Maine Rob's Group - Closed (Page 8)

Hi All,
I'm still pootling along. A bit of a training hiccup last week with mine and my partners birthday and mothers day all in the same week. I thought it was my right to hardly move a muscle all week. and my bladder was playing up again so that lost me a weeks improvement on the jogging front. however, it seems to be behaving itself now so i'm getting there.
My first race is on May 9th and i should be ready for that - ish.  If I keep up training it may be that my only hassle is trying to attach my bike to the back of my car to get it too the race. I have a bike rack but i find it hard to position it right so the licence plate can still be seen and the bike isn't sticking out too far on the sides of the car. And , of course, I have a fear of it dropping off on route 'cause I haven't tied it on tight enough.
However, that said - I am beginning to get just a little proud of myself for sticking at it. - I hope all the rest of you are too.

Jennifer
 

I am back on dry land which I am very happy for.  I will be interested to see if the training I did underway will relate to actual improvement.  I did run yesterday and my mile splits are down about 35 seconds over a 10K.  I have to get my bike put together so I can take it on the road.  My first race just a little over a month away I am concerned about the swim.

Welcome back, Sailor. Good to hear you still accomplished some good training while out to sea. 35 seconds is a huge improvement for anyone. Keep us posted and good luck.

I was looking at what it takes to qualify for the boston marathon, wow. I don't even know your age, but an 8 minute pace for 26 miles blows my mind. Then again I know you are fast already from your logs. Either way I wish you luck.
Do you have a marathon picked out this year to qualify?

Yes we have a treadmill and a few different bikes but I road the spin bike mostly.  I also just got my tribike in and will be going on my first ride tonight.

I got a motobacane pro.  Not a name bike but came with durace components.

I am finished with my program, I am so busy with this new business I have been off and on.  Any suggestions on maintenance?  I won't be competing till may, congrats to all.

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I finished my second Duathlon on Sunday. It was tough, which is probably an understatement. I had a great run, a poor bike, and a somewhat miserable climb up a 600 foot rock. My legs were done dealing about halfway through the bike and into the climb.
Either way it was a fun race. I know I need to train more on the bike as I progress through the next few months.

Hope everyone is on track this week.

My bike fitness is lacking due to only getting on the bike maybe twice a week. In the month of March what bike workouts I had were lacking in volume. I can pump out good rpm, but run flat after a short distance. I am definetly going to step my biking up to at least 3 times a week. I would like to shoot for 2 workouts of an hour during the week since that is about all I have time for usually, then maybe a long distance ride on the weekends. I know I have the strength to pedal, I just need the endurance.

The best part of last weekends race is what I learned. Since this is my first year of racing each race I certainly pick up on little do's and don't as well as what I am physically capable. I can't really list them all, but  a couple would be as follows:

I didn't manage my diet and hydration very well 24-36 hours prior to the race. And didn't hydrate enough during the race. This will be key during the hot texas summer races.

Don't knock the guys bike down next to yours when leaving the transition. lol. That will slow you down.  Although it wasn't on the bar good due to the reflector he had positioned behind his seat.

Even with bungees I managed to push the tongue of my shoe halfway down my shoe again. Darnit, I must lack brain power after getting off the bike, maybe Rob can help me out as the Brain Specialist.

Wow. I really like that girls socks (and shorts).... as she passed me on the bike. <come on.....it isn't all serious>

Again, I am no pro, but will start biking more and see how the next race goes. Yea!

Tomorrow is my first race a 10k to warm up for my sprint in 2 weeks.  It is the largest 10k field on island so we will see I am shooting for 45 min finish time.

Sounds like a lot of factors you can work on for next time. Three rides a week would definitely make you stronger coming off the bike.

Doesn't sound like permanent brain damage, just some momentary delirium,which is normal .

 

It was quite windy on the return leg so slightly slower than I wanted but I felt like it was a good effort at 47:14

Hi all,

First off, CONGRATS to everyone who has started their seasons!  I am sure you are all doing great!


