GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 226)

I would be REALLY pleased if I could run the pace you did off a tough bike.   You SHOULD be happy.   

Hope you can convince your husband to race with you.    We have alot of fun doing the events.    I actually thought Ken was slowing down on purpose today to give me some emotional support.   Turns out he was giving it all he had and in the end he only beat me by 30 seconds in the race.       

I'm back!

With being disappeared for a bunch of hours, and computer problems, I see that there have been about 15 new posts AND ones I missed earlier from DENISE and LISA. Yikes! I have been hoisted on my own petard today, and have a lot of replying to do!

I will post this now, and hope there are not any snafus to launch invectives far and wide.

Here goes......

Say hey! That went swimmingly! Onwards........

DENISE -

What my mother-in-law used to say about me in jest(?) -- that I'm a "rotter" - is what I will say about your daughter. And please tell her I said so!

Next time you visit, leave a few open-topped gus in various startegic places - pillow, shoes, seat of car. Just a thought!

I hope the photo turns out as hoped for.....and I have high hopes that you will post it here!

And congrats on 2/8! I think it is really 1/8, and wonder if "Tom" might have enjoyed a pre-op testosteronal advantage. But even if Tom is short for Thomasina, 2/8 is great -- especially since you had to tow your rotter-daughter with you!

LISA -

For my money, humidity adds exponentially to any heat situation. I wither in heat, and just about vaporize with high humidity. So, you are well within bounds of sensibility to be avoiding working out outside when the humidity becomes truly oppressive.

Our two years in Allen (north of Dallas) were Texas-hot, of course, but at least it was what everybody said was a "dry heat". I was not involved in any of my current stuff then, so I can't comment on how awful it was to do long workouts (or even short ones) when it came close to triple-digits.

That was a very nice comment you've received at the pool! Must make you want to start training for the half-iron in April at Galveston, eh?

Happy 52! That number sounds mighty nice to me!

KASIA -

Lynn, my ever-pragmatic better half, was wondering why a costume if it just gets obliterated during the mud obstacles? I have to agree -- I think she has a point. (I HATE it when she's right!)

MANDY!

Congratulations, 70.3er!!!

But you're gonna leave us in suspense until tomorrow, eh? Sheesh. What -- You think you need to catch up on some calories and some rest??

Eat and rest well then, and I can hardly wait for your report, or at least some cogent observations. It's been a long journey to get to this point, and I hope you feel rightfully proud of the accomplishment!

See you tomorrow (which I hope you have taken as a day-off!)

ANNE -

It sounds like your water was like mine in the St. Lawrence this morning -- strong east current, and the whole thing affected by low dark clouds (I too had darker lenses). The good news for me was that I didn't have to perform; just swimming was enough work!

It really does sounds like a chaotic swim, one that you don't ever want to experience again. I hadn't thought about the problems of trying to use a tempo trianer when the conditions are challenging, and I suppose for you that's an experiement that will have to be tried again at some point. Well, for both of our sakes, I hope that Lake Dunmore is nice and calm next Sunday!

Your ride also sounds difficult, threatening, and all that mind-taxing stuff. I guess Environment Canada didn't quite get the forecast right that I saw last night, eh?

But your placings were really soild, and I can see why you are happy with the day! The overall ones are very good, the womens ones are superb. And that the swim placed ahead of the bike shows that you toughed out the tough swim really well. Yup, I detect a stroke improvement or two in operation there!

Do you have any idea as to what might be working for you nowadays? I have a few ideas in my own case, but most years when I enjoy my "spike", I unfortunately have no idea what has changed -- other than faster times. I hope that for you you have something on which you can maybe do further work. That's what I'm hoping for in my own case!

Just as a quick swim thought here...
Have you ever tried swimming in shallow shallows to see what it feels like to have to have a high elbow during the pull? My elbows are probably never as high as they should be, but when I deliberately swim in very shallow water, out of absolute necessity my elbows are high and it feels very different than how I normally swim. Maybe worth a try for you?

HVJ OR BUST!!!!!

TRACEY -

Given how well you ran off that bike, I don't think the bike course clobbered you -- maybe buffetted and thumped you around a bit, but definitely not clobbered!

To show the run improvement you did - after that bike and on that sneaky run course - is certainly something to be very proud of. While I will be quick to say (as the prodder of you trying some bonafide energy stuff) that nutrition played a part in it, I think the bigger part is the pretty consistent training you have done for many months now. You weren't the athlete at the winter 5km....or Escape in early June.....or at Whaling four weeks ago......that you are now. So, you have been rewarded for your consistent hard work, which was definitely aided and abetted by the neuroma settling down (thank you, Newton and/or anti-inflams!!!!), and it is very cool that you are now eyeing a duathlon -- with Lou along for the ride! (Wouldn't be nice if every season was never-ending? )

At some point soonish, please tell me what you thought of the swim experience at T-man, okay?

