Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf

Oryx

Dory Dory wrote: »

It's 41km....on god awful hills....

Just a FYI. You are not allowed to use excuses like this, ever. It reflects badly on the sport.

I will pass on the sage advice I got when I first started all this malarkey:

HTFU!!!!!!!

catweazle

Back into the water straight after the Olympic to cool the legs - not your bubbly geyser at home but in the river or lake that you are racing in. You should be fine after all your mileage on bike and run you wont be far off full throttle for the Sprint.

While I think you will get a higher placing in the sprint (you will probably win both anyways - you seem to win all your races), I think you will get a better time in the Olympic as you have huge endurance at this stage rather than raw power.

But seeing as you have damn all triathlons in your locality you might as well make hay while the sun shines and do both.

Have they a website?

BTH

http://luraytriathlon.com/

Edit: Its a tasty looking bike route profile, but you have plenty of time to get the training in for the hills

catweazle

When I give out about Irish triathlon prices when I look at Lurays charges - 130 bucks if you sign up late for a sprint :eek:

I stand corrected my initial impressions of a hick race triathlon in some sleepy Virginian settlement was proven wrong with a notice to say only 300 entries left. Must be a big one, looks good!

I must say the great Dave Scott looks very chiselled on the home page - some magnificent air brushing

Dory Dory

catweazle wrote: »

When I give out about Irish triathlon prices when I look at Lurays charges - 130 bucks if you sign up late for a sprint :eek:

I stand corrected my initial impressions of a hick race triathlon in some sleepy Virginian settlement was proven wrong with a notice to say only 300 entries left. Must be a big one, looks good!

I must say the great Dave Scott looks very chiselled on the home page - some magnificent air brushing

I don't even know who Dave Scott is....but I'm guessing I should be impressed, especially if they went to all the trouble to air brush him.

Our triathlon started out as a one day event that didn't totally fill up...and has turned into a two day affair that typically reaches max (or near max) capacity. We are only 2 hours from DC, so we pull all the deep pockets from that area who want to strut their stuff in the beautiful valley surrounded by gorgeous mountains. (you Boardies keep this event in mind if you ever find yourself in DC in August....and I know a pretty nice place where you can crash with a 90 degree 20 yard pool to swim in and a field to run in and a mountain to cycle up.....)

Dory Dory

Tempo Field Run

As I drove up the driveway coming home from work tonight and saw Mr. Groundhog's backside as he scurried into the brush he calls home, I knew the cooler temp of 82 degrees would agree with me for a quality field run just as Mr. G seemed to appreciate the break from the heat. Runners on....hair pulled back.....water bottle filled....and into the field I trotted. I decided on going 6 miles, and I wanted to keep the middle four miles under 8 min/mile to get a little confidence that I could still rustle up some speed. Between not following a running plan and trying to work on three disciplines all at one time, I'm feeling a little like a jack of all trades and master of none. Because I am trying to get in swimming and cycling, I'm running less than I have in way over a year, and I have no idea how it's affecting my times. Obviously there are ways for me to figure out where my times are, but at this moment I haven't a real clue where I stand.

The run felt pretty good overall, and the effort I put into this was solid. I was happy with my splits and even happier when the fourth tempo mile was in the books for that meant I could slow it down and enjoy the cool down mile as the sun was fading behind the clouds and mountainous horizon.

Splits:
8:28, 7:48, 7:32, 7:30, 7:35, 8:54

6:28 miles in 50:14.53 for an average pace of 8:00 min/mile...or as a clever Clown might spin it, 7:60 min/mile.

Dory Dory

Proper Bike Session

Up to the drive to meet hubby for our usual Saturday spin.....but it was WINDY!!! And chilly. And I forgot my Garmin! :mad: I never forget my Garmin. I actually considered throwing in the towel and heading home to run instead, but I need time on the bike so I sucked it up and off we went.

I have not cycled in wind like this before so I told myself that if I needed to go slow that it was okay. Hubby warned me that I might get tossed about but it would be good balance practice - however, it wasn't all that bad, really. I definitely felt the wind try to move me, but I'm not all that big so perhaps that helped a little. I think I felt the biggest impact of the wind on a few descents - the wind was physically holding me back from the fall I should have been experiencing.

I did tick off one of my goals with this ride though, I used higher gears that I have never used before - translation, the big ring up front. That's right, I have been working in my smaller ring, but now I've graduated to the big-girl ring....and I loved it!! I absolutely hate that I forgot my Garmin because I would love to know if the big ring made me faster, but perhaps with all that wind my time/speed might have even been slower. But, it was a good ride.

Per the bike odometer: 25.55 miles.....in probably 1 hour 20ish minutes.

Having a dinner party tonight, so that's it for me today. Tomorrow will need to be another story.....

