Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 74)

Steve did you sleep any in Jan and Feb, it looks like all you did was train.

Craig, that is awesome on your running.  Keep up the good work.

Good Tuesday morning everyone!

Just caught up reading the last 10 pages or so. Glad everyone seems to be doing well, plugging along. I can't believe we're already to March. Looks like some of you have your first race or tri this month. Fun, fun! I'm volunteering at a Masters Swim Competition on the 12th. I've never been to one so thought I'd check it out by helping out. I'm hoping to pick up on some swimming tips by watching others. I also have a 5K that I'll do on the 26th which is 4 miles from my house. I've PRd it the last couple years and won my age group but I haven't done too much speed work lately so I don't anticipate doing so this year. The race is a for a good cause (World Compassion) and it's the largest attended 5K in our area (over 600). For our small town, that's A LOT! Most 5Ks here garner about 100. Taxes are going along great. I'm ahead of where I was at this time last year, so I'm hoping to finish early.

CATHY - I had to laugh when I read you'd picked a place to stay before you'd registered for the race. I do that, too! A chalet with the family sounds wonderful. That'll make the race so much more fun.

GEORGE - Yay on the weight loss! Yay on completing your 5K! Yay on the new bike! It's beautiful! Yay on your daughter's 3rd place finish in the cheer competition. I coached at Grace College - our local Christian college. I enjoyed it but unless you've been part of the cheer world, you don't realize how much TIME is invested.

CRAIG - Keep up the good work on upping your mileage. You're really starting to LOVE running, aren't you?!

JOHANNA - I hope you're relaxing during your taper down time. Good luck on your marathon. Can't wait to hear how you did.

STEVE - On page 86 you'd fallen to 36th so where do you stand now? I'm 300 behind you so you so when I dropped a couple I didn't feel your pain. Your race calendar has my head spinning. Your workout times has me envious. Glad you're injury free to be able to log those kinds of times.

Hope everyone's March brings you sunshine and warmer weather and a chance to get outside and enjoy it!

BRENDA -

Waaaaaay back on Jan 19 you posted a long one to me, and part of it was about USAT rankings. I sloughed that off at the time, waiting for the dust to settle on that front, and I think I also sloughed off everything else in your post. I am very sorry about that, and am here to make amends!

You asked about strength training, and I know at some point I listed all that I do Did you see that post, or would you like me to do it again? I'm very happy to do that, so just ask if you need to, okay?

I said at some point that I count my time lifting differently than for the other activities. My run and bike times are pure. My swim times usually reflect time actually swimming, so I keep my watch running and then at the end estimated how much time I have spent resting, or changing swim toys, or yakking; that is usually 2-4 minutes. But for strength I just start my watch when I begin and finish when I end, and there is no accounting for rests between sets, switching weights, and all the other stuff that a trip to the gym involves. So if I have 60' for lifting, well, maybe only about 70% of that is actual exertion. Does that make sense?

As for my goals and races --- still evolving and changing! I have not navigated through the off-season without injuries, and if you read the one I posted to Alex a day or two ago, I am off to my A.R.T. person today. My current woes are hip/groin, suggesting I am slightly (?) misaligned. My ITB is a question mark, as is my right inner knee. The peroneal ws a problem a few weeks ago, but seems to have resolved itself.

The upshot of all of this is that I ran just six times in February, less than four hours. Not good! I had a great year on the run last year because I was able to train consistently throughout the winter, and that hasn't happened so far. I think my Base is big enough to sustain this.....but time will tell! I do need to get mended, though, and of course the sooner the better.

I shall return shortly!

BRENDA again -

About those USAT Rankings!

As you can tell, I am a huge fan of that system, and it's what keeps me doing virtually all of my racing in the U.S. (And I won't do non-anctioned races in the U.S.). I think it is a very accurate representation of how a person stacks up nationwide, although there are some loopholes (see below).

When I look at where I sit, the guys iI know who are within 10-15 places above me and 15-20 below me are all in my ballpark; that is, at any given race I might beat them, they might beat me. I don't think I've ever lost to anyone who sits lower than about 55 right now, and I doubt I could beat any of the top 20 (again, see below for loopholes). The latter is hard to tell, however, as many of those guys are from southern areas and I have never raced against them. But if I look at theirr races stats, they are just generally stronger than I am.

