Tri Mark's Madness Group-Closed (Page 29)

beth, garrunning, private idaho.....

welcome to the tri club!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you guys deserved it!!! very cool!

hypoxic,

great find on the cleat arrangment.  I tried to mention that in my long post, but it might have got lost in translation!

Best of luck!

Have him video you head on coming at him, then go back and get a side shot as you pass him, and on that shot, keep rolling as you go by him so there is a rear view.  Make sure that you are pedaling at your optimum cadence when you pedal past him.  It's a bit more complicated to do it this way, but much more valuable than in the trainer.  Everything is just a bit off in the trainer.

You're not an idiot.  I mean like a mid gear at your average cadence.  Something with some resistance so I can see what your pedal stroke looks like, but not so hard you are mashing with your quads and not so easy that there is no resistance.  Basically it means go a couple blocks down so that when you are in camera range you are moving at a nice pace and pedaling at a normal rate.

COngratulations Ron, on your podium finish!! Awesome for your first one.  I am slowly figuring out pacing, how much to save and when to spend it. I imagine it comes with experience. I also am learning to use heart rate as a guide to avoid going too hard too soon. 

You had a great first experience, and now when you do that race next year, you'll know what to do.  Just having the experience of completing the race will help you in every race you do from here on out.  You'll know how things feel and that you had gas in the tank, so you can push it harder.  Racing sprints and Oly distances is a unique deal.  Each distance has it's challenges.  To make sure you empty the tank at shorter distance is nearly as hard as making sure you have something left at the longer ones.  Sounds like you're hooked!

Going out now to video, will try to post this afternoon.  Going for round 2 of shots this afternoon - I am at 60%, so hopefully these will bump me up to running more than a mile!   I am happy to say after 4 months, I think the swimming is clicking.  I am not gasping for air, sinking, and I am bilaterally breathing.  I am staring to feel part fish, although my husband assures me I am not swimming THAT well.  I ordered a Pearl Izumi (sp?) tri-suit, have my neosport wetsuit(thanks for that tip).  Bike helmet, swim cap, swim socks, body-glide, lanolin for my parts, I believe I am getting there and it will all come together.  I respect all of you so much, this is such a mental and physical commitment, but I can see fruit in other areas of my life from it.  Thanks to you all for your commitment - it keeps me going.   off to bike.   

K

you can email it to me at [email protected]

Ok, what I see when I look at this is that I think your heel may be a bit too high right now.  Your heel should be slightly higher than your toe, but it's really slight.  When I look at this, I see the heel a bit too high, which places stress on the arch.  In looking at it, I also think that your seat may be a little bit too high.  That could exaggerate the heel position out of neccessity to stay in touch with the pedals.  It's a bit hard for me to say exactly as I'm a lot more familiar/comfortable with looking at position on tri bikes, but I think that may be a big part of your issue.  It's clear that when you go into the aero position, the bike is a little hard to control because of the configuration of it and your weight distribution vs. the bike's center of gravity.  I'm not sure that you benefit much in that aero configuration as your front is really high still.  If it's comfortable, then great, if it's a matter of doing it because you want to be faster or think you have to, I don't think there's a lot of gain.  To benefit from aero positioning, you need to really have your head down low, creating an airflow over your back which can be flat or rounded, basically drops from your hips to your shoulders depending on how aggressive you get. 

For your feet I would keep playing with very little adjustments on the cleats.  I'd slide back forward some or try adjusting the seat down a little bit at a time.  Play with it until you have it right basically.  Also focus your thoughts on pedaling 3 to 9 on the clock, not 12 to 6.   

Let me say it different.  There is no start and no end to the stroke.  It's a circle, not an up and down motion.  Sometimes it helps to visualize pedaling front to back to keep the circle smooth.  That way you lift as much as you push and keep the force as even as possible.  Engage the hamstring and glutes in the stroke.

Good Luck to anyone racing today, I have my first century ride today. I am excited to see how I do my longest has only been 56 miles and I didn't feel to bad after. I am hoping to finish under 6 hours, I'm not pushing the pace just looking to have fun!!!

Have fun and keep smiling

Wow - a century! Good luck... let us know how it goes.  I have my first half-century next weekend and am a little apprehensive since my longest ride so far has only been 32 miles.

