jsiegs and slornow's Train Hard and Have Fun group - CLOSED for Training (Page 42)

slornow - 2011-07-15 11:59 AM Have posted my Chattanooga race report on the race report forum.  Quickly forgetting how bad that run hurt...starting to look for more races

If they had race registration for your "next" race at mile 4 of the run I would never do another tri

Hope everyone has a great weekend.  Heading to the beach......

Randy 

Looks like a tough race.   I had to smile when I read you forgot to take off your swim skin.  I'm always afraid i'm going to do something like that. 

Enjoy the beach!

Christy

Good luck!  Let us know how it went!

slornow - 2011-07-15 2:16 PM

jsiegs - 2011-07-15 12:13 PM

slornow - 2011-07-15 12:59 PM Have posted my Chattanooga race report on the race report forum.  Quickly forgetting how bad that run hurt...starting to look for more races

If they had race registration for your "next" race at mile 4 of the run I would never do another tri

Hope everyone has a great weekend.  Heading to the beach......

Randy 

 

hahaha, just had a literal LOL moment...you left you swim skin on for the bike??!?!?!  Maybe i missed it but I don't remember that from when you posted about the race here.  I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, but with you (hopefully).  perhaps that led to some of the reason for your disappointing performance?  That is funny though...did you have like 100 people on the bike being like "uhhh, hey man...did you know your sill wearing your swim skin?" And I can just picture your response of "Yes, yes I am."

Joe-definitely did not intend to wear it on the bike.  Was just in the usual T1 mode and didn't even think about it.  There was a thread about the race on Slowtwitch and I posted some comments mentioning the swimskin.  One guy posted that I passed him and he noticed it...thought I was just really intense.  No actually just not too smart  I remember watching Kona last year and one of the pros did the same thing.....did not hold him back nearly as much as it did me  

Randy

Haha, yes, I didn't think you meant to.  We've all made mistakes like that, just gotta laugh about it.

I had a fairly awful day of training yesterday. I was planning to do about one hour on the bike fairly easy pace after my longer run yesterday. I was feeling lazy and kept putting off when I would go out and do it. Finally got around and headed out around 4pm. Got about a mile down the road and realized I didn't have sunglasses on. Went back and grabbed those and then headed out again. I made it about 4 miles out to a point where I start a fairly substantial hill climb. I made it to just a few hundred feet from the top when I flatted my front tire. I hopped off and started changing in. Saw nothing on the tire itself and couldn't find any holes in the tube. But just to be safe I grabbed my two replacement tubes in my saddle bag and switched one out. I had it all set to air up when I looked at the stem and realized it was the wrong size. I have a deeper dish wheel set and apparently my replacement tubes have a shorter stem than the tube I removed. So now what? I decided I would try airing up the tube that flatted and see whats wrong, maybe fix it enough to get me home. So I changed it back on and aired it up to hear all the air escaping out the stem. Not sure what happened there, but it wasn't anything I could fix thats for sure. At that point I reached for my cellphone to call someone to come pick me up, only to realize that I had left my cell at home. I never do that, I always ride with a phone. I was so frustrated! So I took off my riding shoes  and started the 5 mile walk home in my socks hoping that some kind soul would stop and offer me a ride, or possibly their phone. Walked about 3 miles before a cyclist finally stopped and asked if I needed any help. Used his cell and got someone to come pick me up. Now today my foot is fairly painful, it feels like I stretched something on the bottom of my foot for walking barefoot essentially on hard pavement for 3 miles. So much for an easy spin! Ended up switching my workouts around and went and swam last night instead of today like I had planned. Still trying to talk myself into going riding today.

That sounds horrible!!  Glad you made it home safe.

Christy

Greg (my 'coach') is a full time spin instructor, so for him, the trainer serves no purpose. The other guy was just being catty I think. He doesn't know me from the man on the moon, so he probably expects me to be out on the road rather than on a trainer. It's just not possible with a 1 year old, and I'm not going to 'train' with a trailer attached to my bike. That guy is one of those 'you're not a good enough bike rider' so instead of offering advice and helping, he just turns the other way. That's OK, I can take him in the pool any day of the week.

Wow Matt, that really sucks. I'm glad you got home safely.

Here's a non-training question: How many triathlon's have you done? How long have you been doing them? And what made you decide this is something you wanted to do?

I've done 1, in May.

I decided to do this because I've been told I can't and I hate that. I am a natural born swimmer, in 2004 I trained for a Half Marathon (did not complete) and ever since then it's been in the back of my mind that this is what I want to do.

My 'here's my sign' moment came after joining The Y and going to the Tri Training class. After doing the super sprint in May, I'm hooked! (surprised?! lol) I love this. I haven't been competitive since High School, so it gives me that rush to become better. I've learned so much about the sport, and I have so much more to learn!