Anne,

Don't know if this is too late or not but the store I was talking about was REI, which Steve already mentioned.

Thanks SteveB for doing the leg work to know that REI carries EFS and I could just have it shipped to my local store if I want it. Er....when I want it is more like it.

SteveB,

Figured I should probably quote this one so you knwo which message I am responding to from so long ago.

The rest makes sense. I look at my break as basically being 2 months though. I've had some sporadic workouts but nothing like I was doing pre-Welland. I've enjoyed this summer. Probably too much! I need to get back into it. With fall coming this will probably be easier to do.

I understand your qualms with the short season we have. Michigan has the same seasons as Cassleman, but just a bit warmer. Roughly occuring in much the same timeframe as each other.

I know you are a Ford guy. We could use a few more of you. I am right there with you wanting a Focus sized wagon with a manual transmission. I'll add the caveat that it must be fun to drive like my Mazda and not the current Focus and come with a spunky turbocharged engine (something like the MazdaSpeed 3 would be great). (I really have too many too expensive hobbies...)

To you and I and a lot of other folks I am in the perfect situation to go to Asia/Pacific. However, what I have seen is they tend to go after more senior folks. Think more little boys club not what makes the most financial sense. Well, I am still looking at condos. However the more I look the more I fear the pulling of the trigger on something that expensive. Also, having a condo would really restrict my overall take home pay if I go to Asia. I have this fear that as soon as I close on a place I'm going to have an interview to go overseas. Right now the timeframe is set as 1 year co-located (not sure where could be Michigan or Thailand and China) and then 2+ years on site which would be inland China or India. Some other places but China and India are the biggest two right now as they are the markets with the most growth in the world. (Last year there were more new cars sold in China than in North America for the first time and this is never to reverse.)

Hey STEVE,

Thanks for the encouraging words.   Glad you know what I'm talking about with the dark conditions.   Nutty!   Despite the craziness, I can't say that I hated the experience or anything and with my new goggles, wouldn't mind the wavy water.  
Even though I couldn't really get an intermittent fast pace going until the last part of the race, I did at least keep the TT pace, which may have helped.   I am going to use it at HVJ.    I don't know why I seem to be getting better.   I think just stronger which is giving me a better pull and finish.   I don't think my elbows are particularly high but will check out the shallow water thing and you can have a look next weekend. 

Feeling very good today so glad to have come out of the race unscathed.   Don't plan on ANY hard traing this week.   Hope to get an easy ride in before we leave on Wed.   Will get some swimming and riding in when we get to VT.   Think I want to be rested for Sunday.   You know me and my numbers.   Did some more crunching.  

EVEN BETTER INFORMATION:

Based on all the people who swam and rode the same route as I did - 640 people, I came:

406/640 on the bike
435/640 on the swim !!!!
Had I not stopped 3 times and bounced around looking for the buoys, I could easily have placed 382/640 on the swim.    The MOST I have ever beaten on the swim leg is about 70 people in a race this size.   I think I am able to handle difficult conditions better than a lot of people.

Wasn't sure if my bike speed was due to something lacking in me, or what so did a check of 12 participants including Ken who had done Belwood and also Orillia, and everyone had a slower bike speed in Orillia by 1.8 to 2.2km/hr with most being 2km slower.   I was 1.8.  

SWIM PROGRESS THIS YEAR:

Guelph - 549/621 - beat 72 people
Peterborough -475/500 - beat 25 people
Muskoka - 287/400 - beat 113 people
Today - 435/640 - beat 205 people

What's up for you this week?  Really looking forward to meeting you and spending time together.  

This'll be quick, as I'm just trying to post to see if it will post quickly. The past few days have been beset with a mesage to install some security program, but it takes about an hour to appear on the screen, during which it seesm to stall things......and I don't know where it is "stored" in the system soi that I can just click somewhere and eliminate it.

But SHAUN and ANNE, I will respond more fully later!


ANNE -- Where will you be Wednesday evening?




Edited by stevebradley 2010-08-23 8:51 AM

We haven't decided where we will be yet.  Plan is to drive as far as we can w/o crossing border.   Somewhere between Kingston and Cornwall?  Is there a place you would recommend?

Awesome showing Denise!!!!

Hi All,

Yes, you guessed it - drive by posting from Steve.  I hope all is well.  Looking forward to the race reports from this past weekend.  Not going to lie - was so far back in reading that I kind of gave up.  But, looks like we had a busy weekend and last month or so.

Looking forward to the reports from over the weekend.

Been laying low - but not laying down.  Was too much in my head with the whole triathlon thing after IMSG and then missing Vineman.  Did a ton of "planning" for training.  Training for training.  Thinking about goals.  Testing against goals.  Worrying about how I felt, stressing over pacing, endurance, recovery, scheduling, whining about every little thing that was going wrong, and generally being a bit of a baby.  LOL. 

