GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 248)

Lisa,

My husband and I were just at the Dairy Queen (partly so my husband could complain again about their removal of butterscotch malts from the menu) and the lady behind the counter said her daughter had called from Houston and said she is FREEZING.

DENISE -

Thank you for those links, as I had missed that entirely. Actually, I had heard talk quite a while ago about the concept, but I didn't know it had come to pass -- albeit briefly!

I have so many problems with WTC, and they just keep sprouting. Most recently was the decision to have the "Ironman 5150" series, which is for high-profile olympic-distance races. As if it wasn't bad enough to call half-irons "Ironman 70.3", this is even worse. For a corporation that doesn't allow other races to use the "ironman" word, WTC shows absolutely no respect for it itself.

I love half-irons, and have done about 18 of them. But I have NEVER considered myself an ironman for having done them! Moreover, i have done many more olys, and they DEFINITELY aren't ironman races. And as with races in the 70.3 series that use the M-dot in their logos, I suspect the M-dot will be part of the 5150 series logos. Bah.

Beyond that, WTC is pretty much solely responsible for huge price increases for half-irons, especially in their own 70.3 series. There are several 70.3 races that I love, but won't do them because they are now over-priced AND over-crowded. WTC has never shyed away from putting too many people on a course, and while an argument can be made for providing more spots for people who want to race, at some point safety has to enter into the picture. As a corollary (wrong word?) to the price increass, WTC offers really puny refund policies. Bah X2!

And did you follow the mess WTC created in Muncie when the Muncie Endurathon became Muncie70.3? Granted, that eventually got settled in favor of a few small races that would've been squashed by the WTC-requested 60-day "blackout", but it should never have made it that far. Of course, Muncie Parks and Rec and Muncie City Council deserve some blame for their initial kowtwing to WTC, but if WTC really cared about triathlon-at-large, they wouldn't've posed as the Bully of the Block by making that absurd request in the first place. BAH X7!!!

Finally, WTC ought to take better care of their irons and half-irons before they diversify even further. Two recent examples are running out of stuff at a couple of aid stations at Ironman Louisville on a very hot day, and running out of medals at Augusta70.3. How the heck does this stuff happen? With people paying $550 at IMLOO, and with so many DNS who paid but obviously didn't need any aid cuz they didn't race, there should've been more than enough drink and other stuff for every athlete, right up until midnight. And while medals at a 70.3 aren't quite so critical, it mattered to a lot of people who went without -- and after finishing couldn't even find an official official to talk to about it.

Hey, don't get me started!!

DENISE again -

About the cold in Houston........I think it's just the chill that has come from the Rockets losing their first games by double-digits! (Sorry, Lisa! )

Middle of 2nd quarter:  Iowa 23 Mich St 0

Mark - you gotta be thrilled but not as thrilled as my husband.  A lot of Big 10 teams are hoping Mich St goes down.  I hope I'm not jinxing Iowa by posting this so early in the game.

Denise

Iowa 37  Mich St 0   Middle 3rd quarter - Goodness

TRACEY TOMORROW!!!!


32nd Annual Spooner 10km

New Bedford, MA
9am start


*****Absoultely fabulous logo -- I sure hope it is featured prominently on the race shirt!!*****

ANNE -

Two hours on the bike? Outside?? How did you manage that??? It's been snowing here for several hours, and that was preceded by rain and drizzle most of the day, and surely some of that must've been down your way, eh? But maybe not, or maybe your ride was inside and you just didn't specify that. Anyhow, two hours is two hours -- congrats!

Following my lift on monday which left me sore in a few predictable places, I went again on Thursday. Did it a bit longer and with a few "upgrades" in terms of weights and/or reps, and VOILA -- no soreness since! This is looming as a record for return-to-lifting-with-minimal-growing-pains, and I paln to go into ottawa tomorrow mostly to solidify that success!

