Scott's Mentor Group-Closed for training. (Page 39)

So I have to concur with Paul that this heat is kicking my butt, however, I don't have a gym to go to so I just have to go out and sweat like a pig and watch my times suffer. Oh well, still training! I got in a 50 mile ride on Sunday (first time for me ever at this distance) and bricked it with a 5K run. We don't need to talk about the run time, just that I did it!

Great race Gareth! Sorry I wasn't able to get on earlier this week and comment.

I'm less than 2 weeks out from my next race, and thankful that it will be up in CT, which is on average 10 degrees cooler than down here in MD. Hopefully that will play to my advantage. I'm heading up this weekend to that area a week early and plan on doing the bike/run portion of the race on Friday. Not looking for any records, just want to learn both courses prior to the race. As I've read on many posts, "Don't do anything for the first time on race day." So I figure the course should fit into that as well?

Happy training everyone, and stay cool!

-Matt

Lemon, hammer head, bull, black tip

Sure makes you swim fast

*************

Back from vacation, the ocean swimming didn't help my swimming much. I swallowed way too much salt water. Back in the pool for me. My Tri is coming up soon and my swimming is awful. I really need to dedicate some time and get it right. I still cant swim the full distance yet.

Good morning, all!

Lets to talk about this morning! First let me start with my missed day of training yesterday. Had a ride planned but the wife came home early from work and had a list of things a mile long for me to do so we can be ready for our son's b-day party this weekend. We also ended up having bad storms and tornado warnings. I said to the wife, "Heavy winds make for good resistance! A funnel cloud would make me pedal faster honey! I have to go train!" Didn't work.

JJ, remind me how long your swim distance is for you tri. I am no expert or swim coach but get advice from one on a regular basis. Read about interval training. I have seen HUGE improvements in my swimming. I know it will help you. Lets get you ready. What is your goal for the swim?

Jeff, I was reading about salt loading this week in the USA Triathlon mag and have read several articles about it since. I keep reading what a difference it can make on race day but to not make it a regular weekly habit. It is interesting. Maybe I'll try it after my race next week. I don't want to experiment between now and then.

I have a BAD attitute. I don't want to work out tonight and I don't want to race this weekend. 

I have to pack for the weekend so working out tonight might not be feasible anyhow but in general it's been a bad week and I haven't done much.

Thanks for listening.

650m

Turn on the news and drink a beer ... I figure on any given day after 15 minutes of the news my life is not as bad as any of the people that were shot/killed/robbed/got in an accident/fire ... and so on ... maybe the news is slower upstate but where I am someone is dead every day on the news ... and I am there drinking a beer ...

^^ that all said - I drink a beer like three times a year when home alone - usually after a bad or depressing day ... 

Chin up Nicole ...

Race is a little sprint in Sherman, CT. Here's the site: http://www.viperracingproductions.com/sherman-triathlon

Wish me luck with the weather tomorrow. I'm going to be mighty pissed if this turns into a big ol' rain run, which is what it's looking like. Really hope I can get the brick in.

-Matt

Went to a Tri shop today. Was awesome! They had an endless pool. Huge testing center with compu trainer and other cool stuff. Looked at TT bikes. Really made me want to buy a TT bike. I think after my first Tri in September then I will invest in one. Especially if I am going to do a half iron next year.

Have any of you done a Lactate Threshold test? They do it for $100 each for bike and run. I am really considering doing this. I am also going to get properly fitted now that I've been riding a while.

What happened?  The race the weekend is your first real tri Nicole.  No matter what it is going to be a PR.  What's going on?

I think I'm just tired. It's been a long couple of weeks-coming off vacation and trying to catch up with everything while still traveling every weekend. I think I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed and maybe tired from the heat. I have no air conditioning in my house or car. I prefer it that way but there's always a couple of weeks of suffering through it and it makes it hard to sleep. Also, as races approach I tend to dread them. Right up until the starting gun-after that it's fun again. I think it's partially a feeling like-"what's the point?".  I'm not actually racing anyone because I'm usually DFL or close to it. I'm used to it but it's still frustrating at times. I probably just need to HTFU.

