Gary's Mentor Group - Re-OPENED for Training (Page 58)

Very good news!!

So I went outside and did my run.  Was a bit tired after working all night and sleeping for 3 1/2 hrs.  Went for a quick swim and then hit the road.  I went 10 miles in just over 90 min.  Felt great.  Hit 45 degrees by the end and I was over dressed.  My ear bud popped out of my ear while replacing my water bottle in my fuel belt and the rubber end came off.  I back tracked, but could not find it.  About 2 miles later I realized that it was in fact in my ear canal.  It is still there and not wanting to come out.  I will have my wife try to retrieve it with some forceps this evening.  Luckily my neighbor is an ENT, so if we can't get it out, he may have some tricks up his sleeve.

Thank you Mentor Group.  You got me to HTFU and it was a great run. I hope to return the favor soon.

Agreed.  Great news Gary!

Awesome run Left!  I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but giggle about your ear bud.  It can't be comfortable, so hopefully you were able to have it removed, but mostly so I don't feel bad about laughing.

leftrunner - 2012-03-01 12:27 PM With the help of my 11 year-old, 2 mirrors, a tiny flashlight and a pair of long forceps, I was able to retrieve the ear bud.  I think I may glue them on to prevent this from happening again.  Off to the Drainer for 2 hrs

Good news!

That's great news Gary!  Must have been scary.

Went to the Y over lunch today for my typical 4 mile treadmill Thursday.  It was just too nice outside though.  Put on my North Face, threw some music in my ears, and just ran all over downtown.  No clue how far I was going and no clue how fast I was going.  GPS'd it when I got back to the office and ended up with 3.5 miles in 31:41.  Walked half a city block at about the 3 mile mark that killed my time.  Think I was on 8.5 min/mile pace before that.  Have my first 5k scheduled a few weeks out and I really want to go sub 25.  Have some work to do.

Hey all!

Thanks for the well wishes!  My son is definitely on the mend and is eating a lot!  As a parent I was a bit stressed with my son in Peds ICU.  He handled it so well and redefined (for me) HTFU.  He didn't whine and was a trooper despite everything they had to do.  I pray that nothing like this every happens again.

Training is going well and have gotten some good workouts.  The one exception is I haven't gotten the swim time in I need.  Got 1800 in today (love the 910xt data from this) and will ride tonight.  PowerTap is working again which helps but unfortunately my stereo receiver (part of the home entertainment system) died last night.  It was old and I was looking at an excuse to replace it anyhow.  But I need it for my headphones so will hit Best buy on the way home to get a new one.

Pulled a good one this morning.  To store my bike I put it on the trainer (obviously without the tensioner engaged) in my office.  Well didn't put it in the proper place and hit my little toe on the trainer.  Now its black and blue, glad I am riding tonight as I don't think I could run.  Hard to be a bad a$$ triathlete when you are whining about your little toe hurting!

Another helmet question for you (if you don't mind answering this one): How much did you spend on your last helmet?

 I spent 40.00 on my only helmet.

So are you designing a new helmet? I want to be a product tester if so- ;-).

Shelly

leftrunner - 2012-03-01 12:27 PM With the help of my 11 year-old, 2 mirrors, a tiny flashlight and a pair of long forceps, I was able to retrieve the ear bud.  I think I may glue them on to prevent this from happening again.  Off to the Drainer for 2 hrs

Glad to hear you got it out. Would have hated for you to have to have it removed surgically. As humorous as the story is- it could have been more serious. I'm glad it wasn't. You'd think the crazy things would not be able to come apart in someone's ear.

Shelly

Kids generally are a lot tougher and much more resilient than their parents.  They're just too young to know better.  Glad he is doing well.

Not quite sure what I spent on my helmet.  Got it off ebay a few years back.  $25-$30 maybe.  Spending $40 on a kids Specialized tomorrow.  Oldest turns 5 and is ready for a step up.

Interesting past 2 swims.  Timed myself in a 100m for the first time on Wed and was just under 1:40.  Felt good, but certainly not a pace I could maintain.  This morning I was kind enough to smash the lady in the lane over while we were passing.  I was apologizing at a break (she was super nice) and she actually ended up giving me some tips.  Said I was way out wide and showed me how to stay tighter and work more with the water than against it.  Swam my next 200m concentrating on it and was noticeably (like holy sh## what is happening) faster, and it was a pace that I could maintain because I was using less energy.  Just have to work at it more.  I had a harder time maintaining the form than the pace.  Efficiency is wonderful.

