Slornow and Wannabefaster's Winter Group version 3-CLOSED (Page 63)

Nothing too hard the two days before the race. That would be my taper.

Nothing too hard the two days before the race. That would be my taper.

Good luck, racers! Can't wait for the race reports.

My marathon isn't till next Sunday. I love tapering, haha!

Thanks for the nutrition tip, Jason! That's my plan. I'll be wearing a hydration belt I'll be wearing to pack my gels and my extra fluids. It's super hot here and I don't want to be caught between water stops thirsty.

I have 10 miles tonight, then easy peasy after that till race day.

Happy weekend!

Blanda- I just got this newsletter from McMillan running. Looks like a pretty good article on fueling and hydration. http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=15ab0027-5661-4df...

Mary, Randy, Rene: Best of luck this weekend! Stay healthy and crush it!

Thank you so much! That was some very useful information.

Randy and Rene good luck!!

Arrived here in St Louis last night, in the 40's brrrr. High of 61 tomorrow so should b nice.
Heading to the expo soon.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Mary

In reference to my Ucan post last week...I ordered the new orange flavor hoping I'd like it. It uses a different sweetener than the lemonade. Was a great gamble. It's actually tasty & seemed to mix better/more thoroughly.

Had a beautifully consistent 6 1/2 mile run this morning. Now I'm trying to convince myself to.clean the house since we're hosting 3 guests for Master's week. I'd rather go run 6 more miles.

Interesting to hear. I had about decided that I was going to go a different direction when I used up my current UCan supply (could be years) even though it has worked great as an energy source. Now I may have to order some of the orange to see how it is.

Great start to the year Randy. Congrats on the AG win and a great showing overall. 4.5 minute improvement is solid too especially when you're pushing for every little bit.

Did my first outside ride of the year today. It was in the mid 40's but felt warm enough and most of the snow is gone. Of course the second I got outside the sun disappeared but oh well. Also rode for the first time in the road in the "aero" position. Since the position is still in the works, it's not really "aero" for all intents and purposes. I've put in some good time on them on the trainer but dropping down into that position for the first time on the road was weird. It took me a few minutes to get control over it but towards the middle of the ride I felt really comfortable. Huge difference in wind resistance, even in the crappy position I'm in. I'll start dialing the measurement in but it feels solid so far. Then I threw in a 4 mile run tonight because it's still warm enough out. Can't wait for this warm weather to stick.

Hey everyone-

I've been absent for a few days, traveling with my youngest son doing some spring break-ish things. Only been running lightly and swimming in hotel pools for last couple days. The timing was good for a small training break following a huge conversation with TOWKA before we left about where all this training is leading and my mental state with regards to racing. It is a long write up which I'll do when I get home but it does bring up some interesting points for me and interesting discussion, I think, regarding people's motivation for why we do this. That TOWKA...she seems to know a thing or two!

Randy - Great job on the race yesterday! Can't wait to hear the details.

I'm late with my well wishes to everyone racing this weekend, since I know some are probably out on the course right now, but do great everyone! Can't wait to hear about everyone's race execution from the weekend.

Looks like 23 MPH on the way out and just under 21 on the way back. 9mm on the run through the first half. Awesome job Rene. Keep it up!

Looks like an incredibly consistent run (8:58/mile) to finish in 5:27:55! Well done, Rene.

Edited by glfprncs 2014-04-06 1:36 PM

Wow! Incredible job Randy and Rene you guys killed it. I'm definitely going to have to step up my game to hang with this group. Very inspiring.

Jon- I did pretty much the same thing yesterday. My legs were pretty fatigued yesterday and I wasn't looking forward to 90 minutes of intervals on the trainer. I said the heck with it and pulled the bike off the trainer, bundled up and hit the road for an easy 45 minute spin. It was a bit windy and chilly but well worth it. Plus my legs feel a lot better today, which is good seeing as how I have to head out for a 12 mile long run in about an hour.

As always, the team is just doing an awesome job out there. Great races all around.

Right now it is just after 1:00 PM in CA. In two hours it will be exactly one year since I was hit and blew up my life. So this is officially the last time I will ever mention it. It is now officially just history.

I celebrated the anniversary with a 22 mile ride. Felt ok. I still have a lot of work to do but it is all up from here. I found a few guys to ride with so my wife is happy. Looking forward to getting in some pool time.

First even back will be the Color Run next month, which I will walk but still a lot of fun. Then a Aqua/Bike behind that.

I have a big push of stuff at work behind me so I should be able to contribute a bit more than I have the past few weeks. Not sure if that's good or bad for you guys but I certainly get a lot of great advice and inspiration form the group. Thanks to all for helping me get through this past year.