Took a bit of an unplanned taper this week. Hopefully it will be a good thing.

Happy Friday, friends!!!

Nicole, get out of the funk!! I don't want to catch it! You have been talking about your first tri and it is this weekend and you are in a bad mood??!! What??!! Saying you need to HTFU is an understatement!! Youy should be bouncing off the walls!!!

Woooo!!! Hope everyone is having a good week! I had a weird inconsistent training week but sometimes it happens. I'll make it up. My wife put me to work Wednesday with chores to get ready for our son's 2nd b-day party this weekend. I went to the pool thursday and it was closed due to lightning in the area! it's an indoor pool!! they said it can travel in the ground and the pool is not grounded. Had to scrap that and didn't have my running shoes or bike with me- that will change from now on. I am always going to take my running shoes to the gym in case these kinds of things happen. So I had nothing wednesday or thursday. i felt like a slug!

Had a nice swim/bike session today - 1050 yards in the pool at 1:51/100 yards and then a SLOW 15 mile bike ride at 17 mph....blah! That makes me sick. I felt like I was doing better than that.

Gonna do another ride tomorrow with a run after so I hit my 2 sessions a week for all three legs. Next Saturday is race day and I am pumped!!! All my buddies who did this race last year said be prepared to cry on the bike. We'll see. It will also be my first open water (950 yard lake swim) race so I am excited! It's a short sprint but i am told the most challenging local race.

What is everyone doing this weekend with your family/friends? No training talk! We are having a b-day party and getting ready for the wife to give birth to our twins!!! Top that!

Awesome training day today!

Hooked up with several other Tri newbies from my local club and we went to the Tri site for some swim bike run. PR on swim, nice bike ride and finished it off with a great run. I will have no problem with my upcoming Tri in September. I can already do all the distances no problem!

Hi Nicole,

Hope you had a great race today or GOOD LUCK tomorrow.

We all get a little nervous and you know tons of people don't have the guts to do it and they just watch and will be totally jealous of you because you are doing it.

We are all behind you.  Have fun and share the report with us.

Jeff

Hey Everyone! Thanks for the support. I finished the race so after 4 years since deciding to do this I'm finally a triathlete!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the support everyone!

It's been a really busy weekend. My tri yesterday morning. 20 year HS reunion last night (all 6 of us that showed up) and volunteering at IMLP today. I'm exhausted already. I will update with a RR but it may take a couple of days to write it out.

Ashley-I haven't checked in here since Friday afternoon. Just before the race started Scott told my you had said I needed a big dose of HTFU. So funny! Thanks for cheering me up!!!

Scott vs. Shelburne Tri #2.

What a different experience I had.  Still not where I want to be, but I am better than where I was.  It was a good day.

Pre race:  Felt good in the morning.  Not much sleep as I am accustomed to.  It was a cool morning.  My aquaphor kit did not fit, my fault considering I didn't give it a good try on before the race, so I went with my coach's kit.  Oatmeal, bagel with butter and coffee.  Good to go.  

Pre race swim went well.  Got the HR up and ready for the gun.

Swim:

The swim was way long.  He had us start in a completely different place than the first race.  He had us walk through a field of zebra mussels and a few people went down right away with cuts.  This was ridiculous on the RD's part because he could literally have started us any where else and it would have been better.  Both of my feet got cut but not bad.  Anyways the swim was okay.  I was down 2 minutes when we got out of the water.  I felt much stronger getting out of the water this week.  

Bike:

I was pleased.  2 minutes faster than last time and a minute faster than my best last year.  Good for a PR on this course and 22.1 mph avg.  I took what I learned from my last long ride and applied it to the ride this time and it worked just fine.  At no time during the ride did I feel like I was burning up.  

Run:

I am pleased that at no time did I feel like stopping.  I felt strong on the run, but I know I can still get faster.  I am confident that this will come back to me in time.  1 minute faster than last time out and I finished strong.  Still heaved, but strong.  

