Newbz' Spring Fling Mentor Group is FULL! (Page 57)

Until today, I'd not been able to see the local pool. I'd been told that it has lap lanes, and I could see a childrens' play area, but that's it.

I guess the wind blew some fencing down, or a drunk removed it, or something. I was driving by and could see in. I stopped and took a closer look. The lap lanes are, at best, 15 meters, and they look really narrow. As in, too narrow for two people to use one lane. Great, I guess I'm going to be driving the 45 miles to use a decent pool after all.

Had a good race this morning.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=247035

Official standing weren't available, but I think I finished 5th in the M18-34 division, and probably something like 15th out of 65 overall.

Very pleased with my time.  And after racing 3 times in the last 5 weeks, I'm glad I can go back to full time training for the next 6 weeks. 

Sorry to hear about your father's condition. 

Awesome race Jason...sounds brutal.  We fatties don't do well on hills like that.

Question for you:  I just tried out my rear wheel cover for the first time.  I just wanted to make sure it fit correctly and all that.  So I tightened all the fasteners and it seems like the wheel cover is awfully wobbly.  Is there some magic way of tightening it so the cover spins smooth?  Also, the edge of the cover where it meets the rim of my wheel is angled a bit too much so it sticks out into the flow about 3mm.  Is yours like this?

Nice job Jason!  That sounds like a blast.  I love climbing hills, it's the descent that freaks me out.

165 lbs - have an ambitious schedule set up this week, my first real week of balancing training. Setback #1 - got to the gym, swam 50 yds, adjusted leaky goggles and SNAP.  Busted straps.  Will buy new goggles tonight and try to make up the swim.  At least I got to sit in the hot tub and relax a bit.

Cheers!

My cover fits pretty tight.  There is no space between the edge of the cover where it meets the rim.  Did wheel builder specifically design the cover for your rim?  If so, I would take pictures of it, and call them.  The only "wobble" I get is when I go over rough road...then you can hear the cover "rattle" a little bit.

Sorry I have been MIA for the last 2 weeks.  I was brutally sick with a chest cold (may have been pneumonia..) and had to scale training way back. 

Did 9.4 mile run yesterday and felt okay.  Breathing still abit labored, but I feel okay today.  Will probably do a 20 to 25 mile bike ride today on the trainer to get some saddle time in and see where I stand physically overall. 

I did manage to force myself to do an indoor sprint tri last sunday (much to my wife's dismay as I was hacking away...).  I didn't want to burn $30 for nothing even if I was sick.  Swim was brutal (only did 600 yds in 15 minutes as I could barely breathe..), bike was okay (7.38 miles in 15 minutes, they used spin bikes so I am not sure if that is good or not..) and 2.3 miles ran in 15 minutes (I was pretty happy with this, my breathing eased up abit during the run..).  I finished 10th out of 25 men, which considering my condition, I am okay with...

That is it for now, hope everyone is starting to see some sunshine.  It is just starting to peek thru in upstate NY...

?Hmmm...okay, i'll look into it some more.  Maybe the fasteners are too short. I asked a buddy about it here at home and he said he got that wobble to go away by taping the edge of the rim with electrical tape for each race.  He did a seamless job and it looked awesome.  I'm definitely going to try it on a training ride.

I had a gut check race on Sunday- small 5K.  I wanted to see where my training has gotten me.  I have done little to no spead work yet--all base training.

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=247073

I am please with my gut check!

I ran within myself--I had more at the end so I know I can push the pace and make it hurt more!

This is 3:30 minute improvement from my last race in November- where I was doing a little training.

So now I know where I stand running...time for some speed work

Time to get back to reality for me.  I haven't done a thing for 2 weeks, unless eating anything I wanted to, drinking insane amounts of alcohol and smoking count for something.  Was back home with friends and fam for my bachelor party and a week of indulging with a lot of old friends.  Then the wedding and a few days to recover and try to get back to some normalcy after that.  Worst part of it all is that I started smoking again for the last 2 weeks. 

