GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 240)

Just got back from my massage.   It was SO good!   Pretty tight glutes, IT's and hamstrings, although right side much worse.   Compared to my glutes, hamstrings are good, apparently.  The Bikram has been making things manageable over the past few weeks but not able to do what a massage can do, once you let it get to the point I did.  

Pretty sure the problem started by riding the Placid route so close after the Vermont race and then sitting in the car for days on end.   Introducing the running didn't help matters.   We've decided to add a monthly massage into our training plans.  Should help to pinpoint any issues that might come up.  

Think I am going to take a 'recovery' week from running and settle the leg down.  

We really ARE going to Frontenac this weekend.   I knew we would get some warm weather.      Didn't want to take a chance, being the long weekend and reserved a site.   Going to love the hiking but also disappointed about not being able to bike in some nice weather.      We will be home Monday, so maybe it will be a good biking day. 

Anne,
This is so exciting.  Both the races I'm trying to decide between are July 17, so we will be doing a half on the same day.  I'm doing a 20 week training which starts Feb 28 (I always start on a Monday).  Will be doing a 20 week winter maintenance starting Oct 10.
Olympic will be either June 5,11, or 18.

Have a nice weekend.

I decided not to try the aeros today because it is super windy - maybe tomorrow.

Denise

Hey everyone, hope all is well. 

Well, the LA heat has given way to LA rain and cold.  Which I much prefer!

Funny thought as I was running this AM, well before the sun came up.  Reminded me of the start of training for this season which began just about a year ago.  Running, swimming and stationary bike in the dark.  What a great and interesting year it has been for everyone, I think.  Special thanks to Steve B for all his help and support for everyone this year!!!

I wax rhapsodic when it gets cold and blustery outside.

Anyway, will get the chance to run the run course at Silverman this weekend, as I'm in Vegas for a cousin's wedding.  Will drive the bike and run the run.  Word from my friend is that having ridden the bike course, he is more nervous about it than the IMSG course.  Claims he was in "riding side to side on the steep parts" of what they call the three sisters.  Luckily, the run course looks flatter, so it should be a fun day.  So, it's just been running hills for me the last couple weeks.

Woo-hoo!

STEVE -

EXCELLENT on getting a crack at the Silverman course! However, i'm surprised to hear the comment (Jason, is it?) about Silver versus SG I mean, Silver full has a rep for being brutal in places, but overall the sense I have is that SG was worse. But maybe that's because SG was unknown, whereas even in its first year Silver was right up front about having a very difficult bike course.

Doesn't the half Silver benefit from not having some of the tougher sections of the full? Or, does it have those....but is just missing about 56 less challenging miles? I'll be interested to see what you see on the recon drive!

X2 on rain and cold versus heat........although having a warm day today made for a vastly nicer ride than the shiverfest I endured two days ago. Of course, I'm my own worst enemy by refusing to bundle up as much as I should, still trying to get by with as minimal as is humanly possible. God help me if I need to try to change a flat with non-functional fingers! (Actually, that has happened to me twice. Even at the best of times I'm not a real adept flat-fixer, but my klutziness reaches new heights when I can't find my fingers where I expect them to be.)

Finally, it has been 419% my pleasure to provide whatever help and support I can!

DENISE -

Good on ya for settling into a winter maintenance plan, and also for figuring out a starting date for your 2011 journey! Once again I will try to convince myself to get formal this off-season, and once again (probably) I will just do what I feel like doing whenever I feel like doing it. I really do believe I would do better to follow a plan.........but.........

And good decision to pass on the aerobars today. It will help both your confidence and your psyche to find an optimal day in which to go for a first (few?) rides with them. As your first rsce isn't for a few months still , you have lots and lots of time to get them to work for you.

I remembered what I meant to tell you yesterday, a kind of side note about USAT rankings. There are two guys who I have never raced head-to-head against, but i suspect they might be slightly better than I am; maybe not, but I'd go into a race worried about them!

One of them, Mike Mason, did Tupper Lake HIM the same day I did Tupper short. He had a good race, but ended up with less USAT points for his than I got for mine. The other guy, Herman Sieverding, did Mussleman HIM the day after I did the sprint, and again -- he got less points for his effort than I got for mine. Both of them posted good times at their races -- again, maybe a minute or two faster than what I might do -- but from the perspective of looking at USAT points, I made the "better" choice.

