GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 131)

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STEVE once more -

About those questions....

If it's like IMLP, it'll happen like this:
As you say, exit water, run to pick up the T1 bag, then into the tent. There will be chairs and benches there, and you will hopefully find a spot right awat and take off your swim stuff. there will be someone hovering over you telling you to just leave it in a pile at your seat. In the T1 bag will be your bike stuff, whatvere you will want for it. Could be just helmet and sungallses and cleats, could also be variations such as long-sleeved top, rain shell, gloves, anything. On your bike already will be the water bottles and whatever else you have stowed away, such as in a Bento Box. But if you want to cram the pockets of your top amd bottom will gels and stuff, they could be in the T1 bag ready for you to do that once your wetsuit is off.

A tricky part for you might be the concept that your bike might be fetched for you; I think this happens at some of the M-dot races. But this will be explained at the pre-race meetings, so you want be just left to your own devices. (And at the end, there will be someone there to grab your bike from you so that you don't enter the vast transition zone -- you run one way to the T2 bag and then the tent, while that person will run your bike to its appropriate spece in the racks.) Again, that's basd on IMLP '04, but I'm sure it will be at IMSG '10!

The transition zone at a M-dot, then, is really the tents -- that's where you do all of the typical t-zone stuff. The bike racks are really just a huge parking lot, and think of it as valet parking at that. I can't say with 100% certainty that that is how it will be at IMSG, but were I a betting man.......

Overly paranoid*? No, not quite. I know I had two tubes at both of my irons, and probably three CO2 cartridges. I think I had extras of both in my bike s.n. bag, just in case I needed them -- which I didn't. I tink they were just loose at the bottom of the bag, ready to fish out if necessary. Best to be safe than sorry, I think!


* Some of the pros and elites will have NOTHING on their bikes to help with "mechanicals", and they'll have just a bottle or two. Their thinking is that it's all or nothing if they are after a Kona spot, and once a disaster happens, it's game over for them and their Kona-quest. It was scary top see some of those minimalized bikes!

DWAYNE -

That's a fine service your daughter is providing with the weather forecasts for St. George!!

ANNE -

You're here! Yippee!

Great report, I'll be back in the morning.

G'night!

Ha! As I said I've never had the chance to do it before, but from everything I've heard, it can give you a huge advantage and save you lots of energy. Given that, it makes me wonder why everybody doesn't do it?? I suppose there will always be those people who want to finish at the head of the pack and will try to pass everyone they can.

Yaaaaay!!!

Thanks Steve. I think you're right about optimal stroke rate. And I think stroke length is just as important as stroke rate (at least in TI). So I'm going to have to start counting my strokes per lap and see where that goes. My stroke length must be getting longer if I'm going that much faster to improve 1 minute in 500 meters, right?

Steve A! LOL - so do I!  I hope the taper madness isn't driving you too mad!  I am sending some warmer weather mojo your way. 

ANNE! Welcome back, sounds like a great trip!

LISA - good luck with the tough decision. You and your family are in a tough spot right now - best wishes to you.

TRACEY - MAYA was unbelievable.  If you have the opportunity to see her, do it.  Holy crap, she had me laughing my head off, crying, and in awe - her story is pretty phenomenal.  Congrats on the great swim accomplishment!

Cheers,

Mandy

Thanks for the new calf! SWEET!  Can you get it hear by May 16? 

I think it isn't serious. Well, I don't know.  I have been told it is everything from tendinitis to micro tears to a grade 1 strain.  So I have no idea.  It isn't serious enough to warrant an MRI according to the Dr.  BUT I haven't run for over a week.  I am going to try a light run tomorrow, like just 3, then maybe if it works, a 6 or 8 this weekend.  I have been trying to fill my volume with biking, hoping that will help some with the marathon.  I have got to be in better shape than I was at the Goofy Challenge Debacle.

I hope you are right about the swim!

The hill repeat session was awesome - I must be a masochist because I love hill repeats on a bike.  The grades for my sitting climb are 5%-6% and for my standing, 7%-8%.  So we have some hills. 

