left.right.repeat group -closed - Full of a bunch of winners...YEAH! (Page 38)

Leston...I total agree with the hammie and clip on areobars. I have been using mine all season and EVERY time I get in the areo position for long periods my hammie bothers me. I believe it has alot to do with the actual set up of a road bike with clip ons vs a tri bike. I have been limiting the time in areo except on down hills where I get the greatest benifit and it has helped me alot...along with my PT.

I think when the season is done we should do weekly challenges to keep everyone motivated...
what do ya'll think???

Pete....the Sox still rule...its not the end of the season yet!!!!! I have Clevland Sox tickets for the end of Sept... Jason Bay "state" is my new favorite!!!

Woo hoo !! Simon Whitfield of Canada won the silver medal in Men's Triathlon !!

Wasn't able to stay up last night to watch it but I'll see it replayed today I'm sure. He also won the inaugural triathlon gold medal in Sydney (2000). I understand that the finish was amazing so I can't wait to watch it.

Double woo hoo !! Flipper is back and posting !!

Edited by FreddyBeachPete 2008-08-19 6:19 AM

Hey Turtles!

Nice to catch-up and hear from everyone :^) ...

Mav, thanks for the inspiration on my logs. Even though I haven't posted much here, I still post my logs daily so I don't forget what I did!!! Sorry to hear about your biking experience. I really don't like riding on the road and avoid it as much as I can. I love the state parks that are fairly close 30 min to 1 hour because those roads are so very little traveled. They are not always convenient, but much safer.

I have met a group of Michigander BT's to do training with (Trixie, TriOK, Runnergirl, Mr.M, Sushigirl, girlwith1nose, rgr375. etc). It has been fun training with others who are very, very dedicated to this sport - sometimes too nuts I think (Runnergirl did 3 tri's in 8 days to celebrate her 30th birthday!). Biking in a small group is very, very different. Fun, but different.

I feel fairly good about this weekend - cautiously optimistic. There will be a lot of people (7,500) and my biggest concern is swimming through a large wave and getting through transition with that many bikes and people!!!! I don't yet know when my wave is starting. Transition opens at 4:00am and closes at 5:45am. First wave starts at 6:00 and last wave around 10:30. It would really suck to have your bike in that early and get a late start - but I know you can't control this!

Mav and Bry, good luck on your races. I still don't think I could finish a 1,500 OWS yet. Maybe next year!

FBP, I was pulling for the Canadian last night. That was really cool to watch, but I really don't like the "staged" bike and run. I prefer a Tri in the woods and roads. It didn't "feel" like it was a Tri to me. I was amazed at their ability and speed, but didn't like the format (just my opinion).

Juanita and Leston - get in 1 more event (even if it is a 5 or 10K race somewhere!). You know you want to!

More later. Thanks for being here for the last 8 months!

Dan

SOOOO good to see ya back and working out Juanita!!!!!!

Good luck this weekend Dan and Bryan.....most of all have fun!!!

I am not really excited about my race this weekend. Kind of funny, I think its because it was a huge challenge the begining of the season and I did it, so this time it just doesnt feel as exciting. I'm sure when race day comes I will feel different(maybe I'll even sleep the night before). My swim wave is also with collegiate men. Why on earth would a race director put over 45 women with collegiate men????I am very excited to do the IM relay....something new and challenging.

Today is my last long swim (3 miles). Next week I will only do 1 -1.5 miles. It is a little windy so hopefully there will be some serious chop to simulate the ocean!!!!

Hope to see some great race reports at weeks end...BTW Pete... Sox weren't that shabby for the remainder of the week. Jason ROCKS!!!!!

Yesterday a colleague suggested that while the UNB pool is closed for maintenance over the next 2 weeks I might want to try the City's new outdoor pool which is a couple of blocks from campus. I went today and while it was pretty chilly, it was still nice to be in the great outdoors.

I downloaded a swim plan yesterday called "Zero to 1650 in Six Weeks" and did the Week 2 workout. Started with 200m, rest for 12 breaths then 100m x 4 (10 breaths in between), 50m x 4 (6 breaths) and 25m x 4 (4 breaths in between). I'm supposed to do this 3 times Here's a picture of the lovely facility and admission was FREE !! 

Edited by FreddyBeachPete 2008-08-20 12:36 PM

Bryan, thanks for the advice! I still need all the help I can get and I will certainly heed your words of wisdom.

I am off in about 30 minutes for my 5 hour drive to Chicago. The expo is today and tomorrow and I will let you all know if I find anything new and exciting!

