Madcow's Group- FULL! (Page 10)

You don't need a race belt, but you usually need to have a number on your back for the bike and/or on your front for the run (I think the only reason you need a number is for the announcer and photographer and for the race official to record any penalties you get during the race). If you don't use a belt, you need to safety pin the number to your clothes. So if you use a wetsuit, you need to put it on under your wetsuit or. If you are not swimming in a shirt, then you can already have it pinned to your shirt before you put it on.

The timing ship is a chip that contains all of your info. When you cross over a mat, it records who you are and when you crossed it.

The chip itself is attached to a velcro strap that straps around your ankle. Usually your right ankle. You put it on before you get in the water and it stays on until after you cross the finish line. I recommend putting it on before you leave your house. Without a chip, they have no idea that you even raced. You get the chip when you check in the day before and they take it back after the race

Hi All,

Worked today and felt very tired when I got home.  Just played with the dogs.  Beautiful day here in the Berkshires. 85F. Taking a rest day today. Tomorrow is my long run. I will be getting my training schedule from my tri- coach tomorrow after work, I am so excited.

Congrats to Kevin G.

I worked today then met with my tri-coach and other members of our group.  It was just a meet and greet today.  Official training starts May 1st.  I got home too late to do a long run so I just did 3mi in the neighborhood.  Long run has been switched to Weds.

Very cool about you meeting with your coach. Now the serious training will begin. You will be absolutely hooked then

fungi32 - 2009-04-27 4:02 PM Easy ride today was going to run also but my daughter got sick so I have been waiting on the princess all evening. Probably worked out good as I am tapering this week for Sat. I did 15 but went really easy. Plan on 3.5 mile run tomorrow and short swim. Short swim short bike Wednesday short run Thursday and a walk Friday. Open to suggestions and really getting excited I am afraid I will swim like a madman and blowup.

Sorry about your daughter, I know all too well about sick kids
Your taper looks really good.
There are a couple of things I forgot to mention about the swim:

The first thing is if you are the least bit nervous, you should start in the back on the outside. The fastest, most competitive swimmers line up in the front along the buoy line. They will have no problems swimming over you, so best to start behind them. The next thing is start out easier than you would in a pool. If you are wearing a wetsuit, I would practice all of my swims this week with it on. Breathing in a wetsuit is a little different than without and you will be breathing harder just because it's a race. If at any time you start to feel out of breath and can't get it back, reach back and unzip your wetsuit so more air can get in. That alone will help a ton.

The next thing is sighting. You won't have a black line painted on the ground under you and you don't want to spend any more time than necessary swimming in circles, so you should practice sighting this week. I usually go every 8 or 10 strokes and I pull my head straight up and look forward to make sure I am on track. If you get a chance to do a warmup swim, this is when I look for landmarks that you can see from the water (A tall tree or building). Sometimes the far buoys aren't really visible if there is a little wake to the water. If you find yourself in a pack, then you just need to make sure you are not too close to the person on the left, right and in front of you.

Drafting is allowed in the swim. The best way to draft is to be just behind the person's toes. It gets really annoying for someone to constantly "hit" your feet, but a light touch is OK. This is good to know in case you are the drafter or draftee.

If you find that you are falling way off the lead pack, don't worry, you will have lifeguards our there watching you, but also be prepared for the next wave of swimmers (Assuming it is a wave start race). The people coming up from behind you will be the fastest from that group, so make sure you stay somewhat on the outside (not near the buoy line) as they will swim right over you, too.

The next thing is your heart rate will shoot through the roof just going from horizontal to vertical, so when you get out of the water, you want to take your time standing up and don't race to your bike, it will take you forever to get your breathing and heart rate back in check. I usually take that time to unzip my wetsuit and a light jog to my bike.

The last thing is when you get to the last 1/2 mile of the bike, change to an easier gear and just spin to the finish. Keep a nice high cadence. This will loosen up your legs for the run. It is amazing how stiff they can feel going from a hard effort on the bike to a hard effort on the run.

Don't forget to take your camera and get lots of pictures!

Crap. Thunderstorms? That sucks, but hopefully it will pass you by. Your swim is in a lake right? I think you can still swim (if there is no lightning) but the bike will be tricky. Just go a litttle slower than normal.

14:20 - 15 is a nice pace for the swim. You will be fine. Just relax, pray that the trigods have some mercy on you and the weather, have fun and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

Good luck and have fun. You will do great!

Hey group, I was thinking that this may be a good time for this group to come to an end. Kevin rocked his first race and has a great and very knowledgeable training partner at home. Kip also had a great first race and I'm sure will continue to have a successful year. Stacey, I have faith that you too will have fun and enjoy your first race.

I know some of you are already in another mentor group, but if you EVER need to ask a question, please don't hesitate to ask.

Since all of you are east coasters, I will be racing at Lake Anna State park the first weekend of October, please come by and run a lap or two with me. I would love to meet you all in person.

Take care,

Tom

Your welcome. It was fun.