And, have you heard about the Road Warrior program? Maybe surprisingly, i had not until I started trawling for running races over the past two weeks. The cool thing about it is that one is given rating based on road races done within the previous 12 months. the rating corresponds to a predicted 5km time which is measured from any races done in those 12 months. So, based on the 10km two weeks ago and the half-marathon last week, my rating is 21:12 - which corresponds to that predicted 5km time. My other values are:
8km ------ 34:44
10km ---- 43:57
15km --- 1:07:39
10mile -- 1:12:55
halfmar - 1:37:24
30km ---- 2:21:40
marath -- 3:22:33

Interesting site! (www.roadwarriorrunning.com)







Edited by stevebradley 2010-10-30 9:10 PM

ANNE again -

That stroke correction session does indeed sound beneficial; LOTS of good stuff there!

And 4+ hours at a Spanners warehouse, eh? Several years ago Spanners had fairly provocative billboards, in both directions as I approached work and left it in the afternoon. These left me either hyperventilating ro salivating; I was never sure wish was most operative. The one going to work was tough -- see those images, then have to adjust quickly to the world of 5th graders. What a come-down!

So.....did you pay for clothes at Spanners what it might cost for entry for both you and Ken at IMLP??

Hi all. Had a good race today. My unofficial time was 1:11:42, making it a 11:34 min/mile pace. So I'm happy to report I made my goal of beating 12:30 min/mile, and also my secondary goal of beating 12:00 min/mile, with lots of time to spare!

Tracey

That certainly is lots of time to spare - good for you.

Did you get a shirt with a skeleton rowing a boat?

Denise

TRACEY!

And a VERY happy halloween to you. That is a killer pace you ran, and absolute decimation of what you were aiming/hoping for. I mean, it's not even close -- 56" faster per mile is enormous, as is 26" for the secondary goal. Ya gotta feel great-and-then-some about that, yesyesyes?

Sooooooo........Do we get a more detailed race report? Pretty please? Nutrition.......crowd scene.....t-shirt design.....the whole nine yards! (I know, I know -- I haven't done one from last week yet, but we're counting on YOU to more than make up for it!)

Huge congrats, Tracey -- you really and truly earned this one!

Oh, that really isn't very nice! 

DENISE, I hope the daughter wasn't from Minnesota. I wouldn't nearly go as far as to say it was freezing down here. It was 44 degrees for my long run yesterday though and it felt great. But I think it was near the mid to upper 80s today, so it was very short lived. And no rain for 40 days which will be a record dry spell for the city if we don't get any tomorrow.

Great job, Tracey! Way to break your goal time with lots of room to spare.  Congratulations!

LISA

TRACEY,

Congratulations on a great race and beating both your goals.   That will be a real confidence booster!!!   Well Done.  

STEVE B, the only personal experience that I have running in high altitudes was last summer when we went to Aspen. Got in on Friday evening and did a Race for the Cure 5K on Saturday morning (at 8000 feet).  I did hydrate for several days prior to going, and took an aspirin the day I went and the morning of the race on the advice of a friend that did mountain bike racing. I just planned on making it an easy run vs a race, and didn't have any problems at all.  Hiked for hours every day in the area (above Aspen altitude) while we were there and none of us had any problems.

Had a nice easy 9 mile run yesterday morning and planning on at least getting quite a bit of walking in while we are in Denver. The first year I did the half in Memphis my longest run had only been 8 miles, so if I can get another 10 or 11 miler in within the next few weeks, I'll be feeling pretty good.

LISA

STEVE,

If you check my log today you will see I didn't do my Saturday ride.   Should explain that rather than wasting time loading my weekly 'planned' training into BT and then having to re-enter everything into actual on the day of, I am just entering the weekly plan right into my daily log to save time.  Plus it gives me a good visual on where I will be at end of week and see if I have planned too much or too little of any of the disciplines.  

This was week 3 of test driving my proposed training schedule for the 'formal' off-season program starting on Nov. 8th.   A bit of tweaking here and there and seeing what works and what doesn't and where I have crammed too much into one day.  I still need time to cook, clean, shop, do other projects, etc. etc.   All in all, though, it has been working well.  But I did back off a bit this week so I could get some projects out of the way before the actual training starts.  

