Jeff Y's Group - CLOSED (Page 34)

Sounds like last year they had a Bear near by. There's nothing like a little fear for motivation.

Just remember, you don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the guy behind you.

Another piece of advice came to mind.  If you don't regularly ride the course that the race takes place on, you need to do so if you want to do your best in the triathlon.  Since you mtn bike, you may already know this, but pre-riding a course is critical to success. 

After 1 ride on a new course you will be 5 minutes faster per hour raced.  That's just from 1 ride.  Gains slow down after that, but a 2nd ride should get you another couple minutes.  It's only about knowing the course...what comes up after a bend, where the hills are and how long are they and tactical stuff like that.

For instance, for athletes around here that plan to participate in the regional championship race near Birmingham (3 or 4 hour drive?) they will typically make a trip down the month before the race and ride the course.  If they don't stay overnight to make it a 2 day experience, they drive down, ride, and drive back.  That's how important a pre-ride is.

And if you haven't ridden a course in recent months, it's almost like riding it new again.  Not just because your memory may have faded, but because courses change a lot over time due to weather, erosion, and trail maintenance.

The only bummer about this is that its on a private course. It's only open the day before the rasce so I'm sure my wife and I will do some recon. Good advice all around.

At least that puts all the riders in the same boat.  Definitely ride the course the day before.  In fact, ride it twice the day before because whatever that 2nd lap takes out of your legs for the next day is more than made up for.

Another piece of advice would be related to bike setup.  I don't know how experienced you are at mtn biking.  What type of bike do you have?  What tires?  What is the terrain and soil like at the race site?

Private courses that open up only for an event are notorious for having trails that are not quite 'set'.  So there may be sections of loose soil and especially prone to being very muddy if it rains.

Regarding course and bike info, I'm concerned primarily with the best tire pressure to use.  Suspension setup tends to be a set it and forget about it deal with each rider finding their preferred settings.  it doesn't usually pay to try to adjust suspension settings for particular courses.

Ah!  Hydration.  I've just reached the point in my mtn biking where I can ride twisty single track at race speed while drinking from my water bottle.  If you aren't yet good at this, consider a camelbak.

I'm giving some thought to going the poor man's disc wheel route and buying some disc covers.  Here is an example of what I'm considering.  http://www.wheelbuilder.com/store/aero-disc-covers.html

Doany of you have any experience using disc covers instead of a disc wheel?

Hydration, definately taking my camel back. I can toss tools, tubes, and anything else I might need in case of emergency. I hate having a water bottle on my frame so much. As far as my tires go, I'm running an XC racing model from WTB with plenty of grip and size. Surprisingly they're 2.3 so I can run a lower pressure in the back (35-40) without pinch flats and my front is usually up around 45. I've ridden my share through the slop and hard stuff and they feel great on it all. I have a pretty huge mountain bike, custom built Marin chromoly frame with Marzocchi Bomber XC shocks. It's great at the flats and climbing but it has trouble decending since my hands are so far forward. Last year's Moab bike-cation really helped me gett the feel down.

I'm pretty sure the course is going to have some nice tight turns, not too much downhil and a lot of balance. I've ridden local trails that I'm expecting to be the similar landscape, soil, foliage. This may come as a suprise to many of you. The Seattle area doesn't get too much rain in the summer. It dries up a bit and is wonderful. I wouldn't mind the rain either. I might get an advantage if its rainy. 

I'm planning on putting on my gore-tex running shoes for the bike (I've fallen too many times to count climbing with my clip-ins up steep lose hills and don't feel comfortable in them yet, but I might decide use them after I ride the course if there aren't any elevated features) and having a spare set of running shoes at transition if they are soggy. Several stream crossings on this course. They're an old pair of shoes and sometimes I get blisters but I could tough it out for a quick run if it saves me time in transition.

Now I've come up with another question. I've never passed anybody on single track before. It is a 2 loop course and I know the second loop I will be passing people. Any tips, I'm pretty vocal so I bet that should help on the course, whats the trail etiquette for this?

