chichitao's group - FULL! (Page 84)

Wow, Erica, is that 'real' water?  I haven't seen that stuff in a while!

Hey T2 welcome back!  Jump right back in.  We just pretty much talk about anything in here now-a-days. 

PETE...HAVE A GREAT RACE!!!  I am sure you will have a wonderful time.  Remember to look around during the race and enjoy the moment.  I won't be back before your race so GOOD LUCK! 

I leave in about 5hrs and will be gone til the 11th.  We now have to deal with a tropical storm that developed near Louisiana that is creating lots of wind near where we leave.  Hope the waters won't be too choppy.

Have fun everyone, I plan on it!

Hey there, remember me?  Yes I've been AWOL for a bit, life just got a little bit crazy for a while.  Taking time off training was hard for me.  I didn't expect the recovery time from my surgery to be so long, but I listened to the doctors and did as suggested.  First couple of weeks a lot of walking, working up to a couple of short runs and a longer but easy going bike ride.  But I think that as of this week I am back in it 100%. 

I was on vacation for the last couple of weeks, 1 week of which was spent in Penticton for Ironman Canada and while some of you were being rained out, we were experiencing soaring temperatures. Summer finally arrived here and is still going strong.  Ironman was amazing, with Jordan Rapp winning after an amazing comeback after a most horrible hit and run accident and Mary Beth Ellis breaking the course record for women, which had been held for 26yrs, as well as beating the next female to complete by 30 minutes AND this was her 3rd Ironman in 8 weeks...Amazing. I was on the finishline when she came in and got to congratulate her and take a couple of pictures.  I knew 5 people who were doing the race and was able to catch 2 of them, the most important one was of course my husband Ray who completed his first IM in 13:38.  I also caught my first elite this year, I won't mention names, because he was a bit of a jerk at the finish and later when I looked at the results I could understand why he was upset(he went from 2nd place in the bike to 15th overall after the run) but that doesn't excuse anyone from being rude to volunteers.  That experience was quickly erased by the many many athletes, men and women who came across the line after a really tough day on the course in 100F+ degree weather with giant smiles on their faces. 

So now my training beings full force again, as I will be doing my first HIM on June 3rd next year and it looks like I will do my first full Ironman in August 2013 with approximately 20 other friends.

I'll need to catch up a little bit on the group a bit, you guys have been busy!

Erica, really happy you are enjoying Portland so much, there is so much to do and I've always wanted to go to Voodoo and try their donuts!  How were they?

T1, hope you are having a great time on your cruise!

T2 nice to see you back, totally understand taking some time off and I bet your wife didn't mind either:-D

Meggan, how is the achilles and your running?  Have you been getting out on your bike and glad you made it through Irene with no real big issues.

Pete, YOU ARE READY!  Have a great race this weekend and look forward to hearing all the details.

Debbie, hope you and baby on board are doing well!

Well, here I am, still alive! I had an awesome day yesterday, weather and race wise. All day, sun was out, in the low 20s, whatever that is for you fahrenheit people :-P

Race got off at 8 as planned, and my wave was 12 minutes later. Swim went exactly as planned time-wise, but I probably swam an extra 150m or so, so I could have come in faster than I planned. I guess I have to work on that sighting thing still!

Transition went, well, almost flawlessly. There was a huge, 300m run up a hill from the water, which looked awful, but wasn't too bad. Everything went to plan, until I was leaving the T-Area. swim time was 34:xx

So my watch is a Timex Global Trainer. I don't know if you guys have seen them, but they are massive. I decided to out it on the outside of my wetsuit, take it off before stripping, and then put it back on on the bike. Well, I forgot that last step, until about .5k into the bike. Guess I am doing this blind! Also, as I was clipping into my pedals, I slipped, and fell onto my saddle HARD. I definitely bruised my arse, if not my tailbone. Still hurts a lot! T1 time of 4:33, I think.

So out on my blind bike ride, almost immediately it didn't feel great. I don't know what was wrong, something was off. But I kept going. Pushed and pushed. I had no idea of my speed or my time, other than asking a few other riders. The course felt harder than either time that I rode it in training, I have no clue why. Around 60k, I started to get the beginning of cramps in my quads. Never got full blown cramps. They would die down, and flare up on the up hills. Around 70k, I got a bit light headed, so I ate a gel which I just randomly decided to bring and had no intention of eating. I usually use the jelly type energy things. But that full on saved my ride. Finished in 3:14, which was exactly where I wanted to be.

T2 went without a hitch... 1:22 total. Can't complain.

I was hoping for a 2 hour run. When I came out of transition, I knew that wasn't going to happen. I saw my gf and parents, and told them not to expect me that quick. Also, my arse was still hurting from my intimate encounter with my saddle. I walked a lot more than planned, but still did ok. Kept a good attitude throughout, joked with other racers and volunteers. I think I took in too much on the run, because I didnt want to end up like I did at my 30k run. So I took in whatever they'd give me, almost. It was fine ended up ok, no GI or anything. Finished the run in 2:14.

Total race time of 6:08. So happy about it. Was aiming for 6 hours, so I'm very excited. I will do a full race report later on. I'm on my phone at dinner. I'll let you know more ASAP.

Thanks to everyone here who helped me through my race. Whether you think you did or not, you did. You guys are awesome!

Edit: formatting on the iPhone is awful... Not much better on the iPad. Ulgh. Big downfall of Apple products... Makes BT not easy! Haha

Edited by LockOut 2011-09-12 6:55 PM

YAYYYY!!! I'm so proud of you!  Since I was in Boise, I couldn't track online, but I kept checking facebook on my phone and whoever was updating it was AWESOME!  I was rooting for you!  Your time totally rocks, so don't be discouraged.  Now you've got the know-how to improve for next time.  Congrats on an awesome performance! 

