GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 230)

STEVE B, I have to admit you gave me chuckle this morning!

STEVE A, I can' t imagine swimming with all of those sea creatures.  The dolphins might be cool, but that's a little close for comfort with the sea lions!

LISA

WOW, it sounds like you all had great races this weekend ... ANNE, STEVE B, and DENISE!!!  I was excited to get on and see how well everyone did.  Way to go!! 

Another crazy week last week for me ... 1) school started (which means ugh, homework once again) and 2) winter baseball practice started.  My husband's last day of work is this Friday ... finally!  Tuesday, he's off with my mother to drive to Northern Minnesota.  I'll meet up with them the following Friday.  We had a little bit of a teaser in regards to the weather for about 36 hours.  76 degrees and ONLY 80% humidity on Saturday for my 8 mile run which felt great. 

Still have some catching up to do with regards to last week's race reports but sounds like everyone did well and had a great time. 

LISA

LISA -

Urp! Well, given that you saw that post, I'm at least glad that it gave you a chuckle rather than disgust you. I generally try to avoid "low" humor like that in mixed company here, just becasue the last thing I want to do is offend anyone. But sometimes things kind of slip out, and even though that one was addressed to SteveA, I know that many of us try to read all of the posts. Sooooo.......I guess I knew there was a chance that one of the women would happen across it. Gulp. (Clicking that old "Submit" button can be a pretty risky thing to do!)

You really don't get much of a break from the sports, do you? But it sounds as if it's something you secretely really like a lot, so if something is going to consume your life, it might as well be that.

I could've used some of your weather yesterday. It was around 85, and that really took the starch out of me. My intial reaction is that I'm not happy with my run time, but given the hills and the heat, maybe I should be quite pleased. I'm still trying to work that out!

But for you, congrats on the successful 8-miler -- and 76 is still plenty warm, you know!

DENISE -

Are you absolutely positive you want that to be your last race of the season??? On the one hand, it's a great way to finish, but on the other hand it seems like you have LOTS left in the tank. Those are, once again, some massive perfomance jumps, with the bike one being especially huge. And the overall placement, with 80 folks finishing behind you --- so much for you worrying about finishing at the back! I keep telling you -- that ain't gonna happen!

If it makes you feel any better, I have had a few chip-related misdemeanors myself. The most recent one was at Pirate Tri, where I was too busy watching the first swimmer come out of the water that I missed the requirement that I had to funnel down a chute and over the mat. So, I just ambled over to the water's edge, and fortunately the swim marcshal saw me in time. Unfortunately, she really yapped at me, told me it was too late and that I might not get an official time; I felt quite stupid and lame. But I knew there was still a minute or so until the wave went off, so I took matters into my own hands (or feet, or ankle) and just walked up to the top of the chute and proceeded down across the mat -- and i was official. Ta-da!

I was initially ticked off at her for yapping at me so publicly, but then again she has a job to do and I didn't help her at all with it. The onus was on me to not be a chowderhead....and I failed.

One more tri this season, Denise? One more tri?

Wow!  Sounds like a great weekend of racing all around! 

RACE REPORT -- Half Vermont Journey (1.2*/56/13.1)
Salisbury, VT, August 29

BEFORE
Left home at about 8 Saturday morning, looking forward to a relatively short drive -- a little over four hours to Middlebury, just north of the race venue. My plan was to meet ANNE and Ken at packet pick-up at 1, and that worked perfectly. We chatted for about 30 minutes, then I went off to tour the race site while they went off to lounge in the hot tub at Vemont Sun Fitness Center. I drove the run course and half of the bie course, and did a brief 15 minute swim in Lake Dunmore. Then it was back to Middlebury for the pasta dinner at Mister Ups, where the three of us were joined by Jess ("ThatGirl") from the other group, and her boyfriend Mark. That was very pleasant, a great set-together, in fact. From there it was back down south for about an hour, finsihing the rest of the bike course en route to where my motel was in Rutland. I spent the evening getting all my stuff together, focusing mainly on nutrition, and as asleep by about 11:20.

