Fast Twitch Tri-FULL (Page 56)

Matt and Dave - I read both of your RR and you guys are FAST!! Both your reports were fun to read as well by the way. Congrats to both of you. Gives me something to work towards.


For myself, I'm feeling pretty good in my training. On Friday I swam around a small lake, about 3K in 57 minutes and then added another 800m in 15 more minutes (for my 1st Iron distance swim) and felt really good. Even my running is coming along slowly but my cycling is sort of up and down in terms of pacing.

I finally broke down and went to a Running Store and had them help me with some new running shoes. I wound up with a pair of Mizuno's that seem really comfortable. I'll give them a short 5K run tomorrow morning.

We're having a heat wave here just now - up to 42C today, about 107F so I've been heading out as early as possible to be done before the full heat of the day.

Ran local 5K today. Slower than I had hoped, but top 8% OA.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Since I wrote about my swim and the Mizuno's I've been thrown a bit off track. Last Thursday I went out early (5:45am) to put my bike on our bike rack and meet up with a fellow to do a swim/bike/run brick before the heat hit. After I loaded the bike and locked it I went in the house and came out 15 minutes later...and my bike was gone!

I was shocked, the Mountie that came out when I reported it was shocked as well. Couldn't believe that in such a small window of opportunity, on a short quiet street, at that time of day someone would be able to steal it. When we figured out what they did it probably took less than a half minute to pop it off and be gone.

After I went to the insurance company to see what I'm covered for (I might get $1000 max after the deductible). I went to my LBS and all I had to say was "My bike was stolen." and they fixed me up in a few minutes with a much more expensive very nice Felt bike (of course they're fairly sure of a sale) but they were really good about it.

So that killed my days workout schedule - kind of took the wind out of my sails. Next day - Friday I took the bike out for a 20K shakedown ride before I went to volunteer for two days in package pick-up for our local GranFondo ride. I inappropriately worked hard all day Friday and Saturday as a volunteer. So then this morning as I'm getting prepared to ride in the Medio distance (92K) ride I'm thinking I'm already stiff and I should've rested so I probably will be too tired to ride hard.

Well, I surprised myself and rode pretty well for me. We were expecting intense heat but it was quite cool and overcast this morning that worked out to be a great relief to everyone. I started out slowly in the middle of over 2600 riders and just took my time. Right after the start there was a short steep climb that helped to spread everyone out. My HR was a bit elevated but I made it up no problem.

After being passed by EVERYONE, I got out on the highway and started passing people. I was not far behind a group accident and one woman was unconscious on the road. As I passed I heard someone say, "She's breathing." which didn't sound too good. I never heard how she was. I saw several more accidents and later saw several others in bandages so it was a bad day for accidents and I also saw many people repairing flats as well.

In my route we had 3 AID stations and I spent minimal time just loading up on water and Honey Stinger Waffles but I avoided staying any longer than I had to and I was amazed at how many people I passed at the AID stations. Coming into the 3rd station I felt a bit nauseous so I decided to stop for a few minutes and rest. I ate a bit, drank a lot then stretched for a couple minutes and then headed off again.

Once I had warmed up I passed a lot of people and felt really good. I'm still not fast but I felt as though I finally showed some improvement. The whole ride had 4 good climbs and my Garmin says I climbed 703m/2300'. Depressingly, people passed me on the climbs and I am still very slow there. I can make it up every local climb so far. I just can't do it with any speed. I will keep working on it. Where I really made up time was on the flats and downhills. I passed lots of people and played leap-frog with many others. Had fun talking to people and encouraging others.

The most exciting part of all this was the new bike. I hadn't had time for even a basic fitting of this new bike and I had set out this morning more than a bit worried about how my body would cope with it. The saddle felt fine - more comfortable than my "fitted" saddle and even saddle height and everything else was fine. The worst problem I had all day was my water bottle holders were too tight.

I really enjoyed the long straight away into the finish line and crossing it was fun. Then I had fun eating anything and everything but the best was a bag of Salt-n-vinegar potato chips. I normally avoid excess salt but the chips just went down so nicely.

Hopefully I can get back to normal pretty quick.

