Experior and Slornow's Spring/Summer Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 40)

Morning everyone.  Sorry to miss out on the great racing action this weekend!  I had no internet.  Congrats to Jason, Blanda, and Stu -- great racing all around.  I'll look for the reports when I get home tonight -- we hit the road in a couple of hours.

Have a great day everyone!

179.6.  Had a bit of an off week last week with training, but had a great workout yesterday.  Looking to kick some @ss this week.  5 months to IMAZ!

Congrats to those who raced over the weekend.  Jason- Your HM time is seriously impressive! 

Weigh-in:  I didn't have access to a scale this morning.  Given a long ride that involved an added hour due to getting lost, I think I'm doing OK, weight-wise.

Congrats again to weekend racers -- those are some very nice results all around.

I'm working on a post about addressing strength imbalances.  I've been doing a lot of research to back up what I learned from the fitter.  I haven't forgotten my promise!  Just need to find time to write it up.

That blog is hilarious!  Thanks for posting.

Good Morning everyone!  I'm working the afternoon shift this week and tried to do a run after work last night but bonked after 4 miles.  Woke up this AM just in time to get in a decent run.  Finished in time to catch a shower and will get to work with hair still wet.  Love it when I can squeeze in a good run!  Jim

Rene-those are great links!  Almost spit my coffee out when the taco was used for reference.

Jimmy-I was picking on you about the Harley.  When I rode a good bit I was a BMW guy. Had a 1991 BMW K75. Was fortunate enough to do 2 weeks in Europe (Germany, Austria and Italy) riding in 2002 with Edelweiss Tours. It was an absolute blast riding some of the best roads in the world.  Fortunately, I came back in one piece and would love to go again. My father in law has riden for years. About 15 years ago he decides he is going to get a Harley (he's a BMW guy) so he bought a Fat Boy.  Rode it from the dealership home, about 100 miles, then trailered it back to the dealership and sold it back to them.  Said the vibration was more than he could stand.  

Lunch time run on the schedule for me.

Randy

Hey everyone! Been away for a bit. Nice job to Jason, Blanda and Stu this past weekend. 

I had the pleasure of doing some swimming with a large group of sunfish last Friday.  I stayed inside the swimming area at the lake, and it was clear the fish knew there was no fishing allowed there. I hope not to see so much wildlife when I get in the ocean this weekend. 

Relax and enjoy it.  Sometimes going in with that attitude is the best way to a good race.  Sounds like this is one of those times.

Relax and enjoy it.  Sometimes going in with that attitude is the best way to a good race.  Sounds like this is one of those times.

So maybe not the best time to tell this story....  In a training OWS at the ocean a while back I came eye to eye with a dolphin.  I'm not ashamed to admit that this Wisconsin boy was scared stiff!  I can deal with large livestock, but being a few feet away from a dolphin (several, as it turned out, albeit for a brief few moments) had my heart beating at max HR!  Amazing creatures.

Here are my last three sprint results:

Early 2012 (I think January) Swim: 750M 24:59 Bike 12M: 52:46 Run3.1M: 35:20 Total: 1:53:05
Early 2012 (I think February) Swim: 21:55 Bike: 52:40 Run: 33:09 Total: 1:47:44
June 17, 2012: Swim 21:00 Bike: 57:00 Run: 33:11 Total: 1:51:11

I'm very happy with my improvements in the swim and run. Biking on the road is something I survive. At least in the mountains I'm enjoying the view! I'm also OK with the last results as I played a really hard game the night before. Not as bad as I had expected on the run portion, and to improve on the swim at all was encouraging! Wishy washy on the dates for first two sprints because they're just listed as 1 & 2 on our triathlon federation website.

Things I need to do to improve:
More training in all three
A road bike

We have an Olympic distance triathlon on July 17th. I know at this point I can do it, but I'm struggling with the committing to training for and competing in it not know how much training I'll actually get in, and whether I'm going to be OK with finishing near dead last. I also do NOT want to do it with a mountain bike. It's hard work! I'm tempted to just volunteer for it and just focus on keeping fit to train for Xterra in March of 2013. My husband said he might not be home till October, so 100% commitment is questionable.

I dunno. In the big scheme of things, I can just settle to try improve my time for a 1/2 in October since I know I can get run training in for sure, but I'm enjoying the biking and swimming. Ah well. Well see in the next week or so to see if I road bike is within our financial reach. So far, the teeth and eyes of this family have taken priority.

Anyway, that's where I'm at on the tri' front. I may be exiting the site shortly, or getting more involved.

Blanda-that's great improvement over the 3 races.  I sure hope that you will not "exit" anytime soon.  The group would not be the same without you! You have such great spirit and enthusiasm!

