GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 206)

SteveB,

Say hi to Shaun - have a fun day.

Denise

ps - What are the rest of your races for the year?  Or have you not decided for sure?

ANNE -

Well, I'm doing this a bit blind, as I still get the "bit of a hiccup" message and the more ominous designation of "Route Engine Invocation Failure". I sure hope that that is their problem, and not mine!!

My thoughts last night were that seeing as how this is an "unofficial" (that is, a self-imposed DNF) swim/bike for you, it might be a good time to do the whole thing in the big ring and see how you can shift to accommodate not moving to the little ring. It would also give you an opportunity to read the hills, by which I mean coming down one and seeing the riser ahead and figuring out how you have to attack it and at what point(s) you will need to do your shifting.

Of course, all this might be in your plans anyhow, as I think you have told me that you like being in the big ring. Or maybe I'm thinking of a recent comment you made that you like to get out of the saddle at times, and depending on the pitch of some of steeper sections, you MIGHT need to go into the small ring if you do a standing climb.

My '06 aqbk season had some true aqbks and some DNF ones, and it was in the latter that I took a "what the hell" attitude and just tried to blow the doors off things. I can't give you specifics, but anything I read about as a cycling strategy that was foreighn to me, I tried it in those aqbks. The go-to one, though, was the sustained big ring efforts, sticking with it even when it seemed possibly counterproductive, and just pushing harder while trying to make the shifting work for me.

When you climb, how long do you stay in the aero position? Or, conversely, how soon do you come out of aero and sit up and back? I have never read a resolution to the discussion about staying aero even on climbs, but over the years I have tried to remain aero for longer, following the thoughts that the advantages of aero do not decrease as a grade increases. So, you might want to play with that --- but just a little, especially if you feel that your bretahing is being compromised by being aero. (That is one argument against being aero on climbs, that it doesn't allow for the best flow of oxygen to the lungs.)

I'm mostly rambling now, just nattering away to no true constructive effect; so, I'll stop! But was the top part of this post kinda sorta what you were asking about? If not, ask again! And in the meantime, I will continue to try to get around the hiccup at mapmyride.

DENISE -

Are you SURE you want to know? I mean, I'd hate to make you sorry you even asked! And just exactly how much detail do you want?

Right now I have three in which I am registered:
West Point Tri (sprint) - NY - Aug 15
Burlington Tri (oly) - VT - Sept 12
Lake George Tri (oly) - NY - Sept 18

I am very close to registering for Half Vermont Journey, a half-iron on Aug 29.

I will almost certainly do another half-iron on the Oct 2/3 weekend.

I am getting more keen on aiming for Beach-To-Battleship iron in Wilmington, NC, on Nov 13.

If so on B2B, and lesser for the HIMs, I need to start "punishing" myself a bit, pushing some limits, seeing how I respond to various smaller challenges. So....

-- There is a race on Aug 8 that covers much of the Half Vermont course, and that is Lake Dunmore Tri, which is an oly. It would be good to do that one.

-- The day before Lake Dun is Fronhofer Tool Triathlon, and that is run by a friend and I should probably support it. The "problem" this year, though is that he is offering the "Double FTT", which means one can do the standard oly in the morning (7am start), and then also tackle the new sprint in the afternoon(2am start). Am I tempted? Um, yeah, I am.

-- That would mean an oly and a sprint on the Saturday, then drive an hour or two to get to the site for another oly the following day. Kind of crazy, i know, but good over-prep for Half Vermont, and TOTALLY realistic in light of a full iron in Nov.

-- On the following weekend, which has West Point on Sunday...........if I'm willing to drive just an extra hour or two, I could do Long Branch Tri on the NJ coast the day before. That is a sprint/oly hybrid and has an ocean swim, so that has a lot of appeal. It would mean leaving on Friday instaed of Saturday, but I get two races by JUST BARELY going further than I need to for West Point itself. Makes sense to me!

-- Five races in two weekends?? One of the things I SWORE was that this year I would do only races that mattered and that I trained specificaly for......but I've kind of fallen off that wagon already, I think! The really smart thing would be to do Lake Dun and then -- if I must -- West Point the next weekend, but I really can see some advantages in the addled plan above. (Okay, maybe not Long Branch, but......)