I guess you know roughly how the system works --- that our scoring is best on the times of "pacesetters" at each race, and thta age doesn't change one's score. What changes, of course, is how it fits into out age group. So, my 2:30 at an oly might net me 77.10643 points, and if a 23-year old woman and a 41-year old man cross the line with me, they will also get 77.10643 points (However, the woman's score will then be gender-graded.)

My score for 2010 -- 78.70747 -- has me at 36, but in 55-59 it might be 124th, and at 50-54 it might be 408th, and for the "hot" groups, such as 35-39 and 40-44, it would be much, much, much lower. Then again, those age groups have thousands of people in them, but I would be a long way from top 5-6%!

Your position puts you in a great spot for further climbing! You're at about the upper 35% I would guesstimate, and with judicious race planning (and consistent training!) you could bump that up a full 10%, I think, for this season. And then the next season another jump, and so on --- if that's the route you want to take! Not everybody wwants to play this game, and one of the best triathletes I know doesn't care about his points at all. He is in his 30s and could be All-American each year, but just doesn't care to be a slave to that. (And I use the word "slave" self-depracatingly to myself, is all! And I could use another "s" word......but I'm too polite for that! )

Now for the "see below" part:
This involves loopholes, and can also merge into "judicious race planning".
For loopholes, some people do just a few races and make sure they are easy ones or ones that are new and small -- places where they know they will shine and score big. Of the 35 guys above me, about ten of them may have gone that route, and that is their perogative. It also may be a necessity to do a few short and easy ones, especially if they are injury-prone. One of the things about Steven Smith (perennial #1, from Granger, IN) is that he races exceedingly well at all distances, and will race that way over two or three consecutive weekends. He is a true monster, an incredible swimmer (sub-30 for half-irons) and a remarkable cyclist, whose only weakening spot is a slowing run. But at 63 he was top of the a.g., and my money says he will probably be there again this season, at 64!
Where this merges into race planning is that many people choose some races that cater to their strengths and/or experience. In the latter case, it is doing the same race year after year after year and getting very familiar and accomplished at it. For the former, here are two examples from my own history:
Tupper Lake "sprint" -- 800m swim, 19mile bike, 6.2mile run
Harryman "oly" -- 0.6m swim, 29mile bike, 6.2mile run
As a strong cyclist and runner, but only mediocre swimmer, these play into my hands fairly nicely. (It doesn't help that at Tupper last year, the swim was about 1000m......but the run is always longer than 10km, even though it is just listed that way, so I benefit form the extra yardage on that!)

I would not score well at a race in MD that is a mile swim, a 20-mile bike, and a 5-mile run, but half-irons are pretty good fro me compared to olys --- only 300 meters more on the swim, but an extra 50km on the bike and 8km on the run. Bonus for Stevie! (too bad my body isn't allowing me to do as many HIM anymore..... )

The other aspect of judicious race planning (and a lesson I have been very slow to learn) is to not race too often AND to spread out the races AND to mostly only do races that matter. I have screwed up at least two USAT rankings years by doing one or two meaningless Canadian-based races in the week or two before what should be an important late Spetmeber or early October USAT race. So at that stage of a long season I have gone into that last race kind of depleted, and maybe settled for 76 points in it whereas I could've gotten higher had I been more intelligent. Doh?

One more thing to follow, but I need to try to find some stats. I'll be back in a bit.







Edited by stevebradley 2011-03-01 8:54 AM

Nice bike.  I'm green with envy.

Well, I'm getting closer.  Maybe in March... maybe.

BRENDA once more -

Hmmm. I can only find one of two stats sheets, so the following won't be perfect.

It is a slippery slope in losing points, and even a small glitch in a key race can make one go from, say, 76.32547 to 75.79005. And by small glitch I mean having to nurse a cramp on the run; needing to de-fog goggles once or twice; dropping an improtant water bottle and having to retrieve it; a port-a-potty stop; and so on.

I mat have told you the following story before, and so I will abbreviate it here.

