SCIFT group (Short Course is Fast Twitch)! (Page 5)

Westynh - 2012-11-05 1:31 PM HM for me on Sunday 1:52:50. Didn't do quite as well as I had hoped but I did knock off 3 minutes from last year's time. Only my second time at this distance and this is a pretty hilly and challenging course. Temp. was about 40 degrees at race time which wasn't too bad once we got moving. Wind was blowing at about 13mph and gusting a little. It felt like the last 5k was dead into the wind. Perhaps that was just me fading away at the end.   Legs are pretty sore today, trying to foam roll and stretch the best that I can. I think I'm gonna give the old wheels a couple of days to recoup and then it's time to kick in the base training for next year's sprints and olys. 

Congrats on the PR.  Your second HM sounds a lot like mine.  Small improvement, but felt dead during the last few miles.  My third HM was a huge improvement though...so maybe the same will hold true for you.

I'd suggest hoping on the bike/trainer if possible and just spin the legs out.  Foam rolling also works well, but I always feel that an easy spin shakes out a lot of the "gunk" in the legs after a hard race.

Nice job on the race!

And I 2nd the trainer. Stupid easy resistance is fine, but get the legs moving.

Hey!  Yo!  Great PR on a course that is as you say -- pretty hilly and challenging.  Gonna go back for a third scaling of it next year??

x3 on spinning those legs out on the trainer!!!

I think after my marathon last year, I was in the small chain ring and largest cog just trying to spin on my trainer.  Then I just said screw it and completely took the resistance off and spun for another 5 minutes like that...LOL.

I'd love to do one of the races in Europe (France, Austria, Switzerland, Roth, etc).  Or maybe one of the new NA races like Lake Tahoe, Whistler, or Mont Tremblant.  Flat/windy courses like Arizona or Florida don't really appeal to me. 

Most of all though I love to do races with friends and training partners.  So any race where I could get 5+ of my buddies to go with me would be a great race.  Might happen for me in 2014.  A bunch of us are seriously thinking about going to Miyakojima (Okinawa, Japan) for the 30th anniversary of Strongman (3k swim, 155k bike, Marathon) .  I have some Okinawan blood in me, so it has some added cool factor.  I also hear they treat everyone like rock stars there...especially those who are invited from outside of Japan (we have connections to the guy in charge of bringing in non Japanese citizens).

Savageman is also on my short bucket list of races to do.

I'm sure I will. Stubborn like that.

Thanks everyone for the kind words, I took your advice and did a real easy 15 mins. on the trainer. I think you people are trying to kill me.

It actually isn't too bad if I keep moving, it's when I stop that rigor mortis sets in. Time to HTFU.

Really not sure yet. I'm still at the point where I'm learning about all the different races and IM locations. Definitely someplace where I can spend a week afterwards recouping and enjoying the sights.

Well, it doesn't have to be an IM. This is Short Course after all! I *think* the Alp d'Huiz tri is a short course, but would have to look it up.

I just found out about the Swissman. It looks like loads of climbing in there. And then you realize it's in meters, not feet.

I tend to look for (and do better at) ones that bring out the sense of adventure. Ones where the course itself is the entertainment. If you're doing to do something like this, make it one worth talking about. Pocono (for example) was fun. That course was nuts. Crazy updownleftright. And it was wet. I forgot all about placing and just rode. The run was relatively simple, but still enough changes. Don't think it's a coincidence I nabbed a Vegas slot there. Quassy was similar to that idea. No worries about placing or pacing. Just go. Have fun with it. All the hills give you something to do! Tahoe holds far more interest than Florida or Arizona. Anything Canada for that matter too.

Haha! But then I've never done a marathon.

Does anyone have plans for the long weekend?  If any of you or your family members have served in our military, just wanted to say thanks for your service!

10ish mile run Sat and long solo ride Sunday.  Monday I have a company golf tournament, and will probably run/swim later in the afternoon.

Long weekend?

