Baowolf's Beginner Banquet -Sorry all tables are full no room.. (Page 56)

Really nice swim Dennis!  Is that the longest yardage you have done in a workout to date?  So glad your swim lessons are paying off with some speed gains.  I think negative splits are a good thing no matter which sport it is.

Well, I didn't get the arm warmers today...sounds like a good future purchase though.  I do have a nice lightweight outer layer type jacket I'll probably throw on for the bike portion (only 12 miles).

Yes, my longest by far.  I think 2,500 was my furthest prior to today.

12 miles?  A warmup before your run?  No jacket required, just pedal faster.

Hey Steve, check out this thread.  A fellow BT'er is trying to get 3 people together for the 3 for 2 Vineman Full deal.

Carol, how was the tri?  Did you dress up for it?  Were there any great costumes from the other athletes?

Last night I did a brutal 3 hour trainer ride.  I used Spinervals On The Road Lake Placid for the workout.  The first two hours were mostly easy aerobic work.  The last 30-40 minutes were tough.  Nothing drastic, just a very long, steady big gear push.  I ran a mile after the bike.  I planned on doing a little further but at 11:00pm the temp had dropped to 40 and my tri shorts and short sleeve bike jersey weren't keeping me warm at all.

Speaking of bike jerseys.  Am I just a total dork for wearing a bike jersey while on the trainer?  I gotta wear something and I figured that the jersey is just as good as anything else.

Dennis, wow, what a leap in swim yardage!  You must be getting a lot more efficient.  LOL on the bike jersey.  I see nothing wrong with it, but then again, I went to the grocery store yesterday wearing sandals with socks, so consider the source!

Had a really fun race today.  Coldest I felt was waiting to swim, and the light shell jacket was perfect on the bike.  Was able to shuck that for the run.  I dressed up as a triathlete today .  And my hair gets wild enough that I don't need a costume to look a little deranged!  Lots of others in costume...race director (male) was dressed as Princess Leia, and joked that they hired the fewest officials possible, so cheat all you can...or was it a joke??  Anyway, race report is here if you want the details.  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=273131

To summarize: 4th out of 27 in my AG (close but no cigar!) 

And compared to same race in 2009 (my first attempt at a tri):

                    2011             2009

Total             1:26:35        1:40:55

Swim             2:14/100 y   2:47/100 y

T1                 4:13             4:42

Bike               16.1 mph *  13.8 mph  

* for 2011, Garmin says 17.0 mph and measured the course 1/2 mile longer, not sure why it would be quite that far off, but it is what it is

T2                 2:48             1:29

Run               8:50/mile       10:59/mile

These are back to a respectable level.

 Interesting fact: October was my biggest month for biking, swimming and strength.  Only running was less volume, and by a ton.  That's good though because running is where I get injured and the long/slow build will be better.

Nice totals Dennis!  You're playing it smart w/ the running, and doesn't hurt to have a new bike to break in either .

As is evident in my totals, I'm run focused right now.  Volume goal is to hit 1,000 miles for 2011.  I'm struggling to keep even a modest level of biking.  Part of it is run recovery and races the last couple weekends.   But part is just indecision.  Not sure whether to do gym spin classes, solo rides, or group rides, so I wind up not riding at all.  What I'd really like to do is the winter indoor class the bike shop is offering (cyclops bikes, power meters, and all).  I just can't commit any more $$'s right now, and again, not sure how well that would fit w/ the running anyway. 

Hey Steve, welcome back!  And no stress....just come out to play when you can

Looks like I'll be having dinner w/ a member of Team Type 1 on Friday. http://teamtype1.org/teams/triathlon/nathan_bartels/default.htm He was part of the winning team in the Race Across America, and is also a triathlete.  Should be some good inspiration and information.  Think it will be a small group, so hopefully get the chance to ask a lot of questions.

Swim lesson yesterday paid off a lot.  I know i keep mentioning my swim getting better, but it seems to be every week.

The coach kept drilling me about 2 issues, head too low while swimming, too high while breathing.  I would swim 50, he would say, "Raise you head more".  I'd swim another 50.  He'd say, "You gotta get your head higher.  The waterline is closer to your crown than forehead."  This went on for 10-15 minutes.  It didn't bother me because we had to get it right.  I finally over exaggerated and got to where I could see the waterline though the top of my goggles.  My coach's response, "Perfect".  He also said by keeping my head higher allowed me to actually keep it lower while breathing.  We discussed a few more things: hip kick with less knee, rotation, hand position for catch, wall turns, etc.  Just things to keep in mind.  He said we'd drill on those later.

