GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 207)

SteveA,

Please tell us about Belize.

I will be checking your results this weekend - have a great race.

Denise

Lisa,

You are taking these unknowns very well - I would be in a tizzy.

My husband came back a few days early - in Florida there were too many "kids" and "kids activities".

Didn't you say your daughter lives in Hell's Kitchen.  That's where my husband was when he was in NYC - his son lives there - about 3 blocks from where that guy fell out his window and died.

Denise

Yes, Ken and I cycled with him this afternoon.   We sat and chatted on the deck for a while before we headed out for what turned into a pretty nice ride, despite the stupid 22-24km/hr (14.4 mph) winds with gusts up to 31 (18.6 mph) swirling in every which direction.    It was a fun, hilly loop that Shaun seemed to enjoy despite having to deal with a broken pedal and after doing quite a hard ride with Steve in the Gatineaus on Tuesday.    We sat again for a while after the ride drinking lemonade and having a bite to eat before he headed out to visit some of his friends here in Waterloo.   

Shaun is a REALLY nice young man; interesting and so polite and of course, a really good athlete!  

Hopefully this was a good training ride for Belwood and didn't do me in!     Thanks for the good wishes.  

ANNE and SHAUN, great that the two of you were able to meet up and have what sounds like a nice (albeit, windy) ride and visit.  Good luck on your race, ANNE.

DENISE, my daughter is living in Hell's Kitchen (right now at least) on 52nd between 9th and 10th.  I hadn't heard about the guy that fell out the window ... yikes!

STEVE B, you sound like my husband ... a one trick pony ... so you both think, anyways.  If we stay here, I'd like my husband to take the opportunity to look around and see if there is another direction he might want to go, if he so desires.  He says he can't think of anything else to do ... how can that be?  (He's been a pressman/printer since he was in high school and is the supervisor of a large inhouse print shop at an oil company).  As for me ... there are so many different directions I could think of to go, stuff I'd love to try out.  My original major was marine biology and now I'm a legal nurse consultant.  I think I'd like some kind of an outdoor job (ha ... maybe a ranger at the zoo or landscape artist).  If I stick with nursing, I think my focus would likely be hospice nursing.  A move would give me the opportunity to look into something else.  If we stay here, I'm stuck in my job as the "breadwinner" for awhile.  I guess the deadline would be once the find someone to replace him?

I didn't get out to run until about 8:45 last night.  When I got back around 9:15, I checked the temperature and it was a "pleasant" (yeah, right) 88 degrees with a "feels like" temp of 98 degrees.  UGH ...  I'll be out at 6:00 am tomorrow with my running partner for a nice 4 mile run.

LISA

Hey gang!  Long time, no read or post.  I'm back from Belize - vacation was great - it's a beautiful country with a lot of great stuff.  Temples, caves, jungle, beach....just heaven.  I'm on suicide watch for the rest of the week as I adjust back into the rat race.

Bit of bad news...won't be racing this weekend.  Very sad about it, but I was not able to train as I had hoped out there in the wild.  Everywhere we stayed urged me not to go running out on the roads.  In both the Cayo and in Guatemala, we were staying in somewhat remote areas, dirt roads for miles, but in both cases, the lodges advised that being out there alone was not a prudent idea.  People get robbed, rolled or otherwise mishandled when they travel alone. 

ANYWAY, 12 days of pretty much zero training after 2 months of "eh" training after IMSG, and I don't feel that the fitness is there to race on Sunday.  My ego is very, very upset about it, but I think it's the best long term decision.  With the hamstring issues coming out of IMSG and at least 2 if not 3 races still on the goal list this summer (Malibu OLY, Long Beach half marathon, and thinking about both Pumpkinman and Silverman HIMs, but definitely one of them), I'm a bit worried about injuring myself out of pride this weekend and potentially screwing up the rest of the summer. 

So, I'll be back out there this weekend and will start building again for October.  Onward and upward....now, to catch up on all these posts.....

GANG!

Just quickly for now, as I just got back from New Hampshire --- the bike and run of the Timberman course with mandy. We did the whole 56 miles of the bike, and one loop of the two-loop run; so about 6.55 for that. We just got set to swim.....and the lifegauards blew their whistles to clesr the water due to thunder. We nabbbad about 3 minutes of swimming and that was that.

GREAT day.....until just the other side of Montreal, where I got a flat. That was at about 10:30, and I was quite alarmed about getting home tonoght. But the short of it is that I managed to change the tire, and here I am. it ended up taken about an hour all told, but sure better than being stuck at the side of the road where most people there speak English only marginally better than I speak French.

I'm tired, so it's off to bed.

I'LL COMMENT TO ALL TOMORROW!!!!!!!

Hey everyone.

STEVE BRADLEY IS AWESOME!

