GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 239)

SteveB,

I told myself I could get aero bars when I did an 18 mph bike leg in a race.  I only got to 17.5 this year.  However, if I got them now I think I could get a good deal this time of year and I have a couple of months to practice.  What do you think?  Now or wait 'til I get a little faster without them?

Denise

DENISE -

ARGHHH!

HELL'S BELLS!!!

A few hours ago I crafted one of my lengthy responses to you, vis-a-vis aerobars, and then when I went to post it I got an "Internet Explorer Cannot Display This Page". I kept trying to submit, and kept getting that message, and now that I've shut it down for a while and then re-connected, I see my fears were reazlized -- NO POST! ARGHHH!

So, I will re-craft it later, with the short message for now being to get 'em sooner rather than later, and also to expect some sort of adjustment in your position to be an expected part of the process.

I had left it at that without any comments about Door vs Racine, maybe because intuition told me that there would be problems. So even though I wrote nothing about that topic a few hours ago, i do have comments and they will be forthcoming.

Bye for now!

There. That's more like it.

ANNE -

Good stuff, very encouraging! I see nothing to be lost by adding a 3rd short one, and as long as it all goes fine it will be great for your psyche.

My swim happened. Water was about 62, air was 66, and i swam for 33 minutes. I was not chilled on getting out, and feel compelled to try again on the weeknd. I wore two swim caps, and that was useful foer the firts five minutes or so.

And does water get more "dense" as it cools....or is it just me, struggling?

Off to move my Mom this weekend.

Thanks SteveB - I'm going to look for aerobars next week - can't believe you're still swimming outside.

Anne - reminds me so much of my "Couch to 5k" program which I continued to use for several years because I would stop running all winter and then start again.  The 1st time I completed run 8", walk 1", run 8", I was very emotional because I knew I was going to make it to 5k.

Have a nice weekend everyone,
Denise

72 hours of silence here! Myohmyohmyohmy!

I hope all of you are well and had good weekends. Now it's time to get back to business here!

DENISE -

You back yet? Did it all go well with your mom? She must be holding up pretty well if she is still at the stage of being moved around!

Swimming outside? Moi? Well, that was last week and I can't promise what will happen this week. I bailed on a swim Saturday because the air temp was colder than the likely water temp. Last Thursday the water was 62 and then air was 66 or so, and that was okay. But Saturday's air was 56 and the water was likely 60 or 61, and that's just an invitation to unpleasantness. I'm going to try again this afternoon, hoping the air is slightly warmer than 60. But if the water is less than 58, I don't think I will do it. At most I have just one more tri, so why bother punishing myself.........right??

In my long un-posted post to you last week, one of the things I said was that if you can find a place that has a couple of different aeorbars AND a guy who does decent fits, then that's would be ideal. You will need some adjustment to you fit just to enable you to get "out there" on the 'bars, and that might involve raising your saddle and/or bringing it forward, along with possibly lowering the "handlebars". If either you or your husband are clever, you might be able to fuigure this out on your own; Shaun did a great self-fit of his bike. And the odds of doing it yourself will increase if you don't have any back problems to get compromised by an adjustment in your fit.

Okay! I'm going to post this now, just in case!

DENISE again -

Lest I be mistaken, that 900 number at Door maybe included the sprint? I think I remember that from when I explored it last spring. I too had trouble finding something rasonable for accoms, but came up with somehting. I will try to figure out where it was, but I'm thinking one of the budget places - Super 8 or Motel 6, maybe? I will try to dig out my Door info!

Ha! What a test of your sensibilities your dear spouse has set before you! Behind Door #1 is the sentimentality of the place where a proposal happened. Behind Door #2 is a new bike, any bike at all. Are you a romantic, or are you a mercenary? Tough call!

1800 is a fair number.....but does that also include both their races? (I think Racine also runs a sprint that weekend.) I am sure, however, that for Racine it is that many for the half-iron alone. That will make for a crowded course at times, but not all that intolerable; it's when it gets upwards of 2200 or so that congestion becomes an issue.

If you can find out the wave schedule for Racine, that would be useful. With that many people they might have a pile of waves, and you might end up in a situation similar to many at Timberman -- kicked out of transition and having to wait over an hour to start. But those races usually don't stick the older people in thoise latelatelate waves; my guess is that if it's, say 10 waves, F65-69 would be in wave 4 or 5 or 6. Still, check it out if you can.



