GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 121)

DWAYNE -

Spike Owen! Another name lost in the mists of time! He had a bunch of decent years in "the bigs", didn't he?

In thinking about the Rangers from my parts-of-three-seasons there (July '85 to June '87), there are lots more names that were lost in the mists. To wit:

Bobby Witt (whatevere happened to his potential??)
Scott Fletcher (sparkplug!)
Steve Buechele (sp?) (good few years, but...?)
Oddibe McDowell (number 0, and batting lead-off)
Don Slaught
Pete O'Brien (O'Brian?)
Curtis Wilkerson
Kevin Brown (before he became full of himself)
Charlie Hough (the VENERABLE Cahrlie Hough!!)
Ruben Sierra
Pete Incavaglia (sp?) (big power, lots of strikeouts)

In time I should be able to come up with more, but right now that's about it. And as to which of those seasons they belonged......I'm not too sure at all!

DENISE -

It's a cool tool, the Atrhlete Tracker at www.ironman.ca. Using either name or number, it comes up with the various splits, and often with pace included. Wherever there is a timing mat, that will be posted as part of each athlete's progress. The system was a bit sketchy a few years ago, but the last couple of times I've used it it has done well.

As I've said before here, the Ironman corporation has turned the field of irons and half-irons into a seller's market. When I did IMLP in '04, it was $450 - still high, but a decent slice below what the official "M-dot" races are now. And with the advent of the official 70.3 series about three seasons ago, that bumped a whole swack of races from the $150-$175 range up to $250-$275. The problem there was that so many half-irons came onto that program, and I think each year will see moe and more of them joining up. Of the ones who have remained independent, they have also raised their fees by a fair bit, but most keep them under $200.

Then again, new players (most notably Rev3) have come along and jumped right in with high entry fees for their longer distances. The only advantage there is that their refund policies are slightly more generous than for M-dot and 70.3 races --- where there is hardly a refund at all. Those ones - especially the irons - sell out within days or hours or even minutes, so you have to make a commitment 364.5 days before the race, not knowing at all what sorts of things will befall your body by then.

The official Ironman and 70.3 races DO have a certain buzz about them, and it really is pretty nifty to hear Mike Reilly say "Steve Bradley, you ARE an Ironman!" as you cross the finish line, but whether that will ever justify shelling out ~$600 in the future, I just don't know.

The year after IMLP I did the first year of a local iron-distance race here in Ottawa, and in some respects in was a better time. There were only about 80 of us, but doing multiple loops of the bike and swim we got to see LOTS of one another, and that provided a very nice intimacy. The finisher's breakfast the next morning was also pretty sweet, just seeing those same old faces again.

When Cathy mentions Beach 2 Battleship, that's a 2-year old iron in North Carolina. I think the entry fee is about $375, which is about the same as for Chesapeakeman in Maryland. And then there is Redman in Oklahoma, another independent that is pretty-reasonably priced. Um, Grwat Floridian in guess-where? The one in Ottawa is about $325, and one in Montreal is the same, roughly. Those are all in my affordable range.....I think!

But don't get me started!

Anyhow, enjoy Athlete Tracker and following Steve! I will post info on this before race day, although in general I'm not going to hype races too much before they happen. But Steve has been so open about everything going into IMSG, I don't think he'll mind us beings voyeurs at our computers on race day!

(Right, STEVE????)

WOW, what a busy couple days of postings.

Lisa, welcome back.

Kasia, sweet looking bike - fast.

Hope those dealing with injuries are finding things improving, sounds like it.

I'm envious of those of you who can access live baseball, whatever the level. I only have the HS team to watch w/o having to drive a couple hours, and they don't start for a month yet (still have summer baseball here in Iowa).

Re: the weight loss discussion, I can sure relate to those of you who are finding the last 10-20 lbs HARD to lose - that's definitely the case for me. I have recently read Matt Fitzgerald's book "Racing Weight" (he is my tri biblioguru). In addition to tracking calories in/out, one of the things that seems to come out of that book is that when you eat also matters. I am trying to time my calories differently, we'll see if it helps.

I have an accomplishment to report. Ran in a 10K this morning and had a personal best time of 44:44. My time in this race last year was 48:18. I have had the goal of breaking 45 min since finishing last year, so I'm happy with my time. And, I beat a buddy of in mine this race, who I've never beaten before, so that was sweet too.