I will report back as soon as I can!

Dan

Have a great race Dan !!

Did a little web searching to try and find another Sprint Tri to do before season's end and may have found one. It is the Colby Triathlon hosted by Colby College in Maine. Looks to be about a 4 - 4 1/2 hour drive south from Fredericton (equidistant to Boston Miss Mav !).

 http://www.colbytriathlon.com/

Slightly odd that the swim is only 400m while the other two components are regular Sprint distances - 20k bike and 5k run. Race is on Saturday Sept 20th. Suppose that would be to my advantage since swimming is the weakest discipline for me.

If I decide to go for it could turn into an expensive weekend - gas, hotel, meals and outlet shopping by Mrs FBP .

Edited by FreddyBeachPete 2008-08-22 8:57 AM

Sticka,
I would love to join you in Maine but I cant this year. It would mean I would race 4 weekends in a row which requires getting 2 weekends off from my humble profession! Physically I dont think I could do it either. It is also my 29th wedding anniversary on the 22nd, we are celebrating with the Red Sox...but not so sure Al would want to spend the 4th weekend doing Sherpa duty!!!!
Lets definately plan on doing a race together next spring...I'm also looking to do a 1/2 mary this fall. Somehow the challenge of this motivates me...my husband thinks I'm nuts!

I cleaned my bike tonite...nice and shiny and fast for my oly on Sun. I took today off from training and I am planning on taking tommorow off as well. I really needed a rest. I feel much better after one day!

Good luck tommorow Bryan, hope the weather holds out. Is Debbie swimming too??? Go Debbie!!!

Juanita so glad your back..I missed your smile!!! Now what about a fall race for you...come on ...how 'bout a 5K...come on....you know you want to!!!!

Leston Hows the merit badge coming???

Packet pick up was this afternoon, I got a good look at the course, know where my spot in transition is, feel pretty good. I took the last two days off...I really needed the rest. I have no expectations other than to have fun. Had dinner tonit with ALOT of Mass BT ers it was really great to get together and put faces with avitars...Great fun!
Off to bed for my beauty rest!!!!!! I'll file my race report ASAP. Many thanks to all for all you support...Sticka I have my lucky charm for the run...wouldnt go without it!!!!
LRR!!!!!

Hi to all my fellow turtles!!!! Another race completed WOOO HOOO!!!!

I did not sleep well last night...fell asleep OK but was wide awake at 2:30 am so just tossed and turned until 4:00am..then up and away. I made chicken and rice soup the nite before with a really high sodium broth. I ate it for breakfast. I know it sounds gross but I actually would recommend it as I felt great all day. I had a coffee with rice cake and peanut butter at 6 and then we headed out.

It was a very foggy drive. Took about an hour to drive...got to transition and set up my stuff. Donned my wetsuit and headed to the lake.Did a quick warm up. The air temp was 55 and the water was very warm. The wetsuit was good to keep you warm until the race started. I was in the fourth wave.
I got way up front, I was not shy even though the collegiate teams were in my wave. Off I went. Not much body contact ...I was pleased.This lake was very shallow as we had to swim the edge in order to get a full mile. At one point my knuckels were hitting the bottom and getting really scrapped up. So I stood up and ran a few steps to where it was deeper and dove back in. The water was disgusting. It was stirred up it was like swimming in a mud bath. The lake itself isnt bad, but the edges were so stirred up it was gross! Finished the mile in 27:23. Pretty pleased with my time. I know I did very well for my age group, the finals arent out yet.

The transition area was really far from the lake. We had to run up steps, up a big hill then quite a distance to the bike racks. No prob getting the wetsuit off...love Pam!!! For some reason I took my time in T1...had a bite to eat...had a drink...talked with a guy who was racked across from me..la,la,la..WASTED TOO MUCH TIME!!!!!

Off on the bike... I had a PR today...avg speed 17.3 Yeah! Finished the bike in 1:27:14. This is a really nice course. Lots of rolling hills and only a few little climbs. Beautiful scenery, lakes and cranberry bogs(Ocean Spray). This was a highly competative race, 6 Tri teams and the collegiate racers. I did not enjoy this bike. People were riding like idiots. Not calling when they were passing, I had someone try to pass me on a turn without calling it out and she almost hit me. People riding 3 across, one guy drafted off a motorcycle (I actually think it was a USAT official)...Just rude behavior. People who ride like this give bikers a bad rap..many of the automobile drivers were not happy. This was the first time I have ever seen this kind of behavior in a race, I was a little shocked!... But I did well and was happy with my performance.

