GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 237)

SteveB,
Good luck on your race.  Guess I'm posting that too late - you're probably on your way already.  Seems like everybody's done racing except you.  I must say, Steve, I was expecting a little more of a report on the food you ate last weekend.  You only said you ate a lot and there was a German buffet.  I really, really like to hear about food.

Mandy,
You've been racing long enough to know you can't always predict your times.  Don't feel bad about not doing better.  Sometimes you'll know why you did better or worse than expected - and sometimes there just isn't an explanation.  But overall, you keep getting better if you work at it.  Sometimes I've even done better than expected and I don't have a clue why.
Looked at your Baxter blog/pictures - just wonderful.  You're right - some of them I would never guess were in Maine.  The one of you with your arms up on that peak is great.  Scenery's gorgeous.

Anne,
I am so sorry you've still got that neuroma issue.  Are you just going to keep trying to run - even with the pain?
It's been cold, windy, wet here.  I do have a trainer but haven't gotten it out yet.  Haven't done much except run a couple times a week since my last race 3 weeks ago.  I still want to get outside and bike some more - mainly to work on bike-handling skills (I put my learn-how-to-eat/drink-on-bike practicing on hold until my races were over.

I had a dr appt and she said I should talk to my orth surgeon about doing a 1/2 iron next year so I have an appt Monday.  My dr did say that it was up to me - nobody can tell me I can't run.  It's going to be hard to decide.  I really want to do a 1/2 but I don't want to screw up my knee so I can't race at all anymore (I'm not the crafts type).  My dr is a runner and my orth surg is a triathlete so at least they understand how important it is to me.
I'll make some decisions next week and then pick a winter maintenance plan

Denise

Doing well, thanks for asking. I've been focusing on my running the last few weeks, in preparation for my 10k coming up on October 31st. I've also got some other shorter races this fall (a 5k this weekend, and two 5ks in November) that I'd really like to nail as far as my pace. So my biking and swimming (especially swimming) have both been neglected lately, I'm afraid to say...

Good luck on your run!

Tracey

Do duathlons count?? I've gone one coming up on October 10th. Also some short road races this fall. I LOVE fall road races, partly because of the scenery and also because of the cooler and more comfortable running conditions!

By the way, I second what you said about wanting more details on Steve's eat fest!

Tracey

Whoa - I guess I was mistaken - didn't realize you had all that stuff.  Everything counts.  I know what you mean about running in cooler temps - it's so much easier.

Good luck with the 5K this weekend - hope you do well - but if you don't do as well as you expected, see my previous post to Mandy.

Denise

Running actually went well last night.  I wore my Saucony Pro-Grid Echelons and really focussed on the 'lift', and high cadence and didn't have any pain.  Will just take one day at a time and see what happens. 

Good luck on your 5k this weekend.   Hope you nail it.    

ANNE, sorry to hear that the Newtons didn't work out.    But sounds like your latest run went okay. 

TRACEY, good luck on your 5K this weekend!  Can't wait for the cooler weather to get down here.  Registed for a 10 mile race on October 9th ... just hoping it's at least below 70!

STEVE B, good luck on your race this weekend as well.  Good vibes headed your way!

DENISE, sounds like the weather hasn't improved much since we were up there.  We've had rain that cooled us off to the low 80s.  Might as well run in a sauna.

MANDY, great pics from Lobsterman.  And the hike to the waterfall sounded great.  I need to live somewhere that has something other than concrete.  Looking forward to a trip to Denver in November at least.

LISA

GANG!!

Here I am, In Georgetown, DE, at the Comfort Inn. Hopefully, this will be a more amenable place than where I was last night -- the Four Seasons Family Camprground in Godonlyknowswhere, NJ.

A few quick comments:

LISA -
It i9s fitting that you were the most recent one to post, as I've been thinking about you ever since hitting the coast a few hours ago. It is mid 90s here, and HUMID!! That caused me to cancel any plans for a wee bike ride today, deciding to save all my salts for tomorrow.

MANDY -
Instead of a ride, I went fopr a swim in the frisky Atlantic -- BIG waves! I am pleased to report that, aside from a few of those waves, nothing ate me; I live to race tomorrow!

ANNE -
Very sorry to hear that the Newtons seem to not be for you, but pleased that your other shoes - Brooks and Saucony - seem to be treating you well. Overall, it sounds like the run-work is going well!

TRACEY -
5km this weekiend? How did I miss that? My apologies! I hope that by the time I get home Sunday evening you will have posted all the happy details from it!

