Slornow's and Wannabefaster's Summer Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 47)
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Originally posted by WoodrowCall I've never really looked at the rankings; it just seems too abstract for me to focus on at this point. Now, Nate and I have talked about trying to make a run at doing well in our local tri series put on by SetUp Events. They do a series ranking, and that would be cool to chase because you'd have people to rank yourself against after every race. That sounds like fun! Definitely motivation throughout the season. |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Originally posted by slornow . Anybody racing this weekend?
I'm doing a sprint on Saturday. I went out and rode the bike course yesterday and did a little run afterwards. It's short but ridiculously hilly. The run is partially on a trail (and I've NEVER done any trail running), and it's literally rained for 40 days and 40 nights around here, so it should be pretty mucky for the run. Alas, my tri club is going to be well represented as this one is a mere 20 minutes from home. Should prove to be a fun day. Plus, weather reports are calling for sunny skies. |
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Extreme Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Can you explain the USAT ranking thing? I've seen people refer to it before, but obviously for us foreigners it makes no sense (I don't think BTF have anything similar). |
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Member![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I don't check the rankings because I don't do enough USAT sanctioned events to show up in them. I think you have to do three in order to rank. I agree with Jason that the site is almost unusable. Of course, if I was any good I'd probably put up with the usability issues to see my score. Since getting my Garmin I've been very metrics oriented (not obsessive though). |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Originally posted by chapfallen Can you explain the USAT ranking thing? I've seen people refer to it before, but obviously for us foreigners it makes no sense (I don't think BTF have anything similar). Rachel-here is the link to an explanation of how the ratings are calculated. You have to race 3 USAT sanctioned races in order to be ranked at the end of the year. The top 5% in each age group for the year earn "All American" honors and top 10% Honorable Mention All American. The system is far from perfect but provides a rating for each person in a race. If you race more than 3 races in the year then the best 3 scores are used for your year end ranking. http://www.usatriathlon.org/rankings/rankings-criteria.aspx
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Extreme Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Originally posted by slornow Originally posted by chapfallen Can you explain the USAT ranking thing? I've seen people refer to it before, but obviously for us foreigners it makes no sense (I don't think BTF have anything similar). Rachel-here is the link to an explanation of how the ratings are calculated. You have to race 3 USAT sanctioned races in order to be ranked at the end of the year. The top 5% in each age group for the year earn "All American" honors and top 10% Honorable Mention All American. The system is far from perfect but provides a rating for each person in a race. If you race more than 3 races in the year then the best 3 scores are used for your year end ranking. http://www.usatriathlon.org/rankings/rankings-criteria.aspx Thanks for that. It sounds kind of complicated, but I guess it's good to have some way of comparing performance over lots of different races. We have a club series each year, and the way it works changes each year because we can't seem to find a system that everyone likes ;-) |
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Extreme Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I have a half-formed question for the group. I haven't quite figured out how to phrase it properly, so I hope this isn't too rambling... Melissa's comment about people getting excited when they saw a girl at IMF (and the fact that there were only 300 women out of 2500 competitors) got me thinking. The ratio at Outlaw was fairly similar (126 women on the start list, 874 men). I "know" that there are always less women at long distance events (I'd seen the start list!), but somehow I manage to be fairly oblivious to the reality of it when I'm out there doing it. It hadn't really occurred to me that everyone else I know who did the race was male, except for 3 girls from the club who did it as a relay (one of them has done the full race the last two years, and another is planning on doing it next year - so I do know other women who race iron distance, just not at the same time as me!). Given that this group has what I think is a fairly even split of men and women, and I think most of our club training sessions do as well, does anyone have any thoughts about why there is such a big disparity at long distance events? Has anyone noticed anything similar at shorter distance? Obviously we all know that gender makes a difference in performance (unless you're Chrissie Wellington, in which case all bets are off), but has anyone had any experience of it causing "issues"? I don't know if it's just a british thing, but there's a phrase used, where a guy can be "chicked", which is where he is beaten by a woman. I know someone who made it his goal one season not to be chicked at all (to be fair, he's really fast - he just won his AG at IMUK). It's kind of a joke, but if you think about it, is also kind of offensive (I choose to find it funny, but I'm that kind of person). Do any of the girls in the group prefer to train with