Ran a 10k in June (3 Viewers)

[wraith5]

BnB - that's a nice bike. If grue doesn't take it, I might.

Sand - well done in the race!

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but losing 4% of your body weight on a 15 mile run (while drinking 40 oz of liquid) is considered "bad," right? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is...

I hate this weather.

On the bike: Is everyone is this thread 6'2"? I couldn't reach the pedals on that thing.Thanks for the note on the race. I'm pretty happy with it.

In this weather I have been losing 1lb/mile or so. You were probably pretty dehydrated at the end, though.

Gruecd and tri-man make me look like 2Y. And I'm a hair shy of 6'2" I lost around 7.5 lbs today on my 15 miler. I wasn't even 4 miles in and I knew it was going to be teh suck, but I needed to hit 15 today no matter what.

The silver lining is that once I realized I was going to be slow, I decided to hit the 5 mile trail loop tri-man and I raced last summer. It made a very un-fun run fun again. Plus I ran into a guy training for the Wisconsin Ironman and talked with him for about 1.5 miles. Very cool (his first triathlon was in '83!).

On the not-so-good side, I only carried about 40 oz of water with me, and I ran out with 3 miles to go to get home, and at that point I knew I was already seriously dehydrated. It was not a good feeling. Looks like I'm going to need to bust out the Camelbak for my long runs again.

 

[Dexter]

Spent the day in the pool throwing arounf 5 year old kids. When I got home and put my kid to bed I hit a trail I've never done before, Bloomer Park. Wow was this a hard trail I only recommend this for the expert MTBer. Very technical and if you mess up you can seriously hurt yourself. Followed that up 1.5 mile run around my block.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Great stuff this weekend!!!

Tri-Man: Awesome race!!!

Grue: Don't even hesitate; just purchase BnB's bike. You'll be much happier than dealing with Tiagra

TheThird: PR

Sand: What a grueling run. You certainly exceeded expectations =

Wraith: Way to HTFU on the 15!

________________________

My Update:

Awful 6 mile run on Saturday (92 degrees and humid); took Sunday off; then 18 mile bike ride this morning at 20.8.

My Garmin is still on the Fritz, and I either need to have Garmin refurbish, or try to open it up and fiddle with it (my guess is that there's a short inside. I love my Garmin

 

[2Young2BBald]

My Garmin is still on the Fritz, and I either need to have Garmin refurbish, or try to open it up and fiddle with it (my guess is that there's a short inside. I love my Garmin

The 310XT has a firmware update add that adds a "swim" enabler under the Other category. If Garmin can't fix your current one, will they "coupon" you towards a new one, where you could get the 310XT?

 

[gruecd]

Hey, guys. This bike thing is stressing me out. Almost ready to just say "screw it."

Last night went to a client's 4th of July party. It was stupid good. He booked a cover band that's been voted best in the state, had an open bar, prime rib dinner, and an hour-long professional fireworks display that was as good as any I've seen. Probably 300 people there. Unreal.

Supposed to do 9 with 5 tempo day. Right now it's 77°F with 100% humidity (light rain), so I guess I'll head to the gym and see if I can avoid sweating to death on the treadmill. Yuck.

Hope everyone's having a great Monday!

 

[wraith5]

... so there's an olympic tri 6 miles from my house next Sunday...

 

[2Young2BBald]

... so there's an olympic tri 6 miles from my house next Sunday...

How do you feel about the swim (possibly without a wetsuit due to this heat wave)? If you are comfortable with the swim, I'd say DO IT!eta: Guessing that this is the event you are thinking about doing. Looking at the swim map, it has nice long stretches and plenty of room to swim. Negative, its a counter-clockwise course and spotting might take some work, unless you go ahead and bilateral breathe. The bike course has some turns, but looks mostly flat and the run looks flat too. Last year, I'd done 2 800 meter swims during events, before I did my 1st Oly. One of them had 4 foot swells. The jump to 1,500 meters didn't feel like that big of a jump in distance and was peaceful once I found some room to swim and caught a few drafts.

 

[tri-man 47]

... so there's an olympic tri 6 miles from my house next Sunday...

How do you feel about the swim (possibly without a wetsuit due to this heat wave)? If you are comfortable with the swim, I'd say DO IT!eta: Guessing that this is the event you are thinking about doing. Looking at the swim map, it has nice long stretches and plenty of room to swim. Negative, its a counter-clockwise course and spotting might take some work, unless you go ahead and bilateral breathe. The bike course has some turns, but looks mostly flat and the run looks flat too. Last year, I'd done 2 800 meter swims during events, before I did my 1st Oly. One of them had 4 foot swells. The jump to 1,500 meters didn't feel like that big of a jump in distance and was peaceful once I found some room to swim and caught a few drafts.

Lake Zurich's a good race - I've done it a few times. They've typically done two or three at a time for the swim start, so it's not crowded. Bike is a very nice course with rolling terrain - no big hills. The run isn't hilly or anything. Give it a shot!---

Followed Saturday's race with a 55 minute lake swim on Sunday. Went out at 6:15 a.m. just before sunrise and had the lake totally to myself. Heaven! Took the bike out today, starting with some hilly terrain, but then popped a spoke (again) after 30 minutes, so biked 15 minutes back in rather than pushing it further.

Sand, thanks for your earlier swim advice about not pushing lengths more than 500 yards. I often let myself getting caught doing long, continuous swims, although my last couple of pool workouts were interval-focused, which did feel more productive. Sunday's swim was a big triangle, allowing me to touch shorelines and take two, one minute breaks (with your advice in mind).

 

[Dexter]

Need to get the shoes back on, but MTBing is sooooo much fun and my road bike is coming Wednesday. Where to find the time to run? In addition I need t start uping my running mileage. Currently I'm doing 3 miles every run but I need to start adding longer runs in. It's just I hate running so much. No enough time in the day. ARGGGGGGGGGG

 

[2Young2BBald]

Need to get the shoes back on, but MTBing is sooooo much fun and my road bike is coming Wednesday. Where to find the time to run? In addition I need t start uping my running mileage. Currently I'm doing 3 miles every run but I need to start adding longer runs in. It's just I hate running so much. No enough time in the day. ARGGGGGGGGGG

Stony is the perfect motivator. Start running around the lake, 10K later you are done!

 

[wraith5]

... so there's an olympic tri 6 miles from my house next Sunday...

How do you feel about the swim (possibly without a wetsuit due to this heat wave)? If you are comfortable with the swim, I'd say DO IT!eta: Guessing that this is the event you are thinking about doing. Looking at the swim map, it has nice long stretches and plenty of room to swim. Negative, its a counter-clockwise course and spotting might take some work, unless you go ahead and bilateral breathe. The bike course has some turns, but looks mostly flat and the run looks flat too. Last year, I'd done 2 800 meter swims during events, before I did my 1st Oly. One of them had 4 foot swells. The jump to 1,500 meters didn't feel like that big of a jump in distance and was peaceful once I found some room to swim and caught a few drafts.

