Tony Zamora's group - FULL (Page 8)

@mashmead - Two 5k;s in 2 weekends - you have another one planned this weekend?!

Good job on this one.  Still a consistant time considering your saying it was hotter and more humid.  Did you take any electrolytes (not salt tablets) for this one?  I noticed that in hot conditions those always help me out a ton!

Training Update:
Just 10 more days until my first tri.  I don't feel like I am ready at all.  I have only swam 2 times so far this summer -- almost all of my planned swimming went out the window due to the torrential thunderstorms at my house.  The past few days have been good, but now I have family visiting due to my daughter's graduation, so all the family related activities have been getting in the way. I won't be able to even try to swim again until Saturday afternoon.  I might try to go out to the bayou where the swim portion of the tri will be held just to see how I will do.

BUT...I did run 3miles (with walking breaks) yesterday at a much faster pace than I am comfortable with normally running.  And, today I rode 20miles.  I'm meeting my friend at 6am tomorrow for more running fun before work.

Other news: I tried a new saddle today (now my 4th). It was a Selle SMP Avant.  My thoughts are mixed.  I wasn't in any real pain until the last half of the ride -- my sitz bones became VERY noticable.  But I think I may be able to handle that pain vs my previous pains.  No after ride pain; no ice needed....so I may be on the right track.  The saddle was quickly placed on my bike with no adjustments so perhaps after some careful tweaking it will be even better.  Just not sure I'm ready to go out and spend $200+ quite yet without it being absolutely perfect.

Hope everyone else is having a good week.

I actually am thinking about doing another one this weekend!  There are 2 in the area, one is paired with a 1/2 marathon and could have as many as 800 in the 5k.  The other will be much smaller and will probably be the only one still open to registration.  No elctrolytes before the race, maybe this weekend since it's not going to be any cooler.  But to be honest about the electrolytes, I'd have to go google that b/c the only electrolytes I know about are in Gatorade!

I've got my next tri on June 26, it's a sprint so I'm hoping these 5Ks will be good precursors to it. 

Hey Beckie,

You are doing My First Tri correct?  I'll have to try to come out and cheer you on!  Let me know if you need help with practicing anything before hand and I'll be glad to help you out.

Don't worry, with the bike riding and running you have been doing, you will be fine.  Just enjoy it, get thru this first one, and learn as much as you can so that your better prepared for the next one.

Hey Tony -  Yes, I'm doing My First Tri on the 19th.   I also decided to break down and get a Specialized BG Fit done with my bike (I uncovered this yesterday while still researching saddles).  I'm going to a shop in Daphne, AL next Friday to have it done.  I kinda hate to spend the money, but if it helps to find the perfect saddle, it will be worth it.

How much are they charging?  BG fits are usually kind of pricey! 

They are charging $100 for the BG fit.  A little pricey...I was hoping that it was going to in the $50 to $75 range....but if it fixes whatever the issue is I'm to the point that it will be worth it!

Training Update:
Swam 12 lengths of the pool on Sunday afternoon.
Ran 3.5 miles this morning.
Biking 17-20miles this afternoon.

For the remainder of the week:
Tues: run 3.5-4.0miles am; swim at Postl Point pm
Wed: run 3.5-4.0miles am; bike 17-20miles RCR pm
Thurs: run 3.5-4.0miles am; swim at Postl Point pm
Friday: REST!
Saturday: My First Tri!!

Next Week:  VACATION! Looking Forward to getting out of this heat and humidity and cooling off in Glacier Nat'l Park!

Oh ok, $100 isn't actually too expensive.  I've seen some shops charge $275 - $350 for a BG Fit, mainly because it was a "BG Fit"....

Sounds like a good training week!  I would skip the Wednesday Run, and maybe get in an eay 30 min bike ride on Friday to open up the legs for the race.  But you should be good to go! 

Let me know if you need anything.  I'll try to make it out there on Saturday!

I did my 3rd 5k in as many weeks on Saturday morning.

It.  Was.  Hot. 

