Destination MoP is FULL (of motivation!) (Page 24)

@ Joanne : You are correct, we were so thankful for the weather! It was cool, between 45-69 degrees for most of the race and everyone was impressed by how lucky we were weather wise.

@ Melanie : Logistically the way we do it is a nightmare, the fact that we don't get a designated driver who is not running kills us. We had two lined up for this year and both bailed at the last minute. We had more success this year with due to our experience last year.

@ Group : I managed a 3 mile run yesterday and then a ride last night. One of my concerns was not to injure myself during Ragnar and as a result compromise my training plan for the HIM. So that was successful! My legs were tired during the run & bike, but nothing more than usual.

For all of you who are racing this weekend, best of luck! I am sending good thoughts to Erin who is in the Tri for A Cure this Sunday in Maine. Erin has made tremendous progress since the beginning of the year with her training and is scheduled to race her first Sprint Tri this Sunday. Let's flood her with inspires!

Just finished a scorching run with Melanie... and to be clear, the heat was scorching, we were not.  In fact, after 3 or 4 miles, I had to pull up and walk some.  It's been quite awhile since I ran in 97 (in the shade) degrees.  But, it was GREAT to have the opportunity to meet a fellow MoPer in person - thanks so much for suggesting the run, Melanie!  Hope to see you at the Giant Acorn in October!

Speaking of Tris - I know we've got a couple of first timers coming up in the next month, so a couple of hints that maybe aren't the usual ones you'll see:

1) Go out steady in the swim and get your breathing consistent.  If you have the chance, swim a little before the start to get loose and relaxed.  There's a tendency to go out faster than normal in the swim due to the excitement (especially first time), and spike your heart rate.  Nice and steady (and straight) is the name of the game in the swim.

2) Make a list of what to take and how to set up your transition area.  Practice your transition before the race.  Pack the night before (if you're leaving the day of the race).  The only thing I want to worry about in the morning is filling my water / gatorade bottles and making breakfast.  Let your mind be still and focused on the race... there will be enough distractions at the race site.

3) Arrive with plenty of time to spare.  I've gotten lost on the way to a tri, caught in nasty traffic, had to deal with a few surprises, etc.  If you're picking up the packets, etc. on race day, it takes awhile to get through the lines and set up your transition area.  Again, you want to save your energy for the race, not spend it being anxious over everything.

4) Especially for hot summer tris - hydrate in the days leading up to the race.  I was reminded on today's run how quickly the heat dehydrates you - 5 lbs of water today in an hour walk / run... I was buzzy after 45 minutes... wow!  Same for the race - if you're feeling dehydrated, it's too late.  Drink along the way, on the bike especially (but not huge amounts at once). 

5) Try to stay off your feet as much as possible the day before the race.  Not always easy to do, I know - last year I spent 6 hours chainsawing before a Sprint due to 3 trees falling in our yard.  Life happens!  But, if you can, rest up those legs.

6) Be especially circumspect at the beginning of the swim and the bike portions for wave start tris.  That's where most of the jam ups / jostling occurs.  After that, things usually spread out nicely.

7) Last - your training is behind you.  You can reflect on what you might or might not do differently a few days after the race - enjoy the moment!  You're ready and you'll do great.  There will probably be a couple of things that don't go perfect - some surprise - stay calm and focused and you'll be fine.  And if something more major happens, there will be another day - my best example was when I forgot to put on my helmet and was DQed.  At the time it was like the worst thing... now, it is nothing more than a funny blip and a learning experience.

Good luck this weekend Erin!  Anyone else racing?  I've got the Culpeper Sprint on Sunday - my favorite sprint of the local circuit... always attracts a fast field and it's a challenging course. 

Cheers,

Stu

Christine... I'm really impressed with your Ragnar performance.  I didn't realize you'd be running 32 miles on little sleep.  Also glad to hear your body seems to be okay in the aftermath.  Between the travel, running and lack of sleep, that's got to be rough.  The logistics of that event sound rather daunting to me... and more to the point...

YOU DIDN'T PUKE!!!!

Congrats!

Congrats to Cynthia!

Good luck to Erin!

