stevebradley's Mentor Group FULL (Page 262)

Hey! Look what I found! Two new posts here! Hot diggity!!

JESS and LISA, it's past 1 a.m. and I'm off the bed, but I'll be back tomorrow. But first --



JESS -- I hope the countdown is as stress-free as possible for you!

LISA - VERY pleased to hear that you are passing on S-man for this year. Whew! KONA OR BUST!!!!

JESS -

Whoa! Lots of stuff!

I still don't know how the weekend will work, but I don't think i will make it to the wedding. I can't leave until Saturday morning as it is, and I am worried that the kennel person might not be able to take her until around noon. I want to lave no later than 8 a.m. from here, but right now that is not looking too good. Bah. I'm not closing the doors on anything, as some of all this depends on how Lynn structures an equelaly complicated weekend for herself, but for me to make it down by Friday is unlikely. I used to be very adept at juggling convoluted travel plans, but that seems a thing of the distant past. Bah, again!

Good decision to pass on LOO, and I'm glad you did it in time to get the refund -- such as they are for M-dots! You know, of course, that IM races are all over the place, so there'll be another along whenever you want it.

As for NYC......I would wait and see how it shakes down in Year One. I haven't looked at the course yet, but know how crazy it can be to get 2000 or os on the course for the NYC Tri. Add on another 1000 people (but many of those will not make it to the start), and it could be nutso. Plus, the deaths of the two people on the swim at NYCT this past weekend is already calling into question procedures for that swim, which is incredibly easy to monitor -- narrow course, straight line, more than ample support. There will be tons of second-guessing as they work to safely get 3000 people from start to finish over 2.4 miles of swimming, and it might not be smooth at all. Plus, the regular entry fee was what -- $980?!!?!?!?? -- so the community lsot would be that much more, and I'm sure you can get a more pleasant iron-experience elsewhere -- at least until they get the bugs worked out.

HOWEVER, if you ever want a superb race expereince, try to get a lttery slot for NYCT. I have done it twice and it is a superb event. Race morning logistics need some working through, but once past that it is one-of-a-kind --- swim in the Hudson (and with a strong current if you get an early swim wave), bike on the closed Henry Hudson Parkway all the way to Yonkers and back, and then run down a completely closed 72nd Streeet for a mile or so before entering and doing a circuit of Central Park for the final five or so miles. OUTSTANDING!!!

And then there is Chicago Tri, which is great, great, GREAT!!!!!

Anyhow, tere are my thoughts on IMNYC for next year!

Inca Trail in May or June? Hmmmm. Is that close to the date of IMBrazil? That's supposed to be a terrific event, and I doubt it closes out in a heartbeat as do the North American M-dots. I also think it is not a killer course, and might actually be a good one for a pretty fast time. Check itvout --might might add a little something to the honeymoon!

Do I take what you siad about training as you want to that you are no longer with Julia? If so, did it worked okay for you up through Eagleman, anyhow? Would you ever consider being coached again? It is definitely not for everyone, and I have said before that it was great while I did it, but wouldn't do it again. And that's not even considering the money aspect, but just the part about having my life so heavily directed by someone esle. I sure don't train a seffcetively as I did between '03 and '07, but I love the freedom to do other things that matter to me, guilt-free!

Yes, i'm sort of sorry about Fronhofer. I was packed on Friday night and ready to go, but then awoke at 3:45 and immediately started thinking about (a) the worth of keeping the 8 a.m. appt with my sports doc, and (b) the sense of doing long drives two weekends straighjt for sprints. I opted to stay home, andI guess that was a good decisoon; the doc appt was instructive. But I got an email last night from the Fronhofer RD, who is a friend, and he said he was sorry i wasn't there, that both races were great despite being wetsuit-illegal, so that got me feeling as if I maybe should've gone afterall. Wahhhhhh!