PRE-RACE
Up at about 4:40 and away from the motel shortly after 5. I stopped for a bagel and tea, which I consumed along with part of a water bottle with Hammer Nutrition's Sustained Energy in it. At that hour it was only about 37 minutes to the race site, and I arrived there shortly before 6, and claimed the end spot on my designated rack. I waited for Anne and Ken and Jess to show up, then yakked for a while and just idly fussed with my stuff, to no serious effect. Had more Sustained Energy and a small chunk of Clif Mojo Bar. About ten minutes before the start, I had a Hammer gel.

SWIM
I was in the second wave, departing at 8:03, and that went smoothly. I caught a few drafts and generally felt quite good. At what I guessed was about the halfway point (it is a double loop of a long ellipse, with different entry and exit points), I was at 17:31; that was very pleasing. Even more pleasing was scrambling out of the water and checking my watch and seeing 32:51 or so......and immediately suspecting that the course had been measured short. Even though my swimming has been pretty good recently, it could not have been THAT good to chop about 5 minutes over my previous HIM swim best time of 38 minutes (which I have often wondered if it was measured short itself!!!!!). Post-race consensus had it that the course was indeed short, and my guess is between 4 and 8 minutes so. Drats.
32:53 (1/4 a.g., 55/133 overall)

T1
Transition was about 25 feet from the water, as close as I have ever had it, i think. My transition was good, at 1:28.

BIKE
I was very excited about this course, being mostly long gradual climbs and descents, many nice flat stretches, and beautiful pavement on Route 7 with wide shoulders. However, my plan was not clear. For the 4 or 5 previous days I had been worried about my knee, and that contniued right into the start of the race. So, there was a big part of me that thought that I should push the bike really hard because there was a chance that I wouldn't be able to do the run (I was worried about my ITB). This was the approach i took for the first 35 miles or so, and then I realized that the knee was feeling great....and that maybe I would be able to handle the run after all. I then dialed back my effort a bit, a situation that was aided and abetted by a fade of sorts from pushing hard for the first couple of hours. My final 15 miles were not all that pretty, as I had lost my focus and some of my energy/strength. I also wasn't tending to my nutrition very well. I went through about 20 oz of HEED mixed perfectly, and maybe 15 oz of HEED mixed poorly, and some water in my aero bottle. I also had two gels, about a dozen mini-pretzels, a chunk of Mojo Bar, two Fig Newtons, and a bit of bagel. Looking at that now it's not too bad, but still not quite enough; and haphazardly executed as well. It was hot already with complete sun for the entire ride, and I should've been more diligent about getting in some electrolytes. I had Endurolyte capsules with me, but saved them for the run. (That was a useless idea - see below)
2:45:18 (20.3mph) - 1/4 a.g, 35/133 overall

T2
Also good, even taking time to slather BodyGlide all over my feet as I was running sockless.
1:30

RUN
I knew the first couple of miles were mostly a climb, and approached it cautiously. I hit the mile 1 marker at 8:10....and the mile 2 marker at 16:30...and the mile 3 marker at 24:48....so I was already falling off pace. And already, I could fel my system shutting down to the idea of anything other than liquids. I had a flask of Perpetuem, mixed into a paste, and took a gulp at about mile 3.5 which I washed down with water at an aid station, but I didn't like the way it tasted. Uh-oh. I was cruising along okay until just past mile 4.....where there was a hill that I had underestimated on my drive-through the day before. (Anne had driven the run course just out of curiosity, and her impression was that it was tough. I told her at the pasta dinner that I thought it looked quite reasonable; Anne was the one who was VERY correct in her assessment! ) To my surprise, about 2/3 up it I decided I would break into a brisk walk, and that helped some -- but it unsettled me that I felt I needed to do that. And even though the course was very generously shaded for over half of it, the heat was pretty oppressive - about 85. Not too humid, but hotter than I like. The short story here is that on the way out to the turnaround, there are about 6 or 7 tough hills (including the ones at the beginning) , of which I walked parts of at least two others after the one at mile 4. I was feeling pretty crappy by about mile 5, and my focus centered on the notion that from mile 11 to the end, it was mostly downhill. Just before the turnaround I had a CarbBoom! gel, and that really helped. But by mile 8 I was feeling tuckered out again, and the gel I picked up was a raspbery Hammer, which I quite dislike. i consumed only part of it, afraid it might sickify me. And as for the Endorlyte capsules, I was afraid to take any of those for the same reason. I mostly lived on water and HEED, but the HEED was very, very weakly mixed. In fact, it was so weakly mixed tat at at least three of the aid stations I drank 1/2 of it and then doused with the rest! And at every aid station I had a sip of water and then doused with that. It was not too pretty from mile 7 to 11, but once I got there I piscked up the apce some. And even though it wasn't exactly flat or downhill for all the final 2 miles, it was favorable enough so that my heaviest suffering was behind me. Those final trwo miles were almost half-decent!
1:56:57 (8:55/mile) 1/4 a.g., 40/133 overall

