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stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL (Page 245)
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 2010-10-03 8:45 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master  1524   Reston, VA |  Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULLmindy and neil!!! great jobs this weekend!!! mindy, i'm really proud that you pushed through the whole process and ran the whole time. i know you struggled with this training. to push through when your head just isn't in it is hard. well done. maybe now you should fine something completely different that you can enjoy until you find your desire to run again. do you have the opportunity to trail run there...or maybe just casually ride your bike. keeping it fun is the most important thing. once it stops being fun, what's the point? neil, seriously? the 4th fastest bike? given your injury training hiatus? that's awesome. seriously. jess....48miles this week?! that beats my biggest week ever. that's impressive stuff. your going to crush your marathon.
...and steve, i echo what neil and jess said, it's no accident that the members of this group have excelled since being a part of your group. we love you. so, you assumed that no news is good news, and for us that has very much been the case. we went to our adoption event on Friday. it was okay. there were a few people interested in her that she could have been okay with, but when the van came to take the dogs back to the "ranch" where she had been for 1.4 years, she sat on my lap and started shaking like a leaf. we then found at that she had been adopted a few months ago. she was was adopted on a friday and returned the next day for not getting along with their existing dog. after the whole experience, ryan and i talked/fought and decided to adopt her. it's been a wonderful/exhausting/rewarding experience. training a new dog is just as hard as I remember it being. more soon.... |
| 2010-10-04 6:27 AM in reply to: #3130601 |
Champion 10618  | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL JESS - Phiily, here you come! That is an amazing first week of serious, focused training -- almost makes me think you have Lisa's 50-miler in mind instead of Philly! "Found time" -- it doesn't get much better than that, does it? My last couple of decades of work featured ~45-minute drives each way, and it's the same for Lynn. For me, "found time" more accurately involved "stolen" time -- leaving early, usually. Beyond that, it was the usual thing, squeezing in whatever would fit into whatever nooks and crannies of time were available. For maybe the first 4 or 5 years of my tri career, i was driving about 40 minutes each way into Ottawa three nights a week just to swim. So it was the dxrive home, then dinner, then into ottawa for the swim. It's hard to believe I did that so often. (And tragic that I didn't get markedly better in the process!  ) So ------ have you signed up for LBI? My good money says you did so last night! If you can keep the effort dampened just a bit, it should be a great way to get in 18 miles without he tedium of.....just getting in 18 miles. And you have the added incentives that you list, so it sounds like a very viable/desirable option! |
| 2010-10-04 6:43 AM in reply to: #3130791 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL NEIL - Well done, my man! You must be thrilled with the bike, and even though I hear your thoughts on the run, don't let it set you back; that was a long layoff you had from running. I should probably go back to my logs and see how long it took me to get my form back after some of my more lengthy injury-induced layoffs, such as the torn meniscus and the tibial stress fracture. I wouldn't want to cite guesstimates, but will just say that it was much longer than I wanted and expected! And wasn't that fun? You get all the thrill of doing a triathlon, and you're home a few hours later basically none the worse for wear. But the price tag on that one -- OUCH! Nevertheless, I say go for the oly next weekend! (Which one, and where?) I went through several years feeling that I would never get truly competitive at the oly distance. I knew I could hold my own in sprints and half-irons, where my speed abilities would carry me through the former and my endurance base would carry me through the latter, but somehow in olys the two didn't meld together to give me good competitive performances. But I've emphasized olys the past two seasons, and the results have come in. In hindsight, it was really just a matter of learning how to ride the bike hard while stay being able to run a strong 10km after it. ANYHOW, the upshot is that olys are now my new most favoritest distance -- suffer for 2.5 hours and then head for home! And they're mostly affordable, too! Beyond that, though, I really think that diddling around with the shorter stuff helps with the longer stuff. If you can turn in enough decent bike/run combos in olys, then the experience and confidence is there (or getting there) when one looks to ride 56 and run 13.1 well. At least that's the plan! Do the oly!