-- I am still trying to work out what all I can/should do on the July 24/25 weekend. There is Muskoka, which Anne is doing, and I have been taken off the waiting list for NJ State Tri, so there is also the oly there. But that is also the start of Chamberfest here, plus Lynn might like me to go to Toironto with her and visit her mom on the Friday and Saturday. So, i'm not sure I will do anything that weekend, and will meaybe just go into trianing mode between now and the Aug 7/8 weekend.

Decisions, decisions --- all prompted by so many races, so little time! But I am already just a bit tired of putting on my "race face" so often (Mussel was my 5th this season), and don't want to shoot away all of my competitive drive and determination too early!

BUT!! Thank you for asking, as clanking away at all this right here and now has helped me put a tad of perspective on my thoughts. Much obliged!

(But are you sorry you asked? )

This coming weekend......

Who's on, other than Anne and Steve?

Both are on on Sunday:

-- Anne at Belwood Tri in Ontario, where she will be doing the swim (1km) and bike (30km [or is it 30.8?])

-- Steve at Vineman 70.3 in California, which is the standard half-iron (1.2mile/56mile/13.1mile)

That's great Steve.  I don't want you to spend too much time on this.    I think from what you are saying I am mostly doing everything that I should be.   The short, steep hills and rollers are no problem for me.   It has always been one of the most fun parts of a ride figuring out the 'attack' and I usually fare well.

It's that long 5km, gradual climb into the N wind that gets me every time.   Maybe it's just a matter of more time in the saddle and buidling my strength/endurance.   I know that I can handle 3-4km faster this year than I could in previous years, given the same hill and same conditions.   Which isn't saying much really.   I was hard pressed to keep it at 21km/hr on Saturday.   I generally ride in the big ring and swtiching gears as necessary, as long as I can keep the speed and cadence where I want it.   I usually ride 90 rpm and I probably start thinking about small ring when both my speed is around 24 and my cadence has dropped to 70.   Then I switch to small gear and the speed and cadence go up.    But on climbs I let the speed go to 20-21 and keep it up as long as I can until I need a break and switch to small ring, but I hate doing that because the speed drops  so much.   On Saturday, instead of switching to small ring I tried standing and powering it out for a bit and that seemed to help.   But I just couldn't keep it up for the full distance w/o some recovery.

You have mentioned staying aero as long as possible on the hills and I have been trying to do that.   I can stay there until it gets REALLY steep and I can see I am losing some power and then go to the drops and move forward and get my power back, getting out of saddle if it gets too steep.

I know I could do Belwood all in the big ring.   I have been finding lately that I will finish a climb and find that I'm still in the big ring and didn't even realize it, because it felt fairly easy.  

I really wanted to ride today maybe 40km.   Was going drive out to Belwood and try that 5km segment; then on Thursday with Shaun and Ken for another 40km.   I hope Thursday isn't too much or too close to Belwood.   

Hope you have an awesome ride today with Shaun.   Looking forward to the day when I can ride with you.   

Anne! Steve A! Good luck this weekend!

Steve B!  Looking forward to that ice cream.  Are we doing something besides eating ice cream?  ha ha  See you soon!

Mandy

SteveB,

Hope you had a good ride with Shaun.

Ah Steve - I knew if I asked what your schedule was, your response is what I would get.  You don't really have much of a schedule - you just decide as you go along - and end up doing way more than you thought you would - right?

I registered for my races in Jan/Feb - and that's what I'm doing - except for a few 5ks here and there.  3 down/3 to go.  Maybe I should be impulsive and look for something fun to just do on the spur of the moment.

Denise

MANDY -

Nope. Just ice cream. I want to travel light, so no bike, no running gear, no wetsuit.........just me and enough money to keep us both in Jordan's ice cream for several hours!

Urp?

DENISE -

In my younger days, i would commit to races way in advance........but all too often between registration and race day I would come up lame, and end up eating the race fee.

