Ernesto's group (third season) - CLOSED (Page 96)

I've done all my swims (only done Sprints) without a wetsuit.  They have all been wetsuit legal as well - late season races water temps have been in the upper 60s.  water felt warmer though because air temp was probably low 50's.  First race swam without a top on and no HR monitor...learned its very hard to put a shirt on over wet body.  2nd race I wore HR monitor during swim under a tri top.  Didn't realize until a bit into the bike that the HR monitor was around my stomach as it slid down during the swim.    I think I finally got it right but assume if wearing a wetsuit it would be constrictive enough that the HR monitor wouldn't shift.  HR montiors are waterproof but vary in their ability to transmit through water and be read by the watch.

I've done all my swims (only done Sprints) without a wetsuit.  They have all been wetsuit legal as well - late season races water temps have been in the upper 60s.  water felt warmer though because air temp was probably low 50's.  First race swam without a top on and no HR monitor...learned its very hard to put a shirt on over wet body.  2nd race I wore HR monitor during swim under a tri top.  Didn't realize until a bit into the bike that the HR monitor was around my stomach as it slid down during the swim.    I think I finally got it right but assume if wearing a wetsuit it would be constrictive enough that the HR monitor wouldn't shift.  HR montiors are waterproof but vary in their ability to transmit through water and be read by the watch.

Yep - inland lakes are a bit warmer.  I'm still amazed that as a kid I swam for hours in lake erie...too cold for me now.

Samy, good luck on your first Spint tri this weekend, have lots of fun and let us know how it goes!

Question for Ernesto - for the IM Texas swim on the lake, do you think it is imperative that I use a wetsuit?  I don't own one yet since there is no need for one in Guatemala and obviously would prefer not buying one yet, unless it will make a big difference towards my overall endurance?

How is everyone else doing and how is the training going?  Have a great weekend!

Hi all:

Life is 100% in my way and I have adapted to a somewhat nutty schedule.  Work is at a point where my days are now routinely 12-13 hr days plus a hour commute each way.  I am now getting up at 4 am and getting in 2 hrs of workouts before my "day" starts.  As it stands, Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday involve two sessions per day (Weds is a long run of 90+ mins).  Biking each day, running on Monday and swimming Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I had been able to steal away for swims sometimes at lunch, but my pool will be closed for maintenance next week. By the time I get home at or after 8 pm, I am pretty shot and I am usually asleep by 9:15 (or some days by 8:30). Needless to say, my wife is saint and indulges me.  It is crazy to think that this week I will put in 10+ hrs of training and my plan ramps up another 40% at its peak.  

I did reward myself this week with a deep tissue massage - highly recommend it.

Also, this year has been unusually hot for the winter so I presume that it might be illegal, so no worries. I have a speedsuit that is WTC legal for non wetsuit swims and you can borrow (TYR Torque Pro), it doesn't make you buoyant but it can shave you a couple of minutes over the distance because it reduces body drag. You can also borrow my wetsuit if it's legal, a 2XU fullsuit that is really fast and buoyant.

Never had a professional massage - issue I have with rubdowns is hairy legs...I don't shave and find that during massages the hair pulls a lot...are deep tissue massages different?

I know nothing about "official" because I haven't read the book (it's still on the list...).  However, the first thing I do when I'm running and my HR goes high is slow down and control my breathing.  I generally find that by concentrating on breathing slowly and controlling the out breath I can drop my HR immediately by 2bpm, which is usually enough to drop me back below the point where my Garmin beeps at me.  I have no idea how I know that will happen, it's just something I did without thinking about it.

I had a spin class instructor in the past that would have us focus on slowing our HR by controlling our breathing.  Definitely think you can cut a couple beats...perhaps greater impact is controlling your breathing can get you to refocus.

I had my 10k race this morning and thanks to Thursday's snow storm and not having any spikes for my shoes to handle the race course being 80-90% covered in snow and ice, I posted my worst 10k time in about 9 years today.  My time was 43:38, which is about 6 minutes off my PR.  Needless to say it was quite disappointing after the past 6 and a half months of training.  It's quite discouraging given my 10k A race is only 34 days away.  I guess I'll just have to sleep it off and get back to training tomorrow.

Today we went for a short bike ride.  It was a lot different to last week.  Since then I've got new wheels (borrowed, but on extended loan - I'm told I can keep them till after IM if I want), new tyres (gatorskins - I challenge any thorn to get through those!), a new chain (to replace the broken one) and a new cassette (so that I can use my old wheel as a turbo wheel easily).  And apart from a bit of wind there was no insane weather to get in the way.  Hurrah.  We're going out for a longer ride tomorrow.  We're going to do the "Button's bank challenge" with some friends from the tri club.  Basically it involves cycling up one of the local hills and timing yourself (from the pub at the bottom to the junction at the top).  I'm not expecting to be fast at all, but the idea is to do it regularly and see if we can improve.

