MightyMojoMentorGroup -- (Full House!) (Page 207)

JOHANNE -

And it's all gooooooooooood!!!

Have you ever heard. "If you want plumbing done, don't marry a plumber."  For me that would be icing.  I never really thought about it.  The knee only complains very minimally and not when I'm running.  I've been mainly taking it easy this week and last.  I figure I'll try a run on Saturday - and icing the knee - and see how it goes.  (I've still been swimming and I had my second cycling session today).

Even when my knee was bad I never iced it nor treated it with electrotherapy (I still have my machine).  Shame on me I guess.

I'm not sure where I was having trouble with the gearing.  I was just really having trouble standing up and spinning.  In the cycling class today I was a lot more comfortable with standing up and cycling (on the big front ring and smaller rear ring).  I think I was on too big a rear ring on Tuesday because today if I found it hard to spin I just knocked my gear down a couple rings (to the smaller rings on the rear) and I'd be able to cycle more comfortably/efficiently.  The class is sure good for working up a sweat and I was ravenous at the end of the class.  I sure could've enjoyed a really big hamburger.

I found the US elections really interesting.  Quite different from our elections.  The next day there was an article in Yahoo news about US citizens wanting to move to Canada because Obama was re-elected.  Kind of funny that republicans would move here to get away from Democrats - where we're probably more democrat than the US.  I also browsed some of the Cup of Joe threads on the elections and found people's comments pretty interesting there as well.

Dave - You must've looked like a speedboat zipping back and forth from end to end in such a small pool.  Still it sounded like good fun for a quick tri.  I can imagine it would be hard not being able to talk about it afterwards.  A woman I swim with is heading south to do IMAZ and she was saying much the same thing before she left - No one wants to hear about our workouts or triathlons.

Johanne - Just breathe in...and..out...and keep it up.  You'll have a lot of fun and we'll get to see some great pictures (I hope). 

Steve,

I looked at the USAT page carefully this morning. I tried to look for the races on the late results page. I get nothing to come up on that page though.

I found there is a set of steps you are supposed to go through when you wonder why there are no results from a race. One is to consult a calendar to find out if your race really was sanctioned by USAT. I could not find any of the races I did on that search -- only the biggest races were listed.  I was probably doing something wrong because my Columbus sprint challenge did not appear, but it's results are showing up with USAT. I could not figure out how to go through all the steps correctly, so I just emailed someone from my USAT region, the Mideast. A lady from that office got back to me already this morning so I am hopeful. She has offered to sort it all out for me. Fingers crossed.

DOUG -

Bad news and good news!  Bad is that yup! - ya musta done something wrong.  Good is that yup! -- all three races are listed as Sanctioned Events by USAT.  To me that measn that the missing two are still accountable to USAT (and the atghletes, of course), and that maybe all you nedd to do is plant the bug in USAT's ear and it will send out its kneecappers to extract the results.  You should get justice before too long, especially seeing that you already have someone on your side of the case/chase!

I did it by going to www.usatriathlon.org, then clicking on Events, and then on Sanctioned Races (or some such name), and then doing searches for each of the three events using the calendar date-range thing, top of left column.  Hoosierman in Bloom, Jaguar in Indy, Columbus in.....?!

GEORGE -

Acustom-made icepack/sleeve arrangement is best for knees.  The sleeve will contain th removable ice pack, and with the velcro enclosure thingy you can cinch it as tight as you want.  Easy-peasy!

Keep playing with the gears and you'll eventually get an idea of ranges that work for you under differnt consitions.  In time, whhere to shift to and wehn will be mostly intuitive, or maybe a beter term is instinctual.  For standing grinds, you'd want big ring and one of your two or three smallest cogs.  For standing spins, however, you'd be looking at big ring and one of your middle three cogs, and maybe even yoru 2nd and 3rd biggest ones.  Play around with them some more, and let me know what you come up with.

