Penn State's mentor group - CLOSED! (Page 87)

Kath2163 - 2010-07-18 8:17 PM Congratulations Margot!!!!   Way to go!!!

GRB1 - 2010-07-18 10:16 PM Quick update before I hit the bed. 

Weather was hot as predicted, low 90's with around 80% humidity.  This definetly affected how I approached the race.

- Swim was not great, didn't get into a good rythmn until about 80% of the way through.  Time is a little deceptive, about a 1/4 mile run up to the transition mat, no joke, which all counted toward swim time.  I actually was a minute or two quicker than my last HIM so all in all not to bad.

-  Biggest issue of the day, running out of T1 with my bike, front wheel catches something and the bike goes flying.  I jump over the bike, in biking shoes of course, and proceed to kick/break off my left arm rest thing completely off my bike.  I have the flip up type, well I have it on the right side now.  Anyway this of course affected my ability to get in the aero position.  I was able to rest my fore arms on my base bar for about 1/2 mile at a time before they started to really hurt.  By doing this I was also about 2 inches lower than normal as well.  Back was really feeling it toward the end of the ride.  On the positive side I guess I was a little more aero  I would then ride on the normal drops for awhile.  I have standard road bars on a road bike with clip on type aero bars.  Fore arms are now really bruised/sore.

   This really cool move also jacked up my chain so I had to fix that too.  Must have looked pretty sweet for the spectators Overall the arm rest thing and the chain probably cost me a few minutes on the bike leg, but I'm not complaining.

   Drank a lot of fluids on the bike, took about 4-5 endurolytes as well as gels and the Powerbar Perform drink. 

-  Run was hot and the day was taking it's toll.  Slower than I wanted but I only walked about 2 minutes the entire race.  As you can imagine there was a lot of carnage taking place on the run.  Heat affected me most on the run, that and two blisters the size of Canada.  A big storm cloud rolled through and dropped about 1/2 of rain in about 5 minutes and then moved on.  Rain felt great but when the sun started to cook the rain off the road the humidity went through the roof. 

I had a great overall day and this is a PR for me by 27 minutes from my last HIM.

I will write a race report in the next couple of days, thanks for all the positive thoughts.

GRB1 - 2010-07-18 8:16 PM Quick update before I hit the bed. 

Weather was hot as predicted, low 90's with around 80% humidity.  This definetly affected how I approached the race.

- Swim was not great, didn't get into a good rythmn until about 80% of the way through.  Time is a little deceptive, about a 1/4 mile run up to the transition mat, no joke, which all counted toward swim time.  I actually was a minute or two quicker than my last HIM so all in all not to bad.

-  Biggest issue of the day, running out of T1 with my bike, front wheel catches something and the bike goes flying.  I jump over the bike, in biking shoes of course, and proceed to kick/break off my left arm rest thing completely off my bike.  I have the flip up type, well I have it on the right side now.  Anyway this of course affected my ability to get in the aero position.  I was able to rest my fore arms on my base bar for about 1/2 mile at a time before they started to really hurt.  By doing this I was also about 2 inches lower than normal as well.  Back was really feeling it toward the end of the ride.  On the positive side I guess I was a little more aero  I would then ride on the normal drops for awhile.  I have standard road bars on a road bike with clip on type aero bars.  Fore arms are now really bruised/sore.

   This really cool move also jacked up my chain so I had to fix that too.  Must have looked pretty sweet for the spectators Overall the arm rest thing and the chain probably cost me a few minutes on the bike leg, but I'm not complaining.

   Drank a lot of fluids on the bike, took about 4-5 endurolytes as well as gels and the Powerbar Perform drink. 

-  Run was hot and the day was taking it's toll.  Slower than I wanted but I only walked about 2 minutes the entire race.  As you can imagine there was a lot of carnage taking place on the run.  Heat affected me most on the run, that and two blisters the size of Canada.  A big storm cloud rolled through and dropped about 1/2 of rain in about 5 minutes and then moved on.  Rain felt great but when the sun started to cook the rain off the road the humidity went through the roof. 

I had a great overall day and this is a PR for me by 27 minutes from my last HIM.

