Experior and Slornow's Spring/Summer Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 30)

Blanda -- great to hear about your swim 'comeback'.  I agree about flip turns.  It's a touchy subject for some reason, but I've never heard of anyone who regretted committing to learning them.

Butterfly, eh?  I'm impressed.  I tried it once.  Once.  I made it 25m and already had the lifeguard watching me very closely.  After about 15m more I cramped up badly, and thus ended my butterfly career!

Off to work, then pool, then we head for the mountains.  Have a great day everyone!

Jason-sounds like the lesson was well worth it.  Since I have been swimming a bit more this year and taken a couple of lessons I may be a bit faster but what I have noticed most recently is that I am a more "comfortable" swimmer.  Meaning, I don't feel that I am out of breath all the time and there are times when it is more muscle fatigue rather than aerobic fatigue/shortness of breath  that slows me down.  May just be that I am swimming more or a combination of those things.  I think you picked the right word in "efficient".  I did a mile at lunch in 28:32 (1:37-38 pace)  One lap to make sure goggles were sealed and then the mile.  Never really felt I was pushing hard until the last 250 when I picked it up a bit.  Arms/lats got a bit tired and I got bored but never felt that panting, out of breath feeling that I use to get. 

Well, its Friday....anybody racing this weekend??  Looks like I will be.  Just found out there is a duathlon over near Biloxi in the morning.  No pre-registration just $10 and sign up at the race. 2 mile run/11 mike bike/2 mile run.  Will have to get up early for the 1.25 hour drive but should be fun and a good measure of where I am headed into a sprint next weekend.

Randy 

Randy - no pre-reg and $10? Clearly I'm signing up for the wrong races!!! Have fun.

Thanks everyone for the running advice. I'm super excited to start running out at the beach this summer --- miles of dirt road and I'm finally in good enough shape to really appreciate it.  I'll up my running to 4x week and see how it goes. 

Rafting sounds awesome!

Jason:  Sounds like a very productive lesson.  I had a few coaching sessions this year and he told me that in order to make a change stick, it may take up to 4 weeks of consistent swimming implementing them.

Randy:  Good luck on your Du. 

I'm back at the hospital all weekend and through Weds.  Evenings free though so will be able to get out.  I wish everyone a good weekend!!!!    Jim

Had a great ride up on the Blue Ridge Parkway this morning.  30 miles and lots of climbing (3800 ft total ascent).  If I can do that on a semi-weekly basis, I'll be in great bike shape for upcoming Olympic length tris.  It is just a lovely place to ride.  Since we're now heading into the 90s part of the season, I'll be making more use of it too as it is 10 or so degrees cooler most days.

Anyway, thought I'd share a photo from last week's ride up there.  Blanda's been so good about sharing her local rides :-)

(brp1.jpg)

Flip turns (and starts) are the transitions of swimming.  Many a swimmer has gone into a turn in the lead only to find themselves trailing afterwards :-)  That being said, 35 years later, I am happy to say there is not a coach yelling at me to do a flip turn.  So I don't do them.  I think it is probably better to do them, though, so that the swim training is more continuous.  Maybe even equivalent to some core exercise.

Stu

Stu-great picture.  Beautiful area of the country.

Survived the duathlon. Ended up coming in 11th overall of 227 and 1st in grandmasters.  Fun race but I was struggling over the second run.  Bike was rolling hills but we had a 3-4 mile stretch with a long gradual uphill into the wind.  Definitely took something out of my legs while trying to keep pushing my pace.  

Approx. times/splits

2 mile run  13:06 min. (6:33 pace)

11.25 mile bike 28.16 min. (23.85mph)

2 mile run 13:38 min. (6:49 pace)

transitions total 1:30 min.

Total time 56:30

Pretty low-key event but very well done.  Great way to get a hard workout in.  Had a couple beers with lunch so I'm going to get a nap in now.  Will check in later.

Randy

That's some kick *ss pace for an old guy - great job, Randy! 

Thanks Stu-since us old guys have to stick together I'll give you my secret....Geritol in my water bottle!

Randy

Heard about it on Lawrence Welk I bet :-)  (anyone who gets this reference should consider putting Geritol in their water bottle!)  Hey, if it will get me anywhere near those times, I'll be buying a lifetime supply!

Stu-you don't hear much about Geritol anymore.  Years ago I think everyone over 50 was "required" to take it.  Wow, Lawrence Welk......remember that as being a staple on my grandmother's TV.

Sorry to all of you younger people for the detour down memory lane.

Michael-sounds like the BBQ should be first class.  Any other good German refreshments to be served?

Randy     

Great job, Randy!! That's no Geritol, that's just plain, hard work.

So excited! I finally found a partner to do a GEAR adventure race next Saturday, aaand I lined up a sitter (my parents) for a triathlon on the 17th. It's a dual distance thing so I'm thinking a super sprint, and a sprint. July 17th is the Olympic distance one. I should have a road bike by then.

Had a great soccer game last night playing in a master's league. I love playing with my age group. It's a nice change of pace. Chasing 16 year olds is hard on this old body lately. Tomorrow we'll be having a pool party with my soccer team and our families, which means a lot of food will be eaten, haha!

Have a great weekend!

Blanda-that's great news about the race.  Nothing like an upcoming race to get the juices flowing.  Enjoy your weekend.

Randy

That makes me feel so cozy. I could sit on the rock wall for a long time. Thank you for sharing!!

Randy, I'm stoked. I'm going to kick things up a notch in the training.

Randy -- congrats on the race!

We're in the mountains for the week, more or less at the southern end of the road where Stu took that great picture.  I'm sitting in the local coffee shop right now, taking advantage of the early morning quiet and their free internet...

The race on Saturday was fun, but it really alerted me to the difficulties (I had been warned by the latest gastroenterologist) I am going to face trying to go longer.  I puked after just 10K, and although the effort was hard, it wasn't the puking of 'I just went all out'.  Hmmm.  Nutrition has taken on a new dimension, I guess.  Just another challenge.

What's happening for Memorial Day?  It's my anniversary.  (And yesterday was my birthday, which makes remembering the anniversary easy!)  We're going to take the kids on a hike, then I'll cook an anniversary dinner, which should be a challenge in it's own right given the list of things I've been told not to eat (most of it only temporarily, thank goodness).

Have a great day everyone!

ETA:  I forgot two things.

1.  Race report here:  http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=442594

2.  Rene, I am a believer in heat acclimatization, and while anything is good, I think it is best done while engaged in an effort greater than walking.  Stair climbing would certainly qualify.  My own 'strategy' is to do my easy runs in the heat, but do my harder and longer runs in the cooler parts of the day (if possible).  The heat won't really do any harm to your easy runs the way it can do to your harder and longer runs, so there's no real 'training penalty' for doing easy runs in the heat, and it gets you used to running in the heat.  I can explain that more if you want, but it sounds like you've got the idea already anyway.