FINISH
5:18:03
1/4 a.g.
38/133 overall

FINAL THOUGHTS
While my nutrition is locked in for sprints and olympics, it is far from perfect for half irons. At that distance I am usually unreceptive to solids during the run, and that is not a good situation. Add to that that I get lazy and/or forgetful on the bike, and I proceed through the half iron runs somewhat nutritionally compromised. So, I need a new strategy!!!
I think I MUST stockpile electrolytes during the bike, and to that end I am going to continue to try to make EFS work for me. I love HEED and can drink it easily, but if I can't handle Endurolytes then I'm running into an electrolyte deficit by the time I'm partway through the run. I also need a gel that is palatable to me, and if CarbBoom! can right their restructured ship by next season, that is how I will go. I used to love Lava Gel, but that company continues to struggle. And I will try the Liquid Shot from the EFS people, which is their gelish thing but made without gelling agents -- so it isn't truly a gel. But one of the things I loved about Lava Gel was that it was very loose, and so if Liquid Shots are equally loose, then it should be something I can stomach.
I also had scattered thoughts about the run and how I would approach the bike, and going through most of the bike without a clear pacing goal ended up hurting me on the run. That normally doesn't happen to me, but this time it did.
Finally, I REALLY screwed up on my assessment of the run course when I drove it the day before. i don't know where my perceptive brain wa, but I grossly underestimated the hilliness on the way out. This is another piece of eveidence that supports that i have become kind of complacent over the years, and clearly I need to become much more diligent in my race preparation when I am doing the longer distances.

Overall, my time was good --especially on a tough course on a hot day. But I'm still displeased with my shortcomings, and need to make a few changes before the next long one!!

STEVE B, great race report!  Great that you were able to meet up with ANNE and Ken again.  I'll be depending on ANNE for pics!  Sounds like you've got some good nutritional ideas to try.  On my long run on Saturday, I was determined to try to start working on nutrition for my half marathons.  I think I grabbed a CarbBoom Orange Vanilla gel to try around mile 4.  Yeah, I got about one teaspoon in my mouth and thought I was going to gag.  I just don't think those gels are going to work for me.  Maybe I need to try out some Heed or something along those lines.

Found out today that the St. Jude's Half Marathon is sold out, over 3 months prior to the race.  Two years ago, I was able to register in October.  Thankfully, I'm already registered along with everyone I know planning on doing the race.  Booked my hotel room this spring and got a great deal on airfare a couple of weeks ago, so I'm all set.  Lots of disappointed races though because today was the last day of the early registration before the prices went up, so many were waiting until today.

And where is everyone hiding the last couple of days?  Glad I had time to drop in so you'd have someone to converse with.

LISA

LISA -

In good times, I can handle gels with impunity. The problems always come during the run of longer races. Truth told, they can also surface during the run of olys, but I can make it through those gel-less isf necessary.

A big help for me would be to take a gel around mile 40 or 45 of a half iron, and then again in the final mile -- get some stuff stockpiled in my syste,. But I get lazy, or maybe fearful of repercussions down the line, and it doesn't happen.

The loose ones that are also mild work best for me. If I felt at all certain that Lava Gel would survive this time around* I would order from them and rely on that. But unless I have confidence in their existence, i hate to get reliant on soemthing that might not be there in X years.

As for St.Jude, it has just joined an exponentially growing list of races that sell out way earlier than they used to. In fact, there has been some discussion as how to prevent people from signing up for a race just to secure a spot, with serious doubts that they will actually do it. One suggestion has been to "penalize" people who withdraw without a secure doctor's note, ot just don't show up, by not accepting future entries from them for a year or two or more. I guess that would work; probably better than nothing?

