GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 4)

DENISE -

Belated happy birthday! And what a gift to yourself -- the whole mob of us, cyber-wrapped for your edification and amusement!

"LadyNorth" -- north as in north of the 49th parallel, perchance?

Which two sprints did you do last season? Belated (I had no way of knowing! ) congrats on them, and it's great that you enjoyed them enough to be moving along to the next phase.

Bio whenever you can, pretty please!

(And give my regards to your dog. He looks rather immense, and I'd rather establish a friendly relationship with him right from thre outset here!)

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-23 7:14 PM

MARK -

Very nice story! Given the range of your kids' ages, you are doing really well at balancing things and managing the training required for 4-5 races. As for the mid-life crisis, I think you've moved transcended that and are now fully into true affection/passion phase. you've certainly been at it for a while,, and perervered through a series of injuries. Usually in the face of kids and back surgery and other minor injuries, most people will eventually choose to stick with the mid-life crisis, unaddressed!

What were your races from last year? The only Iowa one I can name off the top of my head is Pigman, which was venerable a few years ago, but now seems to have been dwarfed by the whole 70.3 empire. I hope it's still thriving, as back about 8-10 years ago it was really a highly-regarded race -- very tough, and a BIG surprise to out-of-staters who didn't do their homework and thought that Iowa was nothing but flat. Ha!

Your goals are very wise and very doable, with nothing there focused on the Bigger Picture of placing in a given race (although that might be unstated, but in the back of your mind). You'ree dedictad to improving on previous results, and also setting an oly time goal that is ambitious, but certainly not overly so. Nicely conceieved, those goals!

Finally, very fine that Daughter the First is also dipping her toes into the tri waters/ That would be immensely cool if the two of you could do one togther! Life is sweet, eh?

ROBYN -

Three 5km in 10 days. Mercy! (I hear that the Vikings did that with their kids; you build tough youngsters that way!)

Equally impressive are your other vital stats --- with cardioboxing and bootcamp adding to your (soon-to-be-legendary??) toughness. Mercy, X3!

And spin classes, the proverbial cherry on top. Let me guess -- you've chosen an instructor who rightfully claims direct lieage from Atilla the Hun, yes?

After all that, the 2-3 daily run miles must be a breeze!

As for the "start small and hopefully I'll finish strong" part......my money is on you, to be sure!

Where are you from, and do you have any race goals in mind?

Welcome!

DARREN -

A few of the folks in my last-year-but-still-operating mnetor group were talking recently about maybe doing an ultra someday. If it comes up again, i will refer them to you!

Wow, wow, wow, that's awild buch of big-distance events you've managed to knock off. And seeing as how you don't mention anything about injuries, I'm just going to assume that you are bionic. Is that about right?

What are some of the specifics of the races you are planning for this year? That is, name and location? But with so much of an emphasis on the running, i can see why you're not too concerned with swimming. And if you don't have a tri planned until a maybe-HIM in June or August, tere's no reason to swim -- other than a good, low-impact way to cross-train. (Although if you are honest-to-god bionic, well, low imapct, high impact......none of it really matters!)

What were your HIM and IM in '08? And scrambling back and forth here, I agree -- getting up to 50 miles/week is very tough to do. Back in the day I managed maybe two 50mile weeks....but that just might be my fantasy life speaking to me. I vaguely remember being generally ecstatic if I could manage the isolated 40-mile week that didn't leave me on the shelf for the following two weeks!

Wow, small world!  I grew up in fenwick, right beside Fonthill after spending my first year in Chippewa :-) 

Allies tri video for W... let me know if it works!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnv6xBSaeuw

Steve

Yes, life is sweet. I appreciate your input, I know the sub-2:35 Oly goal is a stretch for me, but what the heck, I'll never know if I can if I don't try. As for the podium, my attitude is if it happens that would be great, but I just don't feel like I want to put in the time it would take to get there (I'd have to take it from family time). For one of my sprint races last year I was ~25 seconds from finishing 3rd, so it may happen at one the local sprints.

I know Pigman is still going strong, and is one of the top drawing races, but the premier race in Iowa these days is the Hy-Vee Triathlon, an International/Olympic distance race. There are 2 days for this event, one is a sanctioned event for Pros, and the other is for us amateurs. I am considering this for my A race, along with a race in Winona, MN, which is on the same day.

Mark

Steve,

Thanks for accepting me. I'm glad to hear Ottawa misses me...Might be that way over the holidays but its hard to say.

Helmet: Check. Got one before I actually bought my bike. Knowing someone who got hit by a car as a young teen (survived and has no lingering issues) convinced me at a young age how important they are. Not to mention back in those days if you were seen by the right people you could get free pizzas or vouchers for fast food restaurants. I'm a fat kid at heart, so when I can get food for doing something, it gets done.

