GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 11)

M -

Does this mean that Mark is in luck with his hopes to do some cross-country skiing? Good for him!

Our weather here holds nothing quite so charming. We have a good bit of snow left over from a week or two ago, but tonight and tomorrow should bring a recreation-sapping combo of freezing rain and ice pellets. Bah!

MARK -

The weather summary from M bodes well for you and cross-country skiing, so stop standing there at the window, nose pressed to the glass and looking wistfully outtside, and bind yourself onto those skis and have yourself a schlussing good time!

Alas, no Tri related gifts this year (the bike trainer hope was a long shot - but, my birthday is coming up in February) AND the weather has not cooperated so far, though you wouldn't know it from watching the Weather Channel. Just rain and HEAVY, wet snow. It is all starting to freeze over. C'est la vie, back to the treadmill tomorrow. Perhaps next weekend.

Safe travels to all of you on the road this holiday. Mark

My Race Log

MARK -

Sorry, and sorry. I will start sending daily miniscule mojo your way so that, come February, there will enough so as to be persuade your Support Crew to gift you with a trainer.

As for the wet snow, well, I firmly believe that shoveling is a valid form of cross-training! But just remember those rules of shoveling that serve to protect your back!

LOGS........LOGS........LOGS

No, sillies, not yuletide logs, but rather trianing logs!

Who has one (or more?) in operation now? Who is planning to start one?

Get thinking about this, and if it hasn't crossed your mind yet, now is a pretty good time. I'll mention more about this in the next few days (of course, 1-1-10 is a great time to start), so as long as we're all busily digesting our various comfort food, we might as well start digesting some good old food for thought, i.e., training logs!

Yum, yum!

Santa brought me a new pair of running shoes ... Nike Zoom Vomero 4s.  Can't wait to try them out but have a long run planned for the weekend, hopefully tomorrow, so will have to wait for my 3 mile run later in the week.  And I got a pair of Thorlo socks in my stocking, along with some mace.  And my daughter bought me a new training LOG ... LOG ... LOG ...

When I was out for my run yesterday morning, I believe someone followed me down my street to see where I lived.  It was a construction truck that drove passed me as I was turning down my street which is a cul-de-sac.  Next thing I knew, it was behind me.  I started doing a cool down walk and it slowly turned around in the cul-de-sac and left.  There was no reason for the truck to be on our street and especially not to have turned around to drive down it. I really felt like they were watching to see what house I was going in.  There have been some strange things happening very close to our home in the last couple of weeks.

Well, better print up my map for my run in the AM, watch the weather, and get to bed.  Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Edited by lufferly 2009-12-25 10:17 PM

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!!  Unfortunately I have no new tri gear to report of.  Closest thing I got was a Nike compression shirt for hockey. 

In terms of trainings logs, I have used the BT one for some time now.

Edited by DeputyDawg 2009-12-25 11:08 PM

LISA L -

That's nice little haul you made of tr--related stuff -- the shoes, the socks, the log...log...log. And you are very wise to resist the temptation of the Vomero 4s, waiting for a short(er) run to begin breakin' 'em in.

That is unsettling about the tuck, and at the very least you should jot down some of what you specifically saw or can even just vaguley remember - just in case. And if the recent strange doings in your neighborhood are likely something that the police have been involved with, then Dee's idea of giving them a call is a good one.

I hope your run today is a good one. It's freezing rain that is upon us now, and I have no realistic hopes of a decent run today. So, I guess I'll just have to type away the pounds, hunting-and-pecking my way back to a trim boyish figure.

DEE -

I have heard of Menieres disease, but could not have placed it with any particular body part; I will look it up later. And I'm not sure that ear plugs would help you, as I don't know enough about either vertigo or ear anatomy; I guess I should look up those, also!

You play hockey, eh? My daughter, Jane, played forever, continuing it right through university in the states. Upon graduating and moving to NYC, however, she has found neither the time nor the league in which to play, although she coaches little kids at Chelsea Piers on the weekends. That is a good substitute ---- but she still misses actually playing. One season, when she was 11 or 12, she played about 125 games -- girls travelling team, boys regular team, women on Thursday nights. And then there were the countless practices. I drank a lot of hot chocolate that year.

