Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 98)

I don't think it's possible to put yourself in a hole in 1 week that is too deep to 'dig out' of during a week of recovery.  So you shouldn't be having any troubles come 8/26 no matter which way you decide to go with your training next week.

However, that assumes that during the week before the race you do the right things to recover and refuel.  As you know from past discussions I think more people taper too much than taper too little, so keep that in mind.

On the other hand you will not be able to improve your fitness a significant amount with a 1 week training blast either.

Since you are coming off a bad week of training you have lost some 'fitness'.  I don't want you to think I'm saying that 1 week with 3 workouts means you are out of shape, it's just that doing that disrupts your system such that you wouldn't race well as of today and you want to get that edge back.

I think the best way to get that edge back is with a relatively high volume of very easy training.  If your wife gives you mornings, then get out each morning from 7-9. 

Once you enter your final week you may or may not need to recover some.  Since the week is high in volume but lacking intensity, you may not need any break and can follow your training plan to the letter.  (I hope it's not a plan that over-tapers).

I think your right to a degree Warren.  I think the discipline will have to start on the bike, where I'll be very tempted to begin to push the pace a little bit more than intended.  If I begin to push the pace anywhere I would rather do so in the middle of the run if I am feeling pretty good.  I may get a temp tattoo or use a sharpie to write "DISCIPLINE" to remind me of my goals.

I think that's a great idea Dirk, or something similar.  If you're feeling it, after mile 8 or 9 hammer it home.  But until then, follow the plan or answer to the Junkies!

Crazy weather here today on Long Island. We actually had a tornado warning here this afternoon around 2 pm. A tornado was confirmed to have touched down west of where I live up in a town called great river. It was an F0 with winds of 85 miles per hour. Thankfully no one was hurt and no real property damage just some uprooted trees. We very rarely get tornados here so it was big news.

 Holy crap!  That is crazy.

How did Ryan do at the Warrior Dash?  I have seen those races and they sound interesting but I am always already scheduled for something and, if I remember correctly, they are kind of expensive.  (This coming from a a guy who dropped $250 for a HIM.)

One the things about HIM racing is that you must pace yourself, especially on the bike, because the race is so long.  So maybe you paced well on the bike for a HIM.  Of course I am no authority on racing HIM's but during my training cycle this year I have had to really get to know a few things about how to deal with a long course endurance event.

BTW, I just checked your logs and you're going to crush the HM coming up!!  I may try to sneak into that HM (Fort 4 Fitness) if there is a spot available at the last minute.  If there is it will probably be someone selling their bib.  Anyway with your volume and the weeks leading up to the event, you'll be very well prepared to race.

I'm glad to hear the family dog seems to be getting along better too.

michgirlsk - 2012-08-11 1:12 PM Dirk, that is quite ambitious of you with your successive HIMs as your first two HIMs!  I would also say initially are you sure you will be able to keep it "easy" for your first one... BUT I believe you can (and will) because you are going into the first one as a practice for the "real" one, and I know you will care about being able to execute your final race, which means sticking to your plan in the first one!  Basically, in a long-winded way I am saying I believe that you will have the discipline in your first race.   Just keep thinking about how much you want to smash the Rev3 course!!!  Can't do that if you go too hard in your first one, right?

Ambitious or stupid?  I'll let you know what it is in about 4 weeks which of the two it truly is.  However, Warren is most definitely on the right track when he wonders if I will end up turning on the jets but hopefully in this case his prophecy is wrong.  It will be really tough fro me to allow cyclists to ride past me and not want to chase.  And that would be where I would begin my descent into a painful demise.

I also hope that you are a bit of a prophet too, with your prediction that: "I believe that you will have the discipline in your first race."  I may even add that to my race day quotes and mantra so I can stay disciplined.