I will now have to think about all of tghis, as I have labored under the assumption tat for people who do HIM reasonably well, that's a more assured ticket to good points than a sprint -- unless the sprint is really, really obscure. HIMs have usually been good point-getters for me, usually something that is almost "money in the bank". But maybe sprints are the wiser investment!

My goal this year was to try to make olympics a good investment as well. In time, we'll see how that scheme worked out, I guess! (Setting myself up for disappointment? Hope not!)

ANNE -

Lynn is about to wrest the computer from me, so I'll just hit a couple of things kind of quickly.

I think a monthly message will be ideal, and I envy you being able to do it. I should maybe target one every six weeks or so, but I'm not sure it's the bets way to spend my money. As it turns out, I am having a session tomorrow, geared towards my groin. This is with my A.R.T. person, and she has worked on that area before, once or twice; I know I am in for a LOT of discomfort. Hear me whimper!!!!

I have a CT, sort of. I got it in '03 and used it fairly regularly for a few seasons. Then I slacked off, and I used in maybe once in the past two off-seasons -- including zero times last year. I brought it down to hooslisa back in May at Columbia, and she and her husband are going to give it a try and see if they want to buy it from me. If not, then they will try to get one of the memebrs from their tri club (Team FExy) to buy it.

It is a lot of fun, and has some terrifically diverse options. The SpinScan feature is informative, but the real treat is the program with all the simulated courses. That just provides a world of variety, but also if you settle on a tough course, well, there is no escaping what it presents other than to terminate the ride right there; the system adjusts the resistance, and that's all she wrote!

I gave up on it mostly because are computer space is so damn dreary; it really is stultifying to ride there, even when the CT course is dynamite. Part of me hopes that Lisa will not buy my CT, as in my perfect world I'd like to have a decent space for it. But as it stands now that's not the case, and the money would sure be useful, so.......


Not retiring the wetsuit yet! Hoping for a swim on Thursday in the St.L and/or Friday in the Rideau, and one more over the weekend at Lynn's brother's cottage north of Lachute, Quebec. I blew a great chance today, with air temps around 18C and the water, at least yesterday at 60. Tomorrow, i think, will top out at 11C, which is just too cold for comfort. My bike ride today was great, just my normal tri-race gear, complete with no socks. Yippee!

More on your scheduling throughts later. Lynn is braying at me to hurry up and finish!

I know!  I'm thrilled about this and  can't believe we are doing the same distances and on the same schedule.   That should really help Steve out.    

We are doing SOME training this month and sort of test driving our schedule, focussing on the yoga and getting our running legs back.   I can't believe I haven't been in the water for 3 weeks.  

Good idea to pass on riding today.  It can be scary in the wind even without the aerobars.   Someone I know actually got blown off their bike a couple of days ago in 40km/hr winds.  

You'll have to let me know how your knew drinking system works.   My bike is really small and I don't have alot of room so have shyed away from that system.  Maybe it's time to rethink 

ANNE -

YES! I sure do appreciate the two of you conspiring to make my life easier!

As you can tell from my various previous posts, and the one today or yesterday to Denise, I am a big fan of the tween-the-bars drink systems. Granted, the only one I have ever tried is the "original" Profile Design one, which is what I suspect Denise has.

I have never used it for anything oly and shorter, but for half-irons and beyond, can't imagine going without it. (I've also used it for a couple of races that were oly/HIM hybrids.) At those distances, it is my water source; I keep the two behind my seat for energy drinks. It is especially handy in that rgard for water hand-ups, as you can just pour stright from the proferred bottle into the aero bottle. I also use the aero bottle for gels -- both for unopened and used. At least three gels can nestle comfortable at the top of thre bottle, and are easier to get at there than when in a Bento Box -- which I also use at the longer distances. And then when I'm done with the gel, the empty package just goes back in the aerobottle. I have also carried CO2 cartridges in there, inside a ziplock baggy and submerged in the water. (That was before I started carrying all my repair stuff in a water bottle which is in the rack on my downtube.) (Were I to do another full iron, I might reconsider that, opting to use that rack for an acytually drink bottle rather than just tools. But for HIM, I can go with the two energy bottles behind my seat.)

I wish I had paid more attention to the specifics of your bike! If it is too small for one of the original P.D. aerobottles, I think there are "squatter" ones that might work for you. I have used mine for so long (it's pretty mangy, actually........ ... ....) that I haven't kept up with current trends in them and their ilk, but going to your favorite tri-gear website should reveal several species. (www.tri-zone.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Later!

