kenj mentor group - back for another great season! CLOSED (Page 60)

RunningJoke - 2013-04-21 5:52 PM

Well, I made it through my slightly chilly bike leg with no problems.  I left my swim cap on and put on a thick bike jersey in T1, also put toe covers on my bike shoes.  None of which I had ever practiced with before, but hey, isn't that what you're supposed to do?  Try new things at races? 

I had a fun race, parts of it felt really good, a few parts I had trouble finding my rhythm.  I felt like I made a lot of silly little mistakes.  Fumbled with the zipper on my jersey, my hat blew off not once but TWICE, etc. etc.  When everything was done I finished second in my age group and 5th overall, which is about where I was last year, but having trained so hard all winter I was hoping for a little bit better.  On closer inspection, however, only 70 seconds separated me from my friend who finished 2nd overall.  So I think with cleaner transitions, and minus the stagger start where you can't really chase your competition, I could probably do a little better.  

And there just happens to be another sprint race in my town next weekend...Hello, spring!!!

CarlaLThompson - 2013-04-21 11:25 PM

::: Whispering ::: Everybody...

Today is Kathleen Kellams Birthday!!! 

I think we need to celebrate! 

kenj - 2013-04-23 5:40 AM

Signs of spring finally!  Hope it sticks. 

Easy spin is all today for me before building back into the weekend.  How is everyone else doing?  We had a couple of other racers this past weekend, how did it go?

My race was fun, with some good friends to relay with.  But it is a long day in a mini van.  It took us a little over 12 hours to cover the 77.7 miles.  I was happy with my pace for my 3 segments totaling about 12.6 miles.  Gives me hope for a PR at this weekends HM.

CarlaLThompson - 2013-04-23 8:11 AM KenJ - Nice work this weekend on your race. Not sure I could spend that kind of time in a minivan!Motivation escapes me! My main focus has been to reduce my calorie intake so that I can lose a few pounds. Ironman Mont-Tremblant will be unforgiving as is my run pace if I don't tighten things up around the waist.

ramiedd - 2013-04-23 8:26 AM I had a good weekend of training. Last week as a whole I felt very slow and tired. I took and extra day off and it helped. I ran for an hour Saturday at a good phase and did a 57 mile bike ride on Sunday and felt good on Saturday and great on Sunday. The bike ride was very hilly and I managed to feel good throughout the entire ride. This is a recovery week for me and I am looking forward to it... Does anyone have some advise regarding a run focused week of training? how to approach it, do I mix in some bike time? etc. Thanks,

ramiedd - 2013-04-23 8:26 AM I had a good weekend of training. Last week as a whole I felt very slow and tired. I took and extra day off and it helped. I ran for an hour Saturday at a good phase and did a 57 mile bike ride on Sunday and felt good on Saturday and great on Sunday. The bike ride was very hilly and I managed to feel good throughout the entire ride. This is a recovery week for me and I am looking forward to it... Does anyone have some advise regarding a run focused week of training? how to approach it, do I mix in some bike time? etc. Thanks,

jennifer65 - 2013-04-23 3:52 PMStella work from everyone. I'm a bit embarrassed to say i found my novice duathlon quite difficult this weekend. I had my usual 3 wishes:I wish I'd done all the training as per planI wish I'd warmed up prior to the raceI wish i'd gone to the loo just one more time before the startHowever, I finished 45 out of 61 finishers which is my highest ever placing for any sort of race ever, and I got a medal and a really yummy cup cake at the end. And I found my desire to do a bit better next time..which is good.Well done to the rest of you though..awesome, truly. (that was me speaking American). There is a picture of me staggering over the finish line which I will post if i can work out how to put it on the thread (suggestions gratefully received.)Jennifer