Dory Dory

Gorgeous Field Run

This was one of those runs where, other than a brief battle with a stitch in my side around mile 6/7 that I eventually banished by forcing myself to stay relaxed and mentally partitioning it off from the rest of my body (ok, that partitioning thing sounds a bit weird, but whatever works....), I felt stronger as the run unfolded.

The weather was gorgeous today - 77 degrees, low humidity, a bit windy, and mostly sunny - so I knew this should be a good run. My main goal today was to enjoy this run, and my secondary goals were to keep my pace around 9 min/mile and to try keep the paces as even as possible. Because at the ten mile mark I was feeling so good, I decided to kick it in a bit and step on the gas. Felt grand.

The field was pretty quiet today, so not much to report - no snakes, no groundhog, no rabbits, no black cat....just butterflies and birds to keep me company. Oh, and my iPod. So, without further ado, here are my stats after running around my grassy/hilly/uneven field 18 times, making 72 right-angel turns, and running up our gravel driveway 6 times while running down it 12 times:

12.3 miles in 1:50:15 for an average pace of 8:55 min mile.

Splits:
9:10, 9:05, 9:05, 8:53, 9:01, 9:00, 9:12, 8:52, 9:02, 9:01, 8:33, 8:00, 3:16 (9:26 pace, cool down).

Dory Dory

Swim

The body was a bit creaky from the day's earlier run, so tonight's swim was just good and basic. The air felt pretty chilly this evening at 77 degrees with a bite to the breeze and the sun going down, but the water was 85 and delightful. Oh, but the water wasn't feeling too delightful to the bunny rabbit that was belly up in my pool. :eek::( Dammit. I hate when that happens. Wish the little buggers understood the concept of a fence.

3,000 yards
400 each swim, pull, kick, pull, swim
200 each swim, pull, kick, pull, swim

Dory Dory

Chilly Swim

So what happened to summer??? Good grief, it was only 60 degrees and windy out there tonight....and the water temp had dipped so low (below 85 degrees ) that the heater had to kick in. Sheesh! There goes next month's electric bill!!

I had absolutely no set plan when I hopped in the pool, but I knew I wanted to go 5k. I decided to start with a long swim and make a few decisions on the fly based on what was making me happy and what was working for me. The swim felt grand - grand from a relaxing/rhythmic/efficient-use-of-energy standpoint. 2k very therapeutic yards. I then intended on going 1k with the pull buoy, but once again I got into this amazing place and decided I would keep going as long as the quality of the stroke was maintained, and that quality was maintained for 2k. I finished the session with 5 x 200s in the same rhythmic fashion - just couldn't get it going any faster, but I kept it strong. Woo hoo!

5,000 yards:
2,000 swim
2,000 pull
5 x 200 swim

Oryx

Now I have sad images in my head of poor bunny wunny doing a last, desperate breaststroke.

Ps. Your swim sets are awesome.

Krusty_Clown

Oryx wrote: »

Now I have sad images in my head of poor bunny wunny doing a last, desperate breaststroke.

Ps. Your swim sets are awesome.

Real question is, did you eat the bunny afterwards? Terrible waste not to!

And yes, you're swim sets are so far beyond awesome in my mind, that I cannot begin to comprehend them.

Dory Dory

Oryx wrote: »

Now I have sad images in my head of poor bunny wunny doing a last, desperate breaststroke.

Ps. Your swim sets are awesome.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Real question is, did you eat the bunny afterwards? Terrible waste not to!

And yes, you're swim sets are so far beyond awesome in my mind, that I cannot begin to comprehend them.

Topic A, Bunny Tragedy - First casualty of the season, and a bit disturbing to me. Upon discovering the unfortunate drowning, the wascally wabbit was bagged and tagged - its bloated and chlorine filled body was not up to my culinary standards.

Topic B, Swim Sets - Awesome? Can't comprehend them? Aw shucks, you two, they're just big chunks of change and not the short, fast sets the boys do....but thanks.

Dory Dory

Field Run

Super run tonight. The evening was perfect weather-wise, in the 60s and clear, and I just felt good from a physical standpoint. Not much activity in the field and I didn't take my iPod, but this lack of external stimuli allowed me to concentrate on my form (hello griffin!) and practice leaning forward while going downhill. I also experimented with leaning forward while not running downhill wondering if this might somehow help "pull" me forward and make me faster without expending additional energy, and I think it may have done just that! I have never had anyone watch my form other than dear, sweet and elderly Mrs. Dougans who I see when I run on the Greenway, wears too much lipstick, calls me Pocohantis, and says I run like a gazelle so, I am pretty clueless about proper form....but....any way....

