GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 148)

DENISE -

Ah, you have every reason to rant about that one! Were any of the menfolk aware of the unfortunate irony of the situation?

As far as non-tri matters are concerned, remember --- here at GrooveTime!, EVERYTHING is open for discussion. Well, almost anything, as any raving about or fawning over the New York Yankees will be severly dealt with. Beyond that, however, all is fair game, as we are much more than the sum of our athletic parts!

ANNE -

Sounds great! I love coconut, I love almond; win/win! Is it in health food stores only?

I am obsessing a bit these days about magnesium, I guess as a result of fueling conversations with Shaun. I really have to re-research this again, as stuck in my mind is the thought that magnesium is the best electrolyte to combat cramping. Now, that has not been an issue for me for a few years (KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!!), but maybe back in '07 I would frequently get calf cramps while on the bike in races.

I should also re-research the benefits of potassium. That's a huge wallop of it in ONE -- 670mg. What's that the equivalent of -- about 34 bananas?

ANNE again -

I think we have returned to about November 27, with high winds and cold air. Yechh. I guess you down thatta way really got clobbered by winds yesterday, yes?

Hopefully, back on the bike outside tomorrow, though!

How's the knee doing?

SteveB:

Haven't tried on the wetsuit yet. I've been flat out on the couch the last 4 days with the flu. Fever, chills, congestion, etc. Not fun. So I haven't even had the energy to open the box the wetsuit came in, never mind struggle to get it on. This is actually the first time I've managed to get my fever down to under 100F and had the energy to get on the computer. So hopefully this thing is finally on its way out...

I'm freaking out a bit actually because Escape the Cape is 5 weeks away and I'm going to end up missing a week (or more) of training. I know a week off won't completely undo the months of work I've done, but the panic creeps up every now and then!

The thing about the neuroma.... I wish I could say it's completely gone, but to be honest, it really only started to act up when I'd hit the 2 mile mark, and lately my training runs have been shorter than that. When I did my 5k run last weekend, it did pop up right on schedule. But, I do have to say it didn't feel as bad as it's been before. So we'll have to see where things go with that. Glad to hear your issues seem to have subsided!

And most importantly, the post-5k food! It's being provided by a restaurant called Bertucci's. They're a local-ish (northeast and mid-atlantic) Italian chain. LOVE their food. It'll be my motivation to make it up this hill at the .75m mark during the race:

http://manomartian.com/course.html

Yechh is right!!!    The winds were crazy.   Driving through the city streets, branches were down everywhere.   We have a back yard full of really tall trees and fortunately didn't lose more than a bunch of leaves.  

We did manage to sneak in a ride Thursday morning just before the winds and rain came back.   Hope I haven't posted this already - road from  home through the city and at 10km we are in the country.   Started out with literally no wind (4km/hr) and by 10km winds were up to 17+, pretty much where we did a little hill work and had to turn around into the wind for the ride home.   Nothing new, eh.  

It was so nice to ride with no wind.   I always stop at the 10km mark and note my speed for comparison from ride to ride and Thursday there happened to be a cop standing there with radar.   He said I was going just over 28km/hr.     I was happy to see that my avg speed was 26, since it felt like such an easy ride and it is hard to get any consistent speed on the city streets. 

My knee has been feeling more and more like my 'old' knee.   No issues from cycling or yoga last week.   That huge clunking I was hearing when I stood up from a compressed knee position is barely audible, but there and I am actually able to sit on my legs with knees totally compressed and no pain or tightness.  

One thing though, I did notice after my last two cycling sessions that just above my knee cap, on the right leg there was some weakness coming down the stairs.   Seems to work itself out after I rub it a bit.   Not sure what that is.  

Even though the knee is feeling better I made a decision to wait until Wed (next scheduled run day) before attemping to run.   I am having an ultrasound treatment with the antibiotic anti-inflammatory cream on Tuesday, so hoping that will help too.  

