RFP GROUP 2013 - CLOSED (Page 39)

This calls for one of my mantra sayings "suck it up buttercup".

ONE DAY AT A TIME..... (and stop looking at the whole training plan, you will drive your self NUTS!!

ONE DAY AT A TIME.... you will be just fine. You are an Ironman.

LOL... I guess then I better not mention that I can barely walk today.  Yes, I am sucking it up, I just wanted to wine some.  I just need to get a week under my belt so then I can feel more comfortable in juggling everything around.

I can understand - it took me almost 4 months to get back in the swing of things and just recently do I feel back in Ironman shape.  Plus when are your legs not sore when training for an Ironman.

yeah I hear you on the budget thing - These damn races just keep getting more expensive.

2 weeks is fortnight? I was thinking like a day and a half haha.  Good thing I didn't try and use that in one of my meetings today.

I had no idea what a fortnight was.   What do you know I just learned something.  

Talking about races getting more expensive I am wondering how much more they will get after the Boston marathon bombing as you know races will have to pay for that extra security.

Good morning all!

I had my first OWS in first wetsuit swim yesterday.  Man, what a humbling experience.  Water temp was 61, light chop with 8mph winds and an air temp of 65 ish.  Let me first say that 61* water is much colder than it sounds.  It took my breath away.  I also had a minor panic attack not being able to see the lake floor.  Once I was able to get used to that I did ok, practiced sighting but the cold would not release it's strangle hold on my asthna.  Note to self...always hit the asthma puffer before swimming in cold water.

Going back out there tomorrow to try and get some confidence before the 750m swim on Sunday!

Any tips other than keep doing it and survive the swim by looking forward to the bike?

Good job on the OWS swim!  Nothing you can really do above and beyond except just get in the lake and keep swimming.  It might take a couple actual races to really get comfortable with the things you mentioned as well as 30-40 people surrounding you.  Here are a couple things I work on to help me feel more comfortable:

1. When in the pool work on you catch up dril.  Sounds weird but at the beginning of races I almost do this drill to help me "feel" my way around the kicking feet and not take one to the nose or jaw.  Just get used to keeping your extended arm out a littel longer until you get into some more open water and can settle into your stroke.
2. Try to practice your sighting every swim practice.  I try to do at least 100-200 yards of just sighting and trying to make my stroke as smooth as possible while looking up.  Once you get good at it it should not take much effort.  Plus this makes sighting SO MUCH easier when you ar ein your wetsuit and have that extra bouancy.

Sorry can't help with the asthma.  Also i will take 61 in a heartbeat.  My first race is in two weeks and they will make it a duathlon if water temp is under 52.  With the weather we are having it will be close but I am expecting swimming in 52 degrees 

Wow-good point.  Never even thought about that. Might need to take out a 2nd mortgage for next IM.

KTC - They're also taking to the City of Boulder about hosting an Ironman event since they already have the 70.3 here. That would be cool!

One thing with cold open water swims that someone taught me was to get in for a bit then get out and let your body warm up then get back in. Continue to keep doing this until your body gets used to the cold water. If you just get in an stay in the cold water zaps all of your heat and you'll stay cold the entire swim. Good luck on Sunday!

Wow, haven't heard that one but it would be cool to have an IM race there as the scenery has to be awesome!

Okay I take back my complaining of the 68 degree water temp that I was swimming in last week.  That was warm compared to what Tim and Pierce is talking about.  

Jen - never heard about the getting in and out of the water to get your body adjusted to the cold temps.  Make sense after you think about it.  Will have to try that.  

A tip that was given to me------take lots of cold showers.   And fill a bowl of ice water and practice sticking your face into it.  They say the shock is more due to your face hitting the cold water then anything.

Hey Team. Looks like another session is starting up - who is in? Sorry I have been hit in miss this time around. I don't like to make excuses - I just have a lot of shite going on in my life and I am barely hanging on and doing my best with life, work and triathlons. So because of all that crap - I have not been on here to chat as much as I have in the past and I will try to do better the next go around.

So - long story short -  thanks for the support to date I realy appreciate it. I hope everyone is safe, healthy and happy.

KC 

I certainly think the point when my face hit the cold was what really took my breath. Now I somewhat know what to expect so hopefully that will make a difference. We will find out.  According to USGS the surface temp is now 58.

I'm beginning to think the good Lord is not crazy about me doing triathlons, or He has a great sense of humor because He knows I won't give up.

