kaburns1214 and UHCoog's Mentor Group-Closed (Page 69)

Originally posted by mleech77

Yikes, and here I thought 17 hours with 4 huskies was bad.  At least they only made noise when they needed to use the bathroom.

Originally posted by carrie639

For anyone considering Muncie I would offer these thoughts: Swim is beautiful and generally pretty flat, so pretty easy. Bike is super, super fast, even with the rough sections. The run is kinda pretty, but is hilly and very exposed to the sun. Huge disadvantage of this race: it is generally a VERY HOT race ... This year was an exception. Parking is really close. Course because it is closed to traffic (run and bike) which is awesome, makes it very difficult for family/spectators to get to. So don't expect a lot of fan support, but volunteers were awesome!

As a comparison to Rev3 events, huge WTC advantage is amount of aid stations, variety and quantity of what's offered. Rev3 Knoxville had aid stations about every 2 miles, Muncie was at most every mile.

Originally posted by Kuma

Well vacation is sadly over, and it is back to real life.  I had a wonderful time in Hawaii, and was even able to get in a reasonable amount of working out, including several runs, one long bike ride with a great long climb and beautiful scenery, and a swim race they apparently have every year called the King's Swim.  It is a 1.2 mile open water race in the ocean, finishing where the Ironman swim finishes.  It took me awhile to get used to swimming in lakes, so the ocean was something else altogether.  I did have one coughing fit while swimming breaststroke for a little while.  I came up and opened my mouth to take a breath - and was hit by a wave that gave me a big mouthful of salt water - yum. 

Happily the water was crystal clear, so you could see straight to the bottom, even in 50-75 feet of water.  I saw lots of fish and sea turtles as we swam past.  The water was pretty flat, so the swell wasn't high enough to affect breathing.  I'm told salt water is more buoyant than fresh, so perhaps that helped me some too. 

The course was pretty simple - we swam out from shore, around an anchored boat, and then back to near the start.  I ended up finishing in 39:17 - placing 154th out of 238.  Not qualifying for the real Kona race yet, but I'll take it.  First place went to a local 17-year old girl who finished in 25:10.  I'm told she's something of a local celebrity who plans to swim the 26 mile shark-infested channel from Oahu to Molokai later this year.  Second, third, and fourth places were all also teenage girls. 

I met several people at the event who were all really friendly.  Many of them swim this same course every day for their daily swim workouts.  I really envied them for their access to such wonderful places to work out and weather that lets them do so year-round.  Sigh. 

Now I have to re-adjust to real life again.  I'll catch up on everyone's postings for the last couple weeks, but did want to say hello. 

Originally posted by everlong



That swim sounds awesome. Glad you had fun.

Originally posted by kr140.6

Glad my HIM is over. Very very sadly an athlete died the day before in the sprint part of the race festival. He crashed into a car in the bike portion. My thoughts are with his family. Of course, this had me in a bit of tailspin the night before (thinking "why am I doing this, I have two kids" etc....)


All that aside, the race was good... funny I would say that now because I do have to remind myself that during it I said to myself "I am going to pass out" ..... "why am I doing this"..... "I think I'll just pull into this hotel and call it a day". I think it is because I just don't race a lot and forget how painful it can be . All of this had mostly had to do with the run which was 90 degrees, humid, direct sun, virtually no shade.

I thought of a lot of you on the bike.... wishing I had put more hours into it like a lot of you rockstars around here do !...... legs started feeling tired even by the half way point, yikes!

I did set the bar not too high for myself because I felt I just hadn't put out enough hours (on the bike mostly), so I was surprised by my time (in a good way).... 6:03:07 which was 12 minutes faster than my "A" goal, yay!.....37:43 swim , 3:13:15 bike, 2:04:49 run. transitions were some of the worst in my age group

I have learned a lot from you guys, so thanks!! Happy and sad that is it for my season.

Originally posted by ccmpsyd

Matt - the swim sounds wonderful and congratulations!

Katie - That is an awesome time. Congratulations! You are a rock star. Am sorry to hear about what happened prior to the race.

Deb - You have worked very hard for this and it is a tremendous accomplishment. Sorry to hear about the coaching aspect but when it is all over, think of how amazing you will feel. I will be following and cheering and sending good vibes your way.

Had my first bike crash tonight. Rounding a corner I hit a patch of some loose sand, tires kicked out, and I went skidding. Hip, knee and hand took the brunt and have a nice case of road rash. It was cool in retrospect and I am kind of glad I got it (the crash) out of the way. Bike seems to be fine. Finished the ride and the brick run without further incident. I don't anticipate being hampered too much for tomorrow's run...but we shall see.

Originally posted by kaburns1214



Have you considered driving overnight so the kids sleep through?

Originally posted by ccmpsyd



If I hear I am bored from one of the kids, I tell them that only boring people get bored.

Originally posted by everlong Pretty interesting stage at the TDF today. 32KM (20 miles) individual time trial with two category 2 climbs. Some participants are going with their road bikes and those are split with regards to adding clip-on aero bars and some are going with TT bikes. What's even more interesting and confusing to me is some are switching bikes at the 20 KM mark which is the end of the second cat 2 hill. Is it really possible that using a road bike for the first 20 KM then stopping and changing to a TT bike for the last 12KM is faster than using one style for the entire race? TJ van Garderen reached the 20KM check point in first place (still a lot of riders to come) and was one of those changing his bike. It will be interesting to see where he finishes after having a 8 second lead at that check. Personally given the climbs I'd go with a road bike with clip-ons. EDIT: TJ is in the lead by 34 seconds.

Originally posted by uhcoog

 

Hope my DVR is actually taping this one. 

Originally posted by carrie639 Yes, there are always multiple replays during the day and night

Originally posted by ccmpsyd Matt - the swim sounds wonderful and congratulations! Katie - That is an awesome time. Congratulations! You are a rock star. Am sorry to hear about what happened prior to the race. Deb - You have worked very hard for this and it is a tremendous accomplishment. Sorry to hear about the coaching aspect but when it is all over, think of how amazing you will feel. I will be following and cheering and sending good vibes your way. Had my first bike crash tonight. Rounding a corner I hit a patch of some loose sand, tires kicked out, and I went skidding. Hip, knee and hand took the brunt and have a nice case of road rash. It was cool in retrospect and I am kind of glad I got it (the crash) out of the way. Bike seems to be fine. Finished the ride and the brick run without further incident. I don't anticipate being hampered too much for tomorrow's run...but we shall see.

Originally posted by jarvy01



I don't think this will work with the 3, 4, or 6 year olds. They would give me quizzical looks. To that statement my 8 year old would say "mmmmmkay, whatev, I'm boring, are we there yet?" He's a little smarta$$ just like his mom.

Originally posted by ccmpsyd Hip and road rash are fine...shouldn't affect things. Thanks for the concern. With my daughter away with her mom sailing for 2 weeks I have the luxury of not having to train at the crack of dawn but can do it in the evening if I want. This has allowed me to sleep in, which is good. Unfortunately it is still damn hot in the evening. So tonight I have an 1hr tempo run, which I am going to do after work. Christine and I are going to a movie tonight, as her two kids are with their father...To make the 715 movie I will run right after my last client, towel off, and change (ughhh) without showering. To demonstrate how much we need a "date" without kids...she does not mind that I will arrive sans shower.

Originally posted by uhcoog

 

Haha.  I feel ya man.  These last few days with only a baby have been nice.  Sometimes it's nice to actually talk to your spouse.

 

I enjoy training at the crack of dawn at this point.  I'm not in the frame of mind to train after work.