other women? If so why? Do any of the guys in the group prefer NOT to train with women? If so why? I'm not looking to start any arguments here, but I think it's kind of interesting to see what people think. I work in a very male dominated occupation and it's quite normal for me to be the only woman on shift, so I'm often really oblivious to stuff like this, and I think it's good every now and then to step back and think about it. |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Originally posted by chapfallen I don't know if it's just a british thing, but there's a phrase used, where a guy can be "chicked", which is where he is beaten by a woman. I know someone who made it his goal one season not to be chicked at all (to be fair, he's really fast - he just won his AG at IMUK). It's kind of a joke, but if you think about it, is also kind of offensive (I choose to find it funny, but I'm that kind of person). My husband uses that all the time LOL "I got chicked today" but he doesn't mean it disrespectfully. He's the first to applaud anyone who runs or bikes past him. Having said that, IMO traditionally, women stayed home to take care of the kids. Of course that is changing over time but training for long distance events takes lots of time. It's tough to do it all - as lots of you here have already pointed out. I'm sure as time wears on and more and more women "want it all" and "do it all" and let's not forget have supportive families, hopefully those participation numbers will climb. But for now, the fewer women who enter, the fewer women to beat me ![]() HAPPY THURSDAY! Got into my car this am after a meeting and the temp read 102! EEK! It "cooled" down to 91 on my way to work but DAYUM. I managed to squees 4.75 miles in at 6am and it was still ridiculously hot and humid. No races on tap this weekend for me but that's ok because I'm still zonked from Sunday AND Tuesday. Next one on the docket is next Tuesday. Have a good day all. Edited by mtnbikerchk 2013-07-18 11:11 AM |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Rachel, here it seems even the shorter distances are seriously male dominated. The sprint race last night had only 25 women out of 130 competitors!!! Took my time doing the RR now have to go, here it is, come back later. In the meantime question: do you think it's possible for me to improve my bike times by 10/15min in a 20k? How long fo you think it would take me? http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/RaceLog/races-edit.asp?raceid=250... |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() If I can find someone who can match my schedule and train at my pace, I don't care if they are martian. I would train with them. Triathlon training can be a lonely thing at times... Last night my wife came down and got in a workout while I was cranking away on the treadmill and it was really nice to have her to talk to. Made the hour go much faster. Triathlon training is such a spectacular way to get in really, really good shape that I am surprised that more women don't do it. Tom Demerly once commented on this site that he saw far more women every day out running but that doesn't seem to translate to triathlon participation. On the participation front.... My neck has gotten acutely worse. I have not had my MRI yet but I am in enough pain (last night's run didn't help) that I went in this morning and got a cervical epidural steroid injection. They always put a little local anesthetic in and it helped with the pain almost immediately. The local has worn off and the pain is back but I should know in 24 hours or so if the steroids are going to help (they are USADA/WADA legal if injected in to the epidural space--I checked). As it stands now, if I had a race tomorrow I would probably be a DNS. We will see how things are in two weeks when Boulder 70.3 rolls around. I am hoping for a miraculous recovery. I am shutting down the bike and run training for a couple days to see if that helps cool off the inflammation. Swimming still seems to be OK for now..... It is always interesting when life throws you these little curve balls. I am unbelievably fortunate to have the good health that I enjoy. Things like this just emphasize that more. Edited by wannabefaster 2013-07-18 8:21 PM |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Jason...I recently attended a seminar hosted by a Rehab and Conditioning facility, and they discussed the process of 'dry needling' for chronic type issues. I wonder if it might prove to be effective for your current neck issue. That said, I'm more of the non-traditional therapy type of mindset. Anyone here every been 'dry needled?' My husband (the caddie) has this shoulder/neck thing that plagues him constantly. We can never get the muscle out of spasm, and I'm willing to push him towards giving this a try. |
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Extreme Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I'm really not sure what is up with the gender disparity. Living in the Southeastern US, I can tell you that around here it is pretty common to follow the traditional family plan: wife stays at home and takes care of the kids, while the father works. I think that scenario lends itself to the man having more freetime to pursue hobbies like triathlon, whereas it's still expected that the wife's primary duty is to the family. Again, these aren't my views, but they are the predominant views where I live. On a personal note, I have noticed that it seems less likely that females have personal passion for physical activity. I've coached a girls' sports team, and noticed that almost none of them worked out in the off-season, and when they graduated high school, most of them didn't frequently participate in an active sport, other than just visiting the gym. On the other hand, almost every male I know has always enjoyed some physical activity. I'm not sure how much of this is nature/nurture, but it's just what I've noticed. I'm sure there are a lot of factors that contribute to this, and this evidence is pretty anecdotal, but it's just what I've noticed. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Originally posted by glfprncs Jason...I recently attended a seminar hosted by a Rehab and Conditioning facility, and they discussed the process of 'dry needling' for chronic type issues. I wonder if it might prove to be effective for your current neck issue. That said, I'm more of the non-traditional therapy type of mindset. Anyone here every been 'dry needled?' My husband (the caddie) has this shoulder/neck thing that plagues him constantly. We can never get the muscle out of spasm, and I'm willing to push him towards giving this a try. I haven't tried dry needling but I am intrigued by the premise. I think a lot of the theory about why it makes things better is that it induces an inflammatory response with subsequent blood flow and healing. I suspect that it works for some issues through this mechanism, especially areas without good blood supply. Think plantar fascia, achilles tendon or iliotibial band. Right now I think my major issue is inflammation at the nerve root, not lack of inflammation. I had a fairly large "wet" needle jammed in to my c-spine today with a dose of depomedrol injected. I am going to give that a few days to see what happens. My doc told me he expects me to be significantly better by tomorrow, if it is going to work........ If not I will start making alternative plans ![]() |
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Extreme Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Originally posted by WoodrowCall I'm really not sure what is up with the gender disparity. Living in the Southeastern US, I can tell you that around here it is pretty common to follow the traditional family plan: wife stays at home and takes care of the kids, while the father works. I think that scenario lends itself to the man having more freetime to pursue hobbies like triathlon, whereas it's still expected that the wife's primary duty is to the family. Again, these aren't my views, but they are the predominant views where I live. I think that's definitely an issue. Regardless of your personal views of who should be doing what when you have kids, the actual process of producing them will have a much bigger impact on women than men. My husband and I have discussed starting a family, and I'm aware that at the very least I will miss out on a year of racing, and probably significantly more, whereas he can continue with his training throughout. Interestingly, I just found this article on Mommy Guilt which probably covers a lot of the issues as well. Does anyone have any issues with "Daddy Guilt"? On a personal note, I have noticed that it seems less likely that females have personal passion for physical activity. I've coached a girls' sports team, and noticed that almost none of them worked out in the off-season, and when they graduated high school, most of them didn't frequently participate in an active sport, other than just visiting the gym. On the other hand, almost every male I know has always enjoyed some physical activity. I'm not sure how much of this is nature/nurture, but it's just what I've noticed. I'm sure there are a lot of factors that contribute to this, and this evidence is pretty anecdotal, but it's just what I've noticed. On this point, do you think that the disparity between relative interest in sport might be due to a lack of interest in women's sports in general? I know that in the US being good at sports can get you college scholarships and from there potentially into professional sports. Does that apply to women's sports as well? I know that in the UK women's sports are of very little interest to the general population. But the way you've described your girl's team applies to most of the guys I know, who will get together and play soccer if someone's organising it, or have a game of squash, but generally will just go to the gym to "keep fit" and for no other reason. But over here we don't have the same level of sports in either high school or college, and there's definitely no financial advantage (eg scholarships) for excelling at sports. |
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Extreme Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() And on a completely different note, someone just posted this on my friend's facebook page. It made me laugh, and definitely rang true in places. Why I run long distances |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Welcome to Friday all!! It's going to be 100 on the heat dial today so I'm wearing shorts to work. OH YEAH. Good luck to the racers this weekend. Have a great time! Back to work! |
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Champion ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Originally posted by mtnbikerchk Welcome to Friday all!! It's going to be 100 on the heat dial today so I'm wearing shorts to work. OH YEAH. Good luck to the racers this weekend. Have a great time! Back to work! The heat is about to break here. After a week in the 90s-100s, it is going to be in the 70s to 80s which is great news for local people racing in two different HIMs this weekend. No racing for me and training is light too. I have a question for the group. How did you set up your bike for hydration and carrying anything else you need. I have a dual chamber front mount and a cage on the downtube, but that's it. As IM draws closer, I need to figure out where to carry things other than fluid (e.g salt tabs, etc). For those that use tubulars, do you actually carry a full size spare tire for long distance racing? where?????
