SWBKRUN Mentor Group-"Off Season?" What is that?!! (Page 220)

WOW!  Outstanding swim yesterday Suzy. SS Minnow...our little fish! 

Below sums it up.  Be smart, proactive, and rely on your common sense.  If you think it looks like a dangerous situation, it probably is.  If you are still unsure then maybe invest in one of these.

And remember, shark dog attacks happen.  Read.  Sorry but thats too funny. 

Thats awesome news man!!!   Now you have no excuse for not being here in April. 

And I had no idea you are a cardiologist!  Who'd a thunk. 

lol!

edit.  along the same lines, i meant to post this earlier.  hysterical.  my favorite is one of the horse blinder posts...

That's good to know. I got a little creeped out the other day, riding down a deserted country road at dusk, when a blindfolded donkey was turning his head to watch me go by.

Edited by fattyfatfat 2009-08-17 7:40 PM

you and i and whoever else will hit BS for sure!  probably not next year being so close to IM.  Longhorn... now that's on the radar for next year.  

They just posted the AG results from my race on Sunday.  I finished 9th out of 36.  Pretty happy with that.  In order to get on the podium, I'd have to cut over 8 minutes off my time.  At least two minutes of that should be on the run.  I was 23 the next closes person was 20.  The overall champion's times were:  5:47 swim, 33:27 bike and 16:54 run and he only won by 1 minute!  That is insane!

Hey Jeremy---Definitely the jeans!!!

Thanks for the input all.  I bought a SWIMSAFE last year and never took it out of the box.  It's a crutch and I don't want to use it.  Honestly, I have never had an issue in a race.  Part of it is I give myself a good warm up and part is once I start, I'm not stopping.  I'll do whatever it takes to get back to shore.  Tomorrow Steve's in a kayak and I am going to approach the day the same way.....warm up, listen to feedback and get the heck back to shore!  Then it's off to the fun stuff--bike and run!

And Andy, thanks for making me laugh.  You are right.  I was practically inviting someone to push me!

Hey Chris--the fact that you did not get an AG slot with your times is really incredible.  TG, I am in a little town with marginal racers.  I could never compete in your market.

Hey Tony--what's the link for the race schedule? Everyone keeps throwing out all these potential races.  Is Lonestar still the leading contender for the group hug?

Hey Kim--I see you added a 70.3 in CA in March.  What's up with that?  Precursor to Lonestar?

I heard a rumor that the Spirit of Racine in WI is turning 70.3 and moving to the last week of July.  Even though it is in Lake Michigan it is going on my race calendar.  Literally 2 hours from my house and it is a place I travel to all the time for work.

got me some compression calf guards on. I be liking them. How long are you sooused to wear them?? Can you sleep in them? I'm sure I can go to the boards to find out more, but I want my peeps to weigh in.

Sorry Andy but.........





 HTFU

Hey Trevor...great news with the job security!  happy for you.

Rob- re: nutrition, I liked my Infinit, too...but make sure to practice with it on your long rides/brick (run doesn't have to be super long) just enough to know at what point you need to stop with the infinit and switch to water.  You've got over a month to figure it out, you will be fine.  I did shot blocks on the bike, but I like the taste of those, some people like gels w/ water.  Make sure you are drinking enough water, too.  I suffered on some of my long training rides by mistakenly forgetting to drink enough H20 with the infinit.  What have you been doing on your long runs thus far?  I like water and gels.   No need to worry, you will be fine...you just need to figure it out in the next few weeks.  For Muskoka, write things down or print them out.  I kind of winged it on my way up to Vineman and didn't print the program, which was dumb of me, as I ended up driving first into town where the swim start was but then realized that I had to drive 45 minutes back out to the highway for the race packet pick up.  I should have known this already on the way up, could have saved me a few hours and still had time to drive the bike course.  Oh well, live and learn, but you can learn from MY mistakes!!!  

