Sink or SWIM! with WittyCityGirl - CLOSED (Page 50)

Sara - WTG to your husband. I'd say he definitely beat you. That's quite a time. March 14, hmm? Is there any shorter races associated with it? I'm not sure I'll be ready for an IM by then, lol.

 Curt - great job on the bike ride. If you're tempted to go for the HIM/IM options then make them a goal that you can work towards. That's what I'm doing with HM's and marathons.

Oh and if my mapping is correct for my bike ride today I got 1.5 miles in 13:56 for a speed of 6.46 mph. So maybe this mini-sprint is acheivable. It'd still take my a little over an hour but not as much as it would of originally.

I'm not sure if it's the tune up, me having a better handle on the gears, riding but whatever it is it's working.

Suziele -- You can do it. Don't ever think otherwise. Keep at the training, and when race day comes, trust the work, trust yourself, and have fun.

Sara -- congrats to your husband, indeed. You're now an official Iron-couple. Getting any tatoo's to celebrate? . I do love reading the IM race reports. No matter who is competing, its like reading about a life changing event for the athlete. Its a journey I may want to do someday as well.

Finished day 2 of the new plan, and it was fine. A 30 minute trainer ride, w/ a quick 15 min run right after. The run felt great, and all I could think was "Why couldn't I do this on Sunday at the race?". And I'm definitely a guy who works best when I have a training plan to follow. The next 6 weeks should be fun. The weekly training time goes from 6 hours up to 9 hour per week. No more than 1 day/week of multi workouts. By the time I'm done, I should be in better shape than I am now, thats for sure.

Sara...Thanks for sharing all of the pics and video from Lake Placid! I tuned in around 10:00 and watched people come across the line for about an hour! Inspiring!

Training is coming along...28 miles on the bike at a rate of 14.8. It was hot and hilly, so not too shabby. Longest ride of the summer. I'd like to do a 50 miler before the snow flies (dread) just for the fun of it. Completed a 3.5 mile run on Sunday (holy heck that was a hot one!) and am headed to the pool today for a long swim.

The lessons are coming along. I have learned 5 drills and the reasons for them. They have changed my stroke which is both good and bad...Good that I am improving my stroke...bad that it is incredibly uncomfortable and limiting my distance. I think I would recommend stroke development in the off season, it's kinda freaking me out now that my stroke is different and I have an 1100 yard swim coming up. I'm sore in places I haven't been sore in ages.

Problems are (according to instructor): Windmilling arms, lack of rotation, crossing over when entering the water.

Drills are:Fingertip, finger drag, holding a pen in myh hand and switching hands on each stroke (helps with not crossing over) and one that has me pausing just before entering the water to help with rotation.

Someone posted splits for a swim...what was used for timing?

25 days til Iron Girl...onward!

Thanks Mike. I've got about 15 weeks to train so there will be a lot of training going in to it. I'm thinking of using the "get the distance, then work on speed if I have time" method though. Basically using the Beginner exercise program til I've worked up to 10+k and then doing some technique works (drills) to work on speed.

Oh and unless I messed up my mapping I got 1.71 miles in 30 mins 12 secs for a 17:40 pace on hills, that included an intentional 9 mins walking and waiting for traffic. Looks like today is a "what the...?" type day in regards to speed, lol.

To time the splits I use my watch -- it's a Timex ironman.  Hit the lap timer at each 100 and it works great.

Laura -- Sounds like the biking is going great.  If you build steady, the 50 miler will be easy.

Mike -- What program are you doing for six weeks?

Mike you might want to take a look at the "Time Crunched Triathlete" book as well.  I was really impressed with the 6 week cycle I did.  It's really neat in how few days it has you working out (4 / week) to get good results.  5 programs available.  2 for sprints, 2 for olys, 1 for HIM.

Did 1000 yards in the pool after work.  BUT, was in a different pool.  Only 3' deep and I'm guessing meters versus yards as my splits were 30 seconds higher per 100.  Good news is that this added another 5 minutes to the workout and I was still fine.

Good job in the pool, but I'm not so sure the meters vs yards is the reason for the time difference --  A 25 meter pool would only be 2.25 feet longer than a 25 yard pool.

Did 1900 yards this AM, short of the planned workout (2500), but good. Ran out of time as I had to get to work. Felt good, and I was happy I pushed myself mentally do get it done. My jammers also died the other day, so I did this swim in a 'regular' suit. What a difference - so  much slower, and the drag was unreal.

I just got my husband The Time Crunched Triathlete. He's about half way through and really likes it. He said the workouts would give him more focus in less time.

I found them really useful when I did them back in January -- now if I just had half a brain and used them leading up to the actual races!

I've recognized that poor discipline to a program has hurt me this summer.  However, on the flip side, I've had a ton of fun and feel like I'm in the best shape I've been in almost 25 years.  With the monthly races from end of May on, plus playing golf on the weekends, have just been enjoying the heck out of myself.

