Question:

Isn’t it just like 800 an hour regardless of most factors.

I hear these numbers but they don’t seem to translate into the kind of weight loss you’d associate with big numbers like that.  It may seem over the top, but to get down to 185 I had to weigh my food to get an accurate handle on what I was really consuming.  I train 12 hours/week, which theoretically means 1375 calories/day, but to remain 185 I don’t seem to be able to consume more than 3,000 calories/day. Perhaps I’m unusual, but I noticed in Lance’s training book, his coach said has to watch his calories very closely.  I seem to remember that he’s well under 3,000 calories a day to get to his race weight of 158 (but it’s also true that during the tour they eat 7,000 calories/day and still lose weight).

Response:

Isn’t it just like 800 an hour regardless of most factors. I seem to recall that all the calcs and concrens always result in just a slight variation on this with small people being at the bottom of the scale and us robust types being near the highend. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Can someone please point me to a site where I can find the charts used to calculate calories burned while swimming, biking, running, etc? Thanks

Response:

Isn’t it just like 800 an hour regardless of most factors. I seem to recall that all the calcs and concrens always result in just a slight variation on this with small people being at the bottom of the scale and us robust types being near the highend.

It varies considerably.  Running is a weight constant X miles.  Foir 190lbs, it’s about 140 calories per mile.  For me biking on mostly flat looks to be 40 cal per mile based on a HRM.  I can’t quite do 800/hr then.  Swimming I’ve only measured a few times, but it’s even lower for me, 650.  Racquetball can be as high as 1200/h1r.   — Jason O’Rourke www.jor.com

Response:

Try this: http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/energyexp.htm hip

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Can someone please point me to a site where I can find the charts used to calculate calories burned while swimming, biking, running, etc? Thanks

Response:

Can someone please point me to a site where I can find the charts used to calculate calories burned while swimming, biking, running, etc?

Swimming, it’s going to be hard to get an authentic number unless you start calculating aerobic thresholds and such and compared exertion to your threshold. So much of it is technique that if you just used no variables charts you’re likely going to be hugely wrong. My college swim coach got a master’s thesis out of disproving the common  charts of the time that did say they could accurately peg swimming  the same way you can measure run/bike.  He took the team he was coaching at the time, and had them run a mile or two to determine a starting point for comparison. They had nice high heart rates, and were breathing hard at the end. Then he had them try to swim pace-wise what were supposed to be comprable "numbers" to heart rate/calories burned based on their run results.  To hit similar numbers, they had to go what was slow for them, really slow. He said his swimmers were not anywhere close to hitting the same heart rate they had on the run, and that a good number of them actually finished the swim with a lower heart rate than the resting heart rate he had recorded before they started the run.

Response:

I’ve got a spreadsheet in excel that I developed a couple of years ago from an article in triathlon times.  Let me know if you would like a copy.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Can someone please point me to a site where I can find the charts used to calculate calories burned while swimming, biking, running, etc? Thanks

Response:

Can someone please point me to a site where I can find the charts used to calculate calories burned while swimming, biking, running, etc? Thanks

Response:

Question:

No way, Peter is the man, he can post anything he wants here.  For all his hard work at all the triathlons, he at least deserves a quick sale item here.

Hey, can I post   items related to computers or my cat?  after all, I’ve done lots of work in triathlon NGBs so surely that entitles me to something? <G Tom

Response:

For Sale: 1984 Mercedes 300 d Sedan. 258,000 miles. Black with Tan Interior. 5 cylinder turbo diesel with automatic transmission. New exhaust and 4 new tires. Body is in very good condition, Air conditioning works well. Is currently in storage inside. $3500. O.B.O. Peter

Response:

Peter, here’s a couple of guide lines for RST. If you’re selling something, always preface the subject with "FS:" If it’s not tri related, DO NOT POST IT HERE! Thanks, Tom – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – For Sale: 1984 Mercedes 300 d Sedan. 258,000 miles. Black with Tan Interior. 5 cylinder turbo diesel with automatic transmission. New exhaust and 4 new tires. Body is in very good condition, Air conditioning works well. Is currently in storage inside. $3500. O.B.O. Peter

Response:

No way, Peter is the man, he can post anything he wants here.  For all his hard work at all the triathlons, he at least deserves a quick sale item here. No peter, I don’t miss this stuff! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Peter, here’s a couple of guide lines for RST. If you’re selling something, always preface the subject with "FS:" If it’s not tri related, DO NOT POST IT HERE! Thanks, Tom For Sale: 1984 Mercedes 300 d Sedan. 258,000 miles. Black with Tan Interior. 5 cylinder turbo diesel with automatic transmission. New exhaust and 4 new tires. Body is in very good condition, Air conditioning works well. Is currently in storage inside. $3500. O.B.O. Peter

Response:

I could be a bit twitchy. Sick over a week. No workouts. grumble grumble grumble…. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – No way, Peter is the man, he can post anything he wants here.  For all his hard work at all the triathlons, he at least deserves a quick sale item here. No peter, I don’t miss this stuff! Peter, here’s a couple of guide lines for RST. If you’re selling something, always preface the subject with "FS:" If it’s not tri related, DO NOT POST IT HERE! Thanks, Tom For Sale: 1984 Mercedes 300 d Sedan. 258,000 miles. Black with Tan Interior. 5 cylinder turbo diesel with automatic transmission. New exhaust and 4 new tires. Body is in very good condition, Air conditioning works well. Is currently in storage inside. $3500. O.B.O. Peter

Response:

No, you had it right.  Reagardless of how much someone has worked at races, it doesn’t earn them a free pass on spamming the newsgroup.  I bet everyone here has something non-tri-related they’d like to sell.  This isn’t alt.misc.forsale, or Sam’s used car lot. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I could be a bit twitchy. Sick over a week. No workouts. grumble grumble grumble…. No way, Peter is the man, he can post anything he wants here.  For all his hard work at all the triathlons, he at least deserves a quick sale item here. No peter, I don’t miss this stuff! Peter, here’s a couple of guide lines for RST. If you’re selling something, always preface the subject with "FS:" If it’s not tri related, DO NOT POST IT HERE! Thanks, Tom For Sale: 1984 Mercedes 300 d Sedan. 258,000 miles. Black with Tan Interior. 5 cylinder turbo diesel with automatic transmission. New exhaust and 4 new tires. Body is in very good condition, Air conditioning works well. Is currently in storage inside. $3500. O.B.O. Peter

Response:

Question:

can anybody help ? Carmen                          U.K. Bike Shop Database         http://www.handbooks.co.uk    Over 2,150 bikeshops- fully searchable

Response:

can anybody help ?

Start by looking at     http://www.triathletes.demon.co.uk/index.html to find out what there is, London is a big place and there are quite a few clubs. However, now that ‘Evans’ has been ‘renovated’ there are no proper tri shops in all of London! Steve

Response:

Question:

I have to agree that these are a blast! Grueling but completely satisfying.