West Point Tri this past season was one of my "A" races -- I was ready for it, psyched for it, and was prepared to go all-out. I got a flat a mile or two into it, and in total lost between 9 and 11 minutes. My USAT score for it was 69, whereas I was hoping for 78-80, which is how prepared I felt and how conducive the course is to my skills. Because I didn't time the change I don't know for sure how long I took, but middling it at ten minutes.......the guy ten minutes above me had I score of 79-high, and had that been my score it would've been my best of the season and likely moved me from my 78.70747 up a few percenatge points. The last guy at straight All-American has 78.99609, so that coulda been me. Waaaahhhh! And if my flat involved 11 minutes of torture, I would've cleared 80 points for the race. Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!

My last race in '08 was near Hagerstown, MD, and it was my shot for USAT glory. I went into it with a sore something-down-low, but still felt capable of a good day -- slightly short swim, overlong bike and run, perfect for me. I ahd a really good swim and went flying off on the bike, but hit a rock at about mile 3 and flatted. That flat also took too long to change, and given that I knew I wouldn't get the points I needed I just bailed and tok the sag wagon back to transition. I saved my legs from getting hurt, maybe.....but it was a very long, ignominious ride home (about 11 hours!). At least at West Point I hammered the hell out of the rest of the race and finished strong, but just not enough to slavage any USAT points. In fact, it was my worst race bt far, a full six points lower than my next lowest.

And you know that the top three are all that count, which is some incentive for reason a few more times than that. It doesn't have to be 10-plus like I do it, but having 5-7 to draw from is helpful, I think.

Anything I might've missed??

GANG!

Long-promised USAT Rankings info above in my posts to Brenda!

I'm just following my plan and shifted the week one day so my long run day is Monday instead of the called for Sunday. That also moves my long bike to Saturday and Sunday off, it just fits my life better.

Yesterday was the longest of the month at 58min. Here is the next twelve weeks run times break down.

Mon  Wed   Fri
35     21      28   Recovery week
58     35      46
64     38      51
70     42      56
42     25      34  Recovery week
70     42      56
77     46      62
77     46      62  Plan says I should be able to do Oly run in this time
46     28      37  Recovery week
70     42      56
77     46      62
62     37      Off     Taper
Race

Race Application Question.   When I ran my 5k last weekend there was a group Masters and it was like 40-49, then there was I think Grand Masters (Dont remember the age group) and one more but dont remember the name or age group.  Just wanted to know what the difference between the masters and the age group.

GANG again -

A few more thoughts on USAT Rankings:
(1) You have to be a USAT member to "play"; just paying the one-day USAT license fee each race isn't enough.
(2) In order to receieve year-end standings, you also have to do a minimum of three USAT-sanctioned races.
(3) The best three rankings "scores" you receive are the ones that count. It doesn't matter if you do 3 races or 13; the top three are all that figure in at the end.
(4) Scores are calculated against all racers at any given race, reagrdless of age group.
(5) Age group placement then depends on these scores, so how the same score ranks in each age group will differ.*
(6) Top 5% in each group receive USAT All-American status.
(7) Top 5-10% in each a.g. receive USAT All-American Honorable Mention status.
(8) Benefits go with these categories, most notably automatic entry into any USAT championship race, including Nationals.
(9) This is a great way to track your progress from year to year to year, although as I said to Brenda earlier, there are loopholes and caveats.


* As an example, my ranking this year is 78.70747, which places me 36/632 for M60-64 that are USAT members and have done three races. This same score for a M55-59 might place one at 106/xxxx, and for M50-54 maybe 187/xxxx. Were I 65-69, however, it would maybe be 9/xxx. Make sense?

GEORGE -

This is complicated. Most triathlons do not have Masters and Grand Masters categories, and I dislike the ones that do; I would much rather be included in age group results. I'll maybe tell two related stories about this at some point........but will spare you for now!

Most triathlons go with 5-year age groups -- 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, etc. Road races are more inclined to use the 10-year increments, which I aslo dislike. It may be great for people in the first few years (i.e., 40, 41, 42), but it is patently unfair for those at the older end -- 47, 48, 49. Quite simply, there are few people at the old end of a ten-year span who can compete with the youngsters in their group.

Moreover, at least for tris there is not a carved-in-stone standard for Maters and Grand Masters, and then there are races that just have one category, say Masters, say kind of arbitrarily 50-plus. But as I said above, thank goodness not many tris observe those categories!