I'm going to finish this pack and not buy anymore.  Tomorrow morning I'm going to try a 4-5 mile run and see how that goes.  If that goes alright I'll try a little bike ride in the evening.  Really kicking myself in the a$$ for smoking again.  On the bright side though, I am excited to start working out again and eating better.  It is amazing how much better I feel when living healthier.  Haven't been to the gym to get on a good scale but the one at home says I gained about 10-15 pounds in 2 weeks.   It was a fun 2 weeks but I'm not sure it was worth all that. 

Brent, please take this seriously, knowing that I want the best for every athlete.  I'm not trying to judge.  I mean that.  I would expect and be disappointed if I didn't hear the same from you.

I'm glad that you had a fun two weeks and everyone deserves to go nuts every once in a while.  We are all human my friend.  Stop smoking now.  Finish that pack if it's what you have to do.  You better as hell be kicking yourself in the a$$!  You have a lot to offer and that is some serious bull$hit.  I'm going to hold you to that decision to stop again asap.  Yeah, it might not mean much because I'm just a guy on a forum, but it'll mean a lot more to you.  Those things are the devil.  I have watched loved ones gasping their last breath from lung cancer from them.  Do yourself a favor and don't add to the statistic.  There's no pride in treating your body like it's a piece of $hit.

x2 on the smoking.  I wouldn't even finish the pack.  I'd douse it in water and throw it away.  Kind of sends a message to yourself that your serious about not smoking anymore.

Anyway...looks like the winter/spring mentor groups are closing, and new ones are opening up for summer.  Just wanted to thank everyone for thier contributions and I can attribute a lot of my early season success to things I have picked up in this group.  The little things add up you know.

David...thanks for being such a great mentor.  It's been almost a year now, but I think I'm going to look another route to gain some new perspectives.  I think you would agree that there is more than one way to skin a cat.  If you host another group, don't mind me if I pop my head in from time to time. 

Take care everyone....Aloha

Alright I just got back from the cardiologist to go over everything from the past 3-4 weeks and this is what they have found. Nothing. Everything shows that my heart is healthy and well taken care of. What he pointed out is that I have an odd shaped chest, when that is caved in a bit as well as thinner then most chests. Because of this my heart is that much closer to my chest, and inturn I am more sensitive to my heartbeats. My shortness of breath is caused by the anxiety that is caused by my heart beating so closely to my chest and is not in fact a direct correlation to my rapid HR, but rather my body's reaction. Speaking on terms of my HR, he said not to be alarmed right now, especially since I have such random and very rare episodes of my HR increasing. All the tests showed everything is within a normal sinus rhythm and nothing is pointed out of the ordinary. He offered to put me on beta blockers if I wanted to slow my HR down, but I see no reason right now. I especially do not want to deal with possible side effects. About 15% of people have A-Fib and it is more genetic, but usually it isn't diagnosed until later on in life (40's and beyond). He said that I should keep an eye on this and maybe later in life I will show more symptoms of A-Fib, but for right now there is no need or reason to worry and my heart proved through all the testing that everything is A-Ok

With that said I was almost bummed to hear the news since I had to do soo much travel between La Crosse and Madison for testing and what not. But in the end I am glad that I am healthy and more importantly do not need to rely on any medication whatsoever. 

I tried a "gut check" for myself today: I've not run for time in quite a while, so I ran at about 90% or 95% for 3 miles. Tiring hill, freaking wind (I'm really hating wind), and I still ran 24:32. As always, it's not as fast as I'd like, but it's a minute faster than I expected.

Wind, how I hate thee, let me count the ways:

I hate the way you gust strong enough to push me into the next lane on my motorcycle

I hate the way you change directions, going from a cross-wind to a head-wind and back

I hate the way you are strong enough to completely stop me when I'm riding my bike DOWNHILL and I stop pedaling for a minute.

I hate the dust that blinds me and stings my skin

I'm sure I could think of other reasons if I tried, but I'm happy with my run, so I won't about the wind as much as I otherwise could.

Thank you Thank you

You have got me through the winter months and I am seeing some of my base work paying off.  I am really looking forward for the season to start and wish all of you the best of luck in everything you have in front of you.

Thank you Newbz!

Yes...thanks to everyone in this group.  It's been a solid group and helped me stay motivated through the winter....which is hard to do.

Beautiful day out today.  2 hrs on the bike in the sun...looking forward to it!