I saw somebody do this last year for a race with huge hills. Not the smartest thing but it looked cool. I didn't get a close look to give you any good review. Only tip would be to make sure you're racing flat courses with little wind or this is a waste.

I am back from a week long hiatus for work.  We had a strong storm go through the southwest Michigan area on Monday morning and I was needed to go help with the storm restoration.  We had several poles that were broken due to wind shear and trees dragged many of our lines down with them.  My workday from Tuesday to Friday was a brief 16-17 hours each day.....money's nice but it hurts the training schedule pretty badly.

I rode 40 miles this morning and I am planning a 7 mile run this afternoon to try to get a little bit of quality back into the week but my monthly running goal is blown up.  I was really looking to hit 40 mpw for the entire month of July, bringing my total mileage to about 184 miles if the beginning and end days (weekends) are included in the total.   Oh well, I'll try to hit it next month.

I use one.  Yes, it's bit heavier...but honestly, I am a bit heavier than most of the guys out there anyway.  I works well, is very aero and is definitely the cheapest speed you can buy for a rear wheel.

Welcome back dude!  Hope all went well with the repairs and all that.  Must have been a long week of work.

Jonathon,  It was definitely a long week at work.  I turned 77 hours in 5 days and Monday was only 10.5 hours, which happens to be a normal day for me.

I completed all my normal weekend workouts and added a 7 mile run on Saturday.  Since I missed my long run on Friday I figured it couldn't hurt and it helped with burning some of the extra calories I consumed while working.  My long ride was shorter than I would but I also knew I was going to run later in the day so it was probably best.  I went longer for my ride today but it was blistering while I rode.  It probably was a bad idea to go out and try to maintain a similar effort as a normal ride but my wife was grocery shopping and I wanted to ride while she was gone.

Overall it was a good weekend of workouts but my whole month of running plans has been dramatically changed.  I can maintain my overall running plan and still be fine for the Oct. marathon but I hate the change the extra work has caused.

BTW, I am going to race a sprint in Lima Oh on July 31.  Matt is competing in that one too.  It will be nice to meet another BT'er at the race.

GOT IT! Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it. I am stylin now! woot!

Swam with the local tri club today in the river where the race will be next week. Had a bit of the panic I hear others talk about, well not really panic just intimidating as all get out. I did the distance but was humbled by it. Going back out tomorrow evening to do it again so good to get this out of the way before next Sunday.

I did the bike and run yesterday in 1:28 minutes with an extra half mile thrown in to the run, so long as I hold my swim time down I should meet my target of 1:45 for the race.

My goals are:

1) don't die

2) finish

3)don't DFL

4) finish in 1:45 or less

Finished another 5K over the weekend.  I'm really starting to like this length of race, gives a good competition and fits nicely into the work out schedule.  The only bad part is the fact I cannot seem to finish strong.  Final time was 25:56 which was justa bit longer than the last 5K but still good for my standards.  My splits came in roughly at 7m30s, 8m30s and then fell of at 10m for the last mile.  I can't seem to hold enough back for the last mile.

I turn 35 on Tuesday, Thursday night I have the next 5K.  I will come in under 25m! 

Try not to exceed 8:30 for that first mile and your time will be much faster.

I do not have first hand experience with a wheelcover.  But the well-established fact is that they are the best bang for the buck in aero gear period.  There is no reason not to have one.  It's a myth that they are hard to handle in the wind.  Cross winds hitting the rear wheel do not cause any instability, and sometimes even increases stability due to some aspect of mechanics that escapes me.

They are as aero as an expensive true disc too.

They add relatively little weight.  When paired with a lightweight racing wheel, they probably will weigh in less than a high dollar Zipp disc.

The myth that they are not worthwhile on a hilly race course is also false.  If your course starts and finishes at the same elevation, there is probably no amount of hills that will be slower with your disc cover.  The only situation in which they would be slower is a mtn climbing race where you start at the bottom and race to the top.

