swbkrun's group- CLOSED (Page 56)

Congrats on finding a job so quickly, especially in this market.  I hope you can do some fun stuff during those three weeks.  It seems so rare to get that much time off in a row.  Re: the commute, I used to have 75 minutes in the car each way.  I found myself getting up at 3am to get some of my work outs in during the week.  Not ideal, but it can be done.

Janet-it looks like you have plenty of other racing opportunities in the coming weeks.  I like the idea of the 5K the day before the fund raiser.  Life must go on!

Congrats on the job Mark and especially congrats on the 3 week vacation   I have just recently started getting audio-books that you can download to the ipod.  I listen when I walk my dog...I think I would listen if I had a long commute.

Tony, I just bought a pair of Pro 3's last nite on probikekit.com.  I think I paid 68.00 for the pr/included free shipping, no tax!  Very excited to get my new tires, my current ones are very slippery.

Janet, it looks like the 5K leading up to 10K will work out even better for your crazy schedule!  Sometimes these things happen for a reason.

Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday.

congrats on the new job and the 3 wk vacation!  Maybe you can find me a job too!  it's depressing in NYC.  No jobs unless you're a lawyer specializing in workouts (not exercising workouts but AIG type workouts), analyst, assistant or quant..    Enjoy the time off.

I'm not sure if anyone has seen the show 30 Days on FX.  The guy who produced and stared in the movie Supersize Me is producing this show that picks sensitive/hot issues and lives out the day and life of those people who are entrenched in these issues on a daily basis for 30 days.  It's real eye opener..  The last one I saw, he and his fiancee moved to Columbus, Oh and lived on minimum wage for 30 days.  I can't believe what they had to go through, I especially can't imagine any family living that way for their entire life.  So many things need to change in this country.. 

Mark:  congrats on locating a new job so quickly. Good to have a vacation. My 6 month one is getting pretty old. I don't want to jinx anything so I won't say anything about any potentials.

Janet: As Suzy said it looks like you have lots of other opportunites for races and I'm sure you will be able to find another 1/2 M if you  want to. Have fun and take care of family matters first.

The last two days have been great.  I'm loving this staying home w/ the family gig and would love to hit the jackpot so we could both stay home w/ the kids.  I did manage to get a run in this morning before anyone was up and am hoping to get to sport circuit tomorrow morning. 

I thought I should post up some pics, so we'll give it a shot here.  I might have to resize them, so bear with me.

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(Sam.JPG)

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Very cute little ones, Matt!

 Enjoy the time off with your family, these are such precious moments  

Enjoy the time Matt! They grow so fast!

And I 2nd that Tony....Nice to sit at work sometimes, and the only noise you hear is your keyboard!No screaming or fighting!

Matt---Thanks for posting the pics.  The kids are cute.

Today was Day #3 of running in shorts in Madison in March.  Totally unheard of and I am getting spoiled.  True, it was only 36F today, but it felt like 60F to me after the crummy winter.  Off to the pool later to do some damage.  It has been three days and I have missed those funny little goggle lines around my eyes when I get out.  Make it a good one!

Suzy

Hey all...I'm starting to get back in the swing of things now. Went out for an 8km run yesterday. Slow but getting back into it.

But I'm convinced what i need to do to really get back at it, is to sign up for an Oly on June 20. By then, I'll have 3 sprints done. That should be enough to get me to the next level? Plus I turn 36 on June 27, so that could be extra motivation. It is an OWS, 2 750m laps....so that'll be new and hard to train for up here. Wetsuit for sure, but I'll have little exposure to the OW prior to it.

thoughts?

Matt.... One Word- AWESOME!!!

Trevor- Not sure your question, but you will be ok... Everyone has to have there 1st open water race... It's never pretty, but you always look back and laugh after your 1st open water swim in a race!  I thought I was near death after 25m of swimming my first race!! WTF!! I am going to die 35 seconds in!!!  You'll be fine!

LOL, my first OWS was 750M no wetsuit.

Looking at it from the shore it looked like I was going to swim 2 miles...