Airfare.......where is it? I will search that out myself, but not until I've tried to remember, as I'm sure I knew when you all won the entries a few weeks ago.

* Lava was functional until about '06, and then ran into trouble by not having recently-made product and shipping out stuff that was past its expiry date. That caused them (actually, it should be "him" -- I think it's a one-man show) to suspend operations for a couple of years and re-tool, and he started up again maybe in '08. But I haven't dared order from him, for the reasons above.

And thank you for checking in. I was indeed getting lonely here, and I might even search back through the past week of posts to see what I might've missed! (When I do this, 9 times out of 10 I find something. )

Congrats on a great race everyone!!

STEVE B, the St. Jude Marathon weekend is in Memphis in December.  In the past I've flown into Little Rock for around $200 and rented a car because it' around $450 to fly to Memphis.  A couple of weeks ago, Continental dropped their Memphis fares to around $220, so was able to book directly to Memphis.  I checked, and last year the half filled on October 8th, so quite a bit earlier this year.  My lottery race is the Houston half which is the end of January.  No airfare or hotel costs for that  one.   I've got a 10 mile race in October, a five mile race on Thanksgiving, the half in Memphis in December, the half in Houston in January, and likely one more half ... just haven't figured out which one yet.

I think I'll look around for the Lava Gels.  Maybe the more liquid consistency would be more to my liking.  In the past I've used Fruit Leather or all natural fruit chewies.  The only problem is that they are tough to eat when the temps are really cold.  Jelly beans are a tad too sweet.  I'm still on the look out for those Margarita flavored Shot Blocks, as I can handle the orange flavored fairly well.

DENISE, do you ride on the Paul Bunyan trail?  We are thinking about renting some bikes while we are up there (just too much of a hassle to bring our own) so that we can ride it.

LISA

LISA -

That's a very nice, aggressive schedule you have there, and I 'm sure I wasn't aware of all of the components of it. There's a whole lot of sense in the way you've scheduled it, and you ought to be a peak shape for Houston.

I love Memphis, especially Mud Island. the museum is very good, but the best feature is this scale model of the entire Mississippi River, which extends over the equivalent distance of several city blaocks. that is a brilliant concept, and the execution of the thing is mind-boggling. Plus, some of my favorite bluesmen from the 20s and 30s hailed from Memphis, so it has that going for it, too!

I have ordered some Liquid Shot (the non-gel gel from First Endurance) from tri-Zone and am excited to try it. I haven't ventured back to the Lava Gel site yet, kind of afraid that he has gone under for good. In the way that Facebook works (which, in fact, I don't even understand), over a year ago i got a request to be his (Kelmer Beck, the guy behind Lava) Facebook friend, but i didn't respond. Maybe I should've, just to keep up with how the company is doing.

His flavors were mild, and unique (one was a gentle peach, another a gentle mango, a third a gentle lemon), and the coup de grace was "Kona Mocha". This flavor had some bite to it and wasn't half as sappy sweet as 90% of gels, so it was perfect to add into an arsenal of gels flavors. But that was then and this is now.....and curiosity has this cat by the scruff of the neck, so I'm off to search out the status of Lava Gel!

LISA -

Well, the website is there, at www.squeezy.com, but I'm not sure how active it all is. There is still a link to 2004 expos, and even though Tri-Zone is listed as a retailer, i would bet my left hamstring that they haven't carried it since he had his distribution problmes in '05 or '06.

But, that photo is new, and as for Tri Mainiacs logo coming up on the retailers page -- it was two years ago at Lobsterman that I saw his stuff at the expo, at the Tri Mainiacs booth, so at least up to that point it is current.

As for that web address, the company was founded waaaaaaay back when with one of the prototype gel-type products, which was called Leppin Squeezy. It came in a long tube and was kind of difficult to manage, but the early flavors - pineapple and grape - were divine. Then it re-tooled and came out with better packaging and differnet flavors, and then...........

