Clyde/Athena Tri-N-4- Weight Loss Mentor Group -OPEN AGAIN!! (Page 48)

Race report-

Normal routine beforehand, race was by HFP which was well ran.


Swim- I wonder if a website called beginnerduo.com exist? So, yet again I freak in the swim, although luckily I somewhat turned it around (more on that in a sec). So this is how bad it was, it was a deep water start and I am in the water wadding around and I stick my head in the water just to blow some bubbles and can't do it. Like physically can't do it, it was a weird feeling. So the swim starts and I tell myself just go slow and do your thing, which last about 100m and I just can't do it. So, where I saved my swim, luckily I guess from the tons of swimming I do if anything i'm in decent enough shape to just swim terrible but not too slow, I basically just rotated my head back and forth above the water while trying to hold form the best I could with the rest of my body. Was actually able to catch some people. Finish time for the swim (750M) was 17 :18 and I was 5th/13 in my division.

T1- Pretty smooth really cept when I put sunglasses on they insta fogged. Time 1.25 4th/13 in division

Bike- Bike went really well, little hilly but nothing like I have tackled in some bike rides, although my lack of outdoor riding was a little noticeable at times. Passed many people and was only passed 2 times. Felt good in aero and overall can't complain. Time 40:05 (18.5mph) 4th/13 in my division

Run- Run was tougher than I remember, not sure if it was because I pushed kinda hard on the bike, watch decided to not find a satellite, no music allowed, swimming like a fool caught up to me, whatever the reason I was breathing hard basically the entire run. Pretty flat for the most part with a couple hills. Got passed by a guy I was sure was in the clydes and I just couldn't keep up. About .25m away from the turnaround a guy passed me on the other side that I also figured prob was in the cylde. Decided to make it my mission to try to catch him. Started pushing and was making ground on him slowly but surely. Caught him about .5 mile away from the finish, good thing too as it turned out we finished 3rd/4th respectfully! Time was 21:41 which of course at first I was like OMG I AM SO FAST, then learned that the course was shortened and it ended up being a little more than a 4k (which is why the bike course was a little longer apparently). Pace was in the 8:40ish range which I guess isn't too bad after doing the swim and bike.

Overall time was 1:22:52 good for 3rd/13, 2nd place was 1:21:07 so def in striking distance and first beat us all by a decent margin 1:16:59. The clydes were 200+ instead of the 220+. Ended up beating the 4th place guy who fnished 1:23:00 so snuch in 8 seconds ahead, sweet. Got 2 medals, 1 for finishing and 1 for placing and then hung with the kids at the playground.

All in all I really can't complain. From the last tri I did at the end of June I took around 2 min off my swim, 8 min off my bike and about :05 seconds off my running pace.

I had visions of doing a longer one the 17th of Aug but I think those plans are out until or if I ever do figure out these swim issues.

Congrats on top 3! I think the only way to overcome your swim issues is to just do it over and over ad nauseum...

Great job on the podium finish! That's something to be proud of!

I've struggled with swimming anxiety too and it has thrown me completely out of my rhythm. I finally fixed it this year. Here are a couple of the things I've done to work on it. I attended 2 open water swim clinics. The instructor gave us tips on how to deal with anxiety.
1. The most important thing he stressed. To get better at OWS, you must swim more in open water.
2. There are many things that can contribute to anxiety and it can be different for each individual. Sometimes it's the fact that the water is not clear and you can't see the black stripe. To simulate this in the pool, swim with your eyes closed.
3. For some it's swimming in a pack. Practice swimming with groups of people. You can simulate this in a pool by have one or two people swim slow in front of you. Make contact as you pass them. Have then also swim behind you and grab you feet. You need to get comfortable with contact and close proximity. During the clinic, we actually did drills of tight pack swimming. It's amazing how much this helped.
4. The other tip my wife gave me that helped (and I still think about) is put your face in the water and do 4 strokes. Then do it again. And again. Before you know it, your swimmimg your race.
5. Don't forget to breath. Exhale with your face in the water. Holding your breath is a huge problem.
6. I also found that once I got knocked off my stride, I had a hard time recovering. The instructor gave me a drill to work on this. In open water, or in a pool, in water over your head, go from treading water to a freestyle stroke. Practice drills of doing this. Incorporate it into every workout. You expend a lot of energy going from treading water to swim. The heart rate goes up. That adds to the anxiety.

I'm not sure which of these has helped me the most. Could be a combo of all of them. Last year I had an issue with every swim. This year, with these tips, and more experience, I haven't had that many issues. And when I have them, it's much shorter and I recover and get back into "my swim".

