left.right.repeat group -closed - Full of a bunch of winners...YEAH! (Page 26)

Leston Leston Leston

What a GREAT job!  Excellent job.  You smoked the bike and run....the swim is coming along.  You should be very proud.  By the way, tell your wife and children that they just didn't realize how fast Turtle Dad is.....  Sorry they missed your first finish line but hopefully there are many many more for them to see.

Congratulations....today YOU ARE A TRIATHLETE!

Woo hoo !!!

Way to go Leston !! Great race and great race report!! Based on your comment (and advice received from others) I think I will pick up a set of the bungee laces too.

FBP

Leston! OMG, you ROCK dude! I don't EVEN wanna give my times, now, lol. But dang it, I'm so slap proud of you I could crow! The movie "Hook"? Robin Williams as Peter Pan? (Love that movie!) Wow, just wow! Incredible first Tri! I hate that the family missed the finish. AWwww man, I bet they were disappointed. I can't wait to see where you go from here. You are right up there with Bryan, Marianne, and Peter. AWESOME.

Ok, I had a blast this morning! It was a painful, blast, hehe, but a blast never the less. I didn't stay for the posted times (if they had them) or the award ceremony, but Bill had me at - roughly - 14 min. for the swim, 68 min. for the bike, and (darn, I hate to give this one, but I finished ya'll!) 43 min. for the run. T1 was very long. I wanted to dry my feet this time. And it was a LONG way from the beach to transition. But T2 made up for it. The swim was great, Bryan! I spent a lot of time in the water warming up. That helped SO much. The water was so darn shallow for so long, that I lot of the guys were running through the water. So I tried that for a bit, but it tired my legs so much that I knew I was better off swimming it! I’d need those legs shortly, hehe. In fact, I went short of breath after biking up the bluff just out of transition (the first 100 - 150 yards of the bike route), and it took a couple of miles to recover, but when I did, omg did I have fun! What an morning!... sweet smell of magnolia blossoms, country roads, horses and cattle grazing, birds singing and lots of people biking and smiling! It was just awesome, folks. Even with the hills, I LOVED it!
On the run leg, Ouch... I walked as much as I ran. Just really didn't have much left. It was getting hot already by then, too. My favorite part was the elderly gentleman that was watering his front yard, and offered to spray us all down as we ran by!
I had a cheering section, btw! A couple of my friends from the gym drove over, just to cheer me on! So with Bill, I had a 3 person cheering section! How cool is that?
The volunteers were great! And I told them, every chance I got! Everything was well directed and organized. Just a great morning... yeah.

Will post link to official times when I get notified.

Photos coming up in next post!

Continued in next post!

Flipper - YOU ROCK!!!!  I KNEW this swim would go well.  Great idea to use warmup to relax and a very wise decision to swim not try to run through the water.  That just really burns the quads and I am sure the price was paid later by those who did it very long.  By the way, the bucket idea becomes a great seat to put on your shoes and with your bright color it helps you find your spot in transition.  Excellent race.  Great pics.  And you had FANS.....you go girl.  You are an inspiration to others whether you realize it or not.  Keep up the great work.

sTRIve

Thank you, Bryan! What would I do without you?! Bless you for your help, advice and encouragement!

Marianne, I am SO excited about your Oly! I really, REALLY wish I could be there! You'd hear me yelling over everyone else! (I'm very loud. I actually sound the way I type, hehe.) But omg, girl, I can't wait! You, relax this week, y'hear? Cuz you are going to ROCK this weekend!! Woohoo! Go, Mav, go!

The results are in and I did not, REPEAT NOT, come in last in my age group! WOOHOO!
http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?orgID=216352&rsID=64227
It's a long scroll down to the "Athena" group.  I was 385 over all out of 397 which is great when I think about how worried I was about finishing. Yey!

I don't have another Tri planned for this year, Marianne. Hubby kind of asked me (sweetly of course) if we could limit it to 2 a summer for now. But I'm tentively planning a 10K for October. That would be quite an accomplishment for me. And my running definitely needs improving, hehe.
I'm already thinking about the Grandman for next year, too. I'm thinking maybe monthly trips across the bay to bike and run/walk the courses... yeah, sounds like a plan. 

I added my Feb 5K to the Tri's in my BT signature. I love seeing all my finishes lined up like that. Wow, I have really come a long way. *pointing up, the way I've seen athletes on TV do* 

sTRIve on Turtles! You ROCK!

What an excellent job by all of you....you make me proud.

Speaking of proud, I need you to indulge me for a minute or two.  This morning, my wife and 21 year old daughter (turned 21 yesterday) completed their first sprint triathlon.  There were some moments of nerves in my house over the last week or so coming to an incredible crescendo this morning.  It was a great morning....cloudy and actually reasonably cool for June in Texas (Mav, I am going to try to cool you off next weekend).

They both did a great job - as we all know the goal is the finish line - and to top it off my daughter took 2nd in her age group.  Both of them have been floating around since we finished and it is really neat to see - I so remember exactly what the first one felt like.  We all did this one together and it was really cool....we rolled in with three bikes on our rack, set up transition close together, and then got to see each other a couple of times on the course.  It was really cool.

An aside - when I finished, I went back up the run course with a cowbell and was yelling at everyone still running by their bib number...it was really cool to see them smile as they knew they were going to make it.  What a cool sport this is!!!  Even ordinary people can excel.  What an accomplishment for us all - you are each an inspiration and you don't even know who is watching - but I promise they are....keep those finish lines coming.

