GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 241)

STEVE -

I can respect you SO much more knowing you were the idiot! (We do so love our own kind! )

More pulled muscles gardening than I ever get training

I noticed that a lot too.  Even today, after a long ride, the neck and upper back can get sore.  There seems to be an art to keeping the head down and neck neutral that reduces that strain, but you need to be able to keep looking out the top of your eyes, or be comfortable glancing up the road every few seconds.  I'm not good at either.  LOL.

DENISE -

I hate repeating myself (worse: not being sure I'm repeating myself!), but at the risk (crertainty?) of doing so.....

I have found over the years that if I can keep my body and its assembled parts in running and/or cycling and/or swimming configurations, I'm mostly fine. The problems began when I allow my body to venture outside those Planes of Comfort. So, kicking a soccer ball, or throwing a baseball -- uh-uh, strictly forboden!

With gardening, that requires strains on my knees and toes that I try to avoid like the plague. So, my active involvemeent in gardening has diminished dramatically over the past 10 or so years. That is really too bad, because at one point we were both pretty avid about gardening. It was about 90% vegetables, and while we still grow some stuff, we have allowed our three gardens to shrink by over 50% -- maybe even 65%. One garden has just gone back to grass, one is only about 2/3 its original size, and the third is maybe 40% of what it once was. Quite sad, actually. But our soil is intrinsically lousy, so it was always a lot of work to get things to grow well.

What Lynn HAS allowed to prosper are various flower patches/stretches out front, so that's a highlight. But I do so miss the drama of planting a patch of corn and hoping for at least two ears that are edible!

DENISE again -

After the angst last weekend of those Tupper Lake points, it's been a terrific USAT Rankings week. On Monday the Tupper points were added, and that bumped me from 76.01 to 76.75, and from 66th to 56th. Then on Thursday the Half Vermont points got factored in, moving my "score" to 77.43, and my position up to 49th -- the top Honorable Mention, with just All-American above me. And then yesterday the two Fronhofer ones moved me up to 78.34, and my position to 36th -- with 13 All-American below me. I've never been this high before.....but don't know how long it will last before people start leap-frogging over me.

And then there are all the ones who will fall out because they didn't have the required three races. So it may be 36/993 now, but that 993 will probably be cut by a third when everything is done.

I still have two good ones left to be tabulated, but on the other hand I was hoping for more points from the Fronhofer ones. Oh, well. They were good, but I just wanted more. ("Gimme, gimme, gimme!") I think I need either Lake George or Make-A-Wish to be a 79, and then I will feel comfortable.

But, ultimately, it's all just numbers and silliness, right?

STEVE -

That's a very good description of the "art" of riding aero. I've got to somehow earmark that for future reference!

When I got my aero helmet a couple months ago, I learned immediately that one cannot take any lazy/slack shortcuts and hope the thing will work efficiently. In fact, those lapses where one drops their head and stares at the road whipping beneath them just cause the tail of the helmet to stick up and create greater wind resistance. So, there is a real premium on having a good riding position before venturing into the world of aero helmets!

What's your plan for the weekend?

SteveB - That is fantastic!  Great ranking! You knew you were having a good year, but that's really great.  When are they finalized - it's a ways into next year, right?

Chrissie's sick and has dropped out of Kona - wide-open for the women.

I've got Kona on the computer and Wisconsin/Minnesota football on TV.  We have to go to a wedding later today so I will miss the 1st Kona finishers (maybe I'll sneak my hsbands iPad into the church)

Denise

DENISE -

Oh, my, I didn't know that about Chrissie. Aside from the fact that everyone loves her......I'll be there are about eight women who very secretely are relieved, or who at least feel they have a new lease on life today.

Wisc-Minn.......where are your allegiances? Is it something like you went were a gopher but your daughter was a badger? Or reversed?

Finalization of the results? Hahahahaha! No, they should be finalized officially by March, but they will sit there for a month or so before that, unchanged. Prior to that there may be a seismic shift of points; last year it was suddenly everyone getting close to two points added to their total. It was across-the-board, so favored no one individual. One day I was 75.6304, say, and the next day it was 77.48923; I'm just pulling numbers there. Don't ask me why that happened!

And, Imp-On-My-Left-Shoulder, I have signed up for that half-marathon on Oct. 23, so that makes the end of my tri season official. I think I feel good about that! It seems nice to have a different focus, and yesterday I drove to the race site and ran 19km of it, leaving out just the first and last kms. This followed 15.5km elsewhere on Wednesday, so I think my legs are ready. My back, however, is balky after about 60-80 minutes of running, and I need to get that tended to soon. I haven't had back issues in years, and I'm not sure where this one came from. It just feels like my low-low-lower back is getting "compressed" during those longer runs. Bah.

Enjoy the Kona finish from the sanctified space of the church!!

GANG!

I'm off to Lynn's brother's wife's cottage until Monday.

Have fine, fine, super-fine weekends, and see you in a couple of days!