Romantic or mercenary -- which is it??

I'm back.  Got them moved.  I forgot how much work moving is.  We got the computer set up for my mom, the tv for her husband, the bed put together, and the toaster and coffee pot out - the rest they can work on over the next few weeks.  They're 2 1/2 hrs away in a Twin Cities suburb but two of my brothers are close by and will help them.

I haven't swum for a month but will get back to the YMCA soon.  I will be picking a winter maintenence and 1/2 program this week.  Racine and DC are same time (I think) so I can string the 2 programs together back from that date.

I am NOT romantic but will explore the options more this week.  I did make a reservation at a Microtel in Racine already which I will cancel if I decide to do Door County.  I will probably decide for sure this week.  A woman in the MN forum did DC this year - I will ask her what she knows about the waves, although I wouldn't mind being in the last wave.

I'm off to the bike shop to start exploring aerobars.  I mainly just want to see what they say if I tell them I want aerobars.  Then I will come back and ask you questions and research.

So, Steve, do you know for sure if you're doing another race and which one?

Denise

DENISE -

Microtel! I love Microtel! They are affordable and comfortable, and I have never had a bad experience in one. So, Racine gets 12 extra bonus points for having a Microtel!

Another race? Well, maybe, maybe not. If it's a tri in would be either Pinehurst on the 16th or Washington on the 30th. P is an int (0.9 - 30 - 6.2) while W is a half-iron; both are in NC. I would LOVE to do one more, but the drives are daunting -- maybe a deal-breaker, in fact.

An alternative is to do a few road races - 10km and 1/2 marathons - that are closer to home. there is a lot to be said for that option, but it is just hard to abandon multisport. I should look into duathlon options, perhaps.

One thing that miight be a factor is that my reults for tupper Lake short didn't get tabulated. This is likely because I signed up race morning, which is something they usually do not allow. I was given permission by the RD and actually signed up with her personally, but it was about two weeks after the reistration "officially" closed, so I probably didn't get processed the same way, i.e., my USAT number wasn't filed.

ythat was a good race for me, 11/117, and the guys that finished right ahead of and behine me were given 78-soemthing points. I figure mine would be about 78.4, which is no small change. I have written USAT about this and will await an answer, and even though I THINK they should be able to add me to the mix (my race result itself is official), you never know. If they say "Yes! No problem!", then I will be more inclined to pass on one of the NC races. But if not, then I might go for it, seeing as how Tupper wouldn't count and the flat at West Point did nothing to help my cause. I still would have nine races that "count", which is a few more than most people have, but still.

And there is something I've been meaning to say to you about USAT rankings points, but I can't remember what it is right now. Hmmmm.

I stand here waiting for word on aerobar choices, whenever it comes!

SteveB,
So you still don't know what you're doing - haha.  That would drive me crazy.  I will have my entire schedule for next year figured out in the next couple of weeks.

I was just going to look at aerobars today, but of course I bought some.  They're Syntace which means nothing to me.  Some adjustments will probably be made over time but I have paper instructions and the bike guy showed me how and doesn't look too difficult.  He thinks they might be too close together for my comfort but we'll start there.  And, apparently, seat adjustments should be made gradually.

I got this really cool water bottle that's narrow where it clamps between the bars and has a long straw - makes it really easy to drink - doesn't seem like would shake loose at all - and can be easily filled from the top.

Onward!
Denise

DENISE -

Syntace is good, veryvery good. Ya done good!

I'll bet that the bottle is by Profile Design, and has some sort of yellow spongey thing to stick in the top, yes? I seem to remember months and months ago, when you said that you weren't drinking during races because you weren't comfortable with grabbing for a bottle while riding, that I mentioned this system to you -- aerobars with a P.D. set between them. So, after a little bit of practice you'll be ready to go, slurping whenever your little heart desires!

It really is a beautiful system, one of the next best things to sliced bread. The only thing you have to worry about is dipping your head down and getting stabbed in the chin or "nostriled" by the straw. Honest! If I had a nickel........