That's all scientifically proven facts, not my personal opinion.  The only complaints I'm aware of are due to people having trouble getting them properly mounted, or who don't like the hassle of dealing with the cover going on and off between races.  You can cut a hole in the cover near the valve stem if you want, otherwise you have to remove one side of the cover to inflate your tires too. 

So the only downside is convenience.  There's no performance downside.

Sounds good.  The only additional advice I have is to seek lower tire pressure.  It's going to be a gamble between increasing your risk of a pinch flat and decreasing your pressure...but lower pressure is faster.  If you don't understand why, ask me and I'll explain.

Last season when I weighed 200lbs I would run as low as 30psi.  But I run tubeless so don't need to worry about pinch flats.

As for passing on single track...it's a bit like a dance.  Here's how it goes.  As you approach someone from behind they may or may not assume you want to pass.  They are not obligated to assume you want to pass because a lot of times the person is content to catch a breather for a moment.  Other times they will simply pull off and let you go.

Your job is to announce when you are desiring a pass, then their job is to give you that pass at the first opportunity.  By 'opportunity' I mean a place that affords them the clearance to move to the side and ease up momentarily without stopping or unclipping.  Your job is to rocket by when they give you that opening before the trail closes up.

So when I pass someone it might work like this:

me: "I'll take a pass when you get an opening..."

them: "Ok, TAKE THE LEFT!" (as they move to the scrub on the right)

me: (launch around ASAP) "Thanks!"

Or if you don't need their cooperation because you happen to want your pass at a place that is open enough...sometimes up a hill that is wide enough is a great place for this...you just launch around and as you start to take the pass you say "ON YOUR LEFT" or "ON YOUR RIGHT".

It was back in the water for the first time in 3 weeks for me tonight.  The shoulder seems to be feeling much more normal so I took it as easy as possible.  I cannot believe what kind of a difference 3 short weeks can make in my swim fitness level.  I know it will come back quickly but I had worked pretty hard to get to the speeds I was finally able to achieve and then the injury struck again. 

After 2 injuries to the same shoulder in 6 months I plan to taper my swims back to no more than 3500 yards for my longest swim and the other at or below 3000 yards.  That should be sufficient to keep me strong and maintain a decent amount of speed.

On another note: I ran in temperatures tonight that had the heat index at 101 when I got home.  I was pretty gross when i got to the house.  Sweat was absolutely POURING from me!!  I have a 12 mile run scheduled for Wednesday and the air temp is supposed to be 96-98.  I am not sure what I am going to do for that run?  Shorten it and lengthen my long run a couple of miles on Friday?  I guess I'll see what the day brings??

Dirk, I hear you on the heat.  And that week of work sounds daunting in terms of physical expenditure.  Like you said, at least the money helps, though I ‘m sure it’s all earmarked for that education fund! 

I can’t imagine training in weather like some of the southern guys.  I joke with a friend from Texas that I’m still using arm warmers for half my bike rides, and he’s up at 4:30 to get out when it’s “only” 88.  I think the best idea is to train the same amount of time, hydrate like it's your job, and just go at a slower pace using effort as the guide.

I had a fun bike Sunday.  Was planning to do the Timberman half which is basically an out and back.  Well, I did the out but there was a NASCAR event at NH speedway so they wouldn’t let me do the back.  To go back to the cottage, I just found roads which basically went north since I knew eventually I’d hit the lake again.  Little did I know I was heading into the mountain range!  I’ve never done so much climbing in my life, and on some pretty crappy New England-winter-weather-beat-up roads.  I think I found a shorter way back (by mileage) but I know why the race doesn’t take that route.  It was a blast but I was burned out.

That sounds like an awesome ride!  Some of the bets rides I've done have been because I sort of got a bit lost and had to find my way home.

Wow man...I'm not sure what I would do either.  That's just so hot I think I'd stay in the basement and not come out until winter.  Is there any way you can do loops, or leave a ice filled cooler with a washcloth in it to cool off your face and arms half way or something?