Matchman's Group - FULL! (Page 5)

Wow, Stephen!  You freakin' smoked it, man.  Knocking 34 minutes off your marathon PR is no small feat.  Doing that amid the stress of your FIL's death is even more impressive.  Congratulations. 

My sympathies to you and your wife on your loss.  Its never easy regardless of age or health or anything. 

As for my race on Sunday, it was an indoor tri at the University of Minnesota.  30 minutes each for swim, bike and run with 10 minute transitions.  Results are measured in distance.  It went pretty much as expected since my training's been a little lacking the last couple of months.  Swim was pretty poor, bike effort was good, and run went pretty well.  The only frustrating thing was that these stationary bikes had funky distance calcs.  I was pushing pretty darn hard and the thing had me averaging <15 mph.  Mind you I averaged almost 19 mph in all my races last year so I think the distance there was total bunk.  I'm not sure if it was uniformly bunk but I suppose it really doesn't matter given that I wouldn't be anywhere near the top. 

How 'bout everyone else?  How's the training coming?  Have you been thinking about your training plan?  Have you been working on your 2007 race schedule?  Please let me know if you need any help in that arena and I'll try to point you to the right resources. 

As for me, I kicked myself in the butt today and set up my training plans through mid-September.  My BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) for 2007 is a Half Ironman on September 9th.  I'll pepper in some other races between now and then but that's the my "AA" top priority race.  I'm already nervous just thinking about it but life is short, right?

Cheers to all,

Tom

Wow, Neil.  That's really disappointing news.  Sympathies and prayers from across the pond. Racing for Rick sounds like a great idea and a wonderful way to honor him.

As for shoulders hurting while swimming, I'd pay close attention to that.  If its muscle soreness and fatigue, fine. I get that after almost every swim. Eating quality recovery foods, ice on the area, and ibuprofen can do wonders. If you're feeling something other than that, I'd definitely proceed with caution.  This is yet another reason why a good swim coach is so important. They'll help get your technique to a place where you won't make hamburger of your shoulders.

Cheers!

Tom 

That's terrible news, my thoughts are with you.

My apologies for not being so vocal over the past few weeks.  I'm feeling like i'm spread a little thin.  As my training increases, I find it more difficult to find time to do all the things I need to do in a day.  This has lead to some long days and late nights and early starts......and wouldn't you know it I got sick again.  Tonsillitis of all things, haven't had it since I was a child.

My training is going well (with the exception of the little blip) I'm going the train more specifically over the next few weeks for my first race on the 25th, short distance stuff.  I'm doing a short course 300/10/3 for my first, my original aim was a 750/20/5 mid-year but that's mid winter here.....so there isn't one.....duh!

I hope the rest of the year it better than it started for many of you.  It's often a painful reminder how fragile life is, that's it's not forever, and to cherish those you love. 

bye gang (i'm past my self imposed 9:30pm bedtime again!)

Aaron.