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| 2010-10-04 6:56 AM in reply to: #3130859 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL LISA - Yay for Sable! Yay for you! YAY!!!! That's a nifty twist on an off-season -- go from heavy-duty training of oneself to heavy-duty training of a dog. Brilliant! So, do I understand the process correctly, that had you not decided to take her, she would've gone back to "the ranch"? That the fostering is only a couple of weeks, then an adoption event......then back to puppy-purgatory? Yikes; the pressure's on! As an aside to an aside to nothing apropos of anything, I've restoked my love affair with DeSoto stuff. Are you still thinking of switching Fexy gear over to DeSoto? Can't do any better than that, I think! And remind me to tell you something about a guy who did LOO in a maybe-unconventional peice of DeSoto gear. Later for that, though. As for the package headed to you, it isn't much -- just a few articles of clothing that weren't suitable for me. One is a giveaway from my bike shop, one is something I won at a race raffle that is related to a piece of equipment you use, and one also relates to something you use, and which I bought but which doesn't fit. I hope something of the three works for either you or Ryan, but if not then pass it along to some Fexy or other. And was Amy who I thought she might be? That was a VERY nifty race! No EFS to you yet, as I'm still working on making it work for me. My current effort is to "cut" it with some Carbo-Pro, which even though is flavorless still has some element of taste, or density, to it. It is helping with the grape EFS, but maybe not enough to convince me to stick with it. Love the Liquid Shot, though!  |
| 2010-10-04 11:03 AM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master 1547 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL Here is the link to the Oly this weekend. And it's only 45 minutes away. Race only $115 so thats much better. I will decide by Wed. Still planning on doing another >75 mile ride this weekend on Sat. |
| 2010-10-04 12:24 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master 1524 Reston, VA | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL quicky, no the person you described was Doria. Amy has light brown/blonde hair and is medium build.
here's a pic of Roo in action at the agility course this weekend. http://www.jimpoor.com/photocart/index.php?do=photocart&viewImage=307011
more tonight! |
| 2010-10-04 6:31 PM in reply to: #3131825 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL LISA - Roo? ROO!! ("Sable" no more!) Honest to god, you win the Doggy-Mom of the Month Award. I mean, to take a maladjusted muttski and within a week or so turn her into something that can handle a full-scale dog-event with impunity.....that really is something else! I think Amy should've come up to me and said hello. After all, there I was, just a poor boy long ways from home......... |
| 2010-10-04 6:41 PM in reply to: #3131608 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL NEIL - I say do it. (I'll bet you didn't see that coming, did you?  ) Even though you won't be 100% for it, given a likely 75-miler the day before, there's something to be said for doing a race under such duress just to recapture that feel along about the time an iron is about to shift from the bike to the run. And 45 minutes away! You can probably hear its siren call beckoning you! |
| 2010-10-04 6:44 PM in reply to: #3132626 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL LISA again - With respect to my post to you above........uh, er, I do have the right dog, yes? That photo IS of Roo (nee Sable), isn't it??? Please say yes, or else I'll feel like a chowderhead and be forced to entirely remove that post above! |
| 2010-10-04 7:59 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master 1524 Reston, VA | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL no post removal necessary. that is Roo, formally known as Sable. ....she was renamed in part due to her skill at the agility course, and in part she was name after my bike. she's just been a great addition to our home. i love her so much. it has been so much fun working on her training this past week. she is really so trainable. it's also been so rewarding to see her become happier and happier with each passing day. as she settles into having a home and a family, she becomes so fun to be around. we had a major issue with her growling at my mother this weekend, though. that is the only bad thing so far. i'm going to start recruiting local friends to come over and help us work through her issues with house guests. i'm hopeful that she'll grow to be a model citizen. when i first got her she pulled SO HARD on the leash. in just a week, i've gotten her to walk pretty on a loose leash near me most of the time. we tried to go for a little run today and she was great. ran right beside me. so much progress. as of tonight she has sit pretty much down. we're having a blast. i'm now especially glad that i decided not to do clearwater because we won't have to leave her AND my training is so much more laid back now, which affords me more time and energy on working with her. i did sneak in a 2.5 hour run on sunday. it was nice to turn off my pace display on my garmin and just run. it was even better to come back home to a dog that acted like life had just begun again when i walked through the door.