NO SNOW! Yeah.  Phew.  Tonight they are calling for it again, but now I think it is a hoax.



Mandy

MANDY -

I'm glad that your forecast has been de-snowed.........but it's snowing here even as I type. Our lawn is looking quite white, but the driveway, which is gravel, has no accumulation, so this one won't stay around for long. Still, it will succeed in keeping me from an outside ride today. Rats.

I find calf woes to be tricky, insidious even. For me, when something is going on there it comes and goes, and the intensity is often variable as well. I usually figure it's micro-tears or something; I guess pretty much the range you're considering for your own calf. For one du last July I woke up at 3:30 and went out on the road and ran for about 8 seconds before realizing that the calf wouldn't/couldn't handle the race. So, I went back to bed. But then, with no real efforts at therapy, it was ready for a short run 8 days later, and NYC Tri 6 days beyond that. (And I wonder why my run at NYC was not a rousing success..... ) After NYC, however, i was back in running form, and my season pregressed well, run-wise, from there.

And just to give you some idea of my build-up to the race-bail on July 12, on July 8 I did some speedwork.......and in my log I wrote "gastrocs and soleus". So, as is sadly often the case when I try speedwork, I end up hurting myself. I didn't run until the test-effort on the morning of the race, but in my log for the 10th I wrote "right calf very sore and sharp!" I guess I was feeling that on the bike ride that day, or maybe just shambling around.

ANYHOW, seeing as how I improved when I took that time off between July 8 and July 25, maybe your hiatus from running this past week will have the same effect for you. Like, you might be getting close to being back running again. Here's hoping!

TRACEY -

Fabulous swim! That's not just an incremental improvement, it's the kind of leap in performance that can move mountains. A 70-second difference over 500m is enormous. (By June 12 I might be following your bubbles!)

Steve's comments to you are 100% accurate, and to it I'll only add that my speed increases have always come when I increase my stroke rate. Not only have I learned that through trial-and-error, but I've also been told it several times by coaches in clinics. I think for anyone without perfect balance, kick, and stroke mechanics, they need increased turnover to improve their speed.

I've also learned through trial-and-error that there is a point at which my increasd turnover leads to diminishing returns, and it's at the point at which my stroke begins to fall apart. As a rough guideline for me, I think that's at about 23-24 strokes per 25m. I can make that work for speed for a few lengths at most, and then I've lost it.

I've come to view what happens to a lot of TI-trained swimmers as they need to "wean" themselves from pure TI concepts. This isn't to say that the pre-wean wasn't valuable -- far from it! It's just that it's time to move on to different techniques and foci; otherwise, might stagnate in place forever.

Anyhow, GREAT swim -- you're going to have a blast at Escape! By the way, is that spot swimmable at most times? Are you planning to get in there at any point before the race? If it's always availbale for swimming, I would certainly be willing to swim it with you whenever I roll in, probably Friday afternoon. And if you wanted to cruise the bike course, I'd be happy to do that, too. But I suppose by then you will have been over the course several times either by car or bike or on foot, so if you don't want to do anything along those lines, that's fine. In my younger days I was a real stickler for going over a course the day before the race, but now, more often than not I think, I just sort of let it unfold as it will. My rule of thumb used to be to drive the bike course and ride the run course as part of my day-before reconnaissance, but nowadays.....

ANNE -

I've just read your account yet again, and each time it sounds better than the time before. I didn't expect you would have such a range of riders there, and I definitely didn't think in terms of elites and even entire teams. (And where do the 12 year olds come from? they should be in school!!)

If that doesn't set the stage for a terrific season of race cycling, i don't know what would. It sounds as if you treated it all very seriously, not just a lollygagging lark; was there ever any point at which you didn't treat it as a learning experience??

When are you hoping to do your first run? It is so good that the knee made it through the tour with no problems at all.....and now we just have to hope that translates to the run.

And as for the up-coming TT, well, if you did lots of riding in Florida at 32-36, then you might well hit last year's August pace at next week's TT -- or at least come very close to it. Can hardly wait for you to do the TT!

