jsiegs and slornow's Train Hard and Have Fun group - CLOSED for Training (Page 23)

Here is a link to my race report from Onion Man this morning.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=254240

Thankful that my leg improved enough to not really hinder me at all. The weather was definitely a downer but overall it was an awesome day! Hope everyone else is having a good sunday.

Awesome race, Matt.  The weather sounds like it was horrible.  Can't believe it's still so cold out there.

I did a 40 mile ride today.  Wanted to do 56, but it was so hot.  I started at 9:30 and it was already 86 degrees.  I had to stop twice to refill my water bottles. 

Hope everyone is having a nice Memorial Day. 

Have a quick question for everyone. I have been doing road races for a year now and this comming Saturday I plan on doing my faviorate race, the Dam to Dam in Iowa. But here is my problem. I work the night before and while I was able to get the last four hours off by the time I drive to Des Moines and get to the start time I will have been up for 16 hours. Running a 20 k on no sleep will be a first for me. Now I can do a 3 hour workout in the gym after being up for 16 hours but in the gym I can slow down and eat if I need to. Does anyone have any suggestions to keep my eyes open and my feet moving at a decent pace during the race?

Oh yea, after the race I will have a 2 hour drive back home to collect my son. I'm hopeing to have enough caffeen in me to keep me awake for that part.

I have no suggestions.  I can't even tie my shoes after being up for 16 hours.  Good luck!

khharms - 2011-05-28 9:33 AM I feel like a fool.

A little back story here: so Greg (tri trainer) tells me that he takes this group of riders out every Saturday at 7, people of all levels. They have different groups that go 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30. so yesterday I asked him, hey, is your group going out? He kind of him-hawed but told me to email him my contact info and if they are going he would let me know. so I do, and he replies with: Yes, they are going.

Fast forward to this morning. I show up at 6:45, people are there unloading bikes, pumping up tires, fueling themselves, stocking water on their bikes... etc. I get out of my car, unload my bike - from the inside of my car, because you know, I don't have a rack yet. I check my tires, they need air. I borrow a pump from the guy next to me (I have one, but it hooks up to my car and is loud and obnoxious. I don't have a hand pump yet - added to list of 100 things to buy) I'm looking around at everyone, just noticing my surroundings. Every single person is wearing sponsor gear, they have a minimum of 3 bottles on their bikes, they have aero bars, racing bikes... and I walk up with my ridiculous hybrid $50 bike, and people looking at me like I'm crazy. I felt like I should be the person with a bell and a basket on my bars

At this point I know I'm way in over my head. Who am I kidding? Greg walks up, has me sign a waiver, and explains the route to me as he hands me a map. I'm thinking to myself, I need a map?! He tells me at what point there is a gas station where if I felt like I need to turn back, I could and that route would be 16 miles total. Great, I can handle that (I think).

We begin our ride, I keep up with the group for about.. 3 minutes. No big deal, I have my phone, I have the map, I still know the area. One group passes me, then about 2 mins later, another group comes up behind me and this guy yells out, hey, you know you have a flat? I kindly said thank you and begin to slow down. Greg is in that group and he pulls off the road with me and checks my tire, asks if I have a way to fix it, and I say no. He proceeded to tell me about a fix it kit that I can buy, checks my tire and tells me I have enough air to get back to my car.

As I head back I start to think to myself, am I in over my head? Is this what I really want to do? who am I kidding? I seriously feel like an idiot.

I know I have a LOT to learn, but I feel lost in a sea of superior people that can only offer so much information. I don't have the money to get GOOD training. I don't have money to just go out and buy all this gear I need, I have to buy things one at a time and build up my 'collection'.

What can I do? I really need some kind of reassurement here. I think it's going to take a while to get over the humiliation of today. :-(

Cycling really has a large learning curve, I'll be the first to admit.  I've been cycling my whole life in some way or another, but I still feel lost with it all sometimes.  Don't worry about this at all, I give you big props for getting out there.  Hopefully, even though it wasn't best experience you learned some good stuff for next time (yes, pump, flat fixing tools are necessary...no one ever said cycling was cheap, unfortunately ).

Do you have a tri club or cycling club in the area?  My tri club started a series of beginner rides this year that are really great.  They do the rides at an relaxed pace and also cover some need-to-know area with each ride (gear you need, changing flats, safety, etc).  Lots of people have been going because jumping in with experienced cyclists is intimidating (even for me who's been doing it for years).

Congrats!  I'm really glad you had a good race and were able to get through the hip issues you were having.

