MJEWEN Summer 2013 Mentor Group - OPEN (Page 5)

Do you have room for one more in your group?

I'm 46 (as of last Saturday), married and have 3 children and 4 grandchildren!

I was a couch potato until January 2006. I was extremely overweight and needed to make a change. I started changing my eating habits and watched the weight fall off. In July of 2006 I made the decision to start exercising and running seemed to be the cheapest way. I followed a training schedule for July and August and my mom talked me into signing up for the 5k that took place at the Air Force Marathon in Dayton, OH. WOW! I was hooked after that. At the finish I made the decision to one day run a marathon and my first would be there. One year later, I ran the Air Force Marathon. It was amazing. Since that one, I have run 10 more marathons and recently progressed to triathlons. Last year I did my first Sprint and Olympic triathlons. This month I finished my first HIM in Florida - Rocketman! It was an amazing race. I am registered to do my first full ironman on September 8, 2013 - Rev 3 Cedar Point.

Races - Rocketman half (check!), Ironman Muncie 70.3 in July and Rev3 Cedar Point full in September.

My goal is simply to finish strong at every race. It doesn't have to be fast. It only needs to be my best at that moment for that race.

Michelle

Welcome Michelle! Terry who posts in this group did Rocketman too. Looks like a very neat race. I really wanted to do Cedar Point this year. Looks like a great race and I have a ton of family that live in Ohio so I could have killed 2 birds with 1 stone but the date of the race just didn't work for me.

By the way I love how much detail you add to your training log.

Michelle, welcome to the group! Sounds like you took a path many take to triathlon. Many come to tris with a running background. It's great to hear about those of us who come to the triathlon lifestyle a little later in life, ie with more experience.

I did my first OWS today, a short one in anticipation of my first tri on Sun. The water was cold but bearable with a wetsuit. There was some discussion about earplugs. I used some rubber or silicon ones with a post and round spheres that compress into your ear. No issues with them. I was mainly trying them to help with severe congestion issue post OWS. They didn't help with that. I did fix that issue with a generic Flonase prescription just before my Ironman last year. I just started using that again for the tri season.

I have been keeping up on my logs since I started and it makes it easy with a garmin device. What is the best way to gain power while doing outside riding?

Resting today and anxiously awaiting tomorrow morning as it will be my first tri. Watch for my race report if you wish.

Enjoy the weekend.

Tom,

To gain power on the bike hill workouts are great. Find a decent hill and do hill repeats, up/down, repeat. Try to stay in the saddle as long as possible but get out of the saddle when needed. The downhill is your recovery. Are you using bike shoes and clipless pedals? These will help with power and speed since you have a hard soled show to reduce power less to the pedal.

The best way to get faster on the bike is to make sure you have a good fit, which means a bike that fits you and is adjusted for you correctly. Then ride, and ride some more. There are no quick shortcuts but hill repeats and interval will hwlp your speed in the short term. Building a good base, over a few years is the best way to get faster.

Welcome, Rocketgirl,.... How did you like the bike course in Titusville?

Tom, Mike is correct.... time in the saddle translates to increased speed on the bike. Hill workouts are great but time in the saddle is essential.

Today's race was good and bad. It was a Saturday race. I'll post more on that later.....

It did not rain on us today, that was good.

The swim course got cancelled half way through the swim.... the current was at 4-5 knots. I kept swimming and thinking, "man, this buoy is not getting any closer...." and i looked up and saw boats passing me, because, myself and about everyone else were all swimming sideways and backwards.... 33 minutes into the event some guy on a surfboard comes up to me and tells me to just turn around and go back... so, now we're going towards the last buoy about 200 yards away, still about a 1/4 mile away form the finish (against the current again) and we're all getting pushed further away, a two person kayak starts to tow a few of us, but even with all of us kicking and paddling, the kayak is going backwards and eventually pulls up to a yacht, where the guy pulls all of us out of the water, because at this point we have to run almost a mile back to the transition to get on the bike...... apparently, the third wave couldn't even swim to the start line, some of them were almost getting swept under the docks.....

The bike course was mostly flat, there were some hills (In south Florida we have two kinds of hills - Trash Mountains or Overpass and Intracoastal Bridges) about four during the first fifteen miles. After that it was pretty flat, we have lanes coned and protected for us and well maintained by law enforcement to prevent motorists from entering our lanes. The bike time was good.... average speed was 15.8 so it was a good time for me. We had mostly a cross wind all day on the, so the headwind was not as bad as i had thought it might be.

The run. that's where it all fell apart for me. I did a 10k instead of the 13.1. My shoulder was falling off from the swim. I had an ache at the top of the achilles tendon and lower part of the calf that would not go away and felt like it was a pain stirrup around my foot.

I think that two thirds through my third HIM in a month.... all the little things that physically were bothering me just had enough and said Stop! I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. And it was the mental part that I just couldn't convince.


I have the Pan American Masters Swimming in two weeks (it will be televised on their website-I'll get you all the link in a couple of days.) and I have a month and a half before an Olympic distance event (one of my "A" races)..... that ought to be enough time to fully to recover and get back at it.