So I decided to just "shut up and train."  And I've been on kind of a self-imposed "just do it" hiatus from BeginnerTriatlon since then.  I haven't even looked at my last two tri magazines yet. 

Anyway, feeling much more centered now.  Looking forward to Malibu Oly, though I don't think there's a chance in hell I'll beat last year's time.  Looking forward to Silverman (Pumpkin Man is out due to scheduling conflicts), though there's no chance I'd beat Sunset's time.  That need to constantly measure myself against some imaginary goal, combined with having the A race in May has made a lot of this season less enjoyable than it should have been. 

Anyway, once I'm done with Silerman, I have two more Tri tasks before I hang it up for a couple months:  the second to last thing is volunteering at IMAZ.  I'm going to be a "Catcher" at the finish line.  I requested to be in the final shift that finishes at midnight.  I want to be there when that last person crosses the line - I think that will be a great source of inspiration for next year.  Hopefully, I can do that.  The very last Tri thing I do this year is sign up for IMAZ 2011.  I then intend to pop open a beer or twelve and spend the next 8 - 12 weekends with my wife, doing whatever non-triathlon things she wants to do.  LOL.

Until then, I'm looking forward to reading about how everyone is doing the rest of the season!

Steve:

The swim was just as you said it would be: simple and obstacle-free! Being in the lake was so different from the ocean (no currents, cleaner, etc.) And I really liked how the course just went a bit (maybe 100 yards) out, then was basically a straight shot parallel to and very close to the shore. We were so close that I actually think I could have stood up in the water. In fact, after rounding the last buoy and heading to shore, my hands started hitting the sand so I started to get up but then realized I still had a good 75 to 100 yards left to go. I have more to report about the swim but I'm saving it for the race report, for which I need the full race results! (The Timberman people seem to be holding them hostage; the only results available are still just the ones that Denise dug up).

Gonna do another "test". But again, with today's goof-ups (more later), I have been dropped. I put in that big spurt alst night to get caught up.....and now I'm behind. Ptooee!

STEVE!!!! Awfully glad you're back! I was worried that something had happened to you, like physically, or worse - that you had kicked us to the curb.

More later, all around!!

TRACEY -

Very pleased - although not surprised - that you found the T-man swim course so agreeable. It just ahds to be one of the all-time most user-friendly sprint tri swim courses in the universe!

That is annoying about the sprint results, and I attribute it to WTC placing their emphasis way too heavily on the 70.3. When Keith just ran it as an independent race, he was able to give just about as much time to the sprint as to the half-iron, and his timing people at that time, Lin-Mark, were very diligent about the results. But I domn't think he is using Lin-Mark any longer, due to his contract or whatever with WTC. (But if it is still Lin-mark, I'm very surprised at the hold-up!)

Hopefully tomorrow??

STEVE -

A "drive-by posting", you say? Well, we'll have to have someone put roofing nails in the street so that you flat and have to stay awhile!

Very cool going after the "catcher" job! My A.R.T. person, Tina, did that for about six years straight at IMLP and loved it. I think she told me that the two most active times are the earliest shifts and the latest shift -- the earliest because even though people are finishing with incredible times, in the process many of them have come this close blowing themselves up, and towards the end because.....well, you can take a few guesses. She found that the vast middle range was mostly okay, because people had either paced themselves well or taken enough walking breaks so that they were in good control. I hope you get the posting there, and I look forward to all of your observations!

I am sorry that you been funked for so long through the twin agencies of St.G. withdrawal and Vinemanus interruptus. Your approach now -- "Just train, damnit!" - is probably a good one, and it's one I've used when the motivation has just been lagging or lacking.

The idea of the "A" race so very early is a foreign one to me, and all I can relate it to is when I had IMLP on a July 25 and knowing how hard it was to get geared up for end-of-the-season races. The thought of where to trun after St.G. turned out much more difficult than either of us expected, especially once Vineman didn't happen.

There's much to be said about goals (imaginary or bonafide) and measuring ourselves against them, and I certainly struggle with that alot. At times I would just like it all to be nothing more han pure unadulterated FUN!!!!!!, but that seems to be an impossibility. But as much as my flat at West Point was a disappointment, there was something to be said for finally getting it fixed and then throwing caution completely to the wind and just going all-out to get a podium spot. It was hardly "unadulterated fun", but how I see it now is something totally different, not to be found in my standard "playbook" that I use for virtually every race. Maybe I need to do a Warrior Dash, too!

Hey! Stay around for a while this time, okay? (Pretty please?) And what's the date again for Malibu? The 11th or 12th?