One related story (I'm sorry I couldn't resist!) from above is from my last race of the season, in Delaware. I won my age group, but that I also won Masters so my name is not in the age group results, but up high, right underneath overall winners. This really messed me up at the time, because I couldn't see my name in the a.g. listings and immediately panicked that my chip had not worked. But there it was as the Masters winner --- just me, no second or third. And through an oragnizational kerfuffle, that was thre only "other" category, not a Grand Masters. So, there were guys in 45-49 and 50-54 who beat me and should've taken home Masters honors, if that matterd to them. I received some kudos at the awards announcement, and given those younger older guys who did better than I did, it wasn't deserved. I may have been the only one who was aware of this, however, so it was just my own discomfort. It only helped me a little that I did better than any of the 55-59 set, too -- at least one less group of peole who might've felt that justice was not served.

I guess this was okay for the a.g. guy who finished behind me,a s he was then "winner" of the age group, and those behind him climbed a place each, as I was there in Masters instead. BUT! I have been on the flip side of that, finishing second (by three seconds!) to a guy in my a.g. who was awarded Grand Masters champion, and so I was then "winner" of my age group. I even have a very nice glass trophy (probably my nicest one) that has engraved in it "First Place Male 60-64" --- BUT I DON'T FEEL I DESERVED IT!!!! The other guy, my age group, finished three seconds ahead of me!!!!!!!

So, either way, it is unsatisfying to me, and I have half a mind to never again do a race that has Masters and Grand Masters categories.


Thee -- You got BOTH stories.......but I apologize for making a simple question into a convoluted answer.

CRAIG -

I like that plan a lot! It provides a very sensible build over the weeks, and with good recovery weeks thrown in. The drop in volume on those weeks may seem dramatic, but it should be ideal for keeping you healthy. It really looks good.

Is the plan saying that the 10km could be done at the 62' time, or is it referring to the 77' of the long run that week? Just curious. The 77' sounds more appropriate, but then again that week is still eight weeks away and so.........

Finally, please tell me again which is the race you are doing. I'm sure you've mentioned it before, and I'm sorry to have to ask again.

I think the plan says BOP time should be around  the 77min and I think that's pretty close looking at my current time/distance. That would give me 19min to cover 1.9mi in the next 12 weeks or so.

I haven't decided on races yet. I'm kind of torn between the one I did last year Granite Man Sat June 11 and the Pacific Crest in Bend, OR.Sun June 26. They are two completely different races. I am going to repeat the 5k I did last April just to see how I compare to last years time and that's the only (its also about 1/2 hour from my house) reason I would do the Granite Man.

Edited by ckallpoints 2011-03-01 2:25 PM

CRAIG -

Thank you for that info. (Think i can keep it in mind thsi time around?)

If you stay healthy, I see no reason whatsoever that you can't/won't hit that time at the point it's predicted in the schedule. If only every plan could work so well!

ALEX -

I survived my session at Tina's House of Pain! It wasn't too bad at all, and she didn't really come close to reducing me to tears. Bonus!

She felt tightness in a few areas around my hip, and thinks I should get xrays just to rule out degeneration. She also thinks I should go to my chiropractor for an adjustment and alignment. i hope to do both before Friday.

Onwards!

BRENDA, later on -

Ack! I just checked the rankings and my Tupper Lake one was adjusted back down, and I slid to 39. Ack! Ack!

The only blessing is that I am now at 78.42225 and the last A-A guy is at 79.01166, so I doubt that even my best-without-a-flat at West Point would've been enough to vault me beyond him. Whew?

See? It's a silly, fickle, and capricious system --- but I do so love it!

GENE -

Yo! You might be in luck!

The latest issue of Triathlete has an ad from TriBike Transport, complete with the tag-line "Let TriBike Transport help get your bike to your 2011 event, hassle-free!"

Then follows a list of their 2011 Service Schedule, and The Nation's is one of their 20 or so races! How's that for a happy little coincidence??

Finally, there is contact infor:
www.tribiketransport.com
[email protected]
(415) 441-4722

Gang!

How's this for a fluke accident?

