Leegoocrap's Mentor Group - Closed (Page 8)

Hey I had a friend do the Tough Mudder too. Sounds like a fun race.

It was definitely fun - just not super hard. It probably would have been a bit more fun if there hadn't been lines to complete some of the obstacles. I was in the third wave of 500, the first being for people who thought they could compete for time, the rest being encouraged that time wasn't important. I wanted to see how I did, but didn't feel comfortable putting myself in that group, but I should have. I finished in 1 hr 15m, with 15-20 mins waiting for the last two obstacles (a couple wall climbs and a big waterslide) and a few bottlenecks on the race course. I doubt I'd have been much lower than 55min though, and the winning time was 45 mins. Of note - a buddy of mine finished in about 57min after losing his shoe in the mud pit - one of the first few obstacles. He definitely had a chance to win it based on that performance. Unsurprising, since the same guy did Louisville Ironman after coming out of the military, and did little more than 1.5 months of intensive swim training leading up to it. Oh, and he could barely swim beforehand. He's a beast.

Oh, and Emily - I live in DC, nowhere near our awesome bike path system in the area, which is mostly in Virginia. I have a 20 minute ride through traffic and stoplights to get to the trail, and 15 mins to get to the Island I do loops and speedwork on. I log them separately from my workouts just to get average speed better, but I still push it on them when I'm not sitting at a stoplight, so they go into my workout totals. As for riding with traffic, it's pretty common in the city, and there are bike lanes on some of my commute, but otherwise I just pay extremely close attention, and push it really hard on some stretches so I'm not slowing traffic down too much if they can't get over a lane and around me.

Edited by drphungky 2010-05-03 1:29 PM

hi everyone!  I just got back yesterday from my trip to visit my family back in Ohio.  It was strange being away from my bike and away from the California sunshine.  I did get some running in while at my mom's, since she has a closed community with a bike path/trail nearby (will have to back log later).  Didn't have a pedometer or GPS to track, but luckily the path had mile markers!

I had good weather for 3 out of the 5 days I was there, so that was good.  the last two it started to rain, but I just focused on enjoying my time with my family.

I see everyone's been doing well and I just want to encourage everyone to keep kicking butt at their goals!!!! You all are so inspiring.

I got lots of awesome gifts for my birthday and don't feel too much older, which is good even though I am inching my way closer to 30.

Glad to be back and hope you all are doing great today!

Jess

Hello

I did the trainer last night. Funny thing was I pumped up the rear tire before I started so when I was cranking at a high rate I could smell the rubber burning.  Then I moved over to the elliptical for a good 30 minutes.  Feeling kind of worn out this morning.

The rest of this week will be hit or miss for my training.  My son graduates from the Citadel on Saturday so we will have an exciting busy week celebrating this big event.

Kevin

That is awesome! Kudo's to him, hope it's a great time!

Emily - I am terrified of riding on the road, but have been venturing into it.  Luckily the 30+ miles of old railroad track between my town and Aspen was turned into a paved bike path so I do a bunch of rides on that, but it's so flat that it's getting boring.  The hard thing is the only options here seem to be flat through the valley or steep climbing out of the valley on country roads that people in cars fly up.  Pretty scary but as long as your careful and don't wear headphones, you'll be fine. 

Traffic is something I have to deal with when I ride outside... the trails around my house are just too rough to ride at high speeds. (Which is why I do most of my sprints/Threshold work on the trainer)

But... for me it comes down to the fact that I know I have to race on roads (even if they are closed) so I have to do SOME of my training on roads as well. No headphones (or distractions at all) and don't be afraid to take the lane if you need it. Point where you are going, make eye contact with any driver, and then assume he/she still wants to murder you. Riding safe is just a good idea, but... there will always be a danger in it. But then, there is a danger getting up in the morning.

Most importantly, be safe!

So I woke up this morning and my back was screaming at me. I have no idea what I did to it during the night, but it hurts in a big way. I have a swim workout scheduled for tonight, and I'm still going to go to the pool, but I'm just going to see if some light swimming helps stretch it out a bit. It's my mid back, in an odd sort of area where I've never strained a muscle before. I really hope it works itself out sooner rather than later, because there's no way I'm getting on a bike with this kind of pain.

I hope it happened during the night, or possibly because I was favoring my abs a bit after Tough Mudder (no idea where the ab workout came from, but they were very sore afterwards). Worst case scenario is this is my body reacting to a sudden uptick in training, because I may have sort of kind of started a half-iron training program without mentioning it to you guys. It's not that big an increase in training time, and the onset was rather sudden, so I'm not too worried it's related to that, but that fear is in the back of my mind.

So yea, by the way - I'm trying out the first couple weeks of a half-iron training plan, because I'm thinking of doing one in October. If I can commit time-wise, then I'm signing up at the end of week two. The onset of this was the realization that I've always thought about doing an ironman in a year or two, but then realizing I didn't want to wait 2.5 years to do one, so getting a half-iron under my belt this year was necessary. Thoughts?

