STEPH SPRINT FULL Let's do this thing! StephSprint group FULL! (Page 25)

Welcome back. If I were you, I'd beg someone to lend you a bike for the event. It might be my plan. I didn't have a nice bike to begin with, but now it is really trashed. I heard a spring pop out of the gear selector while riding the other day. It was a 21 gear bike. Now it has 4 gears. Maybe just S/R for me for a while. I'm going to count my pennies and maybe get a bike soon.

Had an enjoyable swim yesterday. Stopped mid lap to play with a dog in the water. That was fun, but every time I swam to where the dog was, I had break form to make sure he wasn't swimming out to drown me play. A welcomed rest, but a little annoying. Trying to get 100 yds non stop. Almost ran head first into two separate people on different occasions. Guess I need to work on my sighting a bit more. I am also enjoying the 1.5 mile round trip run I need to do on the trail that accesses the pond. 

So, 10 weeks until my sprint tri...I did a "super" sprint in may, which was fun, but short, and a pool swim. The one I want to do in August, the Bear Lake Brawl in UT is a 750m OWS (which seems long to me!) and wetsuits are "recommended"

Advice on finding a wetsuit? is it something you can find used? I would rent one just for the race, but I'd like to practice swimming in it...you know, when I get around to practicing open water...one of these days...

Jessica,

You could try this site:  http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/

They rent and sell, new and used wet suits.  It gives you the options to try something before you one.  I have not used the site and do not own a wet suit. 

Happy Friday 

Its Friday! Its Friday! Its Friday!

So whats the plan for the weekend?

I am doing my first brick tomorrow and a family run on Sunday with some strength at the gym.  

I think I found my swimming mojo.  It was at the bottom of the pool drowning, but I got floating again.   The rhythm is coming back to me, but my left side still needs some help. 

--Cheers!

Happy Fathers day!

Wow...just got home from camp with my daughter.  Four days working in the kitchen...so much fun lol.  At least it pays for her 3 week camp stay this summer.

So that means four days of not training, and my race is tomorrow.  Oh yeah, this should be fun.  Plus its going to be in the mid 90's.  How do you survive running in extreme heat?  This is going to be extemely hard to shave 48 seconds off my time and break the 44 minute time.

But as they say..."If its easy, everyone would be doing it"

Have a great weekend everyone...and to all the fathers out there...Happy Fathers Day

Picked up my race packet today for tomorrows race.  This will be my third 5k.  The first two the timing chip was located in your bib, this one we have to pick up an ankle band on race day.  Guess its all the same.

This should be a fun race.  Its called Necktie 5K.  They want all the racers to wear a neck tie in honor of fathers for Fathers Day.  They have ties hanging on banners across the roads, and on the cities welcome sign...kind of cool.

Good work, Marcus. I have to work hard on my swimming. I had to reduce yardage just as I was feeling the flow. My go to water is a private pond that belongs to a local 5 star historic hotel where it is posted 'No Swimming'. Now all I've got is sneaky ninja swimming during mid week. I forgot to mention that during my last swim workout someone was smoking a cigarette on shore, and I breathed in the second hand smoke while swimming. YUCK.

Happy Father's Day to the Dad's. The necktie thing sounds cool. EXCEPT... I couldn't stand the thought of extraneous clothing during a race. I went to a Komen race where everyone had plastic pink leis (you know, Hawiian flower necklaces) and no more than two minutes in I took it off. So annoying. So karma decided I should end up getting lost on course and give up the lead. D'oh! Good luck on beating your PR. Sometimes you can surprise yourself when you don't expect it. 

Ran in my 3rd 5K today.  The day started out great.  A big turn out, great bunch of people.  The race organizers were great.  We had a big group stretch and warm up before the race started, and had a group dance session to the song "Im sexy and I know it".

Then the race started, and thats when things went down hill.  My daughter was standing off to the side a little ways off from the start with a camera waiting to take my picture.  So when the race started, I was trying to get to the left side so she could get a good picture, and during fight through the crowd, I twisted my ankle in the gravel.

Right before the 1 mile mark, the pain hit hard in my ankle.  I buckled over in pain, took a few more steps and thought there was no way that I was going to make it.  So I started to walk hoping the pain would go away, but it didnt.  So since my girlfriend was there, and it was her birthday today, and she wanted me to break the 44 minute time for her...I couldnt just walk.

Well I made it through the race.  Did not make my goal, I finished in 46:01.  My worse time so far.  Now I am at home nursing a swollen ankle and worse, nursing a broken ego.

I am going to break the 44 time!  Heck, I am going to break into the 30s this year!

DUDE! That hurts sooo bad. R-est, I-ce, C-ompress, E-levate. And you can even add B-eer and/or         J-aegermeister (repeat as needed), but ibuprofen might be better. Seriously, don't go out tomorrow to see if it feels OK. Take the next few days off from running. Maybe go swim instead. Your ankle may twist easier now that it has been turned. If you can be man enough, shave your ankle and foot (trust me) and put some sports tape on to support it. I found the best way is to do a figure 8 under foot and around the ankle stirrup type wrap. Not too tight. If you don't want to shave, then get used to how much it hurts to pull the tape off. It hurts more than any self induced suffering I've ever been through. And you WILL break into the thirties by the end of the Summer. The way I look at it, just putting your toes on the starting line makes you a winner.  

This morning I ran 4.64 miles in about 55 minutes.  I would have made better time, but the app on my iPhone was misbehaving- was playing Pat Benatar Promises in the Dark over and over again, then when I tried to fix it- would change the tune anytime I shook the iPhone- took me a while to figure that out- will be better my next run out.  

Ran while nursing sunburn from a day at the beach on Friday, didn't affect the run- the body glide helped tremendously.  The waves were pretty intense, definitely not swimming water!

I had been using the Jeff Galloway method, run 5 min, walk 1 minute.  I like this method for improving distance, not so much time.  However, I also don't like when it is time to walk when I am going downhill (why would I want to walk downhill?), or when it's time to walk when I feel like I have a good stride going on and don't want to break it.  Any thoughts?

Oak- I am sorry about your injury, I like Skibummer's advice- RICE, then add B or J as needed!  You have come so far, don't be disappointed in your time, you can always improve after you are on the mend.  

Happy father's day to all dads in our group, and to the dads in our lives as well

Bridget

Sorry, Oak! I hope your ankle feels better soon (but tell your ego to get over itself - you still finished while injured! Your ego needs to shut up!). Definitely ice and rest up - after some bad sprains my ankles both can get twisted so easily over and over. At the gym there's something (no idea what it's called) that looks like 1/4 of a bouncy ball on a flat surface - like a balance ball but lacking some ball - anyhoo, I stand on it and just use it to to work on my balance and on strengthening my ankles for when they turn a little. It seems to have helped me, but no idea if it would help you (once you've iced and rested, that is!).

I'm just back from Nebraska, where I did a fun Warrior Dash with my husband last weekend, and now my next race is...my first triathlon! It's still a month away, but I'm excited that it's the next race - the real race - on my calendar. I still need to get a wetsuit (and get in more training), but I'm feeling super excited!

oak, sorry about your race.... take it easy, and rest up the ankle!  you'll be back out there in no time.

My first 5km is coming up this weekend.  I'm hoping to bring it in around the 40 minute mark.... guess we'll see.

Great weekend - did a 4km and 3km run... 3km went really well... 4km not so well.  but I know the 5km next weekend will be great!

Have a great week everyone!

Suzanne