My riding and running are really good despite my "unbalanced" training since about March, and I'll be really curious to see how it plays out at West Point. I don't feel as if I'm in peak form, but my recent numbers suggest that I might not be far off; if so, that's intriguing!!

Finally, if you're not back here before Saturday and I don't make it down there on Saturday, I hope you have the most memorable day of your life. You will be forefront in my thoughts, to be sure, and I hope you post photos somewhere. You know I am negligent about Facenbook, so if they appear there, PLEASE let me know!

Thinking of you!

LISA -

Funny story about Ryan and Savageman. "Fall on the sword"....."get out of jail free card"....."I dont' think so" ---- oh, you're a stern taskmaster!

I was initailly surprised that he maybe didn't want to do it, but then goit to thinking about where I was after IMLP '04. I had had the good sense to sign up for Timberman 70.3 before doing IMLP, and that allowed me to avoid the post-IM Withdrawl Blues and get back to structured training as soon as I was mostly receovered.

That was the good part. The bad part was that part of me didn't WANT to do a longish race, and one on a kinda tough course at that. T-man was 4 weeks after IMLP, and while I did okay I sure didn't feel sharp or crisp at all. So for Ryan, I wonder if he sesnes that even by S-man, he won't be fully receoiverd to do it justice -- or even do it happily. And I am sure he put out a ton more at Placid than I did, so his receovery in some respects might be even more protracted than mine was. And while T-man involved some foucused traing, it wasn't near the level of training that would be required for S-man. Is he just maybe feeling kind of wasted from the IMLP training?

That said, he may well find his mojo suddenly and soon. I think Timberman set me back a bit, but by mid September I was fully ready to go again. BUT, I made some mistakes in scheduling three races over four weekends, and so for those I wasn't too sharp, either. DOH!

Your report was stunning. I want to comment......but can;t quite figure out how or weher to begin. I get emotional twinges just thinking of you accomplishing that, and then I lose foicus or whatever. Are you still on the clouds about it? Have you returned to normal training, mostly? (Partially?) (Sporadically??)

DON'T DRIFT TOO FAR, PLEASE!!!!!

JESS!
JESS!
JESS!

I'm still here, and will be until early- to mid-morning. Soooooo.........my very best to you from afar! As I approach West Point, I will keep my eyes peeled above the southern horizon, planning to see an all-encompassing lambent glow radiating from Califon.

Love to you and Mark!

PSST!

Can I lure anyone with two race accounts (West Point and Park City Mossman) and four accounts of bike mishaps over a 12-day period? As a hint, one of them was a wee crash at W.P.......and one was a near head-on with a truck.....and one was a grazing collison with a construction....and one was a near wipe-out at P.C.M. dismount. I think I'v egrown out of the recent bike-mishap phase of my life, however.
Psst?

LISA -- You and Ryan and Savageman and Kona? (And Eric Cantor??)

JESS -- You and Mark and whatever else? (Mr. Christie is not at the same calibre as Mr. Cantor.....)

NEIL -- Fill any holes in the sched, or updates from the Left Coast?

NATHAN -- Updates from the Left Coast......of Florida?

holy moses!  are you okay?  tell us, tell us!

STEVE!  are you still coming into the dc area for lynn's trip and nations?  let me know if you want to stay here or otherwise meet up!

okay, my updates......

the last two weeks of training (that ended sunday) were crushing.  like the volume was crushing, not that the were crushingly bad.  actually, they were crushingly good (is that a thing?  well, it is now.)  both weeks were total confidence boosters.  i feel like i've finally got my running fitness back on track.

the week of aug 22 was a run specific week.  my run volume that week was 50+ miles in addition to the normal swims and bikes.  actually, i rode 100 miles that saturday and then had a break through 18 mile run on sunday.  that is the first run that i really felt "back".  it was a giant success to finish of the week with 50+ miles under my belt.  i was really scared about it given my injury filled summer.  total success.