I hope some of this helps. I know I've rambled on and on...

Thanks guys,

All excellent points. Most likely the #1 thing is what is hurting me and thats the lack of swimming in OW. That was my 2nd time ever doing it, prob should of learned my lesson but life got in the way.

I actually have done most of those other things, really people around me doesn't seem to bother me, not sure about the murky water. I honestly couldn't put my face in the water, like I could not do it. It was the weirdest feeling ever, I would drop my face in and instantly feel myself going into full panic.

I think the only way its gonna happen at this point is to just do a bunch of OWS and frankly at this point in the year I don't know if the time investment is gonna be worth it. I have nothing near me, i'm talking nothing within 30 min at all.

Since I now know I can swim pretty darn fast with my head out of the water my thinking for the next one is to just swim like that in the start of the race and hopefully I get into a decent feel early on and can try to dip down in the water as I relax and not stressed.

Its disappointing though because my damn swim has came so far, I did a 500m swim in the pool yesterday in 9:45 which for me is smoking fast, breaking 10 min has been a goal since like March. More disappointed I just can't perform how I know I can swim. Heck not swimming that pace I really thought a 15ish swim was possible going slow

Had a GREAT 5k yesterday!
It was the same venue as my first 5k and the course was nearly identical! There was a small change to the start finish lines.
I smashed it - for me that is! Goal was to break 30 as my prior PR was 30:30. I ended up at 28:40!
Took nearly two minutes off! And from my first 5k on 6/30/13 I have taken 10 minutes off - yeah I'm slow and had a long way to go! But I'm still slow just less so!
I actually felt great yesterday! No pain - wasn't dragging - wasn't complaining! The question of "why am I doing this" was answered positivity in my head with many positive responses instead of my typical negativity!

Making progress

How was everyone else's race weekend?

Hey everyone still training? Work work train!

Hope everyone is doing well!

I'm feeling really good right now! Been working on leg strength in my gym conditioning!
I ran 5 strong miles yesterday.

Oh yeah, still going strong... This is a taper week for me, as I have my first Oly on Sunday. I've been doing short runs and bikes this week.

For some reason I get pre-race jitters the Thursday before a race. I'll probably be fine tomorrow and Saturday.

Still training too. After tweaking my legs again, I've been walking this week and will try running again Sunday. Swim and bike are all on schedule (even if tonight's group ride turned out to be a solo event )

Great job Robin!

Steelman Oly for me tomorrow. Picked up my packet today. The race is in Bethlehem, PA, about an hour from home. I figured there would be more hills than I have at home, but man oh man, it's got some major elevation changes. This race is sure to have its ups and downs!

I did the harrisburg marathon in PA. They said they had 1 hill and there non hills were bigger than the big hill in chicago.

Dropped off the Bike. All set for the US national Age group championship tomorrow. No wetsuit for me but I heard on the PA where we swim was 72 degrees today so it should not be too bad.

*chanting* race-re-ports, race-re-ports!
HeheheHehehe


Sunday Update:

Going to keep thus short. I'm actually off work today, and long posts on the phone kinda suck

Swim: made both days. 1000yd Wed (switch from Mon), 2000yd Fri. I logged Friday in two sets even though I ground it out in a single set. First 1000 took me 31 mins (boo!), got irritated at myself and knocked the second 1000 out in 24 minutes! That's beast-mode for me!

Bike: Thurs group ride ended up being solo. Weather weenies missed a BEAUTIFUL ride . 14.1mi @ 16.6avg... I'm closing in on that elusive 17mph avg. They've also started repaving the bad section on road so... Bonus! We were out of town this weekend, so I'm going to try to make up my Sat long ride this evening.

Run: non-running week. Since I tweaked my legs pushing too hard on intervals (dummy... ), I decided to walk my distance since that's better than sitting on my arse playing games. Made all 3 walks. My 2nd walk, while logged, was longer. Strava quit on me and I didn't notice. Had time this morning, so, I walked an extended route to see what the distance would be. Just over 4 miles. Now I just need to run it, lol!

Out of town is never good for the diet. Out of town at an amusement/water park is worse. Weighed 253.5 this morning, I need to look but I think that's only up 1lb. Between no runs, amusement park food, and 2 mt dew livewires to stay awake on the drive home last night ? this morning... I'm not unhappy with that at all. A little disappointed, but not unhappy.

You asked, you shall receive...