My bike on my trainer rests on three small rugs, two in back and one in front. The rest of the floor is laminate. Climbing on the bike this evening I put my left leg over the top, and my right foot slipped on the laminate and shot under the bike between the wheels. I went down and the bike would've come with me, but the trainer's wide base kept it upright. At firts I was just kind of dazed, and then I realized the back of my knee hurt. I reached back there and came away with bloody fingertips. I went upstairs to examine it, and when I went to place a hand-held mirror back there I saw three long gouges on the my mid-calf. So, when my leg went under the bike, it raked against the big ring. The one behind my knee is hard to tend to, due to the flexing, and the one on my calf ----- well, it looks like a wolverine gave me a swift and vicious clawing! Mostly I feel stupid. Well, both places look awful and hurt a fair bit, but in tiem they will heal ---- while I continue to feel stupid for years to come. DOH!!

UNSOLICITED ADVICE

The account above reminded me to lube my chain, which I haven't done since I brought the bike indoors in October. So, it was long overdue and got lubed this evening.

Which brings me to the following.

Outdoor season is soon to begin for many/most of you, and try to remember to clean your chain and rings and rear cassette frequently. Thisn is especially true at this time of year for northerners and almost-notherners, due to a big build-up of salt and/or sand along the roads.

I clean my chain/rings/cogset about once every four rides, so maybe about every 80-100 miles. I never remove the chain (I leave that for my bike shop to do once or maybe twice a year), and have a fairly simple system using a bike degreaser first, then spraying that off with a hose, then drying the chain and rings and cogs, and then applying a SMALL amount of lube. A little of this goes a long way, and too much just attracts grit and grime.

After every ride, swipe your fingertip along the chain. If it comes back with black gooey grimy grit on it, it's high time to clean it -- even it's onlt been a couple of rides. Not only will your bike respond better with a clean drivetrain, regular cleaning will increase the life of those components. It's just about as valuable as regular oil changes for your car.

Sermon over.

(If you want more step-by-step details about cleaning, please ask.)

Amen!!

Oh, Steve, I'm glad you're OK after your slip. Yiee, yiee, yiee.

THANK YOU for explaining the rankings. 2010 was my first year as a member so I didn't know how it all worked. I'll write more later, but I have a client coming shortly so I'm off.

The sun is shining here in Indiana so it's a happy day.

Steve,

OUCH!! I hope you heal quickly.

Thanks for the reminder on cleaning the chain. I think I might do that on both Kathy's and my bikes before we go out again.

Steve... that is a big bummer... feel better soon!  

Question for all of you seasoned vets...  How do you setup your transition area?  And... what do you do if it is raining to keep your gear "dry"?  It has been a plaguing question for me as my first duathlon is in April which could have a high possibility of rain.  

On another note... my hip is getting worse not better.  Headed to the Chiropractor and then possibly a PT to see what I can do to get it better.  Going to see if I can find a PT who is versed in A.R.T. to give that a try.

Alex 

For my Du last fall, I kept it simple. Racked the bike, shoes clipped in helmet on the aero bars. At T-1 Left my running shoes side by side. 2 short runs-4k each so I skipped socks. For rain risk I would think just a trash bag over your shoes or whatever. Maybe a plastic bag over the saddle or bike computer. Remember if it rains you will be wet too..so wet gear isn't too big of a concern.
  I did my first tri last November, it was 38 degrees at the start, I kept T-1 set up with a jacket and jersey and long sleeved under shirt. I skipped the jacket but wore the gloves I had stashed in the pockets. My shoes were on the ground under the bike. I wore socks on the bike that time due to the temperature.
 Years ago I did a 24 hour bicycle Time Trial in Texas called Ironbutt. It rained for 18 hours straight. Every piece of cycling apparel I owned was wet. There would be a little reprieve from the rain, I would change into something dry and the rain started up in a few minutes. I had athletes feet for like a month after that. There is no point to this story......
My impression about transitions is that some people seem to way over think this. Practice it. I practiced in a near by park, my wife would sit by my gear and read a book while I did various brick workouts and transition practices.

Steve, that sounds a little painful and frustrating with how fast it happened. Hope you heal up quickly.