DEE again -

Swimmer's snorkel. I won mine (made by Finis, supposedly the best of the swim-snorks) at the post-race raffle at MightyMan Montauk Half-Iron, and was thrilled because of the unique opportunity they afford a swimmer to study his or her own stroke mechanics without the need to lift the head to breathe. The idea is to just keep your focus slightly ahead of you underwater, and watch how your hands are making the "catch" and then moving into the pull. Short of having an endless pool with a mirror on the bottom, or being videotaping while swimming, this is the best way for a swimmer to say what is happening underwater at the critical front end of their stroke.

My use of my snorkel was brief -- ended abruptly when I realized that I am one of those people who need a nose clip of some sort so that water doesn't come rushing up my nose. Many people need a nose clip when using a swimming snorkel, and I am one of them; now I just have to up and get one!

I am excited about my swim-snork (but not enough to track down a nose clip? ) becasue I have long suspected that one of the reasons I persist as a mediocre swimming is at the front end of my stroke. So, by studying it leisurely - which I hope will happen with the snork! - maybe I will make some wonderful EUREKA! discovery. (And maybe not..... ).

Anyhow, we'll have to share snorkel stories when we are both fully mobilized and using ours. Glub, glub!

DEE once more -

Just one final swim thing, and this comes from my comment above about "the catch". Check out Mark's post from the previous page, I think the 5th from the top. It is a long post, and it gives a lot of details about Louis Tharp and the program he uses at West Point, which I had mentioned the day before.

Mark excerpted a pile of Tharpian drills, and under the part for "Foundation Cycle" is a drill called "Two-second anchor". I have not done this specific drill before (although I've attempted a lot similar to it), but I am very excited to try it when I return to the pool next week. It seems like a great way to emphasize the proper catch, which I do not do especially effectively.

Just so you know!

Decided to surface from cooking, eating and visiting family to catch up on some reading.  Sounds like everyone has been having a great Christmas, and even getting some training in!  

Steve, I have a Finis snorkel too, on the recommendation of a swim coach, and it has been a godsend to me in developing a better stroke and doing some other drills   I need a nose plug too!    I have a tendency to get my head too deep in the water and it helps me keep it where it should be; otherwise it fills up with water.  

LOGS - I have been using the BT logs since 2006 I think.   They have proved helpful in more ways than one.   Look forward to hearing how I can make them more meaningful.  

CHRISTMAS - Although I don't have them 'in hand' yet, I am getting a new set of wheels for my bike - probably some Mavic's.   I actually got a new bike for Christmas last year (didn't get it until May) from True North Cycles.   The frame is a combi titanium, carbon fiber that will built for me.   To keep the cost down a bit, I used the tires from my old bike to train with, and switched to my ZIPPS for racing.  That meant I had no wheels on my old bike.    I checked for a couple of years trying to get an off the rack bike but I am just 5' tall and there was always some tweaking that would need to be done. 

My first bike was a Jamis and the fellow who built my frame said he was surprised at how well THAT bike fit me - almost like it was a custom frame.  I still love it and will never part with it.  

I just remembered one of the comments you had made about my SI joint problem and wanted to say that issue was pretty much a pre-triathlon problem - too much sitting and sitting improperly at work among other things.   The cycling seems to help it.   However, at the beginning of the season I need to be careful when I start hill work.  

Better head back to the family for some more visiting.   Looking forward to getting back to a regular schedule soon.

Anne

ANNE -

Glad you re-surfaced.......but now you're gone again. Now you see her, now you don't! ('Tis the season for family-first, I suppose.)

Mavics! Oo-la-la! And to complement Zipps?!? OO-LA-LA-LA-LA!!!!!

That's an interesting bike history, and I can always get a vicarious thrill when reading about other people's bikes. (There's the slightly indelicate term of "bike porn" for this general disposition, which is very common on the various triathlon websites, and I guess I'm guilty of it to some degree.....)

My first bike was an Aquila road bike that I retrofitted with a few tri toys and gizmos. I bought it in April '00 and it worked quite well for my first tri season in '00.
In May '01 I bought a Cervelo P2K, the first generation of those. That saw heavy duty until July '08, right after Musselman (specifically DoubleMussel88.7). A few days before the race(s), my LBS told me there was a crack low in the seat tube. I was devastated......but at least that explained some of the "slushiness" of the recent rides, and also some of the disconcerting noises it was making in doing tough grinding climbs. This was a problem on the hillier of the two Mussel races, Musselman half-iron, and it was there I decided that a new bike was in order, as my beloved P2K was not only unsafe, but also performing poorly-ish.
In late July '08 I bought my current bike, a Cervelo P2C -- the upgraded (I'll say!!! ) P2K. Mercy! What a nice bike!