GEORGE - sorry to hear about your bike. I still remember the feeling of having several bikes stolen when I was a kid. Worst feeling in the pit of my stomach. Although a new bike is a nice consolation! What Felt did you get? Wondering if it feels any faster? Nice job on the fondo. If it's any consolation, I go super slow and get passed up hills too. Has something to do with weighing 185 + 19 lbs of bike and having a sad Watt/Kg ratio of about 2.9. I have fun barrelling past people on the downhills, though.

Speaking of cycling, I just noticed that throught the month of June, I surpassed both my time and mileage on the bike for all of last year. Swim and run are pretty much on track with 2012. So that's cool.

Dave - I'm going tomorrow to see about buying the bike. It's a Felt Z4. I was really surprised to ride the bike for the first time without any kind of fitting at all. I just got on the bike and rode it without any trouble. After the fondo I realized I had gone faster than on my old bike (although there is the race effect that makes us faster). But, I also found the seat fit me better than my old one. So I had minimal trouble with the saddle. I also have always had a lot of trouble with my hands going numb as I ride and I constantly have to shake out my hands. With this new bike on the 92km/57mi ride I only had minimal numbness like 10 or 20% of what I usually have.

So this bike does seem more comfortable. It is a better quality and step up in components. But, it is also another $1000 more than my old bike.

I sure was slow on the climbs but as you say I was passing lots of people on the downhills. I guess I'm still carrying too much "ballast".

I went today to purchase travel insurance for my trip to Lake Stevens, Washington next Tuesday. It's coming up fast.

Nice RR!! And, nice finish placing's as well. You can't complain about slowness anymore eh. I particularly liked that you stuck around to cheer in the slower athletes. I too get a kick out of watching others finish although I don't have nearly as many people behind me when I finish.

I'll see about a thorough bike fit after I return from Lake Stevens.

I did get medical/travel insurance for the trip. It only came to $31.20 for the week.

MATT - Congratulations on your #1! Great times too. 1:06 / 100, almost 25 MPH avg, and the same time I just ran in a standalone 5K! Impressive.
And thanks for pointing that out about the helmet on / suit off thing. I've been reading that for 3 years and never knew what it meant until now.

Great race and report Matt. As several people commented you're sure speedy.

I did the Lake Stevens 70.3 on Sunday and I was terribly slow. I had a good swim but I now wish I had pushed myself a lot harder than I did. Then I rode hard on the bike course but I finished about 30+ minutes later than I expected (my bike computer says we climbed 712m and rode on grades up to 20%). By the time I got off the bike my legs were pretty tired. Then I headed out on the run but I had trouble getting going.

I realize now that I didn't train well enough and I probably should have done more Olys before a HIM but I had a lot of fun and I can't wait to do another one.

I wrote a race report and I think it is still on the 1st page of race reports if you're curious. I think I drank and ate well because I felt great all day and crossed the finish line feeling good - except now I feel I should have pushed myself harder all day.

My season here is slowing down. I've got a relay (180km/112mi bike ride) in Challenge Penticton on August 25th. Then I might sign up for an Oly on Sept. 8th and the very last event could be a HM in October. Sept 15th is about it for Tri's here.

RR:http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=496526
And I'll have to read Matt's oly report.

North Park Triathlon race report:
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Hi Dave and Matt,

I just dropped in to say Hi. My season is finished now. Since I last posted here I rode the Challenge Penticton bike relay which was great fun. I even played leap frog with Sister Madonna for 150km then she passed me at Yellow Lake and I thought I'll catch up to her and ride into Penticton with her (from Yellow Lake to Finish it is all fast downhill with only a few minor upticks) but I never saw her again and she opened up another 8 minutes!! on me. She must have just flown down. And, I thought I was going fast. Day after the race she registered for next years Relay race again. She'll be 84 by then.

Then this last Sunday my wife and I drove to the coast and I did my first Oly distance race. I was still solidly BOP but I managed 3:12:xx which was pretty good for me. I even got a 3rd place medal for a 4/4 finish in my AG. So hard to get excited about it. I'm not sure why I was called up for 3rd place. The race (Cultus Lake Olympic Triathlon) was a lot of fun and might wind up on my "end of season" list for next year again.

Now I'm feeling a bit lost with nothing coming up to keep me training. I've done a bit of swimming this week and I'll swim and maybe ride a little tomorrow but it is really hard to get motivated.