I was watching the tape delay of the Dextro World Champ women's race in Korea yesterday and watching the run really made me want to get back at it.   Moffat looked like she was having such an easy time of it and then Daniela Ryf came up out from behind to win and the young Barbara Riveros Diaz, a Chilean girl took 2nd.   Spirig, who I think it fantastic on the bike (and hardly trains compared to the others) came in 4th beating out Hewitt.   I like her too.      The top swimmer, Peirsol, didn't even finish the bike.  

Didn't see the men (tape delay next weekend), but heard that Gomez (my favorite) came in 12th, and Whitefield had 2 flats and then a leg cramp.   Apparently after fixing the first flat he caught up to the lead group.   Can't wait to see Brownlee race again.  

All in all though, we are finding these races are getting boring to watch.   No one ever seems to want to break away on the bike and it is the same old, same old.    Now and then something exciting happens, but rarely it seems.   Sometimes you can see that they are not putting their full effort into it, and just coasting, saving their energy for the run, I guess.  

Back to biking - I think I am going to switch Tuesday's ride to Monday, since the weather for the rest of the week is looking bleak again.   I'm not really fond of riding in the rain, but it seems you are.    If it ever gets warm enough, I may try it.  

Steve B Wonder,

Gu Brew will be ordered soon...I keep adding and never deleting from my list of items to buy. Aero bottle, Gu Brew, tubes, CO2 chuck, running visor, bento box....jersey's are on clearance...Know I don't need one at all but I really only have one shirt I think would work under the wetsuit to the run and no idea how quick it would dry...choices choices!!

As for flavours I am looking at the blueberry-pomegranate with its SUPER high sodium content and the lemon-lime for something a little tart compared to gels.

As for your CarbBoom, I had that with a protein powder I used. Got pulled because it was tested to have milk solids or something in it and I've never seen it come back. Was probably the best tasting as well.

Here's a decent article on recovery drinks including your new Gu and Recoverite:
http://www.sportsbistro.com/articles/recovery-drink-review-and-round-up.html

Interestingly enough, that original Gu powder you have has more of everything except sugars:

	GU20	Brew
Calories	140	100
Sodium	315	250
Potassium	55	40
Carbs	34	26
Sugars	7	8

Looks to be roughly the same list of ingredients.

Mandy,

Good race report!

Sorry to hear it didn't go as well as you wanted, but you've got somethimg much bigger coming.

The story of the 68 year old man is great!!

Your friends are shiny?!?! I'm not sure I want to know about that one

Best of luck this coming weekend. I hope the calf doesn't hurt during the marathon.

Edited by smarx 2010-05-09 12:14 PM

SteveB again,

Back to Wes Hobson's Swim Bike Run. Reading it they discuss how once your hand gets to shoulder-ish level you should try and pull your body over and roll. (my paraphrasing here my be really bad but hopefully you remembert it). Reading it and sitting there thinking about it, I thought this sounded ridiculous. Then I went to the pool I was thinking about this as I was swimming. I now see how it could be used as a stroke thought. The way it made sense to me was from a pacing stance that when the hand in the water gets to about the chest your other hand should be entering the water so you are starting to roll over the hand in mid stroke...Definitely an interesting way to think about it that is new to me.

Looking forward to reading more of the book, but common 1:12/100m....pfft that's not average. Well not for us amateurs anyways.

Thanks, Anne! Got em

Steve,

I like to think I'm in good cross-training shape, but HORRIBLE running shape. I'm strong but don't have much running endurance is the problem. I was going to go for a run today, but a rolled ankle from last night's festivities is preventing me from doing that. Darn.

I've been trying to get 2-3 runs in a week, but I'm probably averaging about one. I absolutely hate and detest running, so it's pretty easy to talk myself out of it on a daily basis. And to think it's the easiest, logistics-wise, activity out of the three.

I do play indoor soccer twice a week, so I get some runs in there, but it's mostly quick sprints that don't translate to longer distances, I've found. Oh well. The only solution to this worry problem is to get out more. I'll give myself, and my ankle, a rest for the next couple days and get back into the running thing on Tuesday.

