GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 166)

SHAUN again -

It's 9. Not 6, not 8.

Three hat tricks worth of BG liquified powder!

(I will also post what I consumed during Columbia, as rudimentary as it turned out to be. Stay tuned!)

MANDY -

Welcome back! (I HATE it when you go AWOL!)

TRACEY -

Ah-ha! I see what you mean!

I like the new course better because.....
(1) it looks shorter, which means they have now accurately measured it
(2) a straight line is always best
(3) buoys on one side only eliminates some of the confusion of sighting, as "keep all buoys to the left" is simpler thing to do
(4) for people who really have trouble sighting, having too many buoys out there can get them seriously messed up

Tell me again -- to which side do you breathe?

TRACEY again -

If I drift to the left and you drfit to the right, maybe we need to tether ourselves together (an eight-foot long piece of stout rope should do the trick!) and see if we can each correct the other!

DENISE -

Were one to seriously scheme about maximizing their USAT points, they would NOT do a high-profile race such as Columbia. That's because there are so many terrific athletes who do it, that even a decent performance is likely eclipsed by the really stellar ones. Even though the top and bottom 20% "pacesetters" are eliminated from the calculations, that still likely leaves a lot of really strong pacesetters in the middle 60%.

I haven't even looked to see how far back in the overall field I finished; that is often a fair indication of one's possible points. Well, only sometimes; really, it is a pretty capricious system.

As for photos, the rain caused my helmet sticker to come off, and that happened about mile 3 of the bike. So, alas and woe, I guess I'll have to go a-searchin' for the later ones, which is never fun with dial-up. But at least on the run I managed to keep my race belt tuned to the front at all times!

LISA dear -

Remember, this is the dolt who cannot cut and paste -- nobody learned me!

In fact, I was all set to write another report for youze guys, and then I thought maybe I should just post there that this one is here, and then that seemed shabby (albeit efficient)........and I hadn't made up my mind.

Are you still on Cloud Nine? (Um, are you still even HERE, you stealth bomber, you?!?)

See, now you've got me chasin' after you! What's a guy to do?!

Eagleman training started yet, or did you take a day (or two?) off? I swam OWS this aft and the shoulder seems to have weathered it. I then ran about 8km in mid-90s heat, and suffered some heat-related ill-effects for a few hours. That was not pleasant, kind of scary almost. Yeah, kind of scary to be sure.

And you'll be dismayed to know that I neglected to put on any sunstuff, and for that I avert my eyes from your withering gaze!

Regards to Ryan -- and his fine, fine, super-fine legs!!

And HEY!!! I used the changing tent to great effect today. i probably came close to getting my tokhis whipped by some nearby contruction workers, but it sure beat changing out of my sopping run stuff in an oven-roasted car!

Thanks Mandy! Gonna try to get out there again this weekend.

I breathe to the right. Don't know if that has anything to do with my drifting to the right. I'm also left handed, which is making me think that maybe I'm pulling just a bit harder with my left arm, thus propelling me to the right?

I've been doing some reading on this too (thank goodness for Google) and have read that sometimes if you allow your recovering arm to cross your center line, it can push you in the opposite direction of that arm. I don't think either of my arms cross my center line, but I'll have to pay attention to that next time. I also try to practice front quadrant swimming (as opposed to "windmilling"), meaning that my left arm is still extended out while I'm turned to the right to breathe. (I was thinking drift could happen if my left arm is recovering while I'm turned to the right to breathe, but with front-quadrant swimming I don't think this should really happen...)

Ya and then you could pull me along at your speed...

MARK - Congrats on placing in the AG!!

DENISE - Good job on the finish. Sounds like it was a tough race all the way around.

KASIA - Good job! I somehow think I'd take the comments on the run the same way. I'd probably end up cursing at them and not under my breath.

MARK, DENISE, KASIA and STEVEB, great jobs on the write ups!!! All were very much fun to read.

Tracey,

Good job on sticking with the swim. I'm sure it will get easier for you soon.

I still need to try on my wetsuit and get a couple OWS swims in. First one will be this Saturday.

Great few days of training are leaving me feeling optimistic about Vineman and possibly Silverman later this year.

Saturday:   Good, solid 2-hour ride followed up by a 15-minute brick.  Ride felt smooth.  I was on city streets for the most part, so some stopping and starting killed my average mph, but when I was on some open stretches, my speed was good and legs felt strong.  I'll make the trek to PCH this weekend and see what it feels like on rolling hills and without stoplights to break the rhythm and also let the legs rest.

Sunday: 5-6 mile trail run with a good friend.  Some hairy uphill stuff, and some hairy downhill stuff.  HR is still much higher than I would have thought it would be, but I seem to be working through that pretty well.  Still not sure what it means other than I seem to have a higher HR than I'd expect at any given perceived effort.  I did make a point of using a heating pad on the hammy prior to heading out, and we did some serious uphill walking before we started to run - so that likely helped.

Monday:  SORE from the downhill, but a good sore - muscle soreness, not joint, and NOT HAMSTRING!  Woo-hoo.  Good swim session.  Not quite back to doing the long continuous efforts, but the stroke seems to be under my control again, and the pulls are getting longer.  I was able to do some interval work as well, and fight through some fatigue in a way I haven't since a few weeks before IMSG. 

Tuesday:  KILLED the bike.  It must be the two weeks of downtime - the body must have really compensated.  Prior to IMSG, I was lucky to average 16, 16.5.  Now I'm averaging 18, 18.5 the last couple off rides, with the HR up in the mid 150's for 20-25 minutes at a time.  Part of that is probably renewed motivation, but hey, I'll take it.  Anyway, got off the bike and ran hard - 2 miles in about 15 minutes, including a couple of sprints on a nearby hill.  Definitely faded the last half mile or so.  I'll need to make sure I pace better on Thursday.  But, hammy felt strong - no tightness, no soreness today. 