Just wanted to get that out there.  Bummer about the flat Steve! SUCKY!  What a bummer when all you want to do is get home....Did you get to go to Barnes and Nobel at least? 

Steve pre-rode the bike course the day before, guided me & one of my friends (talk about random meetings) through the bike course, and had a bottle drop set up for us on the run course.  Talk about a full service mentor!!  Also, he litterally biked and ran circles around me, which was pretty awesome.  It was so hot on the run I was dying!!

Thanks so much Steve B, you are the best.  AND thanks for the mug and the ice cream too!!

I will post a picture here later..

Mandy

Hey SteveB,

I am SO excited, I need someone to tie me down!!!!!!!   The dreadful forecasts we have been seen for tomorrow of thunder/lightening and 20km/hr winds, have changed to sunny and W10km/hr Winds.    There is a god in heaven.      I know there's probably a 100% chance I will wake up to a different forecast, but at least I can go to sleep dreaming of a fast bike.

Ken and I had a fun ride and visit with Shaun and he told me what an awesome cyclist you are - how you flew up the Gatineau hills.  

I haven't been on BT much the past few days so haven't read your race report yet, but plan to get to it soon.   Probably should read it before tomorrow for motivation!  

Are you still giving any thought, even the slightest, about heading to Muskoka next weekend?   I'm sure you'd kill the course.   I will understand though, if you have to pass, given your tight schedule.    I know we will hook up before the season's end.  

STEVE,

Glad you are back from Belize, safe and sound and that you listened to the advice about not running alone on those roads.    The vacation sounds wonderful.  Are you able to post any pictures for us?

I think I have mentioned this before, but you don't fit the stereotype of a lot of triathletes.   Re your decision not to race this weekend - you seem to have a really good head on your shoulders and make smart decisions.  

Hope your re-entry back into training goes well.  

ANNE -

Oh, that is good news about the weather tomorrow! We must be getting what you were supposed to get - that is, high winds since early this morning. I am glad I got my big ride in yesterday......cuz I probably would've bagged or toned down any ride I might've had planned for today!

I will sacrifice a few mosquitoes and deer flies to the weather gods by way of helping you with clement conditions for Belwood. I will get right to the sacrificing as soon as I finish posting here and walk Luna!

ANNE again -

Until this weekend, Muskoka was a possibility; now, it is highly unlikely. After last weekend at Mussel, and yesterday in New Hampshire, I'm feeling very tired of driving --- and I have to drive to Lake Placid on Thursday and get some Newtons at the IMLP expo.

The other factor is money, as I had to buy a new tire this morning, to the tune of $174. That was a very expensive pull-off in order to stretch my legs last night, and stupid, too -- I didn't have to pull over so far, which is where I ran over whatever it was that made two big, irreparable punctures.

So, I will sleep on this for a couple of days and make my final final final decision on Tuesday. I even went out about two weeks ago and renewed my OAT membership for this year, just by way of having that for Muskoka (dumb, I know -- pay $50 to save $10). Well, the best-laid plans of mice and men.......

Hooking up has gotta happen! I mean, we're only about 5 hours away from each other, and our Peter lives in Guelph, for heaven's sake! But I seldom get down there in the summer, and am actually in the Toronto-Guelph axis only about 3-4 times a year. But we have to make something work somehow, right?

Have you thought about Esprit before? I would mention Burlington (VT) and Lake George (NY) to you, but I'm not sure either has an aquabike option. The former is Sept 12, the latter is Sept 18; Esprit is on Sept 11.

Finally, I'm glad you too had a good time with Shaun; I sure did! I feel bad about his pedal, as it was turning back to stay with me when my chain dropped that caused it to happen. It might've gone at some point anyhow, but if my chain had behaved his pedal spring maybe would've made it through his ride with you. As for my chain, I have to get that fixed, as it happened three times on the Timberman ride yesterday. Grrr!

STEVE -

SO glad to have you back, and happy to hear the vacation was terrific. No surprise, though, as Lynn and I loved Belize, and she had a great three weeks in Guatamala when she went on her own in '04 or '05. During that trip, however, she came very, very close to somehting terrible happening to her on an isolated road --- just the kind you wisely avoided on your own. She too was given those warnings, but didn't heed them. So emerged from the encounter unscathed, although badly shaken. had not someone come along the road, she would've been robbed and likely physically harmed by two shirtless young men, wearing hoods. Brrr.

I am, of course, sorry for you that you won't be doing Vineman, but overall it sounds like a very wise decision -- one of those discretion-being-the-better-part-of-valor decisions. There's no real point in trying to push your body through something it isn't ready for, other than the notion that you paid your money so you might as well use it. But tat usually leads to disappointment at best and injury at worst, so I think you're doing the right thing and passing on Vineman.......and re-tooling in the meantime for Malibu on Sept 12 or so, is it?