Chrissy- I had to laugh when I saw your remark about the flip turn while swimming. Some days I can do them and some (most) days I can't. I often misjudge my distance or I get water up my nose or whatever. I figured I really won't have to flip turn in my Tri, as it is open water, so I sort gave up on trying to practice them, so I could just focus up form. Chrissy, I didn't have any experience with swimming either. I did read the book, Total Immersion swimming, which really helped me to slowly work my way into swimming, with the correct form. If I do more triathlons I will consider getting a swim coach, as I really feel it is an area that I need the most help with.
The adventure races sound fun. I have not done anything like that and takes that long to complete and with a team. I am all about teams and people, so training for my tri has been a test of will power most days. I think I would like adventure racing. I did do the Warrior Dash last year and a friend and I are doing one next weekend. I didn't train for that though, as I felt training for the tri was much more important.
I got my bike all set up in the transition area for tomorrow. I think it was Lee that encouraged someone to practice transitions, so I actually did that a few times this past week. My neighbors probably thought I was crazy. Oh well.
I totally love reading stuff on this site, because I feel so at home. When I talk about Tri stuff at home or with friends, they just sort of nod and say "uh-huh. oh really? yah." So then I start to think I am just kinda weird. I just wish I had more time to update and respond to people's posts.
Some of you were discussing ear plugs. I had been wondering the same thing. I swim in the pool with the wax kind. When I had gone out for a ows the other day, I didn't have them in. Boy, I soon got out the water and grabbed them, as I just felt totally weird and my ear canals didn't handle the cold water well. It felt much better with them in. They can be just a little tricky to take out, but I feel with will be worth the little extra time in comfort for tomorrow's cold swim.
Thanks again everyone for your continue motivation and inspiration!
Will update on my race tomorrow!
Denise

Thanks, What type of cadence should I be maintaining while going up hill, There is a monster hill nearby, relative term in MN, so I will give that a try.

Hey everyone! I did it! I finished my first triathlon! I was 34th overall, and 6th in my age division! My swim was not very good, however I was only a minute over my goal (in the swim portion). I finished the whole thing in 1:37. The bike and run were great. I had several friends and family members cheering me on, so that really helped. I think I'm going to sign up for another one for next month. I definitely need to practice more ows. I just felt like I could not catch my breath and breathe correctly in the water. So, I ended up doing nearly the whole swim backstroke style. I figured as long as I was making forward progress, I would eventually get to shore!
The weather was cool, only about 52 degrees at the start, water temp was 67 degrees. So the bike and run felt nice, but was really cold getting in the water. My toes were numb throughout the whole race, due to cold.
Whew! Feels good to have the first one under my belt.
At home, I took a shower then went to dinner table to eat with family, my hubby looks at me with my medal on and asks, "you going to wear that all day?" I immediately replied, "oh yah baby, maybe all week!"

Congratulations Denise! Sounds like you had a good race and its great you're already planning the next one.

Which one are you thinking of for next month? I'm curious if there are any tri's around Omaha/Lincoln that I haven't heard about yet....

Awesome Denise!! Congratulations on your first tri!! Whew, those are some cold temps, though. I had to laugh about you wearing your medal to the dinner table - what a great feeling, eh? I hope you do sign up for the next one.

Michelle, welcome! That's a really awesome progression you have made over the past year - all the way from sprint to full IM - very impressive indeed!

Terry - oh man, that whole day sounds really tough - from terrible, dangerous swim conditions that likely affected you greatly for the rest of the legs ending in an early finish. So sorry - I hope that you can really rest your shoulder and have a chance to heal before that upcoming masters swim. Definitely rest/recover to be in good shape for that event and the Olympic distance after that.

My Lowcountry Splash was yesterday, and it was fantastic. I really loved it. My race report is here:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

It's hard to get all the feelings into words - I was pretty nervous to start but I knew that the temps were perfect, no wind, likely mostly smooth sailing and a strong current to get us where we were going. The main things that I kept focusing on were carrying through with full strokes and letting myself glide with each stroke, keeping myself pointed toward the next buoy or whatever I was sighting at the moment. It was much, much less effort than any 10k I have ever run in just about the same amount of time. I will definitely come back and do this one again!

Melissa: Thanks for the race report! I laughed out loud at "I never got winded - maybe I should have tried harder for a better time." The reason I chuckled is that I almost drop a lung when I go 50 yards in the pool and you did an Iron Man distance swim without elevating your breathing

Terry: Always enjoy hearing about your races. Your frequent races and approach to the sport inspires me.

I'm glad May is over. May was the month where I baby myself while I recover from the marathon and acclimate to swimming three days a week. The thing I should have done in May is create a definite plan for the other 4 days of the week. I ended up taking lots of rest days where I didn't need to rest but I was just not excited about doing an easy run or going for a bike ride due to lack of structure. When I'm doing a marathon plan, I treat every run as important because its part of the plan. It makes a recovery run feel like its got a purpose. In May, the only purpose I felt like I had was to work on swimming so the other days were just wasted in terms of training. I wish I ran and biked more in May. I'm working on the training plan now for now until Chicago marathon in October. 19 weeks to Chicago and 5 weeks to my first sprint tri. There are some other tri's in the weeks following my first one that I have my eye on also.

