Schmize's Group - FULL (Page 5)

Hey guys, the race report is in!! Check it out.

I shattered last year's time by 8 min. 35 sec.

I performed much better than I expected and recovered way faster than last year's miserable post-race adventure.

Angelo, you must be tapering this week. I can't wait to hear about your first tri.

Mikkel, you have less than one month! How is your stress fracture healing?

Now, I am recommitting to a structured, periodized training plan. I've really strayed into random workouts over the past month or so. It is more difficult to measure progress that way. I have my sights set on the Four States Tri - Sprint May 18, then Route 66 Oly in June. Can't wait!

I had a slight set back last night when I turned my ankle. I was walking across a field. I am really mad at myself, but quick elevating and icing has helped a lot. I think I will try swimming tomorrow.

Good luck everyone with training and racing.

Sarah

Sarah - CONGRATS!!! And 8 min's faster is amazing.

My foot is doing really well. I have one more week left of aqua-jogging, and then I am beginning a slow "coming back" running program which will culminate with my International Distance race in San Diego on April 6th.

I bought a new bike last week (woooooooiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeee it's amazing) for my races. It's a Felt B2 Pro, and it's unrealistically fast. I still need to get fitted on it, and I need to get used to being in aero, but man what a machine.

I was thinking about reaching out to a few sponsors and see if anyone bites. Could be fun...

My swimming is the thing I am the most proud of. While I am not really fast, my technique has improved so dramatically that I can go for very long periods of time, with very little effort, and I enjoy being in the water more than I ever have.

Here's a photo of my bike:

Sarah, that's awsome about your time! great work. Yes I'm resting this week but still getting some pool time in and a short brick on monday. I have my first event this Saturday at the wildman festival in Orlando, FL. I'm very exited and fairly nervous now and I'm sure by Saturday I'll will be way more nervous than exited.

my swimming has come a long way in the last 2 weeks though. I can now swim 800-1000m no rest without really pushing myself hard. my technique is really improved and I'm weaning myself off the snorkel.

Mikkel, the bike sounds killer. I forgot that I promised pics of mine so I've attached them this time.

Hope everyone is doing well
Angelo





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Couldn't get the photo of the bike up, trying again:





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Wow, nice wheels guys. I'm not riding aero yet. I'd like to hear more about your transition in posture.

I noticed 1 mountain bike in the transition area before Sunday's race. I had not passed it yet after the bike turnaround and thought to myself, "Must be a really fast runner." A couple of miles later I came up behind a guy I remembered seeing before the race and thinking what great runner's legs, but he doesn't seem to prepared for the bike in his flyaway running shorts.

As I passed him I commented, "Hey you'd be finished by now if you were on my bike." He said, "I know that's right. I'm working this thing hard!" as he trailed behind he shouted, "and I'm 45!!"

It is so cool to meet people who are so proud of their accomplishments no matter what their handicap. Less than 1% of the population will every enter an endurance event. You've already passed 99% of your potential competitors before the gun fires.

I hope you are all very proud of your personal accomplishments.

good god man! is that a bike or a rocket ship?

The transition to aero is not smooth to be honest, but part of the issue is that my bike hasn't been fitted yet, so as you can see, my saddle is WAY high compared to the cockpit, which causes strain on the groin and lower back. I am getting it fitted tomorrow to find a more comfortable position.

That being said, I usually have to work to go around 23mph, not on this thing. Going 22-23 was easy...pretty scary if you ask me.

THAT is one sweet ride.

I love Felt stuff. My roadie is a Felt, but have a Jamis Tri Bike.

Sarah - great job on the race, nothing more satisfying than taking time off a race!

Mikkel - what were you riding before you got your new bike?

I also ride a Cervelo Soloist Team, which is my roadbike. It's an entry-level model from Ceverlo made from aluminum. I still ride that for my hill rides as it has a compact crank, and is way better for climbing than my Felt. So I ride both bikes. I had my Felt fitted yesterday by my Tri Coach, and then I took it for a spin afterwards. I knocked out 24 miles in no time, and if it hadn't been for the fact that I was riding where there's lots of traffic and had to slow down and stop all the time, I would have been way faster than my 21mph average. When I ride my Cervelo, I have to really word to sustain 21-22mph for a long period of time, on my Felt it doesn't feel like work at all. I still have to get used to being in Aero. My legs and lower back are a little achy today, but I am doing 60 miles tomorrow on it, and that's going to be interesting to see how it feels over a long distance like that.

well all I am now officialy a triathlete! I finished the myfirsttri in 1:28:32. shockingly I was 2nd in my age group, 10th overall and most surprisingly 4th overall in the swim segment. you can read all the details in my race report for the wildman triathlon festival on orlando, fl.