I held on to every boat and surf board out there.  Floated on my back, did breaststroke, backstroke, doggy paddle.

28 minutes later I finished, lol.  Was completely shot for the rest of the race.

Found a good spot to practice and my Olympic was much better, still slow but much more in control.

Well you(Steve) and Tony are sure getting me motivated to do it.

"Hey i nearly drowned." "Hey i hung off a boat the whole time" "I did 750m in 40 minutes."

really friggin inspiring!!

HAHA, well that's what I am here for.

I think the point is unless you have some OWS experience your first race out of the pool and in the open water will be tough but you will get through it and go a whole lot faster the next time.

Swimming is by far the worst of the 3 disciplines for me so if you are a better swimmer YMMV

Trevor all joking aside, can you find a sprint distance ows (500-750?) as your first ows before the OLY?  Unless you can practice OWS before the oly, 1500 meters is really quite long.  I guess if it is 2 750 laps, it would make it seem easier, but for me, I really wish I had done one sprint ows before my oly last May.  It is such a different animal than pool swimming that's for sure. 

If however you are a very confident swimmer out in the ocean or out in lakes, then by all means, go for it!  I had to roll on my back several times for the oly, but didn't really have to do that in the two sprint tris I did later in the summer.  Wish I had reversed the order to gain more confidence.  I might not have been 2nd to DFL out of Folsom Lake.

My first OWS was at a sprint tri for 400 yds.  I did the individual start and still found myself next to and in between people fast and slower than me.  I wasn't prepared for the kick and be kicked aspect.   I did some backstroke for a while and finished the swimming with my head above water.   I still finished in somewhere around 8 minutes, not great but I finished.

My second... yes second OWS was at my next sprint tri for 500 yds.  You'd think I would have learned my lesson and practiced an OWS.  I didn't have any time in the pool for 3 weeks before this  tri.  I knew I was going to hurt in the water so I started at the very back of the pack.  It was a group start by gender/age.  I didn't pay attention to the fact that I was on the inside, so when we hit the first bouy, I actually had to basically tread water around it. 

Then I just lost it!  I couldn't refocus or find any type of a rhythm.   I did a whole lot of backstroke.  I refused to touch any boats.  I think the lifeguards thought that they were going to have to do some rescue swimming.  Next thing I know I'm being passed.  I figured that I must not have been the worst swimmer in my start.  I remember that I kept trying to find the sand as I approached the shore so I could stand up and run in.  As I finally exited the water I realized that I was swimming behind the heat that started 5 minutes after mine.  500 yds took me 18 minutes.  I ended up with the 2nd worst swim time of EVERYONE!

I did make up for it with a descent bike and a PR run, but it was emotionally difficult to swollow.  I knew I didn't prepare for it.  I didn't get the OWS experience that I should have and I didn't ever practice swimming with other people.   So I suggest to do these 2 things, practice a few OWS before your first race and do it with some friends, or enemies if you really want to get good.  Remember that in the pool you're basically cutting the total distance in third as your have a break every 25 yds as you're able to push off the wall and sustain a slow glide for a second.  You don't get that in the open water.  No breaks.

Ok, that is all for now.

Okay that is good advice too. Me thinking I need to find a sprint OW

Trevor don't listen to these sissy's and pantywaists about hanging onto boats and canoes. Just go out there and swim or drown. You'll be amazed at how well and how far you can swim.

All joking aside if you are going to use a wetsuit then you have absolutely nothing to worry about. The wetsuit alone will keep you afloat. All of my races have been OWS and they have been no problem. I am surprised that there are no sprints with OWS in your area. There is a great HIM with an OWS in Calgary

Also in my swims I don't think I have been kicked or hit very many times and certainly not hard enough to upset my swim. Maybe we are just much more polite up in the frosty north or we are used to swimming around the ice bergs.

Hmmmmm where is Tracy. She doesn't seem to have risen to your memo Steve. Could it be that she is afraid of a little friendly Tracy bashing. I think not.

If your talking about the Chinook HIM.....they are running an Oly that weekend now too. That is the one i think i am going to do. It will be wetsuit...