Lake Zurich's a good race - I've done it a few times. They've typically done two or three at a time for the swim start, so it's not crowded. Bike is a very nice course with rolling terrain - no big hills. The run isn't hilly or anything. Give it a shot!

That's the race, detective! Since I always breathe bilaterally, a counter-clockwise swim could actually be an advantage to me. While I'd prefer to wear the wetsuit, I'm pretty confident I can swim the distance either way.

The bike may be a bigger challenge, at least at anything close to a decent speed. I don't remember the last time I did a 25 mile ride!

Anyway, I'm definitely signing up, but I have to choose "age group" or "open" and I'm not sure which is the right choice. Ironically, this is the first race I've done where I could have chosen "Clydesdale," but I'm too light now!

 

[Dexter]

Need to get the shoes back on, but MTBing is sooooo much fun and my road bike is coming Wednesday. Where to find the time to run? In addition I need t start uping my running mileage. Currently I'm doing 3 miles every run but I need to start adding longer runs in. It's just I hate running so much. No enough time in the day. ARGGGGGGGGGG

Stony is the perfect motivator. Start running around the lake, 10K later you are done!

Stony is the problem that's where I do most of my biking.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Some great stuff in here recently with Poppa and others with epic race reports, some busting their tri-cherries, others busting out PRs. Caught up on the last few weeks over the past couple of days during a few free moments, looking forward to being back in this thread more often.

Last week, I managed 15 out on one of my favorite trails in Pt. Reyes - not a step on concrete, iPod off, running under a canopy of trees out to the coast, and then running along a bluff overlooking the ocean. I realized it was time to start carrying more water, and my camera, again. So on that note, here is my first edition this year of "Where SFBayDuck Ran Today"! So today was a 17 miler on the Bolinas Ridge Trail, out in West Marin. It's a long slow 1200' climb all the way up, so a lot of walking/running through mile 5 1/2 starting in a cow pasture (yes, dodging some bovines, similar to the start of any race I guess), running through wide open fields before running through a couple of gates to keep said cows in their place, and up even with the clouds/fog. Finally at 5 1/2 miles you climb into the trees, my favorite part of the trail. At that point, I was above the clouds, with the trees dripping as I ran underneath, and the sun shining on my view down to the West. Turned around at the 8 1/2 mile mark to head back, and when out of the trees you get a view north towards the town of Inverness and the Pacific as you head back down the hill.

All in all, a great few hours on the trails, got me out of the heat (relative, I know, for most of you running in MW or South humidity), and another step towards my first race of 2010!

 

[Sand]

Last week, I managed 15 out on one of my favorite trails in Pt. Reyes - not a step on concrete, iPod off, running under a canopy of trees out to the coast, and then running along a bluff overlooking the ocean. I realized it was time to start carrying more water, and my camera, again. So on that note, here is my first edition this year of "Where SFBayDuck Ran Today"! So today was a 17 miler on the Bolinas Ridge Trail, out in West Marin. It's a long slow 1200' climb all the way up, so a lot of walking/running through mile 5 1/2 starting in a cow pasture (yes, dodging some bovines, similar to the start of any race I guess), running through wide open fields before running through a couple of gates to keep said cows in their place, and up even with the clouds/fog. Finally at 5 1/2 miles you climb into the trees, my favorite part of the trail. At that point, I was above the clouds, with the trees dripping as I ran underneath, and the sun shining on my view down to the West. Turned around at the 8 1/2 mile mark to head back, and when out of the trees you get a view north towards the town of Inverness and the Pacific as you head back down the hill.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Last week, I managed 15 out on one of my favorite trails in Pt. Reyes - not a step on concrete, iPod off, running under a canopy of trees out to the coast, and then running along a bluff overlooking the ocean. I realized it was time to start carrying more water, and my camera, again. So on that note, here is my first edition this year of "Where SFBayDuck Ran Today"!....

Looking at your times, I should be to you, would love to be able to run those times!Speaking of bowing down to greatness, I didn't see any talk here about last weekend's Western States 100, the grandadddy of 100 mile ultras. I spent most of Saturday following it on the official website, Twitter, and even a live finish line webcam, and it was an epic race. Through about mile 80+, 22 year old Spaniard Kilian Jornet (who recently ran over 435 miles through the Pyrenees over a 10 day period) and Anton Krupicka (who'd never lost a 100 miler he finished) were neck and neck. Kilian would enter an aid station ahead, and Anton would leave ahead, and they ran almost step for step for 80 miles! Geoff Roes, who had won all six 100 milers he had entered, followed along a few minutes back, with two-time defending champ Hal Koerner (whom I've met) falling from a few minutes back to 15+ and an eventual DNF. Anton finally dropped Kilian somewhere around mile 80, but then Roes made up a 15 minute deficit over a matter of just a few miles and blew by Anton somewhere around mile 90, I think. Both ended up breaking ultra-legend Scott Jurek's course record, with Roes finishing almost 6 minutes ahead in 15:07:04. That's right, a 9:03 pace for 100 miles, with some splits that were just ridiculous - mile 34-38.8 in 6:06 pace, 47.8-52.9 in 7:50 pace, and miles 89.9-93.5 in 8:10 pace. And his final 1.3 miles was done in a 7:36 pace - that's right, after running 99 miles, he's busting out a 7:36! The worlds greatest ultrarunners, all in one place, with an epic result!

 

[pmbrown_22]

There was some good workouts and racing going on over the 4th weekend. Seems though that along with the 4th, the hot weather came back to the rest of us though. Sunday got really hot for me in the morning. Here is my weekend summary:

7/3 - 5 mile easy recovery run

7/4 - 15 miles at an easy pace. I think I ended up with a 9:12 pace. I started out at 6AM and it was 73 degrees. by the time I was finished it was 85 with no clouds in the sky. It was brutal. Add in a hilly route and much like Wraith, I ran out of Gatorade with about 3 miles left. I was sweating so much that on the downhills I could see sweat flipping off my elbows and into the wind. Finished up okay and felt pretty good the rest of the day.

7/5 - rest day for me. I cross trained by cutting the grass and then laid in the kid's little pool we have on our deck. By the way, I don't think that I ever mentioned it. Atleast for me, an easy cool down/kind of ice bath for me is to lay in the small pool right after a long run. Somehow, my legs always feel refreshed after I get out of the pool from 10 minutes of sitting. I usually take my recovery drinks out there and enjoy the quiet.

Today I was hoping to be able to say that I got up early and ran 9 miles this morning, but I can't say that because we have a bunch of people who get off on setting off fireworks every night and could not get to sleep until 11PM. I am getting old and cranky, but knew that if I tried to get up and run this morning, then there was no way I was making it through the day. So early this week, I will be doing night runs now instead of morning.

 

[The_Man]

Sounds like I missed a lot of great stuff this weekend.

Tri-Man: Awesome race!!!

TheThird: PR - nice!

Sand: Great effort.