Great event though.  There was a 1/2 marathon also, don't know how anybody could survive that in the heat and humidity.  I did well, ran a 19:56 and finished 2nd in my age group and 7th overall.  My wife ran her first 5k that day and got 4th in her age group.  We both had a blast and were very happy with our times. 

At the expo we met Dane Rauschenberg (sp?) who ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks.  Crazy.  Nice guy.  But that's crazy. 

Congrats to both you and your wife on the 5k!  Looks like your right on course for your triathlon coming up.  Is your wife going to be racing as well?!

My wife won't be racing in the triathlon coming up for me, but she's already planning for her 1st race.  It'll be fun to train together.

Speaking of races, Beckie don't you have your first this weekend?  Good luck!

I've got a question regarding bikes and the different tri distances.  I'm planning on doing an olympic distance race in about 3 months.  I have no plans to buy a tri bike, hard for me to justify spending that much in my first season (I'd like to have a few skins on the wall so I can feel like I've earned it).  That being said, I'm racing on a road bike with aero bars and clipless pedals.  How much, if any, will it hurt me to be on a road bike in the olympic race?  I can't imagine that it would make too much of a difference for sprint distances, at least not a difference I would notice in my rookie season.  Just thinking ahead about what to expect.

Thanks. 

mashmead -- thanks for the good wishes!  Race time is 0730!  A little nervous -- the swim is going to be really tough for me.  I swam Tues where the race is being held, and the current kept me from making much progress and it completely wore me out!

Had my bike fit today -- lots of tweaks, new stem, new saddle, big shim now in my left shoe just under the cleat (right leg is .5in longer than left leg) --- Hope the shoe doesn't cause me issues tomorrow as it's a little tough to clip in! 

It really was amazing on how different my bike felt when it was all done.  My bike fit me fairly well before, but now it fits VERY well.

@Tony -- if you make it out tomorrow, my race number is #168 (my fast little 12yo is #167).  I'll be wearing a blue top and black shorts.  My bike is a blue/white Jamis.  Looking forward to meeting you if you make it out!

Officially survived MyFirstTri!!!  I came in 7th for my age division (my 12yo came in 2nd).  Swimming is definitely NOT my cup of tea!  I was one of the last few out of the water.  Made good time on the bike (passed most of those that made it out of the water before me!) and did mediocre on the run....I was very hot and tired at that point.  I can now cross doing a tri off of my list of crazy to-dos!!!

Congratulations!

Congrats Beckie!  To you and your son!

You did it, you finished and placed good.  You now got the experience and know what the body feels like going thru a Tri. 

Ready for the next one?!

@Mashmead - Having a road bike isn't going to affect you TOO much in your rookie season.  Not sure how much speed you average now, but a TT bike will make a difference once you move up into the mid 20mph range. 

Starting off, a road bike is better and more versatile.  You'll be able to join group rides more comfortably, which are always good for training.  You can also do some road racing and crits, again good for training.

Nice race! My wife is getting ready for her first 5k too, should be fun.

Those ultramarathon guys are nuts. I'm trying to get ahold of a movie called ultramarathon man, it's about Dean Karnazes who did 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 different states.... insane!

Hi everyone!

How's everyone's training, racing going?  Sorry I haven't been on lately, work and coaching have had me pretty busy and actually out of town the last week.

Hope everything is going good and everyone have a great weekend! 

Training this week/weekend has been going great. My 2 week vacation was not so great for training (something like 3-4 hours total over 2 weeks!), so I've been trying to make up for it. I did a huge amount of training this week, over 15 hours. Feeling really good, made sure to keep everything easy/moderate and injury free.

Me and the wife just got back from the lake for our first OWS of the season (and her first OWS ever!), went very well, I felt much more comfortable than last year. It's still difficult for me though, you can't see more than 6 inches and I can't tell how fast I'm going, I tend to start to go faster than my lungs can keep up with. I also breath on one side during OWS, it feels better, maybe because I'm getting more oxygen. Is this normal? I did this at my race last year too, I had never trained this way, but it just sort of "happened" and I felt like I was going faster.

I've also did a 2:20 bike this morning. Been having problems with lower back pain during the longer rides, I'm almost certain it's because I'm too stretched out on the bike. I've been looking at shorter stems (as short as I can get, but I'm not sure of the clamp size for the bars. Is that labeled somewhere?

