GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 157)

LOL!!

How'd that swim go for you??

Mine yesterday was cut a bit short. I was hitting my times but having been up since 3:20am and got into the pool at 5:45pm all I wanted to do was have a hot shower and go to bed.

Whichever one of us is the LGS, I know I've learned something and am enjoying it. In fact, I am reading through Hobson's book a bit faster as I want to get into Carmicheal's Food for Fitness. Speaking of which the more I read of Hobson's the more I definitely recognize that the writing style of Friel is so much better for beginners books. The nice part about Hobson is they have a good amount of talk about technique and look at training a bit differently. It's about finishing well not just finishing, like Friel.

So sorry to hear about your Bruins. I really was wanting to see them beat Philly (why is it people either hate Philly sports teams or love them?). Now the Habs have a big pill to swallow it looks like after loosing 6-0 last night.

Also my apologizes go out to the Sox however, having a teams to cheer for is a nice thing in this city. I could not imagine what downtown Detroit would be like if none of the teams had stadiums down there.

TRACEY -

Good assessment! And I will try to remind you before Escape --- it's Motrin time!

On my wall I have a list (it's more like a long scroll) of all the races I have done, and later I will go through it race by race and try to remember how many of my races had post-race offerings that rivalled yours yesterday. I can't give you a number right now, but offhand it's very to say ---- not many, if any!

That is incredibly generous, and assuming that the race fee was very reasonable, it's hard to imagine the race itself making any money. Or Bertuccis. Something had to give somewhere - either the race paid Bertucci's a king's ransom to feed you all so exquisitely, or Bertucci's has an enormous heart and provided that stuff just to be gracious and wonderful. Yummilicious!

Congratulations  Tracey an Mandy  I think I know what the Bias roll Is but I will wait for the full explanation

SHAUN -

Glad you're back; I was getting worried about you!

You know, I didn't even realize the Flyers series had started last night. I just assumed that the league would alternate days, so when I saw the Chicago game in the afternoon I figured Philly-Montreal for tonight. Shucks. I'm sorry I missed it! I have developed a real dislike for the Canadiens, largely because of their fans. It was probably lost to you all down there, but there has been rioting in Montreal after both of their recent sereis -- over Washington, over Pittsburgh. They were amazing victories, to be sure, but do they justify rioting?? Geez, at least save that for something like winning the Stanley Cup!

Decades ago, as in the early- and mid-seventies, I really liked the Flyers. While living in Maine I would sometimes be able to pick up their radio broadcasts, and they had a great pair of announcers -- Gene Hart and Larry Zeidel. Both of them were "homers", and thta's always fun, but Zeidel was a real hoot. He was a careeer minor-league thug, but when put in front of a microphone he was very entertaining. No necessarily brilliant or overwhelmingly articulate, but just plain old entertaining. And those broadcasts were sponsored by Krispy Kreme cookies and cakes -- a company that is still in business.

One more thing -- I think that maybe Lauren Hart, the singer who begins "God Bless America" before they show Kate Smith on the big screen, is Gene Hart's daughter. I think I have read that somewhere, but forgot it until I saw her doing it before game six. I'll have to Google that. She performed okay, I guss, but not like Kate! (However, she is vastly cuter than Kate! ) (But then again, so am I.) (I hope! )

Moving on!

The new issue of Triathlete has an article on magnesium, and I will try to summarize it here, soon. I am still possessed with thoughts of magnesium, thanks to our discussions here, so that article was very timely. The other day I was remembering a product that was available a few years ago -- a small bottle, a vial almost, that could be added to a drink or just swigged from straight, and it was loaded with magnesium. I can't remember its name, but I think it had part of the word magnesium in it. I would like to somehow find out what the magnesium levels in it were. Maybe I still have a vial or two kicking around -- expiration date 5/04 or so!

Those late swims after early wake-ups are killers. For a few years I would be awake at 5am for work, and then swim from 8-9 in the evening. Was my heart in it? No. Mind? No. Body? NO!! I mean, I did those workouts religiously, but it was all duty and no love.