Steve:

It makes me sad! I really liked Randy Moss. I totally get that he was kind of a P.I.A., and Bill Belichick doesn't really tolerate those types of players, but I still feel like the trade was premature. I think they could have got a few more good seasons out of him. I found an interesting article on it:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmonsnfl2010/1010...

By the way, I haven't given up on my training even though I don't post too much these days! It's been a crazy last couple of weeks. We had to put our dog down last week so that was tough. And work has been super busy. Also, I'm afraid to say that swimming and biking have fallen by the wayside lately because I've sort of taken to running these days. And running is pretty boring - not much to post about, you know??

Hope all is well with everyone!

Tracey

Lisa! Lisa! You had a race this weekend - yesterday, right.  I just remembered today.  Tell us about it.

Tracey - Glad you're still around.  I've done nothing but run a little bit the past 6 weeks, but going to ramp up the bike mileage pretty soon.

Denise

Hi everyone
I was just checking to see if anyone was still posting, and lo & behold, it seems you all are as active as at the start.
I am wondering you you mind if I jump back into the group?
Mark

Hey Mark,

Great to hear from you.   Welcome back to the group!!!  

What have you been up to the past few months?   Hope things are going well for you.  

Although I didn't run this summer, I had a great season with lots of aqua/bikes and have started back 'learning to run' a few weeks ago.

Anne

STEVE,

Had a wonderful weekend in Frontenac - beautiful weather and lots of hiking/backpacking.  Got a good run in today as well. 

Moved up to 3' run/1' walk from 2.5. This was the best run I have had in years; felt VERY good - form was on and hips, ankles, knees and legs were strong and stable. Running 3 minutes was not a problem at all.

Am positive the hiking with 35+ lbs on back over rocks and roots with steep inclines/declines helped with the strength and stability.

No neuroma. 
Sept. 26th, 5km walk/run (2'/1') pace was 7.26.
Today (5km walk/run (3'/1') pace was 7.22.

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving.  

MARK, welcome back!!  Good to hear from you again.  Let us know what your plans are.

ANNE, glad to hear that your run went so good today!  Hope things keep going well for you.

Not the best weekend ... my husband talked me into taking Friday off since the carpet installers (and our company) were coming. He got up at 6 am to run to get me a bagel, only to walk outside to find his 3 month old truck sitting on its rims with the tires and wheels stolen.  REALLY, right out of our driveway??  So, that's how our day started out.  Was running around all day trying to get things pulled together, carpet installers didn't leave until 7:30 pm, and then we had to get all the beds put together and made.  Totally exhausting day, then couldn't sleep Friday night, waking up every 30 minutes.

And, yes, DENISE, then I had my race on Saturday ... 10 miles ... 60 degrees at the start, 70 degrees at the finish.  I was hoping to finish in under 2 hours and my official time was 2:01:06.  My fastest miles were 1, 7, and 9, and I just kind of gave up at mile 10 when I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make my 2 hours (pace was 1'/mile slower than most of my miles).  I just don't have much of a competitive nature ... my husband asked me: "You couldn't have come up with 1' of competitiveness?"  He's right ...ugh!  I've got lots of work to do in the next 8 weeks before St. Jude's ... mentally and physically. Got some new running shoes (another pair of Nike Vomero 5s) in hopes they will give me a mental adjustment ... hoping to try them out tomorrow.

LISA

YO! Gang!

Got back late last night, and just didn't even bother to turn on the computer. But here I be, and I see there is some activity i have to attend to so without further ado........

MARK -

GREAT to have you back here, and you're always welcome -- no matter how long the hiatus!

I hope you had a good summer, doing something more persoanlly fulfilling than ferrying around your daughters. I mean, that can have its elements of fulfillment, but after a while.......

Anyhow, if you have the time the time and/or inclination fill us in on your going-ons; otherwise, just keep jumping in as you see fit!

LISA -

No, no, no......not the best of weekends. That wheel story is something else, enough to throw anybody off their game for much more than a day. That's just not the sort of thing that one budgets for -- four complete wheel/tire configurations. That's just awful. (And you didn't even get your early-morning bagel!)

As for the 10-miler, 2:01:06 is clsoe enough to count for a very, very decent effort and result! As for the notion of 1' of competitiveness at the end......unfortuantely, it doesn't usually work out that way. I mean, one can put forth a spurt at the end and hope to reclaim some time, but over the course of soemthing quite long, such as a 10-miler, to hope to gain back 66" is really tough. Propbably the best hope is to note your time at somewhere between 5 and 7 miles, and then make the adjustments and hope to hold them for those final 3-5 miles. But had I been in your Vomeros on Saturday, i would've done just what you did -- the quick math combined with the quick systems check........and realize that it wasn't going to happen!

So, anyhow, I don't think he was quite right in what he said about your end-of-run competitiveness. And at least you didn't blow yourself up in the process of trying to nail back a minute-plus of time in an effort to get sub-two. Or worse -- you didn't induce an injury in the process. For me, a big impassioned finish will often aggravate an Achilles or two, and that just isn't worth it.