You mention Pumpkin or Silver HIMs; does that mean no Silver full for this year? Is that a firm decision at this point, or subject to change as fall approaches?

I am getting my head around doing Beach To Battleship full iron on Nov 13, as the season is going great and my body is holding up really well. So if you were still thinking of Silverman full, we could share training notes! But I know that you would put in much more volume than I will manage, so in tat case I would just feel inadequate, comparing my training with yours!

STEVE again -

This is going bacl about a month, and comes out of a comment you made when I posted three weeks on=f my May schedule. You said that it looks like I take weight-training seriously, and here is my response to that:

Yes, I do, but there are limits to that. I started lifting in early '05, and quickly learned to love it. The main draw for me is the mental discipline, the focus, the concentration. I mean, I was doing it to gain functional strength for triathlon, but after a while that almost became secondary to the mental aspects.

At first it was whole body, but after I tore my mensicus in '06 I stopped doing lower body. Not that the meniscus tear resulted from lifting, but I just didn't want to risk any further problems from the waist down.

Since then, it's been all about developing msucles that are the mahor movers feor swimming, and to that end I lift about 3X a week in the off-season, each session about an hour in length; core is part of that, too. However, even though I do manage to develop those swim muscles, I still don't do a good job of activating them properly while in the actual act of swimming. It's kind of like having a really good set of artistic supplies......and then never using them. For sure I swim lots, but I'm not fully utilizing my lats, my traps, my triceps. It almost sounds pointless, lifting 3X a week ---- other than for the fact that I really love doing it!

And for me, it is low to moderate weight, with moderate to high reps. I never push big weights, as all I want is functional strength.

Finally, it's almost a month since my last lift, and I am missing it these days! I went on June 21, and before that June 14; YIKES! What that means for me is a biggish step back when I return --- lest I risk VERY sore muscles! With each passing year. every lay-off from lifting requires an increasingly longer build once I return to the gym more regularly. Yet another curse of advancing age!

LISA -

There are lots of things I would like to do, but I just don't believe I have the skill set for any of them. Technology has really left me in its wake, and age doesn't help, either. Lynn can get on my case about this way of thinking in a heartbeat......so nowadays I mostly keep my perfceived inadequacies to myself!

Marine biology, eh? I took my first Marine courses while doing a Wildlife Science program at a small college in Maine, and then in summer '73 I went out to the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (part of U. of O.) near Coos Bay. I was looking to change schools, and while out there I met a woman who lived in Edmontton, Alberat, and she told me U. of A. had great life sciences departments. So, at the end of the summer I drove back to Maine via the canadian prairies, loved Edmonto, apllied to U. of A. and was accepted, and ba=egan there in January '74. That's where I met Lynn, and once there I found several contract jobs for ornithological work in the arctic and subarctis.......and there went the thoughts of pursuing marine biology any further!

ANYHOW, I admire you for your willingness to look afield for another career, be it related to what you are doing now, or something kind of radically different. And when you say landscape artist, does that mean artist in the horticultural sense, or artist in the sense of painting/drawing landscapes? Either sounds wonderful to me!

Finally, Lynn too has always been the dominant "breadwinner", and that's definitely been the case, of course, since I retired. But I don't think my salary was ever close to hers, but that kind of goes with the territory of being a teacher, I suppose.

MANDY -

I too had a blast yesterday, time well worth spending! I could've done with a bit less heat and humidity....and would've like about 20 more minutes in the water.....and could've done without the flat (and having to buy a whole new tire this morning. GRRR!)......but all the good parts of the day outweigh those negatives. And it's not that I ran and biked circles around you! It's more like I yo-yoed at times, just trying to be a perpetual motion machine or something.

I made the stop at B&N in Burlington for about an hour, and before that I stppoed at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier for close to another hour. One can argue that had I not made those stops I would've felt that I needed a brief rest at 10:40 and driven off at that same place and run over whatever punctured my tire in two places.....but I'm trying not to think about that part of it!

How are you feeling today? I slept poorly last night, and that combined with yestersay's exertions left me with a mediocre 25-minute swim today, which was followed by a very leaden 30-minute run. It's so odd how that works -- one day can be great, the next dismal. I mean, I felt super on the run yesterday, light-footed and feeling i could go forever.....and then today was just a yuck march. Well, we'll see what tomorrow brings, eh?

How's Bailey today? For purely selfish reasons I'm glad he was well enough for you to make the trip to Timberman, nd now I just hope that for both of yopur sakes he is continuing to improve. Keep me posted about him, okay?

Finally, remember to palnt some water bottles for your longer runs!!!!! Buy a flat of inexpensive small bottles, and put one roughly every mile on your more common routes. Keith will ply you with drink and food every mile of Timberman, so get used to that as soon as you can in your training!

QUICK NOTE - I'M EXCITED! 