Here's a question for you. How do you know you're a runner? When you go to Boston for the 4th of July and your only tourist activity is running the Newton hills along the Boston Marathon route. Did 8 miles Sunday, including those hills. That was cool. I know a lot of people say the Boston hills aren't that tough, it's just where they come in the race, but I think those hills are pretty legit. Especially the second of the three, which was long and fairly steep. Heartbreak Hill is the last and it actually is pretty minor compared to the one that comes immediately before. I will say that the kind of runner you encounter on those hills at 9 a.m. on July 4 are a little different from the runners I see around my neighborhood in Baltimore -- they are fast! The experience was a lot of fun and I really hope to qualify for Boston someday.

To that end, 1 week of Marathon training down, 17 to go. Still not sure if my leg/knee will hold up, but we'll see. Did 5 mile marathon pace run Saturday at 7:42, then did 8 on Sunday at 8:44 pace with a big negative split despite the hills, so that was nice.

 

[pmbrown_22]

Sounds like I missed a lot of great stuff this weekend.Tri-Man: Awesome race!!!TheThird: PR - nice!Sand: Great effort. Here's a question for you. How do you know you're a runner? When you go to Boston for the 4th of July and your only tourist activity is running the Newton hills along the Boston Marathon route. Did 8 miles Sunday, including those hills. That was cool. I know a lot of people say the Boston hills aren't that tough, it's just where they come in the race, but I think those hills are pretty legit. Especially the second of the three, which was long and fairly steep. Heartbreak Hill is the last and it actually is pretty minor compared to the one that comes immediately before. I will say that the kind of runner you encounter on those hills at 9 a.m. on July 4 are a little different from the runners I see around my neighborhood in Baltimore -- they are fast! The experience was a lot of fun and I really hope to qualify for Boston someday.To that end, 1 week of Marathon training down, 17 to go. Still not sure if my leg/knee will hold up, but we'll see. Did 5 mile marathon pace run Saturday at 7:42, then did 8 on Sunday at 8:44 pace with a big negative split despite the hills, so that was nice.

Great run. I bet it is fun to run those hills. Only a runner would say that too. Someday I hope to be there as well. If not, we are all better off for trying so no worries. My SIL just moved up to that area, so I am hoping to visit some time in the future and run the area as well.

 

[Sand]

Sounds like I missed a lot of great stuff this weekend.Tri-Man: Awesome race!!!TheThird: PR - nice!Sand: Great effort.

That makes it look like I'm the kid on the end of the bench who gets to play for 2 minutes and somehow managing to not trip and kill himself.

 

[pmbrown_22]

Sounds like I missed a lot of great stuff this weekend.Tri-Man: Awesome race!!!TheThird: PR - nice!Sand: Great effort.

That makes it look like I'm the kid on the end of the bench who gets to play for 2 minutes and somehow managing to not trip and kill himself.

Thanks for showing up today Jimmy! Here is your treat token.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Sounds like I missed a lot of great stuff this weekend.Tri-Man: Awesome race!!!TheThird: PR - nice!Sand: Great effort.

That makes it look like I'm the kid on the end of the bench who gets to play for 2 minutes and somehow managing to not trip and kill himself.

Thanks for showing up today Jimmy! Here is your treat token.

I'm just here for the orange slices.

 

[pigskinliquors]

SFDuck: Thanks for sharing your pic's. It would be awesome if we all took photos of where we run/bike/swim, as the route(s) would greatly aid in visualizing workouts.

The_Man: u da man! Be careful on those legs, but awesome that you got a taste of Boston!

Sand and 2Young: thanks for the swimming advice. I'm just going to continue putting in laps (no speed work); and will likely "wing" workouts for the next couple weeks to get a feel for my shoulder.

________________________

My update:

I again ran the little loop in front of our house so that I could run with my girls in the house (sleeping). It was 77 with 88% humidity at 5:30, which is frighteningly "cool" right now. My Garmin only lasted 2 miles, but my pace was fairly consistent (9:00'ish) for all 7.2 miles (12 freaking loops of boredom!). I'm hoping to swim 2,500 yards this afternoon, then cycle tomorrow.

 

[Worm]

Joining the running thread... sort of.

I'm doing some training for a martial arts test, and part of the test is a 6 mile run. I am NOT a runner. I have been in pretty good shape due to previous MA training, but not in running shape at all. I hadn't been running up until about two weeks ago, when I started doing my running training. I went out and got fitted into some good shoes. So far, I'm on a M-W-Sat schedule, with the goal of Saturday being a little longer than the other two.

Approximate mileage's so far:

W1: W: 2.2, Sat: 2.2

W2: M: 2.2, W: 2.2, Sat: 3.6

W3: M: 3

First day out I went too fast, had to stop a couple times to catch my breath/walk, and felt like crap. Since then I haven't had to stop and have been feeling better and better after the runs. I've been trying to pace myself somewhere in the 9-9:30 range.

Any suggestions for training for this 6 mile run? Test is in October, and I have an hour to complete the run. On my test, the run will be followed by 2-3 hours of pretty intense strength/cardio, so the goal is to be able to do the 6 miles and have a good amount of gas left in the tank. Should I train up to >6 miles so that 6 doesn't seem that bad? Focus on stepping up the mileage each week? Focus on my pace? Is 3 times a week a good schedule?

Also, the actual test is on a Sunday, but the way my schedule works out, M-W-Sat are the best days for me to get my runs in. Should I try to shift my schedule sometime closer to the test?

P.S. Yes, I realize I am a n00b runner, go easy.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Welcome to the thread Worm. Running 6 miles in October, when you are already running 3+ should not be a problem. One rule of thumb is to not increase mileage in any given week by more than 10% = You ran 8 miles last week; don't run more than 8.8 this week. IF you are only trying to run the 6 in less than an hour, there is no reason to run further than 6 in any training runs. IF you are going for overall fitness, you might want to keep upping your mileage to see what you have. I typically increase mileage for 3 weeks in a row, prior to a rest week. Using your last week's long run of 3.6; your weekly "Long Run" could look like this:

3.6

3.9

4.3

3.0

4.7

5.1

5.6

4.0

6.2

Additionally, my guess is that your running in quite a bit more heat (in NC) than you will in October. Thus, if you can train at 10:00 p/m pace, you will be going quite a bit faster than that come October.

 

[rail]

Finally have some time to post my first race report.

Copper Mountain 1/2, July 4th. I arrive to check in about 45 min before race time - absolutely gorgeous day in the mountains: perfect blue sky, with few clouds, nice and cool in the 60s. I notice as I'm checking in that everyone looks to be in a lot better shape than I am. They're all svelte and have legs chiseled out of stone. One dude seriously looked like he had bowling balls for calf muscles. This is not going to be a bunch of slubs trotting their annual 5k. All the runners look to be pretty serious. Since I'm just there to get my miles in (and do the longest run I ever have), I do my best to tune it out, eat some Sport beans and stretch. Just want to run MY race.