I met Kelmer Beck at the Boston Marathon expo in '04, and he was almost a caricature -- Hawaiian short and bleached blond hair. He looked and talked like a surfer dude who had maybe started surfing as a kid in the 50s, and there was a sweet flakiness or absent-mindedness that supports the idea that he had trouble keeping the company afloat. He lived in Hawaii, so distribution was always a headache.

Too much information! Sorry!

STEVE B, unfortunately I have yet to visit Mud Island as it is closed in the winter months and the only time I've been to Memphis is in December for St. Jude.  I'd still love to fit one more triathlon in my schedule but just not sure if I can make it happen. 

You'll have to let us know how the Liquid Shot taste/works.  Too bad noone (that I know of) makes pineapple flavored stuff.  I'd probably like that.

They just announced we had the hottest August average temps on record.  I ran on Tuesday night at 8:45 pm and felt like I was going to melt. 

LISA

Edited by lufferly 2010-09-02 11:46 AM

LISA -

The good news is that there IS a pineapple one out there - Gu Roctane. The less good news is that it is pretty potent, to my taste. Maybe a bit "sharp"?

Another piece of maybe-good news for you os that Hammer Gel has a "Tropical" flavor, which is my favorite of the Hammer line. I am sure it has pineapple as one of the included flavors.....but I have never checked (strange as that may sound). And I will do that now. If you want to try to beat me to it, the website is www.hammernutrition.com.

Ready.............set.............GO!!

LISA again -

Beat ya! (Of course, herein lies the second test -- me having to resort to my two-fingered hunt-and-peck style. So, you may well get your post up before I get mine!

The only flavor listed is pineapple, and I guess just because it calls itself "Tropical", i figured there were other flavors, too. Huh. I think I will dig one out after I finish here and glom it down, just as a pure stand-alone taste test.

Even though I am a really good cook, I have a blunt-object palate. I marvel at some of the cooking contest TV shows ("Hell's Kitchen", "Chopped", others) when they feature the chefs tasting a dish and then having to reconstruct it based on what they think is in it. I would fail any of those tests very miserably; it would be embarrassing!

Getting back to the gist of our conversation, try to find a Tropical Hammer Gel and see what you think. If you can't land one, I'd be happy to send one along to you, and some others as well if you want to experiment. I have scores of gels here, there, and everywhere, and would be very happy to contribute them to your St.Jude/Houston double-dip. Let me know if you'd like a C.A.R.E. package!

Hey?


It's been over 50 hours since the last post here....which was mine....so i'm lonely. maybe you're all off having nice days on this long weekend, which would be good if that's the case. The only one I know anything about is Anne, who will be returning to her computer when she gets back home tomorrow. For the past six days she has been in Vermont, then around Lake Placid, and then the Finger Lakes. She was planning to do part of the IMLP bike course, and also parts of the Musselman and Cayuga Lakes bikes, too.

As for the rest of you....can anyone come outside and play with me??

Say hey!*

On a more cheery (for me) note, i have some very cool and unique photos from Half Vermont!

Go to www.brentdoscher.com, then click next to the guy swimming, Half Vermont Journey. Then type in 152 for the bib, and there are two pages of my photos. Go to the second page, and dig the sunflower ones! If you click on them they come up fully expanded, and one more click has them take up the screen, mostly. You know, i vaguely remember a camera guy in a field and smiling at him, but I had no idea there were all those sunflowers there!

Those are the mostest neatest race photos I've had taken of me. I may have felt cheated last year that the cameraman was reloading or something when I went past the lighthouse at Montauk Point during MightyMan Montauk, and so don't have one of the race's "signature" photos with the lighthouse looming behind me, but i think the sunflower ones more than make up for it.

The run ones - except for the finish line ones - are awful, showing me in full suffering mode, head down and struggling. I got it together for the final mile or so, but the ones from the middle miles -- ack! I like the other bike ones, which I guess goes to show how one looks when they have a very good bike split happening........but kind of neglected dialing it back some and also eating better so that 13.1 HOT miles wouldn't turn into a sufferfest. So it goes, i guess, eh?


*Which famous sports figure was known for saying "Say hey!", and who was sometimes nicknamed The Say Hey Kid??







Edited by stevebradley 2010-09-04 8:32 PM

Oh, I'll play ... the Say Hey kid ... Willie Mays!

