DRM's Group - FULL (Page 13)

I'm tired!  Seriously I'm now in the taper for the Tri-Amercia race in 12 days.  I'm looking forward to a change after this race though, I've been focused on this race since December.  Maybe I'll start lifting again for a few weeks and back off on the number of tri-sport related workouts I do, then refocus for the 2 sprints I have in early June and mid July. 

If we coordinate, my plan is the same after IMAZ.  I'm going to try to keep my long run/bike base the best I can, but work onsomelifting, weight loss and speed. 

Hey guys!

Hope y'all had a great weekend.  I had a couple of good workouts and am tapering down this week.  Friday's run felt awesome after having 4 days off! I'm getting mentally focused for the race and starting to get all my things together via the checklist.  I have to be all set by Friday as Saturday we're meeting Friends up at UF to watch the Orange/Blue spring practice game and it'll be a long day and probably won't have any time to gather anything I need.  Forecast for the race shows it being pretty warm but with 20 MPH winds with 35+ gusts, ACK!  I hope that changes...

Steve, when are you traveling?  Godspeed man!

Hey guys.  I feel like tooting my horn a little.  I ran 3 miles this morning and did 50 mins on the trainer the other day...I'm back.  The only bad thing - I'm motivated and it's hard to not overdo it.  My main goal right now is the Tour de Cure mid June and then a tri or tris after that.  OK, I got that out of my system.

What I'm really hear to say is good luck to Steve and Don this weekend.  Is anyone else racing?  What distance Don?

Good Luck and Have Fun!!

Hey Joe!
Glad to see you're back in action.  As for tempering motivation, it's hard to do and you just have to remember injury sucks.  I have a difficult time getting my business partner to slow it down, he's also a classic Type-A personality.  In the past 1.5 years he's had a stress fracture in is lower leg, ITB/hip and shin splints issues!

My tri is a long course event, 2k swim (1.24m), 60k bike (37.2m) and a 15k run (9.3m), basically a 1.5x Oly event. 

Well guys, it's done with, the toughest damn triathlon I've ever done yet!  Check out the race report...I'm getting tighter and sorer as the day goes on, hot tubbing it tonight followed by a soak in the pool which has cooled down to the low 70's already!

Looking forward to hearing about Steve's IMAZ.

D- Enjoyed reading about your race.  IMAZ was fantstic. I feel like a different person. More relaxed.  Now that I've got the endur., it's time to increase speed. This week I'm going to start weights and base maintainence.  Also some stretching.  I have a sprint, and Oly and a HIM for the rest of the season.  Next year mostly Olys and HIMs. 

  I'd like to thank you guys for supporting me so much. It has really helped me. Hopefully I'm pulling my weight for you guys as well. I'm going to try to increase my chatter here as well.  Have a great training week.

First tri coming up this weekend, gents.

It's a sprint - 600m, 11.2, 5K - and should be a perfect introduction.  My swimming's come a long way since Jan.  I'm not fast, but am definitely feeling more comfortable in the water.  Relative to Nov, when I could barely swim 50 w/out feeling like I was going to heave a lung, I can now pump out 600+ w/out too much pain.

The bike will definitely be my long suit, though I beat my legs up a bit this past Friday via a nice, hilly 36-miler prior to watching Stage 5 of the Tour de Georgia (check out my album to see a few pics).  Here's the section of the 36-miler that beat me up:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/map.asp?routeid=11842 Owl Creek Road section of the Circle the Bald ride.  Note the elevation gain between mile 3 and mile 4.

The ride was fun and my legs should be fine before Sat - fortunately 11.2 is a piece of cake distance for me.

The run will be a run - not fast/slow.  After this race, I'm planning to incorporate more speed work into my WO's in order to start knocking off time.

As so many have hammered into me - "this is your first, focus on finishing - don't worry about "fast."  after this one, you'll have base numbers to use for training purposes."

Anybody else racing this weekend?

Lou, best of luck! 

Sounds like you're are ready and have had plenty of advise!  Just make sure at the end of the bike you gear up to get your legs to spin at a pretty good rate to prep you for the run.  Then at the start of the run, keep the turnover high but stride length short and gradually build up the stride length (speed) as your legs come around without changing you turnover.

Cool pix, Landis doesn't look synthetic in that pix! 

Man what a killer climb, ACK just looking at it, I'd need a new cog set to ride that!

Envious!  Here I am with a bum back wanting to workout.  Chiro doc said I can start with some easy stuff but social calender is full due to wife and daughters B-days, etc.  So I'm going to chill a few more days then get back into the game plan next week.

Kick red bike, Lou.