I'm very happy with my splits because, generally speaking, I didn't kill myself on this run and I felt I expended my energy efficiently. Did leaning forward assist in this? I'm not totally sure, but you can bet dollars to doughnuts that I'll be trying this again.....and again....and again....

Splits as follows:
8:09, 7:57, 7:24, 7:17, 7:20, 7:27, 2:20 (8:32 cool down)

6.27 miles in 47:57.97 for an average pace of 7:38 min/mile.

racheljev

Dory Dory wrote: »

. Did leaning forward assist in this? I'm not totally sure, but you can bet dollars to doughnuts that I'll be trying this again.....and again....and again....

I did a Chi running course a while ago and the leaning forward thing was one of the items on the list. If I remember rightly, there were "degrees" of lean, depending on whether you were training or racing. Of course, I never get the lean right and end up almost headbutting the path :rolleyes: Ask RQ about it, she was on the same course (and wasn't allowed lead the training run during the course because she was told by the instructor - Catherina McKiernan- that she was "too fast" :eek:)

Some great running there, so jealous of what sounds like a gorgeous place to live and run (although not so much of the kamikaze bunnies....)

catweazle

Dory Dory wrote: »

Splits as follows:
8:09, 7:57, 7:24, 7:17, 7:20, 7:27, 2:20 (8:32 cool down)

6.27 miles in 47:57.97 for an average pace of 7:38 min/mile.

I was wondering when the faster stuff was going to come back - I havent seen a sub 8 minute mile average in a long time

Nice running!

Dory Dory

@Rachel - thanks for the info.....I'll have to ask RQ and also google Chi Running!

@catweazel - I hear what you are, um, saying but in my defense, the field is hard to run in and it's been ungodly hot. But I do agree, I was relieved to do some decent splits finally. I have no idea where I really am running-wise, but with the Achill half in 4 weeks I'll have a better idea then. As you know, Achill's not a fast course, but I think it will give me a hint of where I am.

Dory Dory

Trainer

It really pains me to be indoors on an evening when it's not raining or when some other kind of inclement weather isn't going on outside, but there was a threat of rain, and I really needed some time on the bike, so down to the dungeon I trudged and onto the bike I hopped. Not much to report.....first half I watched sports news, second half I watched political news. Sweated like a pig. And did all sorts of mathematical equations trying to figure out how I might do in a triathlon by predicting my splits based on old OW times with and without a wetsuit, extrapolating out my crappy cycling speed, and factoring in serious fatigue to my running times. Oh, and slow transitions with errors upon errors. And maybe a punctured tire. Never changed/fixed a tire before. And then I wondered how bad it would be if I crashed and broke an arm, and if I'd still be able to run the marathon I signed up for in October. Surely I could still run it if it was just a broken arm, right?

Any way...

25 miles in about an hour and 20 minutes or so.

Saw the season's first fire fly tonight.....and we have a deer that keeps coming up to our pool fence and I'm worried she might hop over it and end up in our pool. I don't care if she gets in our pool as long as she can get herself out without incident!

Dory Dory

Swim

Do you know how much your mind can wander when you swim 5,000 yards straight without a single break....and you're immersed in water and the only thing you see the entire time is the line on the bottom of the pool, your hands entering the water, and your legs/feet/knees when you flip turn....and your eyes are being suctioned by the pink pair of goggles you have strapped to your head, causing a gargantuan headache at about 3k?? How much can your mind wander? It can wander far, far away. Trust me. (hello interested!!)

Once again, I didn't have a set plan when I set sail tonight, but I actually had thought I might do short sets of various things to get me to my goal of 5k. However, when I got to my first 400 yards, I was seduced by the hypnotic drug-like qualities of the rhythm I had already slipped into and, like an addict looking for a fix, just kept on mainlining the steady pace. I think all interest in speed has been replaced with the desire for endurance. It happens with age.

5,000 yards freestyle

interested

Dory Dory wrote: »

Swim

Do you know how much your mind can wander when you swim 5,000 yards straight without a single break....and you're immersed in water and the only thing you see the entire time is the line on the bottom of the pool, your hands entering the water, and your legs/feet/knees when you flip turn....and your eyes are being suctioned by the pink pair of goggles you have strapped to your head, causing a gargantuan headache at about 3k?? How much can your mind wander? It can wander far, far away. Trust me. (hello interested!!)

Once again, I didn't have a set plan when I set sail tonight, but I actually had thought I might do short sets of various things to get me to my goal of 5k. However, when I got to my first 400 yards, I was seduced by the hypnotic drug-like qualities of the rhythm I had already slipped into and, like an addict looking for a fix, just kept on mainlining the steady pace. I think all interest in speed has been replaced with the desire for endurance. It happens with age.

5,000 yards freestyle

+1, just don't go gentle ...