Olympic or not?  Olympic distance does not seem like much more than a sprint but it is a big step up in my opinion.  Particularly on the bike and run.  Running a 10k after almost 25 miles on the bike can be really tough.  Doing the bike with a mountain bike makes it even harder.   I know this sounds discouraging but with your limited time I would say just train and do the things you enjoy.  The race is only a month away and I have no doubt that you would complete it but would you be excited about doing it?  Would you look forward to it?  You know what is best for you but I think too many times we think once we have completed races at a certain distance we must try a longer distance.  No harm in continuing to do sprints and gaining that all important race experience.  If something comes up and you can't do a sprint there is not nearly as much invested as with the longer distances. Now, if you decide to do the olympic race I will tell you why you will crush it, have a great race etc., Just my thoughts.  Do what you ENJOY and what fits around/within family, work etc..

Randy

Blanda -- I'm 100% with Randy.  Do what turns you on.  Don't do the Oly 'just because'.  Actually, volunteering would be a great way to get a certain kind of race experience and probably boost enthusiasm as well.  I always learn a lot from seeing how others race.  (Example:  I never really understood what a truly fast transition looked like until I saw it 'in the flesh'.)

Anyway, 25 miles on a mountain bike on the road would be quite a slogfest, IMO.  If you do it, then you win the mental toughness award for the summer, for sure!

There were rumors of an alligator in the lake for the Charleston HIM a couple of years ago.  The local media had nothing better to do, so they played it up and the RD had to call in an 'aligator guy' to give the all clear.  Insane.  As if an alligator would be caught within a mile of 500 thrashing triathletes...

Lots of drama on BT the past several days.  I wasn't following it at first, but have been brought up to speed.

Hmm.  Does anybody else feel like there is somewhat of a brain drain in the main forum?  There are quite a few extremely talented and knowledgeable people who are on the site who no longer, or rarely, post in the main forum (most by choice, some by being banned).

I don't mean to be a downer -- I still think that a lot of valuable advice and help and encouragement gets doled out, and I have faith that BT can continue to be a great resource for folks.  But the events of the past few days are a bit depressing to me, and seem to be in line with a dangerous trend.

OK, rant over.  As you were!

For me today:  long run.  I hope.  I started a run yesterday that I thought would be a long run, but bailed half way through as I felt awful.  I'm going to try again today.

What have others got going on?

Michael-I think I caught a bit of it in the main forum.  Something about posts being deleted? I read the post by bryancd.  He is one of the "go to" folks here on BT in my opinion.  Has anyone been suspended from BT recently?  Its a fine line to allow opinion in this type of setting without allowing offensive comments.  Seems like BT might be tightening up a bit.  I have never read anything on BT that I would consider over the line.  I think it is extremely important for a site that caters to athletes new to the sport to have people like bryancd that have so much experience.  Not sure if this is what you were talking about....I din't follow the thread very closely.

Randy

Yes -- Bryan has actually been banned from the forums, allegedly for the comment made in this thread (plus earlier alleged warnings -- that part is unclear and somewhat in dispute):

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=446228&start=1

Then the mods made a pretty questionable decision (probably in reaction to PMs they received) to post what amounts to a thread attacking Bryan (sort of 'building a case' against him), which is a bit ironic since they banned him for 'attacking' another BT member (I personally do not think that what he posted amounted to a personal attack).  That thread is here:

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=446659&posts=3&start=1

I think that the mods then realized that they went too far.  They deleted that second thread, then second-guessed that move (lack of transparency and all) and put it back, but sort of indicated that they realized that they might have screwed up, without totally backing off.

Anyway, messages about the whole affair are circulating amongst several experienced and knowledgeable posters, many of whom are expressing frustration at what they see as a dangerous trend towards those people not desiring to contribute to the main forum much if at all any more.

Transparency seems to be the word of the month :-)  I haven't been following the controversy on BT as we are up to our armpits in this kind of thing in Charlottesville right now.  Been an interesting couple of weeks.  Really tough to get in work and training time (let alone BT time) when another shoe is dropping every hour it seems.  (I expect few are following the UVa drama, but a very interesting developing story regarding my alma mater as well as where my wife works).

Stu

I haven't been following it closely, but have heard a bit, being in higher ed myself.  I have been frustrated more than once by 'proactive' boards of trustees many of whom are on the board solely because they are rich (and gave a lot of money).

Michael-wow.  Now I see what is going on. What a mess.  I understand the need for decorum but frankly I take it all with a grain of salt.  Guess for some its much, much more than that.  Too bad!

Stu-was not aware of the happenings in C'ville.  Took a quick look online and see that there's alot going on.  Hope it gets worked out.

Randy