Penn State's mentor group - CLOSED! (Page 84)

PennState - 2010-07-11 6:59 AM Hey any LP people want to discuss how crappy they feel 2 weeks out from the event?

YES! I thought i was the only one. mental and physical funk. Thats why i havent been on BT much...im just sort of losing my edge and enthusiasm...and getting affraid i wont get it back. Despite recovery weeks..im still feeling sore and weak...

However...today was a new day...and great workouts (trying to be positive)!

Hope kathleen is doing/did well!

Early starts are the way to go!

With HEED...Hammer also makes Endurolytes which are extra electolyte supplements. they come in capsul and powder form. i would highly recomend the combination of HEED and Endurolytes (thats what i use...so it may be a biased recomendation   )

Well my race didn't go as planned, I will need to spend some time reflecting on it to sort out where I fell short.  I would have liked to have swam faster, but it was a physical swim today and it only cost me a couple of minutes.  While my swimming fitness could have been better, I am guessing that the swim through the channel and the smell and swallowing nasty water may have caused my some issues, but I am not sure.  The bike I was hoping for faster, but it was an improvement of ~ 15 minutes over last years time.  Long way to go, but heading in the right direction. Never felt good on the bike, had to force the nutrition,  a little lower back tightness that was new, but nothing that stands out.  I negative split the bike, mostly due to the course, but it wasn't a bad ride.

The run is where things went haywire! After the first mile just under 9 minutes I started to tighten up in the chest and stomach.  The harder I pushed, the tighter it got.  Couldn't take much in at aid stations other than ice and a little water.  I would walk and feel better, then run and it would return. 

My guess is I have some nutritional issues to figure out, some training issues to figure out, but first some rest and time to sort out my thoughts before worrying about it too much. 

Since today was day one of my 17 week IMFL plan, I guess I better not ponder too long.  And,  I did have fun! It was good to see you too Sara, and to spend some time volunteering at the BT aide station!!

BTW, marmadaddy finished a minute or 2 at the most behind me, if I knew he was that close or vice versa, we'd both still have IV bottles hanging off of us!!

Margot,  your going to have a great time enjoy the whole experience.  Good luck this weekend, looks like were both racing on Sunday. 

I have finished my race report here.  I think I have narrowed down the issues fairly well in the report, I am pretty sure that most of my issues was a poorly executed nutrition plan, followed by some other issues like bee stings and some questions on my training volume and lack of heat and humidity acclimation.

One thing I didn't mention in the report was my rest schedule.  Although there were some off days, shorter training days and some easy sessions.  It took me a couple of days to get back in the right time zone.  I was only going to be home for a week, so besides working a full week I had chores and projects that kept me busy most of the time I was home so very little relaxing time.  Plus Saturday morning I volunteered at the BT aid station.  I don't know what impact this had although I am sure there was some.

Feel free to look at my training logs and offer any advice you may have.  I value your opinions!!

Kath2163 - 2010-07-13 5:30 AM Hello All,
Here I am

I had hoped to stop by yesterday and fill you in on my race but life got in the way.
While I haven't written a race report yet, I will give you a brief glimpse into how my race went.
I started the race on two hours of sleep due to pain I am still dealing with from my dental debacle. I was really not feeling well before the race but decided to give it a shot anyway. At the start of the swim my goggles leaked immediately. I had to stop to adjust them at least three times before I said screw it and swam with water in them. Having water in my goggles threw off my stroke a bit as I had to close one eye often during the breathing as the water would run into my eye. Fortunately I can breath on both sides so I was able to break it up a bit.  Doing it this way forced my head out of the water more and I even swam quite a lot with my head up while breathing so that the water wouldn't irritate me. So, considering all of that, I am ok with my swim time.
While heading out of T1, I had to stop to readjust the velco on my bike shoe and then as soon as I got on the bike and started peddling I kept hearing a clicking sound. I had to stop, get off and adjust my cadence thingy that was rubbing against the magnet. ( I will defintely check that before the next race).  I had told myself that I wasn't going to push to hard on the bike as I didn't have the energy and was worried about what the result would be. Also, knowing that Old Stage Road (big climb) was ahead of me I made it a point to take it easier on the slow gradual climb to Old Stage Road.  I conquered Old Stage Road (very slowly) and did my best to get in front of anyone who I thought might stop as I knew if they stopped suddenly or fell over there was a chance that it would force me to do the same. It was like a mini Tour DE France on Old Stage Road. People in costume, people lined up along the road cheering and ringing their cow bells and messages with chalk on the road.  The rest of the ride was fine. I passed people, people passed me... you know how it goes .  Could I have gone faster.. yes. A lot faster.. I don't know.  Would I have suffered for it on the run because of my lack of sleep (over weeks) and being under trained. Maybe.
I knew that I was going to have to walk a lot on the run. I told myself ahead of time to not get hung up with that. My goal for this race was to finish without getting sick or being miserable through the whole thing. I walked every hill and walked through every aid station. I was starting to feel nauseous on the way out (out and back course) and at one point wasn't sure I would be able to finish. At the turn around point or shortly before or after, they were handing out ice. I put ice in my hat and began pouring water over my head. It was really hot and I was overheating. I started to feel better and ran a lot more on the way back. At one point I started to feel a cool which I knew wasn't a good sign and knew that I needed to keep using the ice. First time using ice for me.  My run time was expected and therefore I wasn't disappointed. I did get to share the run course with the pros for a bit but was able to watch them cross the finish line as a spectator.
Under the circumstances, I did about as well as I could have. Like I said, I was just out there to finish this one. 

I wanted to add some pics but can't seem to resize them to fit here.  If you are interested in seeing the pics, just click on my blog link below.

Considering the issues you have had recently, you should be pleased with the out come!! Thanks for the update!

Aren't you going to share?    What is you number?

That is the day that reality of the event being close hit me!!