BTW - everyone's allowed to get down in the dumps about tri's or whatever every once and awhile.  We're human  

I can't believe you were out yesterday!  days's like that sap the energy out of you even if you're just walking down the street!

Hopefully you can benefit from form home field advantage.  Your training looks really good, you're gonna kill it.

Sounds really rough.  I dont' really have any advice either, but just know your limits and don't push yourself beyond them.  Caffeine is only so effective.

Sorry I've been gone all weekend then doing rapid fire posts when i get back, I just seem to be busy and not home much.  I'm reading all the posts from my phone, but responding is tough.

I'm moving in with my fiancee this coming weekend.  We're going outside the beltway to rock the suburbs for a year.  In anticipation of being near some really good trails, I picked up a mountain bike from a BT'er who was moving out of MD.  Figured since I can't run (and I'm don't like swimming enough to do it if I can't do tri's) I need to diversify my cycling.  I grew up on a mountain bike so I'm hoping it'll be easy to get back into it and I'll have some fun with it.  The bike was a really good deal so even if I can run soon and start training again, I'll still be glad to have it.

Speaking of training, I think I feel better with the running/vertigo.  Friday, I had some vertigo come on while in the shower that sent me to bed early (I'd never gotten it except when running so that was bad), but it went away quickly.  After that, I played softball on Saturday and I didn't get dizzy like I was expecting, so that was a positive.  I should have tried an easy run (and swim), but at this point I'm so nervous it's gonna be just as bad and that I've made no improvement that I'm avoiding actually trying it.  I've just gotta suck it up and go for it.  Gonna do a bike today, maybe I'll do a mile run afterwards (hopefully once it's cooled down from the 105 heat index forecasted for today.

It was rough.  I was thinking it would help prepare me for my race in WV next month.  At least I'll know what to expect.  Not sure how I would have been able to run 13 miles after that ride. 

I joined a cycling club through meetup.com - I am going on a beginner ride this Saturday. Unfortunately it's not a road ride, it's apparently on terrain, but I'll take what I can for now. Plus I can probably get some tips about changing tires, etc.

There is a tri club here, but they require a ton of volunteer time at other events. That's great and all, but at this point in my life, I don't have the extra time for that.

Great race Matt!! Nice run!!

Just out of curiosity - you said you placed your bike near the swim. Do some tri's not have specific places for your bike? For example - the tri I did, we have to put our bikes in numerical order by our bib number. Is this not the case for other races?

All the races I have done except Ironman 70.3 Boise have had an open transition area. Its just first come first serve for where you place your bike. They do have a set area where all bikes must go with banners and gates sort of corralling in all of the bikes and only having one exit for the bike and run, and one entrace for the swim and bike. Normally I don't give a care and just show up whenever and can place my bike wherever I find an opening. For this weekends race though I knew with the conditions of the exit ramp and transition area I would be way better off if I could get a spot at the bottom closer to the water. I guess this just adds to the argument that you should spend some time getting to know the course before race day! Other reasons why I may show up early and pick a good spot would be if I knew I was in contention for a win, or if I felt there would be a lot of congestion at some point in transition area. Other than that I am pretty content with  whatever I can get. Hope that helps!

Good for you, for getting back out there!  I hope this ride is better than the last.  I just signed up to do a group swim/bike/run this weekend.  It will be my first group thing.  I'm nervous.

Anybody else having trouble with the high elbow in swimming? I do fine on my "good" side...the one I also feel most comfortable breathing on. The other side (which is my left) is tough to get a good technique on. Any tips would be appreciated.

Austin, TX capitol tri this weekend was awesome. About 1500 participants. My elder son ranked 7th in age group and 26th overall. So neat to see the wounded warriors participating! They gave for us and their country and then come back, some without limbs and participate in this tough event. I am considering it for next year.

I second the pull buoy - another drill you can do, if you don't have a buoy is this:

Hold your arms out in front of you, as if you have a kick board, and use your weak arm to pull you through the water. This will help guide you to breathe on that side. I typically do this drill - one arm down, other arm back.

Here's a short video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AcfrZ51sf0&feature=related

Edit:

It took a long time to properly breathe well on both sides. Now it comes natural, but breathing every 3 or 5 strokes is great practice.

Are you saying your elbow is too high when you're breathing on your left side?  Or is it always too high? I think Randy's suggestion of a pull bouy is a good one.  I would guess your elbow is too high because you are over rotating when breathe on that side.  Just a guess.

Christy

That guy can swim! 

I'm obsessed with him, lol! He's 'that person' I would probably faint if I ever met!