Samantha this is just crazy $1200 for an IM! and they are talking about a 15.5 hour cutoff? I haven't seen that confirmed but that is what everyone is saying on the boards, 6:30 am to 10 PM because of some ordinace about noise after 10 PM. They have got to be kidding! I was going to try and get in on this and register today but now I may reconsider and just try and do either Wisconsin or Arizona next year. I have until 5 PM to decide so maybe more details come out about this but I can say I am pretty disappointed to see this happen and hope the other IM registration fees are not increased as well.

DirkP - 2012-08-12 8:21 AM

michgirlsk - 2012-08-11 1:12 PM Dirk, that is quite ambitious of you with your successive HIMs as your first two HIMs!  I would also say initially are you sure you will be able to keep it "easy" for your first one... BUT I believe you can (and will) because you are going into the first one as a practice for the "real" one, and I know you will care about being able to execute your final race, which means sticking to your plan in the first one!  Basically, in a long-winded way I am saying I believe that you will have the discipline in your first race.   Just keep thinking about how much you want to smash the Rev3 course!!!  Can't do that if you go too hard in your first one, right?

Ambitious or stupid?  I'll let you know what it is in about 4 weeks which of the two it truly is.  However, Warren is most definitely on the right track when he wonders if I will end up turning on the jets but hopefully in this case his prophecy is wrong.  It will be really tough fro me to allow cyclists to ride past me and not want to chase.  And that would be where I would begin my descent into a painful demise.

I also hope that you are a bit of a prophet too, with your prediction that: "I believe that you will have the discipline in your first race."  I may even add that to my race day quotes and mantra so I can stay disciplined.

Dirk you can definitely do this. I think you just have to go into the first HIM with the mentality of it being a big training session for the day. I know that will not be easy for you but if you can keep the blinders on and just do your thing and not get caught up in racing anyone I think you will be just fine.

Tony, yeah this is all pretty interesting.  I've also seen people say well it's still cheaper to do IMNYC if you're a local, which I could totally see to be true, but then what about the non-locals?  Clearly not cheaper for them... Is it destined to become a race just for locals?  (Of course, there will always be people who will pay, but...)  I mean, I had never considered this race, so it doesn't really make a difference to me, but still... interesting.

I guess this is what happens with the growth of a sport!

Keep us posted on what you decide!  I did watch parts of the live feed yesterday during the race, and I was left with quite a positive impression.  So if you do end up doing it, I'm sure it will be a great experience.

Do you also check up on slowtwitch.com?  Those forums are also a good information source.

DirkP - 2012-08-12 7:21 AM

michgirlsk - 2012-08-11 1:12 PM Dirk, that is quite ambitious of you with your successive HIMs as your first two HIMs!  I would also say initially are you sure you will be able to keep it "easy" for your first one... BUT I believe you can (and will) because you are going into the first one as a practice for the "real" one, and I know you will care about being able to execute your final race, which means sticking to your plan in the first one!  Basically, in a long-winded way I am saying I believe that you will have the discipline in your first race.   Just keep thinking about how much you want to smash the Rev3 course!!!  Can't do that if you go too hard in your first one, right?

Ambitious or stupid?  I'll let you know what it is in about 4 weeks which of the two it truly is.  However, Warren is most definitely on the right track when he wonders if I will end up turning on the jets but hopefully in this case his prophecy is wrong.  It will be really tough fro me to allow cyclists to ride past me and not want to chase.  And that would be where I would begin my descent into a painful demise.

I also hope that you are a bit of a prophet too, with your prediction that: "I believe that you will have the discipline in your first race."  I may even add that to my race day quotes and mantra so I can stay disciplined.

