GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 167)

Holy cow, I would be going in circles if I sighted every 20 strokes! HA. I sight every 3rd breath. Sooo like 9ish strokes.STEVE B - LOVE the pictures! Man, you have some good ones, and good thinking to look at the ones of the guy just ahead of you. See, I usually have so many people ahead of me there are just too many photos to choose from (ha ha) Time for bed. Sorry so vacant lately work has been hellish this week. Got a ride in today, a sweet 16 at dusk. Saw a deer. Also have an appt with a new Dr to get my leg looked at next week, trying to get into PT with a better PT than before - more athlete focused. That leg of mine is a turd. Since I can't run, my plan is to become the best swimmer and biker I can be until I can run again. Cheers,Mandy

TRACEY -

Every 20 is a lot! I've maybe done that once or twice in races, and that would be on very "tight" courses, such as Chicago, where it's tough to drift too far at all! In races, I'm maybe every 4-6, possibly 8....but then I also try to rely on people to my right and stay parallel to them.

I guess you know that every time the head is lifted at all it causes the lower body to drop some, although that effect is less pronounced in a wetsuit. What happens in a westuits, though, is that when the head is lifted there is a bit of a strain on the lower back; not much, but some. For now, try to sight fairly frequently, I think.

And no, it's not silly at all to wait and see how you feel after Escape before signing on for more! If the Sun people are right, you will still have several weeks after Escape to squeeze into Cranberry, if you want. No hurry -- we hope!

Thanks Steve and Mandy for the advice on sighting. I think it makes sense for a newbie like me to sight frequently. Once I get going I usually breathe every other stroke, so I'm thinking it would make sense for me to sight at every other breath. (So that would make it every 4 strokes, I think...)

Steve - I definitely experienced the lower back effect of sighting when I had my first OWS last weekend in the wetsuit. Since I had my head above the water the entire swim, my lower back was really feeling it at the end. It almost felt like the extra buoyancy was forcing my upper body down, so I had to work against that by arching my back to keep my head up. Who knew that the buoyancy of the wetsuit would be the thing to cause me trouble at my first OWS! I'm still quite amazed at how buoyant I feel with it on.

Speaking of wetsuits...

Is there anything I can do about my wetsuit getting bunched up behind the knees? This seems to happen to me and it's quite annoying... I had the suit on the other day and I was trying to pull up on it just above the knees, and then I put a nice gash in it with my fingernail.

Maybe an application of Body Glide in that area will help to pull the suit up over the legs a bit better?

Hope everyone has a great day. I'm off for a bike/run brick. 10 mile ride followed by 2 mile run. This will be my longest run after a ride so far.

MANDY -

Yes, there are actually some ones to like there. I also found a bike one in lost and found (cuz my sticker un-sticked) that I like, one that is certainly better than the one leaving transition where I am peering over the top of my fogged glasses AND my feet are in "tricycle" position. That one is just plain dopey! I went several years without purchasing any photos, then got some last year from MightyMan. I will spring for a few from Columbia, definitely one of David Adams finishing ahead of me, and maybe the sidewys one of me running in my wetsuit, having just exited the swim; that one is unique.

I saw SO many dead deer along 81 and 83 in PA and MD, it makes me think it is a real epidemic down there. And you know that practically any dead deer on a highway carries with it a real bad news stroy for some automobile. I shudder to think....

I have heard that a mostorist should appraoch deer and moose very differently -- that with a deer you should speed up and just kind of go through the thing, but that with a moose you brake and veer and avoid the collision at just about any cost. That is, the average car will never ever win a collision with a moose. I guess it makes sense, just wonder what you've heard.

I love the fact that wild turkeys are now a feature of our world again, and yesterday whipping along the highway (divided, two lanes each way), we were in the right lane and up ahead I saw a turkey on the left shoulder. I said to Lynn "Look! Turkey!"......and just as we were getting close to it it started scooting across the road. I braked some, veered a little, it stopped for a second then tried to fly --- and we clobbered it. My, that was dramatic! Big thwonk, feathers exploding.....and in the rearview mirror, the turkey crashing down onto the right shoulder. That really bummed me out, but fortunately there was no damage to the car -- just two turkey feathers stuck in the grill!

Better a turkey than a deer ( or moose!! ), although I really do like those turkeys!

When you say you can't run......is that where you are at right now? Like, it's not allowing you to perform at all? I hope that's not the case!

At any rate, good work on the 16-miler, which successfully gets you beyond the limits of Pirate, right? (I checked last night, and still only two of us in M60-64. I might have to recruit some of those guys from Columbia Tri!)

I am still in whatever lodging I was in for Pirate, as I never got around to changing and have misplaced the info you gave me. Oops! Moreover............where was it I was booked into again? Was it in Westbrook? Hmmm. Better get on top of that, eh?