rquinn23 - 2013-04-23 12:40 PMHappy to report that I had an awesome half ironman this past Sunday! Definitely a confidence-builder (especially after a less-than-stellar Olympic tri last month). This was only my second HIM, and the first was an ocean swim with a flat (but windy) bike and flat run. This weekend was a lake swim, hilly bike and flat (2 loop) run. Similar course to the Oly I did last month, and I was familiar with the extended bike course, too. What I was most nervous about was the swim because I chose not to borrow a wetsuit this time (last month the water was only 69 degrees so I needed it but hated every second of it). The race organizers said Thursday night the water temp read at 82 degrees. Then we had cool, stormy, windy weather blow through. It was 62 degrees and rainy and overcast the morning of the race, and they miraculously got a reading of 77 degrees in the water, which of course meant wetsuit legal. So I was already at a disadvantage since all but 2 other women wore wetsuits, but I was mostly afraid I would be freezing--I was not! That water was definitely warmer than 77 degrees--they must have searched for a cool spot to take the temp. Anyway, I digress--small field (only 22 women started, not sure how many men). The water was really choppy on the way out, unfavorable current. As usual I saw most of the women swim quickly away from me. But I just kept plugging away, trying to stay on course. I was hoping for a swim time between 35 - 40 minutes (my last half was 50 minutes! but that's because I swam at least 5 minutes off course). I came in at just under 38 minutes, so I guess I should be happy about that. 9 women ahead of me out of the water. On the bike I was afraid that I was pushing too hard, but since I was using this as a training race, I decided to just keep at it and see how my legs felt on the run. I tried really hard to take in a lot of water, PowerBar perform, and Gu. The wind was brutal in parts, but not terrible the whole way. I was trying to get in under 3 hours on the bike and missed that by less than a minute. I was afraid my legs might cramp because my hamstrings were yelling a bit on the bike. I started the run and actually felt okay. Then I started to ramp it up. Only 4 or 5 women ahead of me at that point because I passed a few on the bike. Then I passed number 4...then number 3...I ended up coming in 3rd overall! Had an awesome half marathon time, only 1 minute slower than my PR. So I am thrilled with my performance, nutrition worked pretty well (though it never got that hot--I think it was upper 70s when we finished), and legs were fine. This helps with trusting my training plan, and gives me extra motivation to stick with my daily nutrition plan. The two women who beat me had a lot less body fat than I do, so I know if I continue to work on decreasing fat I can do even better.IM Louisville will be tough, but I feel more confident now about the bike to run strength in my legs. Woo hoo!

bdenehy - 2013-04-18 4:20 PM Wow Robin, that's smoking fast! I tried not focusing on swimming too, but got way different results....[/QUOTE]

Good one Bill

kenj - 2013-04-22 3:23 AM

Happy Birthday Kathleen!!

RunningJoke - 2013-04-21 5:52 PM

Well, I made it through my slightly chilly bike leg with no problems.  I left my swim cap on and put on a thick bike jersey in T1, also put toe covers on my bike shoes.  None of which I had ever practiced with before, but hey, isn't that what you're supposed to do?  Try new things at races? 

I had a fun race, parts of it felt really good, a few parts I had trouble finding my rhythm.  I felt like I made a lot of silly little mistakes.  Fumbled with the zipper on my jersey, my hat blew off not once but TWICE, etc. etc.  When everything was done I finished second in my age group and 5th overall, which is about where I was last year, but having trained so hard all winter I was hoping for a little bit better.  On closer inspection, however, only 70 seconds separated me from my friend who finished 2nd overall.  So I think with cleaner transitions, and minus the stagger start where you can't really chase your competition, I could probably do a little better.  

And there just happens to be another sprint race in my town next weekend...Hello, spring!!!

kenj - 2013-04-23 5:40 AM

Signs of spring finally!  Hope it sticks. 

Easy spin is all today for me before building back into the weekend.  How is everyone else doing?  We had a couple of other racers this past weekend, how did it go?

My race was fun, with some good friends to relay with.  But it is a long day in a mini van.  It took us a little over 12 hours to cover the 77.7 miles.  I was happy with my pace for my 3 segments totaling about 12.6 miles.  Gives me hope for a PR at this weekends HM.

rquinn23 - 2013-04-23 1:40 PMHappy to report that I had an awesome half ironman this past Sunday! Definitely a confidence-builder (especially after a less-than-stellar Olympic tri last month). This was only my second HIM, and the first was an ocean swim with a flat (but windy) bike and flat run. This weekend was a lake swim, hilly bike and flat (2 loop) run. Similar course to the Oly I did last month, and I was familiar with the extended bike course, too. What I was most nervous about was the swim because I chose not to borrow a wetsuit this time (last month the water was only 69 degrees so I needed it but hated every second of it). The race organizers said Thursday night the water temp read at 82 degrees. Then we had cool, stormy, windy weather blow through. It was 62 degrees and rainy and overcast the morning of the race, and they miraculously got a reading of 77 degrees in the water, which of course meant wetsuit legal. So I was already at a disadvantage since all but 2 other women wore wetsuits, but I was mostly afraid I would be freezing--I was not! That water was definitely warmer than 77 degrees--they must have searched for a cool spot to take the temp. Anyway, I digress--small field (only 22 women started, not sure how many men). The water was really choppy on the way out, unfavorable current. As usual I saw most of the women swim quickly away from me. But I just kept plugging away, trying to stay on course. I was hoping for a swim time between 35 - 40 minutes (my last half was 50 minutes! but that's because I swam at least 5 minutes off course). I came in at just under 38 minutes, so I guess I should be happy about that. 9 women ahead of me out of the water. On the bike I was afraid that I was pushing too hard, but since I was using this as a training race, I decided to just keep at it and see how my legs felt on the run. I tried really hard to take in a lot of water, PowerBar perform, and Gu. The wind was brutal in parts, but not terrible the whole way. I was trying to get in under 3 hours on the bike and missed that by less than a minute. I was afraid my legs might cramp because my hamstrings were yelling a bit on the bike. I started the run and actually felt okay. Then I started to ramp it up. Only 4 or 5 women ahead of me at that point because I passed a few on the bike. Then I passed number 4...then number 3...I ended up coming in 3rd overall! Had an awesome half marathon time, only 1 minute slower than my PR. So I am thrilled with my performance, nutrition worked pretty well (though it never got that hot--I think it was upper 70s when we finished), and legs were fine. This helps with trusting my training plan, and gives me extra motivation to stick with my daily nutrition plan. The two women who beat me had a lot less body fat than I do, so I know if I continue to work on decreasing fat I can do even better.IM Louisville will be tough, but I feel more confident now about the bike to run strength in my legs. Woo hoo!