Yes, Suzy, I put California/oceanside 70.3 on my calender, initially for motivational purposes, but more because Steve really wanted me to nail down my race schedule.  After reading all of these horror stories about traveling with the bike I really think I'd rather drive down to So. Cal...it's supposed to be a fun race.  
You are going to do fine on your swim.  No need to give you a pep talk, you have been nailing your swims!  


 

Thanks for the congrats and all the great advice and info on the run! I will definitely be using it. It's a busy, busy week for me... at home on vacation (yes, being home is vacation for me since we travel 95% of the time). Of course, there's always a ton to do since we are home so infrequently. Plus, I've been spending lots of time with family and friends. Tomorrow my husband and I are taking our daughters to Silverwood Theme Park and camping overnight. I'm trying to keep up with you guys though so I don't get too far behind.

Trevor- Big congrats on the job front! I'm happy that weight has been lifted

Suzy- Congrats on the fantastic swim! You are becoming a little fish... no worries for you

Rob- I use infinit, and I also ate a fruit and nut bar about an hour into the bike during the HIM. Not everyone can handle solid food during a race, but I find, for me, having something small to eat during the bike works really well. Also, I had planned to drink infinit throughout the HIM, but by the time I got to the run I was so tired of infinit I just couldn't stand the thought of drinking more of it, so I lived off the course during the run (coke, gels, water, broth). Experiment these next few weeks to see what works best for you, and also be prepared to change the plan during the race if you need to.

Hi Kids.....

Well my Big Training Day is here and the weather looks superb.  I'm READY! Sometimes I think I get myself into a tizz overthinking things....weirdo, right?

Rob--I was a custom Infinit user for marathons, but had issues with digesting it on the bike.  I switched to Perpeteum Latte which has some protein and make it as a concentrate so it is almost like a paste.  I put it in a little flask and take some of it every 10 minnutes with H20.  That allows me to only have to carry water on the bike which I like.  For me, it has worked well (although I hated it for marathon training).  I think the key is drinking enough water along with it.  On the run, I have carried Hammer Gels (never used them for an Oly), Vanilla or Espresso and plan to do that for the HIM.  I tend to fall on the light side of calorie consumption, so I think one is all I will need.  If it is hot, I will also take 1 Success Tab at the start and every hour after that.  I am a salty sweater so need to extra electrolytes.  I know some wing nutrition and are fine, for me, I try to plan it pretty tightly.  Otherwise, I am a mess on the run!

I will check in tonight when I get back to Mad Town.....
Suzy

Edited by SSMinnow 2009-08-18 5:35 AM

Forgot earlier, congrats on the Job Trevor.

So anyone here doing cyclocross this winter?  LOL, sam will get mad if I have to build another bike to race cross...  But at least this time it will be a cheap bike, thought was to have a bike to race cross and use as a commuter, get better about bringing clothes to work and riding on the non-freezing winter days since I am so close to work.

As far as races next year I think I have mine set in the spreadsheet, 2 big races Lonestar HIM and Augusta 70.3 to end the 2010 season (unless you guys that are doing it post bad RR's about the course)

Sam is doing Lonestar and looking at IMAZ, when running my 16 miler on Sunday I realized that a full IM is probably not in my future, I am more of a short course guy, just too much work for the full.

Been away for awhile.  Back to training (thank heavens) and now back to the group (YEA!).

Trevor - congrats on the job. 

Suzy - I agree with what everyone has said...you are a phowerhouse (meant in a very complimentary way).  But maybe you can take it easy on the swimming, don't push it, just try to relax. Once you are more relaxed and comfortable you can really push it.  Here are some things I do...(maybe not the best advice, but they seem ok for me)...
* get in the water and get comfortable with the temp before doing any swimming
* stretch out your stroke (arm pull), think about reaching long
* two beat kick - one kick for every arm pull - gets you in a rhythm
* find a breathing pattern you are comfortable with, every 2 or 3 strokes and stick with it
* concentrate on blowing out while your face is in the water
* find a good song - relaxing and peaceful - and sing it to yourself (your face is in the water so no one will hear you)
* daydream - maybe crossing the finish line for your next race or where your husband is going to take you for dinner  

(I sing and daydream alot when swimming!  The only hazzard to that is if youu are in the pool you will sometimes lose count of your distance.)  