You getting snow down there today? Jeezum. As I live and breathe, it was fabulous weather here while you were in Florida, and I guess you didn't come back here on April 24 expecting snow. It won't last on the ground into tomorrow, but at least for now it's shivered me timbers and rattled me bones!

LISA -

Oh. A 22- and a 29-year old. Both male. Left to their own devices. Hmmmm......

No direct flights between NYC and OKC? Sounds like "Backwater Syndrome" to me! I'm actually surprised at that, especially with the Thunder now operational. I guess the Knicks and the Nets, being in the Eastern Confrence, don't play there that much, but it still seems too far to charter a flight. What would the routing be -- through Dallas or Houston or St. Louis?

So you have a sister who owns a resort in Arkansas?? Must be nice! Is it in the Ozarks, or some outlier of the Ozarks? Wow.

Hang in there!

MIDWESTERNERS ---- where art thou? All is quiet from the good ol' north-central!

M?

DENISE?

MARK?

STEVEB,

You are absolutely correct that I need to start having some substance with me during my swim and bike. I've been significantly derelict in this matter and am working on changing that.

Sunday, I had a bottle of HEED for my run and a gel before the swim. Now the run was shortened to 20 minutes mainly due to my recently developed breathing pains at HR over 150 while running. I've got the semi sharp pain near the top of my right rib cage. Deep breathing will help this. As will some pressure on the side of my rib cage help. This has occured on a couple of my runs where I try and maintain a 8:30 minute mile. Might really suck this one up and go see my Doc. Also would be asking about the inhalers I have and how/when to use related to training (as I've always used in relation to allergies and on an as needed basis). The swim, was GREAT!!! It was my long swim of the week. Since I felt I short changed myself on the run, I went for 2000m swim in 3 sets vs the prescribed 1600m in 3 sets.

Now comes my internal debate of what drink do I want. Probably going to start with the cheaper Gatorade to mix myself before going 100% to HEED or EFS (I'd really like it if they had sample sizes to buy to see if I like it first before getting a large container).

Prior to all activity that does not occur first thing in the morning, I do have a pre-workout 'meal' about an hour before. 1 banana and if I am starting from home about a 1/2-1 cup of cottage cheese. Speaking of which, cottage cheese is a good source of protein/calories/salt for us right?

As for leaving items along a course, I tend to run either at a large local park where a lot of other people run/bike/swim or through my neighbourhood and I'm sure random people wouldn't want me leaving a case of water bottles in their garden. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I have heeded the suggestion to drink while taking a gel. Been fairly diligent about that.

I have no plans for July other than not being at work for 2 weeks. Not sure if I'm going to try and throw a race in those 2 weeks or go to Niagara (mom's cooking and lots of hills!) or Ottawa  (friends, meet this guy name Steve Bradley, HILLS) or stay local and enjoy having a pool in my backyard...Colorade would be awesome but I'm not sure its realistic.

Here's another instance of my utter brilliance and absent mindedness. So the bolt head on my seat clamp on LRRH was starting to visibly strip out. So I took it off, brought it into work to see if I could size it to get a replacement. Got one. At home, pack the bike and everything else I can think of possibly needing into the car with the intent of riding last night. Well, while getting some tools to bring, I put the seat clamp in the tool cabinet where it stayed until last night. So here I was tearing through my car yesterday looking for a seat clamp and low and behold I can't find the darn thing!! DOH there goes another workout...

Edited by smarx 2010-04-27 8:01 AM

SHAUN -

TOP of rib cage? One thing to think about is a "side stitch", which is when the diaphragm kind of siezes, or cramps. But the diapragm is at the base of the rib cage -- sort of where you can dig your fingers in under the cage. If this is in fact your problem, two things can help: (1) pressing in HARD at the spot where it hurts (like hell), and (2) exhaling very forcefully every time the foot on the offending side (usually the right) strikes the ground. And by foeceful, I mean FORCEful -- big exhalation, the kind that if you made it while ewalking dsown the sidesalk, people would move over to the other side of the street. All that said, if it's not a diaphragm-induced side stitch, then neither of those will help.