Off to T2...for another picnic...AGain spent WAY too much time...but was better than T1

The run was Great! LRR...LRR I thought of you often Bryan. Running is tough, but I ran the whole way YEAH!!!!. Some lady came up to me on the run and told me that she was not a fan of having our age on our calves but commented on my fitness and how I did not look my age...a Great ego booster on the toughest part of the course!!!! Finished the run in 1:04:13
Total time 3:06:26 ...8 minutes faster than my oly in the spring!! New PR!!!

Finished and went for a swim to the middle of the lake to cool down. Had Lunch with all the Mass BTer's. Then I went for a 1/2 mile swim with some friends who are training for their first tri. Packed up and went home. Felt great after this tri. I feel good about my level of fitness after this race as I did not feel tired at all.

2 more races and the season is over
sTRIve

Mav,

GREAT race and report! Thanks. I can not believe you swim time. You will have to teach me how to do that (27 min for 1 mile is AMAZING! I was 20 min for 750k on Sunday!). Anyway, I am very, very impressed and can't wait to hear about your 2.5 mile swim! You must be excited! Thanks for continuing to share with us.

I got back from Chicago yesterday at noon and then we had our annual shareholder's meeting all afternoon then to the Tigers game. I left after the 6th inning as I was exhausted. I will write my race report tonight - overall I was very happy! My splits are on my Log page if you want to peek!

Full report tonight!

Dan

Mav, great job on your OLY! Sounds like you had a great time - which is the biggest accomplishment. Anyone who can do that well and say they really weren't tired afterwards is a machine as Pete points out. Congratulations!

Waiting to hear from Dan the Man on your race...Dan...?

As for me I'm not training like I was. Still riding to work, but that's not much. I told myself that I have to get a mountain bike ride in each week until it snows, so that's a good thing. Also looking for an event, but pretty tough to find. I have 2 boys playing Little League football and so Saturdays are basically gone for a few months.

I am making some progress on our remodel. Lots to do.

Bryan, best of luck on your hard week. You're awesome.

Pete, sounds like you are doing great. How do you like the bike? Sore rump after the 50k or are you pretty much 'acclimated' by now?

Juanita, great to hear from you too.

sTRIve!

Race Report:

We arrived in Chicago on Friday evening around 5:30pm. The self-park was full and we had to valet at the hotel (for $50 per evening!). We unloaded the car and I walked my bike through the lobby thinking I would be really cool doing this, until I walked in and there were at least 100 bikes being walked or parked all along the walls – so much for being cool :^) ... We stayed a the Chicago Hilton – which was the official hotel of the Triathlon. Participants were everywhere. Excitement was in the air – and it was only Friday night!

We checked into our room, luggage was delivered and I was off to register – no waiting here! I was like a kid on Christmas morning and my wife and daughter were as equally excited. There was a large registration area (with 8,700 participants there had to be!), but not crowded at all when I went through. Everything was smooth and quick, I got the chip checked, body marked (I still don't understand why they mark the numbers on your thigh when the shorts cover them anyway, why not mark the shins???) and we moved on to the convention hall. This are was awesome! There were every kind of vendor's for triathletes imaginable – power bar companies, protein drinks, apparel of all types, bikes, shoes, wetsuits, Gatorade, bike racks, etc. We spent over an hour checking out things, talking to the salespeople and others in line – just taking in the whole experience. Then when we thought we were done, we were told there was another hall with just as many vendors and our Tee Shirt and swim cap, so off we went to the connecting hall (but it wasn't so obviously marked!). Got my stuff and walked around another ½ hour or so. Off to dinner for a nice pasta meal at an outstanding Italian Restaurant called Rosebud's on Rush Street. I had square pasta and it was outstanding! I could only eat ½ and took the other ½ for lunch the next day!

Saturday, my daughter and I got up and went right back down to the convention hall spending more time and eating breakfast on all the free samples (only cheap part of the whole trip!). There was a scale company that when you answer a few questions, step on the scale, it will weigh you (205 down 20 from January 2nd) and then send a small charge through your body to measure your body fat (18.9%), Body Mass Index, muscle weight, bone weight, etc. It was very, very cool, but I don't believe it was that accurate! We went and got my wife and then we walked to the course. Found the swim start, swim exit, transition area (which they were in the process of setting up so we couldn't get in). We meet other participants and talked with them. They were very helpful in explaining things that we couldn't figure out (and other first timers had the same problem). I wanted to make sure I knew where to go and how to get there!