My race wheels are Hed Jet 60, fore and aft. I have had other Hed race wheels, but like these best. My training wheels are sweet surprises, thre "stock" Shimano WH-R500 set that came with the P2C. If I left my raxce wheels at home one day, I'd feel pretty confident racing in the Shimanos.

Finally, if I sit carelessly here at the computer, my S-I can still let me know it has the potential to be a problem. So, I shift my position and it goes back to sleep. Goooood S-I joint!

Your references to St. George in your previous posts just dawned on me. Are you doing this race??

My husband got me a pair of gloves for my outdoor runs, with the little sticky things on the fingers that let you control your iPod. Cool!

I hope everyone had a great holiday! I myself ate entirely too much and probably gained about 5 pounds. Too scared to step on the scale to see...

Well Monday I "officially" start my new 20-week training plan I downloaded from BT.com. Am looking forward to it...

Tracey

TRACEY -

I braved the scale today and saw that I was perilously close (actually, might've been right at.....) to 175. So with the rain audible outside, and the temp at about 2C, I'm considering a run. I will be physically miserable if I do it and probably get stricken by pneumonia, but if I run today I can feel better about pigging out tomorrow at Lynn's brother's family's cottage. Decisions, decisions....

Good on the gift of gloves! I'm not an ipod person and never listen to anything while I work out, so I can't appreciate them for that purpose, but at the very least the gloves will give you more of a sense of "creature comfort" in the oft-not-nice New England winters.

Nifty, about starting the 20-week plan! In advance, then ---- bon voyage!

NOTES ON LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE

I have spent a while going back over most of the posts here, focusing particularly on the bios/profiles. I've had the feeling that a lot of people describe themelves as "newbies", and I wanted to see just how many of you there are who are in this category.

On the one hand there are quite a few (seven) of you -- if we include all who have not yet done a multisport event, such as triathlon, duathlon, aquabike, or aquathlon. (And for Arthur, there is a sprint, but that was 11 years ago!) But in this group there are several people who have done some running races or have been on a tri relay, so it's not exactly as if these folks are coming to everything cold!

It was my intention to post a list of relative experience, and I can certainly do that if the general consensus of the group is that it would be useful, but if some of you are quite "bashful" about your rlative inexperience, than I sure don't want to do anything that will make you feel cowed in any way.

For those of you who ARE feeling slightly intimidated, it is worth reapeating to yourself that all of us have been in your shoes!! Not a one of us has forgotten those days when the progress didn't seem to be happening, and the information to be hopefully mastered SOMEday seemed never-ending. It sure can be daunting, but not by any stretch of the imagination unassailable.

What is intriguing about this group is that there a number of people who have been around the block a few times, and they still feel the benefits of being part of a support group -- whether for their own growth and edification, or to help others along a similar path. I sense across the board that those two are really and/or for eveyone here, and that collective mindset will be a huge help for all of us - from beginners up through seasoned veterans.

And that's the truth!

Average age -- 43.2 years.

(It's a slow day here in Cassleman, Ontario...... )









Edited by stevebradley 2009-12-26 2:29 PM

Median -- 43/44

Mode(s) --- 29, 38, 53 (two for each)




(The day isn't getting any faster.....)

Don't worry - I'm stopping here!!!!!!

This is opposed to a severe tendency to ask about something like hair and eye color (for me, brown and hazel, respectively), and then figure out who is dominant and who is recessive for those various phenotypes.......


See? THIS is what happens to me when nobody will come outside to play!!

Didn't get my run in this morning. Just too much good food yesterday and my stomach was not thanking me for it. And I was on my feet most of the day yesterday, cooking for 14 for Christmas dinner.  So, the plan is to take it easy today and meet with my running partner in the AM for our run.  It's going to be hard to leave my new shoes at home, but I know better than to break them in with a 10 mile run.

Dee and Steve, the truck that I felt was following me is one that has been parked at the construction site and I think I could ID it (a big truck, white with blue lettering).  My husband drove me by there that afternoon but I didn't see it and it wasn't there this AM.  I'm going to keep my eye out for it.  We have a constable that patrols our area and my husband told me that I should report the incident to her, but I'm hoping I can tell her more about the truck, once it resurfaces at the site.  In the meantime, I'll be running with my mace. 

Steve, good thing my 11 year old just restudied average, mean, and mode ... that mode term always throws me off! He was able to recite a nice little jingle to help remind me.