Kasia

P.S. If you can't tell, I'm injury-prone. On the bright side, the foot/ankle of the other foot is feeling better, though. No more swelling or pain in the ankle-region, and only soreness in the foot when I lace up my shoes too tight. Must've been tendonitis or something like that.

Mandy,

I didn't get to wish you good luck prior to the race, but it looks like you didn't need it

As for rugby, I've been playing for about 7 years now, also started in college. Prop/hooker. I always wanted to be a flanker, but I'm just not built for it. It's the best of both worlds...you're a forward who does things with backs once in a while. Pretty cool.

And those rugby songs...haha! Man, I miss singing. A few of us ruggers went out to karaoke last night and briefly considered going a cappella with a rugby song or two. Had we actually done it, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have been invited back. Ever.

Kasia

Shaun,

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who uses Excel for things other than work. My roommate makes fun of me constantly for using it for everything. It helped a lot when looking at bikes about a month ago. There's no better way to compare things. Good luck with the gels!

Kasia

Steve,

You're evil. But now that you said that, it's a great thought. That would be fun. Haha.

Tracey,

Feel better! A week off won't undo all you've been doing for months and it's better for you to rest than to push it.

LOL!!! That is awesome! I totally agree.  And you are right, these guys and gals were making it look way too easy and fluid.   I would like to see how they do under fire... 

LOL!!! That is so funny about Karaoke! Yup, they would definitely not invite you back!   I started as a hooker but got moved and loved flanker.  Haven't played in years, but love the sport.

LOL!

Hey there, here is the "official" Mandy race report with pictures if anyone is interested...
http://caratunkgirl.blogspot.com/2010/05/polar-bear-tri.html

Cheers,
Mandy

Great race report Mandy.  I like your writing style.   You had me laughing quite a bit.    I had no idea you had to drive that far to swim.   That is kind of nuts.   You did very well with the amount of swimming you did over the winter.

I don't like pool tri's at all, and am also pretty non chalant about them.   I just use them to get a few of the bugs out knowing the official 'time' in no way reflects my capabilities. 

I really hope someone offered you up a calf.      If not, I hope you can get yours under control and that it doesn't give you too much grief on your marathon.  

Nice pics.  

100 miles to Nowhere - is that the long ride on the trainer?   

Mandy-

Good job and I really enjoyed the race reports and liked the big smile with the bike 

KASIA -

Let's see.......a rolled ankle from karaoke. Hmmm. Sounds like you need a safer form of cross-training!

Good news on the other foot, however; for that we can be thankful!

Don't feel too bad about not enjoying/liking/tolerating running, as you ae one of manymanymany. A lot of people take up tri just so that they can race, but have something more to look forward to than ------ running. It sure is the easiest logistaically and by far the least expensive, but if you don't like then you don't like it. Of course, a goal is to get to the point where you do learn to kinda sorta like it, but if that doesn't happen then it's nothing to feel terrible about.

Thoses soccer bursts, however, will have positive effects for your tri running. Sure, the effort isn't the same, but they are an aspect of overall conditioning and they help to keep you in tune with your body and its limits. All good!!

MANDY -

Yay for your mom and her camera! GREAT photos! And it was just a hoot to read; I like the jacket story!

Race more so that you can write more and so that your mom can take more photos. C'mon -- indulge us!

MANDY and TRACEY -

Thank goodness the Sox managed to win yesterday. Had they not, I would've been caught in the jaws of apoplexy. The first two games of the series were excruciatingly ugly!

TRACEY and MANDY again -

And the Celts! Nice rebound from the game three debacle!

That's a tough series to call, however. Celts blow out Cavs in game 2 in Cleve, then get annihilated at home in game 3, then win a tough one in game 4. And each team had a 10-0 run in the fourth quater. I wouldn't bet anything on any aspect of that series!

Tonight, the Bruins are at home trying to close out the Flyers ---- and I'm at an organ concert in Ottawa with Lynn. Maybe I ought to revisit my grade school days during the World Series when I would sneak a transistor radio to school and try to listen to the game without my teachers catching me at it. So, tonight, I bring a little radio and stay plugged in to the game while the organ is churning away in the background. You think?