I haven't been around much as I've been down with a cold that turned into sinusitis that turned into a nasty case of bronchitis that sets off my asthma all the time that I'm still fighting.  My March plans did not go so hot and then getting sick mid month really derailed me but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.  Its still pretty hard to breathe but I feel like if I wait much longer, I'm never going to get back into a routine.

I'm starting the bt aggressive couch to 5k and doing it all outside.  I finished the cool runnings one but on the treadmill only.  Going outside was a shock and I decided to start a little bit longer one and commit to doing it outside only.  I'm only on week 3 and so far, so good.  I felt it a little bit today in the shins when I doubled the running time but it stays the same for 2 weeks so hopefully thats enough time to get adjusted.  Right now, the breathing is what has me the most worried.  The cold air does not help.

Biking wise, I'm getting alot more comfortable.  Still haven't really ridden a distance yet, just tooling around the neighborhood getting better at handling and overall comfort on it.   I did take an 8 miler (which I know is like nothing in terms of bikers but it was my biggest so far) and it was actually kinda fun.  I am getting lots of 5-6 mile rides in and am trying to go a little faster and not be wiped out afterwards.  I rode my friends mountain bike that she put the smooth tires on and all i can say is that I'm jealous, I must have slick tires soon.

Swimming was alright until I got sick.  The sinuses really messed me up in the pool.  I thought my head was going to explode from all the pressure.  I am trying to ease back into the pool but everytime I go, it makes me feel worse for about 3 days afterwards so its still kinda hit and miss.  I'm not too stressed about this since I figure once I feel well, I can up the yardage again pretty quickly.  I am going to concentrate on drills for the next few weeks until the bronchitis goes away to keep it slow and steady and really, really work on my pull.  When I get tired and lose my form, the first thing I do is make a "S" with my pull and waste time and get a crappy pull.

So that's my last few weeks in a nutshell.  I read the sticky at the top that says our winter mentor groups are coming to an end and we choose new spring ones so I wanted to take the time (in case we are in different groups next time) to thank Rob, and all of you on here, for offering advice and letting me learn from you.  I hope all your training and seasons are successful and I wish you all the best.  As for me, I will keep plugging away, I really enjoyed the majority of all of the training ( I WILL learn to LOVE running or at least tolerate it better and am determined to keep at it.  I have a 5k mud run at the end of April coming up and I really want to do at least one sprint tri in 2010 so I've still got lots of work to do!

Thank you,
Ronda

So I ran my first race yesterday and it went pretty close to what I thought it would be.  I was very weak in the swim.  I didn't stay focused on my form and breast stroked as soon as it seemed i wasn't making the way i wanted to freestyle.  i was 343 out of 366 out of the water.  T1 went ok it was a long run with the bike to the start of the bike course.  I ran barefoot to the start of the bike and put my shoes on and off i went.  The bike was going well I passed alot of the people who passed me at the end of my swim.  I was averaging just under 24 mph until the climb at the turn around when my chain came off mid way up the hill.  I had to dismount the bike to get the chain back on.  I continued the climb and finished the bike course with a bike split 153 out of the 366.  I didn't take my shoes off and pedal on top of them entering T2 so I cost myself some time there.  I have since practiced that in front of my house which I will be trying in my next race.  T2 was fine.  I was cramping a little at the beginning of my run so i slowed my pace til it subsided.  I finished what i felt was ok.  My pace was off by about 45 seconds a mile from my goal.  The last 500M of the run was on the beach headed back to the swim exit.  I was 163 on the run.  overall I finished 198 out of the 366 with 3 DNF.  I missed my goal of 1:15 but i did beat my target of 1:30.  I have to say I can't wait to race again to push harder.  I felt that I left some on both the bike and the run but was afraid i think to kill myself and have to walk.  I am racing again in another sprint on the 30th and I will make my 1:15 this time.    

Well done ed, that sounds really good.
You know, if my bike chain fell off i don't know if I'd know how to put it back on! A hole in my knowledge there I think.

My first race is in 3 weeks aggghhh.

But , very well done again Ed. I am inspired. .

Jennifer