I’ve done Miami event 2 years in a row. The first year we got our butts TOTALLY kicked. But we were wise and learned to bike and to LOOK and THINK the most important parts of Adventure Racing. Our female member got into Mountain Biking so much she’s gone hard core, even going to Moab ! Anyway we listened to all the first timers, snickered, especially at the one who have never biked before ( Ya,  piece of cake, no don’t even try your bike out you’ll do fine ! ) and scared the heck out of more than one team. Second place ! and if I wasn’t such a slow runner or we had 2 more miles of trail we would have won. It’s not for everyone, but everyone should give it a try.. Al Kormesser

Response:

I have to agree that these are a blast!  I competed in the all male category at the Pittsburgh race.  Grueling but completely satisfying. Dave – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If anyone is looking for something different in the way of multi-sport racing, then read on. I just returned this afternoon from doing the Hi-Tec Adventure race at Lake Castaic. This was the first adventure race that I have done. I have to say, it will not be my last. It was a whole lot of fun. The main events of the race consisted of a 10 mile mountain bike, a 7.4 mile trail run, and a 1.5 mile kayak. In addition to the main events, there were "special tests" mixed in-between. The "special tests" were made up of events that tested your strength, endurance, teamwork, and mind. This was a team race. The teams were of three people participating in all male, all female, or co-ed divisions. My team was co-ed (this was the main division). Two guys and one woman. There were around 300 teams racing. The race started at 5:00pm, so much of the race took place in the dark. Headlamps were needed. We finished in the middle of the pack, with a time of 3:38:59. To do the race, you have to be prepared to get dirty, wet, scraped up, muddy, cold, beat up, and stoked. There is no whining permitted. There is no outside help at all. All teams must supply there own food and hydration. First and foremost, you must work as a team and finish as a team. The idea of "you are only as strong as your weakest link" does not entirely hold true here. Everyone should be working as hard as the next person on your team. So, if someone is a strong biker, hammer ahead on the hills. When you reach the top, leave your bike and run back to assist the other members in any way possible. Many times you will take their bike up for them and they will run or walk the hill. Believe it or not, this works very effectively. At times, on unridable sections, I would run up with two bikes on my shoulders. This allowed a teammate to recover and be able to go harder once we reached the top. The race- We setup our transition area around 3:00pm and made any last minute preparations for the start. At 3:30pm we made our way over to the mandatory race meeting at the Hi-Tec tent. The race production was large. The tent was huge, accommodating all 300 teams. They discussed the segments of the race, covered the rules. The mountain bike will be the first event. The start will be a half mile from the transition. At the end of the meeting, each team was given a envelope and instructed to carry it with us throughout the course. We were not allowed to look inside until asked to do so. We head back to transition. Get whatever we need and jog over to the start line on the edge of the lake. At the start line, each team is required to get an 8′ 2X4. We do not know what it is for, but we can only assume it will be put to use. Parachuters drop out of a plane, one of which, has a huge American flag flowing behind him. The national anthem is sung as they descend. Two minutes before start, they tell us all to open our envelopes and read the contents. The directions tells us we have to use the 2X4 to carry one teammate. This teammate cannot touch either of the other members of the team. The carried member cannot touch the water either. Touch the water? We have to run in the lake. The horn blows. Our lightest teammate gets on the 2X4, we throw it on our shoulders and run as fast as we can in knee deep water. Many people are having difficulty with the extra weight. The pack spreads out a little, but there is still a bit of bumping and pushing. Our front man hits some mud and sinks to his knees in it. I go in a second later. We are now up to our waists in the water. We are making good time and are passing many people. We make it to the drop point and head to our bikes. We head out on the bikes and are soon caught in a bottleneck on the course. A long hill looms above us. We ride as far as we can, then have to run. I take Kirsti’s bike and run with both mine and hers. Jim is steadily moving along with us. At the top we move out at a good pace, leaving the congestion behind. We see a obstacle warning sign ahead. I jam ahead and reach it first. It is a 6′ high cattle fence. I leap over, as I touch ground Jim is already handing me a bike. Kirsti is climbing over, before she hits the ground I have another bike. Kirsti jumps on her bike and is off. Jim hits the ground and we are once more moving smoothly. It went like clockwork. Up and down winding trails and switch backs we go. It gets rough here and there. I see several people go down hard. A quick check and they are fine. My teammates get caught behind some people on a single track. I move ahead. I come to a long steep hill. It seems to go on forever. I reach the top, leave my bike and head back down on foot. I find them coming up. Most people are walking or running up. I take a teammate’s bike and we head up on a run. We reach the top and once again mount our bikes. Its mostly fast, downhill switch backs at this point and were heading home. I am cruising along pretty fast, I come to a rough section and a hair-pin turn. I can’t make it. I do what I can, but I’m going down. I manage to land without injury. I get back on my bike and keep going. As we near the transition, we see people heading out on the run. They are dripping wet and covered in mud. What do they have in store for us? After leaving the transition, we follow the trail markers. We round a bend, and are given a set of instructions. We are to carry a large railroad tie approx. 50 yards through a waist deep mud hole. All teammates must be touching the railroad tie at all times. Where my size hinders me in triathlon, it is a benefit here. I grab the railroad tie and throw it to my shoulder, telling my teammates to keep in contact with it. The marines in charge of the pit are hooting and hollering. I bull my way threw the pit. We exit the far end and I drop the tie. Its not over yet. We are guided to another mud pit. This one with ropes crossing the pit about a foot above the water. We are ordered to drop down and traverse the pit without touching the ropes. Yahoo, I go for it and my teammates follow suit. I dive in, doing my best G.I. Joe imitation. The marines are loving it. One of the camera men runs over and get a shot of me. Mud and water dripping off my face, running out of my mouth. I flop out of the other side of the pit. We head out on the run, dripping wet, covered in mud and diggin’ it. The run takes us up and down the hillsides. It is now dark out, so we turn on our headlamps. Mine is on the fritz. I wonder if it is from the mud bath I took. It is not doing me much good, so I turn it off. Kirsti’s light is working great, so she takes the lead. We are doing good and everyone if feeling fine. We come to a rough and steep downhill. I hit a hole and turn my ankle. Ouch, arrrrh. We are making good time and are passing some teams. As we make our way to the transition area, we are given a new set of instructions. There are a series of beams around seven feet up and four feet apart. Around ten total. Each team member is required to go over each beam and touch the ground inbetween each one. Again we work as a team. I boost my teammates up and over the beam, then grab the beam myself and climb and vault over. We repeat the process. We are kicking butt. At the end we are required to look at a bunch of items for ten seconds. Then we have a minute or so to recall and name every item. What was that last item? Oh no, we have to do the beams again. I remember, it was a Souza tequila bottle. Arrrg, now I remember. We complete it the second time and head down to the kayaks. The kayaks are inflatable with high side walls. The wind is blowing hard. Damn. Your team has to take a two man and a one man kayak.  The wind is blowing us around. These kayaks seem to have a mind of their own. One minute we are going along just fine, the next we are going in a circle before we can do anything about it. This happens over and over. We notice that it is happening to everyone though, so were all in the same boat (pun intended). it begins to get a bit cold during the kayak. We keep driving forward. Eventually we reach the exit point. From here we have to take the kayaks straight up a rock strewn embankment. Then we have to carry them approx. a half mile to the next drop. We are almost done. But wait, another test. We have to scale a 15′ wall. We are given a rope. We cannot tie the rope off to anything. Its decided I boost Jim up the wall. He clambers over. I throw the rope to him and he holds the rope while I boost Kirsti and she climbs. Jim throws her a hand and pulls her over. They both hold the rope secure. I am good at this kind of thing, so I grab hold and monkey up and over the wall. The marines give us praise on our teamwork and efficiency. The backside of the wall is a rope net ladder. We climb down and head for the finish line. We cross and get our finishers medals. There is a cool band playing surf music on stage. We take a few pictures and throw some high fives. We kicked some butt. We are stoked. Try it, you may get stoked also. Tom Murphy