DENISE and TRACEY -
Allrighty then! Within a day or three I will give a full accounting of the food at Canoe Island Lodge. Perhpas it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyhow -- this weekend will see nothing approaching either the quantity or the quality of what we gorgfed on at C.I.L.!


Race thoughts --
For every inch of elevation at Lake George, there is NOTHING here at Bethany Beach and environs. It is flatflatflat, with literally more topography in the waves of the swim than anything on either the bike or the run. The big wild cards will be wind and sun; well, temp, too. The run is totally unshaded, and the bike is about 85% that way. Much of the bike seems to go through vast soybean fields, so if the wind is up tomorrow it could be a grind. SOOOO different from Lake George!

That's it for now. Have fun weekends, all!

Steve,

Good luck this weekend!

Looking forward to a good ride this weekend.  Looks like it's going to be a scorcher here in LA LA land, so it'll be a good training ride in the heat.

Hi all. The 5k race went pretty well today. It was actually quite emotional, being there with all the breast cancer survivors and also the families and friends of those who didn't make it who were running/walking in their memory (it was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure...) I was honored to be running in support of a survivor!

Anyway, today was unusually hot and muggy for late September. The course was good. It was pretty flat overall and it ran along the Boston seaport with some great views of both the harbor and downtown Boston. There was absolutely no shade though so that combined with the weather made it more like a late July race in terms of how it felt...

I finished in 36:01, with a pace of 11:36 mins/mile. My place in females 30-39 was 298/464, and overall I was 1609/2307. Although I had hoped to match my pace of 10:46 from my last tri, I'm satisfied with how I did today given how poorly I usually run in the heat and humidity.

YO!

I'm back, after a long and hot and successful weekend. It's good to be home, evn though it's frigid here!

After I posted the one from the motel on Friday, I asked the clerk what the temp was -- 101F, a record for that day in Delaware. Yesterday was better, topping at low 90s.

In the Full Circle Category.......
Remember my first race this season, Columbia, in which I finished 3 seconds behind the apparent age group winner, but was given first in the a.g. when he was awarded top Grand Master? Well, it was similar yesterday --- I won the a.g. by about five minutes, but when I got to the posted times I wasn't there. I figured that maybe my chip hadn't worked or something and was headed off to the scorer's van when it dawned on me that this race was run by the Columbia people. So I went back to the list and there I was -- top Masters. But that wasn't quite true, as even though I had the best time of the 55-59 and 60-64 guys, there were several in each of the "official" masters a.g., covering 40-54, that did better than I did. I figured that they would get it straightened out in time for the awards, with me ads Grand master and someone else as Master, but that didn't happen. A big deal was made about a 61-year old being the overall Masters winner --- which I'm sure rankled a bunch of guys 40-54!

ANYHOW, that was kind of silly and I wonder if when I go to the results in a while I will see that they got it all straightened out, but at least as of yesterday there were the top three overall males.....and then the top three overall females.....and then me! (Three hollow cheers for false accomplishments! )

I think I was 30 (OOOOPS! it was actually 38th!) overall, and that was not false, and I'm very happy with that -- ought to be great for those coveted USAT points. More later on a very nifty race, especailly the wild swim and the windy bike and run.......and all the emotions connected to the Make-A-Wish Foundation!




Edited by stevebradley 2010-09-27 8:02 AM

TRACEY -

As I just posted, I too had hot and humid, AND an emotional event -- well, at least the post-race ceremony and the recognition of the fund-raisers and words from this year's Make-A-Wish honorary child (for lack of a better term). More on that later.

As for you and the run, however, I think you should be pleased with how you did in tough conditions. Thosea re not what you want when you are aiming for a PR or even something close to it; I found that out in my own run portion yesterday! Your a.g. placement is great, proportionately higher than for your other races, yes? And the overall placement is also impressive, so those are what you should focus on.

Speaking of "on" --- onwards to the 10km!!!!!!

TRACEY again -

Not wanting to be nosey (it really is just curiosity)........but were you assigned a survivor to run in suppport of, or was it someone you know?

STEVE -

Was your furnaceride a success? And do you feel like a Righteous Rider for having toughed it out??

PRE-RACE REPORT -- Make-A-Wish Triathlon at Sea Colony

So many numbers from which to choose! There are the overall results, and the male-only results, and the results that come up in the searchable category and that include the relays. They're all fun to look at (especially seeing the clear advantage that relays have for transitions, as their cyclists and runners are all set to go and only need slap on the timing chip), but I'm used to using overall (without relays), so.....

S ----- 27:08 (5/9 a.g., 167/384 overall)
T1 ----- 2:41 (1/9 a.g., 37 o.a.)
B --- 1:10:49 (1/9 a.g., 36/380 o.a.)
T2 ----- 1:27 (2/9 a.g., 116 o.a.)
R ----- 47:26 (1/9 a.g., 38/368 o.a.)