Dory Dory

interested wrote: »

+1, just don't go gentle ...

Solid advice from a guy who's got great lungs.

interested

The eye-socket induced headache from hell is familiar to be honest. I took the precaution of changing the goggles before tackling longer open water swims recently. Now its just the inner voices that are irritating.

Dory Dory

interested wrote: »

The eye-socket induced headache from hell is familiar to be honest. I took the precaution of changing the goggles before tackling longer open water swims recently. Now its just the inner voices that are irritating.

If you have any goggle suggestions for longer swims, spill them on me now.

And for some reason, last night the inner voices had me having tea with a deliciously vibrant character down the rabbit hole of my acquatic wonderland. You should try it sometime.

interested

Dory Dory wrote: »

If you have any goggle suggestions for longer swims, spill them on me now.

And for some reason, last night the inner voices had me having tea with a deliciously vibrant character down the rabbit hole of my acquatic wonderland. You should try it sometime.

re: goggle suggestions - Ive been toying with something recently - just need to actually throw it together properly but will happily pass on a link.

re: what goes on in the head during swimming ... is a lot like dreams ... but since its Friday and nobody really reads this stuff anyhow ... recent thoughts have included one or all of the following:

a) "man, how many times in one 400 will I lap El D with a broken foot ? and should he really be allowed wear his wetsuit all the time with the rubber duck ring. It should be one or the other."

b) "I really need darker lenses in these things, despite being 100 metres off shore and wrapped in a wetsuit some how BTH is reflecting light via his ankles and wrists. Not to worry, he's heading off in the wrong direction. Again. Still, he goes much faster in the wrong direction these days so its win/win."

c) "If Zena Warrior Princess and Buffy had a fight, who'd win ?" quickly followed by "I never thought Id miss the turbo" and "oh sh*t, ironically I'm sea sick again".

Joking aside, swimming alone in the sea is far more liberating that following that eternal blue line but a necessary evil at the moment unless I want a left glute like Serena Williams. Hmm ...

BTH

interested wrote: »

re: goggle suggestions - Ive been toying with something recently - just need to actually throw it together properly but will happily pass on a link.

re: what goes on in the head during swimming ... is a lot like dreams ... but since its Friday and nobody really reads this stuff anyhow ... recent thoughts have included one or all of the following:

a) "man, how many times in one 400 will I lap El D with a broken foot ? and should he really be allowed wear his wetsuit all the time with the rubber duck ring. It should be one or the other."

b) "I really need darker lenses in these things, despite being 100 metres off shore and wrapped in a wetsuit some how BTH is reflecting light via his ankles and wrists. Not to worry, he's heading off in the wrong direction. Again. Still, he goes much faster in the wrong direction these days so its win/win."

c) "If Zena Warrior Princess and Buffy had a fight, who'd win ?" quickly followed by "I never thought Id miss the turbo" and "oh sh*t, ironically I'm sea sick again".

Joking aside, swimming alone in the sea is far more liberating that following that eternal blue line but a necessary evil at the moment unless I want a left glute like Serena Williams. Hmm ...

Hey.....

interested

Apologies, I got that totally wrong ... with respect to "nobody really reads this stuff anyhow"

Dory Dory

interested wrote: »

Joking aside, swimming alone in the sea is far more liberating that following that eternal blue line but a necessary evil at the moment unless I want a left glute like Serena Williams. Hmm ...

Would that be to have or to hold?

interested

That's too much cheek for me.

pgmcpq

Dory Dory wrote: »

Field Run

allowed me to concentrate on my form (hello griffin!) and practice leaning forward while going downhill. I also experimented with leaning forward while not running downhill wondering if this might somehow help "pull" me forward and make me faster without expending additional energy, and I think it may have done just that!

I found this useful (in fact I am using it now again as I try to get my running back "on the road" :rolleyes::

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Sensory_cues.htm

It's a chapter in his book "Brain Trainng for Runners"

Disclaimer: Fitzgerald later disowned the whole thing ! I still like it but take with as many grains of salt as you choose.

Dory Dory wrote: »

Surely I could still run it if it was just a broken arm, right?

It's just a flesh wound!

Dory Dory

pgmcpq wrote: »

I found this useful (in fact I am using it now again as I try to get my running back "on the road" :rolleyes::

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Sensory_cues.htm

It's a chapter in his book "Brain Trainng for Runners"

Disclaimer: Fitzgerald later disowned the whole thing ! I still like it but take with as many grains of salt as you choose.



It's just a flesh wound!

Thanks for the link! Good read.....and it made me smile that i've already been focusing on some of those things just out of blind logic, while other suggestions contained in the article were new ideas that I will give a go at.

And flesh wound is precisely what I thought too!