Doooooo iiiiiiiit! Haha well it's not my time commitment, but if you can swing it and you know that doing a full IM is a definite goal, I'd get started now. That would be super exciting! Where would it be?

I'd say try it out, but be very careful.  I jumped into half-iron training last summer/fall before I was ready and developed a really bad case of ITBS (the onset was less than a week and I thought I had torn something in my knee, I was in that much pain) along with plantar fasciitis.  The doc had me quit biking for 3 weeks and running for nearly 6.  I still struggle with keeping these injuries from resurfacing because they never completely went away. So if there's a chance you're developing injuries that are training related, back off now and don't push through it. Better to rest and let yourself heal for a week or two with significantly reduced training than to be out completely for weeks at a time. Otherwise, good luck!!

 

For those of you who use aerobars, what kind do you use?  And do you like them/are the comfortable?

I say do it!
Seriously though, you should really think about the commitment an Ironman (and a half for that matter... a half is no Joke either) will require. I was fairly prepared when I started training for mine coming up (mentally) but, wow. It is a big chunk of time. There are some days I literally get up, go to work, come home, work out, rest an hour or two, work out again, go to sleep. So really keep that in mind before you sign the dotted line.

Be careful today in the pool! Middle of the back is not a place to have pain and ignore / fight through. Make sure to switch off ice/heat today and take some ibuprofen. Get healed up!

are we talking clip on's for drop bars, or full on tri setups?

(and, just as importantly... what kind of price range haha )

Edited by Leegoocrap 2010-05-06 9:02 AM

Clip on's for drop bars.  I have put some on my road bike and moved the seat accordingly, but I think they are a bit agressive for longer distance.  I wish I had the money to drop on a full tri setup... the mountain bike won out for new bike this year. I'm considering replacing what I got, and don't have that much to spend.

When I ran them on my road bike I used the hed flip lite clip on's... they were great aerobars, but I prefer just riding in the drops so I ousted them.

The profile Designs are a similar design and a bit cheaper.

If I got some now... I have to say I am VERY intrigued by the 3T bars that integrate shorty bars into the drop bars, looks extremely cool anyways.

Also, Oval Concepts Stem mounted clip on system looks like a great idea.

Those are two companies that don't mind charging for their product though.

To me, the key is finding some that don't hinder your hand position on the bars (with most clip on systems, you lose at least one comfort hand position, sometimes it even interferes with riding on the hoods.) which is why I suggest getting some pads that flip up.

Or, if you are really brave (or dumb like me) you can get some egg shaped road bars and ride with your forearms on top of them when you want to rest. It's a bit scary at first (kinda like being in aero... except with NOTHING to hold on to.) but It will teach you to steer with your hips / lean.

/rant

Has anyone mixed Yoga into their workouts? I did my very first 1-1/2 hour Yoga class today and have to say I sweated more then lots of other workouts I have done. By the end of class my body was SPENT. But, I do have to say I look forward to the flexability this will get me.

I agree with on yoga. It will kick your butt.  I did a couple of classes down in Mexico last fall and they were very good.

Kevin

I've done a decent amount of yoga in my day- sometimes it bores me, but when I'm in the mood for it I really enjoy it. LOVE Bikram (hot yoga), but usually use this website: yogadownload.com. You can download MP3s/videos of yoga classes and do them at home. They're really cheap- free for the 20-minute classes and only a few dollars for longer ones.

Love some Yoga. I try to jump in on a class at the local gym every now and then... always leaves me hurting in a new place! I just wish I had the time to do it more often... Kudo's on getting into it, a lot of people won't just because "it's Yoga"

So I'm off to work, then to the Rev3 site to get my race packet and check out the area! Got a swim in my wetsuit last night, and was running some decent min/miles the other day so I'm hoping it's going to be a great race! Hopefully I don't get Hepititis from swimming in the river's around here haha.

So Excited... first race this year!

Good luck on the race and have fun!! So many times we (I) used to get caught up in where I finished or the time and forgot why I got into racing in the first place, to have fun.

Ohhh yeah

Race # in today - 954

Off to the Expo! Updates tonight (maybe) and race report sometime tomorrow!

Don't know if I'll be using the "Trakkers" chip. Haven't seen it yet but there's a big buzz about it being very clunky.

good luck on the race, we will be root'n for ya

Good luck! Burn some calories for me while I'm in the library

thanks guys!

I suppose there will be no Trakkers for me tomorrow as they were confusing at best when I questioned them about it. Unless I show up and they strap one on me I'll be without.

On the plus side, I met Marmadaddy and Ron, both really cool dudes! So it was worth it to go for that alone!

Off to bed

Hope the race went well today!