Penn State's mentor group - CLOSED! (Page 57)

Well I got in the potpourri of training today that the gym. I started off with a little bike (45 min / 14 1/4 miles random hill) and then did 30 min on the treadmill (2 1/4 miles) and then swam 1200 yds in the pool. Just under 2 hours of exercise. Tomorrow I'm going to go for my long ride (40 miles). We'll see if that distance happens or not since my riding partner has crapped out on me.

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Good luck! Have a great race.  

Rain and rough road...sounds great. Add a little wind and heavy chop on the swim and you got yourself a race. Good luck...I think this is a 1/2 IM for you , right?

Hope the race went well, let us all know when you get the RR up. 

I just got back from my first time volunteering for a race.  Was assigned Body Marking and transition security (ie, make sure those walking out with a bike were walking out with their bike and no someone else's)

But I got to watch a good portion of the race, so it was also my first time ever spectating at a tri.  If any of you have never spectated a local tri, I highly suggest you do it.  I learned a tremendous amount by just comparing how people did different things.  It was extremely obvious those who were attempting to do more advanced techniques but had never practiced it.  Such as having your shoes clipped into the pedals and being able to mount your bike quickly and get moving.  The most common mistake I saw (besides people's obvious lack of practice) was that they would come to a complete stop, put their leg over the top tube and then the real fun started:  The shoes would be hanging upside down, so they would stop on the 'bottom' of the pedal to get moving (say the right pedal), the left one would come up to 12 0'clock, but they aren't moving very fast at all, the right shoe is now dragging along on the ground slowing them down more, throwing them a little off balance as they try to flip the left shoe up so they can get their foot on top of it.  They are still moving pretty slow (think walking speed, they are obviously in much to low a gear because 1/2 rotation barely makes them move), which means balancing is tuff for them and they are swerving off the road.  They get that left foot on top of the shoe, push down just to maintain that walking speed as they now try to get that right shoe flipped up so they can put their foot on top of it.

I have never clipped my shoes to my pedals, but I'm sure if I did.... I'd look exactly like they did.  Which tells me 2 things:  1) Keep doing what I'm doing... it's the right thing for me to do right now to be as smooth and fast as possible 2) When I finally decide to get tri shoes and think about clipping them to the pedals... PRACTICE!!!!   

I went for an easy(ish) 17 mile bike ride this morning. I did do some hills but the big thing was the wind. It was blowing about 20 here today and going up a hill with a head wind was major suckage. I looked down and saw that I was going 3.7 mph and I was almost falling over because the wind would shift to the side really quickly. I did get a pretty good workout in for just doing 17 miles but I can't wait to find a group that I can go ride with. Most of the people here on BT that ride would probably drop me in the first few miles.

Will probably go for a run later and get at least 3 miles in.

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Edited by PennState 2010-05-23 4:36 PM

This sucks. I think when I prepare mentally for a race I'm expecting certain course and distance for a race. I don't know how I would handle a mismarked course or volunteers who sent you to the wrong place. I think it would mentally demoralize me.

I'm sorry that this happened but it's not unheard of. At the Las Palomas (Rocky Point, Mexico) triathlon in 2009, they sent people to the wrong place on the run and the 10k ended up at just over 4 miles. People ended and couldn't believe their watches. Too bad yours wasn't shorter instead of way longer.

That really stinks about the wrong directions and I don't blame you for DNFing when the run would have been that long.  Obviously off course = no support and I'm sure you didn't take the nutrition/hydration you'd need with you to end up doing 15+ miles.  But, in the grand scheme of things, it is just a training day... it sounds like you got just as much mental training in as you did physical as well, which can be just as important.

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Just sucks that you had to pay for a training day.

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You are so right! Negativity is the enemy. (I would be very frustrated also.)
So... I am glad you had a full training day  where you got to do a bit of everything.

Hmm, maybe I could have typed that better.  But, to answer your question, I do take a swig right away.     

Great attitude. Sorry that was not as planned though

Also i am back from my brief triathlon hiatus. I took the Dr's advice and took a solid 6 days off training. I will resume tomorrow. In that time i also stopped checking BT and other tri research stuff i do. I took a total break...physical and mental

That was probably a positive thing all around. Let us know how things feel this week. I'm excited for all our Lake Placid Ironman people.

Sorry to hear about the dnf Fred, when I hear about those things I always think about the first timers and hope it doesn't totally turn them off from the sport.

Thanks guys! Your support really puts a smile on my face!

Whats going on training wise today?

I did 30 min swim this morning. No "pain" in the groin...but i could feel something a little wierd in that area. Arms were dead and i had nothing...but it felt good to be doing something..even if it was a dreadful swim.

Will go for a little ride after work

Sorry to hear about your DNF Fred, that must have been frustrating to have the race be that disorganized. Nice job putting a positive spin on the experience though, and taking it for what it was, a good training day.