stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL (Page 242)

thanks for giving me a morning chuckle, neil.  ALL of your reasons for doubting this position make total sense, but this one was just entertaining.  i can't say i blame you at all.  sounds like your gut is telling you what the right choice is here.

congrats also on really remarkable training successes lately.  how long ago was it that you were in a boot?  i'm so impressed by your tenacity.  keep the updates coming!

i can't speak to the over distance since loo was my longest ride ever, BUT my coach had me do back to back 100m rides (usually on fri/sat) with a 20-30 min brick off of one of them (your pick) and then a sunday long run.  We did one in late april/early may, one in early july and then another in late july. 

What i can speak to is that other than my seat hurting, i NEVER got fatigued on the loo bike.  ever.  to this moment, i am shocked at how good that bike felt.  shocked at HOW prepared i was.

those training weekends were hard.  it was painful getting back on the saddle on saturday and even worse doing a long run on trashed legs, but i really think those long runs are what made the marathon at loo so doable.  i was pretty used to doing 16+ miles long runs that felt like death from the beginning.  honestly, your legs feel worse when you've done 200 miles on them in the past 2 days then when you've done 112 miles immediately before.  DOMS has time to set in.  miserable.

that's my $.02.

i went for my first run yesterday.  around 2.4 miles.  ugh.  i really just wanted to get the legs moving before this sundays olympic.  it's going to be a hot mess, that's for sure.  i'm counting on adrenaline to get me through.  it kind of sucks because this race is a huge local race for us.  there are 30+ members of our team (of which 6+ are women in my age group) and a ton of others volunteering and spectating.  AND it's followed up by our fall party.  i'd love to go in there and dominate, but i just don't see that in my future for this one.  boo.  i need to just keep in perspective what i'm coming off of here. 

swimming on the other hand, is feeling really good right now.  really good.  i'm excited about what i can accomplish here in the off season.

i've been doing a lot of research on competitors and on off season training in the past few days.  i'm revved up for next year already. 

steve, i know you love numbers and research of your own.  i wish that we lived closer so we could meet for coffee and just look over databases and reports together   i could talk all day about this stuff.

anyway, i plan on hitting the pool again today.

it's strange, loo was such a big part of my year.  it came and went, and immediately afterward the weather changed.  we've been dealing with extremely low humidity and you can feel the hint of fall moving in.  the outdoor pools closed after labor day, summers over.....all this change and completion in a short period of time feels like a big chapter closing behind me.  part of me doesn't want things to change so quick because it's been such a successful and rewarding season, but the other part of me is excited for what the future holds.

hope you are all having great mornings!

hey all,

back from the reston tri.  it really went as well as i could have hoped for.  i knew that i was racing in a stacked age group and that placing would be tough on my best day, let alone 2 weeks after loo.  my goal going into it was to pr everything, and i was successful.  i am really happy with that. 

i finished the swim in 29:20.  my previous best was 30:16.  honestly, i was disappointed with this.  i was hoping for more.  that definitely has to be a focus in the next 10 months.

I show a time of 1:50 for t1 on my garmin, which is terrible for me, but the chips they use are GIANT and i had to take both my chip and my garmin off to get my wetsuit off.  you also then need to get your stuff in a bag they give you because the volunteers then bring it to the second transition area (separate t1s and t2s).  i was feeling pretty flat in t1.  was not feeling the race.

i was smoking on the bike.  garmin shows 1:01:55.  previous best was 1:07:04.  i'm especially happy with this because it was POURING all morning.  it let up while i was on the bike, but it was still raining and the course was a disaster.  puddles everywhere and this course has a lot of hard turns.  i also saw a teammate on the side of the road and asked if he needed anything.  he said not unless i had a tubular (which i did), so i stopped and gave him my tubular and sack of equipment.  took about a minute, maybe.  not sure.  we had some trouble getting my sack off.  i new i was off to a good start, but it was the right thing to do.  i hope when it happens to me some day that someone helps me out.  no biggie.