Had my 2nd tri yesterday.  It was a sprint with a 400m swim, 18 mile bike and 5k.  I felt prepared and honestly expected good results.  I set my overall time goal at 1:30:00 and beat that by several minutes.  I came in at 1:25:52 and was able to collect 3rd place hardware for my age group!  I couldn't have asked for a better day.  I was happy with all my splits, 7:15 swim, 55:34 bike (19.4mph) and 20:53 for the 5k.  It was a great day and will absolutely do this race again next year. 

My only frustration is that I can't seem to get any faster on the bike.  What kind of training can I do to get my avg. speed up?

Also, I did better on transitions in this race but know that foregoing the socks could save some time.  I haven't run without them yet so I don't know if it's viable for me.  How does everyone feel about going sockless?

Nice work - very quick run.  I personally bike sockless but can't run sockless, I've heard various tricks from those that do (bodyglide or similar inside shoes, build up sockless mileage slowly to break in your feet, etc.), I'll just take the extra 15 seconds in transition to get my socks on

As for the biking, I noticed some big gains in my overall speeds over the same routes after spending more time doing intervals.  I currently do 2 days worth of intervals/hills on the bike with the local tri club; typically it's something like 4 min at race pace (or faster), then 2-4 mins cool down, repeat for about an hour.  For longer distances, it'll be ~10 minutes at race pace, and ~5 mins cool down.  This is in addition to 1 long ride (2+ hours) and 1 brick/week.  Over the past 3 months or so I've picked up about 2 mph average over the loop at prospect park in brooklyn (3.2 mile loop).  I'm planning on getting a trainer for this winter so I can keep up the serious work as I'd like to make some big gains by next season.

-matthew

Haven't been on to update in a while.

Oooo...since I haven't been on in a while, I have a story.  I signed up for a little, local race one weekend maybe a month back, while I was still working out of town as it was a little, local, super-sprint with a nice OWS and a closed bike course, figuring that I'd use it as more of a workout than a race.  I especially wanted to get used to my new wet suit, which I had only worn once before.
The swim was a success  and I was feeling pretty good going into the bike though my transition told me I still needed wetsuit removal practice.  Alas, however, on the bike we were hitting some hills -- not bad hills, but bad enough so that about 4 people were walking their bikes.  As I passed the 4th one up the hill I realized that my breathing was more labored than it should be, by a lot, and though past the main hill, I got off my bike in an attempt to calm it down.  I have asthma and was afraid it was an attack, and when slowing down wasn't helping I think I panicked which made my breathing faster.  I couldn't slow down my breathing  and finally, I gave up and sat down someone went to get me some help.  After that, I finally got my breathing under control and was feeling much better (turns out I was hyperventalating...ironically being unable to breath leads to breathing to much).  I got up and started walking again, towards the next turn where there were some volunteers.  Maybe 1/2 way there I realized that I was walking my bike on a slight downhill, which seemed a little silly, so I got on and coasted.  By the time I got there I let them know I was ok and I felt so much better that I decided to keep going, but a lot slower -- kind of shooting for an intentional last place.  I actually finished the race, but much to my surprise, I couldn't slow down enough for last place even trying for it so I got 3rd to last instead.  And almost everyone finished and lived happily ever after.  The end.

That's my big story of lately.  Otherwise not much to report -- still doing workouts, moved from mornings at the hotel gym to evenings on the trails and at the gym now that I'm home -- got a buddy at work who takes me spinning after work which is nice when I work late and can't get on a real bike, but something I'd bever tried before.  Calming down training this coming week as my parents are coming for the holiday and to see me do a tri.  I've never had anyone come to watch me race before so I'm excited and would like to do good (good for me anyway...all relative) on the race.

Local tri club and masters swim group: to join or not to join?

Hi everyone! I'm back!  Sorry I was out for a while, business travels had been pretty disconnected for a while. Good news is that it ended with a MS150 ride out in Denver, so at least I got some good miles in at a great location and for a good cause!

How's everyone's training going?  Everyone have big plans for the weekend?!