GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 149)

SHAUN -

Thank you for providing the Brew stats! What do I make of it, though???

Has GU figured out we don't need quite as much "goodies" as was in the GU2O?
Is GU just trying to save money in making a less elite product?

Of course, what I want to believe is #1, so I'll give them the advantage of the doubt just because it makes me feel better!

I guess part of this comes back to the same arguments about what exactly is needed.....about how much sodium is necessary....about how realistic it is to hope to replenish what is lost through the workout or race effort.

I would prefer the GU2O formulation, just to be on the safe side, but unless it's a scorcher of a day, I think I can make do with 250mg of sodium, rather than 315. It's a pretty big drop in carbs, but not hazardous to someone who is also using gels. Thinking quickly here, if I'm doing an oly I will have a gel before the swim, and one at some point on the bike, and one or two during the run (maybe exiting T2, and at about mile 4). So, that's 3 gels anyhow, at about 25g carbs each, plus the 26g from the drink, and I'm at 100g carbs for 2:30. That sounds quite adequate, I guess.

One sure can make oneself crazy thinking about all this stuff, can't one??

SHAUN again -

I will fish around for my copy of Hobson and read what he is saying about the swim tactic you mention. But keep reminding me that you asked about it!

SHAUN once more -

Even though you maybe don't want to know any more about Mandy and her "shiny friends", I will share the following with you. This is something a girlfriend of mine from my early 20s told me, and it was a little jingle that she and her friends used to sing to each other:

"I see your hiney,
its's red and shiny,
if you don't hide it,
perhaps I'll bite it."

See? Don't you feel oddly edified now, having been exposed (!!) to that little ditty?

It's sad, however, the number of things my mind seems to forget --- but it holds on to something like THAT for close to 40 years now. Yikes! (With my luck, the last thing Ill be aware of before I depart this mortal coil will be that ditty..... )

TRACEY -

Ack! Sorry to hear you were laid low by a bug! (In hindsight, maybe you should've struggled into the wetsuit and sat around in a warm room all day, thus sweating all the bad buggles out of your system!

No? Bad idea, you think?

As for Escape --- not to worry! Five weeks is loads of time still, and you definitely WILL NOT undo all of the months of hard work. You will experience a small loss of efficiency on the run and swim, likely nothing at all with the bike. And what you lose on the S and R can be easilt recouped within a few days of resuming training again.

In the five weeks left, you have to be comfortable riding for ten miles and then running for three. Now, you'll be slightly taxed coming out of the water after swimming for 10-12 minutes, but that reqlly won't affect you at all; I'm sure you'll do well with the swim.

So between now and June 12, you have to knock off a few 9-12 mile rides, and add a short run to a couple of them. If you could do three bricks, with runs of 1, 1.5, and 2 miles, coming off of say 10-mile rides, you'll be more than ready for Escape!

As for the run and the neuroma, you know that you can run 5km. If the neuroma continues to annnoy you past the 2-mile mark, then manage your runs so that you stay within tolerable pain limits, and allow adrenaline to carry you through the final mile or so of Escape. However, IF you can work through the discomfort of the neuroma for three miles on your runs, then that would be far preferable.

As I said to Kasia a few days ago, for now you just have to feel confident that you can make it through the parameters of Escape - 0.3/10/3. You don't have to be thinking right now about longer workouts, as they won't be required on June 12. Of course, were to do them they wouldn't hurt, either, but when any combination of Life's Little Spped Bumps (work, family, injury) conspire to undermine your training, just work to keep within the scope of the raxce's specific distances.

What is your longest ride so far, just roughly?

TRACEY again -

I'm sure I've seen Bertuccis in my forays through Massachusetts!

The best post-race food seems to come from restaurants that really treat it as another species of catering. I would figure that they would cut quality in order to feed the ravenous hordes after a race, but it never seems to work that way.

So, as hit that .75 mile hill.....think stromboli!

Oh man you guys are just making me laugh every time I check in lately!

Glad you guys liked the race report - and the pictures. Mom will be happy to hear others thought she did well too (she was very nervous about the responsibility).

Taking a break from 100 Miles to Nowhere. 40 miles in.  We have a shut-down day today at work, and it is raining here so I might as well use it for this, right? I can't believe I am not even half way yet.  This is harder than I thought, mostly for the boredom factor.  Maybe my bike computer is broken? ha

Next showing, "The Distance - A Triathletes Journey to Ironman"  I should be at 60 or maybe even 70 miles by the end of that one if I can keep my legs pumping at a good RPM.  I am going to win the short spunky girl from Caratunk division, I am pretty sure.

Mandy

ANNE -

With each passing year I become less and less interested in riding in the rain. When I think about some of the deluges I rode in in '03 and '04, I've now bevcome a real softy in recent years. I try to think of it as making me mentally stronger, as in "if it doesn't kill you it will make you stronger", but that doesn't carry as much weight anymore.

However.....

2003 was my first year being coached by Erik Cagnina, and what he said, I did. It turned out that spring was miserable here in '03, and I did endless rides in pouring rain, and many of them with runs attached to them -- really frigid bricks in which I would complain that I was learning how to "run on stumps", which is what my legs felt like being attached to feet that lost feeling about mile 6 of a 30- or 40- mile ride.