Overall my time was slower than last race, but with the huge change in the swim this is to be expected.  I took 25th overall out of 115 racers and 4th out of 12 or so in my ag.  It was great to hang with Nicole for a bit, she did great and finished really strong.  During the two loop course I had a chance  to ride behind her for a bit.  She is a strong cyclist and a true closet competitor.  Don't let her fool you.  She crushed dreams on the bike.  

Nice races Scott and Nicole ...

My brother and I swam for almost 2 hours today ... and basically never moved more than 500 yards ... insane but we went in the drink as the tide came in - swam against the rip tide and basically shot our distance plan in the foot and instead said - we can do 2 miles in under 80 minutes lets "swim" for 100 minutes and log it down as 2.4 ... so that's what we did - we used the ocean and the rip current as an "endless pool" and just churned away for almost two hours ... when we stopped we rolled onto our backs and got thrown down the length of the beach back to marina - insane really never had an experience like this and now I know how inexperienced swimmers can easily drown.

We had a Christening party to go to ... my brother was the godfather so he had to be there before me - so he went to ride his bike on our park loop ... I instead went home - geared up my bike - said goodbye to my wife and sons - put my suit in the car and headed out on my bike 49 miles away to go to the Christening.  I had pre plotted my course to avoid the busy Long Island highways and dangerous streets and cycled from Lynbrook to Bellport ... got slightly lost (I had plotted this as a 45 miler but a 4 mile "detour" in Massapequa added some mileage.  Even with stoplights, stop signs, and unfortunately some areas of traffic I was able to maintain a steady average a hair under 18mph (this was on my road bike) ... only one close call (a very old man cut into a parking lot in front of me like I wasn't there ... when I followed the car into the lot with malicious intent ... I could only shake my head - he had no clue and I wasn't going to scare some guy with one foot already in the grave) ...

The last three miles I was done - my bits and pieces had gone numb (I still need to get a fitting and a new saddle) and I wanted to get off - but I kept pushing the pace and got to my sisters house in time to shower change and get to the Church in time.  Made for a fun conversation topic as my relatives all lifted my bike and could not believe how little it weighed.

 Big swim session on tap for tomorrow - I will be tired and sucking but I will put in my 3000 meters ... hope to run as well after my "honey do list" ... obsessing about future races and potential conquests ... when I pulled into my sisters driveway my mom said I was "a wacko and getting wackier" ... love the love from my mom ...

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Ok my RR.

Pre race: still a little nervous but focused on getting my area set up and went down to the lake for a quick swim and to get used to the water temp (not really needed because it was warm). After that I actually felt better than I had all week and returned to the transition area to chill until the race started. Scott came over and talked to me for a bit until the pre race meeting. Then the guys lined up to head out for their swim and I realized I hadn't wished Scott luck or anything so I ran over and told him I expected him to win then I went and lined up with the girls. I tried to place myself behind the people wearing wetsuits as I just had tri shorts and a tank top but in retrospect would maybe have done better threaded a little further up.

Swim: Unlike Scott I did not cut my feet on the Zebra mussels but we also had to wade out a little ways in the water before the race to what seemed like a randomly chosen and non specific spot. I had my earplugs in and hadn't even reached the spot where people were lined up (I was far from the only one) when the gun went off. WTF? Oh well. I started swimming and caught up to the group. I did manage to pass a couple of people on the swim and found sighting in a group to be a little easier than alone. I do feel like I have to lift my head so much to sight though that I drop my feet. Not sure if there's a better way. One of my goals this race was to act like I was actually racing and cared about the result so when I came out of the water I ran to T1 and tried to hustle through. T1 and T2 times are not posted so I'm not sure how I did but not having a wetsuit/socks it was pretty easy to be fast. I put on my helmet, sunglasses and shoes unracked my bike and ran to the line. I was happy to see a handful of bikes still in T1 as I left.