I'm trying to adjust my training for that weekend, with 0.3/10/3.1 at Escape on Saturday and 0.3/14/3.1 at Pirate on Sunday. My smart brain tells me that there is no point in anything long between now and then, but my dumb brain will prod me to get out there and do longer stuff anyhow. Smart brain would say to do a whole lotta fast swims that do not exceed 15 minutes, maybe not even 10......and to keep those runs under 30 minutes and just focusing on leg turnover and other speed-related issues. I have a long history of dumb brain imposing its will on smart brain, so we'll see how this plays out. Today will likely see me doing 30-40 minutes OWS and a 60-75 minute ride. (Dumb Brain - 2; Smart Brain - 0.)

Smile sweetly at a turkey today if you see one, okay?

TRACEY -

For bunching behind the knees, just work at cinching the thigh part of it as high as it will go; it should be as snug as possible at the crotch anyhow. The alternative is to allow it to come down to your ankles, as opposed to maybe mid-calf. It turns out that most of my wetsuits have a fit where the bottom extends to barely mid-calf, but even at that I will often get in the water and when I crouch down I realize that there is bunching behind the knees. It is always easiest to adjust this as part of the whole "getting-dressed" process, rather than doing it in the water when the wetsuit doesn't want to be wrestled with.

A fingertip gouge! The horror! It ranks right up there with the first time there is a "ding" on a car somewhere, or the first drop of tea that spills onto a white t-shirt, I think. I have little in the ay of protruding nails, and even with that I still get those gouges. I try to remember to use the pads of my fingers exclusively, but all those years of incorporating the fingertips into clutching and grabbing makes it tough to avoid. Anyhow, welcome to the Gouged Wetsuit Club!

TRACEY again -

You know, the current set-up for Escape might actually help you with your drifting. That is, you are a right-breather who drifts right, but Escape's buoys-to-the-left will require you to "torque" your body some in order to see them, and each torquing should swivel you a bit towards the left.

For me, as a right-breather who drifts left, this will NOT help me, as it might just encourage me to drift further left. (However, I hope to have it fully solved by then!)

As a strategy, I know you are planning to start back and to the side, and you might want to start visualizing starting that way -- but also right next to the buoy line. This will allow you to just be closer to the buoys (easier to sight, of course), and also have lots of people to your right that (a) you can see as you swim and hopefully help guide you, and (b) you can deflect off of if you start drifting starboard. (Think bumper cars! )

TRACEY once more -

Nervous about the Celtics? Gulp.

I'm sure this is not an original thought, but there were the Bruins, up 3-0 in the series, then losing game 4 in overtime, then losing the follwing three. And here are the Celts, up 3-0 in the series, losing game 4 in overtime, and.........

Gulp-gulp.

Really great race report Steve.   Made me feel like I was right there with you.   And the photos are great too.  I really like the one on the bike with your feet on top of the shoes and the one running out of the water.   Sure looked like you had lots of energy!   I see what you mean about the 2 with your opposition - I would order '036.       

I didn't know your shoulder was giving you grief.   Is it OK now?

Those are great photos Steve. You look so relaxed on the run! 

Yep, I hear you on the hamstring.  It's funny, it isn't hurting at all right now, but I can definitely "feel" it when I'm just sitting around.  Not sure how else to explain it other than I can feel the pressure of whatever chair I'm in on the right hamstring.  Something to watch out for.  I'm really going to make sure to baby it before any workouts with good stretching, heat and a good warm up.  When I was doing the hill intervals, I made sure to build up to speed, not to just go out at a sprint.  With only 7 weeks till race day (10 days of which I'm in Belize), I guess I feel I need to get in some hard work right now.  But you're right, I should really be careful right now.

As for Malibu, yep- that's September 11th.  No real plan for that other than to see how I am mentally around August 1st.  If I'm feeling like I might want to take a stab at Silverman, then my training program shifts to focus on that, and Malibu is just a fast brick day.  Last year, in prep for the OLY, I was doing a lot of speed work - shorter, more intense sessions.  If I make a run at Silverman, I'm not sure it makes sense to do any specific speed work for the OLY, or return to the longer Z2 efforts exclusively.  Part of me would like to dedicate 1 bike and 1 run per week to the speed work in anticipation of Malibu, and then afterward, shift back to exclusively longer sessions.  Any thoughts based on your experience?

Steve, you describe my Escape swim plan exactly! I was thinking about it this morning: starting at the back and to the left so I can stay as close to the buoys as possible, so I'll have the buoys to my left and the pack to my right. I think (hope) I'll have an easier time staying on course when I've got those buoys and other swimmers around me. I don't care if I'm the last person in and last person out of the water at this point. I checked the ego about 5 seconds into my first OWS.

Yup, nervous indeed! The Bruins debacle is so fresh in everyone's memory too...

SteveB:

Wanted to mention that I rode the Escape bike course today. Really pretty course with hardly any hills. (Really pretty with the exception of Onset Ave).

I also ran 1 mile into the 5k course and back. The web site says it's flat. It's not! In fact there's a nasty hill at about 8/10ths of a mile. Even prettier course than the bike though, going right along the shore.

I'm happy to report that these bike/run bricks are getting progressively easier. The first couple of times my legs felt like cinderblocks at the beginning of the runs. But today I actually felt pretty good. Progress is nice.

Tracey

Tracey,

I'm still amazed by your swimming and now OWS progress, more specifically your resilience and determination to get it down and improve. Keep it up!

