JohnnyKay and Fred Doucette's HIM/IM focused Mentor group-CLOSED (Page 64)

I'm sitting in the hotel lobby waiting, waiting, waiting for my family to wake up. I should be sleeping late and relaxing right?

Nope, early moring swim in the hotel pool and two cups of coffee. Now I'm bouncing off the walls!

Just got back from Racine and boy was that a disappointing race. Still trying to figure it what to take from it but some positives are listed below:

New swim and bike PR for the distance (33:15, 2:38:xx)

Was doing awful on the first half of the bike, but learned how being patient and getting in nutrition can really bring you back.

Paced very well through T2

Learned how to draft off feet after missing the front pack on the swim and sharing drafting duties with one other swimmer.

Took T1 easy as not to spike my HR

One I got out of T2 my HR was right where I wanted it to be and I was ready to run. But for some reason I just decided that cruising through the course with run/walking the entire way was the option to take. I did not hit a wall, did not bonk, and actually felt really good on the first mile. I am not sure why I decided to walk and "attack" the run the way that I did, but I am sure that it was mental. The thought of running 13.1 miles in the heat feared me, and I failed to break the run down into the 4 5k's that I had planned to do so. Trying to take as much as I can from this race and put it forth towards Pigman next month, but right now it is best to put it behind me, move on, and enjoy the second half of summer.

'morning everyone...some of you have already visited my RR but I thought I would share it over here if anyone else is interested.  Also, my husband is not a super active BTer, but I usually can cajole him into a RR, mainly because they're funny and because he reads everyone else's so he likes to give back in that way.  Check it out, he has a freaky problem with cramps during hot races.  Love to hear how you all deal with this if you have similar problems.

Ben-I am so sorry you had a disappointing race.  It was pretty angsty for a lot of us, but I guess the up side of doing a distance for the first time is no missed PR.

Dina gave me some cr@p about not mentioning my rented race wheels in my RR, so I thought I would do the next best thing and post a pic...

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Back in town and have internet again.  Fred  - that's not "nice", that's awesome!  Congrats on a great race.  1st in AG and still have areas to improve (shakes head with a smile).  I know the swim and transitions didn't go as planned, but everything else really seemed to come together.  Anyway, "nice" job.

Fred Doucette - 2011-07-21 8:48 PM Neil I'm really happy with my race but I always have areas to improve upon.... We all do

And some of us more than others.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

I'm still waiting on my foot to heal. It is getting better but continues to give me pain in the morning. I'm tired of it, ready for it to go away and ready to run again (on ground instead of in the water). I swore I would go to the end of July though (unless the pain just went away) so I'm sticking to it. Patience. I keep reminding myself that it took me 4 months to mess my foot up, it's not going to heal in 2 weeks.

I'm experimenting with my riding style a little bit and it seems to be paying off. I'm focusing on a much higher cadence instead of trying to push a harder gear. When I notice my legs start to slow down I go to an easier gear and pedal faster. It has to be a whole lot faster though which takes a lot of mental concentration. I'm having fun and my mph are faster than they have been all summer so I'm going to stick with it I think!

I can't believe July is almost over! I probably will not race in August but I am volunteering at IM Louisville to cheer my training partner for her first IM ever. I don't like to take multiple weekends in a month away from my family for triathlon stuff so that will have to be it. September is my next option for racing local and it looks like a HIM aqua/bike would be my best option. I think it would be fun to go all out for that distance on the bike and see what I can do.

How is your training going?

Congrats on the PR & podium slot!

I'm beginnning to think it's likely I do a HIM in early Sept.  My swimming has been coming back around and my biking (while still doing less of it than I'd really like) has been pretty solid.  Running is more of a question mark for me.  I have not been able to get in nearly as much of it as I'd like.  But I've probably been doing enough to get myself through the race OK and it will probably be my only other chance to race again until next season.

Just got back from my business trip this past weekend.  8 days of no training...even though I had planned to.  The 6 hour time difference was tough to adjust to for the first 3 days, and I just lost focus once my body did adjust.

Came back in time for my first RR, which resulted in a double flat on the first of 4 laps and a DNF.  Read more about it here if you like

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=262278

No big deal though...was more of a training race, but more upset that I still don't know what caused the flats and that after 8 days of no training, I was only able to ride 11 miles.

