Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 99)

I would bet even at a relaxed pace, there won't be a lot of people passing you on the bike.  Just don't get hung on anything but your plan.  Racing after anyone on the bike in a 70.3 (or worse in a 140.6) is not prudent.  And take it easy up the hills - it's very easy to burn too much energy on hills trying to maintain a certain pace or catch someone trying to be king of the mountains.

Allison sounds like you had a great time and a lot of fun at the warrior dash race. Congrats on finishing the race and I hear you in regards to the cost of the race but I am glad to hear that you and your husband had a good time doing it.

Dina see what a great race will do for you. I say if you have the chance to do another one you should go for it.

So after discussing this whole registration thing with my wife this morning I have decided not to do IMNY 2013. While I would have been willing to pay the $1200 for the registration I am not good with them shortening the race to 15.5 hours especially after hearing the course was pretty tough especially the run. I may consider it in the future as it looks like this IM might be better for someone who has done one before. I will think it over this week and decide between Mount Tremblant, Wisconsin, Florida and Arizona. Honestly I think Mt. Tremblant would be a great family vacation but the bike course totally scares the heck out me with those 6% and 12% grade climbs so I am thinking that is out. Probably the same for Florida as I am not down with the ocean swim so I am thinking it will be Wisconsin or Arizona. I have some time to think about it. I can say I am pretty disappointed with the decisions WTC and NYC made for the 2013 race or I would have done it. 

What an awesome race you must have had.  You know that you have labored well all season long, through injuries and the discouragement that came with it and brought home the gold, so to speak.  Congratulations!  Well done!  Now hurry up and get the RR up so I can read the details.

Great job training while on vacay.  I'm also on vacation next week, and my goal is not to gain 10 pounds the week before the race.

I actually want you to kill it, so it will be an accomplishment to beat you.  I know this is probably my last year at the pace you're improving!  One word of advice on the race itself.  If it is hilly, don't burn out trying to blast the hills.  As Jeff often says, keep you effort even, which means you may feel very slow on some of those hills.  And the hill kings may go blasting past you, but let'me go.  Your legs will thank me on mile 8.

Tony,  I can see why you would drop that kind of cash for a race.  That is a very hefty price tag and if you have to get a room and pay for food at NYC prices I have to think it would be even less inductive to racing there.  I haven't really checked in IM branded race prices because I am still at leas t one more year away from that kind of commitment, but I'll probably stick closer to home for traveling reasons as well.  Actually the largest reason I would do a "destination race" would be because of the additional costs of getting the bike to the venue.  Basically, if I can drive there in 10-12 hours I would do the race.

I was just commenting to a new found training partner about this very thing yesterday.  I was following him on my long bike yesterday, outside of the draft zone and trying to keep pace with him on the uphills and trying NOT to close the gap so I could STOP trying to burn up the energy you are commenting about.  In essence, you are very wise, you old codger.  LOL

The Warrior Dash, as I stated earlier sounds like an awesome time but that price tag seemed steep and now, with the added cost's you mention, I am even less likely to do it.  $20 for parking? Seriously?  That's ridiculous!  I know the RD has to do a lot of work for these types of races but $95 to race 3 miles?  NOT!!!

I would love to see you run a full marathon.  The only thing I would caution you about is the added time training.  I know you may not try to take it to the level of ridiculousness that I do but whatever time you have for training currently, add 3-4 more hours (at least) for running alone.  I am not mentioning this to discourage you, only make sure you have a good perspective.

For training plans to get there that's not really a problem.  Runner's Wold has freebies and you might see f McMillan running has some too.  Either way, getting to the race wouldn't be tough for you.  You are already plenty tough enough, you would just need to get trained up.

I also think it would be awesome for several of us Junkies to get together for our own half marathon here in the Fort.  Provided of course that there are spot enough available.  I believe it is sold out right now.  I think I'll check Craigslist for bibs.

Quick race update.  I finished the Sprint Tri in 1:08:50!  I took almost 4 minutes off last years time!  I could have gone faster on each leg, too.  I held back because "I was tired."  Holy cow!  What would have happened had I been fresh???

I got a plack for 1st Masters Female and I ended up as 2nd overall female.  Woo hoo!!!!

Oh....and the temps were favorable!  It was about 52 degrees and foggy! 

Very nice race Tracy!  You are smokin up the courses this season. 

Congratulations on 1st and 2nd place!  Wow that sounds weird!

Dina, congrats on your sprint...GREAT job!

Samantha, I hope your foot has a speedy recovery, keep us informed.

Allison, glad you enjoyed the warrior dash.  How did you enjoy the costumes?  lol  Did you get a turkey leg?

Tony, IMNY, I know it is expensive but to say you are an Ironman...that would be awesome!  I'm volunteering IMFL this year.  I've watched in years past.  1st it fills up very fast.  A lot of people come from foreign countries to qualify for Hawaii since it is flat.  It is also normally HOT...well hot for most of the country, not us Floridians.  Yes ocean swims are different.  A lot of people throw up due to all the salt water they end up drinking and he waves can be difficult.  You also have to consider seaweed if it comes in and Jellyfish...

Matt enjoy your vacation and enjoy your rides.