Response:

I read your report. Sounds like fun. Maybe the Hi-Tec people will have a rec here in Denver. Right now I think the closest one is down in Phoenix. I want to do one though. I have done several adventure races from 18 hrs to 5 days in length. I hesitate to put a Hi-Tec race in with adventure racing using the classic defintion of adventure racing which has been set by the RAID, the Southern Traverse, and the Eco-Challenge. I hesitate to put the adventure race label on some of the 24 hr events also. These are what I would consider as basic elements of any adventure race. Maps/compasses must have to be used. No known courses and distances, except as the teams figure it out per their maps. Not neccessarily would you have to have orienteering for the entire course (there could be trails and roads), but some thought process on the route to take should be involved. There must be darkness involved in part of the race. Their must be a course of sufficient magnitude, time, and difficulty that nutritional concerns extend beyond the use of gels, goo, and powerbars. This same criteria would also mean that pacing would be more important since distance and time would stress energy needs and pacing. Sequence of events should not be known before hand. Segment should be revealed to teams only at transition areas. How do I come to this conclusion? I have done races that had known sequence and distances beforehand, and races that did not. The unknown is what better makes for a better challenge and an "adventure." Think how much more adventurous and challenging the Ironman would be if all you knew was the total distance, 140 miles, and that you would swim, road bike and run throughout the course? How would this affect your approach to the race, your pacing? Suppose they revealed the course only the night before? Or only revealed one or two sections at a time? Suppose you had to carry your clothes, shoes between venues since there might be multiple runs and bike or swim sections to total the 140 miles. Anyway, I am glad that you went and raced the Hi-Tec race. I have had little luck getting any of my triathlete friends interested in adventure racing. It seems like triathletes are pretty much stuck on swim, road bike, and road running. I am sure most triathletes started tris because it sounded like an adventure. Now some of them are stuck in that one rut. Its all about fun. Congrats, Ken Lotze Team Thin Air Team TransPacific

Response:

If anyone is looking for something different in the way of multi-sport racing, then read on. I just returned this afternoon from doing the Hi-Tec Adventure race at Lake Castaic. This was the first adventure race that I have done. I have to say, it will not be my last. It was a whole lot of fun. The main events of the race consisted of a 10 mile mountain bike, a 7.4 mile trail run, and a 1.5 mile kayak. In addition to the main events, there were "special tests" mixed in-between. The "special tests" were made up of events that tested your strength, endurance, teamwork, and mind. This was a team race. The teams were of three people participating in all male, all female, or co-ed divisions. My team was co-ed (this was the main division). Two guys and one woman. There were around 300 teams racing. The race started at 5:00pm, so much of the race took place in the dark. Headlamps were needed. We finished in the middle of the pack, with a time of 3:38:59. To do the race, you have to be prepared to get dirty, wet, scraped up, muddy, cold, beat up, and stoked. There is no whining permitted. There is no outside help at all. All teams must supply there own food and hydration. First and foremost, you must work as a team and finish as a team. The idea of "you are only as strong as your weakest link" does not entirely hold true here. Everyone should be working as hard as the next person on your team. So, if someone is a strong biker, hammer ahead on the hills. When you reach the top, leave your bike and run back to assist the other members in any way possible. Many times you will take their bike up for them and they will run or walk the hill. Believe it or not, this works very effectively. At times, on unridable sections, I would run up with two bikes on my shoulders. This allowed a teammate to recover and be able to go harder once we reached the top. The race- We setup our transition area around 3:00pm and made any last minute preparations for the start. At 3:30pm we made our way over to the mandatory race meeting at the Hi-Tec tent. The race production was large. The tent was huge, accommodating all 300 teams. They discussed the segments of the race, covered the rules. The mountain bike will be the first event. The start will be a half mile from the transition. At the end of the meeting, each team was given a envelope and instructed to carry it with us throughout the course. We were not allowed to look inside until asked to do so. We head back to transition. Get whatever we need and jog over to the start line on the edge of the lake. At the start line, each team is required to get an 8′ 2X4. We do not know what it is for, but we can only assume it will be put to use. Parachuters drop out of a plane, one of which, has a huge American flag flowing behind him. The national anthem is sung as they descend. Two minutes before start, they tell us all to open our envelopes and read the contents. The directions tells us we have to use the 2X4 to carry one teammate. This teammate cannot touch either of the other members of the team. The carried member cannot touch the water either. Touch the water? We have to run in the lake. The horn blows. Our lightest teammate gets on the 2X4, we throw it on our shoulders and run as fast as we can in knee deep water. Many people are having difficulty with the extra weight. The pack spreads out a little, but there is still a bit of bumping and pushing. Our front man hits some mud and sinks to his knees in it. I go in a second later. We are now up to our waists in the water. We are making good time and are passing many people. We make it to the drop point and head to our bikes. We head out on the bikes and are soon caught in a bottleneck on the course. A long hill looms above us. We ride as far as we can, then have to run. I take Kirsti’s bike and run with both mine and hers. Jim is steadily moving along with us. At the top we move out at a good pace, leaving the congestion behind. We see a obstacle warning sign ahead. I jam ahead and reach it first. It is a 6′ high cattle fence. I leap over, as I touch ground Jim is already handing me a bike. Kirsti is climbing over, before she hits the ground I have another bike. Kirsti jumps on her bike and is off. Jim hits the ground and we are once more moving smoothly. It went like clockwork. Up and down winding trails and switch backs we go. It gets rough here and there. I see several people go down hard. A quick check and they are fine. My teammates get caught behind some people on a single track. I move ahead. I come to a long steep hill. It seems to go on forever. I reach the top, leave my bike and head back down on foot. I find them coming up. Most people are walking or running up. I take a teammate’s bike and we head up on a run. We reach the top and once again mount our bikes. Its mostly fast, downhill switch backs at this point and were heading home. I am cruising along pretty fast, I come to a rough section and a hair-pin turn. I can’t make it. I do what I can, but I’m going down. I manage to land without injury. I get back on my bike and keep going. As we near the transition, we see people heading out on the run. They are dripping wet and covered in mud. What do they have in store for us? After leaving the transition, we follow the trail markers. We round a bend, and are given a set of instructions. We are to carry a large railroad tie approx. 50 yards through a waist deep mud hole. All teammates must be touching the railroad tie at all times. Where my size hinders me in triathlon, it is a benefit here. I grab the railroad tie and throw it to my shoulder, telling my teammates to keep in contact with it. The marines in charge of the pit are hooting and hollering. I bull my way threw the pit. We exit the far end and I drop the tie. Its not over yet. We are guided to another mud pit. This one with ropes crossing the pit about a foot above the water. We are ordered to drop down and traverse the pit without touching the ropes. Yahoo, I go for it and my teammates follow suit. I dive in, doing my best G.I. Joe imitation. The marines are loving it. One of the camera men runs over and get a shot of me. Mud and water dripping off my face, running out of my mouth. I flop out of the other side of the pit. We head out on the run, dripping wet, covered in mud and diggin’ it. The run takes us up and down the hillsides. It is now dark out, so we turn on our headlamps. Mine is on the fritz. I wonder if it is from the mud bath I took. It is not doing me much good, so I turn it off. Kirsti’s light is working great, so she takes the lead. We are doing good and everyone if feeling fine. We come to a rough and steep downhill. I hit a hole and turn my ankle. Ouch, arrrrh. We are making good time and are passing some teams. As we make our way to the transition area, we are given a new set of instructions. There are a series of beams around seven feet up and four feet apart. Around ten total. Each team member is required to go over each beam and touch the ground inbetween each one. Again we work as a team. I boost my teammates up and over the beam, then grab the beam myself and climb and vault over. We repeat the process. We are kicking butt. At the end we are required to look at a bunch of items for ten seconds. Then we have a minute or so to recall and name every item. What was that last item? Oh no, we have to do the beams again. I remember, it was a Souza tequila bottle. Arrrg, now I remember. We complete it the second time and head down to the kayaks. The kayaks are inflatable with high side walls. The wind is blowing hard. Damn. Your team has to take a two man and a one man kayak.  The wind is blowing us around. These kayaks seem to have a mind of their own. One minute we are going along just fine, the next we are going in a circle before we can do anything about it. This happens over and over. We notice that it is happening to everyone though, so were all in the same boat (pun intended). it begins to get a bit cold during the kayak. We keep driving forward. Eventually we reach the exit point. From here we have to take the kayaks straight up a rock strewn embankment. Then we have to carry them approx. a half mile to the next drop. We are almost done. But wait, another test. We have to scale a 15′ wall. We are given a rope. We cannot tie the rope off to anything. Its decided I boost Jim up the wall. He clambers over. I throw the rope to him and he holds the rope while I boost Kirsti and she climbs. Jim throws her a hand and pulls her over. They both hold the rope secure. I am good at this kind of thing, so I grab hold and monkey up and over the wall. The marines give us praise on our teamwork and efficiency. The backside of the wall is a rope net ladder. We climb down and head for the finish line. We cross and get our finishers medals. There is a cool band playing surf music on stage. We take a few pictures and throw some high fives. We kicked some butt. We are stoked. Try it, you may get stoked also. Tom Murphy

Response:

Question:

I read it, I’m sure you didn’t, and I wanna thank Mark, Bonzai’s owner, for helping us out at the swim wave start – he was the guy holding the waverunner – I think he was kneeling on the bottom of the Choptank, though. He’s about 2 feet taller than me (most humans are only 1 foot taller) After all – he had alot of wetsuits out there – mine was one of ‘m. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I hope I didn’t  tarnish the reputation, however slightly, of the Bonzai crew with this paragraph. I’m sure that if I asked them to do it, they would, but I didn’t. Rick, you  weren’t there at the time I brought it in. I did see you (the one with the beard) later in the day from a distance, but was preoccupied with something else. Maybe next time… If anybody from the Bonzai crew was even slightly offended by this paragraph, I sincerely apologize.                          |26      | IMC’96: 10:36:37          |   Fe   |   ‘98 IMC, GCT, BSLT IMC’97: 10:42:53          |        |                 "THE BEST ELEMENT OF RACING"

Response:

In my haste I actually forgot to post my time in the report. It came out to 4:37 and change, 11th in age group, 35th overal.                           |26      | IMC’96: 10:36:37          |   Fe   |   ‘98 IMC, GCT, BSLT IMC’97: 10:42:53          |        |                  "THE BEST ELEMENT OF RACING"

Response:

Pete: Although I’m sure you’d rather have the IMH qualification behind you, I’ll sure be delighted to read the continuing saga. You’ll find that piece. David (among the rooting squad)

Response:

The folks at Bonzai told me to just put in the big chainring since the course was flat, but I was a stickler for perfection and have painstakenly taken 2 hours in the hotel room to get most of the gears on the smaller chairing to work along with the large chainring gears without the rubbing.

Too bad you didn’t find me. Our instructions were to avoid spending too much time on repairs; after all, we were supposed to be doing safety checks. So the Bonzai guys were just doing what they were supposed to. There were plenty of gaps in the crowd, though, and we had enough help to keep from getting behind. Only two or three of us in Bike Check would have been able to fix the problem, and you must have picked the busiest one, or one that wasn’t comfortable attempting such a repair. But I’ve never yet met a bent derailleur cage I couldn’t get back into shape in a few minutes. You can have one of my puzzle pieces. They must be lying around somewhere, because I haven’t found a single one yet. Rick Denney Take what you want and leave the rest.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -The folks at Bonzai told me to just put in the big chainring since the course was flat, but I was a stickler for perfection and have painstakenly taken 2 hours in the hotel room to get most of the gears on the smaller chairing to work along with the large chainring gears without the rubbing. Too bad you didn’t find me. Our instructions were to avoid spending too much time on repairs; after all, we were supposed to be doing safety checks. So the Bonzai guys were just doing what they were supposed to. There were plenty of gaps in the crowd, though, and we had enough help to keep from getting behind. Only two or three of us in Bike Check would have been able to fix the problem, and you must have picked the busiest one, or one that wasn’t comfortable attempting such a repair. But I’ve never yet met a bent derailleur cage I couldn’t get back into shape in a few minutes. You can have one of my puzzle pieces. They must be lying around somewhere, because I haven’t found a single one yet.