As for drinks, as musch as Gatorade is sometimes criticized by the hard-core purists, it will work just find as a hydtration aid and supplier of carbs and electrolytes, whenever. I do not use Gatorade or Powrade in races, unless of course when they are the supplied drink at aid stations. That is, I never bring it with me to a race. But for workouts, I wil use it; it certainly is less expensive than anything else. The sugar content (and source) is moderately shocking, but I can suffer that if it keeps me from having my energy supplies (and bank account) depleted.

I will try to remember to look up cottage cheese. I hate cheese and can't tell you from first-hand experience, but I think cottage cheese is quite a good edible.

If you ever get to meet my car, you will be shocked at what a seeming trash bin it is. But I have learned throuigh years of leaving stuff at home (such as your seat clamp) that it is best to "travel heavy". So, my car is a-swarm with all manner of gear. My daughter teases me about keeping the equivalent of a couple of people in the car at all times......but there have both lots of occasions in which I have gotten somewhere to do a workout, have found I left something at home, and then rooted around the car and found a suitable replacement. See, I know what I'm doing!

And speaking of replacements, that was a good swim you fit there in place of the short-changed run!

We were actually a bit surprised at the range of cyclists.   They were ALL strong cyclists, but there were all shapes and sizes.   The majority of them are all muti day event people and many cycle a good part of the year, however alot were from northern parts like us.   The majority of the Freewheelers were not the 'speedsters'.   I think a number of the younger cyclists and those with teams use the tour to get in some training in a fun atmosphere.

The cost was so reasonable because they have alot of volunteers from their club (60+ this year);  from what I learned it is one of the best run muti day events in the country.    I was looking at a 2 day event in Ottawa, this weekend I think and the cost was $150.00 and not alot of support and/or food included.    

Heard of several more cycling events we would like to try; some longer, some 1 day events.    Two that Istick in my mind were the Santa Fe century and 3 States, 3 Mountains, starting in Chattanooga.  

I was glad the cycling didn't really bother my knee.   The first 2.5 days were fairly flat and we had no muscle soreness at all, but after the 2nd day of hills both our quads were letting us know they were there!   It was funny because I kept thinking in terms of km and was happy that the winds were only 10-15 km/hr.   Wasn't till day 3 Ken reminded me it was miles/hour.   Still, that wasn't too bad.   I want to ride today and they are 30km.    But we DON'T have snow, thankfully.  

Today's ride is a 1 hr with short hill climbs and we have one that will work nicely about a block away.  

My first run is tomorrow.   I also have an osteo appt to make sure the knee is still tracking properly.  Will run before the appt, so I can report any problems.   I'm not totally confident that is 'perfect' yet, because when I squat down to sit on my legs, I can hear a big clunk and can't compress the knee totally without it hurting.   If I rise up and come down slower, there isn't any clunk and it is fine.   That is the only movement/position that causes problems.    This was happening before the cycling event as well.  

Ken thinks it's cartilage, but I don't.   I will give it a couple of more days, then may get it looked at because it has been a good 6 weeks that it has been bugging me.

There has been alot of discussion here on gels, drinks, etc for training purposes.   I don't really use anything except water unless my session is at least 90 minutes long.   Then I start supplementing but usually a gel with water or some 'Sharkies' seem to keep the energy levels up.   If I get into the 3 hour plus stuff, I make sure I fuel up at the end of the session.   

When I rode in Florida, every 90 minutes to 2 hours I would have 1/2 orange and 2 fig newtons and was never tired, but then again I wasn't riding that fast.    There was tons of good food supplied at the SAG stops but I can't ride with food in my stomach.   One day after 4hours of riding and and the last 2 hours were hilly and windy I was starving so ate a peanut butter and jam sandwich and it messed up my stomach for the rest of the ride.   Kind of annoying that I have to be so careful.  

Hope the snow has stopped. 