last week was a monster.  it was a bike specific week.  in total, i logged 25 hours (holy moly!) of which 17 were in the saddle.  when it was all said and done, i rode about 290 miles.  35 of it was thursday, 106 on friday(followed by a 30 min brick), 104 on saturday and then i turned around and ran 20 miles on sunday in 8:30s.  stoked doesn't begin to explain how i felt at the end of it all.  i invited a group of friends out to celebrate with a beer just to cheers the week being over!    all in all, i feel really good about how training is coming along.  i am SO GRATEFUL that my body has held up to the volume.

i actually feel better and better each week in terms of my nagging aches and pains.  the ankles are still a little sore, but nothing terrible.  the foot still aches a bit, but, again, nothing too bad.  definitely tightness everywhere, but that's kind of expected.  i'm trying to be good about stretching and using my trigger point set. 

this week is (thankfully) a light week.  we have the reston oly on sunday.  it's a tough field in my AG and i know i don't have the top end speed to do as well as I would have hoped.  that's the one annoying thing about all this volume.  i can go all day, but i'm not as fast as i'd like to be for the shorter stuff.  that's what the next few years will be for. 

ryan's training is going well.  it's been the first time that we don't have the same (or extremely similar) training schedules.  he looked like a sad little puppy last week when i'd head out without him.  he told me he felt like a triathlon widow.  i then invited him on my 6 hour ride and he told me he was fine

i am officially NOT doing savageman.  ryan is.  i'm going to train in deep creek for the weekend.  should be nice. 

roo roo had her first 5k!!  it was a 5K for dogs and she placed 3 overall and 2nd in her weigh division!!  yay for roo!  she's got to work on her pacing a bit.  she went out in 6:30s and came back in 8+.  ryan ran with her.  he said the first mile was like trying to hold onto a marlin   in total, her time was 23:32

it's been a good few months for the albrechts

outside of triathlon, things have been ridiculously busy here.  we're back in our busy season at work and i also decided to take my CFP exam in november.  it's a designation i've been working on for a while and all i have left to do is the comprehensive exam.  at the beginning of the year, i told our business coach i wanted to qualify for kona and get my CFP.  if i can somehow manage to do both this year, it would be EPIC.  it's a 2 day, 10 hour exam with a 51% pass rate (eek).  so, needless to say, i'm studying.  alot. 

so, that's the story here.

30 days from today!!!!!!!!!!!!   AGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

wow, so the nations tri swim has already been cancelled due to this ridiculous rain we've been having.  does that impact your plans, steve?

LISA!!

Wonderful to hear from you, and thanks for the enormous update. I will respond to that when I get home.

Thanks, too, for being my first notification that Nations swim ahd been canecelled. I suspected that and to that end did an easy 30-minute run this morning. Just before coming here I went to the race website and couldn't find anything, but digging around after finding your post confirmed the reasons behind it. So it goes, I guess.

I was most disappointed, however, to hear that there will not be a small first run, that it will just be 40k bike and 10k run. Bah! I so wanted the swim, as my own swim training has been great and I have been swimming exclusively in a river that is up and back, current and all, justa good imitator of the Nation's swim. Again - so it goes.

Anyhow, I am in harrisonburg now, not certain of what is ahead. The drive here was hellacious, and I think we stayed just ahead of road closures on 81 around Binghampton and Wilkes-Barre and Harrisburg. Long day yesterday, discombobulated thoughts right now. So it goes.

Can you PM your phone number? I thought I had it, but can't find it. Got my wetsuit, though!

Is rseton still on? I heard about flooding there, but couldn't picture the swim being affected. Or not?

Onwards!(?)

glad to hear you are safe, steve. 

the flooding here is pretty crazy.  we're fine, personally, but there are parts that are not.  there are some ridiculous pics and videos coming out of the area of the lake and the trails behind it.  i wouldn't be surprised if the thing is cancelled altogether.  as you might remember, the run goes through our trail system which is entangled with a number of creeks that are now rapids.  i've seen video of part of the cement trail just washed away.  i'm not sure if that is in the area of the run or not.  we'll see.