I hope I didn’t  tarnish the reputation, however slightly, of the Bonzai crew with this paragraph. I’m sure that if I asked them to do it, they would, but I didn’t. Rick, you  weren’t there at the time I brought it in. I did see you (the one with the beard) later in the day from a distance, but was preoccupied with something else. Maybe next time… If anybody from the Bonzai crew was even slightly offended by this paragraph, I sincerely apologize.                           |26      | IMC’96: 10:36:37          |   Fe   |   ‘98 IMC, GCT, BSLT IMC’97: 10:42:53          |        |                  "THE BEST ELEMENT OF RACING"

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One piece missing in the puzzle. That’s all I feel separates me from the complete picture contained therein, a picture of Dig-Me beach in Hawaii. After 8 years I have gathered all these pieces to this Ironman puzzle, and it has come down to that one piece. In one aspect it’s great to have gone this far, getting to know my body and mind in the process, as my times consistently drop year after year. It’s been fun also, and that is why I’m am still at it after all these years and feel that I have plenty more years to go before I move on. <IF I move on… My strategy to find that final puzzle piece…to nail down the half-marathon. Anything that resembled a 6:30 per mile pace would put me close to that IQ slot I guessed, so I needed to establish that pace as soon as possible, so matter how bad I felt. With a steady dose of track running, LSD running, and some mind exercises designed to get my mind to tolerate a higher pain threshold, I’d figure I have a shot at doing the 1:25 half-marathon. And it was going good, up until mile 7 of the run… Saturday, the day before the race, I place my bike into the trunk of my car and head out from Staten Island. After some traffic slow-downs, I arrive at Cambridge, MD at about 2:00PM. I quickly assemble my bike and noted a big problem…my front derailleur is bent. I didn’t know what happened, and I suspect maybe the bike was set wrong in the trunk, but ultimately, I really didn’t know what caused it. Great…that’s all I need now is to try to bend the darn thing back into shape. The chain was either rubbing on the small chainring or on the bigger chainring every time I adjusted it. The folks at Bonzai told me to just put in the big chainring since the course was flat, but I was a stickler for perfection and have painstakenly taken 2 hours in the hotel room to get most of the gears on the smaller chairing to work along with the large chainring gears without the rubbing. I attended the pre-race dinner about 5 minutes late with my makeshift RST sign…3 pages with each letter of the newsgroup on it. It did attract about 5 people including Augie Calabrese, Mike V., Cameron, Mike Schwing, Andrew Peabody, and others. It was a nice meeting of the triathlete cyberminds. After the pre-race dinner I needed some electrical tape to attach the spare tire under the seat of my bike. I get to the hardware store and pick up a black tape which I assumed to be electrical tape. After all, even though a price tag was covering the label I DID pick it up in the electrical section. I then made my way over to the hotel. Boy was I surprised to see what it really was! It didn’t look like electrical tape at all, and it smelled real bad. What the hell was this?! I peeled off the price tag and discovered its true nature…FRICTION TAPE. Great, I spend $4000 plus to get my bike as aerodynamic as possible and I’m sticking my spare on with FRICTION tape. That is exactly what I needed for this race (grumble). The hardware store was closed at this time, so I had no choice but to stick the vile smelling stuff on my bike. I arrive on time on race morning to get everything set up, with an hour to spare before the race. As I was getting ready, I helped some people, including Cameron (he was on the next rack), pump up his bike. I was pretty calm about things as I was set on my strategy to get that 4:15 half-ironman. At about 20 minutes before my wave started I made my way over to the beach and watched the first wave get ready to shove off. The start was in the water about 50 yards in, and made for a pretty funny moment. They blew the airhorn from the shore and no one moved. Apparently the wind and the waves drowned out the sound and it took them about 15 seconds before they finally started to swim. Our wave was started from a person from a wave runner and went off on time. I immediately got into a groove and started feeling loose. I rounded the first turn and kept it going nicely, getting out in front of the wave. After the third buoy on this second leg I located a buoy on the right and immediately went after it. A couple of seconds later a boat came by and pointed to my left, oops, wrong buoy. My senses were starting to tell me, "hey, this feels a little long!" I get to the next buoy and saw another buoy straight ahead. I was STILL on the second leg. "When do I turn to shore?" my mind was screaming. "Did I go off course?" I finally located the last turn and started the last, long (extremely) long leg back to shore. My senses were really screaming at this point, and I haven’t even looked at my watch yet. Boy, my jaw dropped when I finally reached the boat ramp and saw my heart rate monitor with "38:30" staring me in the face. I usually do 1.2 miles in 25-26 minutes. Damn, there goes my 4:15 time. I was still confused when I entered the transition area…did I go extremely off course or was the course long? I don’t know. I told myself to just ride hard and see what happens. I got on my bike and started to settle in for a good aggressive ride. My mind was instantly relieved when Troy Jacobson passed me on the bike 5 miles in. The swim course WAS long. Phew! The wind was a factor in the beginning of the ride, but didn’t affect me much as I felt strong on the bike. I was all alone on my bike for the major part of the course and couldn’t help but be amazed at the sight of eagles ahead of me in the sky. It’s really a beautiful course, and I wish I could appreciate it more. But, I had business to do. At around 45 miles into the bike the wind finally was starting to wear me down. I was starting to curse at it. As I was shifting my weight, the gooey friction tape had me glued on the saddle. Yuck! This will be interesting when I dismount at the end of the ride! The last 5 miles was finally into a tailwind and I dismounted with a RRRRIIIPPP. My cycling shorts were OK, thank god. The run…here was the moment of truth. I started off the first mile going well, but my quadriceps were starting to cramp by the knees. I kept going through the pain and it finally subsided at mile 2. I hit mile 3 at exactly 19:30 and I was feeling realy good. I kept the pace all the way until mile 7 on the run before I started feeling a little weak. I was also getting bloated in the stomach. The feeling got worse and my pace slowed to 7:00 per mile. At mile 10, I went over to the side of the road and vomited up a lot of nasty stuff. The wretching was so bad that I got immediate abdominal cramps afterward. After jogging one more mile and wretching again, I finally started to feel better and ran the rest of the way into the finish. Later on I saw the results on the web. If I were to run 6:30 through the whole run, I would have been very close to an IQ slot. Mere seonds exactly (4:28). Very close… One more piece of the puzzle…what can I do to find this piece and complete the picture? Could I have run through the cramps? Do I need to do something extra on my bricks to help get a good finish on my run? Did I need more meditation and rehearsing? Or is it something else? One thing is certain, I will not stop searching for that piece until I get to Hawaii.                           |26      | IMC’96: 10:36:37          |   Fe   |   ‘98 IMC, GCT, BSLT IMC’97: 10:42:53          |        |                  "THE BEST ELEMENT OF RACING"

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Question:

ANYONE  FOLLOWING IRONMAN ONLINE?  WHAT SITE HAS BEST COVERAGE?  I CAN’T SEEM  TO FIND TRIATHLETE MAGAZINE WEB SITE.  QR WEB SITE IS PRETTY GOOD.

