Matt Gilmartin's Group- CLOSED~ we're swimming! (Page 36)

I've been absent for a little while, I'm still going to PT and my IT band is slowly getting better.

But the main reason I've been absent is because my free time has been used trying pull myself together after my truck was TOTALED.  

I was headed home from work, traffic was slowing down because of an accident ahead.  I slowed down to about 20 mph, and then BOOM!  A Ford F350 Super Duty hauling a heavy equipment trailer hit me from behind.  I was in a Chevy S 10, which was propelled forward into the minivan in front of me.  If I didn't have my seat belt on, I'm pretty sure I would have gone through the windshield.

Luckily, there were no injuries.  I had to crawl over to the passenger side to get out because my door was pinned shut by the truck bed.  I was sore the next few days, but okay otherwise.  I've been trying the last week to catch up from the days I missed at work.  

Anyways, I'm still around, still trying to heal up/recover.

I appreciate the support, very helpful.  Just need to get myself to the point where I can give myself permission to have some "slacker time."  Hopefully as the sun is out more my mood will improve and work will become less of a strain. 

Mmez - I think you're right I do need some new training equipment.  My wishlist is very long...

Made it out for a run this afternoon.  Heart rate was pretty high throughout - 170's.  Not sure if this is due to temperature or to other environmental phenomenon.  Thought I did enough zone 2 and 3 work in the off season, guess I could be wrong.

Aaron- holy cow man!  That sounds like you got awfully lucky.  Glad to hear you are OK- there's nothing like a scare like that to make  you remember just how precious life can be.  Heal up, my friend.

Christian,

What about trying to get your training in early in the morning instead of after work?  I try to do all my swimming in the morning- it makes the day at work go a lot better.  Just another random thought to help break the monotony.

Matt

I might change my signature to this:

Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it.

Mark Twain

I've actually thought about this in the past, but only for a second or two and I may give it some serious thought again as the days get a little longer.  At my previous job I woke up every morning at 5 AM to make my hour long commute and be at work by 6:30.  I was getting about 5-6 hours of sleep a night and my body was not liking that.  Now I work at home and I'm finally getting used to getting 8 hours of sleep.  It's amazing and I think the extra sleep time has allowed my body to recover better.

But seriously, I will have to consider the morning workouts. 

My son and I are signed up for a half marathon next weekend. As I was reviewing the application and race information, I noticed a sentence on there that I had not read previously. It really made me laugh! Here it is:

"This event is walker and velocity challenged participant friendly."

I don't know why it made me laugh so much, but it just struck me as pretty funny! Have you ever read anything (not necessarily in a race packet) that made you just crack up?

"Velocity challenged participant friendly"- classic.  I think that Angry Birds has the world suddenly fascinated by physics

Unfortunately most of the races I have an RD that lack any sort of good sense of humor.  Good luck to your little guy!  That's so cool~ I'm anxious to hear his impression.  Will he be getting a 13.1 sticker for his bike?  

I found the pro swim splits for Ironman Melbourne online (race is underway as I type this).  Smoking fast times!

http://live.ironmanlive.com/Event/Ironman_Asia-Pacific_Championship_Melbourne

"Velocity challenged participant friendly"- classic.  I think that Angry Birds has the world suddenly fascinated by physics

Unfortunately most of the races I have an RD that lack any sort of good sense of humor.  Good luck to your little guy!  That's so cool~ I'm anxious to hear his impression.  Will he be getting a 13.1 sticker for his bike?  

Hey Kids- time for my first "race" report.  This was the local tri club's "swim-a-palooza" and I managed to snake in

I chose to do the 10,000 yard swim- it's a traditional college swim team workout, you do 100 100 yard sets on 100 seconds (1:40).

Got up @ 6AM and was already packed as I needed to catch a flight this morning afterwards.  Stopped off at Starbucks for my favorite pre-race treat- a quad espresso and a banana.  Got to the race pool at 7 and I was pleased to see two of my friends from the tri community already there.  There were probably 40 people participating, and I didn't know the other 38.  I checked in with the coach and before I even said my name she said "I know you- you're Matt Gilmartin".  LOL- I forgot I am FB friends with her.  She basically said "I know your swim reputation- you're in the fast lane".  Yikes!  Talk about pressure! OK, fine, don't want to disappoint.

So I hopped into the fast lane with 4 others who all looked pretty formidable, including the coach.  I was pleasantly surprised that two others wanted to lead the lane, so I was third.  The woman that led our lane was a phenomenal swimmer, and she was pacing us @ 1:15.  After about 3 laps the 2nd person in the group offered to get behind me, so I was 2nd for the rest of the swim.

We stayed pretty steady between 1:15 and 1:20 for the first 50 100's-> felt really good and I remember why it's good for me to be around good swimmers.  I'm so darn lazy by myself, I would have been 1:40 if I was by myself.  The peer pressure really helped to push me to be my best.  With the coach in the lane, I wanted to show her I was actually the person I say I am on triathlon forums  I was definitely suffering some calf cramps so I knew I was going to need electrolyte.