Just remind yourself that these are the same cyclists who don't know how to pace the entire race and will end cramping like mad on the run. When I did the HIM last spring I passed a lot of strong guys on my very slow run who were on a death march, cramping and sitting on the side of the road. Not pretty and you don't want to be there. I felt fine, I just run slow.

strikyr - 2012-08-12 11:09 AM Samantha I did not check ST yet but from what I have read is that the swim was very fast due to the current which is great but some people said this course was pretty difficult especially the run portion of it. I just read someone say it was tougher than Kona but I find that hard to believe. I did watch a good portion of the race on the live feed yesterday as well. The two things that would concern me most about this race is the humidity and the run course. There is pretty good elevation there plus you have to climb several flights of steps to get onto the George Washington Bridge. One more thing to worry about and it sounds like this is true would be that the race is not a 17 hour race but a 15.5 hour race due to the noise ordinace. I can't believe they can't get that worked out to have it be a 17 hour race. You are right for me this is still cheaper than doing an IM somewhere else but pretty unfair to anyone outside the NY/NJ/CT area. I think it would cost someone from out of town an fortune to do this race which is very unfortunate. It should not be a local race. I will let you guys know what I decide to do, first things is to see if I can get permission to sign up from the CFO, my wife  She was not happy with $900 expected registration fee but she was going along with it now at $1200 I am not so sure. I am almost afraid to ask her. 

Interesting stuff. I'm way too cheap and injury prone to even think about an IM. I don't even like to sign up for a sprint in advance! Good luck with your decision and keep us posted.

Home from my sprint this morning. I won 2nd overall female behind my training friend Tiff and smashed all of my previous times on this course by 3 minutes. This is the first time racing this course on my tri bike. The thing I am the most proud of about this race is Tiff didn't pass me on the bike. This is the first time in 4 years of me racing triathlon (she has been racing many years longer) that she has not passed me on the bike! I don't mean to sound like I am trying to beat my friend but she is strong and it makes me feel like I'm improving. She will likely always be faster than me overall as my run is significantly slower.

One more reminder to all the Junkies and  I know you have heard this before, but race through those transitions. I passed many people in T1 and exiting the swim.

wow, congrats!!

Dina congrats on an awesome race. It sounds like you did a great job today and if this is your last race of the season you ended it on a very high note. Congrats again and look forward to reading the RR.

Ryan and I did the Warrior Dash together.  I'm sure he could've done it faster without me, but he stuck with me in case I got stuck on an obstacle.  It was a lot of fun and good bonding!  We have some cuts and scrapes all over the place, but they are pretty minor. 

The course was 3.01 miles with tons of slicky muddy hills, lots of streams to run through, and a bunch of obstacles.  Here's a link for the map of our course if you're interested: http://www.warriordash.com/register2012_indiana.php 

They had several heats- I think the first one went out at 8am, and they released a new heat each half hour.  Most people just do it as something fun and to say they did it.  They have overall winners, and I think that if you are really racing it to win you need to go out in the first heat.  Otherwise, you get stuck behind people from the previous heat who are walking the course and having trouble getting through obstacles.  We didn't go out until 11:30 and started passing some a mile into the course. 

It was a little expensive ($75 a person), but Ryan said that a few days before the race they had a living social deal where it was $40 a person.  They give you a warrior helmet, a t-shirt, and a medal.  The course actually looks like they put a lot of work into it.  However, they charge you as much as they can for everything- we had to pay $20 to park in a field.  There were no other options.  Then they charge you an arm and a leg for food afterwards.  If you want to camp, the campsites are $75.  Crazy if you ask me!   

We had a really fun group who we did it with, so overall I'm glad we did it.  We'll have some great memories. 

I'm really excited for the HM.  It's about 7 weeks away now.  My training is going so well that I think I want to keep going and add mileage for a full marathon in November.  I just need to figure out what I need to do to get there.  You should definitely do Fort For Fitness with us!  I'll let you know if I hear of anyone looking to sell their spot.  Any other junkies want in?  You get to finish the race by rounding the bases where the Fort Wayne TinCaps play! 

Of course now this went so well I'm thinking maybe I should do one more LOL - never satisfied!

Congratulations, Dina!   What an accomplishment!

Awesome race, congrats.