Matt Gilmartin's Group- CLOSED~ we're swimming! (Page 33)

Thanks! It was my first tri, and a great one to start with. The prize was a nice bonus, even if I had to ask what it was Made up for the five in one lane. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, probably because I was the slowest. I'm proud of the 14 laps, it was just hard being so close to the wall at the whistle.

It amazes me how fast and how much energy these kids have. They are fun to watch though. They gave me some extra motivation. I can't wait until my son is older and we can do events together. I love hearing all the stories you guys post about sharing events with your kids. Thanks for the kind words!

It was so early that it was still dark outside, pretty crazy for me LOL You have definitely given me motivation by assuring me it will be worth it - and it was I felt really prepared thanks to your advice and the groups' advice too.

My son is 4, and a lot of races will let kids do fun runs and 1-mile runs at 5 so I'm hoping he will be up for it. He really wants to wear the race bib Lol That's awesome that your kids started so young!

How old is your son? My son started doing 5k races when he was 3 years old; my daughter was 4. We have a kids tri here that lets the kids start at 5 years old, so something like that might be fun for you to look into.

mcgilmartin - 2012-03-11 9:44 PM When are you moving to Germany?  Did you clear this move with the rest of the group yet? We need you here

We are moving in June. I believe our household goods will be packed up in May. We will have 3 pack dates - the stuff that gets put on a slow boat that we won't have access to for a few months (the majority of our stuff); the stuff we can't bring with us that will go in storage; and the stuff that we will bring with us that we need right away - pots, pans, sheets, towels, and clothes. Needless to say, our bikes will have to go over on the slow boat and most likely will not arrive until after the season is over. 

Fortunately, we all have trainers and will be able to train in the extra bedroom/office our new house will have. We have already decided to make it our workout room and my son has already asked if we can purchase a new treadmill (we killed the last one and haven't bought a new one yet). 

I also hear that there are lots of pools in Germany, so we will have access to keeping swim-fit as well! We'll be there for 4 years and then move back CONUS (continental United States). It will be good for the kids as we will be able to expose them to things they would otherwise not get to experience!

That's a great idea, making a race for him and giving him a bib! I think I might do that soon when it gets warmer. He will love it. I can probably make a race bib for him, shouldn't be too hard. On March 24 one of my good friends and I are doing the Spartan adventure race in Charlotte and her son is going to do the kids race since he's 5, but her daughter and Brendan won't be able to. You gave me a great idea to bring a couple things and make them their own race, or have a race for them the day before. Neat idea.

We just found races that were stroller friendly and that way if they got tired they could always ride in the stroller, even though that never happened! We always registered them so they got the bib and shirt. My son has TONS of shirts that I have cut the front off of and am working on making him a race-shirt quilt. 

If nothing else, I could send you a couple of race bibs for your son and you could make your own race for him to participate in! Let me know!

Awesome for you, Jen!  To post a photo~ get a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford, proceed to re-write the entire assembly language, achieve world peace, and then stand on your head while drinking an entire gallon of milk.  LOL- 

It's a pain in the neck.  Short answer- in the editor, click the "tree" icon and link to the image.  1/2 the time it doesn't work- my single biggest complaint about BT

Too funny! I couldn't get it to work. Oh well.

I'm not good at figuring stuff like that out either!

Congratulations on your new bike! Looks like we will be joining the Felt Mafia together! And YEAH -bonus shoes! Maybe send Matt a picture and he can post it?

Wow, so much has been going on here lately I feel like I've missed a month of convo!

Part 2 of 2 of beating up my IT band is completed!  Now it's time to stop running, focus completely on PT and get myself healed up.  I've been doing exercises and stretching 2x a day, plus PT 2x a week; however, running a half marathon and 15K within 7 days doesn't do the best for recovery.

The 15K was the shorter, but harder of the two races.  The HM was basically a long, flat, straight out and back.  The 15K, however, had lots of turns to start and the Hart Bridge at the end...not to mention 25-30 mph wind gusts.

The first 5K went over the Main Street Bridge, which wasn't bad, but winding through the Riverside and San Marco areas took a toll on my IT Band.  The pain around one turn was so bad I thought I was going to have to drop out of the race.  I realized it was the turns irritating my IT bands, so I dug deep into my running past and used an old cross country trick.   When taking tight turns, cut the turn as sharp as possible, and walk through it.  You can keep the same pace taking a smaller turn at a slower pace as running full speed around the outside of everyone.  

Walking in the turns really helped, and after the first 5K the course had a lot more straights, which was a real blessing.  I really don't remember the second 5K, just me counting down the miles and people flying by.  

Then I saw a spectators sign that read "The HARDT PART is Coming Up!".  That was at the base of the Hart Bridge, which is a steady 1 mile hill climb...with 30 mph wind gusts.  I just ducked my head and kept running, looking up only to pass people walking up it.

The results: 15K (9.33 miles) in 1:18:17, 229 of 1057...in my AGE GROUP; 1,582 of 16,344 overall.  Again, I negative split the race, with my last 5K being my fastest.

Congrats on the Bike - I love my Felt! Good luck getting pictures up. I don't have the ability to figure it out either.

Congrats on the first indoor.  15 minutes is a mighty long time to swim especially sharing a lane with that many people. 

Enjoy the new bike, you'll love it.  Soon you'll be clipping in and out like a pro. 

So I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for what training plan I should follow to ensure that I look like this before our family beach trip this summer? 

A 15K and a half in seven days, wow! I'm impressed. And the cross country trick is pretty interesting. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! I gave up on the photo thing

That's a great idea too. I'm planning to do a small local 5K on March 31 at a middle school and I will see if I can get a few extra bibs.

Thanks! I'm working on the clips, got 'em on the shoes last night anyway

You can send me pics and I'll post them.  Looks like Robin and Mariah have it figured out, too. 

Robin, do you know that woman in the pic?  If you do, tell her there's a really tall swimmer in Chicago that would like to meet her LOL

On another note, I had a RETUL bike fit today. One bit of advice - if you have access to a fitter (and can afford it) do it! It was amazing to be fitted with a method that does not allow any human error! You are hooked up at 8 different points and an image tracks your knee movement, your shoulder position, your feet/ankle, etc. After that, you are given a whole host of numbers that show how open your pelvis is, where your knee is in relation to your foot...all sorts osf things. The fitter then takes the numbers and makes adjustments accordingly. We changed the saddle to an Adamo in order to open up my pelvis, and get me more in aero and less upright. The saddle is a totally different feel, but I'm not against giving it a try to see if it will work out.

My fitter was amazed at my flexibility which allowed him greater lattitude in adjustment - which made me feel good! He is keeping it a day or two in order to cut the extensions and re-route the cables. I also had the option of changing the color of the cable housing and bar tape to give it a different look, but in the end I decided to leave it white since it looks so sharp (even though it will get dirtier faster)! I can't wait to get her home and start working on feeling comfortable in aero.

I also brought my daughter's bike in to have her new pedals put on. I picked some pedals similar to the types of pedals used on spin bikes - platform on one side and clipless on the other. I picked this style so that she could learn how to clip in and use them while on the trainer, but still use her running shoes during tri's until she feels totally comfortable while clipped in. She is VERY excited to get back from spring break vacation and clip in like the rest of us!

ETA - writing this on my NOOK since I'm being lazy and don't feel like going downstairs, so please excuse any/all spelling errors since this is less than friendly to type on.