One example: For the '06 Musselman I dutifully registered on Oct. 31, the day BEFORE registartion officially opened. Three of us did that (the list of entrants included when each signed up), which is slightly foolish because even though the Mussel races eventually sell out, that doesn't happen until May or June. So there went that $125 or so!

Nowadays, I have a rough plan as to what I will do, but allow myself lots of wiggle-room. Until this group formed, I was sure I would do one of the Moseman races on either June 5 or 6, but then along came Tracey and Mandy and so I ended up doing Escape and Pirate. Had I signed up for Moose when it opened on nov 15, I believe, I wouldn't've been able to do those races with T and M -- and that woulda been a sad, sad story!

My plans get more expansive in accordance with how healthy I am, and that's in terms of both numbers of races and distances. I generally feel I can always knock off a decent half-iron, but they are expensive enough these days to make it almost prohibitive to sign up any earlier than is absolutely necessary.

As for those irons......
Two in the books, '04 and '05. At some point I bought one of those 140.6 stickers, and my car wore it until a bit over a year agoi, when I ceased to feel I was still an "ironman"; so, I removed the sticker. I guess i feel that in my case, these things are like required recertifications ---- and I was way overdue for mine! Now, I am NOT contemplating an iron in the fall so that I can justify putting another 140.6 sticker on my car, but it just seems like the right time to try that distance again. My two irons were pretty good, but i really think i have become a better triathlete since then, so.........

Now aren't you REALLY sorry you've travelled down this avenue with me?!?

GANG!

Shaun says hello to all of you, and hopes to get active here again when he returns home in a few days. He's been away close to two weeks, and has not bothered to pay any attention to anything to do with a computer. You will hear from him soon!

We did the ride in the Gatineau Hills today, and Shaun was suitably impressed with the topography -- one climb in particular was especially eye-opening for him! We did most of it in the rain, which started moments after I finshed a 40-minute run before he arrived and finished shortly before our ride ended. The injustice of that -- I really could've used it as a cooling device on what was otherwise a hot and HUMID run.

But, it was fun riding with him! This is literally about the third ride I have ever done with another person, and makes me realize that I am missing something in life. Aw, so it goes!

Musselman race report tomorrow -- i promise!

ANNE -

No, I don't think 40km on Thursday is too much or too close ---- as long as you don't try to hammer the dickens out of it! It might be best to just cruise it and focus on getting a further read on its tougher parts, or if you are feeling frisky, choose no more than three tricky arts and give them a good go.....and then take the following km or three for easy recovery. The latter is probably the approach I would take, three days out from a race. (I have done "tests" on tough parts of a bike the day before the race itself, so....... )

Sounds good.   I am going to do just that today - the Belwood route again, and only 30km.    Planned to ride the Vic du route tomorrow which is challenging enough, but was going to do as you suggest.   However, Ken doesn't think I can keep it to a slow ride.   Thinks I'm going to try and keep up with Shaun!    

ANNE -

Any big descents in the plan for Shaun? He descends really well -- ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

What is also cool about his cycling, which is his fit. He did it himself, and from behind it looks absolutely perfect -- and this is for a 5'10" guy on a 650 bike! I'm not quite sure how he did it, although he shrugs and says he read lots and then went by comfort level. Well, that may be the case...........but it's still vastly beyond anything I could even begin to attempt!

ANNE again (even though it's about 8 hours later) -

I nominate Ken to stay permanently in front and control the pace, keeping both you and Shaun in rein. Some people's kids!!

ANNE once more -

Also, I think there is a market for some device that would be connected to the bike computer, and when a certain speed or pace is exceeded, the rider gets an electric jolt somewhere or other. Kind of like those "fences" for dogs.

Alternatively, a cruise control gizmo might be just the thing for unrepentent speed demons. You think?

GANG! (Although the "gang" seems more like a modest bunch these days......)

I will be off to NH to eat ice cream (and MAYBE bike and run and swim) with Mandy on the Timberman course, and that will keep me from the computer between mid-morning tomorrow and sometime Friday night or Saturday morning. I will check several times between now and tomorrow morning, and know that at the very least I need to (A) give an outline of what Anne and SteveA will be doing on Sunday, and (B) post my Mussel race report.

