Artemis's Group - FULL! (Page 27)

I remember how exciting it was to be signed up for my first race.

And hooray for craig's list. 

Holy cow!  That's a lot of swimming...you are my hero!

WOW - I can't even imagine swimming that long! I am in awe

I am not quite sure how I do it.  I just kind of get into a zone and it seems like I could swim forever.  Especially when I am pulling-my HR is lower when I don't have to kick.  Distance doesn't necessarily equate to a hard workout.  (but don't tell that to the guys on my challenge team )

I do the exact same thing sometimes, Melissa. I could always swim - pull. For some reason it relaxes me. I would definitely be in the pool much longer if it wasn't for the water aerobics/swim lessons/dirty old men "washing" off! Maybe you should try and do a 10K swim. That would be uber impressive!

I used to do it all the time and not think twice about it.  Lately, I have a hard time getting to the pool.  I haven't swam in forever! I should probably start working on that again soon seeing as I have a tri in May!

The lifeguards would think that I became a permanent addition to the pool.  6.2 miles you say...hmmm.

My sinuses are a mess.   Tons of trees and plants are pollinating and the chlorine doesn't help any. Humbug to allergies.

I think that I need to get a netti pot or something similar.

I'm having such a beginner athlete high today. Beautiful almost spring day and a little bit of running with CoCo (my 17 month chocolate lab whirling dervish). So wishing one week off due to a cold didn't make me feel I was at square one again. But I went the info meeting for the Fleet Feet tri program, and it is simply going to be awesome. Iron Girl is sold out, the tri training program is sold out - literally more benefits than the cost, and the coaches seem very nice and supportive. Really looking forward to adding my local team to my online support team. I'm actually starting to almost kind of sort of feel like an athlete in training.

It sounds like there are some great local resources available to you. I bet you will meet lots of potential training buddies!

I like the Sinus Rinse better.  It's a little easier to use.  Add in about 10 drops of white vinegar to the solution in the bottle and that will help fight off infection.

Having local people to train with is so helpful.  It really helps you be accountable and feel like you need to be there every time!

How funny...I just posted a response after yours in the health forum.  I was having deja vu seeing your very similar post.

My mom has a sinus rinse system...I didn't know what it was called.  That is what I will go with.

I went for a ride today with some people from my tri club. I fell behind before we had even gone a mile. There was no way I could hang with them and they left me in the dust. I did only 20 of the planned 32 miles. It wasn't any fun at all.

I posted this yesterday on my blog but I didn't spell out the fact after I fell off the group nobody came back to check up on me. Later in the afternoon I got an email from one of the other gals on the ride. She said that they didn't realize that they had lost me and that when they realized, they thought I was with someone and that all was OK, and only much later realized I was alone. She concluded by saying she felt bad about this, a rather weak apology. I responded by saying that I had a terrible ride, wouldn't have wanted to hold the group back, but that it would have been nice to have someone check on me.

Today, people are posting on the group email list that they enjoyed the ride, etc, but are not mentioning what happened to me. I'm thinking about posting:

Hmm, it wasn't much fun for me when I got left behind. I wouldn't have wanted to hold the group back but it would have been really nice for someone to have checked up on me. I'm an experienced rider, quite able to take care of myself on a solo ride, but I didn't think I was out on a solo ride. What if I had been a beginner out on a ride with you all? What if something HAD happened to me? Not cool!

Should I post it?

Thanks for letting me vent a bit here.

It's a really frustrating situation.  I think they should have checked on you either way, but I was wondering if they advertised it as "no-drop" or within a certain mph.  I know groups seem to be less likely to check on stragglers if they think you should have been keeping up. 

There was some talk before the ride (during the organization and also before we pulled out) about expecting a 15-17mph average but never any talk about no-drop, regrouping, etc. I was having a terrible ride and ended up averaging around 14.6.

They should have checked on me. Now, I'm trying to balance my (childish?) desire for a real apology with the good of the group. The real bottom line is how do we keep this from happening to someone who might not have been ready and able to fend for themselves when they thought they were on a group ride?

I've cooled down (again) and decided that I'm best off discussing this with the club president:

Hi <name>,

I'd like to let you know about something that happened on Saturday's group ride. About 8 of us met at Centennial to ride a loop of the Half Full bike route. Before the ride we talked about trying to maintain a 15-17 mph average. As it turned out, I was having a terrible ride and fell off the group before we'd even gone a few miles. I wouldn't have wanted to hold the group back, but nobody even realized they had lost me until very much later so nobody came around to check on me. I'm an experience rider, familiar with most of the roads we were riding, and well capable of taking care of myself on a solo ride so I was never in any danger. However, what if I had been an inexperienced rider unprepared to take care of myself, thinking I was on a group ride? We had never discussed if this was a no-drop ride or anything and I don't think anyone was really leading the ride. Still, from my view there was a real failure of responsibility. From a <Tri Club> perspective, I think there needs to be some sort of expectations for group rides to protect the <Tri Club>. On every ride organized "publicly" through the group email list somebody needs to be in charge and everyone needs to know the rules for the ride before wheels start rolling. I feel like I'm tattling to the teacher, but I thought that you should be aware of this for the good of the <Tri Club>.

Thanks, Nicole

I think the second email is better and I wouldn't see any problem with sending that.  My guess is that they started off way too fast and that's what caused lots of problems.

I agree with Jen.  I think that the email covers important points and doesn't come across as ranting, complaining, or venting.

Make that a 3rd.  Better to have a well written note to the top of the food chain than a rant that'll people off.  It gets your point across very clearly and hopefully will prevent that from happening in the future.

Consider this a fourth vote for the second email, I have a friend who had a similar situation on a group ride. Maybe this is my inexperience with group rides talking, but I'm not hearing any valid reason for not checking in on you unless that was clearly stated at the beginning - I mean, the support and camaraderie of the group is why we don't ride alone, right. I also like your tactic on liability for the tri group. I lead hikes for the local Sierra Club group, and it would be a serious no-no to have done that to a hiker, and we're even supposed to have everyone sign a liability waiver at the start of every hike.

Good Morning!

I'm still in a bit of a funk. Getting dropped by the group and forgotten was bad but the worst thing about this ride was that, group or not, I had an awful ride and this is a continuation of how I've been feeling for weeks now. My running has been cr@p and my riding has been a struggle and Saturday's ride has me questioning my body, my training, and my goals. I've taken a blow to my confidence.

I did send that second email to the club president but I haven't heard anything back yet.

Hang in there.  Everyone has bad weeks and periods of training.  As far as running, you haven't been back that long since the injury, so be patient.  Biking, I think you just had a bad week.  You are a great biker and very strong.  This was an off week that will just make you stronger.

You're just having an off-week rough patch, yes hang in there. I know how you feel, I went one week without working out (I had a cold) and it felt like the last 2 months of training were for nothing. I have days where I question whether this is even possible. But look at all your accomplishments - you KNOW you rock! This is just a fluke.

If you are still interested in my group ride saga I just prodded a response: