Todd's Tri Turtles 4 (Beginner, Sprint, 5K, 10K) CLOSED (Page 32)

Bill, RW has this posted on their page, thought it might help!
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-apparel/how-to-dress-for-rainy-...

I am training for my first half marathon, and our group was caught last night in heavier than expected rain as temperatures dropped. What gear do you recommend for running in the rain in both cooler and warmer temperatures? —Andrea

This is an especially topical question considering the cold and wet conditions Boston Marathon runners faced on Monday. Dressing for the rain can be tricky, but a developing a flexible running wardrobe will cover you during all kinds of wet runs and races. Here are some suggestions on what to wear:

Hat or Visor: Wearing a hat or visor with a brim will keep the rain out of your eyes. For cold, rainy runs in the 30s or 40s, consider adding a light beanie or headband for warmth. A waterproof cap will help keep your head warm and dry(er). Or, if you don’t mind a MacGyver look, wear a shower cap over your hat or visor (funny-looking, but effective). When it’s above 55 degrees, visors are best—they allow heat to escape more efficiently.

Eyewear: In a driving rain, wearing a pair of light-tinted or clear glasses can help protect your eyes from getting pelted. A good anti-fog lens cleaner will keep your vision clear in the moisture and humidity.

Jacket, Vest, or Trash Bag: Invest in a lightweight, waterproof shell jacket—not necessarily one that’s marketed to runners—to stay dry on cold, rainy runs and during other rainy day activities. These jackets may not breathe as well as running-specific ones, but they are best at keeping rain out. For warmer rainy runs, try an ultra lightweight rain-resistant running jacket or vest. Before a race, use a large garbage bag with a hole poked in the bottom for your head. Fashionistas can use a smaller cinch bag for a better look—I once ran half a marathon in a white bag to stay dry, and my race photos were fabulous.

Lightweight Wicking Apparel in Dark Colors: Wicking apparel is key—it pulls moisture away from your skin, which helps prevent chafing and blisters. Tighter tops and bottoms are less likely to chafe. Light-colored bras, tops, and bottoms become see-through when wet, so stick to darker colors in the rain.

Wicking Socks: Wearing a pair of wicking socks can make all the difference in preventing blisters from developing. My favorites are Drymax (no affiliation). I’ve worn them in races in the jungles of Fiji and Borneo and they dry very quickly.

Lube: Use an anti-chafe balm or petroleum jelly on your feet to help prevent blisters and on any other body part that may chafe (arms, nipples, legs, sports bra seam lines, etc.). In really wet conditions, consider using Bag Balm on your feet.

When you finish your run, get out of your wet clothes and into dry ones (or a warm shower) immediately. To help your shoes dry, remove the insoles and stuff the shoes with newspaper or paper towels.

Another idea for transition is to have your stuff in a rubber maid container (or something like it ) with a lid. will slow your T1 and T2 times a bit but will keep your stuff a little drier.

Fortunately I have never raced a tri in the rain. Overcast yes, wind yes but never raining right before or during the event.
For temps in the 40's/50's I have put on a long sleeve "tech" shirt that was 2 sizes small(bought medium C9 when I normally wear XL) so it doesn't flap so much. Also had my cold weather "lobster claw " gloves. Adding a rain jacket might make it more comfortable.

And as said above remember to Body Glide/ band aid key areas Although it may not be as bad if you are walking the run.

Colleen....many thanks for the info!! Although I still subscribe to "Runner's World".....(I guess once a runner always a runner.... ) I'd missed this info. It makes sense.

The knees are doing just fine; no problems since that flair up a few weeks ago. It was the extra reps on the weight machine with my left leg that caused the problem. I stopped doing those!!!!

They are predicting an 80% chance of rain showers Saturday, 54 degree high, with 5-10 mph winds....all that's gonna make it interesting to say the least!

The container idea is an excellent thought! Just not sure how much room is available around the bike in the transition area. I have the cold gear type tech tops that I'll take and a very good rain resistant jacket that has a back vent and I can zip open the armpit areas; still that one does hold in the heat. As I mentioned to Colleen in my post above, 80% chance of rain; 54 degrees high; winds 5-10 mph.....

Thank you for the info!!

Hello. Sorry for being MIA for a while. Life and work have been overwhelming. Trying to get training in as well is tough.
I had injured my shoulder and wrist and had to stop swimming. I have been doing lots of walking and slow runs.

I did a half marathon this past Sunday. It was absolutely a gorgeous view but I had an absolutely HORRIFIC run.
It was in NYC. I walked a lot on Saturday to and from my friend's apt to get to packet pickup, race course, dinner, etc. I did 20,057 steps which is about 8-9 miles for me. On Sunday was my race. My left foot (shattered ankle 3 yrs ago) gave out at mile 8. Walking hurt so much but running hurt slightly less. I jogged slowly in pain for the last 5 miles. It was horrible. After the finish line, I went to the medic to get my foot wrapped in ice. After waiting for the ice to numb my foot, I walked 1.5 miles back to my friend's place.

4 days later, my ankle is still swollen. Waiting to get an MRI and CT of my ankle to see if the hardware (8 screws/1 plate) are causing any tissue inflammation.

Wow - what perserverance to get to the end. Hopefully they get it figured out for you

My, so very challenging!! Keep up the icing and elevating (something I'm sure you are well aware of). Best to you as you seek the medical treatment!!

Watching weather forecast for tomorrow; looks to be rainy with winds getting stronger that previously indicated; message from race organizers yesterday set out the details if thunderstorms set in; anywhere from delaying the start to cancelling the event and helping get the bikers and runners off the course.

Going to get race packet this afternoon even though it's about an hour south of here; decided to do that to avoid any additional distractions tomorrow; sprung for a race number belt yesterday (I usually just pin them on my shorts or shirt - but with the rain, wind, and temps decided it'd be much easier to use the belt); Resting today. 9 year old Granddaughter with us today!!

I love the race belt !!! hate pinning things through my shirts for some reason. Hopefully the weather holds out and it is a great day for you.

Check this out - National Bike challenge - by "People for Bikes" - sounds fun - I am one of 55,000 or so right now
https://nationalbikechallenge.org/

ABOUT

The National Bike Challenge is a nationwide event uniting thousands of current bicyclists—and encouraging countless new riders. In its simplest form it is a logging center for users to record miles ridden and be part of the national community of bicyclists. It is a free and easy way to challenge yourself, colleagues and the greater community to ride more. Users compete on a local, state and national level. The Challenge aims to unite 75,000 riders to pedal 35 million miles from May 1, 2015 until September 30, 2015. The Challenge is a successful partnership between PeopleForBikes and Kimberly-Clark’s Scott Natural Brand.

So if they get 75,000 folks that is only 466 miles per person or 93/94 miles per month -- Who here can "be above average" !!!!

Edited by peto_primo 2015-04-24 10:02 AM

Bill, you have been given great advice, the only other things I can think off are these and the last is a huge one. Water proof jacket if it's really cold (if your chest and core are warm and dry the rest of your body can tolerate the cold and wet), make sure to drink (when it is cool and raining people don't think they need to hydrate but they do) and lost slow a little extra when approaching a turn or curve on the bike (wet road and slick tires can quickly have you on the group and out of the race with a broke collar bone or worse.). I almost went off a bridge because I didn't slow enough once. You will do great regardless of the weather!!!!

Good idea on the early pickup and race belt! You are going to do great and don't forget to smile and enjoy the day regardless of the conditions.

Tracy congrats on finishing and doing so through the pain. I hope it turns out alright on the Ct and Mri

Oh no lovely! That sounds awful! Best of luck with your mri! Take good care of yourself

Great advice on the slowing down on the bike, hydration, and core temp! I have the rainproof jacket(s) laid out ready to go; temps will dictate which one; One is an Army PT jacket with vents; it's the warmest.

Packet pickup was only so, so. Nothing other than the t-shirt for the race; no bibs or numbers; folks explained there was a mix up. Regardless, still have to have body marking and timing chips taken care of in the morning. So, no big deal. Ended up having a "romantic" burger at 5 Guys with my wife! She's so patient with me.....

THINKING OF YOU, BILL! i can't wait to hear all about it! Good luck!

Oh No Tracy, this sounds awful! Please take good care of yourself! And please let us know the MRI results! Thinking of you! ~C

So Suzy and Nicole, what's next for you? How are you guys doing? How's the recovery going? Are you done? Are you hooked? I'm interestered

Well while we wait for Bill's results and report I figured I'd post how my weekend went.

Saturday I got in a hot and humid 4.25 mile jog / walk.

Today I went out and did a Steady Zone 2 ride of 36 miles with an average speed of 19.03. I have to be honest I was shocked because prior to doing my Half Ironman this time last year I was at 20.2 average for the same ride in Z2. Still a MPH off but I'll take it because I did not think I'd stay in Z2 and if I did I thought it would be at an average of 16-17, so good day and smiles for me. I'm also finding out again how to deal with crap by working out to relieve stress which is another plus for this past week.

Hope everyone else had a productive and happy weekend.

Whoa! That's some serious cycling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To say the least yesterday was an interesting day and a huge learning experience!! The weather conditions were a huge challenge. Heavy rains right up until the start of the event; 15-20 mph winds out of the east with gusts greater than 25 mph. Naturally the out and back ride had us returning directly into the wind!! Much hillier course than what I trained on....but more of that later.....

As a side note, the Illinois Marathon/Half Marathon in Champaign Il had to be stopped at the 3.5 to 4 hour mark due to the severe weather conditions that morning. That was about 100 miles east of my event; I ran the 1/2 there in 2011 and 2012

The Positives.......

*My swim went pretty much as expected although I was anxious to get into the water after waiting so long to start (I purposely held to the back of the group of a half dozen swimmers or so) I didn't get into my breathing rhythm as I should have and swam almost 3/4 of the first lap without breathing....duh. But I settled down and finished the in pool time pretty much as I expected.

*Finished the 5K portion (walking for me) in a bit faster time than I'd done during training; so I felt pretty good about that.

*I had set a 2hr time limit to finish and not be last- I managed to come in under that@ 1:55 - the official time was just a bit more than what uploaded from my Garmin; I didn't finish last but was darn close to it (there were a few pieces of pizza left when I got into the celebration)

*I did it .....and I finished 3rd in my age division (full disclosure here......there were only 3 of us ;O)!!

*Very friendly group of athletes

The Negatives.......

*My first transition time sucked (pardon the language)...way too long; worried about getting sufficient clothing on due the conditions, although I wasn't the last out of transition

*My bike segment sucked (pardon the language x's2 )-good timing going out but coming back I got gassed; legs gave out; can't use clips due to the reduced range of motion in my left knee; so I taxed my quads to the max....plus the hybrid bike probably is not the best design for this type competition; the last folks out of the pool passed me and I was the last one off the bike course

The Learnings....

*More challenging than I had thought it'd be....
*Get a Tri suit with a top....easier to get jacket on quicker and save time; bungee cord shoe laces for my shoes...to save time in transition; practice transitions more
*Don't worry about putting the Garmin 910 on the bike from my wrist...duh (my wife said she knew I was taking too long in transition...told her she should have yelled at me...(lol)
*Train harder on the hills
*A different bike????? - not sure what my wife thinks of that.....

Take Aways....

I feel a bit conflicted at this point about my next event that's on 5/9......I may have to look into doing only the Aqua/Bike portion; that coming in at the end is not something I've been used to in my running (never at the front but never at the end either). Will do some soul searching over the next couple of days in that regard.

I'm glad I did it. I did meet some of my goals; my wife was so very supportive; she made some photos; I'll try to down load one later on.

I know this post is long; if anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them. I do appreciate the tremendous support all here have given.

Congrats on a great race and learning experience. Don't let where you finish or in what time in relation to others dictate whether or not you continue. 1st your comparing times with men and women in most cases half your age. 2nd you have had both knees replaced I bet everyone else there had both of their knees. Hell most wouldn't even be doing what you are doing, so you should feel even more proud not down. If you just don't like it or it causes too much pain that's different, but let me tell you that your incredible regardless of when you finish!

Hey Y'all...Congratulations (Bill, Suzie, Nicole). You three are both inspirational and motivational. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I'm sorry I haven't been around to offer support but seriously...you are all amazing. I'll be reading and re-reading these stories over the next 7 weeks.

Can I just say this training plan is just about killing me? About all I can handle is work and training. And I'm doing neither of those fully. I'm missing at least two workouts a week and am generally late for work on the daily by a half hour +. I had a breakdown on Friday with a coworker (full blown tears) about how hard it is to explain to a 4 year old why "we" can go for a bike ride because "I" need to go for a BIKE RIDE. He talked me down off the ledge but rarely a day goes by where I'm not putting her off to take care of parts of the training plan. Some days (like yesterday) I just couldn't. We went to the movies and hung out all day. It was lovely...but not without a heaping serving of guilt. It feels like both the most selfish thing I've ever done and the least. I wish I could explain that I'm doing it FOR HER. Her grandmother died of complications of diabetes before she was born...I think she deserves better than that. And, actually, so do I.

So my 5K was today and it was lovely and I got to share it with my work crew (it was a university event). It made me feel a little better about how things are going. Last year I didn't even register for the race and the year before I registered and no-showed. I can see my own improvement and it's encouraging...but it always feels like "not enough". I needed to go out for a bike ride at some point today and instead I took my daughter to the park because I was gone all of the morning.

I'm failing at work/life/training balance hard and I need some advice. How do you all get it in? Is the training plan a goal or a real plan for you? How are 2-a-days even possible with a family and a job? (And how do you have the steam/stamina to do 4-5 2-a-days? Is this a really dumb training plan I've adopted or is this how y'all roll too?)

That sounds like a "typical" plan. When I was building, my plans generally had 9 or 10 workouts a week with one rest day. Sometimes I think I only hit about 70% of what was on the plan.

I was in a job where I had a little flexibility at lunch time so I was able to do 2 or 3 runs a week during lunch (capping out about 45 minutes). Swims could be tough although I did get a "Monday routine" where I would be with the kids after dinner and about the time they were getting ready to go to bed, I would go to the pool. (I had/have a very supportive spouse) Rides were my best time (for me) but also generally the longest away. I never pushed myself so hard on the bike in training (except maybe mileage) but once the foundation was there I could on occasion explain that I needed a "Daddy" ride and then when I get home "we" can go out for a ride.
Another option (but it only works while they are little and somewhat slow) that I did was I would pick a closed loop for a run - we have a small lake that is about 1.4 miles around - and I would run and my daughter would ride her bike - at least until she got too fast for me. But it might work for your 4 yr old.

Now all this was back when there were only 3 kids 6 and under. I am struggling now to find the routine now that they are older, there are more of them, and the lunchtime is quite as available/flexible.

Good luck. You can do this. As you develop, your recovery is less and you can accomplish more.

Wow, thanks for the speedy response! I think I am at 70-80% of the plan...but the part that always seems to take the hit is the bike rides. Of course that's my weakest link as well. I get to the pool nearly always (favorite part of the plan...fits perfectly in my lunch hour) and the runs are kinda' easy to squeeze in before the family wakes up for the most part. But I can't bike commute to work because of daycare drop off, etc. I'm not a huge fan of the bike paths near work (so.many.stoplights) nor am I confident enough to ride most Chicago streets so I don't cart my bike to work. I end up in a spin class once a week (for the weekly brick) and saving the longer rides for the weekend...when they rarely if ever happen. My husband is hugely supportive and so is my boss (we may be doing another tri in August together depending on how I feel after the June one) but I can't help but feel I'm letting a lot of people down including myself because nothing in my life is getting my 100%. Is there simply a week 5 training freakout?

Also, "3 under 6" and "more of them"??? I really ought to stop complaining right now. I have 1... and she's just learning to ride a bike (with training wheels) so we don't both ride, I make sure she can get the bike off her body when she falls off because steering and body weight distribution are not coming naturally to her. I do end up running beside her but it's not what I have in mind when I think "go for a run." Anyhow...thanks again for the "normalization" of this...pressure, and for helping me gain some perspective.