I was planning to ride later that day, but after a 2 hour nap, I realized my body needed more rest to adjust back to Hawaii time...and it was more important to take advantage of the time I did have to rest than to force in a workout and mess myself up for the next 3-4 days.

Got in a run this morning, and plan to ride this afternoon.  I do have another just for fun race this Sunday...a tri (750m, 40k, 10k)...so it will be a medium week for me.  Luckily my flat issues was with my rear 404, and I plan to use my PT training wheel with disc cover for this upcoming race, so I don't expect the same issues.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Eight days for your body to rest from training actually sounds pretty good. I probably need to do something like that. I go through a phase every year where my body starts to revolt with little aches and pains (happening right now).

Good luck finding out what is causing your flats and with your next race!

Sprint race report - solid MOP as usual.  One of these days I'll get faster.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=262388

sbsmann - 2011-07-25 10:06 AM So coming off my Racine HIM last week, I basically took a week off from training. Did a little swimming but that is all.  Last year at this time I was in a bike mishap in which I fractured my elbow a week before I was scheduled to do a local sprint distance triathlon here in Wisconsin.  Needless to say, I missed that race and the rest of the season.  However, lucky for me the accomodating race director allowed me to roll over last years registration and race for free this year.  Kind of unheard on these days, and I was really impressed with that act.

Anyway, the race was yesterday and I am proud to say I PR'd AND finished on the podium for my AG.  Ironically, I really finished 4th, but the race did not allow wetsuits and the guy ahead of me was wearing one.  Ooooops to him, but bonus for me!  Feel free to check out the race report that I just posted....http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=262187&posts=2&start=1

Plan is to start picking up training again, but I am not sure how hard because my season is kind of winding down now.  It's always hard for me to train a lot when there are no races in the near future....so maybe I just need to schedule one

Congrats on the podium and a great effort after Racine. I have always wanted to do this race, but it never fits with my schedule!

To stay healthy--mentally & physically, I enjoy the training and its side-effects.

Because I like to compete (with myself and others) and challenge myself.

And, in tris I can be competitive while being mediocre in each sport.    (actually, the training variety is something I enjoy)

Unfortunately, I think some people will always have a jaded view of how they believe others look at them.  It's about perception, rightly or wrongly, and you ain't going to change it.

As for me, I do tri's for a couple of reaons.  1)  I enjoy it (except the swim, but I'm trying to like it), 2)  I want to be good at it (and it frustrates me to not be as competitive as I want to be). 

I could have picked golf to pursue, I was already good at it, but decided on Tri's because it posed a challenge.  I had no background in any of the disciplines, and just wanted to prove to myself that I could succeed at something new.

@ Dina - 8 days off was rather nice.  My legs felt awesome afterwards...but I could tell my cardio was a bit rusty.  The problem was that I was in the south...and they love to eat in the south.  Fried food and BBQ.  I also had the biggest sweet potato I've ever seen in my life...and they told me I needed to put brown sugar and cinnamon all over it.  Needless to say I gained like 8 pounds in 8 days.  Granted, I think some of it was just beer weight from the last night I was there.  I've lost about 4-5 of those pounds back already.

@ Fred - I do tris mainly for fun.  I like the training, and I like the people I train with.  If I had to choose between having more success in races, but having to train solo, or have less success in races, but always get to train with my friends...I'd choose the later.

Helped a lady yesterday change a flat.  She had all the tools, tube, C02...just didn't know how.  So I took extra time to actually teach her.  Hopefully that gets me some brownie points from the race gods in the future.

Stopping to help her did put a wrench in my 25 minute interval...so I decided to focus on a 1 minute peak power interval, and set a new PB at 564 watts...24 higher than my previous.  I rarely take the opportunity to focus specifically on 1 minute blowouts...so I still felt like I accomplished something yesterday.

Oh man, I'm going to have to go find that thread!

Racing is about a personal challenge for me. To follow through, to not be a quitter, to fight the little girl inside me that was always afraid to try. It's also an escape. When I am training and trying to max out speed on my bike, swim sprints, or run on the trail, I am not Mommy anymore. I am not a preschool teacher, music teacher or a gym teacher. I am an athlete.

It is my quiet time and my social outlet all rolled into one. Of course health and fitness are factors but personally (and I am only speaking for myself) to establish a lifelong fitness routine there has to be some love there. I love to swim/bike/run! I don't have to race, but I have learned a lot about myself by trying.