It's a beautiful, sunny day here - so I'm off to take advantage of it. Hope everyone has a great day.

Mark



Edited by TriD64 2010-04-17 11:35 AM

Mark 

Great  job on the pr 

STEVEB,

In response to your message to me about the swimming...It was previously discussed that as people (I believe yourself included) go faster, the technique falls apart. After the speed work, I use the cool down to reinforce my technique. So even when dog tired and I just want to go home, I finish the set focusing on my technique.

I am supposed (under my constant re-arranging of my training schedule) to repeat the threshold swim of 3x200's. Been quite the exciting in the not good ways day so I will be interested to see what my time looks like today.

I shall try the early wake up again this week. Heck today I was up at 3:30am to get to work for 5. 'Sleeping in' until 4:45am should feel good!

Mark,

Excellent time and excellent improvement.

Denise

Hi,

Somebody please tell me why I'm working so darn hard just so that I can come in maybe 20th from the bottom instead of 15th from the bottom.

Denise

MARK, congrats on the PR and beating out your buddy!!

Had a PR in my 10K today (not too hard since I'd only done one other 10K race), and no where close to Marks!  Came in at a 12:04 pace, down from my 12:13 pace previously.  VERY HILLY COURSE, and the last hill up to the finish line was a killer, and really played havoc with the pace.  That, and the fact it was 70 degrees, and really humid ... raining on the way to the race.  And that it was the most disorganized race I'd ever been to ... starting 45 minutes late (when the original start time was late enough at 8:30 am).  But the Blue Bell was good! and no major issues with the allergies at this point.

STEVE B and DWAYNE, my DH actually game home from work last night and told me that the Round Rock Express will become the AAA team for the Rangers at some point (guess Nolan Ryan wants to get his team back to his roots).  Funny, since he had no idea it was discussion on BT!

So far, for May 1:

STEVE A - St. George
LISA - CB&I Sprint Triathlon
DWAYNE - Warrior Dash
DENISE - Chain of Lakes Sprint Triathlon
Anyone else??

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Lisa

Edited by lufferly 2010-04-17 4:20 PM

So you can beat your time from last year???  And you're having lots of fun and staying healthy!!  And what else would you be doing that day anyway?

MARK -

That is a phenomenal time for a 10km. Just on its own it is, and when you factor in the three-and-a-half minute improvement in a mere year, that just puts it way over the top! My firmest and heartiest congratulations to you!!

To what do you attribute the huge p.r.? Was there anything you did differently over the course of the past year.

I jsut learned about Matt F's "Racing Weight", and I'll be very intersted in whatever you have to say about it as you proceed through it. Keep those details coming!

My injury woes keep ebbing and flowing. Oh, woe!!

DENISE -

How about this: You understand the basic nature of Incremental Improvements, so that 20th from the bottom now will be 27th from the bottom and 32nd from the bottom and 41st from the bottom and so on and so on.

Alternatively, you are working hard because it's something you are enjoying the challenge of, and that you continue to be slightly amazed that you able to do this stuff, and do it with relative ease.

In yet another alternate universe, you are looking to do triathlon better and better for your own.....despite getting caught up to some extent in the competitive numbers game. That is, you are aware of your overall finish placement, but underneath it all that's just secondary to working hard to be better this year than last, next month than this month.

Am I getting warm?

LISA -

And a banner day for you, too! Given the race-related conditions you describe, as well as your own personal conditions going in, that is pretty remarkable what you accomplished! I kind of expected to learn that you woke up, horked feebly a few times, and then decided to roll over and go back to sleep. Congestion be damned, there's no holding you back, I guess!

And the Blue Bell ice cream -- just what the doctor ordered??

Once more, thank you for keeping track of the happenings on May 1. That'll be quite the day for race reports!

MARK again -

Well, it's about the same for me and baseball nowadays. The Expos left Montreal a few years ago, and about the same time the Ottawa Lynx left for Allentown, PA. For ten years or so we had AAA ball right in Ottawa, just 30 minutes away -- first as the top team for the Expos, then the Orioles, and finally the Phillies. Now, it's just a fine ballpark with a new team in an Ontario-based league that is very lower-level. The may average 273 fans a game. May.

The Blue Jays are about 4-5 hours away, but I never get myself there because I hate basebal on artificial turf. Good lord, the 80s and 90s were pretty awful, with so many teams playing on phony-turf. Now it's mostly good, with just what -- Toronto and Tampa? - remaining on turf and in dome-like structures.