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At Outside online "http://outside.starwave.com/events/ironman97/live.html" they have a good livereport, and also a chat-room, with only 2-4 participants. At triathletemag "http://207.159.139.162/97iron/" they also have good updates. At Inside triathlon they also file reports, but not so frequently "http://www.insidetri.com/race/97ironman/97ironman.html" At Rooworld the also have some articles, and good updates (sometimes with photos) "http://www.rooworld.com/kona.html" At Triathlete mag and at Outside online they have chatrooms. Have a good time following the Hawaii Ironman. Over here in Denmark we

Question:

RE All of the previous messages on this thread: Beautiful Timothy Carlson

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Then…. we finished, holding hands up high, with big smiles.  Once across, we turned and hugged wach other and were led off to the massage tent. I didn

Question:

Jason, I am one of the 3 race directors who put on the Cambridge Tri.  I understand that your concern is over the way we handled the cancellation.  We waited until the Sunday before the race to cancel because our history is that we get the bulk of our entrants the week after Columbia.  That did not happen this year. We believe Seaside Heights got most of our athletes.  When the numbers did not materialize during the week they typically do, we then decided to cancel it.  At that point we called every entrant and told them.  I suggest you see if the entrants to the fuji tri got this consideration.  As to the money issue, you should know that since we took the event over from Fletcher, I have only covered my gas money to get to the event one year.  This event has personally cost me money.  The first year the event did not cover expenses.  The second year it covered direct race expenses only and the third year it allowed the race directors to cover there personal expenses like gas to get to the event and our meals.  I wanted you to know that you are critisizing race director’s who have paid to put this event on.  We held the swim this year and if we are lucky we may lose only $100.  We put this race on because we love the sport and the people we meet.  That is the only reason. Jason, constructive criticism is appreciated.  I would only ask that you get all the facts.  If we held the race this year it would have cost us approximately $4,000.  Finally, we will still put the event on next year.  We are stuck with our date because if we go much later the sea nettles and jelly fish get bad making the swim impossible.  As a result, look for us the first sunday in june.  We are trying to make the swim like the old race where you cross the river.  This time we may put you between the bridge and the fishing pier.   Hope to see you there.  Andy Weissel

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That’s the impression I got from seeing some of his other races, but the way he handled this situation was less than honourable.  Cancelling a race *5* days before the race is unexcusable.  I just wonder why he never mentioned at Columbia that there was a possibility of this.  He could have at least given an indication… …and learn how to swim in open water in less than a week in order to survive the normally choppy Seaside next weekend.  Sigh…I’m just very disappointed and feel this could have been handled much better.  For such a high-profile event I just expected more.

I gotta disagree with you on the tone of your note.  Robert Vigorito has given more to this sport than I, and possibly yourself, could ever hope to give.   Check the record, then pop off.

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: I’m afraid so.  I just got off the phone with Mr. Vigorito himself, and : he has decided to cancel the race rather than lose a lot of money due to : the low turnout.  He had less than 200 signed up, and needed much more to So, he’s in it for the money.  Lovely.  I understand his need to make some, but he could have warned us of this at Columbia a few weeks ago. I’m HIGHLY disappointed.

Please do not knock Robert Vigorito. Plain and simple -when a race is cancelled, it sucks for everyone.  BUT, if there was any race director in this sport who would have tried his hardest to find a way to put on the race, it would be Vigorito.  The guy loves this sport and he loves the people who compete in it. It is always an honor and a pleasure to compete in any of his great races. He is not in it for the money.  Remember, Mr. Irish wrote that Vigorito needed more entrants JUST TO BREAK EVEN.  There is a huge difference between needing entrants to break even as opposed to needing entrants for a profit. Good luck to all who have had to change all their plans mid-season because of the loss of the Cambridge Triathlon. Re-adjust your goals and channel your frustration and anger into your training.   -Doug "Keep coming back, and though the world may romp across your spine, Let every game’s end find you still upon the battling line; For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes – not that you won or lost – but how you played the Game."                   -Grantland Rice  "Alumnus Football"

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: Please do not knock Robert Vigorito. Plain and simple -when a race is : cancelled, it sucks for everyone.  BUT, if there was any race director in : this sport who would have tried his hardest to find a way to put on the : race, it would be Vigorito.  The guy loves this sport and he loves the : people who compete in it. It is always an honor and a pleasure to compete : in any of his great races. That’s the impression I got from seeing some of his other races, but the way he handled this situation was less than honourable.  Cancelling a race *5* days before the race is unexcusable.  I just wonder why he never mentioned at Columbia that there was a possibility of this.  He could have at least given an indication… : Good luck to all who have had to change all their plans mid-season because : of the loss of the Cambridge Triathlon. Re-adjust your goals and channel : your frustration and anger into your training.   …and learn how to swim in open water in less than a week in order to survive the normally choppy Seaside next weekend.  Sigh…I’m just very disappointed and feel this could have been handled much better.  For such a high-profile event I just expected more. — Jason Mayfield Arlington, VA http://dufus.westga.edu/~zooropa 87 Days Until Ironman Canada

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 : I’m afraid so.  I just got off the phone with Mr. Vigorito himself, and  : he has decided to cancel the race rather than lose a lot of money due to  : the low turnout.  He had less than 200 signed up, and needed much more to break even.  So, he’s in it for the money.  Lovely.  I understand his need to make  some, but he could have warned us of this at Columbia a few weeks ago.  I’m HIGHLY disappointed. …snipped the rest,  couldn’t take it anymore….

Jason Mayfield, bite your tongue and wash your mouth (or your keyboard) out with soap.  To think that anyone would be irresponsible enough to accuse Vigorito of being in it for the money. Heres the truth about Vigorito:  Vig has never taken a dime for himself for Columbia or Cambridge.  The only time he makes personal money is when he is hired by another race.  His own races are strictly for the competitors.  Any money that he gets is returned to the racers in the way of goodies, awards, amenities, etc.  Any left over goes to charity. The Cambridge situation this year meant that he would have had to take $4,000 of his own personal savings just to put the race on.  Jason, if you’re so hot for Cambridge, and so willing to point your slimy finger at the Vig, why don’t you step forward and send him $4,000 of your own money so he can put on the race?  I’m tired of flaming your slack butt, so I’ll end this here.  Vig deserves your apology… Now, what’s important is:  Cambridge is not dead.  Cambridge will be back bigger and better in 1997.  There will be some sweeping changes in the race that should ensure good racing for all.   Yes, Seaside and its IQ status probably siphoned off many entrants.  But hell, any real Ironman would have done Cambridge as a tune up anyway.  Look for Cambridge in 1997. |       Ray Plotecia            | |       Image Control           |

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: : I’m afraid so.  I just got off the phone with Mr. Vigorito himself, and : : he has decided to cancel the race rather than lose a lot of money due to : : the low turnout.  He had less than 200 signed up, and needed much more to : So, he’s in it for the money.  Lovely.  I understand his need to make : some, but he could have warned us of this at Columbia a few weeks ago. : I’m HIGHLY disappointed. : : break even.  …… IMO, wanting to break even is perfectly reasonable and does not constitute being "in it for the money".   Who was supposed to pay for the shortfall? Dave LaPorte U. of Minn.