DENISE and ANNE -

As the two imps (one on each shoulder) encouraging me to shut down the tri season and move on to something a bit more reasonable, you will be pleased to know that I am in fact moving in that direction. That is what my head is telling me, too, but it's thta darn old heart that makes the most noise and exerts the greatest influence -- usually.

For now, though, i am trying to shift to a run focus for the fall, remebring how well that worked last year -- even though the race I had trained 2+ months for had to be bailed on due to an ITB inflammation. I think I am winning on this.....or my head is winning....or you two are winning!

What I would do now would be:
Oct 23 --- 9 Run Run (half-marathon)
Nov 6 --- Cookie Run (10km)
Dec 12 --- Rehoboth Beach half-marathon


9 Run Run (benefitting Ottawa emergency services agencies) is a new half-marathon along a beautiful route, 1/3 along a great rails-to-trails path and 1/3 along the road that has the most promising sites of out grassland bird survey. It is about 90% flat, I would guess.
Cookie Run benefits the Girl Guides (Scouts)....and guess what is served at the finish line? YUM!!!!
Both of those are less than an hour from home!
Rehoboth Beach is a wanna-do, just because I had fun at Make-A-Wish, a few miles south along the coast. The coast will be pretty desolate then, which is a great time to experience the true beauty of that environment.

Of course, if the body fails to meet the challenge, then things'll change. But for now, that's how I'm trending.

(And, you two imps, thanks for the prods!!!)

DENISE -

Oh, my. Our loss is your gain. I am incredulous that the Pats traded Randy, and at that for a mere 3rd round draft choice next season!

He has been a very good citizen since joining them three years ago, and he should fit in very well with old Brett. And heaven help the Pats and their iffy secondary when the Vikes come to visit on Halloween. Couldn't Belichek have waited until after that game?!? (Although, I guess there was an episode during the Monday night game that might've forced the Patriots' hand in this.)

Argh. Argh, argh, argh.

TRACEY -

Yo?

Any thoughts on the trading of Randy????

That's so funny - reminds me of one of the training rides we did a St. George last March.  I remember staring out in 42 degree weather wearing bike shorts, a turtleneck, short sleeve bike jersey and fingerless gloves.  My friend was dressed in long fleece bike pants, thermal underwear, long sleeve jersey and riding jacket, knit cap and full gloves.  He looked at me and said, "Either one of us looks like a wuss, or one of us looks like an idiot." 

LOL.

Rain this morning for the pool swim...which did not go well.  Strange how some days, you just have zero power.  Shoulders were just sluggish, felt like swimming in pudding.  Probably because I had no coffee before, was half asleep and my form sucked.  Last time I opt out of pre-workout coffee in favor of 10 minutes more sleep!  Was surprised to see how many people were there this late in the year on a rainy morning.  I figured with Nautica and the LA Tri being done, the pool would start to clear out.  Go figure!

This could be a very good thing, indeed.  Lots of excitement here in MN.  Of course, a few people don't want him back because of past bad behavior, but I'm certainly willing to forgive and forget.

Even tho I'm not a baseball fan, I'll probably watch a bit of the Twins tonight (MN volleyball is televised tonight too, so I'll switch back and forth - MN has a ranked team and I got to like volleyball when my daughter played in high school)

Glad you're pretty sure going to run instead of tri- this is October after all.

Denise

STEVE -

Okay, okay, I've gotta ask. Which one did you resemble - the wuss or the idiot?

For me there are bad days on the bike and bad days on the run, but none of those bad days are badder than the baddest of the bad days in the pool! I can fully relate to how you felt today, except that I usually can't attribute it to anything clearcut, such as no cooffee or poor sleep. I tend to often blame bad form.....but then that becomes a chicken-and-egg argument. That is, do i feel crappy because my form sucks, or is my form sucking because of ------ whatever.

That is one of the reasons why I dread going back to the pool along about this time of year, because I know I will be experiencing more of those days once I start frolicking in the chlorine. On the other hand, my last two OWS have been sluggish affairs, so I guess there is no escaping it. Rats!

DENISE -

".....this is October after all."

Yeah but, yeah but........
That's why there are races down in NC and SC and other places south of the Mason-Dixon line, even into November! For them, October is an entirely different concept than it is for us, and we both know that all we have to do is make our way down there and our warmer-weather pursuits can continue.

Isn't that why there is Pucon, in mid-January?????