Also went to the tri club swim session this evening.  I had a great session.  Landed up leading my lane the whole session, and was noticeably faster than most of the group.  That's real progress for me.  My husband has been trying to tell me that I should move up to the top lane, but I don't think I'm anywhere near being fast enough for those guys.  Some of them are phenominally fast.  But it's nice to see that I'm improving.

Only thing I've realised is that I'm really slacking on doing my core exercises.  These are really important for me.  I noticed today that my lower back is a little tight, and I really need to get back into it.  There's no excuse really, as it only takes about 5 minutes at a time.  So I've decided, looking ahead to the March challenge, that I'm going to only allow myself the points for a training session if I also do a core session for that day.  I'm hoping that'll be enough motivation for me to get it done.

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend.

E, thanks for the info and your kind offer, lets see what the water temperature looks like as we get closer to the IM race! We also got an email this week from the organizers of IMTX saying that if you chose to use a wetsuit this year, you would start with others wearing wetsuits 10 minutes after the mass swim start.   

Today I went out for a long bike ride (4:25, 85 miles at avg. 19.3mph) + 30 min brick run and fortunately felt good for most of the ride.  However,  I'm tired now after a long week and looking forward to taking tomorrow off!

Scott, sorry to hear about your race, but if its any consolation, it seems like you had very tough conditions today and your time is still way better than my 10k PR

scottputnam

I had my 10k race this morning and thanks to Thursday's snow storm and not having any spikes for my shoes to handle the race course being 80-90% covered in snow and ice, I posted my worst 10k time in about 9 years today.  My time was 43:38, which is about 6 minutes off my PR.  Needless to say it was quite disappointing after the past 6 and a half months of training.  It's quite discouraging given my 10k A race is only 34 days away.  I guess I'll just have to sleep it off and get back to training tomorrow.

Scott, you can't beat youself up over weather conditions. Losing only a minute a mile over your PR on a course covered with ice and snow is good. In those conditions you don't have good footing, plus if there are soft areas, it is like running in sand. If you look at my log and compare my summer times over winter times there is a significant difference. My times have gone from sub 8 minute  miles to sub 9 minute miles because of the conditions. You can't hold yourself to the same time standards, because of the conditions. It's like riding a mountain bike instead of a road bike, just go into it knowing that you will be slower. Good run.

Rachael-don't neglect the core.  I did and have been paying for it for almost a couple of months now.

Chris- congrats to your wife.

Scott- great race in the snow.  I know you wanted to do better but considering the conditions......

I ran my first 10K yesterday and finished it in 55:20.  It was the Houston Rodeo Run which was a 10k and 5k with almost 15,000 runners.  It was elbows to elbows pretty much the entire race.  This is only my 3rd race (ever) to run.

Hope everyone is doing well and hope your training is going as planned!

And Joe-your schedule is crazy nuts! I admire your dedication.

I am a triathlete! Finish the sprint (1/4 mile swim, 12 mile ride, 3.1 mile run) in 1:21'48 (unofficial). Don't know the splits (swim/bike/run), so eagerly awiting the official results.

Full RR when I get official results, but had a BLAST on the race despite 15-20 mph winds with gusts even higher. Swim went well. Water temperature was 72 degrees, and was in the minority with no wetsuit. I stayed back at the beginning to avoid the rush, and was surprise to find myself swimming with a (somewhat chaotic) group most of the swim, which prevented me from getting into rythm. But quite happy with the swim.

In the bike I learned a valuable lesson on strategic flexibility during a race. I wanted to keep 18 mph on the bike, and despite the strong wind was able to do 18.2 mph...getting off the bike I though to myself "I killed the bike"!, that is until I started to run...NOT good. My legs were shot.

To make matters worse, I dropped my garmin at the beginning of the run, and it hit some button (Stop?  Lap? Annoy Samy? who knows), and it stop recording and I couldn't get a pace reading. After fidgeting with it for 15-20 seconds while running decided to run without it. My tired legs and no target pace contributed to what I think was a really slow run, but only the official splits will tell (felt really really slow).

I remember a few weeks back that I posted that a perfect race for me would have been 1:20, so quite happy with my 1:21'48 despite everything, specially since I took it easy during transitions. I guess the conditions made it harder than expected, but that only makes me want to do another one ASAP. My next schedule race is in June, but I might do a May one depending on how training goes. My only regret is that due to the SNAFU with the garmin, I don't have details of the race, but thats minor compared to the whole experience.

WHOOOHOOOOOO

Welcome to the club.  Glad to have you here.  Every time you race, you will learn something (and often many things).  There's nothing like your first. Take pride in your accomplishment, relish the moment and give a hug and kiss to those in your life who made it happen.