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: : Please do not knock Robert Vigorito. Plain and simple -when a race is : : cancelled, it sucks for everyone.  BUT, if there was any race director in : : this sport who would have tried his hardest to find a way to put on the : : race, it would be Vigorito.  The guy loves this sport and he loves the : : people who compete in it. It is always an honor and a pleasure to compete : : in any of his great races. : That’s the impression I got from seeing some of his other races, but the : way he handled this situation was less than honourable.  Cancelling a race : *5* days before the race is unexcusable.  I just wonder why he never : mentioned at Columbia that there was a possibility of this.  He could have : at least given an indication…  <snip : disappointed and feel this could have been handled much better.  For such : a high-profile event I just expected more. "Less than honourable… unexcusable"????  Who do you think you are, Jason?  What a way to slam one of the most dedicated and hardest working man in our sport.  You must not have a clue what it takes to put on a race of the quality that Vigorito consistantly does… the hours spent with police and government officials, securing volunteers, sponsors, and all the other "fun" stuff.  This is all done so that hundreds of triathletes can go test themselves and have a great experience.  Nobody feels worse than a RD who has to cancel his event.  For your information, most of us race directors get 60-70% of the entries in the last week before the race, making it exceedingly difficult to gauge whether an event will have enough entrants to pay for the race. How would you have handled it?  Mortgaged your house to cover the debt if necessary?  There are plenty of RDs out there who will put on a cheap, dangerous and shoddy event with your money – you may have been to a few – but Rob is not one of those people.  So when you state "less than honourable" you need to think again!   Tell you what, Jason, why don’t you dedicate yourself for the 9 months to a year that it takes to produce a quality triathlon, commit you personal finance AND liability, and then have a little bit clearer idea what goes into triathlon production.  I used to produce three triathlons each year, but I’m down to one now due to the enormous time required.  After directing five USA Triathlon Regional Championships I learned that in the more competitive events I would always have two or three jack-asses who would make a big deal over what percent solution the Gator-Ade was mixed, or their location on the bike rack, or some other detail which indicated that they had not yet learned to behave themselves in public.  And though most athletes were kind enough to thank me, the jack-asses stayed on my mind also.  The point of this is:  DO NOT INSULT those people who are doing their best to provide you with an outlet for your lifestyle – you may one day have no outlet! -Charlie Crawford

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Ok, just a short post because I feel I’ve been misunderstood. I’m VERY grateful to Vigorito for directing the races he does…he’s done a fantastic job at every one I’ve been to.  He’s definately a great asset to the tri community. What I am/was unhappy with is the way this one race was handled.  I wasn’t notified until just 4 days before the race that it was cancelled.  Since for many people this was a tune-up race I just wish he would have tried to let people know in advance that it was looking grim.  Maybe just an announcement at Columbia?  I just feel 4 days isn’t much notice.  With Seaside planned surely he had to know it was going to be a tough road. The Tri-MD Fuji Tri was postponed this spring (one can only assume) since it compete with Columbia.   Whatever the case, I hope the race does make it next year and I’ll be the first to sign up, because I’ve been impressed with his races.  I just feel this one case was handled poorly.  Heck, everyone has a bad day though! Sorry if I came across wrong.  Broke my own rule of responding when angry and not being 30% nicer than I would be in real life since the internet loses that much.  Guess I should now be… TriLouse  ;-) — Jason Mayfield Arlington, VA http://dufus.westga.edu/~zooropa 87 Days Until Ironman Canada

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The Tri-MD Fuji Tri was postponed this spring (one can only assume) since it compete with Columbia.

I would guess that the TriMD race was planned to intentionally conflict with Columbia. It is not the first time they seriptiously plan a race just to hurt the other RDs in the area ( i.e. TriMD’s fictional Annapolis Tri.). But lets not get started on Brad’s beef with the rest of the world. TriRef

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<…. : What I am/was unhappy with is the way this one race was handled.  I wasn’t : notified until just 4 days before the race that it was cancelled.  Since : for many people this was a tune-up race I just wish he would have tried to : let people know in advance that it was looking grim.  Maybe just an : announcement at Columbia?  I just feel 4 days isn’t much notice. …. <reasonable statement deleted You’re right, 4 days isn’t much notice.  I’d have been upset also. However, I suspect that, had he made an earlier announcement that cancellation was possible, people would have been even less likely to pre-register. That would have made the crisis worse and cancellation more likely.  I think that the race director was in a no-win situation.   Dave LaPorte U. of Minn.

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: I’m afraid so.  I just got off the phone with Mr. Vigorito himself, and : he has decided to cancel the race rather than lose a lot of money due to : the low turnout.  He had less than 200 signed up, and needed much more to So, he’s in it for the money.  Lovely.  I understand his need to make some, but he could have warned us of this at Columbia a few weeks ago. I’m HIGHLY disappointed. : break even.  Apparently the crappy winter has reduced the number of : people in the area willing to try a half ironman (wimps), and those who : are game are mostly going to seaside heights.   Ok, who’s going to Seaside Heights and what’s the poop?  I know nothing about it, and now I need to find out lots about it…quickly! : This may not rock the tri world, but it shatters my season.  That race is : perfect for me, and I was all set to win it this year.   Or come close.   : Pretty close.  Anyway, now I’ll have to trudge off to New Jersey to race : the iron crowd.  I hope I can put my heart into it. Tell me about it.  Lost last weekend to taper, now I’ll have a 3 week taper which will kill my race.  I’m upset.  ;-)  Also kills weekends (like next) when I planned to go long for IMC.  Look for me at seaside I suppose… Jason, wondering why Vigorito’s message said the chekcs would be a month in the coming, in VA — Jason Mayfield Arlington, VA http://dufus.westga.edu/~zooropa 88 Days Until Ironman Canada

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I’m afraid so.  I just got off the phone with Mr. Vigorito himself, and he has decided to cancel the race rather than lose a lot of money due to the low turnout.  He had less than 200 signed up, and needed much more to break even.  Apparently the crappy winter has reduced the number of people in the area willing to try a half ironman (wimps), and those who are game are mostly going to seaside heights.   This may not rock the tri world, but it shatters my season.  That race is perfect for me, and I was all set to win it this year.   Or come close.   Pretty close.  Anyway, now I’ll have to trudge off to New Jersey to race the iron crowd.  I hope I can put my heart into it. Steve Irish