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Good conversation on women in triathlons. I think that women have less free/flexible time in general. Typically, the woman still has more responsibilities in maintaining the house, child care and cooking even when they are employed. I think its just that long ingrained assumption that those are a woman's responsibilities. Hopefully, that is continuing to change. On the issue of youth sports I think there are several things to think about. This is a generalization but I don't think as many young girls/teens are as passionate about their sports as their male counterparts because: 1.there are fewer women pro athletes for them to emulate or idolize; 2. With there being fewer women's professional sports most girls don't see themselves as a professional athlete someday while most younger boys dream of being a professional in their favorite sport (even though it is highly unlikely); 3. There is very little media attention on the few women's pro sports that do exist. There are other factors but I think that is part of it. I bet most of us could name only a few women pro athletes while I could probably name dozens of professional male athletes from football, baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, track, triathlon etc.... The only female professional sports that seem to get much exposure are golf and tennis. My son played competitive soccer for years and now runs in college. If soccer or a track event are on TV he is watching it. My daughter who also runs and plays soccer could care less about watching. Thats just an example as I'm sure there are young girls that are golfers or tennis players that watch the pro events religously. In the US for most college sports it is easier for a girl to get an athletic scholarship than a male (generalization). This is due in large part to Title IX which attempted to provide more equality in womens sports/scholarships at the college level. Here is how scholarships/athletic spending is treated: Scholarships: The total amount of athletic aid must be substantially proportionate to the ratio of female and male athletes. For example, consider a college with 90 female athletes and 115 male athletes and a scholarship budget of $100,000. An equitable distribution of funds would award $44,000 in scholarship aid to female athletes and $56,000 to males At larger colleges a big part of the budget for scholarships goes to football. At those schools the women's sports are typically better funded than the male sports (other than football). For instance at most NCAA Division 1 Universities the men's cross country/track and field team will have 11-12 scholarships and the women's teams 18. At Alabama there are approx 45 men in the cross country/track and field program so very few are on full scholarships as the scholarships are broken down and spread among the team. There will be a similar number of women on their team but more scholarship money per athlete. The result of Title IX has been to reduce the number of male sports at the college level and that is in large part due to the high number of football players on a team with most getting scholarships. At Alabama there are 7 male scholarship sports competing at the Division I level and 10 female sports. But, while males going to college and playing football, basketball or baseball may aspire to play professionally there are fewer opportunities in the female sports for a girl to continue on in a sport professionally after college. Other than golf and tennis there just really are not many pro leagues for female athletes to go to. There are exceptions but for the most part female athletes have few athletic options in their sport after college. Wow, sounds like the kind of folks that would love the excitement and competition of triathlon! Wow, that is alot. I'm headed to the beach for the weekend so limited internet. Will check in when I can. |
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Extreme Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Randy - thanks for that explanation of college sports funding. Sounds complicated and as usual with these things, slightly messed up. But I guess you're going to put the money into the sport that'll get you the biggest income... I think I've been really lucky in my various sporting exploits that there have always been good female role models. I used to do jiu jitsu, and was a club instructor for a number of years, but the club I started at had an instructor who was to become the first female 3rd dan in our style, and there were a few others around the area. And of course when I got interested in triathlon, having someone like Chrissie Wellington dominating at the time really makes a difference. Obviously I'm never going to get anywhere close to her, but it helps if you need to shoot down the "non-believers". I have an old acquaintance who is a professional MMA fighter. She recently became the first British female fighter in UFC. I mentioned this to someone at work, who is a UFC fan, and his response was "Oh, I don't think I'd like to watch women fight". With attitudes like that, where do you start... |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() It's funny... my first few events actually had more women than men. I was surprised about it at the time -- then I thought it must be normal (silly man, triathlon is for women!)