They totally rocked!  Worth the drive down!  I had the Mango Tango, and it was the best doughnut I've ever had.  Then, I tried the ginormous banana/peanut butter/chocolate massive whatever it was, and it made me want to cry, it was so good.  No, but seriously.  AWESOME.  I'm going back soon.  I'm determined to gain 50 pounds this semester! 

Haha, that was my girlfriend. I asked her to do that, and she thought she wasn't going to be able to see me enough to make it worthwhile. Pfft :P 

Yea, I'm really happy with it, the day went pretty much according to plan, minus the saddle thing, and the run time, but whatever. Being less than 2 hours slower than the fastest finisher, and 2:10 slower than the course record ain't too bad! Next year, I'll crush my time, hopefully! I'm already committed to doing it again with a fellow BTer. I'm thinking that next year, I'll do 2 HIMs, so I need to find a second one, hopefully with a course that is a little easier (not harder, like Mont Tremblant will likely be...)

Congrats and awesome job Pete!  Glad you had a good race.  Kinda sucks about the watch.  I did the exact same thing in Branson with my Garmin 405 since it got wet and locked up on me in T1 I left it in my bag and my bike computer wasn't working!  Great job adapting though.  You spend months and hours thinking about the race and its funny how its the simple little things like that that you never really prepare for.  Each race is a learning experience right?

On a side note how do yo like the Times Ironman GPS watch?  My trusty Ironman watch finally took a crap on me and I am in the market for a new one.  Since I have the Garmin GPS already I am not sure if I want to dump more money into a new one.  I do like the ability to swim with it though.

Yeah! for you on your race results.  Sounds like you had a perfect day for it, nice temperature!  Amazing how 5 minutes after completing an event we start thinking about all the things we can do to improve next time, the hard work pays off even after the race in learning. 

Was this your last big event this year?  Do you have any other races coming up?

Learning experience for sure! If I had to be honest about the watch, I am not super thrilled with it. I got it early this year. The GPS is hit or miss... It has a real hard time picking up the satellites. Sometimes, it just doesn't. I don't know why not, if it's a function of where I live or what, but I have not been happy with that. I also got the speed/cadence sensor for my bike. 2, actually. And neither of them has worked. I feel like I was better off with my old set up of a bike computer and my Nike+. I may actually switch back to that if I can't figure things out with this watch. It just seems to be so unreliable that it is almost not worth it. I'd ask people in your area about the GPS on it. I don't know why it's been so shoddy for me.

Way to go Pete!  Great job on the race and what a great feeling and accomplishment you must be feeling.  It's impressive just thinking about racing for 6hrs!

I had a good time on my trip.  I am glad I picked up the motion sickness patch b/c it really helped.  It was really hard coming back to work today.

Speaking of coming home, we had some crazy wildfires lately.  We are in an extreme drought and we had 3 fires all around us while we were gone.  One was huge and burned 1600 homes.  They are all out now but new ones keep popping up every day.  Had one pop up only about 1mi from our house that they were able to put out quickly.  It's nerve wracking not knowing when the next one will come.  My neighborhood backs up to a protected preserve area so we are vulnerable if a fire gets into that densely wooded area.  We've had several friends and co-workers lose everything.  Very sad.  One little wayward cigarette thrown out of a car can do so much damage.  They haven't said how these recent ones started yet. 

Touchy keyboard on new computer is driving me crazy!  Sorry for the double post

Ironman Canada 2013! 

Awesome job on the race Pete! Makes me jealous

On a side note I finally got a diagnosis from my doctor for my pain. I have symphisis pubis disorder. My muscles are relaxed and not holding my pubic bone in place so it is trying to separate! It is pretty much like walking around on a broken bone. Have a really cool harness thing that I have to wear when i get home from work and I am on bedrest when i get home from work. At least I know that I quit working out for a real reason and not just that I didn't want to keep working out.

Anyway....6 weeks to go!  I have my eyes set on a marathon relay for April and then hopefully I will be ready for a tri by June!

I've had that Debbie after a car accident many years ago, it wasn't fun so I feel for you.  I can't believe it is only 6 weeks to go!! seems like just yesterday you told us you were pregnant.  Time flies!

OH, 6 weeks left in the pregnancy? Jeez, I thought you meant 6 weeks for the rehab! Haha, can you tell I'm a dude and not even close to being a father? :P Wow, time does fly! That's very exciting news! 

Debbie - when is your due date?  We have about 6 weeks to go also and have a due date of October 22.  Can't believe how fast time flies (probably more for me than the one who is carrying the baby though-haha) 

Also wanted to let you guys know that I had a complete mental lapse on Monday morning for about 2 hours and signed up for the Ironman Wisconsin 2012.  I went up to volunteer this past weekend and was hemmng and hawing about doing it and then was just so inspired by the race I lined up with 1500 other idiots on Monday morning and plopped down my $$$ and signed up.

Training starts in February .

That's AWESOME! Congrats, Tim! I am super impressed... That'll be an awesome time! That's on the list of races I really want to do!

Also, my RR is finally up!

Yeah T2!!  You will be amazing!  Volunteering at IM is very inspiring, what area were you in? If any of you have not volunteered for an Ironman, I would highly recommend it, very rewarding experience to be in the presence of so many determined athletes, whether they are first across the line, or last. And somehow being part of their race, whether it is check in, handing them a bottle of water on the run, catching them at the finishline, or giving someone a loud cheer that makes them stand up straighter and keep going, is an honor.

Couldn't have said it any better Sandra.  It was unbelievable.  I was moved to tears many times throughout the day.  I did the late shift at run aid station 6 which was on the opposite side of the run course so I got to see, in my opinion, the "real" racers gutting it out.  I rode my bike over to the finish area around 10:30pm and it was unbelievable.