Twins are hanging tough, but it was unfortunate that they peed away that sweet 3-0 lead. I was happy with the Rangers and Phillies winning, and now just need the Twins to make it a hat trick for me. And of course, as soon as the Yankees get eliminate, the safer the whole universe will be!

STEVE,

Being the imps Denise and I are, I am sure we will continue to 'harrass' you about your tri pursuits.   Purely out of love. 

Seriously, though, I do understand where you are coming from, and after reading a recent article on how soon we can lose our current fitness level,  appreciate it even more.   Apparently highly trained athletes like yourself lose fitness much quicker than the average age grouper and it also takes you much longer to regain that level of fitness.   Sounds like I've found a good reason not to work hard.  Ha! Ha! (joking, REALLY).  

To quote, Marc Evans ' in reality, then, there is no such thing as a complete off-season for the serious endurance athlete'.   However, cross training does qualify in the off season/transition as long as it stimulates the muscles similar to those used in triathlon.

Allthough no easy answer to how many days off will result in a decrease/decline, apparently you should take no more than SEVEN consecutive days off in any one period of the year.   This does not include days when we are skiing, backpacking, etc.  

From my recent experience in August I now tend to agree.   When we did the canoe/hiking/backpacking trip and were gone but REALLY active for 10 days I could not believe how much stronger I was on the bike.   However, after HVJ and Placid, I was totally inactive for the most part, sitting in the car, for about 10 days and BOY could I feel the loss of fitness on the bike.   Kind of freaked me out.  

SO, I will have no guilt feelings hiking this weekend in Frontenac. 

Was hoping you would have some time to look at my race schedulel for next year in relation to Mussleman and let me know what you think - changes?   more?  less?   Two of the races are slotted into Wk 12 and 16 as recommended by Fitz.   The others were my additions.  

What do you think about Denise and I going on our 1/2 journey together?!  I think it is going to be great to have someone to share my challenges and victories with and hopefully we can learn alot from each other with you being our coach! 

Hope you have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING with the family.  

ANNE -

The schedule! Yes! That popped up a couple days ago, and Isaid I would get back to it "later". Does now count as "later"? (It might've been "later" still, had you not prodded me about it!)

Overall, I think it looks quite good, and any changes I would make would just be along the lines of nitpicking. I mentioned at some point that maybe Muskoka would be good as a tune-up for whichever HIM you chose, but I haven't seen the date posted for that yet. Trisport said it would revert to its old date after this G8 messed-up year, but maybe they've grown to like the late July date.

In any case, Guelph will do just fine, and then that allows you several weeks to get ready for Mussel. And there is a lot to be said for building that distance on one's own as opposed to doing it under the speed-pressure of a race. So, keep Guelph there and save Muskoka for some other year!

Would Early Bird be the sprint tri or the sprint du? Just curious!

If you are interested in a sprint tri in early june and wouldn't mind travelling a small ways, Keuka Lake has a good reputation. It is a finger lake or two west of Seneca (where Mussel is), so there would be some similarities in terrain. The website is www.keukalaketri.com, and they, like Mussel, have bargain accoms in a dormitory.

Soeaking of that, the upside to the dorms at Mussel is cost and convenience. The downside is that the rate is for 2 or 3 nights, and is non-refundable, I believe. I did the dorm when i did DoubleMussel in '08, and it worked really well. But last year I stayed in a motel in Seneca Falls, i think it was, and at least in thnat case I didn't have to worry about spending money early to save money (with the dorm), only to risk losing it all if I got myself hurt or something. I think the motel was a Microtel; I will try to find that info for you.

Bettween Mussel and Collingwood...........any thoughts? Lots of options, anyhow, in the peak of race availability at that time of year!

Thanks for your thoughts on losing fitness, which does seem to go kind of quickly with me. I had a remarkably good off-season in terms of running, the best I have had in 5 or 6 years. It would be a dream to experience the same thing in the off-season coming up, but I know I can't count on that at all. I just have to keep paying attention to myself and backing off when trouble rears its head.

It is really nifty that you and Denise will be going through this together; what were the odds of THAT happening, given the geographical separation (i.e., totally different race selections). In the few months that I toyed around with doing IMLouisville, a big motivator was baeing able to "train with" Lisa (hooslisa) from the other group. But in reality, she has a vry active tri club, and she hired a coach, and least but FAR from not least, she has a husband who did it with her, so it would've been pretty much a one-way street -- me leeching off her gains and setbacks. Plus, she's 30 and I'm whatever, which makes compartive training a bit difficult.