Total -- 2:29:29
1/9 a.g., by 5:13
38/368 finishers

Full report later today or tomorrow at the latest.

OKAY............NOW WHAT?

As it stands right now, I have nothing more scheduled for 2010. I have three races (two, really) that I am thinking about, but have done nothing to address them -- I am not registered for anything, and have no specific training plans. Hmmmm.

I guess I'm going under the assumption that I will have one more triathlon, that MAW will turn out to be the penultimate race of '10.......but I wouldn't bet the ranch on that. So, whereas in previous seasons I would re-join the gym and start spending more time there, seeing as how my "last race" has happened, that in fact is not clearly the case so I guess I will spend a week or so doing maintenance training before deciding on a definitive plan for the next 3-7 weeks.

If I had to choose today it would be Washington Half (NC) on October 30; yeah, I think that's what I'd do......

AND FOR THE REST OF YOU......

STEVE - Silverman Half (Nov. 7) ---???

TRACEY - 10km (Oct.31) ---???

LISA - ACK!! I think you have four road races left -- maybe a 5km, a 10km, then Memphis, then Houston. Yes? (I have written that somewhere, but can't find it.)


Anyone else?

Tracey,
Congrats on your 5k.  My performance suffers greatly in heat and humidity also.  Don't worry about getting a PR every time - you know you're getting better.  (I did a Komen race this summer also - very moving)

Steve,
You continue to amaze!  I should check your USAT ranking - haven't done that this year - but they're probably slow  at posting recent stuff, right.  I don't know how you can be so undecided about your schedule -  I have to plan way ahead.

Denise

I AM SO EXCITED!

Had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon this am and she gave me the go-ahead to do a 1/2 next year.  She said there is some risk but quality of life is important too.  I need to train smart - soreness is ok but pain is not (that,s basically true for anyone training) and she suggests that I consider not running at all during recovery weeks.  Also found out that she did some triathlon coaching before she started her residency.

Steve,
Help me pick a 1/2.  Since I may only be doing one, I want to do a 1/2 Ironman instead of just a 70.3.
Smart choice would probably be Racine, WI or Steelhead, MI since they're close, climate is right, and they're the right time of year.  I have been looking at the exotic ones but Pucon in Jan is probably not a good idea.  I found a chart that ranks difficulty and I definately would prefer an easy one.  Since I haven't done an Olympic, I'm thinking maybe I need to do one early summer in addition to a month before 1/2?????

Denise

DENISE -

WONDERFUL news, and very exciting indeed!

I will offer whatever advice I can. But first, did you mean it the other way around, that you want a 70.3 (more bells and whistles, more "prestigious", and.....more expensive!)? The two you have listed, Racine and Steelhead, are both 70.3. There is a non-70.3 that is highly-regarded, and that is Door County. This year it was on the same weekend as Racine, for heaven's sake!

In general, i bear a small grudge against the WTC, who run the M-dot Ironman races and the 70.3 half-irons. HOWEVER, HOWEVER, HOWEVER......

In your case, I say go with one of the 70.3 races, just because it increases your chances of having some other women in your generally-depleted age group. I will try to check stats on those three later (although you are very facile at this yourself), but I'd bet dollars to donuts that if Racine and Steelhead had five in your a.g., Door County had just one or two. But the dimensions will be the same for the 70.3 races and a standard half-ironman - 1.2 + 56 + 13.1 = 73.0!

I have previously looked into all three, and seem to trawl after Steelhead every season. I was just mentioning it to Lynn yesterday, in fact, and until Shaun disappeared from sight here, he had mentioned it as a possibility for next year. They have moved their date to August 14, I believe, which probably conflicts with West Point for me.....but i'd sacrifice that if I knew there were going to be people I know at Steelhead!

Racine is usually about July 18, and over the years heat has been more of an issue there than at Steelhead. I think. Both have been plagued by high waters, serving as bookends of sorts on Lake Michigan. In fact, Steelhead '09 became a duathlon due to rough water. The Steelhead swim is adjustable, meaning that in can go from south to north or north to south, depending on how the water is running. Most years that has worked fine, but in '09 there was no viable option!

Both have desirable bike courses, with Racine being flatter but not as scenic as Steelhead, which has nice gentle rollers and travels through pretty farm country with lots of orchards. The final bunch of miles travel parallel to Lake Michigan, but I don't know how much of it is visible from the course. I think parts of the Racine course are a bit more suburbanized than Steelhead.