The first one I tried to do was cancelled due to weather. Now I am signed up for this Sunday.

The weather forecast...

Low 60's for a high (about 15* below normal - last year the temp was a record high 95) with water temp in the mid 50's and 15mph east winds with gusts to the upper 20's.   I might need to adjust my Goal A time a bit more towards my Goal C time. lol

good luck this weekend, pierce!  aside from the wind, low 60s sounds just about perfect to me for bike/run temps.  i HATE running in the heat especially!  bummer about the cold water temps...  i think that once you get going, you'll warm up quickly.  it will just shock you in the beginning.  and i agree with jen that getting in the water for a quick warm-up swim is wise before the start of the race.  it will take some of the edge off when you start your swim.  i'll be cheering you on from new england!!

Hey Team.

Good Luck Pierce and have fun.

KC

Silly question why is Ironman Australia called IMOZ?  

Simone, I hope you get in?  We have 28 weeks till our race you will be ready!

Pierce, I saw that you finished, but how was it?  The weather had to be terrible.

KC, hang in there, things will get better here soon.

KTC - Not a silly question at all. Oz is a common shorthand for Australia. A lot of folks overseas call us Aussies but say it as Ossies, but it is actually pronounced Ozzies. A lot of Aussies will use Ozzie or Oz or Down Under or DU to refer to our country.

I am a triathelte!

Thank you all for the encouragement, support and tips. I used a lot of what I learned here and from links recommended and had a successful day, finishing 78 out of 103 men and first of the 4 Novice Males.

Given the water temp and the high winds they shortened the swim to 500m from the scheduled 750m. I signed up for the novice category which put my wave last to start.  It was a small event with only 200 or so showing up. I guess the weather had something to do with that. Conditions at start: low 50's 15 mph winds with gusts to 25 and intermittent rain.

Here's my times:

I had a decent swim. I think I started out too fast, but I did good with sighting and made the swim as short as possible.  The current was stronger than I expected for a lake but thankfully the cove we swam in was protected by an island so there was very little chop. Pleased with results for the most part. Average 2:17 per 100m which is good for me given my training swims average 2:30 per 100 yards.

T1 was hampered by the rain and cold.  The only shirt/jacket I had was a Under Armor cold gear pullover and since I have a sleeveless wetsuit I spent probably at least 90 seconds trying to get it on. Another mistake...trying to put on socks.  I could have made up a LOT of time here.  Also, I should have put on my knee brace (more on that later). 

Decent bike, averaged 17.5mph with the second half significantly bringing my average down due to the lack of hill strength. I went out strong and hard but just could not maintain when I got to the hills. I need to work on power and endurance. On the flats I'm strong but once the elevation changes I drop quickly.  The wind probably didn't help much. I ride tall and I'm kind of on the bigger side (6'3 200#)so when the winds would hit me I could feel it slowing me down. I'm just not yet strong enough to power through it.  The lack of a knee brace also slowed me down since the inner right of my bad knee was hurting again. I think I overadjusted my cleat when it came lose on the last right so my toe was pointed in too much.

T2 the rain slowed me down here too. My bike shoes were puddles of water.  They don't drain out in the least so all the water from the rain just pools up in there.  Slowed down here by changing socks and getting my shoes out of the plastic bag.  All that said, it sure was nice to have dry shoes and socks on.

My run felt like it sucked but seeing my pace of 8:42 in hindsight it's decent. This was not far off from my goal, especially considering I walked a little. I started out good at my goal pace but it took me a while to get settled with my breathing rhythm, then I had some stitches from not being hydrated.  On the bike I didn't take the fluids I needed partly for fear of the wet roads.  This came back to hurt me on the run. I was parched. I had to walk through the water stations to drink. Right about the time I started feeling my rhythm my knee started acting up.  I was hoping it would hold up over just 3 miles but it didn't. The last mile was a dreadful slow pace and painful for me.

In the end I had a great time.  I knew my transitions were slow but I was ok with it. For my first event I wanted to try and be comfortable.  I knew I had zero chance of making podium and that's not really my goal anyway. I really enjoyed the experience and I will definitely race more.  It's like I saw somewhere the other day... Cook - Eat. Train - Race.  I am taking today off but will start my HIM plan tomorrow!

Thanks Simone! I felt silly for asking but I had no clue.  I knew you were referred as Aussies and didn't even think about Ozzie or Oz.  Thanks again for another Australia lesson.