Experior's Group, Take Two -- CLOSED (Page 6)

James - New Orleans HIM today I believe???  Man, put it out there... good luck!!!!!!  Looking forward to seeing your report too... yep, it is good to be back in racing season.  

Have a great day everyone... another perfect spring morning here.  A little more coffee and on-line NYTs and then I best be on the bike.

Drummmmm rolllllllll...  Well,placed second in my age group with a time of 1:20:08.  I'll have to break down my splits according to my watch which could be very hard to do.  They didn't take transition time so you S,B,R included those times. the

The pool swim was kind of funky, but it all worked out and I just tried to roll with it and used some of it as a drafting opportunity.  Bike...Nice 12.4 mile ride out in the country and back to town.  I rolled in at about 36 min; Run...No mile markers on the course, but I looked it up on a map prior to the race and figured about where my mile markers might be and took lap counts at those points; end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 25:15. 

I swam, rode and ran with the same guy the whole race.  We biked pretty much together until the end where I gained some time on him.  During the run I stayed true to the course, but noticed he was cutting some corners during turns and crossing over streets; ho well.  He tried to catch me at the end, but no such luck.  I wasn't about o have the same thing happen that happened in the 10K.  Thrid place guy was just in front of me and I let him go and ended up just our of medal contention.  Today, I figured this guy was probably in my age group and he was; he ended up 18 sec. back and got third.

They are having a repeat race at the end of August so I'll go back and run it again and see what kind of progress I made over the season.

How did everyone else do this weekend?  Hope everyone is out enjoying the spring time air.  It was in the 70's today.  What a great day for a race.

That's fantastic! And, I'm so glad you beat the guy who wasn't playing fair!

Way to go, Brian!

First time checking in this weekend. Way to go Stu PR on the 5k and Brian 2nd in AG! Exciting weekend of racing. I have to get off my duff and get signed up for some.

Phil

Woooohooooo Brian!  2nd in Age Group... wow... talk about hard work paying off!  That is so awesome :-)  Sounds like you pegged the competition too... hahaha.   Congratulations!

Great job Brian...All the hard work paid off. Do you know what you'll be working on to be 1st in August?

Great Stu on your PR....But I'm pretty sure you'll drop that time by a lot more, right? You want under 20 min right? You keep at it, I want to see it done before the end of this Mentor Group session is done.

I think there was another person racing this weekend but can't remember. I'm too tired to read back all the post, I had rough weekend at work, and I don't know what was going on with my two daughters but they were from another planet. Ha! Maybe it was just me and the lack of sleep.

Well tonight was the last night for hockey, had my beers and wings. Now it's time to truly put my energy in Swin, Bike and Run. Oh! I did lose some more weight in last couple of weeks, I finaly broke the 180 mark. I never announced the weight I was at before and didn't try to lose any until I jumped in the Winter Experior group. So I owe it to the team for this success. Now that I'm lighter on my feet I should be faster right!!! I guess time will tell.

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a great week.

Sylvain

Edited by sstucker 2010-04-19 9:08 AM

Good morning all.

Stu- great job on PRing the 5K.  Out of curiosity, how did your father in-law do?  Was he able to fend off that whipper snapper trying to challenge his spot at the top of the 70+ division?

Brian- congrats on placing in your AG.  You were motoring on the bike...20+ mph?  Regarding the guy cutting corners- is this not allowed in triathlons?  In running, any certified running course is measured using the shortest possible route that a runner can take (cutting tangents, corner-to-corner crossings, etc).  Are triathlon run routes measured in a different manner (ie, a route being measured only on the right side of the road)? 

Heidi, glad to hear that you are getting back into training.  Good luck!

-Mike







Edited by Stone Cutter 2010-04-19 8:37 AM

Thanks for the Congrats....Good point Mike on cutting corners. I am not sure about it being measured in the shortest distance.  I was just following the chalked arrows.  I thought about it (taking the shortest distance) at one point but the guy ahead of me and a couple others were following the chalked arrows so I did likewise. 

Anyone want to tackle this one?

The other issue is the routes weren't closed off to traffic so you had to be on the look out.  The only traffic being monitored were at corners on the bike route and major intersections.

Edited by TriGuyBri 2010-04-19 9:12 AM

Bike and run legs still.  Swim is fine for now.  I would have to do some major technical changes to improve very much with my swim.  I think I just need to keep swimming and work on endurance. 

Father-in-law won his age group.  The whipper snapper was probably at the marathon or half-marathon that was also running the same day in Charlottesville, so he just had to beat the usual suspects.  More importantly though, no knee problems and he had a good time.  It's one of his favorite races in town b/c they have Dunkin Donuts at the end... lol.  Thanks for asking.

Thanks Sylvain.  We're such A personality types around here, aren't we?  Knock off one goal, on to the next... lol.  Not sure about under 20, but I like the direction I'm heading :-)  That 25 had been a barrier for a long time, so I think I will savor it for at least a couple of days.  I still remember my first race in West Virginia where the ambulance followed my wife and me around for the whole course (yes, I was that slow).  So it's all good. 

Congrats on the weight goal.  No question in my mind that less sacks of potatoes equals faster times on the run and bike.  The better weather should even be making it up your way by this point... boy does it make a difference in training... that and more sunlight in the evening after work.

Have a great day everyone!
-Stu

Congrats to all!

I got a 5:08 in 70.3 New Orleans. That is 22 minutes faster than last year and I improved in all areas. I really wanted to be 4:59 but this was a much harder race this year.