It’s a smaller race with only about 100-150 people. We start the run and I definitely notice the altitude (over 9000’) pretty quickly. I can’t take deep enough breaths to fill my lungs completely. I know I have a tendency to go out too fast and burn out, so I purposely keep a slow, steady pace. Focused on my form and just kept plugging.

The course started in Copper Mountain village and wound up a small portion of the ski area and back. The scenery is incredible. Sky. Trees. Green slopes. You can look in any direction and see mountains with evergreens slowly fading away as you looked above treeline.

It wasn’t until mile 3 that somehow I was able to breathe a little deeper/easier. After mile 4, we begin the big ascent up Vail Pass. It’s a small 2-lane bike path and I had to keep an eye out for bikers sometimes flying around corners. I was really worried about having to ascend to over 10000’ – worried I would not have a good climb. Turns out I did surprisingly well. I didn’t have to stop and walk at any point (with the exception of walking through 2 water stations). I was able to run up the entire way. It was a very SLOW run – almost a trot – but I was able to make it. Several runners must not have been prepared for the altitude as people started walking. I was the tortoise – just kept my slow run up the hill going.

One guy seemed to be using me as his pace or as a guy he pegged that he wanted to stay ahead of. I saw him about 50 yards ahead of me – he would slow down to walk, then look over his shoulder at me and start running again. After about 30 minutes of this, I eventually passed him. The little engine that could.

The trail up the pass is gorgeous. A little valley with a clear creek running through it. Lots of trees and grass, and tons of wildflower: red, yellow, orange, blue, white, and purple. Can’t recommend this run enough from a scenery standpoint. Man, what a great country we live in!

The trip up was long, slow, and grueling, but I finally make it just past mile 9. Never been happier to reach a turn-around point. I start the descent. The grade is not too steep for the most part – only in certain spots. I keep Tri’s advice in mind and try to give my feet a little more lift. The way it worked out, my feet were going almost in a circular motion – like I was Wile E. Coyote running real fast and all you can see are the blurry circles where his legs are supposed to be. The extra lift paid off – wasn’t slapping down real hard on my heels and it somehow felt like less energy/effort to go downhill (if that makes sense). I had also saved some energy for the descent. So, with my downhill stride feeling great, I was able to go faster than anticipated and actually passed about five people (including bowling-ball calves guy) on the way back down. Me actually passing people is an unusual thing.

I felt strong and was able to charge to the finish line at the end. Finished in 2:14 and felt like I could go for another 2-3 miles. Not a fast time by any stretch, but I was very happy considering it’s my first half and the course I had run. The training is working. Also happy that my shin splints were absolutely no factor.

SF Duck - thanks for the report and pics. Looks like an awesome trail.

Tri - great race!

ETA: Great job Sand!

And the guy who came first in this race was ridiculous. He ran by me a couple of times on the out-n-back portions of the race. The closest guy to him was at least 4 minutes behind him the whole race. He ended up finishing this in 1:16 - less than 6 minutes a mile. The dude just killed it.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Finally have some time to post my first race report.Copper Mountain 1/2, July 4th. I arrive to check in about 45 min before race time - absolutely gorgeous day in the mountains: perfect blue sky, with few clouds, nice and cool in the 60s. I notice as I'm checking in that everyone looks to be in a lot better shape than I am. They're all svelte and have legs chiseled out of stone. One dude seriously looked like he had bowling balls for calf muscles. This is not going to be a bunch of slubs trotting their annual 5k. All the runners look to be pretty serious. Since I'm just there to get my miles in (and do the longest run I ever have), I do my best to tune it out, eat some Sport beans and stretch. Just want to run MY race.It’s a smaller race with only about 100-150 people. We start the run and I definitely notice the altitude (over 9000’) pretty quickly. I can’t take deep enough breaths to fill my lungs completely. I know I have a tendency to go out too fast and burn out, so I purposely keep a slow, steady pace. Focused on my form and just kept plugging. The course started in Copper Mountain village and wound up a small portion of the ski area and back. The scenery is incredible. Sky. Trees. Green slopes. You can look in any direction and see mountains with evergreens slowly fading away as you looked above treeline. It wasn’t until mile 3 that somehow I was able to breathe a little deeper/easier. After mile 4, we begin the big ascent up Vail Pass. It’s a small 2-lane bike path and I had to keep an eye out for bikers sometimes flying around corners. I was really worried about having to ascend to over 10000’ – worried I would not have a good climb. Turns out I did surprisingly well. I didn’t have to stop and walk at any point (with the exception of walking through 2 water stations). I was able to run up the entire way. It was a very SLOW run – almost a trot – but I was able to make it. Several runners must not have been prepared for the altitude as people started walking. I was the tortoise – just kept my slow run up the hill going. One guy seemed to be using me as his pace or as a guy he pegged that he wanted to stay ahead of. I saw him about 50 yards ahead of me – he would slow down to walk, then look over his shoulder at me and start running again. After about 30 minutes of this, I eventually passed him. The little engine that could.The trail up the pass is gorgeous. A little valley with a clear creek running through it. Lots of trees and grass, and tons of wildflower: red, yellow, orange, blue, white, and purple. Can’t recommend this run enough from a scenery standpoint. Man, what a great country we live in!The trip up was long, slow, and grueling, but I finally make it just past mile 9. Never been happier to reach a turn-around point. I start the descent. The grade is not too steep for the most part – only in certain spots. I keep Tri’s advice in mind and try to give my feet a little more lift. The way it worked out, my feet were going almost in a circular motion – like I was Wile E. Coyote running real fast and all you can see are the blurry circles where his legs are supposed to be. The extra lift paid off – wasn’t slapping down real hard on my heels and it somehow felt like less energy/effort to go downhill (if that makes sense). I had also saved some energy for the descent. So, with my downhill stride feeling great, I was able to go faster than anticipated and actually passed about five people (including bowling-ball calves guy) on the way back down. Me actually passing people is an unusual thing.I felt strong and was able to charge to the finish line at the end. Finished in 2:14 and felt like I could go for another 2-3 miles. Not a fast time by any stretch, but I was very happy considering it’s my first half and the course I had run. The training is working. Also happy that my shin splints were absolutely no factor.SF Duck - thanks for the report and pics. Looks like an awesome trail.Tri - great race!ETA: Great job Sand! And the guy who came first in this race was ridiculous. He ran by me a couple of times on the out-n-back portions of the race. The closest guy to him was at least 4 minutes behind him the whole race. He ended up finishing this in 1:16 - less than 6 minutes a mile. The dude just killed it.

Now this is my kind of race! Although you're obviously in much better shape than I to handle that kind of altitude, and to run up the hills. Congrats on a great race!

 

[tri-man 47]

rail - congrats on a very well-controlled and successful race!!! Neat that you were able to pass people over the latter half like that.

SFDuck trail pics ...mmm, !

