Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf

shotgunmcos

Forget about swim times, hills, clipping in etc... In fact leave the watch at home and just enjoy the blooming thing! You can analyse the bejeesus out of it afterwards.... Just an idea

catweazle

Dory Dory wrote: »

Lows of this ride: I still suffer on the hills and still need more work spinning, my thighs scream and yell more than I think they should, I don't clip in and am trying to accept that I don't have enough time at this point to learn, I don't have aerobars and am trying to convince myself not to worry about it this time around.

I would second Shotguns advice, go out and enjoy it, you will only do your first tri once.

The clip in don't take long at all to learn, stick the bike up on the turbo and practice taking clipping them on and off, you will have it down to pat in 30 minutes. Your course seems very hilly so they will be a big help

I think I didn't have a crash until almost two months into using clip ons and its the only one I have had, admiring a girls ass for too long at a roundabout and not realising I had run out of speed!

Oryx

Don't worry about aerobars. I still don't have them. One spin on a straight road will have you using clip pedals easily. If you are unsure hop on the bike in a doorway and practice before you try while moving. To release you twist out and DOWN not up. If I can do it anyone can.

And you know nerves are normal four weeks out. Never feeling ready also. Youre doing everything right!

griffin100

What everyone else says about clipless pedals.......... You'll get used to them very quickly and on a hilly course they will be a big help. I used mine for the first time for a 20km ride after practicing taking my foot in and out a few times on the turbo the night before a race and then wore them in the race the next day with no problems. Using clipless pedals are unlikely to make you more crash prone, but you will at some stage fall over when stationary when you forget that you are clipped in - unlikely to hurt anything but your pride. Also if the course is hilly don't be worrying about aerobars just yet.

Dory Dory

Wow, nothing like a little self-pity and worry to get some attention. Thanks for the advice and support - all wise and duly noted. From this moment forward, it's all about the t-shirt the "fun" of the challenge.

Mulling over what to do about the pedals, but I will come to terms with that today and stop whining. Part of the issue is finding the time and the information to get the proper pedals and shoes to clip in with, especially since I'm hearing from you folks that the learning curve isn't as long as I thought it might be - assuming I don't get distracted looking at hot men in lycra pedaling and sweating in front of me.

Oryx

Ha. And the men think they are the only ones to enjoy the view. I have spd-sl pedals and cleats. They are similar to Look. Buy from a shop because they will set them in the right position for you.

RacoonQueen

Dory Dory wrote: »

assuming I don't get distracted looking at hot men in lycra pedaling and sweating in front of me.

You won't. It's not as attractive on men as it appears to be on women.

Oryx

RacoonQueen wrote: »

You won't. It's not as attractive on men as it appears to be on women.

I beg to differ.

Dory Dory

RacoonQueen wrote: »

You won't. It's not as attractive on men as it appears to be on women.

Oryx wrote: »

I beg to differ.

RQ - sounds like you've been entering the wrong races!

Dory Dory

Intervals

Sneaky lunchtime sweat-fest. Had the tv turned on for this session to the national news, and me and Andrea Mitchell covered such topics as the mass shooting at the movie theater last Friday for the opening of Batman, gun control and how our political leaders are avoiding this toxic subject, and the tough sanctions imposed on Penn State due to the horrible scandal surrounding the football department. Whew! Compared to all that, my intervals felt like a day at the beach.

Here's what I did:

1 mile warmup at 10 min/mile
2 x .75 mile at 6:49 min/mile (90 second recovery in between)
4 x .5 mile at 6:44 min/mile (90 second recovery in between)
1 mile cool down at 10 min/mile

In total, 6.25 miles in 54:22 for an average pace of 8:42 min/mile.

Funny thing...after I complained on Saturday about my right heel hurting for a month or so, it feels much better. I did take two Advil that evening (figured I'd try to reduce any inflammation since it reminds me of how a bruise feels) and then the next day it was much better. Still feels much improved (not perfect yet, but oh-so much better), so I am very pleased. Maybe just getting this off my chest was all I needed to do.