Just so you know!

RACE REPORT -- Mini-Mussel Triathlon (sprint - 750 meter swim, 16.1 mile bike, 3.2 mile run), Geneva NY, 10 July '10

PROLOGUE
This is my third year here. The race began in '04 with a sprint and hal-iron, both on the same day. It became a two-day event in either '05 or '06. In '04 I did the sprint, in '08 I did DoubleMussel88.7 (sprint on sat, half-iron on Sun), and then this year it was just the sprint. For about 23 different reasons, this is my favorite event anywhere.
Lynn and I drove down on Friday, accompanying heavy rain and thunder much of the way. I picked up all my packet stuff at about 6, and then we ate in a good downtown Geneva restaurant. We were in the motel about 10 miles away by about 8pm.
The race didn't begin until 9am with transition not open until 7, so it was a rare chance to take things kind of slow and easy on race morning. I ate my usual - apple juice, a bagel, and tea. I got to the site shortly after seven, did all my check-in stuff, found my rack, figured out the flow of things, and just just hung out with Lynn -- as well as talking to a couple of people I had met at previous races. The only confusion was that since I was there in '08, the swim had been moved a fair bit east, so everything was differnet than it was two years ago. This added distance to the previous bike and run --- but that sort of thing always works to my advantage!

SWIM
I was in the 6th (55+, both M and F) of 7 waves, each separated by 6 minutes. By the time I entered the water, the first turn buoy had drifted about ten feet closer to the corner, shortening by swim by that much. Yay! I got off to what I thought was a good start, the furthest person on the right side. As the swim progressed, i felt great AND was surprised that not more people were pulling ahead of me by leaps and bounds. i managed to catch a draft off a woman for about a minute, and then she pulled ahead and stayed just about 12 feet in front of me for the rest of the swim. I continued to feel that I was swimming well and not being overtaken by others, and shortly after the first turn I started passing people from the previous wave.....and then some from the wave before that. As the swim contuinued to wind along the canal (VERY cool swim course!), I was passed by no other white cap. What the ??? I was thrilled to exit the water at about 13:40, and even more thrilled to arrive at t-zone and find most of the bikes in the area of my swim wave still there. Whoopy!
13:44 (1/13 age group, 208/868 overall)

T1
Mostly okay, but had some trouble with my chip strap getting all twisted as I took off my wetsuit. And speaking of which, i should've gone sleeveless -- by about 500 meters into it, I was feeling very warm!
1:45 (1/13 a.g.)

BIKE
I love this bike course, which is flattish and rollerish, with just one or two hillish things. It heads south for about 7 miles, then goes east for a couple, then back north for the final 7. The wind was at our backs on the out, and in our face on the back. It wasn't real bad, though, but it played a role. I was passed by no one, and reeled in lots of 50-54. I passed one 55-59, but as I wasn't certain as to who in my wave came out of the water ahead of me, I expected to find more. There weren't, and it was a superb ride for me, finishing at 21.5mph. I arrived back in t-zone to find NO bikes within 30 feet of either side of my racking spot.
45:18 (1/13 a.g., 55/868 overall)

T2
Good, but I diddled around some with my laces, making sure they were just so. I think I was feeling a bit complacent, given that there were none of my peers there. That was not wise, it's one of those habits that could come back to haunt me sometime!
1:25 (3/13 a.g)

RUN
The run is flat except for a 4-foot rise at the turnaround, and goes along the north shore of Seneca Lake. It is very beautiful, and also user-friendly, traveling on paved bike paths. I was mildly taxed from the hard effort on the bike, but overall felt good. I was, however, very pleased to see the first aid station shortly before the turnaround, and had both water and HEED; same thing hitting it about five minutes later on the way back. At the two-mile mark I was passed by a 55 year-old, and while I hoped to catch up with him, i couldn't do it (but didn't try too hard, either); he finished ten seconds ahead of me. Other than him, I was not passed. I went through mile 1 at 7:12, and mile two at 14:04 -- those pleased me immensely! I finished the 3.2 miles with a 7:08 pace.
23:49 (1/13 a.g., 84/868 overall.