Lisa,  thanks for the note!  I'll be thinking of you too, and sending you good Karma this weekend as well.  In fact, as I read this post, I immediately knew that during some of the tougher times this weekend, I'll be thinking, "Hey, suck it up!  Lisa is doing this too...keep moving forward!"  I know you'll have a great race - a celebration of all the work up to now!!

Thanks Steve - that's what I suspected, but wanted to hear someone else say it.  I'm going to stop by the LBS today on the way home and get a larger repair kit bag that can hold two tubes.  I'll still have the water bottle with an extra set of tubes and cartridges in case of an early flat - but the peace of mind is worth the extra tube and cartridge weight.  Like I said before, I've not flatted in over 4 years (training or race) (I'm seriously knocking on wood right now as I write this)(Just did it right there and my database marketing manager just poked his head out of his cubical to see who was knockinng...lol), so I can't help but think I'm due! 

As for those elites - reminds me of every time I watch the Kona special - I get angry at the pros who stop because they are no longer in contention.  And, I think about that one pro on the show two years ago (don't recall his name) who was talking to the camera while walking, and saying that he keeps going because it would be disrespectful to the AG'ers to stop just because he was out of the podium race.  I don't know who that guy was, but he's my hero!

Nice work on the swim. I like using a tempo trainer, too. If I may, TI isn't opposed to increasing stroke rate, what TI wants you to pay attention to are stroke rate, strokes per length (which is similar to distance per stroke) and time. You clearly swam faster with an increased stroke rate. This most likely means you kept your strokes per length & distance per stroke nearly the same, and went faster because you stroked faster. A while ago I shared the experience that even though I set my TT to a faster pace/stroke count, I had a slower time. This means my strokes per length went up and my distance per stoke went down so that stroking faster didn't result in swimming faster.
SteveA is right when he says each person has to find his/her optimal stroke rate, and this need to include stroke rate, strokes per length and time. Mark

oops, I didn't see that you had figured this out before I posted my previous message - sorry

I'm still around.

Anne - I'm happy you're back.  You're very motivating.  I bet you just beamed when that Trinidad guy complemented your bike. I've made a little deal with myself - when I can do 18mph in a tri, then I can trade up from my entry-level road bike.  I did 17.8 on a 10 mile training ride last week - but it was flat and no wind.

Lisa - I'm really glad you're trying to train - even with all the life stuff.  I read an article recently that said one of the reasons older people (me) are happy is because they've learned to avoid stress - the thing is - it's easy to avoid stress when you don't have a job and your kids are gone (right SteveB).  Anyway, good luck with your race.

Tracey - I know just how you feel with that swim improvement. It's so exciting - even seconds off my 100 yd pace make me ecstatic - and you did much better than that.  I've been emphasizing stroke turnover too recently especially with the speed drills Steve gave me.

SteveA - I am so excited for you.  I'll be thinking of you Saturday even during my little sprint.  I'll be telling myself "Suck it up Denise - this is nothing"

Dwayne - good luck with your Warrior thing - I'll have to look that up - I don't even know what it is.

I had a panic moment last week when I found out the slower women are the 1st heat (pool swim) in my Saturday sprint.  In the 2 tris I did last summer,  I basically had the bike route to myself way in the back.  At 1st I thought "Oh my goodness, I'm going to have all these speedy bikers bearing down on me on the bike course".  But then I brushed off my old algebra skills and calculated that I'll have enough of a lead.  A couple might catch me but not many.  Whew!

I'm obsessing about clothing.  I always ride bike when it's nice and it's probably going to be a little cool Saturday am and maybe some rain.  45F is ok for the run but I think I need something for the bike - but I don't want to wear too much.  I have one more bike ride before Sat. so I think I'll try to do it when it's 45F and see what I need to wear.  Of course, who knows what the wind will be.

Denise

Would tendonitis that hurts mostly on the top of my foot cause swelling on the front of the ankle? Please say yes, please say yes...

Because if not, then my self-diagnosis is wrong.

Edited by augeremt 2010-04-27 4:47 PM