Race report to come.

Nice job James!
Looking forward to the race report!

Hey nice job microspawn..... and a 22 min decrease in overall time to boot - SMOKIN'.  My only comment regarding not reaching the 4:59..."Dang, I guess you are going to have to go back next year to reach that goal."

James, that's awesome! If you have a chance to post them I'd love to see your SBR splits. If you would'nt mind.

I'm back in "Tri" mode this week. I had a 4.8 mile run this morning in a local state park. Very hilly. Hills killed me in the 1/2 and they ain't going to do it again.........attack the hills so they don't attack you! Hills are a part of life here in eastern Missouri so most races is this area will their share. Might as well train on them when I can.

Spent time on the bike tonight. Tomorrow swim in the morning and bike in the evening. Yes Stu, I actually scheduled pool time. 

Phil

Question:  My rear is a bit sore from the ride on Sunday.  I noticed I seem to gain more power as I moved up on the nose of my seat and I am sure my soreness is due to this positioning.  I am wondering if I should look into a forward seat post in order to bring the wider part of my saddle forward some.

Anyone have some reasons that this might not be advisable? 

Way to go Brian!  Nice race!

Absolutely.  On bike and run it helps tremendously.

Where you are allowed to run or bike will depend on the race.  The race director should provide this info.  So, on some courses, as long as you are on the road (or path, or whatever marks the course), you are on the course.  In others, there's no veering from your lane, or crossing the yellow line, or the cones, or whatever.

As for measuring, well, triathlon courses are notorious for being poorly measured.  I've done '5ks' that were more like 2.9 miles, '500 meter' swims that were more like 750 meters, etc., etc...  Unlike with running courses, the distances in triathlon courses do not generally have to be certified by anybody.  It is what the race director says it is.

Congrats!  5:08 is very quick.  Even better is that 22 minute improvement -- that's huge!  I look forward to the race report.

Correct.  As you move forward, you tend to gain some power (to a point, of course).

Short answer:  If you find yourself constantly wanting to move forward on the saddle, even in a long ride, then you should try to get the saddle a little further forward.  If there is no more room to push it forward as is, then yes, your best option is probably a forward seat post.

Longer answer: I try to have my saddle positioned so that in my 'I can do this all day' effort, I am sitting pretty comfortably in the saddle, with my sit bones positions where they're supposed to be on the saddle.  When I want more power, I move onto the nose.  I can hold that for a good long while, but certainly not all day.

Some people disagree, but in my opinion, there are subtle differences in ideal saddle position between longer events and sprint events.  In a sprint, I'm going pretty much full tilt the entire ride, and for that I ride slightly further forward.  For a longer ride, my effort is more steady, and I ride slightly further back, most of the time.

So why not push the seat forward for a spring and back for a longer ride?  Well, basically because that's a lot of trouble, and it discombobulates me somewhat.  If I never did anything but sprints and shorter rides, I'd push the seat forward.  As it is, I can put out a sprint-like effort while sitting on the nose for 20-30 minutes without any ill effects.

In any case, do NOT compare yourself to pro bike riders on this point.  They have rules about how far forward their seat can be.  As a result, especially in time trials, they will sit way out on the nose of the seat.  Believe me, they'd prefer to just push the seat forward, but they can't.

Hello everyone.  I'm back (obviously, as my string of posts makes clear).

I had a wonderful, if exhausting, time with my eldest son.  We saw some Revolutionary War re-enactments, which he loved.  And we ended up getting invited to a blacksmith's shop for a half day of lessons this morning (thus delaying our return, but it was worth it), which has inspired me and my son to rebuild the forge that I had back in Indiana (B.C. -- before children) and transported, dismantled, to South Carolina when we moved here 7 years ago.  We got back today late this afternoon, after negotiating the traffic on I-95.

Three days of eating restaurant food, being on my feet, and basically zero exercise could not have come at a worse time, however.  I ran today shortly after getting home and felt like a marshmallow that had been dipped in tar.  I've got just a few more days where I can get some really hard workouts in, and then it will be taper time for the HIM.

James' 22 minute improvement at New Orleans has me fired up, though.  I'm going to try for the same in (less than!) two weeks.

James - fantastic job.  Inspirational.  Way way beyond anything I can imagine.  5 will fall without a doubt. 

Great blog btw.  Seriously, did Andy Potts win the swim by a minute?????  That is friggin' unfathomable to me.  That is like light years separation. 

Welcome back Michael... glad you had a great time.  Blacksmith shops are really cool.  We had a local blacksmith create a custom handrail for our stairs.  It is one of my favorite things in the house.  I took my 7 year old nephew out there for a visit when he was here... talk about a place to fill a young boy with wonder.  Fire and tools... yeppers!  (I thought it was pretty cool too).

Wish I had read James' results before my run tonight.  Maybe that would have inspired a better run.  As it was, it was totally pathetic.  Can't chalk it up to too much Chinese food at lunch this time either.  Oh well, back in the pool tomorrow and maybe some intervals too.  I have no doubt they are one of the reasons why my run times have improved.  Thanks again Michael for suggesting (and explaining) them.

-Stu 

Thanks guys !

Race report will follow but splits were 0:38 / 2:39 / 1:46

The swim was choppy and rough. The bike was windy but fast. The run was hot. I put myself in postion to kill the run (I wanted ~1:35) but was not able to pull it off.

I am still happy with the results - I had a great time.