2Young - you watching tonight's (Tues) Tigers' game? I just happened to note from the on-line box score that the second base umpire is Dan Bellino. He's a former accounting student of mine! Before he could get to the majors, he needed to finish a degree, which he was doing at my university. One of his last class needs was an accounting class, but he was in the middle of the Triple A season. So I put together an independent study for him and guided him through it.

 

[Ned]

I'm nowhere near where any of you guys are, but I have a question about hills.

I've just recently gotten my lazy ### off the sofa this year and getting back in shape thru P90x and Insanity. I've been adding in some running from time to time and doing a few 5K's with a friend. We did one 2 weeks ago that was pretty hilly. He smoked me on the hills. While I was trying to stay relaxed on the climbs, he went crazy and pressed it hard up the hills. I was able to catch up some on the way back down, but it wasn't always enough. So my question is - to press on the climbs, or not? I ran cross country 13yrs ago and we were taught to stay relaxed and try to use the downhills to our advantage, but this whoopin' I got has me wondering what's right/wrong (if there is one).

 

[2Young2BBald]

2Young - you watching tonight's (Tues) Tigers' game? I just happened to note from the on-line box score that the second base umpire is Dan Bellino. He's a former accounting student of mine! Before he could get to the majors, he needed to finish a degree, which he was doing at my university. One of his last class needs was an accounting class, but he was in the middle of the Triple A season. So I put together an independent study for him and guided him through it.

I am watching. One of the guys on our dirt team, that is doing his 1st HIM on Saturday with me was over for a few beers and we were planning out the weekend. I think anyone listening in would have needed an ADD to English translator. Both he and I are nervous as hell and could barely hold a thought for ore than a few seconds. HEY, I just looked at the Tiger's schedule. The day after DWD, they have a 1:05 start. Depending on if we stay out there, or back here after the race, keep the game in mind before you head for home. Hope the RnR is treating you right!

 

[2Young2BBald]

Finally have some time to post my first race report.Copper Mountain 1/2, July 4th. I arrive to check in about 45 min before race time - absolutely gorgeous day in the mountains: perfect blue sky, with few clouds, nice and cool in the 60s. I notice as I'm checking in that everyone looks to be in a lot better shape than I am. They're all svelte and have legs chiseled out of stone. One dude seriously looked like he had bowling balls for calf muscles. This is not going to be a bunch of slubs trotting their annual 5k. All the runners look to be pretty serious. Since I'm just there to get my miles in (and do the longest run I ever have), I do my best to tune it out, eat some Sport beans and stretch. Just want to run MY race.It’s a smaller race with only about 100-150 people. We start the run and I definitely notice the altitude (over 9000’) pretty quickly. I can’t take deep enough breaths to fill my lungs completely. I know I have a tendency to go out too fast and burn out, so I purposely keep a slow, steady pace. Focused on my form and just kept plugging. The course started in Copper Mountain village and wound up a small portion of the ski area and back. The scenery is incredible. Sky. Trees. Green slopes. You can look in any direction and see mountains with evergreens slowly fading away as you looked above treeline. It wasn’t until mile 3 that somehow I was able to breathe a little deeper/easier. After mile 4, we begin the big ascent up Vail Pass. It’s a small 2-lane bike path and I had to keep an eye out for bikers sometimes flying around corners. I was really worried about having to ascend to over 10000’ – worried I would not have a good climb. Turns out I did surprisingly well. I didn’t have to stop and walk at any point (with the exception of walking through 2 water stations). I was able to run up the entire way. It was a very SLOW run – almost a trot – but I was able to make it. Several runners must not have been prepared for the altitude as people started walking. I was the tortoise – just kept my slow run up the hill going. One guy seemed to be using me as his pace or as a guy he pegged that he wanted to stay ahead of. I saw him about 50 yards ahead of me – he would slow down to walk, then look over his shoulder at me and start running again. After about 30 minutes of this, I eventually passed him. The little engine that could.The trail up the pass is gorgeous. A little valley with a clear creek running through it. Lots of trees and grass, and tons of wildflower: red, yellow, orange, blue, white, and purple. Can’t recommend this run enough from a scenery standpoint. Man, what a great country we live in!The trip up was long, slow, and grueling, but I finally make it just past mile 9. Never been happier to reach a turn-around point. I start the descent. The grade is not too steep for the most part – only in certain spots. I keep Tri’s advice in mind and try to give my feet a little more lift. The way it worked out, my feet were going almost in a circular motion – like I was Wile E. Coyote running real fast and all you can see are the blurry circles where his legs are supposed to be. The extra lift paid off – wasn’t slapping down real hard on my heels and it somehow felt like less energy/effort to go downhill (if that makes sense). I had also saved some energy for the descent. So, with my downhill stride feeling great, I was able to go faster than anticipated and actually passed about five people (including bowling-ball calves guy) on the way back down. Me actually passing people is an unusual thing.I felt strong and was able to charge to the finish line at the end. Finished in 2:14 and felt like I could go for another 2-3 miles. Not a fast time by any stretch, but I was very happy considering it’s my first half and the course I had run. The training is working. Also happy that my shin splints were absolutely no factor.SF Duck - thanks for the report and pics. Looks like an awesome trail.Tri - great race!ETA: Great job Sand! And the guy who came first in this race was ridiculous. He ran by me a couple of times on the out-n-back portions of the race. The closest guy to him was at least 4 minutes behind him the whole race. He ended up finishing this in 1:16 - less than 6 minutes a mile. The dude just killed it.

Great read and GREAT RACE. Like I stated before, that is the toughest course I've have ever run (and, by far the most beautiful, as you captured so well in your write up). That was one of the races I did where I remember thinking, during the race, that there can't be a better hobby than the one I've chosen. You are prepared to destroy a flat land 1/2!

 

[bostonfred]

Second week of my 5k circuit. Race time temperature was in the high 90s, down from the day's high of 102 degrees, and every bit as muggy as the first race. I was able to avoid the embarrassment of showing up late to the race today with one simple change to my schedule: I opted not to go.

 

[gruecd]

Today I was hoping to be able to say that I got up early and ran 9 miles this morning, but I can't say that because we have a bunch of people who get off on setting off fireworks every night and could not get to sleep until 11PM. I am getting old and cranky, but knew that if I tried to get up and run this morning, then there was no way I was making it through the day. So early this week, I will be doing night runs now instead of morning.

I know what you mean about getting old and cranky. I'm only 33, and I'm the same way. Anything after 9 PM during the week pisses me off. Pathetic, really. Anyway, did you get your run in tonight?

I've been getting kinda discouraged about my running after another failed tempo run last night. Was supposed to do 3 easy, 5 tempo, 1 easy, and I bailed after the 2nd tempo mile because I felt like I was overheating. If it stays hot and humid like this, I have no idea how I'm going to do any speedwork for Chicago.

Anyway, got back out there tonight for 14 and had a decent run. It was still hot and humid, but I waited until almost 7:45 PM to start so that the sun would be down. Averaged 8:11 pace, and finished relatively strong, clocking a 25-second negative split.