I rode my bike to work this morning (found some back(ish) roads) for the 1st time and it wasn't as bad or scary as I thought it might be - definitely some hills, though, but I feel pretty BA about doing it.  I have my Iron Girl practice swim in Centennial Lake tomorrow morning (they start collecting waivers at 6am, so being out late tonight for a birthday event (not mine) is going to make that a little more challenging)... and, I know that an 1100m (maybe it's yards? .62 miles) is going to be a challenge for me to make it without dragging at the end.  Not so sure that I'll be up for the 3.4mi run after the swim... we'll see how I'm doing for time (busy day tomorrow).

Thanks for the hints Stu.

And good luck to Erin and Stu in their races this weekend.

-Steve

Good luck to Erin and Stu in your races this weekend.  And most importantly I hope you have fun!

Congratulations Christine.  That run sounds immense (and insane...), and on that little sleep as well.  I know I couldn't handle that, so I'm in absolute awe that you did.

The good news from me is that my knee does seem to be improving.  It's slower than I'd like, but that's at least partly because I'm failing miserably to rest it (foot patrol at work doesn't help, neither does walking the dog and forgetting to put my knee support on...).  The good news is that I cycled on tuesday and had zero pain.  I jogged on wednesday (did a jog/walk combo working up to 3min jogging at a time to keep it light) and had no pain while I was running.  It still feels wrong when I stand or sit, but seems to be fine for exercise!  Go figure...

This weekend we're off to the Lake District.  We're taking the bikes and will hopefully get a ride in.  We're staying right by Derwentwater, so we're also taking the wetsuits in the hope that we can get a swim.  I'm really looking forward to it, just to get away somewhere different for a couple of days.

Have fun Erin and Stu!

The heat has been really bad and thanks for the hydration help. The tri advice is great too since I'm a newbie and completely relate to the stress beforehand.

This weekend is a tennis tournament for me. I won 3 matches (doubles) last night. Humid, but temp was fine after the sun went down. Today will be another scorcher though, 99 with heat index of 110 and right now it's 98% humidity! Craziest summer I have ever experienced. I have 4 matches! They will probably change the format so no one keels over.

Tomorrow will be a run and bike for sure. I'll have to get out before sunrise. Monday and Wednesday are OWS. The good news is I don't have much tennis next week.

Stay cool everyone!

Joanne

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and encouragement!  You're all awesome!  Part of me feels like this is just a big workout that's no big deal, part of me feels like this is a huge milestone in my life, part of me feels like I'm being tested for something I've been practicing for for months now.  It's a whole mixed bag of emotions but all great.  This has definitely been a profound experience for sure!

Good luck Stu on your race tomorrow, can't wait to hear how it goes!

And I didn't get a chance to say it yet but congrats to you Christine on the Ragnar!  That's such an awesome accomplishment and sounds like it went much better this year.  You're having a super impressive season so far!  You're an inspiration!

Happy racing to Erin and Stu.  I'm sure you'll both do great and have fun while doing it.

I got in a short OWS in my new tri clothes today.  It's funny how strange I felt (as a swimmer) going into a lake wearing a bra, tri shirt and tri shorts.  It was all fine, of course.  The fit of everything is good and there was no noticable extra drag or flopping clothing.  I'm definately a fashion "no" though with my black and purple shorts and light green/blueish top.  Hey, they were on sale!

I need to test the outfit running now.  Maybe tomorrow, if it's not still soggy from the wash.

Hi All,

Had a super race yesterday.  Almost a 6 minute improvement over last year's race on the same course on a more humid day.  Came in under 1:40 which was my stretch goal.  Could have done better on the swim and the transitions, but nailed the bike and the run by my standards and exceeded my expectations on both those legs.  8/24 in my age group in a pretty strong field. 

Race Report

I even had to follow my own advice with a wardrobe malfunction issue

Looking forward to hearing how your race went, Erin!  Hope everyone else had a good weekend of training. 

Stu

Awesome race Stu!

-Steve

Great job Stu!

Is it August already?! I need to spend some time setting goals, I'm not sure where July went.

July Update:

Training is going well, Missed a couple training sessions but I'm seeing improvements and total distance increased over last month (approaching 200 miles combined training for July).

• Swim: Feeling good and able to complete 1600 (8x200 on 4:15) at least twice a week.
• Bike: I really like biking, currently completing 16 miles with a 14.5 mph average speed.
• Run: Other than the heat killing me, it's going OK.  Running is still the hardest for me, distance and speed are slowly improving.  Did another practice 5k last weeking in 39 minutes.

August Plans:

I signed up for a 5k race next weekend!  

Keep the training going!!  Still focusing on my first tri on 9/17.