Then when I switched to Olympic distance, it shifted to a majority of men.
However -- none of these ratios is as lopsided as you guys are describing -- this is mostly 40/60 vs. 60/40. Maybe it's a regional thing (South vs. North, Canada vs. US) Scott. |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Oh... and since I missed the previous posting... "Hoos" is a spousal nickname. When we got married, my wife and I started calling each other "Husband" and "Wife". "Husband" became "Hoosband" (long U) "Hoosband" was then shortened to "Hoos" Silly, I know! |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Just home from my sprint. Finished 3rd in my Novice division. Had a good swim, a GREAT bike, and a crappy run. The first mile was straight uphille, mile 2 was mildly uphill...finally got to go downhill in mile 3. That's when I finally warm up and get into a groove. I was leading my division after the bike, but was passed by two girls at mile 2 in the run (I hope I'm not the only one who looks at people's legs as they go past). ![]() I rode the bike course this past Tuesday and averaged a 16.8 mph pace on it. I really pushed it today during the race...came home with an 18.5 mph average. I'm really pleased with that. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Nancy-great job. Heck yeah I keep an eye on my competition. Nice work on the bike. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Originally posted by SSMinnow p>I have a question for the group. How did you set up your bike for hydration and carrying anything else you need. I have a dual chamber front mount and a cage on the downtube, but that's it. As IM draws closer, I need to figure out where to carry things other than fluid (e.g salt tabs, etc). For those that use tubulars, do you actually carry a full size spare tire for long distance racing? where?????
I have two water bottle holders on my bike. One between the aero extensions placed "torpedo style." the other is an X-Lab holder behind the seat. The behind the seat can be adapted to hold a CO2 cannister and inflater. I think you could also put a tube back there. As I have said before, I have tried to absolutely minimize what I am carrying on the bike. No nutrition other than what is in my bottles. No salt tabs. None of that extra stuff. With that being said I have found that with electric tape you can attach about anything you want to your bike. I tape a CO2 cannister to each of my arm extensions just medial to my arm pads. You could just as easily tape a salt tab holder there and it would be right where you want it. I jam a spare tube up in between the rails on my seat and use a little tape to make sure it stays there. I have taped a tube directly behind my stem if I want an extra one. I have a patch kit taped inside the tail of my helmet. All of these are placed in locations that they are aerodynamically hidden from the wind. I don't use tubulars and I don't think I would want to have something that big on my bike. I would be looking pretty seriously in to the slime/fix-a-flat stuff if I were running tubulars. BryanCD had a picture of his bike last year with a tubular tire attached behind his seat. It looked pretty ungainly to me but that guy can outsplit me by 30 minutes or more in an IM bike so it obvioulsy isn't slowing him down much. Edited by wannabefaster 2013-07-20 3:14 PM |
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Champion ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Jason--thanks for that insight. I never have given much thought to "hiding" a lot of these things in small available spaces. It's a good one. I do have a can of PITSTOP, but have never used it and hope to never to have to. Lava Magazine had a picture of Meredith Kessler's bike and she taped PITSTOP under the top tube underneath her little bag. I thought that might work for me. |
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