.....pming phone number now!

I saw! I responded in kind!

steve,

it was so nice getting to spend a little time together this past weekend.  thank you so much for making your way to reston especially given the exhausting series of days you had. 

Congratulations on your AG WIN at Nations!!!...in VERY convincing fashion, no less.  those paces, steve, were freaking unbelievable.  a man 30 years your junior would be proud to race those times.  you really are such an inspiration to me.  i just don't know how you do it.  especially given that you have been harassed by injuries this year.  i was also happy to see that your streak of 4 crashes was not added to at nations.  phew. 

reston, for me was a dream.  i worked the plan and it went swimmingly.  for the first 2.3 mile run I was careful not to get caught up in the track start frenzy.  my goal for this going in was 6:50s, i ended up with 6:49s.  this put me in 2nd place, 20 seconds back from the first woman.  i made up 13 of those seconds in transition 1.  i passed her about .25 miles into the bike and rode scared from then on.  i knew that 2 of the women in the field behind me had posted faster bike times than me at luray just a few weeks ago.  i expected to be past on the bike, but it never happened.  actually, only 2 guys past me, one of which was ryan :)  i got off the bike knowing i was leading, but i had no idea what the margin was.  as you might remember, the run course starts off going down, then up a series of short steep hills.  i wasn't feeling great and i knew the woman who had let out of the first run would post a fast run time.  i was terrified.  at about mile 1 of the run, scott was there and told me i had FOUR minutes on a group of 3 women who had gotten off the bike together.  i knew at that point that even if they could beat my run split, as long as i didn't blow up I would be able to hold onto the lead.  i pushed the pace when i felt good and backed off a little when i wasn't.  i just wanted to avoid blowing up.  about .4 miles from the finish i could see ryan about 200m in front of me.  i called out to him, but he didn't hear me.  the race finishes with a lap around the track.  i entered the track and yelled to him again.  this time he heard me and waited for about 10s so we could run into together.  there weren't other guys around, so his place wasn't changed.  i ended up finishing in 2:03:33.  the next woman finished in 2:07:11.  my first win.  i was so extremely happy.  Ryan did amazingly in a ridiculous AG and finished 5th.  male 35-39 in our town is stacked beyond belief.  he is getting quite a name for himself. 
this is the photo approaching the finish line that a local photographer and friend snapped.

steve, i hope you are home or headed there safely and that a lynn had a stellar time at her foray!

up next is savageman this weekend for ryan!!!!!  should be exciting!!!!

talk soon!

lisa

Edited by hooslisa 2011-09-12 2:48 PM

better pic here https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/i0RxsKa49sKqLwfakT7nMIATcHy6Ydjbd7RgeqOoQ1M?feat=directlink

LISA!!

Talk about convincing --- that was YOU! And not only were you 1/18 in your own a.g., but in the ultratough M35-39 you would've been 7/36. Wowzers!

I looked at the results, and see that after you spotted that first-run-fastest woman those 20", you then wnet on to have a 36" faster T1.....and then it was all over. Your bike was about 5:30 faster, you nailed her again in T2, and then where it really mattered - the 10km run -- you were 3:59 faster.

I feel kind of bad that she ended up 4th a.g., as she was a great rabbit/fearfactorobject for you. But...so it goes. I also know how you feel about riding scared, as that mostly goes with the turf of being on the competitive side in these things; I have been there too many times for my own good. In fact, it is one aspect of being tired of putting on my game face as most seasons progress.

So your pacing strategy did indeed work to perfection, as it seems to have done so in any of your previous xx races. You have become admirably cerebral about this stuff!

Congrats to Ryan, too, and he has to feel even better now about Savageman. It's a good thing you got him out of the restaurant and back home on Saturday, as it sure paid off for him yesterday.