Next week will be a recovery week and I will reduce the hours almost by half, no long s/b/r's and no strength.   Another week to get these projects out of the way and focus on recovery and yoga. 

Quite excited because I got the 'go ahead' to sign up for some computrainer classes - coached/guided, power-based (wattage), periodized program (8 people per session) on Tues and Thurs (which are my bike days) and it includes initial threshold testing and testing every 8 weeks.  75-90 minute sessions.   Starts November and goes till end of April.

If you were willing to give me your e-mail address, I will forward you the link to the computrainer training - same place that I got my previous testing done. 

I/we had a good run today - 5 minute run/1 minute walk - the longest distance and time so far - 7.87km and 1 hour total - 50 minutes of run time and 10 of walking.   Details in log.   We are fairly consistent in the walk/run pace of  around 7:15-7:20.    We did the run right after the swim and I had no issues.  

I have not heard about the Road Warrior program.   Will have a look at it.  Sounds cool.

BTW, I finally got some pictures developed from HVJ and got some extra copies to mail off to you if you can give me your address.  

Off to have a dead sea salt/essential oil bath.   Oh yes, before I forget.   I only bought 2 items from  Spanner after all that time.   Mind you I had about 25 outfits in my hands the entire time, but just kept weeding and weeding.    I will tell you that is a far cry from days gone by.   My priorities are shifting.     I would rather spend my money on cycling classes that will probably kill me!  

LISA -

Yes, I apologize for that comment about the Rockets, and can only say that I will atone for it by cheering mightily for the Texans tonight. And, of course, I will be cheering mightily for the Rangers, but.......

Tough day yesterday for Dallas fans, although at least the Mavs won!

One of the kids I taught when I was down there was Bum Phillip's grandson, and through the machinations of the Old Boy Sports Network, primo seats were available to the boy for Mavs games. So, he took me and another teacher to a game one time -- courtside seats when Dr. J. and Barkley were playing for the 76ers. Now, at 6'3" or so I have never physically looked up to too many people in my life, and when I do it's few and far between. But being at courtside for an NBA game, I felt pretty much dwarfed. And not only are those guys tall, but they're broad as well. So since then, whenever I see hard contact during a rebound effort, I shudder!

It sounds like you handled the altitude really well when you did that 5km. The one time I got up to high-high altitude there, the alpine meadows area, i had a debilitating headache that I wsn't sure I was ever going to recover from. Well, just remember when you're there --- no comments about the Oakland Raiders (or, after yesterday, the 49ers, either!)

And again, I think you're in great shape for Memphis -- especially given where you are now relative to where you were last Memphis. Yup, one more 10er or 11er and you'll be there!

ANNE -

The nifty thing about the Road Warrior site is that I di NOT input my race info. When I registered, which is free, I had to fill out some pertinents, but absolutely no race info. And then when I next logged in with my access code, there was my rating and the deatils of those two recent races. So, there's a great big running data base somewhere, and they snagged that info all on their own. Big Brother is watching you!

Good news from you -- both the CompuTrainer plan and the continued bumping-up of the running! As for the former.......ooo-wee, threshold testing! Brace yourself, dear! I haven't done that in maybe eight years now, and heaven knows I'm overdue, but i can't say I'm in any great hurry to subject myself to that. Well, the pain does feel good when it stops.....and the data are hugely valuable......so I guess i ought to get brave and get it done. (Or not. )

For you, it's perfect that it's on your bike days anyhow, and also that it goes just about until you can get outside to ride anytime you want. You are very fortunate to have that for yourself (Ken, too?).

Oh! Congrats on showing restraint at Spanners! (All that extra money for tri frillery!)

Photos would be nice, if you really want to send them. I'm at 1186 Route 500 West, Casselman, ON, K0A 1M0. Alternatively if you don't want to send them, I'll be down that way over Xmas, doing the event in Peter's "schoolhouse" -- the one that is on Watson Road, in the GCA. At least that's the plan for now.

HVJ was two months ago. That sounds like a long time, although the bright side is that it is now two months closer to the '11 season than it was then. Thank god for small mercies.