So this morning I go to the pool.  The lady I've started swimming 50s with is there.  I warm up and she's like, "Let's do 10x50s".  Last time we raced 50s, she always beat me by around half a body length, this just a week ago.  We start, we're even by the 25, she flip turns, I wall turn, by the end I have her by a length.  This continues for 4-5 more laps until I start winning by almost 2 lengths.  I could tell by looking at the clock i was swimming way faster than normal.  The only change, head position and a little better wall turn. 

Even for my regular laps, I never swam a lap slower than 1:09.  That's with cooling down and everything.  I normally swim my easy laps at 1L15+.  All of this with just 3 lessons.  I have been trying to get to the pool 4-5 times a week.  I plan on keeping that schedule until the new year when I will probably have to drop a couple of workouts.  

Great progress Dennis!  Didn't you start off swimming based at least somewhat on TI?  I wonder if maybe that's where the head being too far down came from.  I still think about "swimming downhill", so kinda makes me wonder.  Sounds like your swim coach was a really good find.  Oh, and your swimming buddy is not going to want to race you anymore .

Had another really nice run this morning.  Have a 5K on Saturday and wanted to get a feel for the pace I'd like to run it, so did some intervals.  I don't do them on the track...just use my garmin, but really kind of enjoy the structure and just seeing what it feels like to go a bit faster.  Bike hasn't been out to play much...but Sunday bike group has moved to afternoons and that works.

Oh, and I saw some talk about the Redman 70.3 on 9/22/2012.  Kind of has me thinking it might be a nice goal for next yr. 

I started off with everything I could find.  I forgot about it but when I started leg dropping was a huge issue for me.  Swimming down was the cure they sold me.  It probably worked to help correct the dropped hips issue and was the lesser of the 2 evils.  But when you don't have a hips issue anymore, you need to fix the swim down issue.  Good job recalling that. 

I read a lot of good stuff about Redman, both half and full.  It seems to be a well put on show.  $225 is a fair price and a great stocking stuffer.  I see you've done bike rides in the low 30 mile range.  Adding another 25 in 10 months is simple.  You're going to do a HM soon and the olympic to HIM swim difference is small.  Just do it.  None of us are getting any younger you know.

Wooohooo!!! A Karen sighting .  I'm so happy to hear about your first marathon!  Just gettting the starting line healthy is an accomplishment in itself, and finishing is even better. You go girl!  I think the triathlon training really helps with injury prevention, at least at the non IM distances.  I have no doubt you are OLY bound this spring/summer.

Just back from the ADA 5K this morning.  This is my only stand-alone 5K of the year.  Got 1st in the 40-49 AG, but it was a pretty small field....I think only 8 or so in my AG in the timed run.  The course was a little short, but even going by my real (garmin) distance, overall pace was 7:59.  That is a HUGE improvement for me (former PR 5K pace was 8:37 back in 2008).  I was targeting 8:30 pace today and got a little ahead of myself early on, so just went with it.  Steve, will this do for an AT test?:

Mile 1 - 7:47 (avg HR 174/ max HR 200)

Mile 2 - 8:16 (181/193)

Mile 3 - 7:53 (184/191)

TTL - 7:59 (179/200) -- ttl time was 22:59, but course was 2.88 miles per garmin.

Also had dinner with a pro cyclist and now triathlete who also has T1 diabetes last night and enjoyed hearing his perspectives.  All in all a good weekend, and it's only noon on Saturday .  Ten miles on tap in the morning. 

Carol sub 8:00 pace... you are coming along so well on your run.  Nice tri time, etc. etc.  Up can coming competitor, keep an eye on this one.  I smell podium in your future. 

Dennis I am jelous of you having a swim coach. 

Grats on finishing your marathon.  Finishing is way better than not. . and a finish time on a first sets the bar for your second. 

Everyone is doing great. 

Me, still struggling getting back into it with a hamstring that irritated me a bit, took a week off and then out of town for a week.  At home pool drains are under repair, hate contractors. 

We have snow on the ground so I am resigned to indoors atm for the bike.  Run, well I need to find my wool socks for tomorrow,  and my windproof pants.. etc. 