Thanks for the kind words about Nations -- it was a very good one for me. I am pleased with my unusual intelligence on the bike, where I dialed things vback a bit for the final 8 or so kilometers. This resulted in feeling great from the very start of the run, and I even managed to pull off a series of "spurts" during miles 3 and 4. These might have helped me by about 45 seconds overall, and helped offset the maybe two minutes I "lost" by easing up some at the end of the bike. But had I not done that, I probably would've done the run in about 46, so overall the starategy worked well. It's the firts time in a long toime that my run has been comparatively better, viewed agaisnt the enetire field, than my bike. And it really wasn't even close. Intriguing.

Nations was a terrific event, and they deserve credit for restructuring it almsot seamlessly. The river was much calmer on Sunday, but really rank (sewage odor, big-time) and also full of debris -- and big debris, too. There was not even the remotest chance that it could be safely swum, and anyone saying so is nutso.

Off to bed now, and maybe more Nations thoughts later.

As for Lynn, she had a terrific weekend! (Imagine -- even without me! )

just a few quick items before i need to get to work.

ryan did the savageman 70.0 this past sunday.  i spent the morning on th famed westernport wall.

here's a few videos i shot.
this one is of ryan (can you tell i'm proud   )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgvMIbw3zoQ&feature=autoshare

and this one is just of the rest of the population
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtZ-tMjbqDo

oh, and this one is of dave scott, 6 time ironman world champion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37WvbDfYdN4

he's going to be my celebrity guest blogger with his race report, so i'll post that soon

i hope you're all well!

JESS -

OMG, what have I missed?!? I just checked yours, and then saw that both you and Lisa posted some time ago as well. Um, er, uh.....I guess I forget to check here, maybe? Ack. Now I'm THREE to the arrears. Ack again!

Late-season plans? Why yes! I'm down your way the next two days, first to Clam Man (Bayville) on Saturday and then good old Bassman on Sunday. I have been registered for Bman for a while, but onlu discovered Clam Man two days ago. The RD assures me that there will be race day registration, so I am heading down tomorrow and counting on that. But if not, then I go into Bman fresh --- which might be best, anyhow. Still, I am psyched to do Clammy, eevn though I don't eat clams and can't enjoy the post-race clambake.

I did two last weekend as well -- both the olympic and the sprint at Nickel City Tri, in Buffalo. Nifty races, although my 2:29:16 on Saturday got penalized to a 2:31:16 due to "Position". My bad!! On Sunday I was a good boy, however, and didn't get a penalty and finished in 1:14:24, which was 10/158 overall.

As for what you referrred to as Nationals, it was really Nation's Tri, in DC. The bad flooding caused the swim to be cancelled, and so it is was just the 40km bike and the 10km run. I had scorchers on both, so that was pleasing overall.

Lynn needs the computer now and I have to head to bed anyway, prepping for an early departure to try to get around Newark before afternoon rush hour. Bah!

I will be back to you on Sunday or Monday. GREAT having you back, though, or at least checking in --- which seems to be how we all ("all"??) approach this group these days/weeks/months. See you in about 72 hours.

(As you might imagine, I am still dying a thousand deaths concerning the Red Sox. Sigh.....)

JESS -

I was wondering (hoping!) if you would do a race-day show-up.....but no Jess.

It was a good day (results below), as was calm Man the day before. Clammie was a terrific event, one I would definitely do again (even though the results have me living in Toms River!!!).

I've thought about doing Philly half, as Jane is doing it, and her fiance maight do it, and her best friend is doing the full. But my half-marathon last Oct 23 left me with bunion AND neuroma issues, so I'm a bit hesitant to try that path again. But I am thinking about it, knowing full well that it might fill up any day now.

Very fine running from you recently, and you gotta feel good about getting that back fully in place. As for Green Mountain, well, some people do use one marathon to train for another, especially people who aren't new to marathoning. It should re-famiarize yourself with the distance, and just serve as that week's long run! That event has a very low-key reputation, and I'm sure you'll love the lay-backedness of it; can hardly wait for the report!!