I was in the middle of answering this and somehow lost it.  If I end up posting 2 answers...sorry.  I think my first tri was in 2003.  2003 or 2004.  I've done 7 (I think).  Took some time off in there to have kids  

I'm not sure why I started.  I was a competitive swimmer from the time I was 8 through college.  So I've always liked racing and pushing myself.  I really wish I could remember why i signed up. I didn't even have a bike at the time!  I went to REI (my husband worked there at the time so I got a good deal) and bought a mtn bike.  I thought I'd be more into mtn biking than road biking.  And I wasn't sure if I'd ever do more than 1 tri. 

It's funny looking back to my first one.  I was seriously clueless.  The water temp was around 64.  I didn't realize people wore wetsuits.  I was the only person without one.  For the start we had to jump off a dock and sit there for 45 seconds.  I couldn't breathe.  I almost quit right then.  Glad I stuck with it!!

Christy

Hey all,

Sorry I haven't been around too much the past few days. I have been rather sick. (The timing of it really sucks!).

I felt so solid coming off of my sub-par race performance last weekend, really focused on training and ready to progress to long-course racing. I raced Saturday, did a basic strength workout on Sunday (felt good to stretch out also), Monday came around and I knocked out a 45 minute swim, and a 30 minute run at night. After the run, I knocked out some errands before going home. By the time I got home my throat started to hurt, I immediately pounded some Orange juice, took an extra dose of vitamins, and went to bed. Woke up the next day and felt worse with a mild fever. Opted to not do anything that morning. Ended up feeling horrible both Tuesday and Wednesday. Woke up Thursday feeling pretty good, and being that I had the day off from school and work (extremely rare!) I wanted to take advantage of it, so I decided to go out for a ride. I was really proud of myself considering I didn't really feel that great, and being that it was HOT. I got a nice 2 hour ride ( well almost) and ended up popping my FiRST flat tire in my rear wheel. So here I am on the side of the road, middle of the day, with the sun buffeting me. It had to be near 110 degrees on the concrete...it was brutal. I ended up getting the tire off, and tried to get the tube/tire off of the rim, I struggled for a while mainly because I was scared I would rip the wheel, definitely did not want to be worse off. A cyclist passed by (which was rare, given that it was a weekday at 12:30-1pm) and asked if I had everything, I responded with "I hope so". He turned around, and lended a hand. I explained to him I was new to cycling, and had yet to fix a flat since my beginning in February...he was awesome. He left me with the tire in my hands, and said "I hope nothing like this happens to me today, I am riding tubulars." So he went on with his ride and I sat there trying to figure out how to get the wheel back in to the dropout/derailleur (note I have horizontal dropouts on my bike). I really got discouraged, I could tell I was doing something wrong, but could not for the life of me figure out how to alleviate the problem. 20 minutes pass by and a SUV pulls up with a bike on top, it was the nice guy who helped me with my tire and his friend (who works at the nearest bike shop ironically), the cyclist (Tony) ended getting a flat not even a mile after. Karma was not on his side that day, I felt really bad. But regardless i was amazed at how nice Ralph (the friend from the bike shop) was, picking up a random biker on the side of the road, putting my bike on the racks, and showing me what I was doing wrong. Sure, he busted a few jokes on me, but I am fine with that. It was all in good fun. I offered to pay him at least something, but he denied it. I got back to my car (which I was parked at the beach parking lot across the street) and decided to go back to the store and buy some Hammer products, it was the least I could do. They definitely made me re-consider my 'allegiance' to my LBS.

In other news, I am still sick (in fact I almost feel worse after the ride), but I think by tomorrow I will try to go to the gym to stretch and lift a little, and hopefully by Monday I will be back training...taking it slow for a few days.

Finally, I am dying to RUN! I bought some new running shoes, as my old Mizunos were in need of replacement, and I feel as if they were extremely cumbersome, and over minded on being stable. I went to a running store in town, which actually carries tri apparel also as the owner is now taking up triathlons (and is scary fast already)...great guy who I have talked to numerous times at the pool I train at, and has always complimented me on my swim, too bad I am insanely horrible at the other two areas compared to him. Oh well, anwyay...they did a fit process with video analysis on the treadmill, and a foot weight placement machine. They brought a few shoes, and wide variety of types of shoes. Ended up going with the Mizuno Precisions. They are insanely comfortable, and light. I can't wait to get some solid runs in them. It was what I was needed, an motivation to go run.

Have a good weekend all, I am glad I haven't been too focused on training this weekend...it has been raining the last few days here in the (NOT SO) Sunshine State.

Glad to hear someone stopped to help you out! It definitely opens your eyes to how helpful it is when others stop help, and it motivates me to do the same next time I see a cyclist on the side of the road.

@Karla- first tri was in 2010 and I have completed 10 triathlons and 1 marathon so far. I got into triathlon because I took a cycling class in college and loved it. I have always been a runner and figured the swim shouldn't be to hard to figure out. Its an awesome outlet for my energies and competitive side. I love having goals to strive for and push myself to get better.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I have a 70 mile bike ride planned for tomorrow, praying for no flats

Hi guys! Still visiting with friends so not a lot of time to catch up on this weekend's posts.