But you and Denise - close in age and mostly close in overall experience. There ought to be lots of "shared moments" en route, if you plan to use each other as Sounding Boards and Support Systems!

I knocked off 15.5km in a steady downpour yesterday and feel good today, prompting me to sign up for 9 Run Run and just get it cemented in there. But while it's "only" $70.....I'm still leery about shelling ouit that money unless I have close to complete confidence that my body won't rebel between now and the 23rd. i might wait for one more longish.........or maybe I'll just go there right now and do it. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead? Something like that?

ANNE again -

I think i'll go back and see just what kind of "off-season" I had last year. Part of this is inspired by your comments, and part from those funky little charts and survey in the recent issue of Triathlete. And, I guess, partly because it looks like my off-season is afst approaching -- or at least my post-tri-race season!

I've got my wallet in hand, about to go the the 9 Run Run website and see if I'm ready!

Thanks for the feedback, Steve.  

I really wanted to do Muskoka next year but with it going back to its original date of June 26th for the long course, I think it is too close to Mussleman for my comfort level.   It is a REALLY hard run course and I want to be cautious next year, but thought it would work well for maybe tuning up for IMLP if that dream comes true.

The early bird race is supposed to be a sprint but we are thinking (if the running is going well) that we could maybe do the Vic Du.   I've only done one duathlon in Ottawa in the fall a couple of years ago.   It was actually a day like they are forecasting for Friday - quite hot.   Anyway, boy was it hard.   The first run was fine, and the bike was pretty good, although I noticed the difference from getting on a bike after a swim vs a run.   But the 2nd run, OMG, I felt like I was walking backwards and my legs were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO heavy.   Still got a medal though.   You can figure out why.     Your thoughts?  du or sprint?

Thanks for the info on Keuka.  I was looking for something in the states, but couldn't find anything that weekend.   Will check it out.   Also didn't realize about the dorm accommodations.   Do we need to look after that sooner than later?

Those run races you mentioned sound pretty cool.   It's nice to have so many options.  I really do admire how disciplined you are in your training - getting out there in some unpleasant conditions - there is no question why you are the best.   To many of us (me included, I'm afraid) want the results w/o putting in the effort required to attain those results.  

I was most definitely the "idiot" in that scenario!  LOL. 

1st ride on my aeros.  I was a little weavy - maybe because I was going so slow.  Very comfortable - although I could feel a little something in my shoulders that hints a longer ride might be uncomfortable.  We'll see.

ANNE -

With Keuka, I think later is fine, but with Mussel sooner is better. I'm basing that on Mussel dorm accoms closing out much earlier than the race itself, whereas I think for Keuka this year the dorm option was still there into the final week before the race.

And I will think about du versus sprint. I've done some version of Early Bird 2 or 3 times, and it has never been warm. In fact, a few years ago it was snowing on race morning. Seriously!

ANNE again -

For both Mussel and Keuka, registration is handled by onemillionrevolutions, and what is greeat about this is that a list is available daily, broken down into age groups or simply totals. At the end of the latter list is how many are in, so if you know the race accepts 900, and 273 is the number at the bottom of the list, you still have loads of time to enter!

(In spite of this, I registered for Musselman on Nov. 1 '05, the day it opened. It turned out that gave me LOTS of time to tear my meniscus, resulting in eating that race fee. I was one of three people to register on the first day, and two of us didn't make it to the start. DOH!)

ANNE once more -

Speaking of which......
I came within a click or two of making 9 Run Run a sure thing, but balked just becasue I don't want to eat $75. They too have a list, and while it requires some counting and estimating, there are about 520 entered. As the race says it will accept 1200, I think I can afford to be prudent for another few days!

DENISE -

Were you to try a long ride tomorrow, yes, it would be uncomfortable. But you have many months until you start ramping up the mileage on the aerobars, and between now and then your shoulders will get accustomed to the new position. It may require a technical adjustment or two, but equally likely is that you will make all the internal adjustments the longer you ride on them. Don't despair!!

As for weavy, that's expected as well. I don't need to tell you that you've narrowed your "base" by being on the 'bars and so some lateral stability is lost, but this too will become something that will seem like nothing to you in a few months. If you could make the transition from that nice wide base of a tricycle to the narrowness of a bicycle 50-some years ago, you can easily master going from riding on the hoods to riding on the aerobars within the next few months!