I have no idea how I've ended up with so many injuries. You can also throw golfer's elbow in there, a couple concussions (not from biking, but from baseball and basketball) and more than a few ankle strains and sprains. Playing catcher in baseball probably did not help my knees. No major issues but until recently always had a little discomfort.

Shoulders, I have no idea...The bursitis is what set everything in motion. Couldn't lift my arm up to shoulder level. Got some Extra Extra Extra strength Advil from the Doc (which got me 90% back to normal in 3 days) and then went for x-rays and ultrasound at which time I was told to go to PT. (Check out my training blog and I've tried to explain the 6 key exercises I do that have hugely increased my shoulder muscle mass.)  So with the PT the only thing we would come up with is that I sleep on my side in the recovery position, with the lower shoulder kind of curled under. As for how it affects my swimming, right now not really. I just got home from doing 1000m in 30 minutes. Only 100 of it was with no arms. My shoulders do not ache, but my biceps/triceps do. I've never done any work really trying to keep my arms high. Today I was working on dipping my shoulder to the side that I was pulling with. Seemed to make a difference, or it was the first swim in Jammers.  I say it was the change with my shoulders....

Masochist, I am and am probably in some sort of denial about how much of one I am. I like the muscle pain but not the joint or it shouldn't hurt there kind of pain. The IT band issue is right at the side of my knee. Doesn't bother me when I walk or go up/down stairs. Just while running, so I completely dropped running the week after Yanksgiving (American Thanksgiving to me) after three attempts at running all ended up with the dull sensation on the outside of my knee. The foam roller is being ordered after the holidays. Looking forward to trying it.

I am using New Balance 893's that probably have less than 50 miles on them (first ever 5k was early Nov and that is my longest distance thus far. My goal for running right now is sub 1 hour 10k this year, of course IT band dictates this). I believe I am a normal to high arch. Although, my feet are quite narrow and even more fun, about 1-1.5 sizes different. (I even sound like over the top weird now....) Spinning, not a problem for the IT band. Once I get my knees loosened up spinning is great. High cadence, low force or low cadence, high force feels good. We'll see how the new year goes, but I plan on going to a local running shop to see if they will analyze how I run and my feet to recommend proper shoes. The NB's I bought were before I ever had hallucinations that I would try a triathlon or longer distance running.

As for goals, my goal is to train for an Oly knowing I am run limited. My thoughts on this are to follow an Oly plan (from here or Joe Friel's Your First Triathlon or Dummies Guide to Triathlon's) for bike and swim. Then use the run section of a couch-sprint.

Edited by smarx 2009-12-19 7:28 PM

Dee, sounds like people from that area, always hockey's fault!

The world is small!! I played many years of baseball in Fenwick.

HOOSLISA -

You're the last one to whom I owe an initial response -- although in a sense that isn't really necessary, is it? But thank you very much for the very kind words; they mean a huge amount to me.

Thinking about you bopping over here from the other group kind of reminds me of a life-sentence prisoner. He waits until 3am everyday, and then digs for freedom. He digs and he digs and he digs and he digs. He digs in the wee hours, for years. But one day he knows that with just one more wee hour dig, he'll break through and be FREE. So, he sets off through his winding spoon-dug tunnel, digs upward a bit more, BREAKS THROUGH -- and finds himself in the warden's office.

Okay, dumb story and stupid analogy, but it DOES kind of make me think of what you've done in coming over here!

43 trainer miles in a garage. My touque is off to you for that one, to be sure! Is this a Fexy thing? Let me guess, and say Yes! Team Fexy is running wild!

And then you follow that with the 2010 2010 thing. i think both kids will still be here New Year's Eve and Day, but if not I ewould head down there and join you psycho-sicko types. That is a very nifty event, and as likely the only non-drinker amongst the lot of you, I would probably fare slightly better, overall.

Finally, congrats on making it back to the pool! And I'm not at all surprised that it was easy for you, seeing as how you're blessed with those good swimming chops.

Happy shoveling! (And best of good fortune with the studying and upcoming exam; lots of mojo coming your way on Monday!)

GANG!

I think I'm caught up with initial posts back to all of you. PLEASE tell me I haven't forgotten anybody!

Next up is a list of vital info on all of you, just so you can start making sense of the GrooveTime! contingent.

See you in a few minutes!