jennifer65 - 2013-04-23 4:52 PMStella work from everyone. I'm a bit embarrassed to say i found my novice duathlon quite difficult this weekend. I had my usual 3 wishes:I wish I'd done all the training as per planI wish I'd warmed up prior to the raceI wish i'd gone to the loo just one more time before the startHowever, I finished 45 out of 61 finishers which is my highest ever placing for any sort of race ever, and I got a medal and a really yummy cup cake at the end. And I found my desire to do a bit better next time..which is good.Well done to the rest of you though..awesome, truly. (that was me speaking American). There is a picture of me staggering over the finish line which I will post if i can work out how to put it on the thread (suggestions gratefully received.)Jennifer

rquinn23 - 2013-04-23 1:40 PM Happy to report that I had an awesome half ironman this past Sunday! Definitely a confidence-builder (especially after a less-than-stellar Olympic tri last month). This was only my second HIM, and the first was an ocean swim with a flat (but windy) bike and flat run. This weekend was a lake swim, hilly bike and flat (2 loop) run. Similar course to the Oly I did last month, and I was familiar with the extended bike course, too. What I was most nervous about was the swim because I chose not to borrow a wetsuit this time (last month the water was only 69 degrees so I needed it but hated every second of it). The race organizers said Thursday night the water temp read at 82 degrees. Then we had cool, stormy, windy weather blow through. It was 62 degrees and rainy and overcast the morning of the race, and they miraculously got a reading of 77 degrees in the water, which of course meant wetsuit legal. So I was already at a disadvantage since all but 2 other women wore wetsuits, but I was mostly afraid I would be freezing--I was not! That water was definitely warmer than 77 degrees--they must have searched for a cool spot to take the temp. Anyway, I digress--small field (only 22 women started, not sure how many men). The water was really choppy on the way out, unfavorable current. As usual I saw most of the women swim quickly away from me. But I just kept plugging away, trying to stay on course. I was hoping for a swim time between 35 - 40 minutes (my last half was 50 minutes! but that's because I swam at least 5 minutes off course). I came in at just under 38 minutes, so I guess I should be happy about that. 9 women ahead of me out of the water. On the bike I was afraid that I was pushing too hard, but since I was using this as a training race, I decided to just keep at it and see how my legs felt on the run. I tried really hard to take in a lot of water, PowerBar perform, and Gu. The wind was brutal in parts, but not terrible the whole way. I was trying to get in under 3 hours on the bike and missed that by less than a minute. I was afraid my legs might cramp because my hamstrings were yelling a bit on the bike. I started the run and actually felt okay. Then I started to ramp it up. Only 4 or 5 women ahead of me at that point because I passed a few on the bike. Then I passed number 4...then number 3...I ended up coming in 3rd overall! Had an awesome half marathon time, only 1 minute slower than my PR. So I am thrilled with my performance, nutrition worked pretty well (though it never got that hot--I think it was upper 70s when we finished), and legs were fine. This helps with trusting my training plan, and gives me extra motivation to stick with my daily nutrition plan. The two women who beat me had a lot less body fat than I do, so I know if I continue to work on decreasing fat I can do even better. IM Louisville will be tough, but I feel more confident now about the bike to run strength in my legs. Woo hoo!

jennifer65 - 2013-04-23 4:52 PM Stella work from everyone. I'm a bit embarrassed to say i found my novice duathlon quite difficult this weekend. I had my usual 3 wishes: I wish I'd done all the training as per plan I wish I'd warmed up prior to the race I wish i'd gone to the loo just one more time before the start However, I finished 45 out of 61 finishers which is my highest ever placing for any sort of race ever, and I got a medal and a really yummy cup cake at the end. And I found my desire to do a bit better next time..which is good. Well done to the rest of you though..awesome, truly. (that was me speaking American). There is a picture of me staggering over the finish line which I will post if i can work out how to put it on the thread (suggestions gratefully received.) Jennifer