Gary's Mentor Group - Re-OPENED for Training (Page 29)

I agree.  Take the day two days before the race off.  The day before the race do a short workout in each sport unless your volume has been so low you think you would have soreness race day.  If that is the case, do a short easy ride 2 days before the race and take the day before off.  Both those options being said, do what makes sense for your body.

If it is a OWS, it's nice to get a feel for the water and course if possible so even if I don't plan a workout, I'll go out in the lake and float around, look for land marks, do a few strokes, etc just to help ease my OWS jitters.

Good luck!

Anxious is completely normal.  So is thinking of reasons to DNS.  For me it is mainly the swim that makes me nervous.  Once I'm out of the water, I'm all smiles.  My strategy for the swim is to swim for a minute or two then stop and tread water, look around, take in the sites and remind myself this is cool and will be an accomplishment when I finish.  Then I keep going and don't worry if I need to stop a couple more times because I get tired swimming to hard.

You'll do great! 

As Ransick said its perfectly normal.  On my first tri I remember the walk to the swim start with the group.  The entire time I felt like it was the walk of doom and was trying to figure out how to get out of it.  But I also remember the feeling when I got out of the water.  I was so proud of myself for sticking with it. 

You have done the training and you are ready.  Believe in yourself and have fun!  You will do this and the sense of accomplishment will be worth every minute of it.  Make us proud and plan on writing a long RR!

Dave, just this past weekend I'm standing in the pool, looking around at all of the people-athletes and my brain is saying to me,"what the hell are you doing here"?  And so for one split second, I second guessed myself and why I was there.  Then I think of all of the hours I've spent in the pool, on the bike, running, walking - SWEATING!! And the answer is because I've earned the right to be here, and I deserve to be here! 

And so the same is with you ... think of all the hours, the training, the pain and sweat and there is your reason for being there ... because you deserve to be there.  Once again, focus on having fun - just do your best and don't sweat the small stuff.

Does anyone here get leg cramps, like while asleep at night after a hard cycling workout?  I've had 3 killer cramps in the past couple of months and just wondered if you have - what to do to prevent them.  I posted a thread on this in the general section: 

Leg cramps ... after the workout

Dorm, I posted in your thread but wanted to repeat here.  Leg cramps are an issue that a lot of folks have encountered.  I don't believe there is sound science on why they happen and there are lots of home remedies that work for different folks.  For me it was banana's (potassium which interestingly enough orange juice has a lot of potassium also) and eventually a multivitamin with as high of a potassium count as I can get.  My leg cramp issues during the night have all but disappeared. 

My feeling is try the various recommendations because they definitely won't hurt more than the cramps.

Thanks to everyone who responded on my last post, words of encouragement are always welcomed.

On my long rides I've noticed that my hands get a "tingling" sensation as if they were falling asleep. I've read on here and other places on what to do, such as losen the grip (which is not that tight to begin with), shift the hand position, shake the hands, etc.

Is this sensation normal? If not, how long does it take for the body to accept bike riding and not feel funny (hands, feet, etc)?

I am assuming you are on a road bike and riding mainly on the hood.  This is causing the tingling.  I don't ride a roadie but according to someone on my other mentor group the solution is rotate your hands so that your thumbs are pointed up.  In this position the hands move without applying compression pressure to the carpel tunnel nerve bundle.  The most comfortable place to rest your hands is right along the life line on your palm, with the meaty part of the thumb doing all the work.  The better riding gloves will have a gap in the palm padding that makes a small shelf you can rest your thumbs on.  With good gloves, you will find it is much easier to hold onto the bars.

Hope this helps.

OK Gary ... thanks for the response and I'll definitely check out the multi vitamin recommendation.  I'm telling you this was as excruciating a pain as I've ever had ... and for it to happen 3 times is 3 times to many.  Someone posted to the thread and likened it to childbirth ... I hope I never get pregnant .

Dorm, LOL!  Although if you do I think you could make a lot of money off of it! 

Okay, hopefully everyone was unlike me and was out there riding today.  I, unfortunately, was not.  Took the family to Avery Island, home of the Tabasco company.  Fun day trip but hot!  Got back at 7pm, mowed for awhile and now enjoying a beer.  Planning on riding tomorrow morning before church.

