kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2011 Part 2 - CLOSED (Page 54)

Great job Jeff and Rudy. 

I wish I had a great race report for everyone with my XC MTB race.  I got a DNF.  First time for me on that.  The day just started bad, and had a bad feeling from the get go, it wasn't going to be a good day.  Late start, to drive 1 hour 30 minutes to Mass. Kids were a bit cranky as I had to wake them up for the fun at 6:30AM. Got on highway, forgot cash as I didn't pre-register for this one. Forgot the Garmin as well. We arrived with just enough time to register and to warm up.  As I head into the woods for a little warmup, I come upon what I thought was a small mud puddle.  As I pick up speed to blast through it, I suddenly stop half way through.  It was DEEP MUD.  Had to step in mud half way up shins.  Finish my warmup and head to start line. Whistle blows, and we're off.  I had a great jump at the start, heading into a 2.5 mile climb to the top.  This was not an easy course.  Very technical with rocks and climbs. Going into this race I was hoping my road riding was going to pay off.  It did, until everything went wrong.  I reach the top of the climb, and I am in first place, with the next closest about 100 yards away.  As I start a small decent, I hop a rock, and chain falls off.  Got it on quick, as the other guy caught me.  About another mile in, chain comes off again.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!  Ughhhhhh. There is one section with a very narrow bridge, heading over a muddy creek.  With technical sections, I feel I handle those well.  Not this one.  I slid off the bridge into more deep mud, having to hop off again and pull the bike through it.  At this point, I am in second  place, and still feeling strong.  As I am approaching the finish of the first lap, on a long rocky decent, I flat.  Again, ARE YOU KIDDING ME.  Everything just went wrong today, it wasn't my day, and i took the DNF.

Good news of the day, my 6 year old placed First in the kids race again.  These are pretty informal, and somewhat short, but for a 6 year old, and a 3 1/2 year old, it's a huge deal, and it makes me smile.  By the way, took the training wheels off the 3 1/2 year olds bike last week.  He did the kids race as well and made it all the way around on his own!!!

Yes.

Kel did not run because her back is still not co-operating.  Bike was fine, hit my watts and HR and felt really good except for the fact I couldn't stand up straight.  Nice to pace the bike well, not so nice to not be able to run (or rather not be able to run after biking -- I have no problem running so long as its not preceded by a bike).  

Only good thing is that I knew pretty early on that the run wasn't going to happen so I ended up stopping 4 times on the bike to help others -- I ended up giving a away a pair of tire levers, a tube and a CO2 cartridge plus a stop at a water stop to get them to call in for a sag vehicle.  At least I was useful. 

I'm really not good at dealing with injuries (and my physical therapist creeps me out, which makes me not want to go to PT). 

great job for your sons!  My only DNF to date was when my chain broke on my MTB at winding trails.  I hate bikes.

call me about your back if you want.  recall i had a L5/S1 herniation 2 years ago and might be able to give you some thoughts.  sorry about the DNF, you were very smart not to do the run it was not back friendly.  lots of decompressions tonight my friend. 

race report is up in my blog.  Rev3 is a real test.  i have no clue how the pros or the really fast AGers do it.  I had a friend do the course in 4:50. 

edit to race report - i should have remembered sunscrean.  i'm somwhere between salmon and lobster now.

Thanks Fred.  I've just been super bummed generally lately and I don't want to turn things into a pity party. 

Baaa. you're KQ'ing next month. 

No, I'm not. 

I know what I'm capable of and I'm not capable of going sub 11 hours.  I should be in the high 11s, low 12s if things go correctly -- that's not fast enough to KQ.  Remember for women 30-34 there are generally 3 slots.  Based on historic results, I'm looking at placing somewhere around 10th place.  Way too far down for a roll down.

No, I'm not. 

I know what I'm capable of and I'm not capable of going sub 11 hours.  I should be in the high 11s, low 12s if things go correctly -- that's not fast enough to KQ.  Remember for women 30-34 there are generally 3 slots.  Based on historic results, I'm looking at placing somewhere around 10th place.  Way too far down for a roll down.

then get healthy and race your heart out.  Do you want me and Shaun to go Tanya Harding on anyone?

I'm working transition at LP so it would be a shame for a bunch of competitors to "lose" their running shoes while they are on the bike.

Just take all the right shoes, leaves them with more of a WTF feeling

Galloway Marathon training question:

I think I have determined while I have been able to fully run the 1/2 mary's, the full is too much of a hurddle, mentally and physically for me to try and overcome.  I am not only injury prone, but don't do well in the heat at all, so I am seriously thinking of doign the Jeff Galloway run-walk-run method in the marathon.  I get the benefits of walk breaks, but my concern is that the mileage total is no where near what Hidgon suggests.  Are you still as ready for the mary under this program?  What are you thoughts?  Has anyone done this?

There is a guy in our tri group that did this method last month for a mary and timed out at 3:36!!!  Pretty impressive. He was experimenting because he has hit that wall in his ironman the last 2x in the run.

My PT is really, really CUTE!!!  A nice little upper hip massage ain't bad either

Totally grasping at straws here for your back pain (I also had lower back surgery becuase of a herniation a few years ago).  I have been told I have bad posture on the bike (as well as at work) and that can contribute to my back not being as "ready" for the run as it could be.  So for me it has been working on posture and core strength.  Just a thought --- I am sure you have already thought about it.

Just wondering . . . they had to close/shut down the Chicago 13.1 mid-race this past Saturday because of heat and safety concerns (1 guy died, several still in the hospital).  If you have ever been to Chicago in the summer, you know what the humidity is like. I ran at 5:15am that day and had a hard time.

What do they do in that case?  Does any money get refunded?  Do people get entry into a different race, or the race next year? Do people still get their medals or finish line goodies?

Pellet Gun + Rogue "SAG Wagon" - hunting for 30-34 year old women.

FTFY.

Genreally no money gets refunded because most of it has laready been spent (think insurance, police, ambulances, food, shirts, timing company, etc.).  In some cases RDs will comp or offer a discount to another race, but it depends on the company.  Large companies that are better able to absorb losses are more likely to be able to offer come kind of comp or discount entry, smaller companies, not so much.  My guess is that if people made it back to the finish line, they would receive the finish line goodies.

Two years ago I signed up for a sprint race that was cancelled because of a tropical storm.  The RD offered $15 off entry into the same race the next year.  It was a medium sized company and that was pretty much the best he could do.  Most race companies operate on pretty slim margins and unless they carry an event insurance policy (which can be expensive and still doens't cover all expenses) it tough to "compensate" the athletes participating. 

The thing about differnt training methods and different training plans is that you can't combine them.  Both Hidgon and Galloway work well for marathon training, but both take different approaches.  Same thing goes for plans that are based on time vs. distance, they'll both prepare you, but if you start mixing you'll likely run into injury troubles. 

I think Galloway is a really good idea for you, but if you go with it, you need to commit and trust the plan.  Don't worry about what other plans say or what other people are doing.  Galloway has prepared thousands of people for marathons, it works.  Just remember the time or distance of any one run is not waht prepares you for the marathon, its total cummulative volume that comes from CONSISTENT training.  If Galloway will allow you to be injury-free ( and thus more consitent), its going to help you have a better marathon experience.