SBR "U" (Page 53)

Marc, I enjoy the opportunity to see racing from someone else's perspective, and pick up something, no matter how small that will help me. Case in point, Rusty has a prerace visualization procedure that he follows. I NEVER would have thought to do that, but it is something I will be trying this year. That is one of many I've gotten as a reader. As a writer, it gives me the opportunity to rehash the experience. It also gives me the opportunity to get hinput from other folks on the things that have gone south on race day. I've gotten more than one bit of advice on a race, or a piece of a race, that has gone sour.

2 other points are that Rusty's are a blast to read, very detailed.  Adrienne's always give me new beer ideas 

Timely question Marc, as last week I re-read your race report from Tremblant a couple of years ago.  As I prep for my HIM your details about the run and what the impact was on you when you upped the pace just a little but paid for it with elevated HR was something that I'll take into race day this year (your power and run graphs were really insightful).  In a nutshell I use some people's race reports as I would other training tools, and in turn apply it to training/racing.  Also, some people write these things really well and it's enjoyable to read through.

X2 - nice work everyone, sounds like it was a good time afterwards as well.

Wait a sec - you look familiar, just can't put my finger on it...hope you tag back onto the group James.

x3.  And I ususally enjoy reading race reports.  Partial entertainment like reading a short story, and many times I do learn something that I can at least put in my information tool box.  bryancd's IMSG RR really helped me out one year when we had a similar windy day at Honu.  Just how he mentally dealt with the day and I thought about it a lot during my race which turned out to be my best HIM.  When I write RRs though, I primarily write them for myself so I can look back on it.

I have the Q&A thread marked in my favorites for reference for that very reason.

I won some prizes that were right up my alley in my race yesterday. A shot glass for being first female to the top of WHISKEY ridge and beer and a pint glass for being first woman to the finish line.

The venue was incredible. I can't wait to share photos in my RR! 

Someone remind me to stay out of TT.  Some things never change.

1. For my own use. I can go back and see what worked and what didn't. The secondary is to better document the event. I can go back and read and recall the details I would never remember on my own.

2. To share my own experience. I would imagine one could learn a decent amount about strategy, pacing, prep, etc from my reports. I know that is what I get from other reports. Or at least I would hope so. Also a time and a placement doesn't really tell much of a story. There needs to be context. If you saw this years worth of races and see me running the paces I am running you might think I am having a crappy year. But the perspective you get in a RR lets you know that yes, I am indeed running up a mountain. 

3. Finally, encouraging one another and giving feedback. This is why I like to read other RRs and this is why I like people to read mine. 

And speak of the devil, here is my race report

I'm glad you are Marc.  To hop on the pig-pile, I both enjoy and learn a lot from other folks' RRs.  Not just general things about pacing or dealing with a day that blows up, but also course specific information.

For my own RRs, it's been fun to look back and see progress (and plan forward from it).  Having only been in tri for a couple years or so, and across different distances and now home bases, I've not been able to compare course to course so much.  However, looking back at a given distance and "remembering" my approach and seeing the outcome has been helpful.  A peripheral brain of sorts...

Thanks all for the kind words on this race, too.  Great day (learned a lot and will write a RR shortly, as I mull it all over - and dig out from a mountain of "deferred" stuff at work!) and even better company!!

Having a blow-your-head-off-hoppy IPA at the Galveston Island Brewery after the race with Nicole, her mom and Marc was a definite highlight.

Matt

In the past I've written some quick notes for myself but kept most of my race reports private.  I guess it's partly laziness and partly being a bit self-conscious about how I did.  I declined after my PE and since then, it has been so much work just to break even.  But this discussion has motivated me and I think I'll do a writeup after my IM this year.

I am a proponent of race reports.   I read them voraciously for new venues I am going to, and re-read my old reports to see what went wrong/right.  I also tend to over-write, so I have a lot of detail in there.  Really more of a diary  LOL

As I was losing weight and getting faster, it was fun to compare reports of the same race year to year.

For some reason, I did not write a report for my last three races, Silverman 70.3,. Eco Marathon and a Trail Half Marathon.   I should go back and do it but doubt there'll be much detail.....

Hey Marc - most of the answers everyone has given pretty well covers it for me, and I guess the only thing I can add to the list is that for me personally, (being Southern), I like to read, write, and tell stories.