Now to go check out STEVE Bs pics.

LISA

STEVE B, the pics are GREAT!  I love #21 of you smiling over the sunflowers ... how "tranquil".  Went to Sun & Ski today and picked up an Accelerade Gel (Key Lime), Gu (Mint Chocolate) and Shot Blocks (Tropical Punch) to see how they work out.  They had lemon lime Shot Blocks but no margarita flavor, so I opted for Tropical Punch.  The Chocolate always sounds good when I'm out shopping, just doesn't sound good when I'm out running ... oh well, maybe it would go down better on a cooler day.  Thanks for the offer to send some samples my way.  I've got a number of gels in the cabinet of various flavors, they just don't seem too appealing.  I'll see how these go.  Got a 6.9 mile muggy run in this morning.  We were supposed to have a "cool" front push through but it didn't get her until later in the day.  I think tomorrow is supposed to be below 70 for the first time.

Sorry you've only had me to talk to the last few days.  Where is everyone hiding?  Hope that ANNE is having a good time.  I'm sure she'll fill us in when she gets back. 

LISA

LISA -

Congratulations! You are the winner of 5000 GrooveTime! points, redeemable at any time; there is no expiration date for these points!!

I saw a TV show a few weeks ago on the three great centerfielders of thos New York-based teams of the 50s -- Duke, Mick, and Willie. When it came down to discussions as to who was the greatest, that narrowed it to Mick and Willie, and overall, based on longevity, it was Willie. But had Mick stayed healthy for 15+ years, it probably would've been him. Growing up in an American League city with a hatred of the Yankees, I saw him lotsa lotsa times......and he really was something special.

I like AccelGel Key Lime a lot, and if I had to spend the rest of my days stranded on a desert island with only a huge case of five assorted gel brands/flavores, that would be one of them. AccelGel is much thinner than most, which as I have said scores points for me (but only to the tune of about 75 GrooveTime! points).

I apologize if what I say next is somehting I have said before, but if you like chocolate try AccelGel chocolate. The story I heard from a fairly relaible source is that several years ago (maybe '07?) the gel division of Accelerade was bought by Cadbury -- the same as the makers of the fine chocolates. So, for AccelGel chocolate, to my palate it tastes like a good choclate bar has been melted down -- maybe all set for a lovely fruit-and-chocolate fondue. It is REALLY yummy, vastly better than any of the other chocolate gels.

In the past couple of years AccelGel has slightly reduced the amount of carbohydrates, and that has lost a few points for me. But then again, their thing is always about that 4:1 carb:protein ratio, and for people who subscribe to that, it's valid. I subscribe to it to a point, and as that point relates to you and St.Jude and Houston, I think a hit of protein along those 13.1 miles might help; sure can't harm, anyhow.

Nicely done on 6.9 muggy miles, and blessed be the relief of a cold front for you! We have had the same here the past two days, and it is pretty sweet. An Ottawa-based iron-distance was held yesterday, and it was a terrible day for it, with high winds from about 10am until midnight, when the official finish times ended. The day also has a half-iron to it, so for people doing either the iron or the half-iron, and maybe not fully prepared for it in any of a number of ways, it would've been a miserable day. The bike is TWELVE out-and-backs along the road that runs right next to the Rideau Canal, and while the road is closed and the route is very pretty, it can be not only mentally difficult, but the canal serves as a whippity wind chamber-- and with tough winds yesterday, it would've been a real ordeal. I've done the full iron there once and the half four times, and even though none of the those were on windy days like yesterday, on all of them the wind was a factor. I expect quite a few DNFs in both categories when the results are posted.

Finally, I don't know where eveyone is! Just Anne. Mandy was due to be a doing a solo backpack in central Maine, but I was thinking that was next weekend. Tracey might've been busy battening down the hatches for Hurricane Earl. Denise raced last wweekend, and reported, then disappeared. We haven't heard from Shaun since before he went to Milwaukee. Steve did a drive-by posting last Monday or Tuesday. Kasia has been away for a couple of weeks. And as for M, she did her local all-women tri last weekend and had a good time, but that was just in a PM to me.
Maybe the end-of-summer blues have sunk its teeth into everyone!