-Steve

Stu, it looks like you had solid results in swim, bike and run.  Congrats!

Christine and Steve - thanks for the reminder about reviewing July goals and setting August goals... wow, July flew by!

Stu

How did the swim go, Jennifer?  Super news about the biking!

I'm pretty excited.  I found a deal on a garmin last night and I ordered one!  I think it was a one day deal at amazon.

My bike legs and/or lungs seem to have improved.  I rode a route that I don't think I've done since fall.  The hills, while still noticable to me did not require that I go to the absolute easiest gear on my bike!  I'm able to use higher gears on flats as well and not feel like I'm really taxing my muscles or getting out of breath.  I shift lower to keep my cadence up a bit when necessary.  My hybrid is not fast or light, but it will do for now.  I'm thinking I might get a used road bike once I am no longer technically obese as a present for myself.  25 lbs to go...

Running is going OK.  Now that I've switched to AM running and more frequent runs, I am able to get my runs in more consistantly.  I have skipped a couple of runs due to a bad nights sleep or crazy heat, but overall I'm being consistant again. 

Holding steady on the swim, by hitting the pool occassionaly and various OWS.  I may do an OWS carnival.  The races offered are .5 mile, 1.5 mile and 3 mile or any combination...  I may do the 1.5 mile race.  It's a week before my tri, but I don't think that is really a problem in this case.

Less than 6 weeks to my Sprint!

You're going to love having a Garmin, Andrea.  Having that feedback (especially on the run for me) is so helpful during training and the races.  Great to hear about your progress on the bike... sounds like you're almost ready for the big day!

On the weight loss - my sister is here visiting and she's lost 25 lbs since the beginning of the year using Body Bug and a website called Sparkpeople.com.  I'm really impressed and she's really dedicated.  Seems like the big plus for Body Bug is that it is a very accurate calorie burner counter (unlike the estimates on the machines).  Anyway, bottom line is it has really worked for her. 

Okay... on to July recap and August goals for me.

Stu

July Goals

- Make good use of the training window I do have and not get down on myself when there's too much to juggle

Did pretty well on that.  Ramped up the last two weeks of July and did okay on running while in France.  Really happy with my results in Culpeper Sprint.

- Eat well, take advantage of the summer bounty of fresh fruit and veggies

Yep.  But in my 3rd week of family house guests and I'm eating too much again.  Have gained back half of the weight I lost in France / NC.

- Be consistent with the running, swimming is low priority.  Don't let myself get out of running condition as my Fall 'A' race is the Richmond Marathon.

Hanging in there, but not quite hitting the marathon running plans.

August

Exercise:  Try not to fall behind too much on the marathon training plan during 1st 3 weeks while I have family visiting, driving to Florida, and seminar in Michigan.  After that things should settle down and I can get back gear.  Swim/bike 1x+ week during Aug.

Food:  Stick with the fresh fruits and veggies when possible.  Be more reasonable with the social eating.  Be good in Michigan.  Please don't lose all the good progress from earlier in the summer.

Basically, survive the next 3 weeks without too much damage :-)

So how about all of you? 

Stu

July Goals:

Swim, bike, and run 2x per week: didn't meet those goals, but did ok with running 2x/wk, biked 1x/wk, and swimming 1x/wk. At the end of the month I began OWS and I love it!

Weight train 2x/wk: fell short of this goal at the beginning of the month, but have been doing to the gym at least 1x/wk and either doing a substantial weight workout or doing TRX

Issues this month: can't find enough time to fit it all in with tennis and massive amounts of work both around the house and professionally. Spouse thinks I'm nuts!

Aug Goals:

Swim, bike, and run 2x/wk: I'm sticking with this and will work hard on my scheduling so I can get it in. Will have to cut back on tennis to no more than 3 or 4x/wk. Need at least one pool swim and one OWS per wk. 2-3 runs/wk is important for building up for the 15k and then half. If I stick with biking 2x/wk I should be fine for the tri in Sept.

Weight train: 2x/wk. I have seen an improvement in my strength, especially core and arms, so I need to focus on this.

Diet: Have been eating really well, just need to remember not to eat late at night.

I'll have to do goals in a bit.

I just did a little brick, my first, other than the indoor tris I did this winter.  First I cycled "hard' for 3 miles then I locked up my bike took a bit of water and ran for 1.5 miles.  The run felt slow and I was grateful for shade.  It went OK though and overall my pace wasn't horrible.