Once you are more comfortable in the water you can kick it up a notch and add more power/speed.  Remember you are going a longer distance in that HIM and you need to be comfortable and stretch it out for the haul.....then power it on the bike and run.      
Also, thanks guys for mentioning Infinit.  I was suppose to order mine this week and had forgotten.      

Suzy,  also remember the statistics involved.  Triathlons are becoming more popular therefore these accidents SEEM to be happening with more frequency.  Plus the added hype by the media.  Stay focused on the positive.   And just because she was an experienced triathlete in a wetsuit doesn't mean she didn't do something she shouldn't have and put herself in jeopardy.  You are smart.

Rob - I agree with what everyone has said but the pretzels on the run might come in handy for two reasons.  One, if you need something to settle your stomach the pretzels can soak up a lot of excess stomach acid and what ever else you've been putting in it.  Two, not all of us can go sub 5 hours like Ryan (fantastic job by the way!) and from personal experience I got HUNGRY!  So having some solid food might make a nice change.  When I volunteered at a half I worked the first water station coming out of T2 and it was amazing how much food people were taking with them out of transition.  One man had a banana sticking out of the waste of his pants and it was all I could do not to make the banana in your pants joke!  Just be sure to practice with it first.

Roni - running off the bikes sucks!  I try to follow Ryan's suggestion of starting off slow and going for the negative split.  Sounds great in theory, now if I could just get my legs to play along.

It sounds funny to hear about everyone's race season coming to a close.  Mine started off early, had a lag in the middle, and will end pretty late with races in September, October and November.  How come I can't race in the season I train in?  I train in the summer for fall events and then through the winter for spring events.  No wonder my body doesn't get use to temperature changes. 

Crap. Matt beat me to it. I can add "that's what she said" though.

Someone...answer me about the calf guards..How long are you supposed to wear them? Sleep in them? That kind of thing.

There is a discount floating around here. I gave it to Rob as well.

As long as you want, no ill effects as far as I know.  I wear my compression socks all day at work.

THESE PRETZELS ARE MAKING ME THIRSTY!

Really, though, something salty to munch on can make a big difference, and the starches can help settle your tummy as Tracy alluded to.


Thanks! I was very happy with that race even though, as I mentioned to Suzy, my swim has been variously described as "glacial" and "kelp-like"... gotta work on that in the off-season!


I believe it's Chris McCormack who said "Any pace you start at on the run is probably too fast." He was referring to Kona, but I believe it's applicable to almost any race. Don't be afraid to dial it back a bit to under your target pace (or, more accurately, what you perceive to be under your target pace... chances are you're not going nearly as slowly as you think you might be) to make sure that you're letting your body adapt, letting that last bit of nutrition you took in from the bike get absorbed and settled, etc.

I've done three 70.3s, and in each one, I've had a couple of people from my AG pass me in the first few miles and while it's been difficult to let them go by without just a tiny little surge, I've been able to run them down because I stayed disciplined. Use them as your pacers for those middle miles when it gets tougher, and then reel 'em back in at the end.

I think you can pretty much wear them as much as you like. The only potential downside might be lack of soft tissue adaptation if you wore them for every run. I have no medical research to back that up, but from a layman's POV, it seems like the compression might prevent some of the supporting musculature of the calves from operating in a completely natural fashion, and thus inhibiting the muscle breakdown/rebuilding process to get stronger. But I think the research shows positive effects after a workout and I can't see why sleeping in them would do any harm.

Birdy gave me a pair for my birthday, and I think I can feel a positive difference if I slip them on post-run for an hour or so. Plus I'm safely in my house, so I don't feel/look ridiculous...

LOL, I love endurance sports.  Spent most of the day looking for suitable frames (read cheap) that I could use to build up for trying out cyclocross racing and to use for a commuter. 

So many options for racing, Tri's, running races, Road bike races, TT's, Cyclocross, MTN bike races, Exterra's, etc.  Of course I need separate equipment for all of them