By the way, the event today was held on a military base and there were two Intrepid Heroes at the tri today participating in the event.  Each had a prosthetic leg and one was missing most of his other calf as well - they were incredible - I told them both I would NEVER be half as tough as them.  I admire the heck out of those guys.

sTRIve

Just WOW, Bryan!  MEGA congrats to Mrs. Bryan and Daughter!!! How thrilled you must have been to see your daughter up on that podium, omg. And I'm so happy for your wife. What I wouldn't give for Bill to do this with me... WTG Mrs. B!
Congrats to the left.right.repeat family! Woohoo! Pics? Pul EEZE?!

And I am completely humbled by the participation of the heroes. How awesome is that. No, I have NO excuses. Thank you for sharing, Bryan!

What a fantastic weekend for the sTRIve crew (and sTRIve family members)! Way to go everyone. I must say that I am terribly jealous that everyone else is out there racing and I still have 5 weeks to wait until my inaugural (outdoor) event.

Just back from a 3-day trip to Ottawa, my "hometown". I managed to get in a 10k run on Sunday morning joining the "regulars" at the local Running Room (www.runningroom.com) store. The girl I ended up running with (at the back of the 10k group!) was doing a pace that was a little quicker than I would normally do but I managed to keep up with her and we finished the 10k route in 58 minutes. That would be typical race pace for me - Sunday Long Slow Distance (LSD) pace is more like 65-70 minutes for 10k. We talked up a storm - she is originally from Prince Edward Island (where my father's family are from) and her hubby is  Type 1 diabetic so we had no shortage of stuff to kibbitz about.

While in Ottawa I picked up some 2XU tri shorts. I think I am now all set for equipment and clothing with the exception of a wetsuit, which I am borrowing from my boss and bungee shoe laces.

Hoping to get to the pool at lunch today and possibly out on my road bike after work.

Rock on Turtles!

Never Never Never ride your bike without your helmet...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/06/02/mexico.bikers.ap/index.html

OWS - Mav hit the ball out of the park here.  Excellent advice.  I am a little concerned about someone not being able to help you at the lake as I would prefer to have someone there who could save me.  That said, I really like the noodle on a string deal, I think this is a great idea and a must if you swim "alone".  The hands hitting the ground at the exit is spot on, the running into the water is good to practice just walk it a few times first to be sure of depth and bottom material.  Most of my starts have been treading water.  Actually there are some pics of the Oly at my blog if you want to see them, you can see a bunch of old fat guys sinking a dock.  LOL

Shoelaces - Yankz! are my brand.  Love em.  Use them in several pairs of shoes - wish they made them for dress shoes.  One caution, leave the loop long enough to loosen them.  For some reason, all these laces begin to tighten after use - usually only a issue on really long runs or after quite a few runs...just don't be afraid to loosen them.  And start with them loose too....If you remember my tendon issue before the half marathon in February, I think it was caused by having them too tight.  It's amazing how loose you can wear your running shoes.

One more thing on OWS - please try to get in at least one before race day - even if it is the day before at the venue.  You may panic a little with the change in environment.  Just roll onto your back - take a few deep breaths - remember the leatherback turtle that could - roll over and swim your little tail off.  Even in the race don't be afraid to do this - a minute or two in the swim is NO TIME LOST - get your wits and get on with it.

sTRIve

Too funny!!! We are related to that snapping turtle, Mav! He was probably there to cheer you on... OMG, IT'S A SIGN!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

I'll be laughing the rest of the night! L)

Mav, you are ready girl.  The training is all in the bank.  Go and have a blast.  I have a lady that works forme doing Danskin this weekend too - she's freaking out a little at this time.  Keep up the attitude - you will do great.  By the way, here is some information on heat from Jeff Galloway's website.

Adjust for heat, humidity, hills, etc.
The warmer and more humid it is, the slower you must go (two and a half to three minutes/mile slower than you could run that distance that day). The slower you go, from the beginning of the run, the less damage you'll incur from the heat, humidity, and distance covered. More frequent (or longer) walk breaks will also lower the damage without detracting from the endurance of that long run.

Now that you read that and I know you won't want to start out at that slow of a pace, just remember what he says.  Be sure you wear a cap (Headsweats so it will breathe) or a visor - advantage of a visor is that it let's the top of your head breathe however a cap holds some water - poured into it at an aid station and put back on your head or ice treated the same way - it won't be too cold - trust me).  After you finish, have your husband have a small towel for you to dunk in the ice water in the coolers and wrap it - while dripping - around your neck.   That is the quickest way to cool.  You probably know this but if you put it on your carotid artery it will drop your body temperature quicker - a nurse told me that.  Also, keep moving at least for 15 minutes after the finish line - just walking but keep moving - it will assist your recovery dramatically.  Be sure you take in 16-24 ounces of fluid - water and electrolyte - per hour.  That is what you will lose in hot weather - at least.  If it is 90, don't think about a PR on the 10k - just work through it and stay healthy.  I am sending cloudy thoughts your way....

By the way, I was rolling on the floor laughing about the turtle on your path....awesome. 

sTRIve

Also, great news from the surgeon - for you and your daughter...congrats.

Anyone else racing this weekend?

Question for y'all who are more experienced cyclists:

How difficult/dangerous is it to ride road bikes in the rain? I have not yet been out on mine when it is wet but I wonder about the grip that the skinny tires can offer in "sub-optimal" conditions.

FBP

PS - have  great race mav !!