TOTAL
1:25:01
1/13 M60-64
71/868 overall finishers

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Probably my most complete race ever.
Skimpy nutrition: a gel before the swim, ~14oz of CarbBoom! drink on the bike.....and that's it!
Silly sloppiness in T2.
Best t-shirt EVER!!!
In goody bag were running gloves, with the intrepid mussel-dude* on each. BONUS!
I love this event. LoveloveloveloveLOVE!!



*I'll try to steer you all to a picture of him. Or is it a her?







Edited by stevebradley 2010-07-14 6:47 PM

MUSSEL-DUDE PICTURE!

Go to www.musselmantri.com. Click on Races, then click on Musselman. The three ones there are the "generic" Mussel-dude, but on t-shirts and elsewhere they assume other poses and postures. Gotta love the Mussel-dudes!










Edited by stevebradley 2010-07-14 6:52 PM

Gee, no one has ever called me modest before!

OH man, you make me want to sign up for this one next year!! GREAT RR!!  Sounds like a solid SBR!   Congrats!  I love the Mussleman dude!

STEVE B, great race report ... sounds like a really good race for you!  Glad that you were able to meet up with SHAUN.  Wish I could join you and MANDY for ice cream!  It feels so lonely way down here all by myself!!!

ANNE and STEVE A, good luck on your races this weekend!  Has STEVE A made it back yet from Belize?

DENISE, are you enjoying your quiet house?  When does your husband get back?

We are back in limbo again about moving to OKC.  My husband flew to OKC to interview potential replacements for his job.  Seems like they asked if he'd possibly reconsider a move and now he's wondering if he made a mistake turning them down initially.  I was totally content with going on about my life here once he made up his mind before.  I'm really up for whatever ... a move would give me a chance to pursue a new career, whatever that might be.

It continues to be really hot down here but still not as hot as it was last summer, thankfully.  I'm needing to get motivated to get back in the pool and on my bike but feeling a bit lazy right now.  No planned races for my in July or August.  I'll have to live vicariously through everyone else!

LISA


Edited by lufferly 2010-07-14 7:31 PM

MANDY -

I will try to bring down a few Musselman shirts so you can see several permutations of Da Dude. Or, is it really a cross-section of a whole family of 'em? Hmmmm.

The RD, Jeff Henderson, has written an on-going series of tales of a race dierector, and they make for a terrific read. I will find the reference to them later.

LISA -

Sorry you can't join us....unless you can fly into Manchester, NH, sometime tomorrow. A few years ago Manchester sought to establish itself as a viable option to flying into Logan Airport in Boston, and as near as I can tell, it worked. MANDY or TRACEY, do you have a diffetrent read on this?

Well, the thot has plickened about OKC, eh? You sound quite copacetic about the possibility, as well as brave to be welcoming a career change. Or maybe it's confident in your abilities, your worthiness. I mostly felt I was a one-trick pony, that trick being a teacher. Period.

Is there a new deadline for your husband to reach a decision, or reconsider the old decision?

As for living vicariously through the rest of us until September......does that give me permission to race even more? Can I tell Lynn, when she inevitably will say "I thought you said you weren't going to race so often this season", that you made me doing it? That I'm taking one (okay, a few) for "the team"? Huh? Huh? Can I?

We are without a/c, and it's gotten to the point where the nightime cool-downs don't treally make much of a dent in the accumulated heat of the days. Pant, pant! But you, I'm sure you are totally fortified with a/c, so bask in the chill with us in mind, okay?

RACING THIS SUNDAY - JULY 18


ANNE
Belwood Triathlon
1km swim, 30km bike (Anne is just doing the aquabike components)
8:30am start
Fergus, Ontario


STEVE A
Vineman 70.3
1.2mile swim, 56mile bike, 13.1mile run
6:54am start for Steve, Wave 4
Guerneville, California









Edited by stevebradley 2010-07-15 7:48 AM

Anne,

I didn't know you were biking with Shaun.  You'll have to tell us about it.

Have a great day at Bellwood.

Denise