t2, i don't have accurate data on just yet.  prob in the 1:00 range

the run i was pretty wasted on, but i just kept begging myself not to choke.  finished it in 45:32.  previous best was 49:00.  nice.  7:29 averages.  i'll take it. 

in the end i placed 5 overall, 2nd AG and it was a total of a 10:31 min PR.  i'm really pleased.

ryan finished in 2:16:30, also a pr.  he's also really happy.

steve, as an fyi, i saw ole joe o'G placed THIRD AG!!!!  didn't see times.  not sure if his time just dropped off or if there are some other guys creeping out of the woodwork.  maybe you crushed his spirit so much last year that he's never recovered

anyway, just wanted to give you the wrap up.  i have to run to the fexy party.

steve again.  i believe it was after rumpass in april that you asked me how much of my improvement i felt was due to the new bike.  i honestly have thought of that many times this year.  now i have my answer.  reston last year was my first race on lil' roo.  i did it in 1:07:04.  i was significantly faster this year.  i'm relieved.  i won't lie

more later.

jess, how is the moving coming along?!  i wish you all the best in your new place!!!!

hey steve,

yes, 5th overall woman.  3:07 behind the winner (my friend).  the results are out and i am ECSTATIC with my bike time.  here are the bike splits of the 4 women in front of me 1:05:56, 1:05:31, 1:05:23, 1:04:22.  mine was 1:01:25 WITH the stop to help my teammate.  that might be one of my top 5 highlights of the season so far.  when did i become a cyclist?!  I was only 2 min behind ryan and he was trying to "crush it".  seriously?  whoa.  i LOVE my bike.  love it.  she's a year old last week. 

in april before the first race of the season i bought a friends used race wheels.  they are tubulars.  i've had them all season.  i've never had race wheels before so i can't really compare them to clinchers.  i've also never flatted on them before so i can't comment on that comparison either.  the teammate that i stopped to help was not able to change them anyway.  he couldn't get his wheel off.  couldn't pry it off the rim.  that's a little worrisome....but i LOVE how my wheels feel.  when i put them on i feel like i'm flying.  i love them.

hmmm, what else did you ask.  i'll have to go check.

oh, yes, i did see scott's one second victory.  there is a picture of it too somewhere that i'll try to find and send to you.  he blew past the guy in the final chute.  i don't know if he even saw it coming.  it looked to me that scott had been probably gaining on him the whole run and just had enough time.  it was pretty cool.

interesting before and after.  first pic was rumpass this year.  second pick was loo.

RR here:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=226607

hey steve,

quickly, i was about 118lb at Bumpass and for most of race week at loo i was 111-112, although come race day i was 114 from eating pasta the two days before.

so funny you should mention that about the ear flaps.  ryan just pointed out to me that mine is bent.  not cracked, but bent exactly where you mentioned.  i have always put my helmet in my transition bag, which is fine for a regular helmet, but those wingspan ear flaps are just too fragile to do that.  he babys his and it's fine.  i get that is the trick.  i'm not sure what performance impact it will have, but seeing as yours is so new, I would probably email the company or the store where you bought it.

Lisa - I love the contrast of your two photos.  I echo all of Steve's comments.  In the loo one you just look so incredibly fit.  Great picture.  Great job on the recent race.  If that is how you perform 2 weeks after loo, you would have placed top 3 for sure otherwise.  Impressive.

thanks, mindy!  ...and i echo what steve asked...how's the training for the half coming?

are you back into the school swing of things yet?  does this make life calmer or crazier?

as for 2011, it'shaping up to look like this:

early season local marathon: run way slower than capable of.

april: rumpass double (oly on sat, sprint on sun)

end april: tour de skyline (2 day untimed ride along skyline drive)

early may: kinetic half iron (sat)...and then possibly the kinetic sprint on sun

end may: TTT Ohio (gulp)

June: maybe another oly?  ...or possibly bath county triathlon (sprint).  if i do both rumpass' and kinetics, bath county would be my 5th race in the virginia triathlon series.  they have annual awards, but 5 races are required.  mighty montauk is also a contender, but they say the water temp will likely be mid 50s.    i don't know if i can handle that.

july: IM LP

Sept: Reston world championships...aiming for a sub hour bike and top 3 woman.

oct: ??!!??