One thing I will say to you all is that no matter how much you train you can't overestimate how stressfull the swim will be. there are so many factors involved that throw you off your game that I spent little time thinking about. the cold will seriously mess with your breathing, goggles fog up and all the extra sighting saps energy, other swimmers crossing your path, a pack of swimmers not allowing you to pass. everyone I spoke to said the swim was really hard. that being said it only took me 15 minutes to complete it and the rest went as planned.

as expected I'm now more hooked on the sport than before. already planning my next event and what I need to do to get ready for it.
Angelo





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Congrats! That's amazing that you placed so high! Do you know what your next race will be?

Awesome job on the race. I read the report and it sounds like it couldn't have gone better. Great run! I knew you'd be totally hooked when it was over.
Sarah

Thanks, it was definately a great experience. as for my next event I'm not registered yet but I will probably be doing the Bisayne Bay sprint in Miami around the 4th of july. if so I have my work cut out for me because the swim will be twice as long as my first race and it will be in the atlantic ocean instead of a very calm lake =O....kind of scary to think about but with 3.5 months to train it shouldn't be a problem. right now I'm going to rest the remainder of the week then start a new training program next week, the first part of which will be joining the masters team at my pool so I have a coach 3 times a week.

Thanks a lot Scott, and it's good to see you're still amongst the living =)

by the way I forgot to mention that I met up with several other BT'ers at this event, ccleasby, drchaya, rnrgrl262, bigsexy....and between us we did BT proud in the standings. that I know of we had 2nd ag, 2nd ag, 1st ag and 4th overall! I don't think it's a coincidence that we did so well either with all the support and information that's availbable on BT. I know there is no way I would have done so well if not for BT and it's possible I might not have even raced.

Angelo

Guys - I am doing my first race on Sunday. Olympic distance in San Diego. I have spent the past few days being nervous, but I am also thrilled about it. Can't wait to tell you guys all about it when I am done!!! Wish me luck.

you've done all the right things to get ready for this race so I say just go out and have some fun. good luck and I'm looking forward to your race report.

Mikkel,

You will surprise yourself by how well you will do! Relax. Go for it. Enjoy. And tell us all about it.

Sarah

Allright guys - race is completed!

The good news is that it's one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. The bad news is that I had what must have been one of the worst starts EVER! I started with the single biggest panic attack of my life about 50 yards into the swim. I mean, full-on, total f@#king PANIC! I was certain I was going to drown, it was all over etc. So I began swimming towards the nearest life guard (breast stroke - no freestyle here whatsoever), as I got closer, I decided to continue and swim to the nearest buoy. Once I got there, I headed towards the nearest life guard etc. So after a while, I actually managed to break through it and keep going. I even got a little free-style going, and picked up a few swimmers on the way (I was competing the in the last group - Clydesdales). I was planning on doing the swim in 40 min's, but did it in 31:05. From then on it was ON! Apart from some crazy Sea Legs (I almost fell over as I took off my wet suit in T1), I just had so much fun! My transitions ROCKED (I had planned and rehearsed well). The only problem was I had forgotten my speedometer, but that turned out to be a good thing as I only focused on HR and cadence. My T1 was 5:38 (we had a long run - about 3 min's) from the beach to the Transition Area), my bike split was around 1:06, T2 was 1:38, and my run was around 44 min's.

My goal was to do the race in 2:45 which was ambitious given it was my first race, that I have only been training for 4 months etc, but I ended up SHATTERING that for a 2:29:40, and I even placed 2nd in the Clydes (got a medal and all) out of 10, and was #10 in my age group out of 35.

And that was with the single worst swim of my LIFE! If I have a good swim, I can at least pick up 5 min's if not more.

All in all it was amazing. And I met a guy from BT who is also doing Florida 70.3, so we will meet up out there. I also met a couple of people who will be doing Toyota in two weeks with me.

I was most proud of my run. My legs were really beat after a pretty solid bike (we had some serious headwinds), and the first 1.5 mile were on the beach in sand, yet I still averaged around 7:20 per mile.

Now the panic attack is behind me (I hear that everyone has one of these), and I am excited about swimming this week, getting better, and doing the next race in two weeks.

Race Report is being done as we speak.

that's awsome!! the feeling is like nothing else in the world..

sounds like quite an experience in the water but you did the right thing and made it through....you should be very proud. thats the thing about the swim, no matter how much time you spend in the pool nothing will prepare you for the race day experience until you've been there. you being such a rock start of course starting with an oly made that even more so.

I hope someone got lots of pics of the event for you to show us and let us know when the report is done, I can't wait to read it.

nice work!
Angelo

Mikkel -

Looks like you had a great race. Congratulations. I am an accomplished swimmer and the start is always nerve racking. The important thing is that you got through it and focused on achieving your goal. Way to smash it. A Clydesdale running a 7:20/mile? In the sand? That is not a Cyldesdale my friend, that's a Thoroughbred!

Congrats on the race.

AJ

CONGRATULATIONS on a great race!!!

You did awesome. The most impressive part about your swim is how you recovered. Way to work through the crazy part.

Based on the couple of times I looked at your training blog, I knew you would burn up the course.

Way to go!

Sarah