But... I FINISHED my first Olympic distance tri in 3.17 and am generally very happy with the effort. I posted my race report in my training log, check it out and let me know if you have issues reading it.

Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement. I have a lot to learn before I do my next one, but today I get to enjoy my recovery day

Looks like you had a great day!  Something must be going around in our group with transitions Enjoy your recovery day.

Christy

Great race Nicole!!

Did someone tell you about your helmet, or you just figured it out? Ya'll are making me nervous with these transition issues :P

My chinstrap was on and I was riding, but I reached to the back of my head for some reason and felt the front visor of my helmet. I immediately knew it was backwards and stopped to fix it. I felt like SUCH an idiot. A new helmet is on my list of things to buy. The one I have was free and doesn't really fit my head. I am finding that the pursuit of tri gear is a never-ending journey!

I just finished my third! (2 sprint and 1 oly.) I started in 2009, so that's one per year so far. I did my first one because my co-worker sent an email out to see if anyone wanted to do a women's only sprint tri and I said sure. After the first one, I was hooked.

Now that I have completed the olympic distance, I know I will do another one but first I have to get way way better on the bike. I'd like to get my average MPH up to about 19 or 20. So I will go back and read our discussions about how to get faster on the bike. Getting good at biking will be my next big mission, I think.

Ya know, I really don't know. This was my one big race of the summer, the one I planned for and trained for. I have a bit of a break coming up because the next 2 weekends I'm out of town and then we have 2 weekends of weddings. I'll still be working out, but not training for any particular race per se.

I don't have much else planned yet because wanted to attempt the distance before deciding what to do next. Maybe I'll look for a sprint here during the late summer. I was thinking of doing a half-marathon in the fall, haven't picked one just yet. 

I guess I need to start thinking about what my goals are now that I have one attempt at this distance under my belt. I really would love to do another Olympic, just need to figure out where and when.  For now, I'm going to enjoy my recovery week, and enjoy plotting and planning what my next move will be  

I bought my bike!!! I am SO excited!!

Couple things... Other than being overly excited about buying, don't freak out that it only took me 1 week to decide, lol! In all honesty, I had 4 bikes to choose from in my price range. I went in not expecting to buy a bike today, but my friend and I wheeled and dealed this guy, so I got a lot for a really great price.

Accessories:
Aero Bars (clip on, obviously)
2 Bottle cages
Pedals
Trainer
Cateye Cadence Computer

Bike:
http://www.scott-sports.com/us_en/product/10052/55735/218118

So super excited, I pick it up tomorrow. They are putting everything on it, and I go back for a final fit (he had to change out the stem and seat).

I can't wait to ride it, WOO HOO!!!

Made it 65 miles today in the 90 degree heat! It was a challenging ride and I am definitely feeling pretty tired now. It was good to do it during the heat though, my next HIM is notorious for 90 degree racing conditions. Practiced my nutrition and have a few tweaks to make with the hotter weather. Hope everyone had a good sunday of training.

-Matt

I've done 13, first one was 2008.  Of course, there have been 4 more I paid for this year but couldn't actually do, but I'm obviously not bitter about that AT ALL .

I got into mountain biking growing up, never very serious, but enough that I've always liked bikes, except back then i thought roadies were huge dorks (I'm not sure that perception has changed much though ).  In college I joined a group that road 4,000 miles across the country to raise money and awareness for the American Cancer Society.  Did it once in 2004 then directed the trip in 2006.  Even though that last trip was the summer of 2006 and my first tri was summer 2008 , I think those 2 months of 75 miles/day really helped me in tri's, if only to know that it takes long hours and consistency to get better on the bike.

I ran a little in college (aside from the minimal stuff I did for high school sports) cause there were cute girls doing it.  In 2007 another cute girl asked if I wanted to join her marathon relay team and I said sure (while I did eventually get very into running, I never got anywhere with the girls who made me start doing it).  Even though that training was so minimal and poor compared to what I do (did) now, I liked having the goal and really working to meet it.  I'd never done that before, my HS sports were baseball, tennis and golf, so skill based and tougher to make absolute goals like endurance sports.  I wanted to do a triathlon after that, but was scared to try, especially alone.  A year later, after convincing a friend to do one with me and with just rediculously low job satisfaction driving me to find something to put my energy towards.  I loved it and was hooked after the first.

What I think is key for me is that I had experience with cycling.  Even though swimming is the hardest to learn, all you need is a pool membership.  Cycling is this whole new culture and one that does NOT come cheaply!  It also takes the longest time (I believe) to work yourself up from slow to fast.  I really admire people who are in this sport who had no previous cycling background.  If I got in, realized the cost and how fast everyone else already was, I really don't think triathlon would have ever crossed my mind.

Congrats!

ooooooooh, fancy!  Don't tell my other bikes, but I've wanted a Scott for awhile now.  Get the most out of that fit as you can!  Even for a $10,000 bike, the fit will make or break it.  I see you got a trainer in the deal too?  You're gonna be SMOKIN after spending some time with your new bike on that!