OH, we got your package today. thank you!!! i love the visor, and the shirts fit ryan perfectly. he really liked them. your package also afforded us a training opportunity. the mailman brought it to our door, so i was able to have Roo sit at the door after he knocked. thank you!!! ....gotta run.
lisa |
| 2010-10-04 8:17 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master 1547 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL Well I suppose I will do this. After this weekend there is only 6 more weeks till IM so I need to focus more of my weekends on the really long stuff. SO this may be my last race day prep/have some fun. I had a chance to look at some other BTers garmin data for the race and it is quite hilly...as in need the road bike "European Style" hilly (see data link) . That should make it fun. |
| 2010-10-04 8:19 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Expert 745 Bethesda, MD/Northern NJ | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL Love the picture of Roo! So intense! I've always wanted to try agility with Eli - was that your first time ever doing it? How did it go? Things are still ok here - of course, because I said yesterday that I was feeling really good despite my high mileage week - I woke up with a nasty cold this morning. It's just the change in temperature, I always get a cold this time of year. Boooo. Just sore throat and headache though, so I will be pushing forward tomorrow. It's all above the neck! (I love living by that rule you gave us Steve - above the neck, go ahead, below - rest). I was looking through my marathon books, trying to find a training plan that I could adapt to myself - just so I have a little more purpose to my runs instead of just showing up at the gym and trying to hit 45-50 mpw. I am going to try to jump into Pfitzinger's 55mpw (peak)/12 week plan. I'll jump in with 7 weeks left. The plan shows the following runs for this week: Monday: rest Tuesday: Recover - 5 miles Wednesday: 12 miles, medium long Thursday: Rest/Cross training Friday: 11 mile lactate threshold run - 6 miles at 15k to half marathon race pace (probably around 8:30-8:45 for me) Saturday: Recovery- 5 miles Sunday: Long run - 18 miles (I'll do LBI for this one!) Seems perfect! I rested today, easy 5 and a little cross-training tomorrow, then some more heavy duty runs later in the week. Following this will have me hit 51 miles this week. I can do it! Rar! Ok, early to bed because of this cold. Hope you all had a fantastic day I vote FOR the Oly Neil! |
| 2010-10-05 9:29 PM in reply to: #3132733 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL LISA - That's a wonnderful account of the evolution of Roo -- and you. The second-to-last paragraph ("I did sneak....") is especially moving. Good, too, on you finding peace of mind with your training -- whatever you do, whenever you do it, and for however long. That is probably the key to a successfully rejuvenating off-season, just allowing yourself to dial it all back and do things for the love of doing them, or for whatever small therapeutic benefits they offer at the time. If you can maintain this for ????long, you should enter your actual training season really rarin' to go. How's Ryan doing in this regard? Is he proving mostly able to "let it go", to step away and re-focus? I find it really tough.........although it's been several years now since I was on anything approaching a comprehensive training plan. Thinking about it, though, it was easier for me when Erik was there to dictate my off-season; I'm not near as inclined to take an adequate one on my own. That funky little chart in the current issue of Triathlete suggests I should be at about 6 weeks of "work-less" --- for whatever that's worth. |
| 2010-10-05 9:35 PM in reply to: #3132753 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL NEIL - Just six more weeks?? Time flies! I was reading the account of John Hirsch at American Zofingen, and he was talking about using his road bike for that hellaciously hilly course. I will try to re-find the link for that, although it probably doesn't matter to you as you seem to have made up your mind about this weekend. I hope you do have fun with it! I also hope you manage to get in a good ride on Saturday -- in pasrt to set the stage for Sunday Funday. But that distance out from an iron is still plenty of time to have a fun race, especially if you can squeeze in one or two "learning moments" during it. But maybe in this case it will be enough to experience a long ride followed by a tough bike, just to up the ante of comparative suffering! |