Did you get a trainer?  if so, and is you discover that you love sweating buckets, think about buying one or more of the Troy Jacobson DVDs from www.spinervals.com.  These can be killer workouts, but worthwhile.  Ler me know if you go that route....and I will remind you not to excpect to finish most of the workouts to the letter.  More often than not, i have had to split a Spinervals workout into a couple o sessions just to survive!  And if you go with Spinervals, save a bit of money for the purchase of a decent standing fan, which is mostly essential.

The U.S elections are always fun, although thinking about the money sunk into them is utterly depressing.  If all the people and corporations who donated to candidates just sent that money to some of their favorite partisan causes, they would all be guaranteed degree of satisfaction, anyhow. 

I read THREE emigration scenarios;

1. The one you mentioned, righties coming to Canada if Obama won;
2. Lefties coming to Canada if Romney won;
3. Canadian lefties going to the U.S. if Obama won.

The last one amuses me the most, as one could argue that Harper is more conservative than most Republicans, and if not exactly that, then at least aspiring towards it.  I'm just sayin'!  (Actually, i'm parroting what several pundits have said --- and don't pretend to have any opinions myself!

DAVE -

My deepest apologies for selling you short by 1:11 in my guesstimate of your swim time.  Can I plead my case on the grounds that, had it been me doing that 500y in 6:19, I would've felt I'd died and gone to heaven.  (Same thing if I'd one it in 7:19.....or 8:19.....or 9:19.........)  So, obviously I have no personal frame of reference for how to judge a swim stud competing in a pool swim --- and I humbly beg your forgiveness.

So teh RD said it would be "a pretty competitive time"?!?  The guy must be a master of understatment!

Great discipline on the bike and following Mr Understatement's suggestion about pacing.........and congrats on having enough in the tank to be able to finish the run at a 5:45 pace.  maybe you ought to get him to be your coach and keep you hosest with your pacing for a whole season's worth of races!

I've been to Cajun timing looking for results, but nothing yet.  I'll keep looking, and hope you'll apprise us when results get to you. 

Ya done good, baby, and I see a podium in it for you!

Or.....Texas exercises her right to secession

JEFF -

Yes, I suspect that scenario is in play, too! 

I guess that's what happens when the Cowboys can't get in the groove -- it throws Texas into abject disarray.  And what will the midset be if they lose to the Iggles on Sunday?  It sure won't be all sweetness and light, will it?  Yikes.

How're those running appendages doing these days? 

The ice-pack sleeve sounds really good.  I'll work one up.  And, I'll keep playing with the gears as well.  I feel like I should've done this cycling class a long time ago.  The coach wants us to play with the gears and cadence so we can get to a point where he just has to say a zone and we'll go to that gear and cadence. 

I bought a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine a week ago.  It came with a Spinerval video (I haven't tried it yet but I will).  It's a bit heavy to carry back and forth but I like how stable it is.  I understood the spinervals are a good work out but I didn't realize they are as tough as you say so I am even more intrigued.

I didn't think about how conservative Harper is.  So maybe we're not as democrat-ish as I thought. 

Jeff - maybe we can start negotiations between Canada and the US.  For starters we could give the US Quebec and Texas could join Canada in a loose affiliation.  Then we could stop having everything labelled in French and English and instead have everything labelled in English and Texan.  Maybe we could sweeten the pot with free IMCanada and Challenge Penticton registration for all new Texan Canadians.  Of course there is the problem of our higher tax rates.

AND, you'll get all the Poutine and beavertails you can eat.  Is there some typical Texan food?

Nothing alarming-just a "thing"

GEORGE -

A quick one for now:

When I said "custom-made", i didn't mean one you construct yourself.  I just meant that the "system" comes like that:  a wrap-around thick strap-with-pouch, with a velcro enclosure, and the pouch meant to hold in place an ice-pack.  Any decent pharmacy will sell them, and you might be able to get something a bit more sturdy at a sporting goods store.

Bye for now!

JEFF -

Good!  A non-alarming "thing" is good!

