TRI4ALL - Is Now FULL (Page 8)

I prowled over the website.  Thanks for the link!  I lived in Knoxville from about 70 - 78.  A lot of links to other East TN links.  I saw Panther Creek on there.  There is an Xterra race there, but I just can't fit that one in my schedule this year.

That Fall Creek Falls 10k trail run looks fun too!

 You smoked me on the swim, Tim!  Then again, my 1st Tri swim isn't until July 4th weekend. 

Brutal 36 mile road bike ride with the team today.

Yeah, Tim, that was one of the more enjoyable swims.  Now if I can just do that in the mornings!  That was a Sunday afternoon swim.

Good numbers for Feb, John!  Especially the run!  Are you warming up thoroughly before starting?  I came off a two-day business road trip yesterday and wanted to run.  Jumped rope for a quick 2 minutes, stretched for a few minutes and went into the cold to run.  Halfway thru mile 2, right hamstring went "TWANG!"  I had to do a lot of stretching and yoga afterwards to loosen it up.  Still sore today.

Everyone see all of the bike porn in this month's Triathlete mag?  Pant, pant, pant, drool, drool...

We had a rare 3" snow last night.  Some of it drifted to about 5" deep.  Got out and tooled around on the Rockhopper in the backyard.  Went to swim later and the pool was closed due to the weather.  Got a great weight workout in and then ran 3.5 in 32:38.  My kind of Saturday!

I don't ride on "salted" roads when it snows.  I wipe it down afterwards and relube the chain.  The Rockhopper is my secondary mtn bike, not my primary race bike.  I won't take the Epic out in the snow.

Got a good swim in today then an opportunity arose to knock out a quick 10 miles on the road later in the day.

I'd ditch the reflectors, if you feel comfortable.  Depends on how much riding you do at night.  I personally don't ride at night.  I don't road race, so I'm not a "weight wiennie" (yet).  Some mtn bikers are weight-wiennies though.  They'll go to carbon bottle cages, ultra-light (and ultra expensive!) rims, titanium seats, carbon seat posts, carbon handle bars, carbon brake levers, etc.

I don't want to ramble, but one thing more.  I was at the bike shop I race for about 8 months ago.  I wanted some high-end wheels (rims) for my mtn race bike.  I was asking the owner about some Mavic rims.  He had rims hanging all behind the counter, etc.  He said, "Terry, saving 8 ounces over the rims you have now, isn't going to make you faster.  Your fitness will make you faster.  Work on that and when your rims wear out, we'll look at rims."

WOW!  Dude could have sold me any set in that shop, but he said to work on my fitness.  He earned my respect that day (and on other days).  So I don't do the weight thing.  A carbon bottle cage(s) won't help me win a race.  One or two total pounds off my bike's weight won't win a race for me, but hill-climb repeats, wintertime base miles, etc. will.

My .02 worth.

Hammer products rock!

I just ordered Infinit last night.  You go to their website and mix your own for only about $40.  They advertise that folks run entire Ironman competitions on that product alone (wouldn't they all like to say that)!

Hey John,

Hang in there man.  Life slaps us all upside the head on occasion and our training schedules get all caddywhompus.  I'm sure things will slow down for you.  I imagine at the beach you'll get some killer workouts in and that will get you back in the swing of things when you return.

Tim - check with the manufacturer of what you want to buy and ask if they have bulk discounts.  Or ask your favorite retailer if they offer quantity discounts.  I was at Vitamin Shoppe at lunch today and they have the No Explode (whatever the drink is) for $3.15 a bottle.  A little hit of that at 5:15 AM and it helps get me to the pool at "oh-dark-thirty."

Terry

It was road.   Wicked hills!  Like 5mph climbing and 36 mph down.  I'm too chicken to go any faster downhill.

Mountain bike practice tomorrow (Saturday).

Hope things are well in Iowa!