The Frozen (not so) North Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 16)

Well tomorrow is my birthday, but we've really got nothing planned.  I'm actually working Monday so that I can take an extra day off March 4th which is the day we leave for Cancun!!!!

I'm planning a long run of about 7 miles Sat with a mile at half marathon pace.  And I'll be finishing Jorge week 15 this weekend, so I need to figure out what to do on the bike until the snow melts.

I'll post a meal later, great idea Jennifer.  And everyone, please log your workouts if you train, just so we can all keep up with each other.  I check all of yours and I'll write more comments to let you know.  Also, if you race, please, please, please file race reports.  Reading those is one of my favorite parts of BT.  Thanks.

Went to a podiatrist today. He ordered xrays because I may have a stress fracture. Small fractures heal on their own as long as you rest. No weight bearing exercises for 2 weeks. No running, biking, or yoga that puts pressure on my foot. Even though swimming is usually ok he doesn't want me to aggravate my foot with the kick so take time off that too. Since I haven't worked out at all since my 20 miler on saturday, he will include that in my rest period.

Nothing to do but rest. That's so much harder than you would think.

I have to skip my weekday runs, my 12 miler this weekend and 8 miler next weekend.
I have my first marathon in 2 weeks but can drop to the half marathon on race day (that's my secret race). He feels if I race, I will be okay but with no running for 2 weeks my body may not feel conditioned to go out and run the full 26.2.

Frustration, frustration, frustration.

Lovey

Oh Lovey! That is sooo frustrating for you.  At least it is only 2 weeks.  You have put in lots of solid training so I am sure you will make the right decision for yourself about the race.  Heal quickly kiddo!

After reading Jennifer's favorite meal, I know I'm a really "cheap" date.
My favorite meal is cheese, crackers, brownies, and a nice bottle of Old Vine Zinfandel.
 

My favorite meal: I love anything grilled, with a bottle of John Anthony Cab., or if in the summer, a bottle of Martin Codax Albarino.


It is going to be near 70deg here today. Getting into work early so I can enjoy outside activities later.  Took bike into LBS for tune up and cleaning.  I was told my chain was sagging (old age problem).  So new chain and was told I needed to replace rear cassette also.  Now my $70 tune up has turned into a large investment...close to $200.  The price of racing and training.  My question to you guys what is your rear cassette? 12-23, 12-25 or 12-27...my old one was 12-23 was told I could go with 12-25, due to the hills coming up at Columbia race.  What do you think??

My cassette is 12-23 - and while I would LOVE to replace it, the bike is old enough that they are having a hard time finding parts for it (and it doesn't make a lot of sense to throw $$ at it). I signed up for a class through the Adult Education center here for Bike Maintenance and Bike Repair in the hopes I can do my own tuneups. I also think it is good for me to have more familiarity with how things go together in case something goes wrong.

If you have time to train outside with a different cassette - the 12-25 might be worth it - but it will definitely feel different at the start and you will have to get used to the gearing again. For me, I am so comfortable with my bike that I know instinctively when to shift - and you will have to re-learn that a bit.

Lovey - so sorry to hear. Positive thoughts that it's not a stress fracture. If you are getting injured - it is your body's way of telling you something is wrong - two weeks isn't that long in the big scheme of things - you will be back in the mix in no time. The good news is you have a lot of mileage on your legs and you live in a part of the country that has lots of racing options. If you don't make this particular race - you can always sign up for another! Take it easy.

I have finished my last long run before the half marathon next weekend and am feeling pretty good. I'm starting the taper now - but as Warren knows I'm not too good at tapering. I have committed (mentally) to completely taking off the two days prior to the race. The rest will fall where they may. At this point I'm hoping the weather will cooperate - should be around 30-35 for the race - which is a nice temp for me...just hoping for NO precipitation.

Anyone else got a favorite meal? Even if you don't - please leave an inspire on someone's log - it will make them feel good and you feel good! Happy Friday!

Mine is an 11-28, AND I have a triple up front (52/39/30).  I'm keeping this bike forever in case I ever decide to do Savageman.  I can pretty much spin up almost any hill, and though I seldom get into the lower gears or the third ring, there are a few climbs at the lake I absolutely am glad I have them!  I agree with getting lower rear gearing if you ride hills, unless you are a crazy cyclist.

Lovey - That's really tough.  But stay the course and don't turn this into a year long event.  Follow the doc's orders.  Good luck on the race.

Jennifer - I'll be checking those logs and if I see any entries over the next few days there will be hell to pay!  Good luck this weekend.

My favorite meal overall would be Lamb Korma at a good Indian restaurant.  My favorite home cooked meal is chick pea pasta.  It's spaghetti with chick peas ground to a paste and some other saucy incredients thrown in.  Sounds weird but it's yummy, and I'm having tomorrow night for my birthday meal!