Any idea of the spring marathon -- or the '12 tri season??

Lynn just got home and I'm heading out for a walk with her, so the weekend's results won't come until a bit later. See you in a while!

JESS again -

Yeah, the miles might be the same, but the experience sure won't be. Trails and small numbers on South Hero Island (is it still there?) ain't quite the same as NYCM, huh? Kind of going from the sublime to the ridiculous, perhaps?

So, that'll be GM this weekend, and then NYM in about three weeks, and then PM on about Nov. 21 ----- and then you'll be a true marathon machine!

I loved Clam Man; did I say that last post? They put on a GREAT event, and our "medals" were big qouhog shells that were drilled at the top and with a ribbon run through the hole, and then the Clam Mam logo tped onto the inside. Too cool, and definitely a keeper. Grilled clams were served post-race (but i don't eat clams ), and the results were right on time, and -- sadly -- it was over before 9:30. Oh! The top male and family recieved hand-carved and sanded and polished wooden clams, made from catalpa., and wood-worked by a local triathlete. They were really beautiful, maybe 10" long and proportionately deep and wide. Wow!

My weekend's efforts:

CLAM MAN (0.4/10/3.5)
SW -- 13:17 (25th overall)
T1 -- 0:54
BK -- 28:58 (11th o.a.) (20.7mph)
T2 -- 0:51
RN -- 25:14 (22nd o.a.) (7:13/mile)

1:09:15
13/67 overall
1/2 a.g.


BASSMAN (0.5 or 0.6/29/4.2)
SW -- 17:08 (40th o.a.)
T1 -- 1:12 (15th o.a.)
BK -- 1:20:23 (17th o.a.) (21.6mph)
T2 -- 1:05 (52nd o.a.)
RN -- 28:45 -- (29th o.a.) (6:50/mile)

2:08:31
22/125 overall
1/2 a.g.

A pretty good weekend, actually two of them in a row. I've never done two races each in two consecutive weekends.....not sure I'll ever do it again!

The penalty at Nickel City was for Position, meaning I was too far to the left too often. It was kind of unfair, as I never prevented anyone from passing me, and all roads were closed to traffic, and some were four lanes and I stayed in the actual passing lane of the road. Oh, well. I should know better and just got slack and lazy -- and really not 100% certain about how the rules go when roads are clsoed to traffic AND wide. And now I know!

it didn't affect my a.g placement, whcih would've been second even if the 2:29 had stood. I was outswum by Terry H, although it is some comfort that I outbiked and outran him. On the other hand, he's a year and two months older than I am! It hurt me for USAT rankings points, though, joining West Point (bike crash) in my Useless Race category. I'm still left with five good races, though, so I'm optimistic!

Back to Green Mountains.......I guess there's no Athlete Tracking for that, huh? Well, I'll rely on results whenever they are posted, AND your own report -- which may come quicker than the official results!

Have a good day there, Jess, and hurry back here soon!

NEIL -

Yo! Long time, no appearances; how're you doing? Details would be nice!

Yes, she sure did do an amazing job, as an 11:07 on the Kona course is pretty much over-the-top. To put it into a perspective I can appreciate, I see the list of M60-64 there yesterday, and it was full of stellar guys -- really top-notch talent. And wuithin the finishers, Lisa would've been SECOND! That just floors me, given the talent there amongst my peers.

I was able to follow it on ironmanlive, but I never try to get any video footage due to our pokey dial-up connection. So, I truly appreciate you posting the finish photo here.

When I saw her on about Sept 10, she was looking great and even though she was talking about getting nervous as Kona approached, she didn't show an ounce of it in her demeanor. I am going to go over to her blog and see if she has posted anything yet. I tried and succeeded at backing away entirley over the past month just so as not to create any unnnecessary static for her..........but now I'm just super-excited to hear her take on it all.

And returning to you.....is all mostly well? Did you squeeze in a race or two, maybe? As I said above -- details would be nice!!