Jim Kelley's (Birkierunner) General and Long Course Group (Open) (Page 7)

Originally posted by dmbfan4life20

I finished the Challenge AC full Aqua/Bike Sunday and it went pretty well. Having completed 2/3 of an IM gives me a lot of confidence going into IMMT. A few things I took away from the race this weekend:

1.) Things happen beyond your control and you just have to deal with it the best way possible: Water temp was 80 so non wetsuit. Probably one of the strongest currents I have ever swam in. I was shooting for a 1:35 swim and went 1:55. Everyone I spoke to was 15-20min slower on average. One guy swam 1:20 at his last IM and went over 2hrs at this race! They actually extended the swim cutoff due to the current. Additionally, there were so many turns, people were cutting the course because it was so technical. Did not make for an easy day. I was upset when I got out of the water but I felt decent and just said to myself "Get over it, its a long day"

2.) Biking was better then I thought- I probably started out too strong but averaged 19mph for the first 45miles. Once we got into the Hammonton loop area, the road surface quality drastically changed and so did my times. I was much slower on the crappy roads then the smooth ones. I never knew that road quality played so much into speed.

3.) Headwinds are demoralizing- After hitting mile 80, I was on pace to go way sub 7 with my bike split which for me, was more then I could have imagined. Unfortunately, those last 32 miles were straight into a 20mph headwind for the whole 32 miles!! It was demoralizing and frustrating to be struggling to go 11mph. Also, I felt like the headwind took a lot out of me. I am sure that going too fast earlier in the course played into my speed dropping too but it just plain sucked!

4.) Nutrition- I found that I cannot stomach my Infinit as much as I thought. I made (2) 2hr bottles for each loop and only could stomach 1 bottle each loop. I did find that I like solids more and could feel the pick me up they gave me. I have a 100 miler next month and I plan on carrying 2 water bottles at all times and 1 bottle of a less concentrated Infinit mix while eating more solids.

5.) Tired but not done- When I finished the bike I was tired but after changing and sitting down for a minute, I felt good about running 26.2. With my finishing time at this race, I would have had 7.5hrs to finish the marathon so I know that I would be able to do that.

6.) Drink more- I was dehydrated, plain and simple.

7.) I need salt tabs- I craved salt all day, had salt crusted on my skin when I was done and when I ate food afterwards, the roof of my mouth burned.

Overall, it was a good day and I learned a lot, could have been better, but that's the way it goes.

Originally posted by R-Star

THIS YEAR'S RACES: So far I've only done a half marathon
2014 RACES: Ironman 70.3 Nevada Silverman October 4th!!

Originally posted by StevenC

Did a nice LSD run this morning, almost 9 miles, 1:20. Felt really good. Missed my bike session yesterday so going to have to make it up on Sat. Have a 5K race tomorrow in Huntington Beach with the family. It's a flat course, so I will be shooting for a PR...see if I can crack 20 min. It's a stretch, but might as well give it a shot.

Have a great 4th everyone and be safe.

Originally posted by StevenC



Great race. I guess you have to now set a new PR goal...<2hr?

Originally posted by rramirez1



where in southern cali? im in san diego

Originally posted by dmbfan4life20

I finished the Challenge AC full Aqua/Bike Sunday

Originally posted by StevenC

Had a good weekend of training and did manage a PR in my 5k, 20:18.

Originally posted by hotalinge

did a local 5k yesterday as the first part of the reverse tri workout that was on my training plan for that day and set a new pr by 2 minutes! 20:16!

Originally posted by cjhild



You must have beaten Steve at the line, lol! Good work.

Originally posted by StevenC

Anyone racing this weekend?? I plan on taking it relatively easy. Have a 2+ ride schedule tomorrow and 1 hour run on Sunday. Will try to squeeze in an OWS if I can.

I wanted to just brag about my biking a little and figured this was a good place to do it. Did a 15 mile TT this morning to evaluate bike fitness. Last one was before the summer. I knocked 3 min off my time. Avg speed went from 20.5 up to 22.6. Most of it is fitness but some of it is better aero position, since the tri bike is <6 months old. Definitely making improvements. This gives me hope to break 2:45 on the bike for my July HIM.

Originally posted by tiffanyosh I've been MIA for awhile, but did great at keeping up with my training during the month of June, it's been harder this month with a bunch of family vacations and travel, but I just came back and read all of your race reports and updates and it's helping me get fired back up [Warning: The workout description below is why I needed a morale boost!] My race is in 13 days (eek) and today was supposed to be a nutrition/endurance check according to my training plan. It started out fantastic, I did a great 2400m OWS in a strong time for me, switched over to the bike and was feeling great despite the 95 degree temps, felt like I could bike for days, was aiming for 60 miles, but at around mile 16 I didn't see a massive piece of metal in the bike lane (how did I miss it??) and got what I thought was just a standard flat on my back tire. Pulled over and replaced the tube -- only to see the tube bubbling out through the sidewall of my tire. Checked yelp and saw there was a bike shop 2 miles away -- walked/stand up rode my bike to the shop, bought a new tire and tube, replaced it, took a full hour to get everything all together, then hop back on the road, go another 8-10 miles and one of my spokes breaks! I've never had a broken spoke before, tried to figure out a way to make my tire stop rubbing against the brakes, no go, at this point I was about 5 miles from my car, so I just hobbled my bike back to the car -- I was coming up on 5 hours since starting my bike ride and had only actually ridden for about 2 of those hours -- at this point I should have been almost done with my ride and 8 mile run I was supposed to get in too. Needed to just call it a day and take my sunburned self to go grab some solid food and get my bike repaired. Trying not to feel too bummed out with these mishaps, bike is repaired now, going to see if there are any adjustments I can make to my training plan this week to help feel a bit more prepared as a I go into what should be my taper week -- I'm feeling like life events have kickstarted my taper and I'm a bit worried since this is my first 70.3!! Have any of you ever needed to replace your tire (not the tube, but the actual tire) during a race? If so, what did you do? Oh, also, Jim, thanks for the tip on best ways to take care of your Kaiman goggles, I haven't had a leak since Happy training to everyone this week!

Originally posted by Birkierunner

These are the days when you are glad that it happened to you during a training day and not during a race.  Hitting the piece of metal and cutting your tire is a fluke and the chances of it happening during a race aren't that great.  So, there's not much you can do if it ever did happen during a race.  If it is a small cut in the tire one trick is to put a dollar bill between the tube and the cut area and the bill will prevent the tube from penetrating through the tire.  I haven't ever tried it but its supposed to be a temporary fix.  I wouldn't carry a bunch of stuff with you during a  race to fix a cut tire though.  Since you are so close to your race, not getting the full workout in isn't going to be a huge deal.  Just make sure you keep up some intensity over the next 2 weeks as you taper your volume.  I wouldn't alter your plan in an attempt to make up for the "lost" training day.   Better to be more rested than tired going into the race.   The hay is pretty much in the barn already, but again, keep up some intensity over the next 2 weeks.

Originally posted by gdelamora

Will anyone be in Racine this weekend?

I'll be doing the HIM. Looks like the weather will be great. Hopefully the lake will be calm.

Good luck to those doing the IMMT!