Swim session tonight.........

Dory Dory

Really Good Swim Session

After some soul searching and a rallying of the troops to get my head screwed back on correctly (thank you folks!) this was a good session. I've got a ways to go in the speed department, but tonight was a nice step forward - in fact, my timed 200 tonight was 7 seconds faster than yesterday's fastest 200. (Yes, deck timing clock is still on the deck - where it will probably stay for the next 4 weeks.) The plan is to focus more on shorter, spiffier sets to bring my time down.

Quick overview of tonight's session - went hard on the timed sets, easy breezy on the recovery. As the distance got shorter, I took fewer breaths. I also tried to keep the body high and my stroke complete. The 20 yards with no breaths were a snap, and I went off on the next 20 hard/20 easy on the minute.

3,200 yards as follows:
400 free warmup
200 free, timed - 200 free, easy
2 x (160 free, timed - 160 free, easy)
3 x (120 free, timed - 120 free, easy)
4 x (80 free, timed - 80 free, easy)
5 x (20 free hard, no breath - 20 free, easy) - off on 60 seconds
200 breast cool down

Dory Dory

Biking in the Basement

Torrential downpours altered my session plan tonight from a spiffy swim/bike dynamic duo to a basement bike bash. It was fine. Kept the speed around 18 mph, sweated like mad, and did 20 miles. I may try and get the planned swim/bike session in on Friday since there is great benefit derived from this particular workout that I stole from Interested.

Dory Dory

5 Mile Tempo Run

Work was insane today so I did not get my sneaky lunchtime treadmill tempo done, but rather I braved the evening heat and had sweat pouring off me as I dodged branches and bunnies and rounded corners in the field tonight. Good run, but I noticed all decent form went kaput on mile 4. The pace was a little faster than the plan prescribed, and it showed in the amount of effort I put into this tonight.

Splits as follows:
7:36, 7:32, 7:40, 7:40, 7:31

5 miles in 38:03 for an average pace of 7:37 min/mile


Swim

Tossed off the drenched running attire and shimmied into my colorful Speedo.....then slipped into the pool for a post-run lovely 1k straight swim. Pure heaven. No speed in the water tonight - I left all that out on the field.


After a very nice conversation with the bike shop who keeps our bikes healthy, it has been decided that I will hold off for now on learning how to clip in. Decision made, clarity achieved, no looking back, and I accept all that comes with this decision. End of story. But on the bright side, it has also been decided that if I intend on participating in more tri or cycling events, then I will not only be fitted for clipless pedals after the upcoming tri, but I'm also getting a brand spanking new bike.

Dory Dory

Swim Sprints

Due to the godawful heat and humidity (97 degrees/112 with heat index at 6pm), the only option for tonight was to hit the pool. So after I laid on the hot, sun soaked brick that is my pool deck for about 5 minutes soaking up all the heat I could get into my body (people pay good money for this hot rock therapy!), I reluctantly traded one happy place for another and off I went on this aquatic adventure.

For the moment I am focusing more on short, spiffy sets...and because I wanted to do some timed 100 yard sets, I experimented with the placement of the pace clock on the deck (100 yards is 5 laps of my pool). It wasn't perfect, but I set the clock on a bar table at approximately the halfway point between the two ends and I could see the clock well enough for this purpose. After the 100 yard sets, I moved the clock back to its usual spot at the shallow end of the pool.

3,200 yards as follows:
400 free warmup
400 pull
4 x 100 free, timed, and off on 2 min.
400 pull
4 x 100 free, timed, and off on 2 min.
400 pull
5 x 40 free, timed, and off on 1 min.
200 pull
5 x 40 free, timed, and off on 1 min.
200 breast cool down

interested

Dory Dory wrote: »

but I'm also getting a brand spanking new bike.