Run, bike & swim. Somehow. Not definite on things yet. Heard something about "raking" tomorrow. Also rain possibility.

Overtime is how I got a lot of my stuff too, so keep at it!

Daylight this time of year can drive me nuts too. The time shift doesn't affect anything in the morning because it's still dark when I get up early to do something. Then there is so much less later in the day. At 2 o'clock I have think about when sunset is coming. That just seems wrong.

Got in about an hour of running this morning. Felt lethargic from yesterday's run (which included 2 x 15 min @8%), but pace was actually decent. Near 20 sec faster than it felt. Now to get a few hours on the bike trying some saddles out. Hopefully I can get that issue taken care of so I can have at it on the bike again.

You don't have to justify anything! That's great of you for pacing your friend.

I contacted Lani by PM to see if you had room for an old lady who is a newbie.  I got the go-ahead so here I am.

NAME:  Pink Socks & Pam.

LOCATION: Tallahassee, FL

FAMILY:  happily married to another BT’er, 14 y.o. son who loves baseball and is horribly embarrassed by his mother running around in tights and a sports bra. 

DESCRIPTION:  50 years old, systems analyst, began running 3 years ago, newbie to biking, love swimming but not with anyone else swimming on top of me or too near me.  

STORY:  Pink Socks is my way of remembering why I began running.  I watched my son’s middle school cross country team wear pink socks in memory of the coach’s wife.  When coach asked the kids and parents to participate in a breast cancer marathon, HM, or marathon relay, in Brenda’s memory, I internally scoffed because I couldn’t do that.  But it went into my sub-con and soon I decided to walk the half.  I adopted the alter ego of Pink and began training. I later began running and when I finished the HM, I was hooked!  Three years later, I’m happier and healthier.  I didn’t realize that I had been depressed for some time; I was one of those women that lost me while working and raising a family.  Now I’m back to being me.

I felt like a poser when I began training.  Now I almost think of myself as a runner but never want to be a “purist” like I still occasionally encounter.  I am not fast and I will walk (or crawl) or whenever.  I have now completed 10 HM, 3 marathons, and an 8-hour run where I got 35.96 miles.  I’m Half Fanatic 553.  I must admit tho that I fell into the stupid way of thinking that longer was better with running.  Why or why?  Guess I was too new to running and thought other people knew what they were talking about.  I do NOT want to make that mistake with tris.  But I’m still committed to a 50k in Dec (I may want to continue with occasional ultras) and I have one more marathon in Feb and God, I hope I learn and never sign up for another one.

I’ve done one tri and will be signing up for another sprint in March.  My biking is lousy because I just got a bike in July.  I wrecked so many times so I switched over to baby pedals and proudly rode that way in my tri.  I know that I’ve got to put on my big girl pants (or rather my big girl clipless shoes) and I’m going to try.  BTW, we named my bike Bronco.  If I ever really learn to ride, I’ll consider renaming my bike to Elway.

CURRENT TRAINING:   Right now I’m focusing on running because of the 50K but I really need to work on the bike during the winter.  My swimming needs lots of work but we don’t have a lot of indoor pools or even heated pools.  I usually do 6 to 10 hours per week of training.  I need to do more core work and strength training for my health so I’m trying for at least three 10-min sessions per week and will gradually work up.

2012 RACE:   50K in Dec.

2013 RACES:   Tallahassee Marathon in Feb, Red Hills Sprint Tri in March.  Then work on biking and swimming technique and look for an OLY in Summer or Fall.

GOALS :  No matter what, focus on health and fun.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone.  I'll try not to bog the group down with too many stupid newbie questions but if I do get moronic, I think I can accept you bonking me on the head and telling me to go study before I ask those kind of questions.

I would love to join and tell my story....and ask my "rookie" questions.

Welcome Pink and Snowy.

Aah, public humiliation of teenagers, one of my favorite pastimes. After reading how much you have accomplished with your running in in just three years. I'm sure you will have the bike mastered in no time.