Nov: JFK 50 ultra?....babies.....???

i'm tired from just typing this

but for 2010, I still have clearwater.  this has been a dream of a season, and i've hit every goal i've had.  the performance at the reston tri has inspired one last goal and that is a sub 5 hour performance at clearwater.  i think this is very possible.  i did a 5:13 at eagleman and the swim by all accounts was WAY long.  this goal, of course, requires i maintain a decent amount of training through november.  i have mixed feelings about this.  i know that i don't do moderation very well.  i'm either all in or all out.  if i didn't train for november, i'm pretty afraid that between now and jan i'd do nothing and lose a TON more fitness than i should.  training for clearwater will limit my total down time to a month and a half.  this is probably good.  on the other hand, i'm tired.  i was surprised by how terrible i felt for a few days after reston.  really sore and really sleepy.  i'm feeling much better today, so hopefully that is a good sign.  both scott and i know that right now i'm walking a fine line between recovering enough and pushing too hard too soon.  i'm trying to listen to my body.  it's been a long year, and will likely be a longer, harder year next year.  i want to be smart now.

....so, we both had something come up the weekend of the make a wish and won't be able to come   a couple we're friends with are getting married and both of them are doing their bachelor/bachelortte parties that weekend.  we can't turn them down.  i'm bummed  

what's your thought for 2011? 

...quickly, not really on the fence about october, more just hoping to have a race on a certain island

rumpass last year was fun.  both, i suspect, will be big fexy races.  the rumpass course, i don't remember being anything to write home about.  the swim was nice because the water on that side of the lake is warmed a few degrees because of the nuclear power plant that is there (nice).  the bike, as i remember is pretty fast, nicely paved, with just a few little hills that could have you pushing out of the saddle.  the run is torture.  2 loops of an out and back.  ugh.  i hate those types of courses.  there are some deceptive hills on the run course.  nothing major, just enough to notice early in the season.  they gave out great gifts.  beer mugs!!  would be wasted on you, though.

i've never done kinetic.  there are a lot of people on fexy who've done both.  i'll post on the forums what they would recommend and put the link here.

i remember you doing mightyman, but i'm definitely not committing to anything post LP (other than reston).  given how i feel now, i'm definitely anticipating needing a break.

neil, i hear you on the running slow thing about the ultra, but it is just something on my bucket list.  i was initially planning on it for this year, but then got into clearwater.  my coach was pretty happy with that for the reason you named.  ...but next year, i'll have already done lake placid and there will definitely be no other IMs on my agenda for 2012, and we will be thinking of starting a family, so, i'm okay if doing an ultra makes me slower then.

one of the reasons i like the idea of the jfk 50 is because most of it is either on the appalachian trail or the c&o canal tow path (dirt for the most part).  i love trails in the fall/winter.  i find them to be very soothing.  some chilled out, slow trail running might be just what the doctor ordered after two years of IM craziness. 

on the trail running front, steve, have you seen the new newton trail shoe?  i likey.  a guy on our team works some way for newton and already has his pair.  not sure what he does, but his name is Anthony Lee.  he did well at this years LP and then just last weekend won third in his AG and, i think, top 10 amateur at the Rev3 full.

did you also see the prostate cancer shoe?  i'd love to support it, but i'm struggling cause it's not pink.  sad.

neil!!  what are you up to?  when are you coming east coast for us to meet you?  maybe kinetic half?  what's your fall schedule look like.  i know IMAZ, but which half are you doing again?

have a great day, y'all!!!