Time now for bed, but rail, I did want to commend you on a great race and a great report. Have a good night, everybody.

 

[Sand]

I'm nowhere near where any of you guys are, but I have a question about hills.

I've just recently gotten my lazy ### off the sofa this year and getting back in shape thru P90x and Insanity. I've been adding in some running from time to time and doing a few 5K's with a friend. We did one 2 weeks ago that was pretty hilly. He smoked me on the hills. While I was trying to stay relaxed on the climbs, he went crazy and pressed it hard up the hills. I was able to catch up some on the way back down, but it wasn't always enough. So my question is - to press on the climbs, or not? I ran cross country 13yrs ago and we were taught to stay relaxed and try to use the downhills to our advantage, but this whoopin' I got has me wondering what's right/wrong (if there is one).

I believe in a steady, comfortable hard approach. Lactic acid buildup in running and cycling in the body accumulates at an x^4 rate (thus the normalized power calculation in cycling). In other words, as you go harder lactic acid buildup goes up dramatically. It could just be that your guy there is really good on hills.There are no shortcuts if you want to catch this guy. The only way to get better at running hills is to run hills.

Awesome race Rail! For a sec there when you were talking about 10,000' I thought that was the climbing amount you were talking about. I was until I figured out what you really said.

 

[pmbrown_22]

Today I was hoping to be able to say that I got up early and ran 9 miles this morning, but I can't say that because we have a bunch of people who get off on setting off fireworks every night and could not get to sleep until 11PM. I am getting old and cranky, but knew that if I tried to get up and run this morning, then there was no way I was making it through the day. So early this week, I will be doing night runs now instead of morning.

I know what you mean about getting old and cranky. I'm only 33, and I'm the same way. Anything after 9 PM during the week pisses me off. Pathetic, really. Anyway, did you get your run in tonight?

I've been getting kinda discouraged about my running after another failed tempo run last night. Was supposed to do 3 easy, 5 tempo, 1 easy, and I bailed after the 2nd tempo mile because I felt like I was overheating. If it stays hot and humid like this, I have no idea how I'm going to do any speedwork for Chicago.

Anyway, got back out there tonight for 14 and had a decent run. It was still hot and humid, but I waited until almost 7:45 PM to start so that the sun would be down. Averaged 8:11 pace, and finished relatively strong, clocking a 25-second negative split.

Time now for bed, but rail, I did want to commend you on a great race and a great report. Have a good night, everybody.

I did get the run in. I did 9 miles with 10 x 100m strides. I will say that I actually really felt good about the run. I averaged a 9:02 pace, but I took a walk break after every mile so I did not over heat. When I started my run at 8PM it was 85 out. Once the sun went down it was better, but still pretty hot and when I got back, you would have thought I went swimming. Tonight I will be doing 14 in a similar manner although I will be taking along some water tonight because of the greater distance. Probably could have used some last night, but I did not want to wear my pack sans shirt.As far as your training is going, I can tell you that I am in the same boat. I have come to the realization that I am not able to give the effort that I need because of the weather. It is just sucking the life out of me right now. I have decided that I am just going to do the best that I can do to get the miles in and try and get the type of training on the schedule. For me, since this is my first time through a Pftiz program, this may be my trial run of it to see how I like it then hit it really hard in the fall/winter cycle to get my speed down. It just is not happenning right now. I think that you need to just go out and enjoy the running. It may not be the fastest that you go, but this is supposed to be fun and not a second stressful job. If it stresses you out, then it is not worth doing. I may not get a PR or qualify for Boston, but I know that I am better off running than not at this point.

Take it for what it is worth, but don't stress over it. I am just 34 and know that there is still plenty of time to run. There will be other races and other days. Remember that a couple of years ago Chicago was 95 on race day. The weather is something that we can't control.

 

[The_Man]

As far as your training is going, I can tell you that I am in the same boat. I have come to the realization that I am not able to give the effort that I need because of the weather. It is just sucking the life out of me right now. I have decided that I am just going to do the best that I can do to get the miles in and try and get the type of training on the schedule. For me, since this is my first time through a Pftiz program, this may be my trial run of it to see how I like it then hit it really hard in the fall/winter cycle to get my speed down. It just is not happenning right now. I think that you need to just go out and enjoy the running. It may not be the fastest that you go, but this is supposed to be fun and not a second stressful job. If it stresses you out, then it is not worth doing. I may not get a PR or qualify for Boston, but I know that I am better off running than not at this point.Take it for what it is worth, but don't stress over it. I am just 34 and know that there is still plenty of time to run. There will be other races and other days. Remember that a couple of years ago Chicago was 95 on race day. The weather is something that we can't control.

I think this is a great mindset and one I'm also trying to capture. I want my running to make me fit, healthy and strong, not hurt, angry and sore. Doesn't always happen, but that's the goal.Also, I'm a morning runner which has been a big help in this weather. Did 5 miles this a.m. at a 7:58 pace. Feel like my conditioning is coming back but that the health of my leg is still very much up in the air. Glad to be sticking with the Higdon Intermediate I plan -- it seems like this plan will help me focus on getting to the starting line healthy and fit, instead of getting caught up in chasing a time and getting hurt.

 

[tri-man 47]

I'm nowhere near where any of you guys are, but I have a question about hills.

I've just recently gotten my lazy ### off the sofa this year and getting back in shape thru P90x and Insanity. I've been adding in some running from time to time and doing a few 5K's with a friend. We did one 2 weeks ago that was pretty hilly. He smoked me on the hills. While I was trying to stay relaxed on the climbs, he went crazy and pressed it hard up the hills. I was able to catch up some on the way back down, but it wasn't always enough. So my question is - to press on the climbs, or not? I ran cross country 13yrs ago and we were taught to stay relaxed and try to use the downhills to our advantage, but this whoopin' I got has me wondering what's right/wrong (if there is one).

Realistically, you can only attack the uphills if you've trained for them ...if you're strong enough to attack, but then recover (to a degree). I don't think you can gain much of an advantage on uphills, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to go crazy on them. But it is better to keep a firm stride rather than little baby steps or, even worse, having to walk. I suppose some logic exists for: Spend as little time on the uphill as possible. Better to push and get 'er done than poke along and prolong the effort! The effort is predicated on the training, though. ---

Hot here in western Michigan too, but did put in 10 miles first thing yesterday a.m. 8 were at tempo ...which ended up being 7:28/mile over a paved bike trail with a couple decent hills. Despite the heat, I've been feeling good of late. Maybe recent efforts have me peaking at the right time. Rest day today (although I'm spending about four hours per day overhauling one of our cottage bedrooms - puttying, scraping, sanding, painting ...long overdue project, but tough work in the daytime heat).

bostonfred - smart solution to your "problem!" lol

 

[FUBAR]

7 miles this morning and I'll hit the pool this afternoon. One nice thing about bacheloring it up for a couple weeks is extra training.