SHAUN -

A cool-down is a good time to give one last stab to leaving the pool with some good muscle memory for the next session. When my technique has gone to hell in a handcart I will TRY to do a few lengths of lazy breaststroke, and then try one or two lengths of a reconstituted effective stroke. Not tat tthat always works, but at least the spirit is willing!

And speaking of willing spirits, it's admirable of you to keep on your own spirit to try to get it to wake up early some morning. May The Force be with you!!

CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!!

So...run was sucky and just wasn't feeling it after about 10 minutes.

Swim went very good. Non-sprint pace of 19 min for 1000m. Improvement over a month ago, great!!

Then, taking off the jammers they split right down a seam. To make this matter worse, my order from SwimOutlet arrived today and they sent me the wrong size of new jammer. UGH...tomorrow was supposed to be another speed session. Oh well...We'll have to call them on Monday and see what they want to do.

Congrats Steve!    Hey we got snow here today.  3 inches to be exact.  I asked it to go away and not come back until sometime in Nov.

Congrats on the PR's Lisa and Mark! Wahoooo!

The Red Sox lost the 25 hour game.  Booo.

Steve A - how is that hammy treating you?  I hope better.

Dwayne - when is the Warrior Dash - I want to do that sometime, but there really isn't one close.  I need to convince them to have a race in Maine.

Cheers all, I am off to watch the Sox hopefully WIN this one. 

Mandy

Hey Denise. Since I know I have no hope of winning or placing, for me it's all about improving my own time, or maybe beating a buddy. I rarely even look at where I place.
Mark

Congrats to you on your PR Lisa. Mark

Yeah, I hated going to the Dome to watch the Twins (Vikes too for that matter) baseball is a fresh air sport. When I was a kid in Little League we'd take a trip as a group up to the old Met stadium for a 'knot-hole' game. Those are great memories. I'm really looking forward to getting to a couple game at the new ballpark.

As for the 10K improvement, last year's was my first 10K and I really didn't know how to pace for it. Plus I was over dressed and got over heated. Last year I went out way too fast and by the halfway point could tell I was gonna run out of gas. Also, last year my goal was to finish without walking. This year I had a time I was shooting for. Lastly, I've been using Matt F's book (I know, I've gotta branch out) "Brain Training for Runners". In that book he has a chart that identifies what your base pace should be to run a certain time at a certain distance, so I've been following that guideline. And, I have another year of endurance training under my belt and that just really seems to build on itself.
I'm quite surprised I was able to accomplish this goal. I'm really stoked. I'm already thinking sub-42 min as a goal for next year. Mark

Well I've gone and done it...Registered for Hawk Island Tri on June 6th in Lansing, MI and the Welland Triathlon on June 26th.

Now to figure out which other races seem like a good idea. Still thinking about the T-Rex series, there is an olympic distance at my 'training home' mid September. Plus other opportunities in July and August.

Yes - all true.  That's why I need this forum - you guys can answer that question without even hesitating.

Congrats on PR - 70 and hilly makes it tough.

Denise

Thanks Steve - all true.  I especially related to the "slightly amazed" comment.

Denise

MARK -

I see no reason to branch out in your reading -- Matt F. seems to be working really well for you! That's another one of his that I'm not aware of; he must be running (pun not intended) his very own cottage industry!

Knothole gang at the old Met, eh? That must've been pretty sweet! There was never anything like that in my era at Fenway, although even into the 70s the bleacher seats out in center field were a mere dollar. I think they now cost $24 out there!

I have some recollection of my father telling me about knot-holing for Boston Braves games, and for him that would've been back in the mid-20s. It's good to know that that tradition was carried on at least into your era at Metropolitan!

SHAUN -

Good response to split jammers -- sign up for a couple of races! I approve wholeheartedly!

It my swim bag I always have a pair of baggy shorts that are disgned for "resistance" swimming.........but I have used them MAYBE three times in about 8 years. I guess I fugure that in general I generate my own resistance quite nicely, thank you, and just focus on minimizing that through use of jammers. But, seriously, that is a good test of your speed, just to see what you can do when you are not quite so streamilined.

And at what point in the proceedings did they split? Hopefully not while still in the pool or on the deck. (And if you need someone to post your bail on charges of "Indecent Exposure in a Public Swimming Facility", just let me know and I'll get the gang here to drum up some change funds for you!)