kalalau's Group - FULL for now (Page 24)

You aren't ready to realize that you can do it one day, I jumped the gun in suggesting it.  Sometimes you can push people away with big ideas too soon.  Friends start running for the first time and you mention a race or a half marathon, and all of a sudden they stop because they can't take the pressure! :-)

Happy Birthday!!  So which wetsuit do you have?

Apparently there is a 2 mile swim in the Hudson River on Sunday too, that would be cool.  Lots of races this weekend.

It might take a while to get confidence enough to do a long swim.  Even for my first half Ironman, probably 18 months after my first triathlon, I was still scared to death of the 1.2 mile swim.  Now, I look at a 1.2 mile swim as a distance I can hammer myself and still not have issues.

I have a friend who thinks it's no big deal to go for a 10 mile swim out in the middle of the Caribbean by herself or with just one other person.  That is really bizarre.  Yet, she is no superwoman.  She's just a normal looking 50-some year old.  That's the kind of thing that makes me think I can do the JFK 50 Miler.  These aren't super heroes doing these events, they are possible if you train and just take your time.

Haha, that's funny, I would've thought that Josh might be the first guy I could get to with this kind of Bay Swim talk. :-)  It is a really really cool event to do.

Eh, that's only because everyone around here seems to do Eagleman, and it's the closest MDOT race we have.  The downsides to the race are that it's expensive, hot, flat, and be kind of boring. The upsides are that it's MDOT, has the extra excitement and competitiveness of Kona and Clearwater slots, the volunteers and support are aweseome, and we get good pros.  I really like the shirt they gave us as well.

We haven't committed on JFK yet.  Unless someone steps up the commitment train, it seems likely we won't decide until June 30th.  But if one of us does it, it's like others in my group of friends will.

It does get better, because you will get used to it. :-)

Once I did a swim/run in Florida.  Visions of pretty blue water, right?  Well it's a bog too.  We get to the beach and there's this purple stuff all over the sand, and there's a sulfur smell in the air.  I ask someone what it was, and they thought it was because there was a sewage plant nearby.  Nice...

No matter the conditions, there is someone around there taking lots of measurements and having to certify that the course is within the strict government regulations.  It's not going to hurt us with our once a month swimming.

The seaweed issue does come into play in some races.  Just look at it like grass.  You like playing in the grass in the park, right?  Rolling around with the kids, crawling on your knees, wresting around?  Same thing.  You are just in the water.  It does get better away from the shore.

For lake swims, there's a high percentage of them where you aren't going to be able to see your arms and hands.  Eagleman was pretty much like that, and had the excitement of jellyfish.  I got stung on my lips!  I am glad that I went for a swim the day before and gotten my introduction to jellyfish stings, otherwise I might have freaked out a bit.

Was this a swim of your in your triathlon course lake?

A lot of swimming is about overcoming any panic, which makes it nice to do situations ahead of time.

Way to go on your ride!!

Abby got a Blue Seventy wetsuit, pretty awesome!  That is worn by people who are really fast. :-)

I'm planning on writing a race report but time keeps drifting away.  Becky, Josh, and I all did well and had a good time.  Well, Josh and Becky had more fun than I did, because I suffered for a good 3 hours.  I finished in 5:21, which was a PR by about 6 minutes for a HIM.  I had a decent all-around race, but really struggled on the run and felt overheated.

A friend of mine just suggested a 5.8 mile race in the Hudson River in September.  That sounds really long, but I looked at her time, and the course description, and it makes me think that you are REALLY swimming with a really good current in that race, it looks like the effort of a 2.5-3 mile swim.

I see people talking about "Chamois Butter" for chafing issues on the bike, but I've never used that so I don't know anything about it.  I use "Body Glide" which was a crossover from doing marathons, and it works pretty well.  Just put it anywhere that would rub.  You can buy it in running and biking stores.  Other types of issues like seat pain, neck stiffness, and shoulder pains, get resolved by more bike riding most of the time.

You are going to have to "back it up" with the super cool wetsuit.  Get fast!  Wetsuits aren't supposed to keep all water out, it just brings in a small layer of water, which warms up against your body, and that's how you keep warm.  I don't know much about triglide, but it sounds like when I use Pam.  You are talking like you have been doing this for years. :-)

So I'm wondering, when does Abby buy a Cervelo P3 bike? :-)  Maybe you should wait til you start winning awards, before buying that one.

Keep getting out in the lake when you get the chance and race day will be just another swim in your favorite open water swim lake. :-)

Oh, if you are swimming with that coach dude, get him to swim overtop of you, and hit your around a bit in the swim, so you can see how that feels too.

My race report is posted

Ok, 3 more big races down from us; we are doing great.  Next up, Steve and his sprint in Westminster this weekend.  Go get'em Steve!  Somehow he will make that work even with camping in the rain. :-)

Then, the moment we've all been waiting for.. in just over 3 weeks, Abby becomes a triathlete. :-)

Oh, Becky, in case you haven't started already, now would be a good time to start bi-lateral breathing in your training swims.  You don't have to do it in races, but doing it in training gets your body balanced better, and is an indicator of how you are progressing in that area.

And for Josh it is time to start leaving the shoes on the bike in transition. :-)  He's too fast to be running around in transition in bike shoes.

Yep, pretty normal.  In fact I just read a comment in the Ironman Lake Placid thread that some guy keeps feeling like he is going to throw up, and we're over 5 weeks out.  You're just heading into something that's unknown.  You have no idea that it's not nearly as scary as it seems. :-)

Yep, time in the saddle == speed.  I've seen some programs that talk about hill repeats and interval training, just like running; that could help.  With hills, I think weight plays a factor, as well as the rolling resistance of the tires people have, the pressure in the tires, bike weight, aerobars, etc.  Are the guys you are riding with using aerobars, and you aren't?  That would be huge going down a hill.

I was hoping to do a big bike ride tomorrow outside of York, but I am tired, and I see likely thunderstorms, "some may be severe."  I'm not feeling it!  It's been kind of a downer last couple of days.  Probably still tired from Eagleman, and heading right back into training.