100 degrees here, although only 80something this morning, so it wasn't too bad. There's literally zero chance that I'd run this afternoon. Pool seems like a good plan as long as it's not overly crowded.

Pmbrown - I don't know if it's the effort that you're not giving (although maybe it is?), it's just that everything is 100x harder in the heat. It's a different kind of training I guess, I know I don't want to run 20+ miles now but I don't mind working on speed if I believe that even a slower time in this heat is providing the same results as if I ran faster in cooler conditions. I could be completely wrong here but it seems similar to training in the mountains, it's much harder in thin air but it pays off.

 

[rail]

I'm nowhere near where any of you guys are, but I have a question about hills.

I've just recently gotten my lazy ### off the sofa this year and getting back in shape thru P90x and Insanity. I've been adding in some running from time to time and doing a few 5K's with a friend. We did one 2 weeks ago that was pretty hilly. He smoked me on the hills. While I was trying to stay relaxed on the climbs, he went crazy and pressed it hard up the hills. I was able to catch up some on the way back down, but it wasn't always enough. So my question is - to press on the climbs, or not? I ran cross country 13yrs ago and we were taught to stay relaxed and try to use the downhills to our advantage, but this whoopin' I got has me wondering what's right/wrong (if there is one).

I believe in a steady, comfortable hard approach. Lactic acid buildup in running and cycling in the body accumulates at an x^4 rate (thus the normalized power calculation in cycling). In other words, as you go harder lactic acid buildup goes up dramatically. It could just be that your guy there is really good on hills.There are no shortcuts if you want to catch this guy. The only way to get better at running hills is to run hills.

Awesome race Rail! For a sec there when you were talking about 10,000' I thought that was the climbing amount you were talking about. I was until I figured out what you really said.

I'm no where near as experienced as the rest of the FBGs on this thread, but I've learned some pointers on hills that has worked for me. Like Sand said, you'll have to do some hill work. For me, I've never gone out and run nothing but hills back and forth. I run about 4 times a week. I always choose routes that have some hills in them - I use mapmyrun to pick routes around my house that will give me a couple of hundred feet of climbing. Thus, I've got some type of "hillwork" in each run. Certainly it's not going to make me a pro at running hills as I'm sure I would need to do a lot more, but now that I'm about 11 weeks into training I believe those little bits of hills every day help.When I approach a hill of decent length and grade I just try to maintain the same pace I was doing on level ground. I engage the glute muscles a little more and push off more with the balls of my feet. I swing my arms up and down in a little more of a pronounced fashion so that my hands are coming very close to my upper thighs/hips - sometimes even letting them tap the leg and bounce back up. The taps on my leg seem to help me "power" or spring through the lifting of my legs. If I can't maintain the same pace, I just focus hard on my form and try to maintain that. I learned this technique from my gf who was a cross-country'er in college. It seems to work for me and I feel like it's improved my ability.

I use that technique on hills that are fairly steep and long. I feel like I don't really need it so much on an incline that isn't very steep. You'll find out what works for you. I think that if you start incorporating a little bit of climbing on each of your runs it will help.

 

[pmbrown_22]

7 miles this morning and I'll hit the pool this afternoon. One nice thing about bacheloring it up for a couple weeks is extra training. 100 degrees here, although only 80something this morning, so it wasn't too bad. There's literally zero chance that I'd run this afternoon. Pool seems like a good plan as long as it's not overly crowded. Pmbrown - I don't know if it's the effort that you're not giving (although maybe it is?), it's just that everything is 100x harder in the heat. It's a different kind of training I guess, I know I don't want to run 20+ miles now but I don't mind working on speed if I believe that even a slower time in this heat is providing the same results as if I ran faster in cooler conditions. I could be completely wrong here but it seems similar to training in the mountains, it's much harder in thin air but it pays off.

I do agree with you on this. I am not saying that I am not putting in the effort, but more that I don't feel like I am able to do as much as I want to do as far as times go for my runs. I am not running near as fast I would like to. I think that I have just gotten into the mode of "it is what it is" and I am trying to make the best of it. I go out for every run with the intention of running my scheduled run and then see how it goes. Even though I have never done it I imagine your analogy of the mountains is pretty accurate. It may surprise me come the fall, but until then I can only do what I can do.ETA: The one thing that I can say is that my heart rate does say that I am giving the same effort as if I was running in cooler temps so that is saying something. I have not been a big believer in the heart rate training in the past, but it is starting to make more sense to me the more that I run.

 

[wraith5]

Rail - great race!

pmb, tri-man, gruecd, FUBAR, The_man, et. al. - way to HTFU on the runs. Still seeing some impressive times despite the heat/humidity we're all dealing with.

Sand - token pat on the head for you.

_______________________________

Today was speedwork, 3x 2000 (400 RI) at a 7:06 target pace. 80 degrees and 80% humidity

6:56 pace (189 HR) - hard but not terrible

7:12 pace (194 HR) - literally thought I might throw up after that one. Haven't felt that spent in a long time. And I had one more to go!!!

7:58 pace (194 HR) - really took it down and I was still spent afterwards. That HR actually freaked me out a little bit.

I did a 10:00 pace on the way back home (.6 miles) and I still got my HR back up to 182. That's just crazy. Lost 3.5 lbs on the run.

 

[wraith5]

Anyone have links to articles about consuming sea salt? I know 2Y has been doing it, and I was talking with a guy about it last week who is a big believer.

 

[itriple]

Im doing my first sprint tri (1/4 miles swim, 18 mile bike, 5k) in 11 days. I've been running and biking a lot.

My problem is going to be the swim. Am I wrong to think I can just wing and make it through? The couple of time in the pool I felt like the breast stroke would be my best shot?

 

[Sand]

Im doing my first sprint tri (1/4 miles swim, 18 mile bike, 5k) in 11 days. I've been running and biking a lot.

My problem is going to be the swim. Am I wrong to think I can just wing and make it through? The couple of time in the pool I felt like the breast stroke would be my best shot?

What could go wrong? My advice may sound harsh, but it is pretty simple. Get into the pool. If you can do 500yds straight without stopping, do the tri. If you can breaststroke it or sidestroke it, great! Do that. If you can wear a wetsuit test yourself in that. Wetsuits are a wonderful crutch (and it is hard to drown in them since you can just flip over on your back and float for forever). Otherwise change to a du or postpone your tri adventures until learn to swim enough so that you aren't going to get yanked out of the water.

 

[itriple]

Im doing my first sprint tri (1/4 miles swim, 18 mile bike, 5k) in 11 days. I've been running and biking a lot.

My problem is going to be the swim. Am I wrong to think I can just wing and make it through? The couple of time in the pool I felt like the breast stroke would be my best shot?

What could go wrong? My advice may sound harsh, but it is pretty simple. Get into the pool. If you can do 500yds straight without stopping, do the tri. If you can breaststroke it or sidestroke it, great! Do that. If you can wear a wetsuit test yourself in that. Wetsuits are a wonderful crutch (and it is hard to drown in them since you can just flip over on your back and float for forever). Otherwise change to a du or postpone your tri adventures until learn to swim enough so that you aren't going to get yanked out of the water.