Can someone tell me how to switch the blog entries back to English? My entries are all appearing in a foreign language like that above.... ;-) I'm sure all of that will mean something to me someday, but probably not this year as I'll still be riding my mountain bike for my races (just not with knobby tires).

What a BEAUTIFUL day outside. Over 50 degrees; disappointing that I had to spend it in an office! I am pleased with my progress on training, slow though it may be. I did 40 minutes of jogging tonight (20 minutes jog, 1 min walk, 20 minutes jog) and I did spinning this morning. Now if I could just stop drinking alcohol and eating desserts....

Speaking of food, Jennifer, that is some meal you described! Warren, I'd love to get your chick pea pasta recipe; I'm always looking for healthy new recipes (if it's relatively quick to make). Picking a favorite meal is just about impossible for me as I love to eat. One of my favorites is picadillo made with ground turkey -- http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/picadillo.html -- with corn tortillas and, in the summer, fresh local greens and cherry tomatoes off the vine with a light maple balsamic vinaigrette. At a restaurant, I love sea scallops. 

I will check people's logs (except Lovey's, who should be resting) over the weekend.

Warren - Happy birthday!
 

Happy Birthday Warren!!

So it is nearly 10 on Friday night and I didn't get a workout in.  Really crappy day at work so I will give you my fantasy best meal:

App:  White bean dip with fresh herbs on sourdough bruschetta, washed down with a Cosmo
2nd:  Mussels in a garlicky beer and blue cheese broth, more bread
3rd:  Lamb chops (grilled) with a balsamic glaze, various grilled veggies maybe sweet potatoes & sweet onions, nice glass of red wine
4th:  Mixed green salad with goat cheese, candied walnuts and dried cranberries, seltzer
Dessert: flourless chocolate cake with berries and fresh whipped cream, Grand Marnier


I feel better just typing this!

I currently ride a Cannondale Quick 6 performance hybrid or flat bar road bike. The longest ride I have done is 20 miles training for my triathlon last year. With a 26 mile hilly duathlon this summer I will be doing 30 mile rides. I may go longer but family schedule only allows me so much time. I am a slow rider at 10-12 mph right now.

Since I can't afford a lot or much at all, I was told (LBS) that the benefit of going from my performance hybrid to an entry level road bike wasn't significant enough to spend the money if it will break me. It would be better to make small adjustments like slimmer tires and get more training first. Then when my mileage gets up there and I can afford it, I can upgrade to a road bike. True? Thoughts?.
Keep in mind my son needs an adult bike too.

Bikes I was looking at but still more than I can spend:
Giant Avail 3 - $600 - $675 (nice ride)
Trek 1.1 (Lexa) - $660
Scattante 330 - $750

The financial committee has voted no I have to go another route.
HERE IS WHAT I THOUGHT I WOULD DO AS A COMPROMISE:
--get a reasonable priced bike for my son, it would be $250 or less (saw a 2010 hybrid at a LBS that I know he's comfortable with).
--put bar ends on my bike for more hand position on my longer rides
--put slimmer tires on (currently its 35c I think)
--get combo pedals (already have bike shoes with cleats)
**With all this I may be able to spend a total of $400/$450

My hubby has a mountain bike but it very light for a mtn bike. He wants to ride more so I know this summer he will want smoother tires and maybe combo pedals as well. Copycat!! If I make minor upgrades/adjustments it won't kill my budget and I will be able to afford his bike upgrades/adjustments too.

I enjoy my running and we like biking but we did agree that with other financial priorities we wouldn't fall off track spending a lot of money on our hobbies. For running, I cut my race schedule down by more than half and sticking to local races that are dirt cheap.
My local club 10 miler is only $8 and our weekly races are $1, you can't beat that. We have a fiancial goal we want to meet by a certain date and that's top priority.

Sorry for the long post.

Thoughts? Opinioins?
Lovey

Can someone tell me how to switch the blog entries back to English? My entries are all appearing in a foreign language like that above.... ;-) I'm sure all of that will mean something to me someday, but probably not this year as I'll still be riding my mountain bike for my races (just not with knobby tires).

 

This was something else I've meant to tell people, but since I'm stuck inside under about 40 feet of snow it didn't seem relevant because I forget not everyone lives in my neighborhood!

Definitely practice changing a tire before you do too much riding.  It's better to get the kinks out and figure out how to change tires at home with no pressure and in your basement or living room than doing your first change on the side of the road with cars whizzing by.

Here's a link to Sheldon Brown discussing tires and flats for some info.  He's an unreal source of all kinds of info on bikes - way more than any of us would ever need to know.

Lots going on in that post!  My short answer is I agree with your plan.  I think at our level the bike is not anywhere near as important as the motor.  We also tend to want to spend our way into better and better equipment.  Now I'm not saying better equipment won't make us faster - it does to some extent.  But we all have to make the money/value decision, and you have a lot of other factors battling for those same $$$. 