Looking forward to the swim tonight, run tomorrow and a medium-sized brick this weekend.

Have to say, I miss the speed/intensity work.  Kind of looking forward to more of it leading into Vineman and the Malibu Oly.

Hey Tracey,
Was thinking about your post, and got me thinking back to my first OWS efforts in the big blue Pacific.  Thinking back, I realized that my first session was largely spent running into the water, running out of the water, floating, bobbing around, and doing very little actual swimming at all.  Sometimes we expect too much to just jump in, stick our face in and go.   Same on the bike and run.  Maybe set aside some time to "play" in the water with your wetsuit and goggles on.  Some time dunking, "sitting" under water, etc.  Once comfortable, then worry about swimming and such. 

Race photos are up for Columbia.

www.asiorders.com, then click on Columbia Triathlon

My bib was 83, and there are some here I actually like.

BUT!!!

The ones I REALLY like are by going through bib 71, which is the set for my more-than-worthy opposition, David Adams. The two finish line ones show him in front....and me behind....and for some twisted reason these matter a lot to me. Future incentive, perhaps? Or the fact that one can come up short but still be proud of the effort? I am sure I will order one of them -- for either of the just-stated reasons!

The numbers on these two are 59923-313-025 and 59923-304-036. One of them is just crossing the "cueing" mats, which tell the announcer who is coming down the chute. The other one is obviously the finish, showing the clock (the difference between my time and the clock time reflects the ten minutes I started after the pro and elite start.)

TRACEY -

Yes, I think pulling harder with the left arm would propel you more to the right. In my case, I know my left pull is not as efficient as my right, and that's based on the angle at which my arm is pitched --- and even though I know this, I cannot consistently do much about it!

Late last season I experimented with making my left hand enter closer to the midline, in an attempt ot kind of "steer" me more rightward. It seemed to work, and doing it again yesterday also helped the problem. However, even not doing that yesterday, I was going quite straight; I'm not sure why that is. In fact, that happens frequently, where I do go straight with no drifting. Hmmmm.

SHAUN -

In past seasons I have had to wait until mid-summer to venture into sockless running, as it takes that long to harden my feet once I begin running lots in the spring. This year is different, however, as the feet were good to go sans socks about six weeks ago.

In your aces, give the dogs time to get toughened up. If you use the smallest socks possible, they go on so fast that there is not a big loss of time in putting them on. And, whenever bad blisters set in on a run, THAT'S when time is lost -- big time!

Another thought is that even though my feet are fine now, that is in Newtons and I cannot guarantee that they wouldn't blister in another shoe. In fact, in each of the past tow years I have tried Zoot running shoes, and even though they say they are made for sockless running, they blister my feet even when I am WEARING socks. Grr! So, it might be that whatever shoes you are in now are not compatible with running sockless -- at least for you. Or, maybe it's just that your feet need to get more "seasoning", and then you'll be fine!

Excellent advice Steve, because comfortable in the open water I have NEVER been. I was just never one of those kids that spent tons of time swimming in any sort of bodies of water. The most I ever really did was wade up to about waist height. And you describe my initial expectations exactly. After all these months of training in the pool and getting comfortable with swimming, I thought I'd have a fairly easy time of it in the water once I got over the "skeeve" factor (I'm grossed out by stuff in the water). Next time I go out to the course I'm not even going to think about the course at all. I'm just going to stay close to the shore and try to get comfortable going under, walking on slimy seaweed, etc, etc, and work in some strokes here and there.

Even if I don't make great time on the swim portion of my first race, I'll be happy if I just complete it. Maybe it would do me good to start thinking of this first race as a practice.

Thanks for the advice!

STEVE -

Wonderful few days of workouts, my man! It's especially good that the hamstring sems to be mended, and maybe that's all it needed -- a couple of weeks of very limited activity. Probably most books would suggest that anyhow -- "Reduce or eliminate running until all symptoms are gone" -- but of course with IM trianing you couldn't really fully pull that off.

As for speed work and higher intensity, just eeeaaase into that whenever your body gives the final okay. There's still a bunch o' weeks until V-man, and for sure you will be doing the stuff that you really enjoy.

The higher heart rate might be due to the fact that you're still working back into things, and a hairy hilly trail session is asking a lot of a system that has grown kind of lethargic since SG. Maybe? I'm not sure that's the reason, but it makes some sense to me!

Is Malibu oly in September?

Great photos!

My favorite has to be the barefoot biking one.

You look cool as a cucumber in the running photos, considering how much you were kicking a**!

Great photos of you and David Adams too.

TRACEY again -

I don't know if you are on the Cranberry mailing list, but the email today says that it will likely sell out within six weeks. Have you entered yet?

Ortiz is hitting well these days, and just cranked a two-run homer. The whole team seems to be coming around, you think?

And now it's time to watch the Celtics!

From what I've read online, these "drifting" problems can be difficult to correct. I guess for those who drift a lot, that just means more frequent sighting is needed? I've seen recommendations to sight anywhere from every 4 to every 20 strokes. I can see myself going way off course sighting only every 20.

I haven't registered for Cranberry yet. It might sound silly, but I'm kind of waiting until Escape has come and gone before I decide to commit myself to any more races. Currently I'm signed up for Timberman sprint and Buzzards Bay. If all goes well with Escape then I'll probably register for Cranberry and Whaling City (if they're still open). Not that I think that after Escape I'm going to say, no more races... But one never knows I guess!

Yup, Ortiz seems to have settled in for now... things are looking up lately for the Sox for sure.

I hate to say it, but I'm not superstitious so I will... gosh I'd hate to see the Celts choke!!