'Hey, I need some advice about pedals'
'No, you need a new bike'
'Grand' said the sucker


Choose wisely

Oryx

Like most things, I took far too long to use cleats and looking back I can't understand why I didn't do it sooner. You'll be the same.

Just reading your training makes me tired. Great stuff.

Dory Dory

interested wrote: »

'Hey, I need some advice about pedals'
'No, you need a new bike'
'Grand' said the sucker


Choose wisely

Gosh, and I thought I was being rewarded for good behavior.

Dory Dory

Who knew the Queen was secretly a Bond girl??

shotgunmcos

Dory Dory wrote: »

Who knew the Queen was secretly a Bond girl??

That was funny alright. Great training on this log as usual... keep truckin' HDD. You have me in your sight on the SBR swim

Dory Dory

20 Mile LSR

If I ever go to sign up for a fall marathon ever again, someone please remind me how insane it is to train for one in the middle of summer in the climate I live in - think Saturday afternoons spent running 20 miles in 90 to 100 degree temps.

No elaboration for this run needed, other than to say to my furry field friends who (save one wascally wabbit who hung with me for the first two laps - he even stood up on his hind legs watching me....probably thinking I must not be quite right to be running in this heat) didn't even bother to lend me any support today - where is the love?????

Plan was 20 miles at PMP plus 45 seconds....so 8:45 was the target.

The first 15 miles were actually not too bad. Relaxed, watched form, didn't watch the clock too much, even decided on miles 3 and 4 to get a little crazy and run IN the field instead of AROUND it (zig-zagged, circled, diagonaled, crisscross-crossed), but then I grew tired of having to think about what to do next.

Splits:
8:40, 8:19, 8:15, 8:37, 8:37
8:39, 8:32, 8:32, 8:27, 8:33
8:34, 8:40, 8:41, 8:44, 8:43

The wheels came off right here. I was miserable in the heat and I wasn't able to cool myself down, so into the pool I went. You can only imagine how hard it was for me to drag myself out of that water to finish my run....but I did. Decided at this point that I had to slow my pace down.....and I did.

Splits:
9:03, 9:03, 9:01, 8:58, 8:53

Total of 20 miles in 2:53:42 for an average pace of 8:40 min/mile.

Kurt Godel

Weally wedeaming wun: wespect.

pgmcpq

Snap - crashed at mile 16 myself ... in 20 degree cooler weather ! Wish I had the pool though. Nice recovery - bank that for race day.

Dory Dory

Thigh-Exploding Early-Morning Tri-Course Bike-Ride

When the alarm went off this morning at 5:20, I wanted nothing more than to ignore that blasted "chirp-chirp" of the clock radio and stay in bed for another few hours.....but just as soon as I rolled over for a few more minutes of sleep, my backup device know as my cell phone started with its "beep-beep" wake-me-up ringtone, so I gave into it all and got my tired arse out of bed.

I warned hubby that I was not feeling the love for this ride so to beware of some slow-poking by yours truly. He nodded. Consumed some sort of breakfast bar leftover from Achill and drank some apple juice before I left the house....grabbed the sunglasses, helmet, Garmin and whatever else I needed (did I need anything else?)...and off I went.

Gorgeous morning!!!!!! Omg....really beautiful here this morning with the sun coming up and the fog lifting and the farm animals milling about in the fields. There was even a rooster who was cock-a-doodle-dooing as we rode by. So I set off on the start of this ride with no expectations of speedy grandeur (still pretty wasted from yesterday's run), but instead looked to get time in the saddle and additional confidence/knowledge of this course. I didn't push the first 6ish miles, but I did attack the downhills and flats. I also allowed myself to stay in the ring I am most comfortable in, the big one. As hubby says, I'm a masher. But a funny thing happened somewhere around the halfway point, I got my groove on and started to want to have at it a bit.....so I did....pushed harder. I also experimented with standing up more while going uphill. I deduced that I could use my body weight better to push the pedals down, even at a lower gear, and I do believe this helped since for the first time ever I stayed above 4mph on that last soul-destroying hill using this method.

