Slornow and Wannabefaster's Winter Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 63)

So they just delivered some new whiz bang crutches, Mobilegs Ultra Crutches.  The doctor prefers these over regular ones.  Don't know if they will be a lot better until next week when I actually get to use them.

I let the RD know I was not going to be able to do the tri on Sat and the circumstances.  They are going to give me a partial credit towards a future race even though I was well under the min 30 day notice requirement.  It may have something to do with the fact that thier new race day physician is my orthopedic surgeon.

To everyone having a race this weekend, go rock it for me.  I will rooting for you!

Good for you. I love the feeling of pushing yourself knowing that the arms on the clock at the end of the pool will show no mercy.  If you want it, you have to go and take it.  I can honestly say in six years of competetive swimming when 5000 yards/day was the norm, I never wanted to skip practice.  That's the way I was feeling about the triathlon (because i didn't have to run evey day). 

The best part is, once you have the form and rhythm down, swimming will never be hard again!

Stuart:Hope the recovery's off to a good start!

Jason: I like reading that about swim volume. I'm not getting hands on coaching at the moment. I get out there and do what my schedule tells me to do, so it'll have to be volume to get me better.

Been working hard here. This coach likes hills. Well, the Xterra Maui course is a lot of uphill, apparently, so he's got me doing a lot of hill work, and every Saturday I'm on the Xterra course here. I have definitely improved on the bike since last year. I can feel the improvement on the hills and in my bike handling. I am finally feeling like the bike is a part of me, which makes staying upright even when things get hairy much easier. Improving my overall strength has helped.

This Saturday we'll be doing a 5K as a family, so no breaking records for the Mister and myself. Maybe some PR's for the little ones. Saturday night is our first night race. Mountain biking in the dark! I'm a little nervous about it, but I'm not going to go nuts out there unless it's really comfortable. Sunday is my soccer game. Whew!

Happy training!

Jason-that's great on the swim improvement. I check your logs frequently as I'm curious what the coach has you doing as compared to my workouts. Its clear that you have made some big gains over the last couple of months. Good work! Inspiring!

Unfortunately, I'm struggling with my swim lately. Paces that were moderate seem hard now etc.. My swim volume is down primarily I think due to race season kicking in. In fact, my biking feels off as well. Probably a combination of a good bit of race intensity riding, accumulated fatigue and the ups and downs of tapering and racing rather than just training. This weekend will be my 3rd race in 4 weeks. Its a sprint so very doable but I have not felt "fresh" since the HIM on 4/7. After the race this weekend I won't race until 6/1 in a local sprint and 6/9 at Eagleman 70.3. So, I should have a good continuous training block there......bad thing is I think my coach will be working me hard to build toward the 6/9 race so unlikely that I will feel fresh and rested anytime soon. Shouldn't complain but its just one of those days.     

Randy, 

I feel the exact same thing ... it seems that I am swimming harder but not going any faster. Its like I hit this brick wall that I need to get over. I have a Sprint Tri on Sunday and I am excited to be racing again. My first OLY is coming up on 5/5 ... just ordered my wetsuit :-)

Who else is racing this weekend?

Yeah, I feel the same way about swimming as most of you. I love to hear that Jason is loving his swims now, but for me it's still just a workout I have to do. In the long run, I've made tons of progress since I first started, but since starting this year, I can swim farther, but no better/faster. I'm still faster than who I was previously faster than, and slower than who I was previously slower than. Of course, I still haven't had a swim race yet this season, so I'll wait until then to see if all this swimming is paying off at all.

Randy/Jason-thanks for the info about nutrition! I have a long ride this weekend, 3 hours, and I'm going to try and make sure I have a nutrition plan that I can start using on my long workouts. I'm really interested in the Powergel Performance Energy Blends; they have a good balance of glucose/fructose. I'm also going to make sure to drink more than I did last weekend. 

I don't race this weekend; Nate and I will be doing the Rev3 Knoxville at the beginning of May for the first real race of the year. I can't wait!

Michael I was suppossed to race on Sat.  It's not bad enough that I am missing the whole season.  The weather has turned.  Sat will be 84 degrees (low 60's at race start), low 3mph wind and easily the best day of the year.

So for all you with races coming up, hit it hard and enjoy!  I will be cheering for all of you.

Hello everyone! Well, a busy week at work is quickly drawing to a close....finally. Will be headed down to the Gulf (about an hour's drive) in the morning for The Mullet Man Triathlon. The race is held at a famous/infamous bar that sits right on the Alabama/Florida line directly on the Gulf.  Its a real dump/dive but has a great after race party.  Its another "team" race for me so I'm hoping to pick up some points if I can make it to the podium in my age group. Several of the team members are doing IM 70.3 New Orleans on Sunday so we will only have 7-8 racing the sprint. Looks like another chilly morning with temps around 45-50 when the race starts with a stiff north wind. We have had a lot of unseasonably cool weather this Spring and unfortunately race days have seemed to be some of the chilliest so far.

Did an easy treadmill run at lunch with some strides. Tonight is "Senior Night" at my daughter's school soccer game so we will walk onto the field with her as she is introduced as one of the seniors. Hopefully, the rain we are having will move through before tonight.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend! Seems like alot of us are feeling a bit blah from our training. I know I am. Hoping I can find some renewed energy next week to get back to where I feel that I am moving forward! 

Well -- today is my birthday.   The big 3-8!  