Gang,

I ran a local 5K and 10K back to back this morning on a really hilly course. I don't have any official times yet, but they weren't spectacular due to the terrain and the fact that I was trying to save some energy for the 10K. Anyway, the stars aligned and I won my age group in the 10K. Not sure how I did in the 5K, but know I didn't win or get 2nd place in it because they gave awards for those two places. I was shooting for placing in both to try to earn points for the race series so mission accomplished I think -- I may be in the running for 3rd place in the race series in my age group. More later.

Cool, congratulations

I'm not sure why I went on this ride this morning, but I did and it was fun, crossed the 3000 mile mark for the year a few miles into it. Whimsy I guess.

I also cut down a tree to beat Mother Nature to it, 30 mph sustained winds today, and did a 4 mile run at the track-good day in preparation for tomorrow's long run-18 miles

Next weekend, a flat to slightly down hill 5k with a good chance of a tail wind as well, then an afternoon club TT on Saturday and a 20 mile run on Sunday

DOUG -

Outstanding -- especially doing better (at least at the a.g-placement level) in the second event.  I have now ammassed a decent sample of various back-to-back efforts, and the evidence is overwhelming -- as long as I put in at least 90% in the first event, the second event pays for it in one, two, many ways.

So, tuques off to you for having the ability and/or discipline to modify your 5km so as to have something significant left for the 10km.  In my little personal universe, that is not near as easy to do as it might seem!

Awards only for two places?  Sheesh!

But for the overall, a third in your studly age-group is no mean feat, and would be a worthy accomplishment!

Are you still doing Monument Half-Marathon?  (And is it called "Monument"?  That doesn't sound quite right.)

JEFF -

Yup, sure indications of being an under-pronator (it takes one to know one!).  Another indication that shines through is that you are hardly a heel-striker, as the "integrity" of the white and blue parts on the lateral sides of the heel are pretty much whole -- especially for close to 400 miles in them.

You are close to no-man's-land with them, meaning that you have enough time to break in a new pair -- but ya gotta act quickly.  i fyou know a palce that carries that model in the exact same size, get them tomorrow and start the break-in process asap.  And if you don't have  a nearby place with them, order from www.roadrunnersports.com.  They are in CA, so if you called tomorrow and asked for Priority post, they'd be to you by Thursday, and maybe Wednseday.

My first marathon was in a pair of tried-andtruen shoes that probably had a bit over 400 mioes on them..........and I paid dearly by having my ITB go at about mile 10.  It was agonizing, and since then (that was fall '98!!!) I have been scrupulous (even over-scrupulous) in changing out shoes as soon as I feel any niggles and wonks).  In some fairness, (a) the shoes that I over-used leading up to that marathon were not the best for my foot-type, and (b) the course was on strongly-cambered roads on which we ran on the RIGHT --- so I suffered a double-whammy trying to manage 26.2 like that!

Remember, too, that the big problems with running shoes aren't necessarily what shows on the outside, but rather hwat is happening as the mid-sole materails are compressing over time.  Like humans -- we can look swell on the outside, but all sorts of wretched stuff is cruising along in our cells, doing their evil thing!

Okay, I'll leave you here so you can start on-line shoppng for you NEW pair of Saucony Progrid 5s!

I'll check in at Luke's Locker in Allen on my way to work tomorrow. That's where I got these.

Steve,

No, it came and went. I decided against it because my son had a flag football game that morning and because I had pain in my hamstring for about a month, right about that time and up until this week's races. It feels ok now surprisingly, though my calves are really sore (DOMS I guess.) I was trying to break into the top 3 in my age group for the race series and figured I would put it all on the line this weekend and if I made the hammy worse, I could rest it until my next race in two weeks. 

It turns out I got third in the 5K so scored 6 points for the series which puts me into third place by 3 points. The guy I passed is also a teacher at the school where I work so a friendly rivalry.

Here are some links for the races:

Results of the 5K and 10K: https://docs.google.com/a/rbbschools.net/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArQOVCNUj51FdHR1TkRxN0diOVI0OE85RHo3R3BfSFE#gid=0

for the 10k there is a tab at the bottom to switch to those results

For the standings I am M40-44: http://www.mag7raceseries.com/standings.html

There are three more races in the series. I plan to do two of them for sure, maybe all three to protect the third place standing.