Lets get those bike miles in!

I got mine in.  Do I need to do anything besides log them on map my ride?

I got mine in and they are listed on the site. Hope that's all I had to do. Let's go team!!! When it's all said and done, I'm going to buy Gary some beer. Anyone want to make a trip to Louisiana to share- ;-).

Shelly

Got mine in for today and plan on riding tomorrow also.  Weird as right after it posted it said I had no rides for that stage but went to another page and listed it.  I am assuming it takes a little while for it to register.  I do wonder if trainer rides show up but doubt it.

Shelly - awesome, beer drinking is the fourth leg of triathlons!  Everyone come on over for some beer!

Hey all!

Hope everyone has been out there riding and posting their miles.  Got two rides in so far and hope to continue tomorrow.  Tomorrows will be on the trainer so not sure if the contest will accept them as verified or not.  Hot and humid here and spent a good portion of the day outside.  Very tired of being hot and looking forward to being in a air conditioned office!

In case you have never heard of or seen Lake Michigan, this link is a webcam showing the beach where the swim portion of my TRI takes place this Sunday. I swam about 700 yards along here yesterday in 1-2 foot chop, much more challenging than in the pool. Found myself doing more breast stroke than crawl so that I could duck under the larger waves. I couldn't get my breathing to cooperate in the waves with the crawl. Water temp was 68.

http://www.surfgrandhaven.com/

David

Hope that everyone had a good Fourth of July.  I spent from last Wed until late last night with a stomach bug and am now finally feeling better.  So it was a complete waste of a 4 day weekend and was rough because the kids werent in daycare and wanted to play the whole time. 

My question is:  I have a tri this weekend, oly length.  I'm feeling mostly better but havent s/b/r in the last few days.  I went for a ride on Friday and thought I was going to die and then had to turn around .5 mile into my Saturday run.  Do I still try and pull offf the race this weekend?  I think that I feel good enough now.  And, if so, what should I do for the rest of my week?  I was thinking about trying to run today (4-5 miles), bike (25 mi) and OWS tomorrow, run (3-4 mi) and OWS on thursday, and then maybe go for a short swim on Friday?  Race is on saturday.

David -  I dont have any pointers for swimming in choppy water.  Around here the biggest waves are from the wake of ski boats.  And even that doesnt happen very often.  Good luck!!

mapmyride.com

Oh, and I'm always up for some beer drinking.  Too bad I'm in St. Louis.  Have one for me!

How does this compare to one of your typical workout weeks?  There is little to gain by pushing hard between now and this weekend.  If you look at this as an easy week (other then the OWS) then you are on track.  Workout or two everyday with lower intensity and distance/time versus a standard week.

David, I have done two OWS' with chop so not a ton of experience.  Are you going to use a wetsuit? Is the swim along the shore or out and back?  There can be a certain rhythm to swimming in chop and the key is to find it.   On swimming freestyle you may have to over exaggerate your turn to breath.  I think one of the swim coaches here basically said to "look to the sky" when going for a breath, at least at first until you get your rhythm.  Good luck!

My A-race for the year was Boise 70.3 which I had to pull out of because of injuries.  So I dont really have an A-race this year.  I'm doing this one and one in August and trying to focus on a marathon in October.  I think that I'm going to do it because I've been training and training and training hard since January for the 70.3 that I didnt do and I just need to have a reason for all of this training.   I ran today at lunch and it wasnt pretty but I got in 4 miles and didnt die.  AND I think that I can place in my AG - its a pretty small race and I think there will only be 6 or so women in my age group.  AND they just shortened the run to 5 miles because of road construction so that will help. Yes, I just convinced myself to do it.

Thanks for your help. 

No wet suit, supposed to be upper 80's all week, so the lake temp should stay close to 70 which I can handle alright. Thanks for sharing the "look to the sky" tip, I actually found myself doing that to keep water from filling my mouth, also had to breath a little quicker in rather than a slower breath. The swim is along the shore, if you look at the webcam you are facing North the swim starts toward the bottom (south) and you swim almost to the pier just outside the buoys.