I'd like you guys to try to make the Late July Mistletoe State Park Sprint in Appling, GA. I'm going to have a BBQ after that and my house is only 15 minutes from the race!  Think about it!

Jonathan...you're going to rock it this weekend.  Have no doubts - you're ready!!

I can't wait to hear about it.

Donto/Mentor Group dudes:  Thanks to each of you for the insights/inspires/encouragement that helped get me to and through my first race.  Let's all cheer on Jonathan now!

Thanks Lou.  I'm officially in freak out taper mode.   

Thanks, Tod...it was fun...and kind of surreal at the same time...as I look back on it, once my swim wave started, I was on auto-pilot...especially trying to reflect back on my transitions, they're a blur...this goes to say, start preparing mentally for what you're going to do during the race (don't overkill it, though, because 4 weeks is a long time - you'll have plenty of time to think more intently a week or two out)...OK, now for more specifics as they related to me:

1) I'm not a swimmer - have only been pursuing seriously since Jan - and was worried about this facet of the race.  To help, I took 2 private swim lessons prior to my race - one about 6 weeks out, another about 3 weeks out...also, I managed to get in 2 OWS practice sessions - the first 2 weeks prior, the second 1 week prior...all of this helped make for a great OWS during the race.  I never panicked and came out of the water feeling good.

2) Biking is my strong suit and I'd hoped to go a bit faster during this segment...I guesstimated I could turn a 33 min bike split and came in at 35 and change...this said, in retrospect, I'd do two things different next time:

• get out on the road earlier in the season and get more rolling hills practice under my belt...Georgia's winter ran a bit late and cold this year...most of my riding was confined to flats, trainer, or a road loop that's great for base training...
• wouldn't take my first serious hill-work ride (36 miles in the hills of N. Georgia) and then a hike up grade that included some 22-24% stretches a week out from the race...I cramped up my right quad pretty good during the ride...and both legs felt heavy through most of the week leading to the "big day."

3) Running - not much to say here...I simply need to get out and do more interval work to get my speed up...the run portion of the race went about as well as I expected given my prep.

Other thoughts....

• If you haven't already, get hold of a "transition" check-list to help with your gear selection/check-off prior to the race.
• Practice transitions - I did a bit of this via my bricks, but most of it was mental practice...
• Make sure you do some bricks prior to your race - these are really helpful!
• Get plenty of rest TWO nights prior to your race...I didn't sleep great the night prior to my race (nerves, go figure), but I got a great night of rest on Wed. night and Thursday night...this really helped.

That's it for now, but let's touch base as you get closer.  Like Jonathan, you're going to do great.  Your logs show plenty of work under your belt and my only suggestion would be to hit your "weak link" (whatever this might be) a bit harder...if it's biking or running, you've got another week or two where hard work might make a diff come race day...

Otherwise, keep doing what you're doing...I'm sure Jonathan will be able to offer additional insights from his perspective and the other more experienced Mentor-group dudes will undoubtedly weigh in as well...

Hey Tod,

I'm going to be coming over during the month to Melbo Beach for some pre-race training swims, bikes and runs.  Want to play along?  Usually Sat or Sunday mornings, not sure if that works for you or not.

Tod:

If I were you, I'd be all over Donto's invite...you'd probably gain a ton of insight during these sessions...also, speaking of Donto, as he told me prior to my race...it's OK to have sex the night before your race...in fact, based upon my experience, I'd highly recommend that you do so...you'll be fine...

Lou covered just about everything there is to cover.  I would the following point:

IMHO, speed is mostly a function of volume.  For example, in the 3 years that I ran cross country in college, I maybe visited the track 6 times total.  What got me to sub 6 minute miles was running 40-50 miles per week.  As you are running, just through in a speed burst here and there (call it whatever you want: fartlek, tempo, etc.).  But mainly, get in the hours and miles/yards and you'll get faster.

Throw in a race every month or two (racing is high intensity training) and you will do great.

Sex the night before the race is relaxing and fun. Highly recommended. If you score a threesome it knocks 10% off your PR.

I just got a 4k bonus pay for 2006. Computrainer? Powertap? Any ideas?

If I got a $4000 bonus, I would have to split it with the Warden. 

If I got to keep the whole thing, I'd go $1K on some type of power meter (just researching them tonight).  I'd save the rest for a general tri slush fund to be used later (say coaching, race wheels or what not).

Sweet - congrats on the nice bonus...if you have everything else, I'll second Jonathan's suggestion.  Get something that'll allow you to train with "power."  I've heard great things about Computrainer/Powertap/SRM...have fun shopping!