Melissa and Denise... Awesome races!!

Here is the link to the USMS Pan American Masters - http://www.usms.org/comp/panams13/stream.php?ref=PanAms

I think all the events will be broadcast live. Also, for swimmers, the USMS organization - http://www.usms.org- is a fantastic site for training, tips and general swimming well being. They have articles, advice, training logs and a wealth of information.

Ken, I think your comment on May is very similar to my situation. I had a very specific training plan up to May, but did not really plan on three HIM in a month... so with about a week to recover and a week to do some light biking and running between those events, I was somewhat lost because there was no plan. I was floundering around with really no direction. I now find myself two days into a detox fast and ten days before a 1k swim event and six weeks away from my next Tri. I will be training specifically for that event that has alot of hills on the bike and run course.

Before the last race I purchased some topical magnesium. and sprayed it liberally on my legs and arms and back for muscle relief and did a self massage with a foam roller and stick. I had heard Ben Greenfield and others talking about it and it's benefits.....all I can say is that I should have looked into this sooner...what a difference after a race ... the recovery is tremendous...... unless i have achieved some superhuman recovery speed or my body is just used to doing this type of distance now... the topical magnesium has me ready to jump up and race again tomorrow.... holy guacamole

Melissa - Awesome job! That was a smokin' time! Sounds like a great event and any event that serves beer and has a band at the end has my vote.

Terry - All I can say is WOW! That swim had to be horrible . Swimming is by far my worst event and if I got caught up in a current and wasn't making any progress I would probably freak out.

Tom- I live in the Arbuckle Mountains so I have to train on hills whether I like it or not. I try to keep my cadence as close to normal as I can when going up a hill. When going up long hills I just find a gear that I can keep a normal cadence while staying in the saddle.

Denise -Great job! I'm with Melissa I about spit coffee on my computer screen when I read about you sitting at the table with your medal. That is a funny stuff! Again great job!

Ken - Have you looked at any of the training plans on BT? I've never used one but have heard a lot of positive things about them.

Thanks for the climbing advice, I will try it on my next workouts. I think the bike leg has the most room for improvement. I am taking the next 2 days off from running and biking, I might hit the pool today and tomorrow. Weather dependent Weds afternoon for the next bike workout.

I finished my first sprint tri yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it (except the 5 seconds of my not so awesome dismount)

I will be doing a race report later today but I gained a lot of confidence in myself and all the hard work I have been putting in has paid off. I look forward to July 13 for my next race.

Ken L. There is a sprint triathlon in Papillion on July 14th. It is only $40 (as I last checked), and is not USAT sanctioned. It is called the Mayor's Triathlon. Here's the site:
http://www.papillion.org/recreation_mayors_triathlon.cfm

The route is a little different, but it looks doable. I haven't signed up yet, but probably will, because a couple of my friends are doing it, so that would be fun. I am still not over my poor showing of my swimming skills yesterday!

Michelle, Welcome to the group!

here's my race report:
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/RaceLog/races-view-container.asp?...
I am not sure why, but is shows "(draft)" behind my report log info. First time I have done that, so let me know if you can see it.

Edited by themomma03 2013-06-03 3:16 PM

Denise,

The Papio tri is actually the one I'm planning as my first (outdoor/real) triathlon. Maybe I'll see you there. My brother is also going to be doing it (his first also).

Denise - No I can't see it. It should have asked you if you wanted to make the report public and if you didn't answer yes it will leave it in draft form where you will be the only one that can see it. You should be able to go back in and change it. Let us know if you get it changed. I would love to read your race report.

Also, I like your new avatar. Is it from your race last weekend?

Edited by EKH 2013-06-03 4:33 PM

Ken - How is the swimming going?

Race report here: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Also went for a bike today. Could not resist the perfect weather.

I figured out How to change to make public, so it should be up now.

Tom, after reading how well you did in your tri, I have no doubt you soon be racing competitively. Keep up the good work!

Emile, yes my new avatar is from Sundays race. I put pics on my race report that should be up now. I have a few more that I need to upload. But haven't had time yet.
I'm sorta off for the summer, but I tutor about 12 kids during the summer mornings four days a week, so just trying to keep up with life!

Tom and Denise both of you did awesome especially for your first go at it and I really liked both of your race reports. It is always fun to read how everybody did.

Tom one thing that has helped me with mounting and dismounting during races is I practice it every time I ride outside. I always leave my shoes clipped in and make myself put my feet in on the move each ride and take my feet out of the shoes and sling my leg over while ending every ride. Because if you don't make it second nature it is tough to do during a race when HR is high and adrenaline pumping through your body.

Denise I loved your pictures especially the one with you and the other lady sprinting I'm guessing to the finish line. That's one of the best race pictures I've seen.