Denise,

Great report. Sorry to hear you had such a difficult race. But you pushed through it and learned what to fix for next time, so all was not lost.

And congrats on the course record

Kasia

Lisa,

That's been my reasoning as well. I will never be fast on the run (at least not in the near future) so I also try to get some time on the bike, since that seems to be my strongest discipline of the three, and that's still pretty slow compared to the rest of the racers. My running goals so far have been to be able to run the whole distance...at a faster than walking pace, because I'm pretty sure the parts I ran during the sprint were about as slow as the parts I walked. Oy.

Kasia

Steve,

Congrats on winning your AG! And you should become a suspense novel writer. Like everyone else has said, I was on the edge of my seat reading your report. Good stuff.

Mark,

Way to go in the race!!! 3rd in the AG is exciting, especially when it's unexpected.

Steve,

Thanks for your in-depth analysis of my race report

I briefly thought about wearing an extra swim cap, but the problem was not with my head at all. It was all about the face. I figured I could backstroke when it got to be too much, but after about 100 yards the cold didn't bother me at all so I kept on with the freestyle and breaststroke. Seemed to work fine, I guess.

Now I have a bunch of questions for you in preparation of my Oly race in 4.5 weeks. (Ugh, so soon, and I'm so unprepared.)

Oh, I'm technically in week 12 of the Fitz training plan, but I've gone way off course with that and haven't been following it too much. For the swim I stick with it, but the run and bike are kind of made up on the spot depending on how I'm feeling. I know, I know, not the best way to go about it, but that's the only way I can get myself to exercise this much.

Now onto the loaded questions:

1) Hills hills hills!
How do I go about training/getting ready for the much hillier and longer bike course? Here's is the elevation profile for the race:
http://beta.mapmyride.com/route/detail/17486674/

It looks very scary, but is supposedly very scenic, so maybe that'll take my mind off the pain. Ha!

Should I be going any specific distances? Add in a certain amount of hills? Should I replicate Fitz's "Long Hill" workouts? What do I do?

2) I forgot to put in my race report that towards the end of the bike leg, my hands got really numb. I'm thinking it's because I may've been pushing down really hard on the handlebars and just need to relax. Could there be another reason for this?

3) Nutrition
What should I be ingesting (if anything) during the bike leg or in transitions for the Oly distance? I'm thinking of putting a half-Gatorade half-water solution in my water bottles on the bike (I can't drink straight Gatorade, it's too sweet) and that's about it. For that distance should I be eating a snack or some gels?

4) The run
How do I go from being unfit for 3 miles to surviving 6 miles in 4 weeks? Key word there is "surviving". This sounds like one of those internet lose weight ads. Haha! But seriously, what sort of distances/time should I be at right now and how should I increase? More each run, or keep the distances the same for a week and then up it every week? I assume you'll say 10% increases, but where should I be at this point?

5) Bricks
What sort of distances should I be doing for the brick? Or icks? Either one. I remember you mentioning to Tracey a couple weeks ago to do 10 mi/1.5 mi ones for a sprint, but what about an Oly? Double that? And should I do bricks or icks? I'm just trying not to die in this next race, so speed isn't nearly as important as endurance.


I know, lots of questions, so take your time answering them since there's a lot of info I'm asking for. I kinda wish I'd stuck with the plan more religiously (or at all) so I'd know what to do next, but alas, that's not the case.

Thanks in advance!
Kasia

Hey all!

Busy week at work for me, sorry to be MIA.

STEVE B - To answer your question...I am not running right now.  I got it looked at again today by a different doctor.  This time it was, "Some kind of tendinitis, probably should stay off of it."  I can't get anyone to do tests to see what is causing this and it is driving me nuts.  The earliest PT appt I can get is JUNE 16.  Which blows.  BUT he will refer me to any PT I want if I can get an earlier appt.  SO you know what my mission is now, don't you?   For more about my frustrations with this struggle, check my latest blog entry.  Worst case? I aquabike the Pirate and ditch the DU.  Not my plan, but it is an option.  My little heart would break if I couldn't do Timberman because of this cursed thing.

You want me to send you that lodging info again?  I would be happy to.  You are staying in Westbrook Super 8 right now!  1/2 hr +- from start.

We have plenty of turkeys! That sucks you hit one!! I just smiled nicely at the ones under our bird feeder for you. 

Cheers,

Mandy

PS - anyone racing this weekend?

Mandy,

Sounds very frustrating.  That's one problem with living in the boonies - no sports medicine docs.  Maybe you should present with symptoms that require an MRI (even if you don't have those symptoms) - just kidding.

Denise

Kasia and Tracy,
Thanks for the kind comments.  I was on a pity-pot for awhile but got off.

Tracy,
When I started OWS last summer, I also got freaked out initially.  The lake I swim in has very clear water but weeds that grow almost to the surface.  The weeds seemed so "alive" - I was afraid of them.  At first I wished the water was dark and murky so I couldn't see them.  Got used to them eventually - they're actually rather pretty.
Denise

Anne,

My LBS guy says "Running is stupid - it's bad for the body"

Denise