Dinner is ready after a 6 hour drive, will catch up more and be back home all week... until thanksgiving... Oh ya I am back at altitude after a week, so I will be reacclimated by the time I go back down for thanksgiving. 

You should be, it's awesome.   Definitely one of the major missing links in my training.  Don't believe I've mentioned the price, 4 lessons for $85 since I'm a YMCA member.  Best speed bang for buck I've ever gotten in the tri world.  ?Why didn't I do this earlier?" is what I'm now asking myself.  I knew I needed it for months.  I perhaps could have gotten closer to sub-6 in Augusta with the swim lessons and new bike.

You did better on your marathon than I did on mine.  I'm working the water station at mile 17 instead of racing.  BTW, why didn't we get mile 3 to man, mile 17 makes it a 5 hour day at least now.

Just in from a 3:15 trainer ride.  Used the Spinervals IMWI course video to guide me along. Actually enjoying the TrainerRoad app.Still learning about the power meter but I know a lot more now than I did a few weeks ago.

THanks for your kind words.  I did a slow 8 miler over the bridges this weekend.  After the marathon in DC with those hills in Virginia, I realize I need a lot more bridge work.  Can't wait to get in my bike today, I think it has collected dust, poor thing.

Carol-You are awesome! I can't believe your times.  And first place to boot. Congrats! -Karen

Hi guys and gal!

This seems to be "figure out what's next" time for many of us.

Steve, I really don't know how you deal w/ the long winters.  Are you still working on Jorge's bike program?  Also, what kind of trainer do you have?

Dennis, you are signed up for a volunteering marathon it seems.  Really though....hats off to you for volunteering.  Love your swim instruction bargain!

Karen, glad to hear you are back at it after your marathon.  Did you come out injury free?  Seems like running the bridges would be sort of mentally difficult, but you gotta use the "hills" you have.  My neighborhood is called Woodland Hills....and there is a reason for that.  It is where the local running group comes to do their hill training.  Lucky me .

Gal I ran/walked with yesterday turned out to be a triathlete, and first race she mentioned was Redman 70.3...she loved it.  She also confirmed some unfavorable things I had heard about the other one I was considering.  Hmmmm.  Then finally back on the bike for an afternoon shop ride.  Also think I might be rubbing off on a couple of folks who are considering tri's now (evil grin).

It's more of a triathlon team requirement than me being a nice guy.  I'm sure I'll have fun doing it, but let's not act as if I'm some good Samaritan or anything.

I of course have to get through IMTX first, but at the club meeting last night, a few had gotten in for IMFL (I couldn't bring myself to register for that one) and us IMTX folks were discussing trying to squeeze in another one next year.  Either Redman or B2B.  I might just get to see you at that one.

Swam 1900 this morning.  The workout included lots of 50s (two 6x50 on 10 sessions).  My overall pace for the entire workout was 2:05/100. 

Oops...messed up the quotes....anyway...Dennis said:

It's more of a triathlon team requirement than me being a nice guy.  I'm sure I'll have fun doing it, but let's not act as if I'm some good Samaritan or anything.

Either Redman or B2B.  I might just get to see you at that one.

Swam 1900 this morning.  The workout included lots of 50s (two 6x50 on 10 sessions).  My overall pace for the entire workout was 2:05/100. 

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Ha, ha!  Thanks for clearing up the good samaritan thing!  I haven't volunteered, and was thinking "wow, even Dennis is volunteering, what kind of a schmuck am I?"

Yep...you definitely need to do Redman!

Looks like the swim cutoff is not going to be a problem for you.

I was due for a sucky run and had it this morning.  Have also been having some mid glute pain (thinking piriformis), and a shin that is a little tweaky.  Not debilitating, but both on the same leg and starting to feel lopsided.  May take a day or two of nothing but swim/stretch/foam roll and see if that helps.  If not, may be time to visit the chiropractor. 

I didn't realize my selfish assshole self came off so well over the internet.  I mean, "even Dennis is volunteering...".  So you thought you were at least one step above me on the moral staircase.  I bet you freaked when even a heathen like me was showing you up.

Just kidding, all in good fun.  Sounds like it's rest time for you.  Maybe time to drop it down a notch and join the rest of us in Zone 2.

Edit: Today I learned BT has a dirty word filter.  I know how to make a $ into an S.

Edit2: Ok, just adding an extra s works also.

Edit3: Ok here goes the 7 dirty words test: , , , , , and .