ANNE -

Your "EVEN BETTER INFORMATION" is colossally uplifting -- especially the swim comparisons/progression. But that's not to take anything away from the Orillia bike placement, 406/640. Holy grinnin'' catfish!! You have to be feeling inpeak from - physically and mentally - going into HVJ!

I love the image of you bobbing up and down trying to sight the buoys. Sproing! Sproing! Sproing!

What's up with me this week, you ask? Well, that took a few hits today. I had palvnned a bike ride between when I droiopped Lynn in Larose Forest and when I picked her up, but that got shortened because (A) my biike was giving me troubles, and (B) in going through a huge puddle I tore off the front-end underprotecter, and (C) within an hour of thois my driver's side door handle broke. So the afternoon, which was supposed to have a swim in it, ended up being devoted to taking the car to the shop to be evaluated, and taking the bikeinto Ottawa for the LBS to make some adjustments.

The good news is that the bike is much better, i think (remind me to show you a trick if your gearing ever gets noisy or "clanky"), and that on Wednesaday the car will be fixed (and it's driveable until then.)

Tomorrwo will be broken up by a trip to Tina for a=some work on my S-I joint, and ]speaking of broken -- I broke a bit off the inner side of one of my bottom front tetth, and it is quickly abrading the tip of my tongue. So, I may need to attend to that, too!

I wasn't planning on doing a full taper....but eevnts seem o be conspiring in that direction. maybe that's good, overall, but I don't like my plans (as scattered as they are) to be muddied by externals beyond my control.

Todat was 49' brisk ride, yesterday was a good 61' run after the dark and blowy swim. Tomorrow there will be aswim of some sort, and maybe a run, and maybe a ride just to assure myself that the bike's problems are no more,

Aren't you sorry you asked??

ANNE again (but about 12 hours later) -

As for tomorrow and where you might stay....

In Brockville there is a nice B&B right near downtown. It is the Pine Street Inn, 613-498-3866, just north of King and west of Orchard. It is a few minutes walk from the Brockberry Restaurant, which is very good. Both places served us well in '07 when I did Toronto Islands on Saturday and 1000 Islands on Sunday, and we stayed at PSI on the Saturday night.

A second option is here, if you feel up for the diversion from the 401. We are about 75 minutes from the main Brockville exit and 45 minutes from Cornwall. We are humble, and things are kind of chaotic what with gardening crap everywhere and rearrangement of this and that within the house, but you're certainly welcome. And if you place your order beforeheand, I can probably serve you whatever you want to eat! Lemme know if you want to do this.

If you opt for Brockville, and want to swim on Thursday morning, I could meet you at my swimming holes along the Long Sault Parkway, between Ingleside and Long Sault. This is about 40 minutes east of Brockville, minutes off the 401. Lemme know about that, too, as it's easy enough for me to get down there.

Finally, as for things like motels, I have no obvious good or bad ones in either Brockville or Cornwall. There are several off of the main Brockville exit, and once you turn off the main Cornwall exit and you're on Brookdale Avenue heading south a few miles to the border, there are a bunch along Brookdale and just west of it, on Highway 2.

Again, it seems like there was something else to say, but.........







Edited by stevebradley 2010-08-24 8:23 AM

ANNE once more -

You asked alst week what my goals were for HVJ, and I'm not sure there is anything that will be carved-in-stone. My last half-iron as last Oct 4, and that was late in the season when I was quite finely-tuned. But on the other hand, I'm feeling better this season than I did last season, so there is that. But on yet another hand, my training for HVJ has been a bit dissipated, so we'll see if I pay the big price for that transgression!

Last year at MightyMan I did the swim in 41 and the bike in 2:44 and the run in 1:52, and finished in 5:23. I had lousy transitions due to my broken race belt, and I'm sure not counting on THAT happening on Sunday! If I can go 2:45 on the bike and sub-1:50 on the run, and sub-40 on the swim, I will be happy. I would love to come in at about 5:15, but wouldn't bet a single penny on that happening; my training provides no clear indications!

I sure do need my bike to behave, which includes gearing and tubes/tires!! I feel quite good about my swim these days, but my nutritional prep, as I said a few days ago, has been non-existant. I guess I'm in it with the Same Old Tricks, and hope my body has changed since last October and will readily accept whatever I give it!

I really could've benefitted from a longish brick about 10-14 days ago, bit that didn't happen and I doubt it will before HVJ. Opps. Maybe tomorrow I will try something thsoe lines, and if I do that it will be my alst ride and run until Saturday, when I hope to ride the run course. Care to join me on that, by the way?

Off to phone the dentist now; there is no rest for the wicked!

Anne,

Congrats on your race.  I specifically wanted to say how impressed I was with your swim.  Great pace.  I don't know how you did it with the problems seeing the course.  I'm one of the ones who would have freaked - I have trouble enough with sighting.  I can imagine how great you feel getting better with the swim.  Great placements too.

Denise