Slornow's and Wannabefaster's Summer Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 49)

I love all the pictures. Its great to put faces with the names. I rarely seem to have a race picture that I like. For whatever reason I picture myself running/riding as smoothly and studly as Craig Alexander but the actual pictures seem to find the true me...old, awkward and struggling!

Had a really fun evening watching my son do his first triathlon. It was a local mini-sprint put on by the local tri club. Mostly beginners but there were 3-4 guys with really nice bikes, aero wheels, aero helmets and all the goodies. Distances were 350 yard swim, 7.5 mile bike and 1.3 mile run. Gil has just recently started swimming and rarely bikes but is a good runner. We watched the 50 racers start in Mobile Bay from the bluff overlooking the Bay. Someone quickly distanced themselves from the pack at the first buoy and I remarked to my wife that there was at least one real swimmer doing it. No idea where Gil was. Next thing I know he is coming out of the water in first place! What? He was riding my bike with his tennis shoes and I made him promise not to try and ride down on the aerobars as I didn't want him to wreck. He was first out of T1.....got passed by 4 guys on the nice bikes with the aero gear and was 5th coming into T2. Apparently he caught everyone on the run and finished first by about 30-40 seconds!  Exciting to see him do so well. Maybe next Summer I can get him to do a couple of local races with me. Looks like I have a relay partner down the road.

Good morning all! Headed out to my usual biking spot this morning for a 2 hour ride. Weather looked crappy so turned around and went home....did workout in the garage. Heat and humidity were brutal this morning. At 5:30am it was 83 degrees with a "feels like" of 89. Unfortunately, no AC in the garage and despite 3 fans I flooded the floor under the trainer and soaked through several towels. Good to get that one done.

I'm a big Gatorskin fan.  I'll take a little less speed with a guarantee on not flatting.  If I had to change the tire, the little speed I would have gained by using something less substantial would vanish.  I wanted them on the Parlee, but couldn't get 650 tubulars so have the Conti Sprinters which I've been told hold up pretty well too.

We had reverse experiences this weekend.  Yesterday I had a 6 hour ride in 55F, rain, wind and hail.  Today I woke up to 42F and drizzle so pulled the plug and headed downstairs to the CT. Thankfully my coach reduces the length of the ride when on the CT, 6 hours would have killed me.   I opened the windows, turned on the fans and was actually cold, barely sweat a drop.  What a difference a week makes where I was riding and running in 100F+.

I'm a big fan of the Continental 4000S. The S is important as it gets much better reviews than the Continental 4000. I use it for both training and racing. I also like the Vittorio performance tires. I do most of my training on rollers and you can feel the difference in the rolling resistance of the "faster" tires.  Using a low rolling resistance tire like the Gatorskin can cost you a good bit of time at the same effort level. 

Thanks for all the kind words about my son's race. What really excites me is that he has caught on to swimming so quickly ...and seems to enjoy it. No lessons, swim team, or any instruction yet he has good balance in the water and breathes bilaterally......yeah the exact kind of swimmer that I envy/hate! I told him this morning how lucky he is that it comes easy for him. He probably won't get into a pool or ride a bike for the next 9 months as he returns to school and XC practice but hopefully next Summer he will be interested in doing some races. I did get some satisfaction after he was complaining about his butt being sore after the 7.5 mile ride in the race   

Suzy-hang on to that cool weather for a couple more weeks!

Good work Jamie-elevate those legs. I've heard that laying on the floor with your legs straight up a wall can help with recovery. Might be worth a shot. Get some protein too! You are almost there.

Had a 53km ride yesterday evening.  (Randee -- I only had 1,500' of elevation gain -- you have my sympathies!)

Trying to ramp up the bike endurance as my next event is a granfondo in Banff National Park.  Not sure how to train on outrunning a grizzly bear -- tips welcome 

My wife did an open-water swim in the Rockies yesterday morning.  I was on kid / cowbell duty!

Scott.