Margaret Atwood, who is a great Canadian (of course!) author talks about the importance of narrative structure and its importance to our survival. In fact she states that the ability to tell a story exists right smack dab in the center of what it means to be human. She explains by stating that we are not just "thought machines" (data, facts, figures) nor are we "shouting machines" (emotions, gossip) but rather a melding of those two domains. Narrative Communication (i.e.: "storytelling" or what cultural ethnographers refer to as the combination of information with gossip) is the unique way that humans share important information. By intention this type of communication moves us both Intellectually AND emotionally. This becomes particularly significant as there have been studies that show we retain data that is delivered via a narrative structure up to 22 times more than when we relay facts and figures alone. As an example of just why this is important, Atwood says, “If I can tell you that right over there in that river was where the crocodile ate Uncle George, you don’t have to test that in your own life by going over there and getting eaten by the crocodile.” She goes on to argue that the information that crocodiles live in the river is not enough for our survival, we have to actually hear the story of Uncle George getting eaten to convince us to be cautious around the river.

Marc, I am very happy to read that you are going to give writing race reports another go. Like Shakespeare and others before him, Christopher Booker claims there are only Seven Basic Plots (in his book by that name), which are repeated over and over throughout the millennia. There is the “defeating the monster” plot (Beowulf, War of the Worlds); “rags to riches” (Cinderella, Jane Eyre); “the quest” (Illiad, The Lord of the Rings); “voyage and return” (Odyssey, Alice in Wonderland); “rebirth” (Sleeping Beauty, A Christmas Carol); “comedy” (Much Ado about Nothing, Sleepless in Seattle); and “tragedy” (Hamlet, The Great Gatsby). I cannot WAIT to find out which story you decide to tell in your race report!

Um, yeah, I meant to say what he said...Except I would have used Star Wars 

Star Wars is not a good example because it covers ALL of the basic plots simultaneously, duh.

I was in fourth or fifth grade and grounded when Star Wars (Episode 4: A New Hope) first came out. Way back then movies came and went in the theater in a matter of a couple of weeks, no matter what sort of block-buster it was, and with no Cable, DVD's, VHS, or even BetaMax, if you didn't see a movie when it came out in the theater you didn't see it. I will never forget all of my friends showing up at school talking endlessly about how awesome it was. In order to punish my parents for the injustice I bore, I never went to see any of the other movies when they came out. Then for some reason last week I decide to buy all of the movies (they were just released as a set in the iTunes store) and watch them all. I mentioned it to some of my students and that set off a raging debate about what order I should watch them in. I settled on 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6, and also inserted The Clone Wars animated movie between 2 & 3) One of my students actually suggest I leave out Episode 1 (Phantom Menace) altogether, and I agree  that was good advice not taken. I am actually going to watch Return of the Jedi tonight - so no spoilers!!

Marc - I actually JUST yesterday received a mysterious package in the mail that contains books and a handwritten letter in French and I have no idea what it says. It is written in that crazy handwriting that so many Europeans use that I cannot even begin to make out what it says - I might just need your translation services!

That's why I said just Star Wars  

I distinctly recall standing in line in a theater in Westwood to see SW Ep 4.  I actually recall seeing the trailer beforehand.  

You should have just skipped 1 2 and 3 altogether.   Utter cr@p

Ha-Ha - that is EXACTLY what they told me their parents told them!

In (only slightly) more SBRU related news, due to end-of-semester hoo-ha I am actually going to find myself staying in Alabama this weekend rather traveling home to Atlanta as I usually do. I was planning on doing an annual charity bike ride that Bo Jackson puts on (Bo Bikes Bama). Where else would you get the chance to ride with Brian Bosworth AND Christian Vande Veld all in the same field? The problem is that A) this morning Lance evidently tweeted out that he would be riding, B)There are only 150 morning-of registrations, C) I did not pre-register, and D) I left my "Dopers Suck" socks at home. What ever is a fella to do?

I remember seeing the first Star Wars in high school (jeez I'm old) but had no idea they'd made that many sequels/prequels.  Since we're cruising down memory lane....I was in Atlanta this weekend and found some old boxes of crap I'd left at a friend's house years ago. Here is a pic of the t-shirt from one my first centuries - albeit the metric version. I think I rode this in 1990, not entirely sure. Sadly, I didn't write a race report. ;-)