As for my USAT problem vis-a-vis Tupper Lake, it appears to be solved. I have been given 78.32193 points for it, and believe it or not, on the strength of that addition I vaulted up ten places. I am very impressed that USAT repsonded so quickly to my whining and whimpering. No abuse of elders from THAT organization!

So, that puts either of those NC races in "jeopardy". I could pass on the half-iron on Dec. 30 and choose instead to drive 47 minutes to a half marathon the week before --- or even do a less desirable half-marathon the same day. Or both! Or a 10km the week before and an 8km the same day! Or some combination thereof! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

DENISE again -

Yes, seat adjustments are best done incrementally -- especially for those of us of a certain age who may not be as pliant as out younger brethren.

Believe it or not, I chickened-out last fall on even an incremental adjustment to my position. I live in fear of re-contracting the S-I joint problem, so even though I set a date with my bike shop guy to tweak my position ever so tinily.....I bailed at the last moment and never re-scheduled. I will PROBABLY set another date and try to follow through on it this time, but worry that the quest for a few seconds of fasterness might end in S-I disaster -- and then where will I be?!?

I think I saw a piece in one of the GBritish magazines recently on riding in wet conditions with aerobars. Do you want me to try to find this and summarize it for you? Let me know; I'll be happy to do it!

May the Twins absolutely, positively ANNIHILATE the wretched Skankees! I have liked the Twins since forever (that would be '61, I think?), but REALLY like them now as the have the chance to kick the Skanks to the curb!

Were you a Millers fan as a kid?

T.W.I.M.C. --

My race photos from Make-A-Wish are at www.brightroom.com. For the key word use Wish, then go to the one for 9-25-10, then to bib #407.

Not great, although the two of me beginning my flying dismount are amusing. That expression must be from when I came around a small corner to see a narrow chute to the dismount line.....and two bikes pulling in ahead of me......and trying to figure out a way to do my thing without crashing in front of a fairly sizeable crowd!

GrooveTimers,

How are ya?

Lots of change for me recently. I fell off the band wagon of training all summer and did some enjoying of the beautiful weather. Decided to move in with the girl I'm dating at the end of October. For most of the month of October I'm going to be in Guelph, Ontario working with a problematic supplier. Which is really making it difficult when I'm supposed to be moving this month and want to be preparing for my upcoming (yet unscheduled hernia surgery). To make my time in Guelph even better I had a nasty bug and had to go home for a weekend so I could see a doctor and end up getting put on a special diet for a few days. Still hoping to change jobs within Ford by the end of the year...If that doesn't work out I know there are options out there but not neccesarily in the corners of the world I'm looking to live.

Hope everyone's been doing well and getting some good race results. Maybe once things calm down after my move I can get back involved here. If not then when I have a few weeks off for my surgery I'll be able to catch up.

Take care,
Shaun

SteveB,

Not that I had anything to do with it but the 2012 Focus will be back in 5 door variety. Not a station wagon per se but a hatchback is what it will be called.

Here are the official pictures of it:
http://www.fordvehicles.com/cars/focus/2012/gallery/photos/

They have also announced the ST model will be coming to North America which includes a turbo 4 cylinder engine with 250hp and a sportier tuned suspension. First official view of this is in the 5 door with the colour 'tangerine scream'.

Shaun,
Glad you stopped by.  Hope your surgery goes well.  Looking forward to you spending more time here.

SteveB,
Looked at your pics.  Certainly a strange grimace you have in a couple of the bike pics - but you explained that.  Who's that person in the 1st pic - just someone random.

Do a half-marathon.  That would probably make Lynn happy and it's time to hunker down for the winter and not be driving all over the place.  Besides, wouldn't you like to see how you do just running?

I got the Syntace because they were 30% off and just a little more $ than the 1st ones he showed me

You're right! You're right! Profile Design. And I do remember you telling me about that water bottle - and I said I wasn't ready for aerobars yet.

Yes - I would like some advice about aero and wet conditions.  (A side note: it's been perfect weather here and supposed to continue for next week - 60s and sunny - perfect)

I am not a baseball fan - although I do know who Joe Mauer is - impossible not to hear his name around here.

I'll probably ride a bit today and try out the aeros.

Denise

SteveB,

Just checked the USAT rankings - goodness - you are up pretty high

Hello all, and welcome back SHAUN! Good to hear from you.