Race report - Steelman Olympic triathlon, Bethlehem, PA

First I need to give mad props to the race director, the race staff, the volunteers and all the athletes. This race was well organized. Communication was amazing. The course was well marked and loaded with volunteers. The athletes were some of the friendliest I have ever raced with.

Now the course... Challenging as heck for me! I train in NJ, I ride in the farmland. Yes we have some hills, or so I thought. This race has some HILLS! And of course the hills are not isolated to the bike, the run had some good elevation too. I think the only thing that was flat was the lake.

I don't have my official splits and finish, but for this race, that won't matter to me. This was a battle to finish, both mental and physical. I'm am happy that I finished and have that under my belt. I wasn't last and you know what, that wouldn't have even mattered to me today.

Prerace routine - pretty normal. Up at 3am because of the hour drive and the fear of not finding parking. My normal coffee and something to eat. Arrived at about 4:30am and the closestarking lots were willing up. Body marking, transition set up all normal. Had time to chill about and try to clear my head (and guy). The .9 mile swim was giving me prerace jitters.

Swim - 3rd wave, 110 in the wave. 74 degree water, wetsuit legal and i wore mine. I started towards the back and found my space. Got hit several times. Got punched in the face pretty hard (I have the bruise to show for it) at about 150-200 yards. Nothing was nothing me. I just kept swimming. I had some calf cramping at about 200 to go. But other than that I rocked it. I think I was just over 37 minutes.

T1 - not bad. I knew the bike was going to be tough so I took a little extra time. Sucked down a gel and drank some water. Long walk to the bike mount.

Bike - this is where it went bad. The first climb is about 100 yds from the mount. They say it's a 90ft gain in .3 miles. That doesn't sound bad to me, but is SUCKED! I actually had to stop about 2/3rds up and catch my breath. My heart rate was 179 and I was gassed. Took a few minutes to catch my breath and get back on the bike. The rest of the ride was climb followed by fast downhill, followed by long climb, etc. my speeds ranged from a low of 7 mph up to 37 mph down. I never relly had a chance to let my HR settle down and the bike took a lot out of me.

T2 - long! I almost gave up and didn't go out on the run. After sitting down, talking to Randi, and catching my breath, I put on my socks and running shoes. Grabbed my race belt and headed out for a tough 10k.

Run - I walked most of the first 2 miles, walked/ran the next mile. The tough thing with this course is that it's 2 loops. After you finish 5k the sprint runners head to the finish line (cant see it from the split, but can hear it for sure). The Olympic get to do it all over again. I almost ditched the 2nd half but I told myself to suck it up and run. I ran/walked the last 5k. I was never so happy to see a finish line.

Overall - certainly not my best race. I sure won't forget it! It wasn't what I had in mind for my first Olympic finish, but I guess we can't plan those things. But no matter what, I am a Steelman!

Group still open? If so, I will write up an introductary post tonight

STORY:
Well first off, I just realized I might not even classify as a Clydesdale anymore (down below 220), though I will always be in my head! I just need someone to discuss triathlons with as I suspect I'm driving my wife mad!

3 years ago I was 5'10" and 271 pounds (still 5'10" unfortunately). My hometown puts on the largest 25K road race in the country and some friends from high school decided to participate in it to raise money for a scholarship honoring a friend who had passed away. I decided that was a great idea and immediately signed up. I waddled home with my pregnant looking belly and told my wife (who has come to terms with my impulsive nature) and she fell on the floor in shock as the race was next weekend. I helped her up and explained I would be running in NEXT YEAR's race (2012). She seemed much happier with that as I was less likely to die and for some reason the crazy lady is rather fond of me. We have an old treadmill in the basement and I went for my first "run" that night (didn't want anyone to see me running outside). I was shocked; I couldn't even make it 20 seconds before I had to stop! Unfortunately the last 10 years of laziness had caught up with me. My only feats of endurance were eating entire bags of pizza rolls on my own while watching all 6 Star Wars movies in a row... not conducive to running a 25k! I did some research, found the Couch 2 5K program, started the Paleo diet and everything went well. Eventually I grew bored with running so I started adding in Crossfit but ended up injuring myself (torn rib cartilage, back, etc). Stopped Crossfit, hired a coach to get my training from 10k to 25k, and finished the race. Throughout training my nutrition had been spot on, especially during long runs and I had never experienced any problems. For some reason I ended up in the hospital after the race (electrolytes were too low, although I was properly hydrated) but recovered within a few hours. At that time I had gotten my weight down to 201 for a total weight loss of 70 pounds! Fast forward two years and I have gained another 30 pounds back. I will always be pissed at myself for not getting below 200 pounds. I don't think I've been that low since junior high! Earlier this year I realized I needed to get back to my losing ways so I looked through my old training logs to see what worked best for me. I came to the conclusion that running and a paleo diet were the key so I signed up for a marathon this fall. Unfortunately I overdid it with too much too soon (as I'm prone to do) and ended up with hip problems, PF in both feet, etc. I started riding my bike for cross training and was reminded that I absolutely love to ride my bike! I've always been intrigued with triathlons so I decided to try swimming. I'd never done so competitively but I lived in the water as a kid and figured it couldn't be that bad. I started looking for a sprint triathlon and found one about 500m from my parent's place in Petoskey. That just seemed too good to be true so I signed up and will compete in my first tri this weekend!