Then along came Columbia Triathlon.......and it was an awful day down there. In fact, it was a day very remisniscent of April and early may up here. So I had a very wet and chilly ride, with all those telltale signs that my feet weren't going to work so well. BUT, because I had suffered through that several time in training bricks, at least I knew that I could suffer through it at Columbia, and that made a huge difference in my mental approach as I haeded off on the run -- on "stumps"!

So, some suffering is good, I guess, and maybe wind is the better one simply because at least it doesn't rust the bike.

Great job on your Thursday ride, by the way. Sounds like another toughey (at least parts of it) but one you managed to knock off with dignity and aplomb. My last one was Friday, and it was a good one for me -- quite cold, some wind, but no rain. I am fixing to ride later today.

And good for the knee feeling like the old knee! I know this is almost agonizing for you for you to bide your time like this.....and I'm not sure that watching tapes that show people running efficiently and successfully is the best thing for your peace-of-mind. It sure doesn't help with mine. In my year of aquabikes, i never even hung around for awards, as that would've required watching all the runners.....running. I just couldn't happily do that, so I finished the bike and packed my gear and left - sometimes without even hitting the food tent!

I agree with you about the ITU races and the "formula" aspect to how they seem to play out. It is another reason (in my mind, anyhow) to do away with draft-legal triathlons. I mean, it's great for the ultra-elite runners, but that's about it. Hang toughish on the swim, get with one of the two fastest groups on the bike, and put it on the line in the run. For me that would be easier said than done, of course, but for guys like Whitfield and Kemper (in the day), that was their ticket.

Dig the end-of week forecast!!! Actually, all week up here is pretty good, but the weekend especially is looking phenomenal. I'm going to do my first OWS of the season maybe on Thursday, as water temp in near Mooney's Bay was about 61 last week (using my dinky thrmometer). So if the air is warm enough, I can certainly handle 62 or 63 in the water. Yippee!!!!!








Edited by stevebradley 2010-05-10 9:11 AM

MANDY -

Whoa! MAJOR mojo to you on the "100 Miles to Nowhere"! I can surely sympathize with you, buit 40 miles already is pretty darn good. (Yeah, I think your computer is off a bit, by about a mile every ten miles ).

It is a great thing you're doing, this ride, and it is very admirable of you to undertake it. Holy-moly!

You go, Short Spunky Girl From Caratunk!

OMG, I am SO, SO, envious.     I've been talking with a few friends about when we might venture into Guelph Lake.   Won't be this weekend coming but hopefully soon after.    Don't  normally ride on Monday's but heading out with Ken about noon - sunny and about 10*; rest of week is kind of rainy but weekend looking good.   A friend is racing Victoria's Du for the first time, so I said I would ride the route with her on Saturday.   It's close by for me and one of my regular routes.  

Looking forward to going out for my first run on Wed.    For some reason, I'm not too worried or freaking about it - whatever will be will be; I know eventually it will all work out.   This is the fittest I have ever been and that's without running. Although I love to race and am kind of competitive, the real reason I s/b/r is for the joy it brings me and the health benefits.  

Can't wait to hear how your OWS goes.   

ANNE -

Well, I'm cautiously optimistic! I let the thermometer dangle off a dock about 20 feet from shore, and it sinks to a depth of 3-4 feet. Two weeks ago it made it to about 59 after a few minutes, and Friday it was about 61.5. I let my hand sit in the water for as long as the thermometer was in (about 5 minutes), and while it got cool it never got achingly cold.

So, if the air is a fair bit warmer than the water, and if the water is 62-64, I'll be fine. The tough time is when the water is cold and the air is colder, as each recovery arm swing brings a wet hand through chilly air. With highs of 19C for Thursady and Saturday and Sunday, soething in there ought to be swimmable!

I wrenched my back doing next to next this morning, just leaning over slightly and I could feel the vice-grip digging in mid-back It's been a long time since any back episode of note.....and hopefully this will disappear about as quickly as it came, thus becoming a non-episode. Until then, though --- *!%^*@!*.

Off to walk the dog, and then maybe run, and if the back is tolerable and it warms up a bunch more degrees, a ride mid-aft. That's the plan!!

(And then into Ottawa for the concert, reluctantly eschewing the Bruins game. Although, maybe my back won't allow me to go to the concert. Aw, gee. Imagine that! The pity of it all! )

MANDY -

It's Shaun's fault! He started it!!

Where are you at now, about mile 73.642?

Yay, SSGFC!!!

Thanks Steve!

My longest ride so far was 10 miles, a little over a week ago. Usually my rides are more like 5-7. But the 10 mile was a good one. Actually the only hard part was trying not to get run over (I chose a decidedly bike-unfriendly route!). So I could easily up the mileage on my rides.