Now I have to finish my taxes...yeah

I had a wonderful marathon!
Goal #1 was to finish and I did.
Goal #2 which was a secret goal was finish under 5 hours and I finished in 4:50!

St Louis had beautiful weather, cool partly cloudy for a lot of it. The route was a very interesting way to see the city. The last two miles were very sick but I am so pleased that those are sort of fading away in my memory.
I will do a RR tonight or tomorrow.

Rene and Randy congratulations! Randy you did well which is no surprise-happy for you!
Rene-that is a very strong race, so glad it seems to have gone smoothly and I look forward to hearing the details!

I had a bit of an epiphany today and wanted to share. It may sound as though I'm 'tooting my own horn,' but that truly isn't my intent if it comes across that way. It's just one of those 'a-ha' type of things that I didn't see clearly until today.

I wasn't able to ride with the 9:00 a.m. bike group today, so did my own leisurely thing. Planned on a 24 mile ride with 4 pretty decent climbs of 2-3 miles each, and then left from one of our OWS areas as I wanted to do a short brick run.

Went and rode alone, which was actually a good thing as I didn't have to stop at the 'predetermined' meet up areas, though I still get a little worked up riding solo because of cars/traffic//dogs/etc. Rode at a decent pace, but nothing ridiculous. Legs were feeling a little beat up the 4 miles back in (from those silly little climbs), got to the car, put the bike up, laced up my shoes and went to run my 2 mile brick.

So, the first 1/4 mile goes by, I keep my pace slow on purpose, my legs hurt, my brain is asking me why I'm doing this. I mentally tell myself to just zip it, and focus on breathing and keeping a nice cadence. I run across a bridge, and then enter a single track path in the woods...and the world simply went away.

Because I was running on a rutted, rooted path, I was keeping a close eye out for things that might trip me. I ran, watched for roots, my watch beeps. I don't even look at it. I keep running, realize I'm about halfway around the pond I parked at...don't hear my watch beep, don't feel my lungs wanting to explode, don't hear my legs yelling at me that THEY FREAKING HURT A LOT! I just ran and tried not to fall down. Next thing I knew, I was coming up a slight hill and could see the parking lot and my car. Then I heard my brain chattering away, I felt my lungs, I felt my legs. For 35 minutes...I was able to ignore all of that b.s. simply because I changed up my running venue to a trail, and out of necessity of not wanting to get hurt, was able to shut out all of that other crap that makes training difficult....and ran 4+ miles (instead of the planned 2) in the process.

It was a beautiful thing.

When I got back to my car, I started thinking of where I was a year ago. I had been riding my bike for about 3 weeks and was in sheer misery (and I'm not kidding...I was in SO MUCH PAIN from that saddle) and all climbs put fear into my soul. Although I had run a marathon the month prior, my runs were horrid. I couldn't swim two lengths of the pool without having to stop and gasp for air.

Now...my saddle and I aren't the best of friends, but I can tolerate the discomfort (still searching for the perfect fit/right saddle) and am comfortable with the cycling aspect and feel as though I'm getting stronger and stronger with every ride. I rarely have to shift into my 'granny' gear, and I used it a BUNCH last year. I'm no faster in my runs (well, maybe a smidge), but I actually feel strong in them, and I've learned to not bail when things get tough. This has been a huge deal for me. No longer do I allow myself that 20-30 second walk break...and this has been important for my mental toughness. I can swim a mile...maybe even more. I'm not fast, but I can swim a mile without needing a poolside to cling from.

I'm learning that my mind isn't allowed to limit what my body is capable of doing. Today was a pretty empowering day.

What a great weekend for this group. Randy, Rene, Mary (and Nancy with the epiphany).... you guys are awesome and inspiring.

On another note... I just got a new bike today a 2007 Fuji Roubaix RC. The guy basically got it as he was starting to get into cycling and it never stuck so it had been sitting in his garage for years It's got ultegra components and even ultegra pedals. Finally all my craigslist searching has finally paid off

I posted my race report.

Here is my triathlon photo from last summer and my marathon from today.! Happy happy happy!







Attachments
----------------
image.jpg (187KB - 4 downloads)
image.jpg (227KB - 4 downloads)

Just to give ya'll a heads up, I'm gonna be a bit dormant on this forum until late Thursday night. The term swamped is putting it mildly with schoolwork. I'm overworked, stressed out, disorganized to the max, and I got two tests, two quizzes, and a paper to have done within a 72 hour period.

I've got to get organized and get on a schedule. I've proven to be too forgettable about things and can't get anything done that I want to get done...except being lazy. So I gotta turn things around somehow, but I don't have a clue how to do it.

I will be active on TrainingPeaks, Strava, and BT uploading workouts, metrics and meals, but that's about it until Friday.

I do extend a congrats to those who raced in the last few days. When the madness ceases, I look forward to catching up and reading your race reports.