FAMILY STATUS:
Happily married for 14 years (as of today!) with two kids. My son is 11 and my daughter is 8. When I first started running a few years ago my daughter came up to me and asked if I was exercising so I could walk her down the aisle someday. I had to stop the treadmill as my “allergies“ were acting up and tell her that yes, that’s why I was trying to take better care of myself.


CURRENT TRAINING:
I was focusing on running 4-5x per week but have backed that off to 4x with lower mileage. I focused on my swim and bike after signing up for the triathlon. Again, I overdid it, this time with the swim. Apparently you aren’t supposed to go from 0 yards to 1500 yards everyday overnight. I have some ankle issues so I’ve stopped swimming aside from an open water swim each of the last two weekends as practice. The last two weeks I’ve been training around 8 hours (should all be on my training log), with the main focus being on the bike with enough running to keep me in shape for my upcoming half marathon.


2014 RACES/ results
Mackinac Bridge Memorial Day Run - 5 miles, 59:02 minutes. Surprisingly uphill, you don’t notice it in the car! Run/Walk combination (5/1).

T-Rex 10 Miler – 10 miles, 2:06. Fourth of July trail race. Probably my favorite race to date.

Bear River Crawl 10k – 6.24 miles, 1:00. I missed an age group medal by 22 seconds! Of course I also came in last, but I’m focusing on the positive. I was shocked at my pace (9:37).


2014 Upcoming RACES:
8/17 – Petoskey Sprint Triathlon (500m swim, 20k bike, 5k run)
9/14 – LMCU 10 mile Bridge Run (good warm up for my HM)
10/19 – Grand Rapids Half Marathon (decided to make a mature decision and switched from the full to the half. My wife was proud of me, I acted like a grown up for once!)


WEIGHTLOSS:
I covered the details in my background post, but overall I would like to get down to around 180. I started trying to lose weight again around May 5th and am down to 213.2 today from 231. I am not in a hurry to lose weight this time but instead am focusing on making the best choice available and allowing myself a treat when I feel I’ve earned it and not beating myself up the next day. Treats often include wine. I really like wine, especially with my wife ?

Mike: Way to go on powering through!

ToeFuzz: Welcome to the madness!

Now we need to get Peter in here for the initiation questionaire...

Initiation?!? Will there be hazing?

my day at age/group nationals

Well first of all I am happy the water was about 10 degrees warmer than I was warned about. The race was in a little inlet so it was 71 degrees and not 63 like others were reporting. Swim was OK. down side no wetsuit and turns out I got stuck in an endless pool for awhile and I did not even know it. People were shouting to me to move out of the current. Eventually a boat came and crowded me I moved over. Since I was about 3 mins slower than June I got caught the the next wave. I did get punched in the jaw but it was a younger girl wave so she hit like a girl . (kinda of a joke but I did get hit and I think it was a closed fist).

Bike was hard. People kept saying how flat it was going to be but most people agree the hills were kinda tough especially in the sprint because I was either going up hill or coasting down hill. I think I was only in a flat for maybe 2 miles. Even at the first hill my quads were burning so much I was not sure I was going to make it up. 2 of the hills going down I had to break. 1 because I felt my tire slip a little on the curve and got a little freaked and the other one had final turn right at the bottom. I did get to do 1 on your left going up hill. Kinda scary because we were down to 1 lane on a bridge that was under road construction. Other scary thing was on the final and fastest down hill they had rubber mates to protect you against seems in road but if you catch your wheel on it you might fall over the side 100 ft down. (at least that was going through my head.) It was a little scary that way also.

Run was fine. I kept up my normal lunch pace which made me feel good. Goes to show I have more endurance than I was worried I had.


Edited by chirunner134 2014-08-12 9:44 AM