Yanti & Salty MAD MANATEES Mentor Group - FULL POD (Page 27)

Surely they should be at the top of your list, not below halfway, especially the ice cream.

Get well soon chuck.

WOW. proper WOW.

 Kansas Mum, love the new avatar.

Coaching yesterday was cool. Learned some useful new stuff. Started a little chaotically as they only had 3 coaches but 4 planned groups, but things settled down.

Ran through a bit of history, then out for drills followed by interval run training, uphill! Nice to run with a group for the first time. Not as nice to realise that i was always at the back.

Lunch then information and transition training practice. How to run with the bike, scoot mount, dismount to run. Some lovely bikes around.

1 hour (phew) swim doing lots of different drills for the first time ever. fun but hard work. Not the slowest!!! maybe my stroke will be a little better. Won't know until i hit the pool again and try to put it into practice.

All in all, a good day. Met some nice people, including one from my local Tri club so i will  be going along soon as i now think i am quick enough for their slow group.

Chuck! Is that a pet name, like kitten?

See, toilet paper and ice cream go together on the list, because the toilet paper gets kept on top of the freezer, or else the cats turn it into snow. And ice cream has to be last on the list, because it's at the front of the store and it'll melt by the time I get to the checkout, never mind home, if I don't get it very last.

However, when one is miserable in the ways that I am miserable, it is a very sad thing indeed to be sans TP and IC! I have baby wipes, so those will do. But they sure taste terrible frozen.

That sounds great! Well done! Did you get some handouts or sheets? Make sure you refer back to them before swimming again, or if not, jot down some of the more important/useful drills or things you remember.

Britain *really* supports its fledgling triathletes ... USAT could take note.

No kidding, I would have loved something like that when I was first starting out.  Heck, I'd love it now.

Nutrition went perfect, almost. 

Had oatmeal and banana and coffee about 2 hours before (I was lazy and got up at 6am) instead of 3 hours like I was shooting for.  At Big Sur, the bus leaves at 4am so I will be eating at 3:30am and the race doesn't start till 6:45am.   Ate 1/2 clif bar about an hour before.

On the run: gu/water every 4 miles was perfect and then gatorade 4 oz on the even miles in between.  They will have gu and gatorade and water on the course.  I carried in a 4 bottle fuel belt and went back to the car once to refill.  water, I sipped on the odd miles and with the gu. 

TMI:  I had to make 2 pee breaks, once when I refilled everything at mile 7.5 and then at mile 12.5 (but that was only because it was pouring and we ducked into a shelter to refill water and rearrange some stuff so it didn't cause chafing)  so I probably was drinking a little too much.  The second pee break I didn't really have to go but the 1st one I definitely needed.  I got crampy around mile 18 but made it to the bathroom after the 20 miles without embarrassing myself.  I would've had to stop if I was on the course. 

We did run 1 mile: walk 1 minute.  It was perfect because it reminded me to take something before it was 2 late.  Our average pace was about 12-12:15.  My pace on my log is little off because we did stop to chat for 2+ minutes at mile 8 with the TRY chips guys who are in town from PA.  

This was the hilliest course I could find in Michigan so that helped too.  I got 20 and hill work.  HAPPY!!!!  

FANTASMA-SMACKTIC! Well done, Jo! Really glad the eats worked out, too.

Ah, you can (almost) never get TMI, sports-related ... I mean ... once you've discussed the exact etiology, location and current appearance (down to consistency and filling) of a saddle sore publicly here ... well ... yeah.

Congrats on the great training run - it should make you feel really confident for Big Sur.  Well done.

I went out for my 2 hour bike ride today and once again found myself in the middle of a triathlon!  Shortly after I started my ride I ended up on the course with the athletes doing a half iron (there was also an oly going on).  Rode with them for a while before making the turn back to the car.  These races are small races with such great volunteers.  People kept telling me I was doing "great" and "way to go".  I just kept saying "thanks".  My picture also got taken a lot and I imagine that after the race 3 weeks ago that I also ended up in and this one, the photographer is probably cursing me   I did not take any of the water or gatorade they offered, but I did take advantage of the cops manning the intersections.  It was really nice not to have to wait my turn at stop signs   This is a very hilly course (yes, parts of Florida do have hills) and it was so windy that I was blown all over the road in some areas, so I was very happy that i was not actually part of the race.  I also kept thinking about the miserable conditions that Kansasmom probably faced in her race today and while I wished her luck, I selfishly thought "thank god I have blue skies and otherwise beautiful weather for my little ride".

Can't wait to hear about everyone's races!

Ha, sweet! Should I say congratulations? You should definitely look at the candids/unmatched photos and buy any that are good Great ride, anyway!

Good afternoon fellow Manatees!

Was supposed to ride some 50 ish miles this morning, then run 6-7 but the weather looked questionable and the fellers I was going to ride with bailed.  I could have driven myself, 40 ish miles each way but all that gas just to get a ride in, on a course I already know, sort of (IMKS 70.3 course).  Nah, then I stayed up late last night, got up at 'er 10:30.  Made coffee, put clothes in washer, looked at weather, 30 mph winds now.

Beerfest or Sufferfest?

That's a good idea - next time I crash a race out there I will make sure to smile for the pictures!

Hah, that's so cool!  My friend is thinking of "crashing" a local Marathon here in a week or so, probably the half portion because he lives 2 miles from the start.  It's a pretty small race I think I might join him, would be a good training run.