The run courses at both are less desirable. Steelhead gets a big rap for having the double-loop portion of the run going through the Whirlpool Industrial Complex, and people (probably rightly) say that with so much nice runnable terrain right along the lake, why drag runners trhough parking lots? The Racine run is still a double out-and-back, I believe, going through the zoo. That may have its charms for some, but for me it would be too much chaos, maybe too many crowds. But are parking lots any better?

I don't think Steelhead has ever sold out, whereas at least in its early years Racine did. It used to be part of the HFP series, and when it began in maybe '03 or '04 it was immensely popular out that way. Steelhead began about the same time, but did not achieve Racine's popularity -- probably due to Racine being between Chicago and Milwaukee, and Benton Harbor just there, north of the Indiana Dunes and west of Kalamazoo!

Door County looks beautiful, with to-kill-for bike and run courses. But I'll let you explore that one on your own, if you decide that smaller might be nicer for you. Beyond Door County there are loads of very small half-irons in the upper midwest, but I'm sure that in most you'd be the only woman in your a.g., so.......

I can talk about this stuff until the cows come home, so let's keep talking!!

(I'll be back, but the furnace guy if here and I want to see what he's up to.)

DENISE again -

Okay, I have no idea what he is doing, so I'm back here.

A few random thoughts!
1.) YES! You'll feel much better about the half-iron if you do an oly first! 5-8 weeks out should do nicely, which would mean early June for Racine or Door and early July for Steelhead.
2.) I too prefer having all my race ducks in a row well advance, but over the years I just ate way too many race fees from ones I signed up for in the preceding fall, but then got injured between then and race day. Many, many desirable races are open now and will close out before Thanksgiving, but at $250 for some of the 70.3s, and even $150 for Columbia or Mooseman olys, that's a lot to lay out so far in advance.
3.) This year I ate just one race fee -- $80 for Burlington Tri, which didn't gdt its USAT sanctioning. I am very proud of myself for being prudent in my choices, and very thrilled and relieved to have made it through a long season injury-free. Make-A-Wish was my 11th of the season, so I really could close it down now and feel good about '10.
4.) MAW was my 100th multisport race! There have been 6 aquabikes, 12 duathlons, and the rest triathlons. Why not go for #101 before the season ends??
5.) I'm holding comfortably in the USAT rankings, with only three tabulated so far. My better ones are to follow, and they will include MAW and Fronhofer sprint, definitely. I also figure that Fron oly and Musselman will get me some high points; Half Vermont, too. Lake George scored well for me last year, and I did a bit better this year, so I'm hopeful there as well. Tupper Lake will be okay, but almost certainly won't get into the top three. In fact, the only one I have no hope for is West Point, thanks to the flat. Grrr!
6.) Treating recovery weeks as PURE recovery weeks for you and running? Excellent idea!!

Steve,
I knew you'd have all kinds of info - thanks.
Big problem - I turn 64 in Dec which means i turn 65 in Dec next year which means for USAT races I am 65 all year.  If I did my searches correctly, both Racine and Steelhead had ZERO W65-69.  Are all 70.3 races USAT?
Denise

DENISE -

Yes, all 70.3 races are USAT, as would be Door County and Musselman.......and practically every other respectable half-iron. (At that distance, having standards and - more importantly - comprehenisve insurance for all participants is pretty important, so you want something that has a Presence.)

I'm sure you did your searches correctly, and it isn't a huge surprise that there were no W65-69. Just to amuse yourself, check the numbers for that a.g. at Timberman and Eagleman (I'll do it there, as I'm heading to that site shortly) and maybe California; those might be the three biggest 70.3 in the U.S.

Beyond that, just view yourself for the day as a 65-year-old in a 64-year-old body and cranial cavity, and judge your comparative performance accordingly. It really is a win-win, as you're older than the rest of 60-64 and not necesssarily expected to perform better. (This kind of reminds me of stories about hockey legend gordie Howe as he was winding down his career when he was in his 40s. he was still as tough as nails and free and easy throwing his elbows, but young guys wouldn't dare fight him - either they would lose, or be accused of attacking and beating up a guy twice their age!)

Off to Eagleman!

DENISE -

Yes! There are some of you Out There!

Eagleman '11 has three W65-69 signed up. Two competed there this season, two also in '09. In '09 there were eight W60-64, and two of them are entrants for '11; the others will get there in time!

Any luck at your end?

Steve,
I have to leave for awhile.  I think tonight I'll check them all.
Denise

Steve,

I wish I could decipher all that placement stuff to be able to figure out where you landed, but from all of this it sounds like you had a darn good finish (as usual!) Congratulations!

Tracey