Overall good swim this morning.  1100M step down.   50, 400, 300, 200, 100, 50. 

Hope everyone has a great Friday!  and hope that baby toe heals up Gary!

Hey all!

Son is doing fine and actually returned to school for a few hours today.  Back full time next week.  I have been trying to keep my training up but missed my long ride today because I had to go get hay.  Flat tire on the trailer and traffice jam turned a couple hour trip into a 4+ hour trip.  Will have to get up early tomorrow and ride..

Shelly - as for the helmet, not designing one but actually reviewing one for BT.  Very cool and want to do a good job on the review.

Did my noon swim and was on the 27m side of the bulkhead (just in case you are wondering my pool is a 50m pool with a moveable bulkhead, today it set so one side was 27 yards and that leaves the other side to 27.1 meters) and found my avg times were a bit faster.  Not sure why maybe since I don't to flip turns my turns are slow and longer lengths meant less laps?

Has everyone updated the group calendar for all of their races?

Gary, glad the son is doing OK ... what a scare that must have been.  My race info is in the calendar.

It's mostly rain here today which puts a stick in the spokes for the planned long ride on the weekend.  I'll probably hit the gym; get in a nice long swim and some run time on the t-mill.  This afternoon I'll go over the bike really well for next weekend's race and some transition practice.  1st race of the season is almost here!

Question for the group is I plan to go sockless for the run in next week's race, but my shoes rub tiny blisters in the instep area and tip of one toe.  Does anyone use tape or perhaps waterproof band-aids to act as a barrier for rubbing?  I am not losing time for socks, so what do you suggest? 

Better yet ... I'll try the band-aid idea this morning and report back to the group :)

Morning all!

Rain here also so put the bike in the carport and two hours on the trainer.  I had downloaded a couple of podcasts (IM Talk and Tri smooth coach) and that occupied most of my time.  Actually wasn't bad at all with the podcasts.  Ordered a pair of Jaybird Freedom bluetooth headsets.  USAT was having a deal for $79 shipped.  Received them while I was riding (got a funny look from the Fedex lady) and will try them for my next trainer ride.

Dorm - good question, since I am going to sockless for the sprint and oly at the end of the year I am interested in your results.

Hey all!
Good training weekend.  Spent 2 hrs on the bike trainer on Saturday.  Parked it in the carport, loaded a couple of podcasts (IMTalk and tri swim) and was set.  Definitely the way to do these.  Biggest issue was that a cool front came thru and a couple of times got a bit chilly but had a towel to cover myself until I warmed back up.
Yesterday went for a 10 mile run.  With my knee issues I went with a 9 min run/1 min walk to see if I could do 10 miles with no knee pain.  Success!  10 miles with an overall pace of 9:23/mm.  Finished with no knee pain and plenty of gas in the tank. 

Left - yes, save yourself time in transition. 

Later all!

Lefty ... DV is a great place to ski.  These treat the customer there really well. 

On the socks ... it's just a thing I have about elimination of risk and keeping things really simple.  The number of people I've seen running to the rack out of breath, leaning down, losing their balance and almost falling, hopping on one foot, et al ... just to put socks on seems crazy.  SO - if I can figure out how to go sockless then I'm the better off for it. 

Band aid update ... OK I tried some of the 'waterproof' bandages on Saturday.  The plan: hit the pool first and then some T'mill time.  The ones I tried were so-called 'waterproof' with edges that were clear, and a small bandage patch in the middle.  About 700-800 meters into the swim, I felt one flapping and reached down pulled that one off and also the other was loose as well (yes I put these in my pocket).  So, these did not even make thru the pool leg. BTW ... anyone ever see a loose bandaid floating in the pool - nasty!

Tonight, I'll grab some different models and report back on these. 

Haven't used them much yet but am trying them out as I can.  Testing different ear buds and attachements.  They include these "wings" for lack of better term that fit in your ear.  The one I have in works well and won't fall out easily.  The Bluetooth seems to work okay but it works off of bouncing signals off walls and in my cube (larger cube) with a very tall ceiling the signal has cut out a couple of times (less than a second).  At the house it works great but will have to go for a run with it (they recommend having your MP3/phone on your right which is the same side as the Jaybird receiver).

As for sound, they are great, just a tad bit heavy on the bass (I think I can adjust that) but thats how I like it.

Got out for a 6mile bike this morning.  My first proper ride on the bike.  Needs a bit of adjustments, but it felt good.

2 Mile run and some biceps work over lunch.

Feeling good today!