Of course, in the past few years of 99% midday swims, I STILL haven't become the swimmer of my dreams, but at least I enjoy it a little bit more than back in my own personal Paleozoic. And on this note, I am swimming in the pool about noon, then lifting, and then MAYBE trying an OWS from the waters below Hog's Back, out of the Rideau Canoe Club. The water temp was about 60.5 on Friday, but if it's warm today I might give it a go. With Columbia on Sunday it would be good to get in open water at least once before then. or so I tell myself! Doh?

MANDY -


Blais Roll = Blazeman!

Duh!

Yeah, that must've caused some consternation at the Sugarloaf finish line ---- but good for you for doing it!

Vineman. (Vineman, where are you? Steve AquaviNEMANa?)

DRATS x 3!!!!   I would have liked that very much.   Yes, we are heading up early morning on the 24th and riding in the afternoon.   Hopefully traffic won't be too bad on the route.   I think most people will be on the main road heading south.   Trisport shows the elevation on their course map.   Don't know why they don't do that for all the races.   It doesn't look too bad to me really, but I'm not the best map reader.  

Since we are in the area, we are going to ride the half iron route on Tuesday morning.   I keep hearing all these stories about how tough it is, so I need to see for myself.    I do know it is harder than Peterborough, just based on past results of people who do both races every year.    Peterborough seems to have average speeds about 1.5 to 2km faster than Muskoka, so I'm thinking it can't be THAT much harder.  

Last year the changed the Peterborough route to go west to Pontypool (turn around point) due to construction issues, I believe but it looks like they have changed it back to the usual route.   We have ridden both as training rides and I prefer the normal route going east.   It is prettier with more hills but I'm thinking I might not like the west wind that usually happens.  At least I know I can work hard against it knowing I don't have to run.    

Going to get some cycling on the flats today, here in Windsor area.   If the weather stays decent, we will get another ride in tomorrow morning before heading back home.

Nothing rare to report in the birdwatching yesterday.   Pretty bad really, but the trails are such a great place to spend walking for hours.    Despite the lack of rare sightings, I still get excited spotting even the most common birds - White Crowned sparrows, Cooper's Hawksk; Magnolia, Yellow and Yellow Rumped Warblers; Indigo Buntings; Swainso'ns Thrush; female Grosbeaks, tons of Baltimore Orioles and Gray Catbirds.

Enjoy your swim today.   Can't wait to hear about OWS.   I am planning one for Thusday if the weather holds.   Have no idea of the water temp, so it might be a short one.  

CONGRATULATIONS TRACY AND MANDY, on your races.    Well done despite the obstacles. 

TRACEY - SteveB is so right about most people picking the easiest possible route to PR on.   There is a 10km race here in Toronto in the spring that is ENTIRELY downhill that people use for that purpose.   To me it would sort of feel like cheating, reallly.   And being able to race an event knowing BEFOREHAND the pains that you may have to suffer through (neuroma) shows signs of true toughness.   Much different from racing through something that occurs unexpectedly during a race.    Although that shows mental toughness too, it is somehow easier to deal with.  

MANDY - Same comment to you re the mental toughness.   To go into that race with your calf issue, and having just come off that crazy trainer ride, is simply amazing to me.   WELL DONE!!  

Yup - I rolled for Jon Blais!  On longish courses I do.  Some of his writings were floating in my head during the race, this one especially:

Live...
More than your neighbors.
Unleash yourself upon the world and go places.
Go now.
Giggle, no, laugh.
No...stay out past dark,
And bark at the moon like the wild dog that you are.
Understand that this is not a dress rehearsal.
This is it...your life.
Face your fears and live your dreams.
Take it all in.
Yes, every chance that you get...
Come close.
And by all means, whatever you do...
Get it on film.