I attended one of the race talks later that afternoon and it was very, very helpful (I'll explain some of the things they pointed out during the event) – they said we would be treading water about 2:00 min before the start of the swim and I was nervous the rest of the day :^( ... That seemed very, very long to me!

I packed my bag for transition, laid out all my close, double checked my list and went to bed around 9:30pm, watched the Olympics in bed for a while and lights out around 10:00ish.

Alarm went off at 3:30 am (transition opened at 4:15!), it was hard, but I got moving, applied my body glide to all the places I can't mention here, got dressed, filled my water bottle and got on my way (my wife and daughter were sleeping another 1 ½ hours before meeting me later!). I was surprised when I left my room that no other people were leaving, but when I got down to the lobby, there were at least 75 people waiting to leave while others were already on their way. I wasn't sure why everyone was waiting, so I walked my bike through the lobby, go on my bike and I was on my way. It was about 1 mile ride to transition and when I got in line, there were at least 200 – 300 people in line, then I remembered one of the people the day before told me they were going to open the North side up so I rode around the other side and there were only about 25 people on that side! We waited about 10 minutes for them to open transition and I was the 2nd person on the end of the rack!!!! I was excited to get such a good spot. After unpacking and laying everything out, I took Bryan's advice and walked to the swim in area and then to my bike spot. I had several land marks (at the first port-a-john make a right!) and walked it a couple of times. I then found the easiest route from my bike to the bike out and walked that a couple of times as well. I made sure I was very, very comfortable with everything before I left transition. I then walked toward the swim start (about .75 miles away). Looking over lake Michigan you could see the colors in the sky starting to change, it was an amazing sight – almost breathtaking! I got close to the swim start and just watched the people walk about, feeling the excitement and looking at the boats and sunrise in the distance – what a morning (and it was only about 5:00 am!). Transition closed at 5:45 am and the first wave was 6:00 am. I was in wave 12 starting at 6:50 am (which was very, very lucky since some waves didn't start until 10:30 am, but they still had to have transition set-up by 5:45!

Anyway, I used the bathroom for the last time around 6:00 ish, found my wife and daughter, watched the start of the race. I lined up around 6:30 with the rest of my wave (sprint males between 45 and 54 – about 125 people and by some cruel coincidence we ended up with pink swim caps for our waves). The swim course was (in my opinion) the best swim course I had ever done (that is 3 other Tri's). There were steps from the seawall that went down to the top of the water, you would jump in, tread water until the horn and then swim 750 m along the seawall. There were people lining the entire swim course on the land side and row boats with lifeguards about every 40 meters on the East side. They only gave us about 20 – 25 m wide to swim. I thought they could give us more room, but they know better than I! There was a rope along the seawall at water level and if you got tired, you could hold on to the rope or a lifeboat with no penalty (just slowed your time). I felt much more safe in this course rather than swimming out to the middle of a lake with only 3 or 4 surfboards or jet ski's to help 300 – 400 people over the entire course! The closer we got to the start, I actually became more peaceful than nervous. I was talking with my fellow participants and was quietly confident.

Swim: Water was an unbelievable 72 degrees. Wetsuit legal, but not necessary (the last couple of years it was around 68 degrees, so water was calm and comfortably warm). Air temperature was probably low to mid 60ies, very light to no wind, just a perfect morning. I stood to the back of my wave line so I was one of the last ones in the water (and didn't have to tread the water that long). As it turned out, when I entered the water, I only had to tread water about 10 seconds before the horn! I wasn't even ready for the horn :^) ... So off we went. I was near the seawall and toward the front of the wave. I was breathing bilaterally and the wall made it very, easy to site off. There was some mashing of bodies at the start, but not bad at all. I was swimming at a good comfortable pace and was feeling pretty good. About ½ way through I caught several of the slower swimmers in the wave ahead of me. I started breast stroking and then actually saw and heard my wife and daughter cheering for me – that was very awesome! I then front stroked and breast stroked the rest of the way. It was actually more crowded at the end of the swim than at the beginning. At the very end you had to swim away from the wall about 5 m around a buoy and then to steps. When I got near the buoys there were about 3 or 4 swimmers abreast and I couldn't get around them, I eventually swam right between two of them to finish ahead of them! There were volunteers at the bottom of the step to help pull you up onto the steps and you walked up 4 or 5 steps onto the sidewalk. Now comes a huge problem. The transition area was over ¼ mile from the swim exit, you had to jog (or run, but I was walking fast!) over the side walk the entire time. Even though they swept the sidewalk, it was still very, very rough and hurt my feet!!! So sorry Bryan, I had to do something new on race day that I didn't train for – run barefoot on cement! If I do this next year, I will have to train for this! I also didn't like that this run time to the transition counted toward the swim time! The timing mat was at the entrance of the transition and not the end of the swim. My swim time was 20:09 for 750 m plus 450m run :^) ... I was 840 out of 2,050 participants.

