Rich Miller's Group - FULL (Page 31)

Great job ANDI!  You did fantastic!

You will kick that Oly's butt!  ;-)

I am ROLLING after reading your cycling lingo!  I have to pass that on to my boss who is a big-time cyclist and a huge part of why I started cycling last year.  (He convinced me that I could do all kinds of crazy things!)

Again, good job!  You should be very proud of your accomplishment.  You will be on the podium in no time! 

YIPPEE, Andi!  I just saw the posted times and you did awesome!  I'm so proud of you.  I love it when women/moms/aunts set examples like this for our kids.  It's so important for them to see us shine and GIRL, YOU ARE SPARKLING!  Oh, loved the cyclist funny.  That is so my husband...he wants me to ride with him, but he literally rides circles around me!   

Christine, I've enjoyed being a part of the group with you.  Drop in and let us know how you're doing.  You've had a great season too!  You will be missed...sigh...

Kat, how's everyone in your house doing?  Have things calmed down for you?  Life can be so hectic some times!  Just thinking about you...

I hope everyone has a lovely day!  Oh, Rich and Felipe, thanks for the marathon advice.  I'm going with the only run to 20/22 miles plan.  Since this is my first marathon and I just want to complete it, I think this is a good strategy/plan for me to use.   

Angela

Hey everyone!  Thanks for the advice on short/long term goal planning, Rich.  I'm definitely going to do some goal planning once I get past this insane season.  Right now my short term goal is "get through today" and my long term goal is "get through tomorrow!"

Quick update on the craziness here:  My dh had his ACL reconstruction surgery on Monday.  Everything went smoothly and he's resting comfortably here at home for two weeks.  My daughter's pneumonia is improving, though not completely clear.  She's good to go for school and all activities though, so other than finishing up the antibiotics, we're fine there.  My babies are in school as of Monday, with my youngest baby starting kindergarten this year (sniff...sniff) and I'm surviving that just fine. I'm still behind on my client work so I'm chaining myself to the computer for the next three days. And, oh yes, I have an oly to race in on Monday.  Fortunately for me, my friends from church are providing meals and yard work help for us right now - that takes a HUGE load off of me!!!

Training has been a bit ad hoc, but I'm plugging through and feeling pretty good about the race (when I've had time to think about it).  The only bummer is that this might be the first race that my dh has to miss.  We're going to see how he's feeling over the weekend and then maybe recruit some friends to help him out through the morning.  We'll see.  I have two goals for this race: 1) Finish in less than 3:24 (my first oly time) and 2) average faster than a 10/min mile on the run.  That might be tricky depending on the weather.  It has been HOT lately, but they're predicting slightly cooler weather for Monday, and maybe some overcast skies.  One can hope!

So glad to hear that everyone's season is still going well.  Who's still got races on the calendar?  I've totally lost track.....

Love y'all!

OUCH!  That's terrible Rich!  I hope you get better soon.  Keep us posted on your progress.  Well, our group will have to train smart to make you proud as we finish up the tri season and begin 1/2 and full marathon training!  We still need you, mentor!

Angela 

Hey folks!  I raced in my second oly ever this morning, and I had a GREAT RACE!!  I took more than 22 minutes off of my last oly time - I'm so happy! Final time was 3:01:38.  I met both of my goals for the race - finished well below my last time, and I ran a 9:31/mile through the 10K.  I wasn't sure I could maintain that pace for the distance, so I really surprised myself.  It helps that it was overcast and unseasonably cool today for September - but I'll take all the help I can get!  My race report is up, in case you want more details.

So for the first time ever, my run rank was better than my bike rank.  Guess it's time to switch focus and really get my butt in gear on the bike.  My next race is a sprint, but the bike course is hilly, and the run course is cross-country with hills.   Since the distance isn't an issue for me, I need help working on the hills. 

Rich, this is where I could use your help.  Are there things I should be doing other than hill repeats (exercises, other drills) on the bike or run that I can work on for the next month?  I want to finish my season strong!!

PS - How's the shoulder feeling? I hope you're icing it down a lot and taking it easy.  I know it's hard.  I've been watching my hubby struggle with the antsies while he's down after his surgery.  Not a whole lot of fun....

Yes, it's true.  We lost.  New avatars abound.  Oh, I am so embarrassed -- so I went with humor -- wearing my husbands Speedo!  (His idea.)

Good luck with your Oly race, Felipe!  Endurance is the key -- and that is a lot in your head.  You have what it takes to get past pain -- so I suspect you will do great.  I haven't done that distance yet, but have done 160 miles over 2 days on the bike.  You must be determined to finish...because you will suffer...what you do about it is the key.  :-)

P.S.  Now the challenge is finished; focus is on finishing our renovations. Hope to be done by Oct 1, then set a schedule for fall/winter training.

Felipe - the big difference that I have noticed between my sprints and my two olys are that in a sprint, I feel like it's kinda blow-and-go as fast as I can.  In my olys, I've used a bit more strategy - gauging my energy expenditure so I know I have enough in the tank for the next segment.  For example, in my last sprint, when I got to the run, I was pretty willing to crank up the speed as soon as I got my legs comfortable underneath me.  I figured that even if I was running hard enough to hurt, I wouldn't be running for very long.  In my oly, I got my legs under me and then found a pace that was at the high end of my aerobic zone so I could maintain it for a longer period of time. That actually gave me a bit more comfort to have a little more fun and enjoy the scenery in the oly. Make sense?

I didn't change anything about my transitions - just continued to make them as smooth and quick as possible. Oh, and the nutrition planning for the two distances was pretty different for me.  In the oly, I used more Gu, and used gatorade instead of water on the bike.

Rich...what do you think?