Hey, did you draft?  How cool would that be!  You could have drafted off somebody and be DQ'd, oh wait!  They can't DQ you if you're not registered can they, LOL

I got two words for drafters.

Peeing on the bike, and snot rockets.

Okay, six, but whatever.

Chuck, duck, and even pet, are pet names over here, and are all meant with affection.

The toilet paper and ice cream make sense now.

I think it's a brilliant set up. Next month they have another with an OWS session at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham. In total i can go to around  5-6 of these and they are all free. They send 3-4 coaches to each session and they obviously know their stuff.

perhaps this helps to explain the success we have been having at world level, in fact one of the coaches was saying that one of the girls who started out attending the exact sessions that i went to, is currently competing in the european championships.

Watch out Craig Alexander, here i come!

HAPPY MONDY EVERYBODY!

Bang here comes another week - 7 weeks until my first HIM.  It's the title that makes it freaky!  Basically it's just  triathlon but longer.  Longest i've done is Oly so I just got to add .4km to the swim, 40km to the ride and 10km to the run.  Doesn't sound so bad put like that.  I'm so pleased with my ride at the weekend - gave me a much needed confidence boost.  This week's training will be on the drainer until the weekend when I'm heading back to that track - come rain or shine.  No traffic makes it a good option.

Today I have a torture session with the myotherapist but I know it will make me feel better after and tonight swim squad with the delectable Coach Johnny.

So what is everyone else currently training for?

The tornado that went through my county yesterday afternoon, while we were in Emporia. More on my tornado adventures in my race report. :-)

I am alive. :-)

I went to bed last night after reading that a tornado was going through Wichita. Here was the weather announcement. The weather service is trying out a new "Impact warning" system in three states; Kansas is one. What do you think? Sufficiently frightening?

"IMPACT... THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. YOU COULD BE KILLED IF NOT UNDERGROUND OR IN A TORNADO SHELTER. COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOODS IS LIKELY. MANY WELL BUILT HOMES AND BUSINESSES WILL BE COMPLETELY SWEPT FROM THEIR FOUNDATIONS. DEBRIS WILL BLOCK MOST ROADWAYS. MASS DEVASTATION IS HIGHLY LIKELY MAKING THE AREA UNRECOGNIZABLE TO SURVIVORS."

I don't know. A little melodramatic. Anyway . . .

I went to sleep, and then was awoken by my 16 year old yelling, "Tornado Sirens! Tornado Sirens!" Our home city is extremely cautious about sounding our sirens. They don't set them off unless they can see the tornado -- they've actually been criticized for that practice. One day a few years ago, we were under a warning, sirens didn't go off, and in the paper the next week, was a picture of the tornado --- on the ground --- about half a mile from our city. But I digress.

My point is that when we hear a siren, we respond.

So I'm running around the room, trying to wake everyone up, yelling, "Tornado! Tornado! Tornado!" I got everyone up, shoes on (in case of broken glass after), and we're running down the stairs, and I'm yelling, "Don't look at the windows! Don't look at the windows!!" (????)

There was no proper shelter in the hotel, and the windowless bathrooms and hall ways on the first floor were already packed (the hotel was sold out), so the manager offered us the employee break room. The five of us huddled in there with another couple and waited. And waited. And waited. In the meantime, the sirens are still screaming, and finally we hear horrible winds and thunder that shook even the inside room we were in.

My five year old slept through the whole thing. He doesn't remember a thing. My 11 year old was beginning to go into shock, I think. He was pale, shivering, and crying. I sent my 16 year old in search of something to wrap him in, and he came back with a bath towel, which worked.

After about 30 minutes, the sirens stopped, and the manager told us all that we could go back to our rooms. She said to come back again, if we needed to, because there were more storms on the way.

A few storms woke us up (hail, winds, rain, etc), but the sirens didn't go off again. Nevertheless, at one point in the night (maybe at about 3:00?) my 11 year old was standing next to my bed, saying, "I think I hear sirens." But there weren't any.

I don't know where the tornado was, but it didn't come near the hotel where we were staying. We didn't even see much wind damage this morning, not like I was expecting.

So it was all much ado about nothing, so to speak.

And that's the first part of my race report! I'll get the report completed once I get/find my official results. I have ballpark figures for my times, but my family needed/wanted to get going before I could get my official run time.

I wasn't completely disappointed in my performance (you can see approximate times for the bike and run in my training log), but I wanted to be faster. Of course. The wind on the bike course was crazy. I went as fast as I dared on the way out, while I had the tail wind, and then just suffered through with the head wind on the way back.

So, Reece, I don't blame you guys for ditching the scheduled bike ride today. I had a couple moments in the race where I just wanted to stop pedaling.

Thanks for all the well wishes, especially for our safety. When we got home, we could tell that our house had been shaken up a little (plaster came down from one of the ceilings), and our recycling was blown all around our yard, but other than that, everything is just fine.

I posted a picture of one of the tornadoes that went through our county yesterday. The weather guy out of Wichita said there were almost 100 tornadoes yesterday. Wow. Not an everyday event, I assure you.

Oh! I just noticed that there's a little rope tornado swinging out of/into the funnel. I love rope tornadoes. They are so delicate. Funnels, I can live without, thank you.

Super scary!  Glad you are okay!  Stay safe, my friend.