Once the season is over, I'll put together a winter training plan AND I'll build a formal plan for next summer with a targeted "A" race like Sara advised.  Until then going to continue to have a good time and enjoy reading about all of you guys accomplishments as well.

Have a great PM.

WTG on the workout. 30 secs higher for metres vs yard splits sounds about right. My first 100m time last Saturday was 4:15 and the training log has it as 3:53 for 100 yards. Good luck with the rest of the season and designing the plans

Mike - Can't remember the exact feet to yards thing but 100m is 109.something yards. Do Jammers have something to do with a wetsuit or trisuit? I've never heard of them before

everyone's workouts are looking great!

I did a swim/bike brick tonight--open water out on our lake it ended up being about 880 yards; unfortunately, I did find out that I need to use my inhaler a bit longer before my workouts--I had a mini breathing issue, but at least I was able to complete the full route! The bike was about 6.75 miles, and felt great (although there was a 1575 feet of climbing!!). All in all, not a bad workout, especially considering I took part in some wrestling matches in those giant 'sumo suits' with some coworkers last night--those things are hard to move in, hot, and they wear you out!

Tomorrow is supposed to be my peak week run workout--4.5 mile run--unfortunately, the weather is supposed to hit 100+ degrees! ug! So I will be hitting the treadmill at the gym.

Jammers are swim shorts for guys which are form fitting (like tri shorts). Makes you very streamlined in the water, as compared to a 'normal' bathing suit.

Slept through my alarm this AM and missed my run workout. Will do it tonight when I get home (after going to the Red Sox game at Fenway this afternoon!)

Well got over the mental block and signed my son and I up for the tri this weekend.  Still a bit worried about the OWS, but I KNOW I can do it as my training is more than adequate. 

Last year I finished 219 out of 233.  The 500 yard swim was a 29 minute disaster.  Was toasted on the bike and rode at under 16 mph followed by a 10 minute + pace on the run.  I'm hoping to be right around 15 minutes on the swim, over 18 on the bike and around 8:30 on the run.  That would place me right in the MOP.  BUT, if I get through the swim strong my guess is that the other two will be well below my target time wise.

Go get 'em, Curt!!!

Try to get in the water and do a bit of OWS. Just get comfortable.

Yes, you CAN do it Curt! Have a great race and hope your son does too!

Hi everyone.

Not posted for a long time.Just thought i'd pop in and let you know that i had my 1st attempt at ironman the weekend just gone. It finished with a dnf. Very hard pill to swallow. Maybe some triathlon bargains on ebay soon.

Regards

Simon

I FLOAT!!!!!!  So tonight was my last chance to get in the pool prior to Saturday's race.  I'll be honest in that I was NOT looking forward to the swim and did NOT feel good when I started.  The entire time during my first 100 I kept worrying about Saturday and felt like shXX in the water.  As I started the second 100, a light bulb went off -- hey dummy, why don't you skip touching at each end and see how you do / simulate the OWS?  Cool!  Now I just have to figure out how to turn around at the other end w/o touching.  So while I'm thinking about that I'm swimming the length ho hum.  Get to the end and do some sort of contortionist demonstration in 3.5 feet of water to avoid touching anything.  No doubt the folks in the pool thought I was having a seizure, but fortunately the life guards stayed away.  Back to the deep end, again wondering how I was going to turn.  Ho hum, I'm there and we have a another treading water spasm.  As I started back down it clicked in my pea brain that when I'm flat in the water and relaxed I float just fine and move along -- albeit slowly!!! -- at a steady pace.  I did the rest of the 500 yards with only one grab at the end -- after swallowing a mouth of water for the first time in ages.  However, even that was good in that I got right back in to it.

So here's the deal, I've now gone from nervous/anxious to a bit excited and starting to feel confident.  It's really wierd in that I've never been scared of anything / always been willing to try new things.  Last year I got in the lake without worries and managed to get through it -- albeit with some real soul searching moments.  Appreciate very much all of the support and words of encouragement.  It helps more than you can imagine.

On another really positive note, a co-worker today asked me about the local tri in two weeks.  She wants to do it and was looking for encouragement -- which I gladly provided.  The one thing I shared with her is how much fun it is to be out there and hear all of the fellow triathletes congratulating/encouraging you on the course.  It's a great activity that allows each of us to challenge ourselves/face our demons while helping our fellow athletes at the same time!

Have a great PM.

(ETA -- And when I finish on Saturday the signature is going to change!!!!!)

Great advice to Suzanne, Mike!

Hubby and I are working on tattoos... he went today to make an appointment and was scared away by the men in full-sleeve tattooed arms. Ha!

Glad you watched, it was a great experience!

You have common glitches in your stroke, glad you have some drills to help out!

Hope you both have a GREAT race!