T1: Starts when I entered the transition area with sore feet, my bike was at the top of the hill and I got straight to it without any problems. The guy next to me in transition had a great idea, he had a short 3 legged stool, since he wasn't there when I got there, I grabbed his stool, pu on my socks and bike shoes, quick drink and on my way out to the bike.

Bike: I am still slow on mounting my bike. I am working on it, but still need much work. When we started the bike there was an immediate Chicago hill (entrance ramp), it was steep, but not very long. My bike was in the proper gear and I got up it with no problems. On to Lakeshore Drive and on my way. One cyclist passed me at the top of the ramp, but I later passed him back and he never caught me again :^) ... There were no real hills, but there were steady inclines and declines. There were a couple of things that made this unusual: first you had to ride on the left and pass on the right. They did this because they closed 2 lanes of Lakeshore for the bikes and 2 lanes each way still had traffic. Therefore if you rode on the right and passed on the left then most of the bikes would be riding near the traffic. This wasn't a major problem, but some people either forgot or didn't care and rode slowly on the right. Second problem was the POTHOLES in the road! It was terrible! They warned us in the race course talk and at first I didn't think it was too bad, but I saw a least 4 bikers with flat tires in the time I rode. I heard of at least 2 people crashing from hitting potholes. So we had to pass on the right, avoid potholes, avoid all the water bottles in the road (when people hit some potholes their water bottles fell to the road and make sure you didn't go too far right and hit traffic! With all that written, I only had 3 people pass me (one was a woman from wave 14 – starting 8 minutes behind me – and she blew right past me!) and finished 236 out of 2,050 and averaged 20.3 mph. All and All I was happy with my bike!

T2: Dismount went fine, right to my spot, used the stool to pull off biking shoes and put on running shoes and out of transition. Smooth, a little slower than should be, but not bad.

Run: Right out of transition we were on a bike path. It was one way only (finish line was far from transition) so it was a little narrow, but not too bad. My legs felt pretty good right away. Didn't have the rubbery feeling once I exited transition. I was happy about that :^) .. after about 200 yards, we then ran on the top of a hill along a path that was very uneven. People were lined up all along both sides of this path that was very cool, however, I was concerned about twisting an ankle and kept a close eye on the terrain. The path was about 400 yards long or so and then back to a paved path. This was still very narrow and as some people were running two abreast talking with each other as they ran, it made it very difficult to pass. My breath and legs still felt very good, I thought I was running strong, but I saw several of those wave 14 women pass me on the run as well! That was one strong wave (it was women between 20 – 29)! Some Chicago Hills (ramps) on the run, but not too bad. It was actually hillier than I expected. The first mile marker seemed to take forever, but the second one came fast. I was hoping to get that “runner's high” like I did last race, but it never really came. I was telling myself “no walking, no walking” and for the second straight race I DID NOT WALK!!!! I am hoping it is my conditioning that is getting better that allow me to keep running. Again as I could hear the announcer talking, the adrenaline starts kicking in and my speed starts increasing and I passed 5 or 6 people in last 100 yards. I finished the time in 25:47 (8:19 per mile) and 277 out of 2,050.

Afterparty: was very good: They had a live band, food, beer all the vendors had tents outdoor. It was a large party! I finished around 8:20 am and there were still 2 ½ hours of waves that hadn't even started! I found my wife, daughter and a few friends, we hung around a physical therapy company stretched me out (I had to wait about 25 minutes, but it was worth it!). We couldn't get into our bike area until 11:00am, so we hung around a enjoyed the atmosphere.

My overall time was 1:31:12. I finished 30 out of 107 in my age group (45 – 49) and 351 out of 2,050 total sprint participants. This was a bit expensive, but very, very well worth while. My family truly enjoyed the entire experience. I want to thank each one of you for all your help during the last 8 months. I have had some highs and lows but this season sure ended on a HIGH for me! You have all been there for me to help and I appreciate each one of you.

Thanks,

Dan

What a great race report Dan! I would love to see pics...especially the pink cap !Sounds like a fun race. What a huge number of participants. The swim sounds like it was great...lucky you were in an early wave. It sounds like you had fun...and did really well WOOO HOOO!!!!!!!