So the hard part of the day- 15 minute break after 5000.  Figuring out nutrition.  Of course I was starving, but I also know that I love food too much and will eat till the cows come home.  They had a nice spread of food and energy supplements- bananas, bagels, Clif Shots, Clif Bars, Gatorade, water, and Wheaties FUEL cereal (courtesy of yours truly).  I opted for a half banana and a quarter of a bagel.  Polished off 2 cups of water, and I decided to eat a little more.  I had one more quarter bagel, a Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar, and a cup of watered-down Gatorade.  I felt pretty good then, and I filled my water bottle up with 1/2 Gatorade and 1/2 water.  Also grabbed a Clif Shot in case it was needed.

At #52 my rotator cuffs were hurting like a bear.  I felt them a little in the first half, I think the lack of high blood flow during the break made them sore.  By 6000, I was in major pain.  I debated stopping, but I realized that if I did I was going to be pissed at myself.  Opted for 1/2 the Clif Shot and a big swig of the water/Gatorade mix.  At about 6200 I felt way better- hooray for electrolyte!!!!!!!!!!  I pretty much hit cruise control until 7500.  A ton of people dropped out @ 7500 and there were only 2 people in the lane next to mine.  I opted to pop over there with two other guys.  This was a good decision- being out of the wall lane meant a lot less chop and my stroke felt easy and free.

I cruised the last 2000 yards.  I was finishing about 1:27-1:28, so I was getting a full 12 or 13 seconds between sets.  I was beat, but by the time we hit 9000 I knew I was going to do it  Finished up strong and tried to cool down after a few minutes rest.  I could NOT raise my arms anymore LOL.... so I did a 50 breaststroke to wrap up. 

The feeling of accomplishment was pretty awesome.  I'm turning 40 this year, and the last time I attempted this workout was @ Marquette in 1994.  It's not something you can do every week (unless you're an elite athlete), and I won't be swimming for a few days.  Definitely a fun day! 

Super Job Matt! Way to not let age get the best of you!

Happy Monday everyone!  Thanks for the feedback on my RR

I'm liberally applying Biofreeze to my shoulders today.  If you need a killer pain-relief product for sore joints and muscles, this stuff is pretty amazing.  End of product plug

Took an almost 2-week break after my indoor tri thanks to soreness and then a stomach virus, but I kept reading everyone's posts and I am so inspired by all of the races and PRs and challenges everyone has faced. They really helped motivate me to get back to it last Thursday finally. Can't get that motivation anywhere else

This weekend I did my first adventure race, the Spartan Race in Charlotte. It really kicked my butt. I am sore and all cut and scratched and bruised. But it was an amazing change of pace. Some parts were really brutal, others were fun. I finished the 4 miles of obstacles in just under 2 hours. The endurance I've gained since I started tri training is the only thing that got me through! And it ended with a swim, which was really nice. Now I'm really focusing on my May 12 triathlon, no weird stuff and no soreness or injuries until then!

I've always wanted to do one of these.  Did you have to do any burpees?

Lots, unfortunately! There were 18 obstacles and I failed 4 of them. I fell off the rock wall and off the rope in the mud pit, my spear hit the hay bale but didn't stick and I couldn't make it all the way across the monkey bars with all the mud on my hands. You had to do 30 burpees for each too! Lol  I never want to do one again. Ton of fun though, you have to try one - just not anytime before a race! My knee has turned interesting colors and is all swollen, mostly from crawling under the barbed wire with all the roots sticking out. It's not really injured, just cut up though so I can still train. And they do give you a free beer at the end

Jen- sounds like a total blast!  I want to do one too now!

Well I finally got back into the training mode. It has been 10 days since I last swam, biked or ran.  That really does sound like the start of a confession. Between family, travel and work, I haven't been able to get any time for me. Tonight I actually got a nice 4.3 mile run. It wasn't a negative split but at least I got close and feel so much better. Now to get back in the true swing of things.

My wife surprised me with the suggestion that I get a road bike this weekend while we were out of town. We stopped at our favorite bike shop in western Nebraska (and yes, there is more than one) and I got a Fuji ACR. Carbon fork and stays, aluminum frame with 105 components. I think she didn't like watching me leaving her behind on my tri bike. I had told her that I am not coordinated enough to look behind me on the aero bars to see if she's still back there. Now if the wind would at least drop below 20 mph I'd get to take it out with her to see if it helps. I didn't tell her I probably wasn't coordinated enough to look back even if I had monkey bars and a banana seat bike.

Melinda, if the pool is treated with chlorine it will void the warranty.  Which one did you end up getting?  You might want to call the manufacturer and verify with them.  At the very least, try it on and make sure it fits.

Matt

Steve, honestly... it's early in the season (I don't consider training season to begin till April 1) so you're going to be OK taking a week or 10 days off now.  Just don't let your diet ruin your body.  Remember that the less active you are, the fewer calories you are going to need.  It's way easier to pack on pounds than it is to lose them.

On Monday I got some very exciting news, not only will next week be my last week of PT, but they are going to let me RUN!  The DPT said he's going to let me run a mile on the dreadmill on Friday to see how my IT band responds.  I said I'd take it slow...probably a 8 min mile.  So, I've got this Friday, and two days next week, then I'm unleashed!

He also suggested that when I get clipless shoes to look at Specialized shoes, because they are designed to keep your ankle and knee in proper alignment.  It is suppose to help not only with power transfer, but also reduce risk of injuries.  He is an avid mountain biker (currently building a sub-20 lb. full suspension race bike) and also has a nice Felt road bike.