I will write a race report in the next couple of days, thanks for all the positive thoughts.

GRB1 -  On the bright side, I was nice and clean.

PennState -

Josh, Sara, Dylan and myself will all be on the ironman course in 6 days

GRB1 - 2010-07-19 5:39 PM

Thanks for all the well wishes.

On a side note did anyone hear from Idealmuse?  She is part of our group but has been pretty quite lately, she was scheduled to race a HIM this past weekend as well.  Hope she did well.

Greg

IdealMuse - 2010-07-19 10:32 PM Yeah believe it or not I'm still here, and I still read... I just got quiet for awhile and then felt a bit embarrassed about chiming back in because of it... but thanks for asking! My HIM went very well over all still working on the race report. Fairly nice weather except for an hour of rain on the bike. Door County Half Ironman is so incredibly run and I'm really happy I picked that one over some of the others I considered. Overall time was 7:24 - Swim as expected, Bike slightly better then expected, and run took longer because I decided to go into a 5run/1walk after mile 2 for a few reasons... but still ran the whole thing other then those 1min walks and just one 5 minute walk break to chew on some ice. Even if you double my time and add an hour for IM plus an extra hour for the hills... I should be able to make IMOO happen. Congrats on everyone who raced this past weekend and good luck with next weekend!!! I'm off to go look for your race reports.

WittyCityGirl - 2010-07-19 9:54 PM Great races this weekend everyone!! WOOHOO! It's been fun "tracking" people I "know"! Looking forward to meeting the guys in real life. Woohoo!  Fred-I PMed you about the swim, Josh and Dylan-I think I PMed you my celly number.  My husband is volunteering in the med tent this weekend (he's an ortho p.a.) and wants to get his own LP spot for next year.

At this point, I'm pretty done freaking out.  Now I'm looking online for answers to stupid questions and I can't find them (sorry boys, not sure if you can answer whether or not a sports bra counts as a 'race top'... I saw in the athletes guide that we need to wear a shirt/race top at all times and I was hoping that my Athena frame could sport a shirtless ensemble for the run-I can't find any dry fit shirts that I honestly think I'll be comfy in for the run).

Best news? My boss okayed me to use TWO days of sick time for the Monday and Tuesday after our race!!! (I'm new to the job-started in January-and I don't have vacation time until January 2011, boo).

Happy training y'all!! Tomorrow is a rest day for me!

But before I head to bed... can someone advise on sleeveless vs full sleeved wetsuits for the IM distance swim?  A friend is letting me borrow her sleeveless suit. I LOVED it!  I loved the full range of motion I had, I felt like I was able to reach and pull SO much better.  BUT...at OWS tonight there were people who were swimming at a much closer pace to me than usual.  How much should I worry about my free speed with the full sleeves vs slower pace with the sleeveless?  I've been told that comfort is key on race day...which makes me want to stick with the sleeveless, but I also want to put up the best swim time I can... I've swam 2.4 miles in the full sleeves in 78* water several times, so I know I can do it, it's just that I get really hot in the process.  Would I just focus on hydrating better on the bike in this case? 

IdealMuse - 2010-07-20 12:32 AM Yeah believe it or not I'm still here, and I still read... I just got quiet for awhile and then felt a bit embarrassed about chiming back in because of it... but thanks for asking! My HIM went very well over all still working on the race report. Fairly nice weather except for an hour of rain on the bike. Door County Half Ironman is so incredibly run and I'm really happy I picked that one over some of the others I considered. Overall time was 7:24 - Swim as expected, Bike slightly better then expected, and run took longer because I decided to go into a 5run/1walk after mile 2 for a few reasons... but still ran the whole thing other then those 1min walks and just one 5 minute walk break to chew on some ice. Even if you double my time and add an hour for IM plus an extra hour for the hills... I should be able to make IMOO happen. Congrats on everyone who raced this past weekend and good luck with next weekend!!! I'm off to go look for your race reports.

JoshKaptur - 2010-07-20 7:33 AM a sports bra does count as a top.  And I'm not just saying that for selfish reasons... it really does.

dharris13 - 2010-07-20 11:11 AM

haha ohh josh. ANy good reason why you know this??