DENISE, congrats on the aero bars and the fancy water bottle.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful here for the past week as well, and supposed to continue through the weekend with highs in the low 80s.  50 degrees this morning for my run!!  As of now, they are calling for 56 degrees for my race on Saturday ... could be a little cooler, but I'll take that.

STEVE B, glad that you got the USAT points sorted out.  Have you made any decisions yet about the race schedule?

ANNE, glad that the running seems to be working out okay right now. Hope it continues!

Busy, busy around my house ... you know, how one project leads to another type situation.  Redoing two upstairs bedrooms and got an estimate to have the carpet cleaned and stretched which led us to deciding to just replace the carpet in the whole house which leads to cleaning out closets throughout, etc.  Wouldn't be so much of a problem but my sister in law and mother in law (who were supposed to be coming in late Saturday or early Sunday) will be coming in on Friday, the day the carpet installers come.  The upstairs bedrooms at this point are totally devoid of furniture awaiting the new carpet, so as you can imagine, things are a bit crazy right now.  And on top of that, I don't like the paint I chose for one of the bedrooms, so back to the drawing board on that one.  Sometimes it pays to be the one at work and not having to deal with everything!!

LISA

SHAUN!

YO!

I was just taking your name in vain in a post to Denise yesterday, I think, using you as an example of someone who is clever enough to do his own bike fitting. I guess all I had to do was say nice things about you, and you'd catch the vibe and return to the fold. Worked like a charm!

Guelph! Where my son lives! He just moved from downtown to an old schoolhouse that is on the land of the Guelph Lake Conservation Area, so if you're driving along Watson Road at some point and past the place (it almost looks like a church with a central and protruding bell tower), wave in his general direction!

Lots of intriguing things going on with you, and it makes perfect sense that you have kind of jettisoned training. Well, unless governments deem tritahlon an activity that is a widespread health hazard, it'll be around whenever you find time to return to the fold -- hopefully by next season. (Welland is beckoning you!)

Shared accoms.....possible swith of jobs....it all sounds quite exciting! You struck me as a pretty cool cucumber, so I suspect you'll take all of this in stride and just let it unfold as it should.

Thanks for the update on the Focus. Hopefully, within a year or two they will return with an actual wagon again -- and then I'll know that god is in heaven and all is right with the universe!

I will check on it in a while -- "tangerine scream" sounds pretty appealing (pun not intentional).

Lynn just bought a Hyundai Elantra, after a brief look at Ford Fiesta and Honda Insight and a couple others, but might've been tempted by the new Focus 5-door. Oh well!

KEEP IN TOUCH; you've been missed!

DENISE -

I think that other person is my doppleganger!

I suspect, though, that her number looked kind of like 407, and whatever electronic sorting they do put her in with me. Or maybe my evil twin?

Yes, i am curious to see how I do in a straight running race; haven't done one since Oct. '07. I am working hard to kick NC out of my head, and experiencing some success. But possibly with each dsay further from the last race, I will feel the urge to do ONE MORE TRI, even stronger. There is a part of me that just wants to shut down that particular season and move on, being tired of waking up early-early to get to transition early-early, and so on.

As for hunkering down for "winter" --- I'm still in denial, so watch what you say! Had we a functional furnace I would still be in shorts during all my waking hours, but for now I'm starting and finishing the day in jeans. I will continue with shorts into November, just part of my own small attempt to fight back the forces of winter.

The ranking WILL get higher! I have great faith in a few of the races to follow, and I'm cautiously optimistic that my final number will be 78-something. (That is, unless they do a wholesale adjustment across the entire board, as they did last season.) But based on what's there now, unless they switch their calibrations I think I'll have a final figure 78ish. Such fun!!

Speaking of which, enjoy the aerobars! Try to find an big empty area, and go straightish at first, and then work at wide, sweeping turns. And I will work at finding that article that -- I think -- addressed riding on the 'bars in wet conditions.

Let me know how the 'bars work for you!

LISA -

I feel your pain with the reno! We are even as I type having an energy audit on our house, by way of getting agrant from the gov't for purchasing a higher-efficiency furnace which we hope to order when he leaves. But this whole process alos involves recommendations on other enrgy-efficient things we can do, which will almost certainly involve major renovations over the next few months or so -- if we decide to go that route. There is nothing we HAVE to do, it's all otional.