~ Jon Blais, "The Blazeman"

SO for those that might not know - to learn more about his story, go HERE - the video on the page is worth the watch. 

Mandy's print version is: In 2005 a young triathlete who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gerhig's disease) was exteremely frustrated wtih the lack of research (the treatment today is the same as Lou Gerhig received).  He became a "warrior" for ALS, trying to raise awareness and increase research funding.  He completed IM Kona 5 mos after being diagnosed - saying, "I am going to finish if I have to roll across that line" (loose quote...close though) and he did just that.  The next year, he watched the race from a wheelchair and his friend did the Blais roll.  Jon died in 2007.  Now many pros, (Chrissie Wellington, Leanda Cave, Matty Reid...a few others) and age groupers roll across the finish line to honor Jon and to raise awareness of ALS.  I don't think I raised any awareness though, no one asked why I did it - and it is more of a tri thing...but since I had him in my head, I just did it.

Cheers,

Mandy

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-29 10:08 PM

ANNE -

One of the things that keeps me from signing up for Muskoka70.3 is that the bike is 94km instead of the normal 90km. That's enough of a differnece to make it kind of inaccurate for comparison purposes with other HIM performances. Silly of me, maybe, but there it is.

Similarly, a new race in MD, HalffullTriathlon, has the 56 mile bike and the 13.1 mile run, just like a half-iron, but the swim in 0.9km instead of the 1.2 mile. 0.3km isn't much, but again -- enough to throw off my comparisons.

That is not to say that I will never do either, but if I'm going to train for those distances, i'd like them to be "accurate". Of course, thre are no guarantees of that, anyhow. My second iron, which was The Canadian, ended up being about 2km (or was it 2 miles?) longer on the run. So my 11:54 or whatever for that wouldabeencouldabeen about 11:45, or less. THEN it got turned around on me at The Canadian Half-Iron in '07, where I was thrilled to see a p.r. of 5:07 ----- only to learn later that the run was UNDERmeasured by about a km. So, there went that p.r. GRRRR!

As for the Toronto downhill 10km -- no way could I do that and consider it a vaild p.r. It would be an asterisk p.r. at best -- like Barry Bonds' home run record!

I saw the new/old map for Peterborough just the other day! I too wondered about winds, especially ones out of the northwest which would give one a headwind for virtaully all of the final 28 miles of riding. Gulp. I guess the strategy would be to do the front half in something like big ring and the 13-cog --- enough to provide some decent resistance to hammer against, but not enough to shred the legs before the turnaround!

Don't get your hopes up that I will be in the Rideau River River today. It would be nice....maybe....but.........




Edited by stevebradley 2010-05-17 9:15 AM

ANNE again -

Just changed the "19-cog" to "13-cog" in the previous post. (It only took me 20 minutes to realize my silliness!)

Anne,

Very sorry to hear about your knee. I do hope for you with rest and not too much extra attention from the Doc's it gets better. You've been very good about seeing a PT and praciticing yoga that I'm sure this is even more dissappointing.

I envy you in the aquabikes! Those I could do no problem but knowing I have to run for a tri (and I don't particularly like running) will have me holding back on the bike.

Hope you enjoy riding around Windsor. It'd be nice to get over and meet you and Ken (it is Ken right? Sorry if not), but between work and training, I'm pretty wiped out and looking forward to any time I can get to sit around. Maybe next time you guys head down this way I could take a day off and join you. I'm planning on being on vacation the first 2 weeks of July and probably between Detroit and Niagra so maybe we could meet up sometime in there.

AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG T-minus 3 weeks less a day from Hawk Island Tri....

Am I ready for this??? *insert thoughts of wonder about what did I get myself into, how am I going to not race everyone I can see and blow up? when am I going to OWS? i need to figure out how to eat a bike/run....*

Yowzers this is coming fast!!

Congrats Mandy!  Great time - especially given the calf. 

Great job Tracey!  Congrats on a good race.

Hey all!

OK, I think I'm back!  I think....