In honour of the occasion -- I knocked off one of my 2013 Hoos Dozen goals.   Woohoo!   

The goal -- bike up the "Cochrane Big Hill" -- a local hill that goes from a river valley (town of Cochrane, AB) up to the ridge to where my house is.  It's a ~7% grade over 2 miles -- that's about 700 ft of elevation gain.  It's a nasty, nasty hill -- when I bought my bike in Cochrane last year, my wife and I joked about riding it home -- laughing at how preposterous it would be to bike up the Big Hill.  

And now -- it's done!  Definitely a tough climb -- I actually managed to log bike splits that were slower than my normal running pace! 

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend.
Scott. 

(Cochrane Big Hill profile.jpg)

Scott great job on the hill!  Next time up just laugh at it.

Here is one more reason I love this sport.  As you all know I am out for the season and my A race was going to be tomorrow.  I had exchanged emails with the RD that I could not make the race and why.  First he is giving me partial credit for next year even though it is way beyond the notice time for any consideration.  Second, I was able to get my T-shirt, cap & water bottle for the race since they were already paid for.

So my wife and daughter went over the the packet pickup tonight to get the stuff since it's less than 2 miles from my house.  As I expected, they could not have been nicer.  They got the stuff, asked with genuine interest about how my accident happened and asked that thier best wished be relayed to me.

I have only been involved in this sport for less than a year and this would have been just my second event, but everyone I have ever encountered in this sport has been great.  Very friendly, helpful and welcoming.  Just like all you guys here.  Thanks!

Scott, congrats on the hill climb; there's nothing like progress to make all the work of training feel worth it!

I just finished up my 3-hour ride, then 30-minute run, and it felt good. I took the nutrition much more seriously this time, after last week's sufferfest. I went with a few packs of PowerBar Energy Blasts. They tasted good, and I've heard more than one source talk about the importance of glucose and fructose in endurance performance. The Energy Blasts had that and 200 calories per pack. So, I went with those and and had a bottle of water with Nuun in it, which tasted good. It wasn't nearly as hot today, but I felt much better than last weekend. However, anyone have any experience with cramping under the ribs? It nearly killed me last weekend, and today I noticed it was there, although it wasn't that bothersome. I'd think it's just me going too hard, but I'm in the right HR zone, and none of my numbers are crazy. Is it just me getting used to longer training sessions? It seems to only happen when running after biking for awhile.

Scott-Happy Birthday.....a little late good work on the bike.

Had a pretty good race on a really chilly morning. Finished 9th overall out of about 180 racers and won the grandmasters division which is all males over 50. The Geritol age group Swim was advertised as 400 yards but it would have been 400 yards to the first buoy and back. Consensus from the real  swimmers was it was around 1/2 mile.  Bike was cross/tailwind on the way out and mostly headwind on the way back.  Felt pretty good. Splits were 21st in swim, 8th in bike and 15th in run. My tri team placed 7 of the top 10 including overall winner so we had a good race and a fun time at the after party. Will try to get race report up tomorrow.

Now, on to tomorrow. 80 minute easy....and it will be easy run and 2000 yard swim.  

(Mulletman (2).jpg)

Scott - Awesomeness on the hill ... it is funny I was just talking to my buddy about this today. The hills that we thought were huge climbs when we first started are now easy climbs that we usually sprint up. Its amazing how it feels seeing that kind of progress. 

Randy - looks like you whooped some major a$% again in the race. Congratulations on 1st place! 

I have my second Triathlon coming up tomorrow morning and I can't wait. The bike course is pretty flat so it should be a nice and fast course. Lets hope the wind is not going to pick up like it usually does. I am just coming off a new 5k PR in a standalone race and can't wait for tomorrow. I am so pumped ... now back to prepping ... 

Michael-your training looks good. Crush it tomorrow!

Race report done:http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=485183&posts=1&start=1

Randy awesome job!  Read the race report.  Sounds like your hard work is paying dividends.  This is going to be a great season for you.

Keep it up!

Randy -- well done!

Michael -- hope you killed it today...

I just had a great swim.   I did a 1500m time trial -- haven't done one in a few months as I've been more focused on shorter sets -- but with my Oly getting ever closer, I wanted to see how I was progressing.   Back in the fall, I was honestly worried about finishing the swim before the cutoff time (45 min) -- given that I had one TT at 46 min, then a better one at 43 min but still uncomfortably close.  Today -- 37 min!  Couldn't believe it!  I'm pulling harder, keeping better form, and most importantly, able to sustain it over much longer periods.  (and no foot cramps )  

I had a 10k training run yesterday, but we won't discuss that one ... cold, windy, snowy... blech!!

Scott.

Alright .... hydrated and full belly. I am feeling great! I achieved my #1 Goal for this season! Beat my racing buddy in a Triathlon. He is a faster runner than I am but today I beat him overall by 40 seconds. I PR'ed by over 5 minutes on a course that was a mile longer on the bike and hillier than last year on the run ... I am beyond stoked ... I came in 52nd overall out of over 600 triathletes. My consistent training is paying off. This was triathlon number 12 for me and by far the best executed one yet. Here is my race report:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=485260&posts=1&start=1

Now back to training ... I got my first OLY of the season coming up in two weeks. :-) 

When reading my race report you will see me talking about losing more weight. Here is what I mean ... I am the guy in yellow with the spare tire ... :-)