brick94513-GoGoGo Mentor Group - Closed For Now! (Page 82)

Anyone racing this weekend?

Brian, what SRAM crankset did you get on your P4?  What are your thoughts on it?

Ceramic bearing SRAM red crankset. It's smooth as butter, but honestly so is my shamano slx on the mtb and campy voloce on my roadie. There is a difference but very little. I suspect it's prolly 5x lighter than anything else I own though and looks incredible. When I get my quarq powermeter I may switch to the rotor crank that the cervelo test team uses. We'll see.

Edited by Meulen 2010-07-29 7:04 PM

nothing for me this weekend.  In fact i've got nothing till the end of August. 

???.  Sore, injured, or lack of motivation?

Jay, have you looked at doing the Oceanside 70.3 next year?  I've heard this a pretty good event.

Does the P4 use a BB30 bottom bracket or is it the standard Sram GXP ceramic?

Little bit of all that.  I'm pretty sore from riding the other day after a new fit on the bike, I can't seem to kick this sore throat and I have a race next weekend that I'm feeling not-so-confident about turning in a good time for.



I have, and I plan on targeting that as my first race in 2011.  I should be moving down to MCAS Miramar/Camp Pendleton area next summer so it will be perfect to get a 20 week training plan in for it over the winter months if I don't deploy right away after I get there.

Ok, thanks.  I was 'building' a speed concept online yesterday and wasn't sure which level of the SRAM components I should get.  I guess I could take a few minutes to actually research it :D

I believe it's the standard gxp. Not 100% sure

BB30 has pressed bearings.  There are no external cups to hold the bearings.  This is similar in theory  to an integrated headset.  Whereas, the GXP has the traditional threads that allows the cups to be fastened to the frame externally.

I didn't really think about that.  I just assumed you were in a logistics position out there in 29 Palms.  Where do you stand in terms of deployment?  Would it most likely be Afghanistan?

I'm in a non-deployable unit here in 29P, but the chance of me going to a deploying unit are high.  Yeah, Afg is the focus now.  Which would be ok w/ me, my last tour in Iraq was pretty boring anyway.

Edited by shmeeg 2010-07-30 4:54 PM

Swim workout this PM went really well.  Took Tim's advice and worked on form / doing sets on the minute.  Did multiple sets of 50m on 2 minute marks.  Was finishing the 50's at 1:15.  While that's slow for most, but it's lightning fast for me as I was getting 3:30 / 100 when I was doing the 1000m straight.  Noticed that as the sets progressed they got harder, stroke count increased -- even with time consistent.  At the end was actually tired.  Did 1 x 100m at 2:40 with legs/feet cramping badly (from run in AM).

Tomorrow heading to the Naperville pool/quarry where the sprint is next weekend.  Will have a chance to try out the distances and make sure I get some positive mental reinforcement.

Checked my logs since I started training in April and see that I'm averaging about 5 hours a week of training.  Realistically, I'll either need to up that to make progress or accept that it's going to take quite a while at that volume to see gains.  Other option is to increase the intensity a bit; however, want to be careful on this front as I don't need any injuries to compound the challenge.

UPDATE -- Sunday AM did the 12 mile loop with a new PR.  Hopefully swim this afternoon will go equally well.

Edited by croixfan 2010-08-01 10:09 AM

Tim - Sorry took so long to reply. I have strep throat and have been so sick. Can't swallow without extreme pain, acute body aches, fever. To make matters worse, I was going to race today but had to cancel  Going to shoot for Hillapalooza mid August, but it's one day before I leave for Montreal. I'm wondering if it's a good thing to go on a long plane trip after a triathlon, even if it is just a sprint?

To answer your question: It is still very hot mid September in Oklahoma. Every once in a while we might get some mild weather, but it usually comes with rain. I won't count it out, though. 

Although I am by no means a fast swimmer, once I learned to relax everything changed for me. I didn't realize how much energy I was expending being all tensed-up. The only part of my body I keep tensed now is my behind, and not too much at that. 

A little late to the convo (apologies) but I absolutely love to listen to Particle's "Launchpad" when I run. I could swear they made it for that purpose!  If you get a chance, download it. You won't be sorry. (It's super up tempo and all instrumental, so you don't have to worry about offensive language......Which I personally don't mind because I can be a potty mouth at times, but some peeps have a big problem with language.)

Edited by kickitinok 2010-08-01 9:49 PM

Errr....  Anoher race without a podium finish!  I have been shut out this year so far which is really starting to me off.  I grabbed a few more points with a 6th place AG finish.  It looks like I'm going to be sitting around 5th place for the XTERRA West region with roughly a month to go.  I was hoping for a better finish, so I wouldn't have to travel to Portland in a couple weeks.  Well, it was a nice thought anyways. 

I'll post a race report later.  But here is a quick synopsis:

Swim:  small, narrow lake at 7400 ft.  2 wave start.  Swim had lots of contact.  Kicked, hit, over people's back, etc.  I think this was the first race where I couldn't get out of the "washing machine" the whole time.  The contact definately cost me a couple minutes during the swim.

Bike: only a 8 mile ride consiting of fire road and double track.  Terrain was really rocky and sandy.  1,250 ft climbing between 6,400ft and 7,500 ft elevation.  Course was mainly all climb with a couple steep, loose descents.  The shortness of the ride really hurt me and gave the advantage to the faster swimmers.  I just didn't have enough miles to reel the fish back.

Run:  I new this was going to be a tough run course when Conrad Stoltz commented on the brutality of the course.  It was only 3.86 miles, but, OMG, this was the toughest course I've ever ran.  The course was laid out in a clover leaf fashion on the slope of a ski run.  You went up and down the slope four different times.  For the majority of the run, there was no defined trail.   It was like a scramble with little orange flags marking the path through brush.  Climbs were steep and descents were just as tough with loose soil.  Lots of obstacles to hurdle too if you could get your feet out of the sand.  It was painful, but definately unique and fun.

More to come....

Bummer....  Hope you feel better soon.



I don't think this would be that big of a deal.  If your worried about lower extremity edema or DVTs, I would wear recovery socks while on the plan.  Obviously, you would want to make sure to hydrate post event prior to the flight (and not with beer).

Sorry to hear about the shutout, but that sounds like a sweet race Tim!

Tim, what's the plan for the group, I just saw this post from Ron:

I'd personally like to say thanks for all the advice, input, and help you've given me so far this season.

Edited by shmeeg 2010-08-02 2:13 PM

I personally would like to see the group stick together until the end of the season. I'm pretty sure we all have races still to come this year. As such, I think a learning opportunity still exists from our shared experiences. So, I will leave the decision to each of you. I will continue to check the forum often as long as people still show interest.If you decide to pull out, don't be a stranger. Inspires are a great way to say a quick hello and provide a little motivation.

I can't speak for everyone, but I know that personally it would be my preference to stay together.  You guys have all been a huge help over my first four months of training.  It's only now starting to "click" and it would be great to share some of the successes.

On that note, thanks Trina and Tim!  Focused on relaxing while doing 10 x 100m this evening.  Got through them just fine / actually felt more comfortable the more the workout went along.  Very bizarre that every time it gets difficult / feels impossible, the next work out features some real sense of accomplishment.  Plan to swim daily through Saturday in preparation for Sunday.  Counting on a big bounce back in this one!

And Tim, don't beat yourself up too much on the weekend.  Sounds like a really rough race that didn't match your strengths.  Even with that you still finished solid.  Know that each time I read your reports I just shake my head and think, man that would be great to get to that point!!!