Enjoy those sweet 70s temps!

Hello all.

I've been mostly lurking on this board the last week or so, until the words "Cadbury" and "chocolate" from SteveB's post caught my eye! I'll be adding AccelGel chocolate to my list of gels to try!

SteveB: Hurricane Earl was by all accounts a dud of a storm. I think even the people on Cape Cod would agree! The news had been hyping it up as a major storm for days, warning everyone to hunker down with their bathtubs full of water, and to prepare for possible evacuation. On Friday, the day Earl was supposed to tear up the coast, it did more of whimper, breaking up and dissipating as it approached New England. So the most we got out of it were some bouts of heavy rain during the night.

My training has been coming along, but nothing really major to speak of. I'm doing a duathlon next month, and a 10k on October 31st. My prior and only 10k so far was on July 4th, and it was kind of a disaster. It was one of those hottest of hot days, and I ended up walking most of the last 2 miles. After breaking the 11 min/mile pace at my last tri, I'd really like to see if I can get there for this 10k coming up. So in preparation for that, tomorrow I start an "official" 8-week 10k training program. So running is what I'll be focusing on for the next 8 weeks. I could probably use more work on my bike in preparation for the duathlon, but I'm satisfied enough with where I'm at right now to dedicate that time to running instead.

Oh by the way, I was chatting with a friend of mine yesterday who does tris. She's done 3 IMs and has run a bunch of marathons in the past, so I've always looked to her as an inspiration. She did an Oly last weekend at the Cranberry Trifest, and I looked up her results. She swam the 0.9 mile course with a pace of 1:56/100 yards. That's only 8 seconds per 100 yards faster than my pace for the 0.33 mile swim at Timberman! Okay, so I know it's not an apples to apples comparison, but still... woooo hooo!

And SteveB, I love the photos from the Half Vermont Journey. My favorites are the biking ones with the sunflowers in the foreground. Those are great!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Tracey

Hey guys,

Just got back home from an awesome trip and LOTS of cycling.     Have a lot to do and lots of reading to catch up on but had to tell you that the Half Vermont Journey was GREAT and hanging out with Steve was awesome too.  

I got 1st place in the women over 40 in the aqua/bike and that's cool but being the ONLY woman over 40 was disappointing, so checked the swim and bike results of the women 55-59 from the full tri and I came 1/3 in both swim and bike which helped validate winning the a/b award; then checked the women 50-54 and in the bike looks like 3/6?   The first place woman was from Lake Placid and she did the 90km in 2.50 something!!!!

Ken and I also biked the entire loop of the Ironman Lake Placid route on the following Wednesday in isome stiff winds (for me) - 20km/hr.   It is is the most awesome route and some SCARY descents.   We are nuts, but I think we are going to have to do that race.  

Back to you all soon after I get caught up on what everyone has been doing.    

Hi everyone!!! I am here!! Just busy gearing up for the Lobstahman!!   

Great pictures Steve B!!

I had a busy week.  I am working on my swimming.  I did 3 open water swims this week, each about an hour.  Not consistently an hour, but an hour with a few stops and some intervals (between floats) thrown in.  I had a few great rides, one near-death incident with a dog running at my bike at 1000 mph that turned out OK for both of us. Phew.  And running.  You know, the same ole stuff! 

Next weekend I do a multi-day backpacking trip in Baxter - 5 days!! Wahoo 

SO who has races left???? Steve B must have one more.

Mandy

TRACEY! ANNE! MANDY!

Great to habve all three of you back again, reporting for duty! I will be back at all of you later this evening or tomorrow, but for now here's an answer to MANDY, which I am doing to try to settle my relentless thinking about this topic.

Likely remaining races:

Sept 18 -- Lake George Triathlon (NY - olympic)
Sept. 25 -- Make-A-Wish Triathlon (DE - olympic, with ocean swim!!!!!)
and either
Oct. 17 -- Pinehurst Triathlon (NC - olympic +, with 30km instead of 24 or 25km bike)
or
Oct. 30 -- Washington Triathlon (NC - half-iron)

Right now, leaning quite heavily towards Wash instead of Pine, as I need a more solid half-iron run to go to bed with for the off-season!