1-hour ride on Saturday - actually enjoyed riding the bike this time.  Helped that it was flat and an actual road I was riding on instead of the trainer.  Decided to bag the brick though. 

Sunday - hiked for 5 miles with Maggie at Griffith Park.  Lots of uphill and downhill, and great, wide dirt trails. I broke away a few times to run a bit with mixed results.  Still getting winded pretty easily when running, but the body seemed to respond for the first time to actual exertion.

Goal is to actually start training this week.  Swim today to start.  Lots of meetings today to sit in and try to look interested...I think I'll actually just work up the workout schedule leading into Vineman.  LOL.

HEY, ANNE!!!!!!!


C'mon in, the water's swell!!!!


Woo-hoo, woo-hoo, woo-HOO!

It was REALLY nice, I'd say 62-65 range, and even the cold spots wern't all that cold, or all that extensive - a patch here, a patch there. I swam for 31 minutes, coulda done more. THE WATER IS SWELL!!!!!!!!

Moreover, the air is nice and toasty -- maybe about 75 when I was in. So, in the sun and with warm air, that means that the hands are not sweeping through cold air and getting chilled every recovery stroke. Also, not even an iota of an "ice-cream headache", even with just one latex cap on.

This is the earliest I have ever gotten into "real" water, with maybe one year around the 27th or so, and most years into the first wek of June; last year it was about June 10! The only drawback is that thr Rideau Canoe Club has not laid out its lengthy (~ 1.5km) line of buoys, so I didn't have much to sight on. But I'm not complaining!!

Sooooooo.......I'm free of the pool for the next FIVE MONTHS, unless I just feel that what I'm planning to do is best done in the pool (or, in the event of an electrical storm or wild water).

This will maybe change my Columbia plans, opting to leave very early Saturday morning so as to (a) get in an OWS of Friday (along with Weds and Thurs), and (b) save a night of motel money.

I hope you can get into your own swimming hole soon. Which is where?

ANNE again -

I guess thta's one of the good things about being Garmanized, that you have a mostly-accurate record of distance and time. For me, it is really just a "sense" of how I was doing and the time I did it in, along with what you suggest --- comparing times for individuals between one race and the next.

Where have you seen an elevation chart for Peterborough? I've seen the ones for both Muskokas, but unless I am partially addled at the moment, I can't remember having seen one for P'boro.

It will be very interesting to here how you find the Muskoka course. I think I have heard that there are no murderous hills, just endless rollers on which it is generally hard to get into a rhythm. I woder if people who have done both Muskoka70.3 and Ironman Wisconsin find them similar; I have heard about the same story about endless rollers at IMMOO.

As for cogs, the 19 will likely be your third largest. I'm assuming you're in an 11-23 for training, and if thta's the case then your three biggest cogs have 23, 21, and 19 teeth. Were I to do Peterborough, and if the wind was clipping along pretty good out of the west, I would want to do the "out" half right at the edge of having good resistance and feeling that I am "pushing" the heavy gearing too much. I think that would be my big ring with the 19, but maybe even the 21. It would be awfully tempting to just fly with the 23, but that might be too much, given the 28 miles or so coming back into that wind. Of course, i would hope for either minimal wind or a wind out of the east......but they don't call them "prevailing westerlies" up here for nothing!

You mentioned the other day that Ken is wondering about giving up running as well; does that mean you'll both be aqbking at Peterborough and Muskoka.......and beyond? Just curious!

TRACEY - congrats again on an awesome race.  We will all remind you to drug up next time.  Such pushers we are!

ANNE - So sorry to hear about your knee, it has to be so frustrating.  But you have a great attitude - keeping up with the PT will help you get back that much quicker.  And Aquabikes will be a blast!

SHAUN - YES you are ready!  Even more so in 3 weeks.  Keep up the hard work, you are going to do awesome.

STEVE A - SO glad to hear you are back!  Ease into it.  VINEMAN!

Cheers,

Mandy