I'm in your boat where I'd love to upgrade my bike, but the finance committee has rightly declined my proposal!  I'm a fairly strong rider, and I get passed by plenty of people on hybrids during races.  I also pass many people on $5000 TT bikes.  Then again, they all pass me on the run, so who cares!  We race our own limits and goals, unless we're really one of the elite going for wins.

On another note - you don't have to ride such long rides to get ready for your race.  Many people racing Olympic distance don't ride more than 20 miles at a time.  I'm not saying you shouldn't do long rides, just that you don't need to feel over mileage rides are required for doing longer races.

Thanks Warren for clearing up the rear cassette issue (language).  I apologize for not being clear and throwing out a new language...My bike is 10 years old, I also have a finance committee and will have to make do with what I have.  Who wouldn't love a new carbon tri bike, but $$$ is always an issue.  I agree with Warren a new bike will not make you go faster, only your engine can do that.  It seems that as I will pass alot of people on the bike portion, I get passed by those people on the run.  My engine drops off on the run, trying to fix that...haha.   My ride is a 2001 Trek 5900 road bike with profile aero bars.  I will post a photo when I get it back from the LBS (Local Bike Shop)...maybe we all could post our rides??  Just a thought...I am off to the lacrosse fields, very windy day.  Enjoy your weekend everyone

No need for apologies re: the foreign language (though Scott, a million thanks for translating Local Bike Shop as I didn't know what the heck you guys were talking about earlier -- I thought it was some special shop online that all the cool kids knew about!). As someone who works in international education, I am always amazed at the many different subcultures and 'languages' that exist within any given location or interest area, and am continually surprised (though I don't know why!) with how many more I discover as I learn new things. 

So, to get you all jealous, I'll tell you about my bike (currently in the basement collecting dust):
Diamondback response mountain bike aluminum 7500 (those are all of the words I could find on it), vintage 1996. The back outer gear says Shimano hyperdrive C. I was hoping that would allow me to cheat and I could tell you my gear numbers without counting, but a quick search on the web demonstrates I am in no such luck. So I will have to count the teeth and report back at some other time. 

I am bereft with the end of '24,' for which we just wrapped up the last episode of the final season this morning. Now I will have to go in search of a replacement. But who could ever replace Jack Bauer's commitment to truth and justice??? 

Agreed on the language thing.  I'm still getting the lingo down.  Don't be afraid to ask if we say something obtuse.
 
I actually have heard about Hyperdrive and the hyperdrive C is a compact version.  Compact just means they make the whole thing smaller and jam as many or more cogs in a smaller space.  There were many varieties of hyperdrive chain rings, so you'd have to count or find it in the original docs.  Hyperdrive was a new shifting technology to make shifting smoother under tension - perfect for mountain bikes.

My bike is a Mercier Corvus, very similar to this but in black and several years older.  I did buy it online at the site from the link (bikesdirect) - it was $599 in those days!

Okay, took my bike to the "LBS" today and got a lesson in flat changing. I thought LBS was the name of some chain bike store in New England that I had never heard of..Hah.

Ran the Fatboy 5k today. Fun event. All prizes were food. I won a box of Oreo Cakesters. The finish line buffet included beer, brats, and cookies.

9:11/avg 

That's an awesome pace! Great job. And the prize isn't too bad either (Cakesters = Nabisco's answer to the Whoopie Pie).

Your local bike store can be a great resource for some learning...it is well worth the time to learn how to change a tire and do basic maintenance - and a good shop will spend the time to teach you. If you don't have a shop nearby, a lot of community colleges offer basic bike maintenance classes.

I was just asked to participate in a relay for a marathon over Memorial Day (the Burlington, VT Marathon) - has anyone done that before? How do the hand-off occur? If I'm doing two legs, how do I get from the end of one leg to the start of the next (I mean - other than running!). It's supposed to be a fun marathon and the family gets to spend the weekend on Lake Champlaign so it can't all be bad - right?

It's the kids vacation week this week and for the first time in five years, we're staying put (we have gone to warmer climates in the past)...lots of skiing for them. This will truly be a test of my motivation - fitting in workouts while trying to work full-time and take care of the kids. Good thing it's taper week!

Have a great week all!

That a nice race.  We're all just jealous you aren't running in full winter gear!


It's a great race I hear.  My running buddy from my last job did it last year, I'll ask him if he knows anything about the relay part.

My older daughter is a runner and at UVM.  I'll ask her about the marathon and relay stuff as well.  Hope your week is not too hectic Jennifer.  When are you arriving for Hyannis? Morning of or night before?  Is there a BT meet up that you know of?

Congrats!  Sounds like a good race.  I would just like to break the 10 m/m mark for a 5K some day.  Treats are a bonus!

Way to go Wendy!  Nice pace for a training run.  Only a few more weeks till your tri keep up your hard work.  Your training looks great.

If I can do it so can You!