DOUG -

Ya done good!  Ya done good!

I was curious about the timing of the two races, but all I could find was the info for last year.  But, jeez -- if this year was like last year.........and the 5km started at 8 and the 10km at 9............then you did really well to knock off a 48:15 (at 7:45/mile) having just done a 22:55 (7:22/mile) for the 5km.  Both times are really fine, but the 10km gains lustre by having a hard-paced 5km just before it.  Mercy!

I'm not surprised your calves are sore, partly because you gave them a day's worth of hard work, but also because, when "we" go into sprint or fast-pace mode, we tend to get up more on the fronts of our feet, aiming for an agressive toe-off.   This usually involves a slight forward lean and maybe a more midfoot-strike to out gait, and those three (lean, midfoot, toe-off) put much more pressure on our calves.

One of the big drawbacks for people who are hell-strikers and work at getting to be a more midfoot-striker is that their calves can pay dearly in the "transition" process.  That is often why the recommendation for doing that switch is to take it very gradually, as in looking at a time-frame that is more about months than mere weeks.

I'm on a tangent here, but the plus to becoming a more midfoot- or forefoot-striker is that it changes the impact from the major joints (knees and hips) to the calves, and once the calf muscles strengthen in the process, injuries tend to decrease -- especially the more problematic ones involving knees.

All of that is based on a hunch, that being that your calves are sore because you altered your gait pattern to "allow" you to run faster.  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with that if it's what happened, and seeing as how you enjoyed a great piece of success at thsoe runs....it might be worth trying to incorpoarte thsoe new mechanics into your running. 

If you do, however, remember --- be patient, take the long view of progress, and back off when you begin to hurt.  I should also mention that sometimes the plantar faascia can get aggravated in the course of working on a more forefoot running style, so be tuned into how the fronts of your heels and the inner arch is responding -- if you decide to experiment some, that is!

Great day at the races, Doug!

DOUG again -

That was fun, trawling through the race standings!  It took me a while to figure out how the points work --- and why Tim Ryder has so many 10s.  Good grief, those are for FIRST PLACE OVERALL!   And he has about seven of them!!  Studly, or what??

So, if I'm doing my math correctly, you got six points thsi weekend, and if Doug Uhls didn't race, you are three points up on him.  Yes?  If so -- AH-HA!, and i can see why you want to keep piling up the races and the points; there is method in yoru madness!

What was it -- another 5km, and a 4-miler, and a 8km, and then somehting not too clear on Dec 9 or so.  Which of those are you hoping to tackle --- perhaps all four?  (Why not?!?)  Neat stuff, i had about 10 fun minutes of good ol' vicarious living!  Merci beaucoup!

Steve,

Yes, Tim is the man. He did not compete in the 10K which opened up the way for me. When he got 4th overall in the 5K this weekend it dropped him into my age group, instead of the top 3, which don't count in age group. The guy who won the whole thing, Jordan Fife, is an Olympic hopeful in the steeplechase.

Doug Uhls didn't race this weekend so I am up 3 on him. He was the guy who put together our team for Dances With Dirt at Gnaw Bone.

Thanks, Steve.

This year had the same start times. I got a little under 35 minutes of rest between races. I wasn't sore during the race, but was fatigued. This course is probably one of the hilliest courses on the series and I think that accounts for the sore calves. I feel pretty good today so it didn't last too long in the soreness department. Back to running tomorrow if I can work it in around an out of town funeral for a distant family member.

I am signed up for the 4 miler on Thanksgiving, and will do the 5K which starts a half mile from my house. I don't know on the 8K -- I'll see if Doug runs on Thanksgiving and will then know if I need the points. In theory I will beat him in a road race, and he would beat me on trails. He did a 13.1 trail run in under 2:00:00 a couple of weeks ago and I know it was hilly as heck. Also the longer the race the more it favors him.

Johanne - What did you say your bib number will be for IMAZ?

A fellow I swim with is in Tempe to volunteer so he can sign up for next year.  Also a lady we swim with will be bib number 1108 (F50-54).