Bike: As Scott stated-I felt really strong on the bike. I was actually kind of impressed with myself when I started not only passing others but leaving them behind. I wasn't trying to beat anyone but I didn't hold back. I figured I am a slow runner even at my best pace so I might as well push as hard as I want to on the bike and let everyone pass me on the run-they would anyway. I stayed in my big chainring in the front for most of the ride and even a few of the short upgrades. I only had to granny gear a couple of times and was able to use my middle ring for most of the uphills. I could be stronger here but I'm planning to work on that this winter. Scott passed me on the first loop (his second) as I had slowed down for a moment and was readjusting my butt in the seat. He yelled to me to keep my feet moving before I realized it was him. I was like "Oh, crap-of course he had to pass me in the few moments I was slacking". He told me later he had been behind me for a while and I was glad he hadn't only seen my worst moment. I'm glad he told me to keep my feet moving, though because it got added to my mantras and will probably remain there. T2 was again pretty quick. Helmet/shoes/sunglasses off, running shoes on again no socks. I was off running. Again I wanted to give all I had so I tried to run strong out of T2 even though my legs and feet were numb. Scott was already done and cheering me on.

Run: The run starts on a long but otherwise gentle hill. It's not so gentle after a hilly bike ride when you can't feel you legs, though. At that point it feels like cruel joke. At least 3 people passed me on that hill. I kept trying to remember to push myself to run really fast and I would speed up but it didn't stop me gettting passed or that the gap between me and the people ahead of me kept growing. Then I'd forget and settle into a pace. I don't know If I slowed or just forgot to focus on going faster but every now and then I'd remember I was supposed to be pushing myself and try to speed up just to forget again. I was hurting and couldn't keep my mind where I wanted it. The course is an out and back and I was surprised at the turn around to see four people still behind me. I had thought by then that I was last. Three of them passed me on the way back in. As for the one who didn't-I told Scott when I finished that I had beat one person but she was really old. My perception may have been a bit off, though, because checking the results she was only about 10 years older than me. Oops. I was really tired. When I hit the downhill running back to the transition area I just let gravity work my speed. To be honest, I lacked the energy I needed at this point to put on the brakes. Thank God I didn't have to. I wasn't sure my legs could hold me. When the finish line was close I tried to dig deep and find a little sprint in me. I finished as strong as I could then doubled over for a few minutes before I could stand up and move again. I had wanted to cheer the woman behind me in but I stood there as long as I could without seeing her and somehow missed her when I went to find my bike. Scott brought me some cold water for which I am eternally grateful and I think I drank the whole bottle in practically a single gulp. I had to move my stuff quickly because they were picking up the racks.

Post race: Normally I'd go right home without grabbing more than some water but I wanted to wait and see if Scott won an AG award so I grabbed a 1/4 of a bagel and since there wasn't much food left I put cream cheese on half and PB on the other half. It was gross and dry. I also grabbed some more water and a couple of orange slices which were awesome. I signed up for and lost the wetsuit raffle and stood with Scott and his awesome family while they called out awards. It turned out they only gave awards for 1st in each AG. When that was over I got in my car and headed home. I have to take a ferry home and I usaully get out of my car and enjoy the breeze but I was too tired to stand for so long so I sat in my hot car for the 20 minute ride.

All in all I had fun and I really think I gave it all I had because there was nothing left in the tank when I was done. I'm slow. What can I say? I really do plan to hit the bike hard this winter and I'm hoping that another 25lbs or so will help. I'll get there-I'm really sticking to the plan. I think I can really get strong on the bike with some work and for not having a wetsuit or focusing too much I think I have th potential to do well on the swim. As for the run? It's always been slow. Again, weight loss will help and so will speed workouts but really I think it's going to take a lot of patience. Part of my limiter is that to get the miles I need to within the time constraints of my life I need to be faster. I simply can't run as far as I want to in the amount of time I have to work with but I AM CONSISTANT and I have improved so I will get there eventually.

One more thing I want to say (and I know this is already a long post and I apologize) is how much I owe to Scott. Not just because he's helped me through accupuncture to feel better but because he has been gently encouraging me for all the years I've known him. He is a really awesome motivator. He has encouraged many small changes that have added up to an overall habitual healthy lifestyle and on many occasions he's negotiated with me to help me find things that were managable. Now when people ask me for advice I find myself encouraging just small changes one a time because I know it works.