But Jane and her boyfriend are coimng up from NYC this weekend, and son Peter is coming home also, so it would be nice to have a functional furnace! As it stands, we have a summer's worth of clutter, such as gardening and tri stuff, to clear away so they "kids" have some room to move around, and we're not sure we'll get it all straightened away before Friday night. Oops!

Four days until the 10-miler. How are ya feeling??

LISA:  WOW.  You do have alot on the go.   Very exciting though.  

SHAUN:  Nice to hear from you.   Have been wondering what you were up to.   Hopefully you can get a bit of training in over the winter so you aren't starting from scratch next season.  Hope you are enjoying Guelph.   From what I understand, there is quite the night life going on in the downtown.

DENISE:  Hope you have fun on your ride today.   I remember the first time I rode with aerobars and it felt so weird, but I love them.   I am glad you are doing an HIM next year.   Hopefully we can help each other and share our training experiences.   I have been busy planning out my races and training for next year as well.   Actually the following year too.   Decided to work backwards from IMLP.    I think I would pick the race that gets you a new bike! 

STEVE:   I agree with Denise, and think it's time to settle down a little bit and stick closer to home.   A couple of problems with tri's (and training) is they are SO addictive, and when you feel good you just keep pushing w/o giving the body the break it needs.   Hint, hint.     

As I mentioned to Denise, I have been planning!   I am using a combo of Endurance Athletes Edge and the Fitzgerald book.    I used the Edge to create a  'winter maintenance' training plan - volumes calculated based on this years volumes and will follow that from Nov. 8th to Feb 27th.   Pretty much just aerobic and anaerobic conditioning using the 2/4/6 stepup.   Although he incorporates a small amount of capacity training as well each week.   Also using his s/b/r pace charts based on my best results this past year.   It is such a safe way to train and I had great success the one year I followed this type of plan.   Did my first Oly that year and my first 8, and 10 km road races - all injury free.  

I think I will go with Level 3 HIM plan from Fitzgerald, but may go with Level 5 on the bike.   This 20 week plan will start February 28th and take me to July 17th - the Musselman HIM.    Going to post this now before I lose it, but will follow up with a post letting you know which races I have picked out.   Am only going to do 9 total next year.

Running is still going well but there is something going on with my IT/hamstring that showed its face a few days before Wasaga.   Has been coming and going which is TOTALLY weird.   Going for a massage today.   Even though I have been taking the running slowly, not having run since March has taken its toll.   Then I get the bright idea to start some supplemental training and did some Isokinetic stuff on Sunday - alot of hip flexor hamstring - and I could hardly walk yesterday after sitting for a while.   I don't understand how I could have such weak hip flexors after all the cycling I did.  

Already have my training plans formulated for 2012 as well.   Same idea as this year but the volumes will be higher and the IM plan is 24 weeks vs 20 weeks.   I have been doing alot of reading on IM training and plans and age groupers, and although it is a SERIOUS time commitment, it doesn't require the enormous volumes of training alot of athletes put in.  

Hope you've put away the wetsuit!  

STEVE,

The HIM plan suggests an optional sprint and oly distance at weeks 12 and 16.    I'm going to do a bit more, but not much.   The plan starts Feb. 28th:
April 10th - 5 km local run race
May 1st - 10km local run race (3wks later)
May 22nd - Early bird or Vic DU?  (plan calls for a sprint)
June 5th - Milton try-a-tri (just something I want to do)
June 19th - Guelph Oly (that was my first oly last year)
July 17th - MUSSELMAN

At the end of season - Sept 18th plan to do the Collingwood Centurion (180km) thought it would be good prep for the next year.

My targeted annual volumes are 5000 on the bike, 250,000 swim and 1300 (km) run for 2011. 

When I looked back at this past year saw that my swim volume was pretty pathetic.   One month 3 hrs and a couple only 8-9 hrs I think.   I know quality it better than quantity, but I need more if I want to bring my swim up.   

You don't use a CT do you?   You don't really need to with your speeds, I guess.   But everyone I know who has it, swears by it.    Waste of money?