Alright you motivated me. Im gonna hit a pool this weekend and give 500 yds straight a shot. I'm not planning on a wetsuit but Ill see how it goes first.

What is a decent biking avg mph? I've been doing rides at 18.5-19.5 miles per hour (10-20 mile rides). I have a decent road bike Trek 2.3 (but not a true tri bike).

 

[pigskinliquors]

Rail: AWESOME first half!!!! You won't know what to do with yourself on the flat!

Tri-Man: Holy Bajoley! Awesome that you are running sub 7:30 for that distance during this time of year. I am sooo far from there right now it's laughable.

iTriple: nothing wrong with doing breast stroke, but please make sure you get in the pool. As 2Young showed; this is not a time or place to "wing-it."

Wraith: Awesome speed work :jealous: I haven't been able to even attempt speed work in a couple of months. IF I can get a morning where temp + humidity is less than 160 I will start to try (but not until then).

___________________________

My Update:

Yesterday afternoon I hit the pool for a 100, 200, 400, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100 = 2,200 yards. All were under 1:00 per 50; except the 300. A gorgeous tri-girl was in the lane next to me and I was swimming right along side of her (bilateral breathing when she was to my right, unilateral when on my left ), and I didn't want to show her up by speeding past her (= that set was 6:10). My shoulder (knock on wood) is doing well. I can feel it near the end of my workouts, but I seem to be recovering pretty quickly. I plan on only having 2 swims per week throughout training, and to not do any speed work (all slow and steady) as I really want to get to my next three starting lines (tri's). After only having one race to this point this year, I might have 6 races/rides stacked up! Not sure I'll be able to do them all (= if I can get ex to watch the kids) but this is what my near future training/racing could look like:

7/25: Waco Oly tri (no wetsuits)

728-8/5: training in WI = cool weather and amazing cycling!

8/7: 62 mile bike race followed by a tube down a river (Shammies and Coozies!)

8/14: Ring of Fire 65 or 110 mile bike race ("friend", a gal :unsure", doesn't know which distance she wants to do yet)

8/28: Hotter than Hell 102 mile bike race with Culdeus

9/5: Austin Olympic tri (w/ wetsuit)

10/17: my first HIM! Longhorn 70.3!!!!!!!!

 

[bostonfred]

Second week of my 5k circuit. Race time temperature was in the high 90s, down from the day's high of 102 degrees, and every bit as muggy as the first race. I was able to avoid the embarrassment of showing up late to the race today with one simple change to my schedule: I opted not to go.

How come everybody else gets a motivational pat on the head but not me?

 

[wraith5]

Im doing my first sprint tri (1/4 miles swim, 18 mile bike, 5k) in 11 days. I've been running and biking a lot.

My problem is going to be the swim. Am I wrong to think I can just wing and make it through? The couple of time in the pool I felt like the breast stroke would be my best shot?

What could go wrong? My advice may sound harsh, but it is pretty simple. Get into the pool. If you can do 500yds straight without stopping, do the tri. If you can breaststroke it or sidestroke it, great! Do that. If you can wear a wetsuit test yourself in that. Wetsuits are a wonderful crutch (and it is hard to drown in them since you can just flip over on your back and float for forever). Otherwise change to a du or postpone your tri adventures until learn to swim enough so that you aren't going to get yanked out of the water.

As I prepared for my first sprint tri 2 weeks ago, I worked hard on the swim prep. I figured I can go slow on the bike, and I can walk during the run, but I can drown on the swim. Pretty simple stuff right there.

That story is awful, by the way. And a little disconcerting as I head into my first Oly this Sunday. I wonder if they'll ever know what happened to him.

Did 1800 meters at the pool over lunch. I felt S-L-O-W, maybe because of no wetsuit, or the run this morning, or possibly just the 92 degree temps. But I was definitely struggling a bit. Glad I got it in (I'll go on Friday as well).

 

[2Young2BBald]

Im doing my first sprint tri (1/4 miles swim, 18 mile bike, 5k) in 11 days. I've been running and biking a lot.

My problem is going to be the swim. Am I wrong to think I can just wing and make it through? The couple of time in the pool I felt like the breast stroke would be my best shot?

What could go wrong? My advice may sound harsh, but it is pretty simple. Get into the pool. If you can do 500yds straight without stopping, do the tri. If you can breaststroke it or sidestroke it, great! Do that. If you can wear a wetsuit test yourself in that. Wetsuits are a wonderful crutch (and it is hard to drown in them since you can just flip over on your back and float for forever). Otherwise change to a du or postpone your tri adventures until learn to swim enough so that you aren't going to get yanked out of the water.

I agree with Sand, this isn't a charity fun run/walk and the swim needs to be taken very seriously.. However, that swim is as short as they come for sprints, so I think it can be done. I saw, iTriple, that you didn't think you'd be wearing a wetsuit. Why? Were you any type of swimmer in the past, grew up on a lake, etc? If so, than winging it, isn't really winging it. If not, and you think the water temps are going to be below 84, get a wetsuit. You want to enjoy this so that you want to do more, not struggle & be miserable. Some other dos if you go for it: attend the course meeting and study the swim course map. Know and understand who & what they'll have in the water for your safety and how to signal for help. According to USAT rules, you can hang on rescue items for eternity (until the course closes) as long as someone doesn't assist you. During Sand's recommended 500 yard swim, roll to your back and float/tread water. If you get kicked, punched, etc it can cause you to take on water, knock off goggles, etc. Rolling to your back is a nice way to get your bearings, slow your breathing and get back to the swim. Another recommendation is to have a kid or kids pester you in the water (push you down, pull your legs and get in your way). This simulates race swim conditions (and is fun for the kids).

If you do race, get to the back of your wave. Instinct will be to swim like hell when the horn goes off. DON'T. Count 5 to 7 "apples" and then hit it. This will keeping you from the washing machine.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Second week of my 5k circuit. Race time temperature was in the high 90s, down from the day's high of 102 degrees, and every bit as muggy as the first race. I was able to avoid the embarrassment of showing up late to the race today with one simple change to my schedule: I opted not to go.

How come everybody else gets a motivational pat on the head but not me?

We need an "I Didn't Run a 10K in June" thread to handle these situations.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Anyone have links to articles about consuming sea salt? I know 2Y has been doing it, and I was talking with a guy about it last week who is a big believer.

I got my information from talking to an exercise physiologist on a break during a tri clinic. She recommended pink sea salt for every day use & pink sea salt and lemon added to water as a supplemental sports drink. I am sold after 3+ months of use and will have a bottle of the mix in one of my cages for the HIM on Sunday. About 45 days after starting the stuff, I had my annual physical. My sodium level was pegged dead center on where it needed to be & my Ph levels were stellar and much better than the year before when I was not using the salt.