisco for four years, and had a job that afforded me all the time in the world to train--but back then, I was much more interested in sitting on the coach than in a saddle. Too bad! I often wish I had all the opportunities of the Bay Area for my training (and racing) now.

Like others, I do most of my workouts outside of work/family schedule. My wife goes to the gym in the mornings, so I generally need to be home, so I sometimes hit a morning trainer ride. Runs are almost always after 10pm during the week. Swimming is the only activity that presents a major scheduling conflict, because the pool closes at 10pm or earlier. I try to make it there one weeknight, one morning (going to work a little late), and on Saturday. Also try to fit in a long bike ride on Saturday.

I still am not back on my normal workout schedule since I raced several weeks ago. Mostly due to crazy work commitments. I got in a long ride yesterday (66 miles), but had to skip a rare local (and even free) OWS clinic b/c of time constraints. Should be closer to a full training load this week--I hope!

Good job on perservering in the water when you found it tough!  As all others have said, practice is the answer.  Also, a lot of swimming guidance says to minimize head rotation when breathing, but when the water is choppy, you'll need to rotate more, not less.  From what you described it does sound like you had some degree of cold water shock as early on you couldn't get a deep breath, and if the water temp was really 74, you'll likely find much colder water in future Tri's.  Again, practice will help a lot there.  I did a 1.5 mile swim in 54 degree water last weekend and there was definitely and adjustment period before the lungs were not feeling a bit of constriction, but nowhere near the adjustment time when I first swam in water that temp last year.  And awesome bike coming in 5th in your AG.

74 is really warm for an OWS and really shouldn't affect you. 84 for the pool is too warm. The pool at both Y's I go to are 78 as a standard and if they're warmer I really notice it and it's too hot.

Are you swimming with  a wetsuit for you're OWS? If you are 74 should be perfect. If not you might want to consider one as it will help your performance as well.

As far as getting used to OWS and not seeing the bottom it's all about frequency. I did over 50 OWS swims last year and just did my first this year. Water was 62 and I had a full wetsuit and was very comfortable. But by doing so much last year I never thought once about not being able to see the bottom and my spotting was nearly perfect. The best plan is to just get out there and do more of it. Once you get that level of comfort it will be natural. Start with smaller legs staying in shallow water until you build up that level of comfort. A 100 yards on a pond that has no wake and keep repeating and then build up.