STEVE, I PROMISE I really did push it the most I have in a race, but I know you won't be happy to hear that I had quite a bit of gas left in the tank after the bike.  Could have easily ran and was really strong the last 5km into the West winds, not fading in the slightest.    With the STUPID winds at SSW 20km/hr I came in at 29.3 average speed and 4/6 in my age.   2nd place beat me by 5 seconds, 3rd place beat me by 1 second, and 5th place was 4 minutes behind me.   To already begin my excuses, I did walk from the timing mat to the mount line, not risking any running yet.  

I came 250/399 on the bike.   I liked my swim but the time doesn't reflect what I thought I did.   Took me 24 minutes for the 1km.  

More to come later.          

Steve B-

I feel good.  I could have used some more time in the water too!! At least we got in.

Yesterday I swam .75 miles and rafted the Kennebec with some friends.  I call it my Class IV whitewater recovery.  Today I did a 5 miler followed by a short 1/2 mile swim.  Going for a quick 20 mile ride tonight once it cools (I KNOW, I should do it now.  I should have saved the run for now too.)   I have some longer runs planned now that I am sure my leg is better and will plant bottles!

I totally understand the yuck march.

Ha, I still say you ran circles around me!  

Here is the picture I took of the 3 of us (I am the short one, in case anyone is wondering):

Seconds away - Oh no!  Your bike placement was great, though - your age group competition must've been pretty good.
I absolutely hate winds on race day so I sympathize (I suppose everybody hates wind on race day).

Good job,
Denise

Mandy,

Great pic!

Denise

Hey - great race!   Can't wait for the full RR!

MANDY and STEVE B, great pic!  Sounds like you guys had a great time.

ANNE, sounds like you had a really good race ... can't wait for the race report!

STEVE A, welcome back! Glad you heeded all the warnings and didn't feel the need to venture off on your own.  Now you'll be here to train and race another day!!  Hope you weren't too disappointed about bowing out of your race.

SHAUN, hope you're have a good time out and about!

KASIA and TRACEY, hope life is treating you well!

LISA

Hi everyone.

Congrats Anne on your race! And welcome back SteveA. Belize sounds AWESOME. I bet you had a great time!

Sounds like there were some cool Groove Timer meet ups this weekend. Nice!

I started a new project at work a couple of weeks ago and it's killing my training. I'm doing the Whaling City sprint next Saturday and I really don't feel very prepared at all. In the last two weeks I've only managed 5 runs, 3 swims and 2 rides. Ugh... The last few days I've actually been feeling pretty discouraged about the whole thing. Several weeks ago I painstakingly created my annual training plan using the Triathlete's Training Bible, and I've quickly learned that what I mapped out for myself is just not going to be feasible with my work commitments, child care duties, etc, etc.

So, I can only do what I can do. I've revisited my expectations and have a new training plan mapped out that puts me at about 3-5 hours a week, versus the 6-8 I had been planning on.

(SteveB: I was hoping that I could run my plan by you, in terms of my goals and the time allotted to each sport, just to get your opinion?)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Tracey

ANNE -

First and foremost, far be it for me to not be happy with anything that any of you do! I'm thrilled with every accomplishment -- big, small.....or even maybe just perceived -- and mostly just want to see people staying motivated and encouraged to keep working at it.

NOW! That out of the way, you have every right to feel very excited! That overall bike placement is phenomenal, especially against the field of talent that is usually drawn to the Trisport races. Another bike step towards learning how to push it on the bike!

Speaking of which, at least for me it was a loooong process of learning how hard to push and still have something in the tank for the run. I could probably go back through all of my 2007 races and figure out at which point the lessons of my '06 aqbks began to bear fruit in my '07 tri runs; I will do that later. But what I can tell you now is that it is an on-going process, and even at the point at which you might think you have something left.....you sadly find out that you really didn't. Or, conversely and more satsfyingly, you fear you've maybe overshot yourself ('Uh-oh......") and left it all on the bike, only to realize that in fact there was something good left for the run. Ta-da!

So, you did what uyou did, and finished strong, and felt after the bike that you could've continued..........it doesn't get much better than that!

I guess you must be REALLY psyched for Muskoka, huh?

Don't believe Mandy, you all ---- she's the one in yellow!

MANDY -

"Class IV whitewater recovery", eh? THAT'S hard-core!

Today was not a whole lot bettwer than yesterday. There was a none-too-swift 30-minute swim, then an okayish 43-minute run. About half an hour later I embarked on the bike, and just felt flat as I struggled against the wind and fought the rollers and fairly minor hills. I thought I would fare better coming back with the wind behind me, but I just didn't have any "punch" in the legs. i ended up doing 34km, which is about 21 miles, and was glad when it was over. I will only swim tomorrow, and then see how recovered I feel for a bike and a run on Tuesday.

And it was yo-yoing I did , I tell you!

How's the Bailster?