Alex, bummer about your hip. I hope the ART brings some relief. I try to keep my transition area simple. I lay a towel down and put my bike shoes and running shoes in it. I put my socks in the shoes. Any nutrition I'm using I put in my bento box on the bike or preload in my water bottle holder. I stick bike gloves (if I'm using them) and sunglasses in my helmet and hook it onto my bike. if rain was expected I would probably use a large trash bag to tuck over everything.

Gene, my niece has used the bike transport company Steve mentioned and was happy with them. She has since bought her own bike case and the bike flies with her when she travels to a race.

George, nice bike!

ALEX -

Jeff has said a lot of good things in his response to you, and his approach is much the same as mine.

As I race barefoot, I don't have socks to worry about. But in my socked days, on rainy race mornings they would go into a plastic bag along with my running shoes and running hat. Of course, if it's really pouring it's just a matter of a few yards before they too get soaked, but I was always optimistic that what was happening while I was in the water and on the bike would clear by the time the run started.

Even now, though, on rainy mornings the shoes will go into a bag, just to reduce the amount of water they sponge up while waiting for me to put them on.

Another thing I do on rainy mornings is cover my drivechain and shifters (on my aerobars) with plastic bags, which I remove just before I head to water or, if it's a duathlon, out on the first run. One time I forgot, though, and came out of the water to find my bike still plasticized. It only took about 5-10 extra seconds to remove the bags, but it was dopey time I should've avoided. (And I'd like to say it happened in one of my first few races.....but t was actually in about season 6 or 7. Oops!

I don't worry about covering my saddle, as that gets soaked as soon as I sit on it in a tri anyhow. I NEVER dry off in T1, not even my feet -- they just go into the shoes with whatever water is remaining on them after the run from the water. And even if I have come through sand to get to my bike --- into my cleats (attached to my pedals) they go, and in time the sand will slough off them and just shift around in the cleat; this never bothers me.

As for my space, it is simple. A have a small towel that I place things on, with the things being running shoes with a gel inside one and my sunglasses inside the other; my hat is perched on top. I usually use different sunglasses for the bike and run -- polarized for the run, not polarized for the bike. My bike gear in transition is in the same place as Jeff's -- helmet upisde down on the aerobars, with sunglasses nestled inside. When my wetsuit comes off, I just leave it in a jumbled heap -- off of body, out of mind.

For your a duathlon, it all becomes much, much simpler without the wetsuit/swimgear hassles. Even if it's pouring during your first run and your running sjoes are soaked, I would have a plastic bag to put them in while you're out on the bike. Yes, they're soaked, but at least if they are covered for the xx minutes you are riding, they will have that much time to not get further water-laden. And on raint mornings I will have my sunglasses in a small plactic bag, just so at least for the first very short distance they aren't water-smeared.

If it's rainy and cold, you have some other decisions to make. Jeff mentioned a jacket, and most people will opt for that. I have taken some real risks with satying underdressed on cold/wet/raw days, but haven't paid a big price yet. If you can find a good water-repellent jacket that is lightweight and quite form-fitting (that is, won't flap much), that would be a good option. Arm warmers can be a godsend, and even on days in which I don't add anything to my standrad race top and bottom in T1, I will have my arm-warmers draped onto my aerobars and don them once my arms get air-dried, and if I feel they will help with core temp (even though they are only covering the arms, for me it seems to help with everything). I also have a pair of very lightweight tech-fabric gloves that I will have with me on cold race-rides. If that seems to be the forecast, then I will keep them in my Bento box, velcroed to my top tube. I normally use the Bento box only for half-irons, but on cold days it holds my gloves.)

Finally, I back Jeff also when he says that (a) people can tend to overthink this, and (b) practice helps. Even laying things out in your house will get it into your head where things are when race day comes. I like stacking my run gear, per the above, but other people like being able to see everything. I used to work that way, but I've done enough of these that's it's mostly like clockwork for me, and stacking just seem more compact.

Finally-finally, what you do in your first few races will likely evolve over the course of any subsequent race. That is, your transition site will change, and how you proceed through it will improve and speed up considerably. At the start, the most important thing is to make sure you haven't left anything behind, such as sunglasses or gels, so don't think about rushing through it -- at least not for a few races. Fast(er) transitions can be a free way to improve your time in a race, but just focus on being thorough for the first few you do.