How many bike/run bricks do you think I should do between now and Escape? Would 1 per week be okay you think? Here's what my weeks look like now:

M: swim/bike
Tu: run/weights
Wed: swim/bike
Th: run/weights
Fri: run

I could switch up one of my bike days to coincide with one of my runs to do a bike/run brick, say on Mondays. Then I'd move that swim to Tuesday or Wednesday. I think I can handle a 5k after a 10 mile ride. Of course, I say that now, having never done it!
Luckily the neuroma will feel the same, regardless of whether I've just ridden 10 miles or not. (Ridden, rode....? What is the proper English??)

Thanks!

Tracey

TRACEY -

I'll make a deal with you. I'll help you with ridden/rode if you help me with lay/lie/lain -- that whole family of obnoxious inbreeds!

Anyhow, you had it correct with "ridden", as you used it in that sentence. My response could've been something like "Sorry, I didn't quite hear; how many miles did you say you rode?" It's a past particple/past tense thing....but don't ask me to define past participle!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote something to Steve like, "....and then just lay low until race day", but I'm never sure about that. Should it have been "...and then just lie low until...."? I should just always avoid the issue and opt for another locution such as "....and then just rest until...."

Onwards!!

Good! You've got one 10-miler under your belt, and you were quick to say that you could easily up the mileage. Perfect! If you can find one or two or more bike-friendly routes (or user-friendly times to ride the less bike-freiendly routes), it will change your prespective dramatically. But as I said in the previous post to you, at this point you need go no further than a few miles past 10 if your only desire is to be ready for Escape. So, maybe set the limit at 15 if, overall, finding time to train is a bit of a challenge.

If you can do a brick a week, that would be great! That would be four or five beteen now and Escape, and I think I mentioned three before -- one each with 1, 1.5, and 2-mile runs. But if you're looking at possibly five of them, then maybe set the first with a half-mile run, just to get that first feeling of what it feels like to run off of the bike.

Two approaches would be:
(1) Start both B and R low, and bring them up together, and
(2) Keep B the same each time, but make each R longer than the previous one.

So, (1) might see an 8-mile bike with a 0.5 mile run one week, then 9m B with a 1m run nexy week, and so on, while (2) would have roughly 10-12 mile rides each brick, and then adding on new increments each run. As you sound confident about the bike, I would probably go with (2). But overall, the difference is not going to be that great.

If you are like most people, the first few/several bricks you do will feel really odd. I coluld regale you with stories of coming off the bike and wondering long I could continue putting one foot in front of the other in such a state......but it usually always improves with time. And that's time doing bricks, period, as well as time into a speciific brick-run. ("The first few steps are doozies.")

One thing that will help is to shorten your stride for the first minute or two or three. Keep the stride small and compact, and it might help to visualize an almost-shuffle -- feet low to the ground, no attempt to "run pretty". (In time, you'll be able to mostly"run pretty" when you get off the bike, but don't aim for that quite yet; but if it happens, GREAT!)

Off on a run of my own now, where my newly-acquired tight back might prevent ME from running pretty. Maybe I should just lay low instead!

Mandy,

A belated congratulations on your tri! And when you ran off with your cycling shoes on... totally something I would do!

Tracey

I used to LOVE reading Emily Dickinson when I went through my doom and gloom phase during college.

I must be dense... can someone direct me exactly to where I can find the pics? (I can't find the "store" link).

Thanks!

Good idea! I mean, how focused will you be at an organ concert when you've got the game on your mind?

Watching the Celts game yesterday in my hazy fevered state, I was positively amazed by Rondo's moves. They're just as impressive today on the replays!

TRACEY -

Go to www.asiorders.com, and find the listing for Ironman St. George. Click on that, and then for the bib search, enter 965 -- that's Our Man of the Canyons!

TRACEY again -

Yay! A respondent to the Dickinson poem! Top marks for you, m'am!

Emily for doom and gloom? I guess, but nobody hits those nerves better than Sylvia Plath --- and maybe Anne Sexton.

A wonderful book about E.D. is "White Heat", by Brenda Wineapple, which examines her relationship with Thomas Wentworth Higginson. And Jerome Charyn has just written a kind of controversial novel about her, titled, i think, "The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson". Check those out!

(I get drawn back to her every few months. I don't understand half of what she wrote.....but I love the way she wrote it. The intensity just slays me. She really has a hold on me!)



Edited by stevebradley 2010-05-10 4:07 PM

TRACEY once more -

I only saw the game as replays, but Rondo was indeed magnificent --- and that doesn't quite do him justice. Mercy!!


And tonight - GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice job Mandy and good luck int he marathon coming up.

100 MILES ON A TRAINER!! Ay yi yi!! Hope you are done as I write this. Mark

I always loved Emily Dickinson's poems and prefer her over Sylvia Plath. It's funny, just the other day I was dusting off the bookshelf and pulled out my big book of her poetry. I started flipping through it and thinking I should start reading some of her stuff again. One of my favorite poems of hers is "Because I Could Not Stop for Death." Love that one! I wrote a paper on it in college.

1-0 Philly now... but it's early!

My favorite Rondo move had to be when he became airborne, and did that behind the back pass thingie. (There's probably a proper term for it that I don't know). Way cool!