Hey everybody,
It's been a while since I posted. My lap top took a tumble.
I'm still at it. So far so good. I'm able to easily complete the swim bike and run distances individually. My swim is still in the back bay right now. I am still working on breathing, technique and stamina. I will probably transition into the ocean in about two weeks. I have been training for the bike on my Mountain bike which is 30lbs. and about as aerodynamic as a Dodge Power Wagon. I located a really nice 2007 Kestrel Tri-Bike a few weeks back and got a good deal on it. I just got it back from the bike shop yesterday. So I'll start working that into my routine. I have tried a few "bricks" which is the bike and transition into the run. It's not so bad. I have more or less broken the mental struggle I have to want to quit running as soon as I start to get winded. Usually at about the half mile mark. I have found that if I push through it my breathing comes around and I guess I get my "second wind" and I am ok. The hardest part is when I have to run the beach at high tide which keeps me in the soft sand for nearly the entire mile and a half of the beach run. My foot sinks into the sand a half inch or so. What an energy zapper. At low tide I only need to contend with the soft sand twice. When first entering the beach I need to cross about fifty yards of soft sugary sand with little traction under foot. At the waters edge it is nice and tight and easy to run. Then at the end of the beach run is the transition to the board walk. I cross anywhere from 250 to 300 yards of soft sugary sand and/or a wet sand almost a wet cement consistency that wants to suck your foot in when you try to lift up. I am not sure how they are going to set up the run course so part of the strategy may be to look far enough ahead to take a path to avoid the wet sand. I won't know that until the day of the race though I suppose.
I have also lost between 9-1/2 and 10 lbs. It fluctuates depending on the day.
My original goal was to finish in the top 10 of my age bracket 45-50 year old males. I am still holding on to that goal as of today. The race organizers changed a few things this year. One of which is the start. In the past they started by age group. Which would have made it easier for me to track my competition. This year they changed the start to all start at the same So I'll just give it my all and see where I end up.
One thing I am not sure what to do about yet is my bike/run shoes. I have addressed this with my bike guy but he isn't a runner so I am a little on my own right now. My tri-bike has clip in pedals and my mountain bike has pedals with the cage thing. Currently I have two pair of running shoes. The soles at the front kind of where your toes meet your foot are different widths by about a half inch. The narrow pair slides into the cage thing perfectly with out interfering with the crank. This is also the pair of running shoes I like better when I am running. The bike ride is also only ten miles long and almost perfectly flat. Three small bridges need to be traversed the hardest of which may have a 20 degree incline and max 40 foot elevation. They have to be crossed once in each direction.
The thought right now is to switch out the pedals and put the cage things on my tri-bike and ride with my running shoes on. My bike guy thinks that is the best compromise. The time to change shoes on a short race will be very hard to make up he thinks. He also said the advantage to the clip in shoes over the cage things will be on the incline side of the bridges. As I will not be able to pull up as well as the clip ins but I will have some ability to pull up. I think he called that the back stroke? I'm not sure though. But the loss in power on the inclines would not nearly be able to compensate for the loss of time to change shoes from the transition from bike to run. Any thoughts in put?