I had one minor catastrophe, however. I was practicing my water drinking and all was going well....was going at a slight downhill so the speed was up a bit.....all was going well until a sharp curve was staring me in the face. Crap! Because I need two hands to turn my bike and keep me upright, I quickly tried to put the bottle back in its cage but no-can-do, so I grabbed it with my teeth and tried to hold in my mouth, which worked for about a minute until it dropped to the ground. Blasted thing!! Stopped...backed up.....picked up....drank up....caged up. If this happens in the race I will not go back for it.

Any way.....good confidence booster today - feel like I'm really getting to know this course and am no longer intimidated by it. And considering I started this ride being pretty wiped out physically, I feel like I held my own this morning on the bike.

Stats per Garmin:
17.3 miles in 1:06:40 for an average pace of 15.6 mph and a top speed of 34.1 mph.

Oryx

You need to catch the end of the womens road race. Inspiring stuff. You sure are progressing btw.

RacoonQueen

Dory Dory wrote: »

I had one minor catastrophe, however. I was practicing my water drinking and all was going well....was going at a slight downhill so the speed was up a bit.....all was going well until a sharp curve was staring me in the face. Crap! Because I need two hands to turn my bike and keep me upright, I quickly tried to put the bottle back in its cage but no-can-do, so I grabbed it with my teeth and tried to hold in my mouth, which worked for about a minute until it dropped to the ground. Blasted thing!! Stopped...backed up.....picked up....drank up....caged up. If this happens in the race I will not go back for it.

What are the rules regarding this actually guys? If it lands in the middle of the road I assumed you had to stop and pick it up or you could be done for dangerous cycling/littering or some such?

Where's your bottle cage DD? is it on the seat tube or down tube? I struggle to get it back into the cage on the seat tube, but no bother cycling along getting it out of and back into the cage on the down tube.

Dory Dory

Oryx wrote: »

You need to catch the end of the womens road race. Inspiring stuff. You sure are progressing btw.

Just turned it on....wow. Thanks for the tip.

RacoonQueen wrote: »

What are the rules regarding this actually guys? If it lands in the middle of the road I assumed you had to stop and pick it up or you could be done for dangerous cycling/littering or some such?

Where's your bottle cage DD? is it on the seat tube or down tube? I struggle to get it back into the cage on the seat tube, but no bother cycling along getting it out of and back into the cage on the down tube.

Good question! I don't know if I need to stop, but I even mentioned to hubby that I'd worry it might get in the way of someone's path. I'll find out from the officials. Thanks!

And I have two cages - one on the down tube and one on the seat tube but I primarily use the down tube because the seat tube is harder for me to work. I will have bottles in both on race day. My dear brother purchased me a cage for my handlebars, but I don't think I'll be going that route. He also purchased me pink tassels for my handlebars that I doubt I'll be installing either!!

RacoonQueen

I'd totally put the tassels on for races.

Have wondered about dropping a bottle myself, have seen a couple randomly on the road along the way in BOTE, but if you drop it in front of a marshall it's a different story. Let us know what the verdict is.

Dory Dory

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I'd totally put the tassels on for races.

Have wondered about dropping a bottle myself, have seen a couple randomly on the road along the way in BOTE, but if you drop it in front of a marshall it's a different story. Let us know what the verdict is.

Oh god....you and my brother!!! And of course they are PINK tassels!!

I will let you know the bottle verdict!

Dory Dory

Lovely Afternoon Swim

With the body still drained from yesterday's run in the sun, this swim was about the feel of the water, steady swimming, and enjoying what I was doing. Nothing fancy here, just basic swimming.....oh, and new goggles!!! Super-fantastic-outdoor-glare-defying water specs. In other words, they were as advertised.

3,000 yards as follows:
1,600 free
800 pull
400 free
200 breast

BeepBeep67

You following the Olympic swimming? What happened your boys in the 4 x 100? Too many changes from the semis?