Tracy, congrats on 2 top finishes in 1 race!!!!!!!!!!

me I'm still working on the swim...sometimes I think I get better and sometimes I just stink.  My IT band is at least letting me run 2.3 miles now.  I've been running 2 miles every day lst week and now 2.3 this week.  Gradually increasing.

Bronco is still bucking my wife off...she has more bruises and scrapes than you can imagine.  I asked her o give up the bike and concenrate on Boston qualifying.  She has 1 tri to do in Oct before she makes up her mind...it could be 2 for 1, first and last.

Sounds like a good decision Tony. There are so many other choices - no reason to settle. Make your IM every YOU want it to be.

I have a few questions maybe the group can help me with...

In the sprint races

#1 I always get a headache later in the day after I race a sprint. Not necessarily at a longer distance race. I used to think I was dehydrated a little because I might not drink anything during the whole race but I've changed that. I also make sure to drink a lot after but I still end up with a headache. What do you think? Just increased effort? It's pretty annoying.

#2 My legs always feel like lead to start the bike. It takes them about 15-20 min to get warmed up. I used to think it was nerves that settled in my quads like a bunch of lactic acid build up. I was really relaxed yesterday though. Maybe I am doing something wrong the day before or in my warm up although I've tried different things and still end up the same. Anybody else have this issue?

Holy Cow!  I know you're an accomplished athlete, but you still keep impressing me!  Great job lady!

Right you are about transitions.  Race after race I go in to T1 in a certain position...say 22nd and come out something crazy, like 6th.

You did incredibly!  3 minute PR and an overall podium!

It's really great to get beat only by a friend.  You can be happy for your own performance as well as theirs.  But don't feel a bit apologetic about taking it to her.  If you can beat her some day, you will both be better athletes for it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't these mishaps all seem to be contributed to by her being clipped in to the pedals?  How about switching her to platform pedals for a while and let her ride that way until she's used to everything?

Well, there are so many things that can cause a headache, but I'll speculate about some of them.

Many people do something different on race day.  One thing could simply be getting up so much earlier than you normally do.  Another could be having more or having less caffeine in the morning than a regular day (say you drink 2 cups of coffee at the office but not race morning or vice versa).  Also, the extreme exertion (meaning the fast pace and oxygen debt) you experience in a sprint triathlon may result in different levels of blood vessel dialation than you typically experience. 

Headaches are usually caused by 2 things.  One is sinus headaches that hurt specifically in the forehead, behind the eyes...The other is stress headaches that are the result of poor circulation to the scalp area.  Often caused by bad posture (neck) or tension of the muscles in the neck and scalp and by constricted blood vessels in the scalp area.

So contributors on race day can be time spent in the time trial position on the bike, caffeine again (constricts blood vessels)...

As for the bike warmup...I have that too.  I think it's just one of the physical challenges of triathlon.  I don't know if it's possible to be ready for the bike when you come out of the water.  Swimming shuts down blood flow to the legs and sends that blood flow to the arms.  Even if I warm up on the bicycle, by the time I've gotten to the water, waited for the race start, done my swim and gotten back on the bike the legs aren't ready.

So I do the best I can do which is a step by step process like this:

• mount the bike and pedal up to 20mph (sometimes legs already yelling at me)
• get my feet in my shoes (this helps ease the burn in the legs)
• get back on the pedals and up to speed (within 30 seconds legs burn again)
• ease up the pedaling and allow perhaps 1mph drop in speed to let legs recover
• soon a hill will come and I hit that hill hard (legs screaming)
• coast down the hill with legs slowly moving

By this time I'm starting to feel somewhat normal and can turn on the juice.

Tracy congrats on an awesome race, 2nd overall is great a finish. I would imagine you'd probably could've won this race if you weren't holding back because you were tired. That is a scary thought.

bswcpa - 2012-08-13 4:48 PM Happy Monday everyone! Way to represent, Dina and Tracy! You gals had an awesome weekend and set the bar very high. I didn't do quite as well as you both as I was the 4th female out of 55 to cross the finish line. However, I was the first one over 40 so I won the Overall Female Masters plaque. Woot, woot! Us girls rocked it!!  

No kidding, the ladies killed it this weekend! Way to go ladies, you set the bar very high for the rest of us!

GREAT race Brenda!!!!  Way to make the Asphalt Junkies proud!

Jeff, we are going to Walmart to get the pedals and give it a try...but first we must dress accordingly to get in Walmart...lol

Thanks Jeff. After reading this I think the headaches may be a combo of poor sleep/getting up early and increased effort. I ate the same breakfast and drank the same amount of coffee as usual. I don't sleep well the night before a race and I typically don't workout in the morning - especially at that intensity.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one out there with my legs burning. I mentioned it to my training friend but she does not seem to have that issue. I thought maybe I'm kicking too much on the swim or not warming up right. Thanks for the tips on how to work through it.

I'm waiting on the RD to post our splits so I can write up a race report for anyone who cares to read all the details.

If you haven't already heard this interesting development about IM NY 2013. They suspended registration last night and are reassessing the entire race situation. I think the fact that it didn't sell out right away and there was so much negativity surrounding the the race WTC was looking very bad on this one. I think this is the right thing to do.

http://ironman.com/events/ironman/uschampionship/ironman-u.s.-championship#axzz23WRXa4me