Also, about this mentor group (ok this is the second thing)-Sometimes I find it very demoralizing to be here because I feel like everyone is so much faster and putting so much more into training and even thought I'm sticking to my plan I end up feeling like a loser but as I was racing the other day I realized something else. The strength I felt on the bike was all because being in here had motivated me to push that much harder on my workouts and put in that many more miles on my bike and focus that much more on swim technique. When you guys post about your workouts, your times and your race reports it may make me feel like a loser but it also motivates me to WORK HARD. So thank you.

OK. I finished my frist tri-not just won the academy award for Best Idiot. I'll stop gushing now.

Paul-I almost forgot to say (I know, right?) I am so impressed with how fast you've come back from you injury. you are AMAZING!!

And Troy-Let me be the first to say congrats on signing up for IMLP next year. Hope you'll still have time to let us little people know how you're doing with all the training next year! I've been lurking the IMLP thread since 2008 so I'll be following you. Plus, I'm sure I'll be there volunteering. Can't wait to cheer you on!!!

See you guys next year!!

You will receive an email in the next few minutes confirming your registration.

Purchased at: July 23, 2012 09:49 AM
Event Confirmation #: 59563105-072312094926

Event Name: 2013 IRONMAN Lake Placid
Date & Time: July 28, 2013 
Location: Mirror Lake (map)

WOOT!!  WOOT!!

I am staying my taper week in Lake George ... will have to figure out the Friday/Saturday and see if I can get crash space or a yard to put a tent in ... 

Nicole - great race! Glad you made it through. 

- David

Paul-That's awesome! Congrats! Wow, we'll have 3 from out group there. Anyone else for IMLP next year?

Great race reports Scott and Nicole

Nicole, I understand what you are saying about pushing yourself after reading race and training reports on here, there are often times when I don't think I am training enough or to the intensity that others on here do, I also get lost when they talk about swim techniques and training programmes.

I try to use this site as a source of inspiration, my thought process is, everybody has to start at the bottom and everyone has a limit that their body will take them to, I try to feed of what people post on here as I may be going through what they have been through.

I honestly do not believe I would have maintained the motivation to complete my first triathlon had it not been for posting training updates on here, feeling that I need to post and make the numbers as good as possible to keep up with some of the guys.

You had a superb race and you have the bug, you will enter and will complete another one, but that time you will know what to expect and be a bit more prepared for it, which in turn will help you get better.

On a different note, did my first ride to work this morning on a road bike, the commute is 10 miles, only ever done on my mountain bike before, and today managed to ride it 9 minutes quicker than my previous quickest time!! Hopefully a combination of a different bike, but more hanging on the fact that I am slowly getting fitter!!

Have a good day

Gareth

Let me start with the star of the group. Nicole, I am standing up in front of my computer and applauding you. I am proud of you. I am delighted for you and thrilled you finished your first triathlon! I can see the smile on your face and I know the feeling in your heart now that you accomplished your goal. Isn't it wonderful? No more excuses or reasons why you haven't done a triathlon. You are an official dream crusher! You didn't come in last place and you finished! I did say you needed a big dose of HTFU and you go and cross the finish line! You are awesome!!

Scott, good race. Thanks for being the mentor that Nicole and all of us need. Thanks for being there for us and helping us be motivated to get out there and want to do this. I look forward to the day of joining you in a race and crossing the same finish line.

Troy and Paul, congrats on signing up for IMLP. That is super exciting! I still have a ways to go before I hear my name called on that but will contiue to enjoy the journey while crushing dreams along the way.

I have been absent for a few days. Had family in town over the weekend, my son's birthday party, and now doctors visits with the wife. We are at 36 weeks which is rare for twins to make it that long. We have a date scheduled to welcome them into the world- August 6th. They could still come on their own before that so we are on pins and needles.

I'm still training and getting in some good sessions. I have not trained as hard in July as I did in June but that is okay. I am excited about my race this Saturday! The lake swim has me very pumped! I did an easy 16 mile ride yesterday. I'll do 1000 yard swim today and 4 mile tomorrow. I'll do a 20/20/20 workout Thursday of swim/bike/run. I'll probably rest on Friday.

WOOOO!!! I love race week!