kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2011 Part 2 - CLOSED (Page 52)

Adventure racing weekend whoohoo!! Still got the flu but so does my racing buddy so we'll both be coughing and spluttering our way through the course haha. Can't wait! Its my first one, yet I already feel another addiction coming on

i appreciate it... just remember: optimism can only lead to disapointment (a great line from my father). 

We decided not to sell our house, so our oldest is going back to private school next year.  It costs 21k a year.  The other 2 are in a private preschool, and their tuition is another 6k.  My husband said Eagleman isn't going to happen next summer.  It isn't the cost of the race; it's the hotel, travel, and other expenses involved.  He said to find a 70.3 that's closer to home  That leaves Muncie and Steelhead.  I really want to do Rev3 Cedar Point in Sept. 2012 and Muncie would fit better with that schedule, but I think MI is more appealing than Indiana. 

Opinions? 

I have never done Steelhead but did the aquabike at Muncie last year.  I really liked Muncie (except it was a 4-5 hr drive).  The swim is in a resevoir so was about 78 degrees and the bike is on a VERY wide trail for a few miles then on a nicely paved road.  Muncie is flat, flat, flat, but can get very hot!

Alot of people I know have done Steelhead and love it and do it year after year.  The water tends to be quite a bit cooler since it is lake Michigan and the swim course could be altered (direction) because of the tide that morning (you will swim with the tide so could be wicked fast swim).  The only bad thing I have heard is any of the hotels anywhere near Steelhead require a 2 night stay.

Racine could be another option since you are in the area --- water tends to be high 50's low 60's even in July, Bike is harder and on a littel crappier roads than the other two, but the run is super flat and fast and runs through a zoo.

sorry, i totally disagree with pop Sklarz, if one were not optimistic we would not accomplish half of what we do.

Think of failure and you will certainly succeed....in failing, think of success and you cannot fail. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

That is my next attempt, i want to do a MTB race!!  Have a great time!!

Good luck to all the racers this weekend!!!  May you all swim like fish bike like a gorilla and run like a deer!!!!

And to you too my friend... bike like a gorilla?  I have that covered at least. LOL

Muncie is a PR course.  If you're interested in doing anything in the Southern New England Area, let me know, you're always wecome to stay with us. 

i appreciate it... just remember: optimism can only lead to disapointment (a great line from my father). 

As much as it pains me, I have to agre with Sklarz with regard to long course racing.  You need to be realisitc and pace yourself appropriately.  10 minutes "gained" on the bike can quickly leaded to 30 minutes lost on the run.   When you're racing short, your "overly optimistic" mistakes don't really catch up to you, when you race long course they bite you in the (several times).  Kind of like a marathon, a half or full really doesn't begin until the last 10K of the run. 

sorry to say something you agree with... sort of like how we deal with clients: get their expecations way down so anything better than utter defeat makes you look like an all star.    

I am not one for a "just finish is good enough" goal.  If i am actually worried about finishing I should not start.  But my expecations are pretty low for this race given how hard it is and that it is my first race of the season.  6-6:30 seem appropriate given my training paces.  X factors are (1) my back [negative] (2) my stomach [still not 100% negative] and (3) taper impact on legs [postive I hope].  What I learned from my marathon is that my limiter is muscular endurance and the last 10K of the run will be interesting.

although counter intuitive (and I assume kelly will tell me my theory is moronic) I sometime think I should go a bit harder (8-830 mm, instead 9 mm) on the first 10K assuming I will be running 11-12 mm the last 10K, that way I at least make up some ground while my legs are "fresh".  trying to even or negative split this run will be tough.  I probably will not do this but I have thought about it.

You go out too hard (8:30 - 9:00) and you'll likely be doing 13-14 min/miles at the end. 

If I were you, I would aim to start at 9:45s and hold that for as long as possible.  If yo've paced the bike correctly (a big IF) you should get no slower than 10:45s or so by the end. 

I don't think there is anything wrong with a just finish attitude on first time long courses . . . it makes sense since you have never done it. 

While I have goal time for the Chicago marathon, I want to finish and since I have never done it and training will only take me to within 1.5 hrs or my actual race time, I am realistic.  Its too long of a race with too many physical challenges to push myself the first time.  I will train and prepare as much as I can.