I'm playing around with making '11 a season heavy on the half-irons. My half-mar time last week was intriguing in that I realize (or think I realize) that I have more growth-potential at HIM than at olys. To wit: I do oly runs in 45-47, but can probably only get to 42-43 in stand-alone 10kms. But if I can do stand-alone half-mars in sub-1:40, and generally do HIM runs around 1:50 (and higher at HVJ ), then I satnd to enjoy bigger time gains if I can make my HIM runs get closer to stand-alone 21.1km efforts.

Having said that....I'm not sure it works quite that way, but I'm playing around with the notion that it does. Plus, I think I'm close to my upper limit of cycling hard in an oly and still being able to run well off the bike, whereas that is still a work-in-progress with HIM.

It's funny, though, that I've done so many HIM, but that so few of them have been wall-to-wall efforts. But then again, it wasn't until just a couple of years ago that I learned to stretch myself in olys...........so maybe now is the time to wok on that seriously with half-irons.

Blah, blah, blah!!

Way to go, Tracey!

Hey Steve,

I read your post, and have to agree 100% with you on those points.  I clicked through to the articles, and saw the following quote:

"This might be a really good thing because IM events are notorious for selling out quickly. For instance, if you wanted to race a popular IM event in 2011 you could volunteer for the 2010 race at the venue of your choice. The 2011 race registration opens the day after the 2010 race so, by volunteering, you are allowed to stand in line the next day hoping to secure a spot for the 2011 race. You aren’t, however, promised entry into the 2011 race because the race may still get sold out before you sign up."

So, this obviously has me concerned, as that was my exact plan for IMAZ next year.  Looking at the registration rules, it looks like registration on Monday morning starts at 7:00 am and goes until 9:00 am.  So, now I'm wondering, just how many people can register in that time frame?  And do they really close it off at 9:00?  And if so, I guess the next option is to run to the closest Kinkos and try to get on a computer to register?

Do you have any insight or knowledge of this?  Do those that volunteer have a pattern of getting shut out for on-sight registration? 

STEVE -

I wouldn't bet the ranch on this, but I don't think that volunteers have been shut-out at any day-after registration. Another way to look at this is to find the time at which on-line registration will open; is it noon, or am I just making that up?

I will contact Lisa from the other group and ask how it went this at IMLP. She volunteered this past July and did the line thing and got a spot for next year, with no headaches beyond having to stand in line a while.

AND MANDY ----- How did it for you at IMLP???

mandy did the same thing and also got a spot. I will PM her in a while and tell her to tell you when she lined up and how quickly it all happened.

I think there are tow lines that move separately. One is the volunteer line, the other is the line for people who just did the race the day before and can't wait to suffer all over again 364 later. These tow lines will never sell-out a race on their own.....but as more and more people are cottoning to the volunteer route, who knows how it will look in a few years?

The WTC landscape is changing at a rapid pace, but they have to realize how important it is for them to get as many volunteers as possible, and that if they screw around with volunteers who really wanted to register for next year, well, there would go that pool of experienced athletes-as-volunteers!

Having said all that, I came across a post either here or (more likely) at Slowtwitch that had soemthing to do with a guy who was going to volunteer at IMAZ with his wife so she could get a spot.........but there was some concern that it might not happen that smoothly. I will try very hard to remember where that post was and try to find it, but I can't make any promises that it will turn up.

DENISE -

Uh, all is not exactly copacetic in Vikingsland, is it? Ouch and ouch. I like Randy Moss based on what he did with the Pats, and I was very pleased ayt thre recpetion he received from the crowd yesterday, but good god almighty, he was just WAY over the top in his Pats-worship at the post-game press conference. In fact, i cannot remember any press conference that has unfolded even remotely like that one. Mercy!

So, here's what I think. When whatever team he ends up with pays its first visit to the Metrodome, he will not be quite as warmly-received as he was yesterday. Just a hunch.

(And the figures -- six million, plus a 3rd round pick, and all for just four games. On my.)