| 2010-10-05 9:39 PM in reply to: #3132756 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL JESS - Feeling better today?? The Pfitzinger plan looks great; I really like his stuff a lot. Not to be an old nanny, but just be careful about this week if you're still feeling a bit lousy. Modify any of the ones leading up to LBI, if necessary. But if you are already mostly back to normal, then 51, here you come! Rrrrrrrr!!!! |
| 2010-10-06 9:37 AM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master 1547 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL Steve, Tonight is the last night to sign up for the race. I am still waiting to make my decision. At this point it is mostly based on weather. It has been reaining for 2 days now...if it continues that could be a nasty (and potentially dangerous) bike ride. Oh and not sure if I ever told you through my love of riding the steep grades...my road bike only has 8 speeds. Yes, it is a 98 lemond chambery that I have had since 2000. Lots of miles on it. I often wish I had a few more gears...but oh well. Although now the bike technology has really gotten nice, so perhaps my next purchase will be a new roadie (yeah right...I have been saying that for years). So the decision...a possibly wet and nasty climb...or not. I still think it may be a good HTFU type of day. we'll see how I feel this evening. |
| 2010-10-06 12:07 PM in reply to: #3135769 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL NEIL - So, I will wait until after this evening before I schedule you in for my Vicarious Pleasure for the weekend! Eight speeds for tough climbs? Yikes! What is you cassette range for that? My first serious bike was also from 2000, an Aquila. It is a road bike that was retrofitted with a few tri-toys, and it too is just 8-speed. I was told that it could probably be modified for a larger cassette, but i haven't purued it. Also, sadly, i have not been on it since I got my first Cervelo in '01, just over a year after i got the Aquila. So, in essence, the Aquila carried me through a year of training and just my first three triathlons, in '00. It sure deserved better than I gave it, I think! |
| 2010-10-06 6:04 PM in reply to: #3136323 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL Well, my attitude towards WTC is now even more aggravated. In short order I have learned: (1) That Muncie70.3 has a 60-day "blackout" of multisport events at its venue -- which is the only swimmable site in that area. This is 30 days on either side of Muncie70.3, and apparently affects two multisport events that fall within that timeframe. WTC asked for this, and was granted it. To me, that is awful, yet another blow to the small operators who try to run races for - apparently - the love of it. (2) There is now a 5150 series, which has a roster of higher-profile olympic races. Having seen half-iron prices skyrocket since 70.3 came on the scene a few years ago, I guess I now have to brace myself for olys becoming more expensive -- regardless of whether or not they are in 5150. Of course, one can argue that nobody is forcing independent oly RDs to raise their prices, but human nature and the concept of a "seller's market" being what they are, I can see the average oly being about $125 in a few years -- which is about what the average half-iron was only 5 or 6 years ago. (I think I paid $125 for Eagleman in '03 and '04!) Whine, whine, whine...... And maybe worse, the Patriots traded randy Moss for a THIRD-ROUND draft pick in 2011. Good god almighty! |
| 2010-10-07 6:38 AM in reply to: #1896958 |
Expert 745 Bethesda, MD/Northern NJ | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL IF you need somewhere to direct your anger, Steve, direct it towards my cold. I'm still way-layed. Boo. I tried running yesterday, I made it like 4 miles and had to call it quits. This sucks. I slept over 9 hours last night. My priority right now is avoiding having all of this junk migrate into my chest. Anyway, off I go. |