That brings me to a good question --- I know why marathon training only takes you to about 20 miles because of the damage you continually do to your body and making sure you recover, but why is it just assumed you can cover the last 1.5 hrs?  That is a long time to assume your body will just allow you to add?  I know there is adrenaline and the crowds, but that is still a long way to go.

What matters for marathon (and long course tri training) is your cumulative volume, so the total volume of any given run is not particularly important.  Think of it this way, in the course of your marathon training, you'll be subjecting your body to more than 26.2 miles per week during your biggest weeks and when you do your 20 mile runs, you body will already have several miles in it from previous runs during the week.  You're training your body to deal with the cumulative stress.  When you get to race day, you'll have very few miles in your body (because of your taper) and your body will laready know how to handle the cumulative stress of the 26.2.

You don't really want to push your body to too much run volume is any given workout because the risk of injury is high, you want to be able to reach the appropriate cumulative volume, which can be done much more safely over the course of ,multiple trianing runs in a given week. 

I suspect (because i have never raced this distance before) judging from my mary, the issue will be my legs, not lungs, even during the last 10k of hartford my HR was not particularly high.  i shall do as you command.

Pacing like that addresses your leg issue.  If you go faster your legs will give out even sooner and you'll be even slower on the back end. 

The goal for the run should be to keep your HR level (that is don't let your HR drop because your legs are tired) and about 10 bpm higher than your run HR.

easier said than done

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!!!

Here is an easy question from a newbie swimmer - how do you keep your swim goggles from fogging in the water?

2 things I do:

1. I always spit in them and rinse them before each swim (or use anti-fog, but I don't have any)

2. Wash them out with soap to get all the junk that has accumulated from your eyes (gases, etc)

At some point you will be at the point of no return and you can't get them to defog --- toss them.  I usually get 3-6 months out of each pair.

_{For all those starting to do the OWS, BE CAREFUL!!! PLEASE READ}

I don't know if I ever shared this, but I went to do the IMWI OWS last year in August.  I washed my goggles out right before the start in the lake water and put them on and off I went.  I found out when I finished my mile (there were 1 & 2 mile options), that I had gotten debris in the goggles when I washed them with the lake water.  Since I don't blink at all when I have goggles on swimming I never noticed during the swim, but the debris was floating around scratching my eye for the 45 minutes.

Anyway, after massive pain (I mean MASSIVE pain, tears in your eyes, can't handle it pain) and a 1 hr drive back to the Dr. it was determined that I scratched the entire bottom half of my eye!!!  It was so bad they prescribed vicadin!!!   Good thing is the eye heals very, very fast.

BE CAREFUL PEOPLE & always wash your goggles with clean water!!!

MTB is super fun - give you an excuse to get another bike.  i want to do get back to doing some MTBing this fall.  been nervous about getting injured.  i tend to ride pretty aggressively.  Next bike will be a 29er assuming i can get back ont eh trails.

Rudy - you should try the winding trails races 1/4 mi swim, 5 mi MTB, 3 mile run.  takes about an hour and you are at 2 beats short of stoking out the whole time!

Just in from my longest run ever, 6.4 miles. I tried something at the suggestion of Rocktractor, I mixed in 3 sets of .25 mile walks throughout to get the miles in and it helped a lot. I was thinking I would just walk the final mile or whatever I ran to get to 6 miles, but he was saying to mix in shorter walks. Then I was thinking that heck, that's exactly the way the running plan was set up in the beginning; walk 5 min, run 1 min, etc...

Worked well and I don't feel wiped out, just a good tired.

Oh...Jasper had a checkup with the doggie surgeon today. Checked the foot and all is healing well. Also, the lymph node biopsy came back as ok, just waiting on the bone biopsy sometime next week. He's doing well, eating virtually like he used to, and getting around really well. I think my dog's back! 

good dog! good work out!

Glad Jasper is feeling better.

Run:Walk combinations are a good way to build up mileage.  If you're doing 5:1 Run:Walk this week, try to work up to 6:1 next, etc.  You'll find your distance for the same time increases because you're running more.