-Ron

Well, first true sprint tri in the books.  All I can say is wow, that's uncomfortable.  The entire thing at threshold is just brutal.  I was about 1 minute off where I wanted to be, which meant the difference between 4th and 3rd for me unfortunately.  The good news is that I wanted to be in the top 50 overall (safely inside top 10%) and top 5 age group.  I accomplished both with a 4th in AG and 37th overall.  Nearly wiped out on the last turn on the bike, and I mean within a fraction of a second from losing it all.  Averaged 23 mph on the bike, low 7's on the run, have to look more closely at the run.  I feel like I left it all out there.  Just a few things I'd do differently next year, but overall what a fun experience after you give your lungs 10 minutes to stop burning and down a couple Sam Adams at the finish line.  My wife finished 7th in her AG and well inside the top 10% of the women overall too, so good day. 

No more sprints this year, it's all long and laborious from here.  Racine 70.3 in one month, followed by Steelhead 70.3 one month after that, a half marathon two weeks after that, then Chicago Marathon in October.  Looks like lots of running for me.

Nice job Mark, looks like you have a busy schedule coming up.

congrats to Mark and Garrunning!

@Gar, very cool to finish your first century! It's tough sometimes to do it all by urself.  The only two I have done I road with my dad the whole way so it didn't get lonley! congrats on making your goal!

@Mark, Sprints are a blast! Balls tot he wall! Glad you gave it all you had and finished well withing 10%. 

I decided to sign up for a local 10k.  I had been up previously all night fishing in a bass tourny, but my sister offered up her couch which was only a couple blocks from the race start.  SO i took it!

Hilly 10k (maybe 400 ft climb) which really put a hurt on my splits.  But had a blast and set a new PR. 41:47.  I hadn't run a 10k in a few years.  I hope to break that on July 4th with a more flat course.  10k's feel worse to me than half mary.  All out! HR was about 8 beats higher the whole time compared to half mary.

Race report here!

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=256140

Congrats everybody!

Garrunning - Awesome century - any tips about what you learned about long-ride nutrition?  Did you eat some solid foods or just gels?  What kind of liquids?

Mark - With all your accomplishments, I can't believe it was your first sprint... I bet you flew.

linfieldpt - What a weekend! PR and a fishing tourney... don't get much better than that!

Tom - congrats on first tri - I read your swim report and it sounded exactly like my first experience last week... until I saw your time - I'd love to be that "slow" - you must be a fish if that is a botched swim.

It was indeed my first true sprint.  The one I do in Galena every year is a sprint, but it's all 12% grade and crazy hills, so it's quite different.  This course is flat.  The only thing that sucks is there is a lot of turns on the bike so you bleed speed and have to regain it.  Quite interesting.  The official times came out today. Swim split was 5:17 for 400m, the ride was like 38 minutes (22.9 mph avg.), and then a 30 minute run for 4.1 miles 7:19 avg miles.  I think I could do better if I focus on this type of effort, but it's not my main pursuit, so I'll just try to move up a slot and get to the podium next year.

It was indeed my first true sprint.  The one I do in Galena every year is a sprint, but it's all 12% grade and crazy hills, so it's quite different.  This course is flat.  The only thing that sucks is there is a lot of turns on the bike so you bleed speed and have to regain it.  Quite interesting.  The official times came out today. Swim split was 5:17 for 400m, the ride was like 38 minutes (22.9 mph avg.), and then a 30 minute run for 4.1 miles 7:19 avg miles.  I think I could do better if I focus on this type of effort, but it's not my main pursuit, so I'll just try to move up a slot and get to the podium next year.

So Yeah Me! I finished my longest race yet this weekend Trinona in Winona, Minnesota. So many firsts where do I begin:

This is my first international distance. 1.5kswim, 40kbike and 10k run. When I started training I had never done anywhere near that distance swimming. Also first race in a wet suit.

This was the first long distance travel tri - so that adds some complexity.

This was my hilliest course ever (we don't have hills here in Miami). I made it up the Garvin Heights hill and only stopped because when the volunteer told me I was halfway up I got so excited I bumped into the curb - oops. Btw, I learned that clipping back in while going up hill is ... how shall I say ... difficult, close to impossible, awkward.

Not super speedy 3:28:10 but finished with a smile. And not last - close but not the very last person across the line. I'm super proud of myself.

I wrote a race report but not really sure where the link would be.