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Question:

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Dear Reader: You may have seen and/or taken part in my study that I have posted a couple of times on this newsgroup between November ‘95 & January ‘96.  I did some stats on the data, and I’d like to share with you the summary of the results. Apart from demographic data, 3 subjective measures were gathered: 1) commitment to activity (CM) 2) deprivation sensations during periods of involuntary abstinence         2 scales were used for this purpose: DP1 and DP2 3) trait anxiety (TA) A) GROUP COMPARISONS The study was posted simultaneously on a number of discussion groups. All people in all groups were equally COMMITTED to their activity, or in other words, respondents from the various discussion groups did not differ statistically.  Population norms, based on studies with runners, were either matched or exceeded by all the groups. TABULATED DATA (AVERAGES/STANDARD DEVIATIONS (SD) ROUNDED) (N=number of respondents; for DP1, DP2, & TA see above) """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" GROUP                   N       DP1     DP2     TA """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" AEROBIC + WEIGHTS       65      32/10   25/6    36/8 AEROBIC NO WEIGHTS      30      33/10   26/6    36/6 SWIMMING                35      32/9    27/5    37/9 BODYBUILDING            24      31/8    23/4    33/8 MARTIAL ARTS            56      32/10   24/5    33/8 FENCING                 30      31/9    26/5    37/9 TRIATHLON               43      32/9    24.5    32/7# BOWLING                 25      19/6*   20/4*   39/9# DANCING                 27      30/10   25/6    36/7 GOLF                    IR/DCA TENNIS                  IR/DCA MEDITATION              IR/DCA SKIING                  IR/DCA """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1) IR/DCA = insufficient responses/data cannot be analyzed 2) * bowlers reported the lowest deprivation sensations for the times when they cannot bowl. This finding may be related to the fact that bowlers did not expect HEALTH benefits from bowling in contrast to respondents from the other groups. In fact, bowlers reported starting & maintaining their activity for other than health reasons, mostly enjoyment, fun, social gathering, and/or competition. 3) # triathletes reported the lowest TA while bowlers indi- cated the highest TA in this sample. They were statistically different from one another, but NOT from the other groups. All TA scores in all groups were either comparable or lower than population norms based on American college students. B) GENDER COMPARISONS Regardless of the activity group, ladies reported slightly (but statistically significantly)  greater commitment (CM) to their activity than gents: averages/SD: ladies=52.3/5.8, gents=50.6/5.3 (p=0.01, that means that the chance occurrence of this finding is 1/100). Regardless of the activity group, ladies reported greater deprivation sensations than gents for the times when they cannot perform their chosen activity: averages/SD: DP1  ladies=33.3/9.9, gents=28.8/9.9 (p=0.0001)              DP2  ladies=26.6/6, gents=23.6/4.9 (p=0.0001) This finding is consistent with previous findings in studies with runners whereby ladies consistently reported greater de- privation sensations than gents for the times when they could not run. No gender differences in TA were found. C) REASONS FOR STARTING AND CONTINUING THE ADOPTED ACTIVITY 2 categories: C1 – health reason; C2 = other reason Respondents who started their activity for health reason(s) reported lower TA than those who started for another reason: averages/SD: C1=34.1/7.5, C2=35.8/8.3 (p=0.05) When these results were followed-up for gender related differences, the statistical significance prevailed for males ONLY. Respondents who maintained their activity for health reasons reported greater deprivation sensations (DP1 & DP2) than the respondents who continued their activity for other reasons: averages/SD: DP1 C1=32.4/9.9, C2=28.8/9 (p=0.003)              DP2 C1=25.6/5.6, C2=23.7/5.2 (p=0.001) D) CORRELATIONS No significant correlations were found (whole sample) between any of the following variables: age length of adherence to the adopted activity weekly frequency of the activity duration of the activity commitment to the activity trait anxiety deprivation sensations when unable to perform the activity When correlations were performed separately for females & males, two statistically significant correlations were found for males ONLY: 1) DP1 and frequency of the activity (r=.21, p=0.01) 2) DP2 and TA (r=.21, p=0.01) Accordingly, more frequently active males also reported more intense deprivation sensations (when their activity cannot be performed) and males with greater TA also reported greater deprivation sensations. Again, these results are restricted to males.  COMMENT: a .21 correlation, even though it is sta- tistically significant, is not a reflection of a very strong association between the studied variables. E) ABOUT THE QUESTIONNAIRES (for the scientist in you) The questionnaires used had good internal consistencies: CM  = .80 (Cronbach alpha above .75 is fairly good) DP1 = .77 DP2 = .76 TA  = .86 F) GENERAL REMARKS These results may not be representative of the population within the studied activity (rather they’d be restricted to a subsample with access to the Internet) if class, education level and/or so- cial status are mediating factors in the surveyed activity. I wish to thank one more time to all of you who helped and took part in this study. The success of this study suggests that scientific research will soon find a productive ground on the Internet. *** NO PART OF THESE RESULTS, DIRECTLY OR IMPLICITLY, MAY BE USED, REPRODUCED OR REFERRED TO IN ANY FORM OF INFORMATION DISTRIBUTING MEDIA WITHOUT FORMAL CONSENT FROM THE RESEARCHER IN CHARGE *** Dr. Attila Szabo, Ph.D. Department of Health Science and Sports Medicine Hungarian University of Physical Education H-1123 Budapest, Alkotas u. 44,  Hungary If you have questions/concerns, please e-mail me. I’ll be glad to help to the best of my ability. Also, if you have comments or criticisms regarding research and/or taking part in research on the net, I’d be very pleased to hear them. THIS MESSAGE WILL NOT BE POSTED AGAIN.

Response:

Question:

Since we’re all giving our two cents about the NBC telecast, which does not claim to  represent triathletes and our interests, what about the coverage from  our own — the two popular US tri mags?

I really enjoyed the coverage in "Triathlete," especially the apparent effort to get the IM issue out ASAP after the race.  Photos were great, too.  Where can I get that 15 lb bike? — David F. Monti, Race Results Weekly "Race results by fax first thing every Monday morning…"

Response:

Since we’re all giving our two cents about the NBC telecast, which does not claim to  represent triathletes and our interests, what about the coverage from  our own — the two popular US tri mags?

Response:

Since we’re all giving our two cents about the NBC telecast, which does not claim to  represent triathletes and our interests, what about the coverage from  our own — the two popular US tri mags?

I really enjoyed all the photos in Triathlete. Lots of full page and 2-page pictures. Even a lot of the ads had great full-page photos. The writeups in Triathlete and Competitor were both good, but those of us on the net already knew most of what was written.                            _ <_         <               ___/o__    ( )/( )       /

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