And although you are slightly disappointed, the fact that you had god miles as far into it as miles 7 and 9 is a big positive. A lot of people in a 10-miler or beyond will just fade after about four miles, but you had enough in the tank to run well during a couple of the later miles. I think that bodes really well for the longer stuff to follow! Ta-da!

TRACEY -

Good to have you back, too! I figured that you were suffering the Red Sox blues, and then along came the Moss thing and I didn't know if you would EVER return!

P.I.A.? ???

I'm sorry about your dog, and I hope we aren't too close behind you. Luna is 13 years and 3 months, and getting more dottery each week. Nothing dramatic, just something here, something there. For a medium-sizer she's done really well, but........

And there's ALWAYS something to say about running! But beyond the thrills and chills of run-training, are you feeling okay about the Halloween 10km? I guess that no news is good news, and that if you didn't say anything in your post about being way behind in your training, you must be feeling pretty good about it. Yes??

LISA again -

Just wondering -- have you ever tried to rigorously follow a pacing plan for one of your longer races? I think they can be useful for anything 10km or beyond, although they don't always work for everyone.

I was looking at a half-marathon one last night, and it was perfectly balanced -- that is, if I run 4:45/km for the 21.1km, I'll finish in 1:40:30. I've done this sort of thing a couple of times, and it's kept me good and honest, as well as helping me get closer to my time goal. Of course, it requires a course that has regular mileage markers, but for St Jude and Houston I'm sure they will be present ----- and maybe even accurately placed!

I was using some simple calculations gotten off the Toronto Marathon website. Let me know if you think rigorous pacing might work for you, okay?

ANNE -

Yeah, you sure dis pick a beauty of a weekend to be in Frontenac -- so much better than the previous weekend. EVERYone is Ontario and Quebec had at least the weather to be thankful for over the past few days!

Great news on the running, and lasoi the thought that traipsing around with 35lbs on your bag were useful and helpful. I shudder at the very thought of it, but I'm glad it worked for you!

And no neuroma! Halleloo!!!!!

STEVE B, unfortunately, I think my husband is right on this one.  I wouldn't have had to make up any time at the end if I would have just kept up the pace I'd been at for the last mile, and I would have come in ahead of my goal.  Just mind games at the end.

1	11m 50s	1.01 miles	11m 46s /mile	144	155
2	11m 54s	1.00 miles	11m 58s /mile	149	160
3	12m 20s	1.02 miles	12m 08s /mile	151	160
4	12m 19s	1.01 miles	12m 10s /mile	152	162
5	11m 46s	0.97 miles	12m 06s /mile	155	166
6	12m 05s	1.01 miles	11m 58s /mile	155	164
7	11m 39s	0.99 miles	11m 46s /mile	161	171
8	11m 58s	1.01 miles	11m 53s /mile	162	171
9	11m 42s	0.99 miles	11m 46s /mile	163	170
10	12m 50s	1.01 miles	12m 45s /mile	160	169
11	00m 44s	0.07 miles	10m 53s /mile	163	167

The insurance adjustor came yesterday and will reimburse us $4400 minus our $250 deductible for the wheels and tires.  We weren't aware that the Chevy/GMC 20" chrome wheels are the hottest stolen item right now ... they just happened to come with the truck that we bought.  (Nor were we aware that they're priced at $800 a piece, then add in the the lug nuts, caps, tire pressure sensors, and on top of that the tires at $200 a piece).  Not really what we needed when we just laid down money for new carpeting, but I guess that's why we pay outrageous insurance premiums in Harris County.  My husband got new wheels and tires yesterday (not the same ones) and will use the money left over for a remote alarm system that will activate the remote if someone is messing with the vehicle ...  all we had was an intrusion alarm.

This morning when I got back from my run at about 6:05, my husband was standing in the front yard.  I asked him what he was doing and he said he was worried because I wasn't home yet and normally get home by 6:00.  I told him it was just that I couldn't quite make up my mind if I really wanted to get out this morning so I took off a bit later.  Just frustrating that you have to be concerned about the goings on in your own neighborhood.

LISA

STEVE B again, check this out ... http://www.marathonguide.com/fitnesscalcs/PaceBandCreator.cfm.  This is actually what I used on Saturday and have used for my last half (so I knew how close I was to making my goal time, and could have/should have done it).  If you put in the time you want to finish, it will calculate what your pace needs to be at each mile.  You print it up, cut it out, and it forms a "bracelet".  I cover it with mailing tape and put it around my race belt.  I was right on schedule up until the last mile. 

LISA

PIA = pain in a** :D

Running is going pretty well. I've been trying to get out for 3 - 4 runs per week. 2 of them are shorter (2 and 2 1/2 miles), 1 is usually 5k distance, and then I do a longer run that has been increasing in distance by 1/2 mile per week. I'm currently up to 5 miles this week for my long run, so I'm feeling pretty good for the 10k.