| 2010-10-07 7:16 AM in reply to: #3137700 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL JESS - Nine hours is good! String a few of those or similar efforts together, and you should be right as rain in no time! I guess it's too early in the new-job game to take off sick time, eh? It would probably be far better for you to just shamble around the apartment than to undergo the deamnds of work.....but at least at work you have a far better chance of having the thing latch onto somebody else. I like to think that colds and flus and kind of like ticks and fleas in that they can completely leave one organism for another.....but I guess it doesn't work that way, does it? I'm not sure anger is the right word for my feelings towards WTC. Frustration is abig part of it, and maybe in time desperation wil enter into it, too, if funds get real tight for us and I can't find any/many races I can actually afford! I AM angry about the Muncie thing, however, as I see it two ways: that there are many more people who cannot physically do a half-iron and need local, shorter races, and that there are many people who cannot afford to pay $250 or more to race. And a third way -- that there are independent race directors who have amassed a sizeable arsenal of equipment for their own little races........and now they have been shoved aside. So unless things have been overstated, all those folks in central Indiana just lost a couple of chances to race -- all because WTC doesn't want anything to jeopardize their precious turf. (Apparently, this maybe has its roots in venues/municipalities that have had tragedies, such as drownings, getting gun-shy about future races. So WTC doesn't want somthing that might happen on, say, June 30 jeopardizing its race on July 17.) Yeah, I'm angry about that. And if I had a sure-fire way to cahnnel that anger to the elimination of your current pestilence, i would do so in a heartbeat! As it is, i will just send some of my garden-variety mojo your way! |
| 2010-10-08 10:07 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master 1547 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL was reading the race site info for my Sunday morning Oly. I particularly like this paragraph: "This is road triathlon but participants should have good bike handling skills for the long climbs and steep descents. It could be the hardest, most technical and ultimately, the most rewarding bike course in the US. We recommend that participants try to ride the bike course before the race if possible." |
| 2010-10-09 8:51 AM in reply to: #3142149 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL NEIL - Oh, yes, that is very appealing -- all the better to heighten the vicariousness factor for me! As for you, are you salivating at the mere thought of it? The one in NC (Pinehurst) that I toyed around with doing is perhaps similar, or at least calling the bike course tough and one that rewards strong cyclists. I understand that it has no major climbs, but lots of hills and rollers and, maybe, some more technical spots. But it doesn't read quite like yours! |
| 2010-10-09 2:36 PM in reply to: #3142334 |
Champion 10618 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL NEIL!!! JESS!!!! Have great races tomorrow! I'm off to Lynn's brother's wife's cottage a day earlier than expected, and won't be back until Monday. Race well, have fun! |
| 2010-10-10 7:20 PM in reply to: #1896958 |
Expert 745 Bethesda, MD/Northern NJ | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL Steve! Sorry to disappoint - I didn't race today. I just wasn't ready for it after the week I had... Didn't want to rush anything - I could have done it, but I was really trying to avoid having the cold migrate into my chest. On the plus side, I am feeling 95% as of today. I got in 7 miles on Friday, which felt good. But rested yesterday and today. I'm ready to jump back in to training tomorrow. Rar! Went to the Dodge Poetry Festival in Newark today instead. Absolutely FABULOUS. I had been a bunch of times in high school (when they held it out in west NJ by us) - this is the first year it was in Newark. It is the biggest poetry festival in North America, I think. It was great Hope everyone had a good weekend! Can't wait to hear how Neil's race went! Edited by ThatGirl 2010-10-10 7:20 PM |
| 2010-10-11 10:11 AM in reply to: #1896958 |
Master 1547 | Subject: RE: stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL That was a tough course. 4hr 7min was my time! That bike course was killer. 3 huge climbs. I was going 4-7 mph riding up hill. The descents were great of course, but they seemed short lived, even though one of them was 7 miles long. I would love to go back to this race again as a better climber. The front of the field defenetly won this race on the bike. I will def be on the lookout to do this race again next year. I gotta say though I dont think I will be signing up for the 70.3 AS I was leaving a lot of those participants were coming off the bike...which was doubly painful I am sure...but as I got in the car it was 95 degrees out. SO they were going to be suffering again on the run as well. So, no 70.3 for me, but I will do the oly again. |
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