WHO'S WHO (in order of appearance)

real name........user name......location.......age


Cathy...........cathyd.............Ontario...............49
Ken..............shunshun.........unknown.............30
Dee..............DeputyDawg....Ontario...............44
Lisa..............lufferly............Texas..................51
Anne............latestarter........Ontario................57....(but maybe 56 tomorrow?)
Linda............lmcvetty..........British Columbia...43
Steve...........SAquavia.........California.............38
Dwayne........Dwayne...........Texas..................53
Diane...........FoxfireTX.........Texas...................56
Tracey..........thall0672.........Massachusetts.......38
M.................m68114...........Nebraska..............53
Lisa..............hooslisa...........Virginia................29
Shaun..........smarx..............Michigan...............29
Arthur..........Hepeoc.............Portugal...............31
Denise.........LadyNorth.........Minnesota.............63
Mark............TriD64..............Iowa....................45
Robyn..........rcotter..............Tennessee...........39
Darren.........BigDH...............Alberta................32
Jess.............ThatGirl............New Joisey...........24
Kasia...........augeremt..........Colorado..............25

Ta-da!

For those of you with "unknown" stats, could you please pass along that info whenever it suits you? And M -- are you the one from Omaha? I'll have to go back and check that out, and I'll edit it when I find it.

At some later point I will give a rough idea, in a similar list, of relative experience. stay tuned!

Finally, I know I still owe a few people responses, and I will get to them tomorrow. right now I'm going to watch the third period of the Boston Bruins game. (By the way, I am originally from Boston, so GO BRUINSREDSOXPATRIOTSCELTICS!!!!!!!)









Edited by stevebradley 2009-12-27 7:57 AM

Go Patriots indeed! (This is Tracey, aka thall0672, and I'm in Massachusetts). But I must say, what's going on with the Pats this season??? :\

STEVE,You are so correct in that getting the face down in the water helps with the swimming so much. Once I was able to learn to relax my head and neck, my lower body just seemed to float upwards. But about that swimming... as I said before this is the event that will be the biggest challenge for me. I just need some reassurance right now that my struggles are "normal"? I consider myself to be above average in aerobic fitness, having run and done some hard-core aerobic workouts for the last 7 years consistently. So I was really shocked to see how tough swimming is! You mention the breathing - this is what I think I really need to work on. I breathe on my right side, every other stroke (so basically I take a breath, then breathe out on the water while I do left arm, right arm, left arm). As I get more winded, I occasionally breathe every stroke on the right. That feels a bit awkward compared to breathing every third stroke but I'm trying to work on it. At this point, I'm only able to do 2 laps. After the 2 laps, I am DYING. I mean like, my face is purple dying. The tri I'm doing is a 1/3 m swim, which is 24 times back and forth at the pool at my Y. I am determined to get there, but right now I just can't even imagine doing it! I took private lessons for six weeks, which just ended. My instructor said that my form is fine, and that it's just a matter of practice and building up the endurance. Is that really all it is? I've been swimming 3x per week, 1 hour each session for six weeks. My progress has been slower than I had hoped. I was hoping to be able to add 1 lap per week but still haven't been able to add that 3rd lap. I'm starting to think that I'm getting a little burned out on the swimming, so on Monday I plan to start my new training plan, which I got here on this site. Here's the one I chose: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=... also been practicing the back stroke so at least I know that if I'm in the middle of Lake Winnipesauke and I get tired, I can flip over on my back and won't drown! Regarding the biking, I'll be training on the stationary bikes at the Y for now per the training plan above. When the weather improves in the spring, I'll be taking it outside. I hate to jinx myself but I'm not too worried about the bike portion, because I've always been a pretty decent biker. I did a 10 mile race this past summer and finished pretty well (although many of the riders were more "recreational"). One question about the bike - I currently own a mountain bike. I've heard that for a race you can just switch the tires for road racing. But do you think I'd be better off investing in a road bike? Since I hope to do more tris, it might be a worthwhile purchase... I also forgot to mention in my introduction that I was just diagnosed with a Morton's neuroma in my right foot. It's something that's always bothered me but has just started to get worse as I've been running a bit more. The doctor gave me an anti-inflammatory and orthotics, neither of which seem to be helping so far, but let's hope I can get some treatment that will work. I really appreciate your advice. Thank you! TraceyBY THE WAY: Does anyone know how I can post without my sentences being squished into one big paragraph? I hit return between my paragraphs but it doesn't seem to matter. Not sure if it has anything to do with my having a Mac...

Wow, finally got through all the intros and it looks like a great group.  I'm happy with the size ... I've been in 3 mentor groups on BT and know how some typically fall by the wayside, but hope that doesn't happen to anyone.  And a special welcome to the newbies!!  Can't wait to hear about your experiences along the way.

Thanks, Steve, for the breakdown of the group. Wish I would have seen it before I took all my notes, trying to figure out who everyone was!

Here's my bio as promised ...

NAME: lufferly-Lisa

STORY: Currently 51 years old.  For my 50th birthday, with some extra time on my hands after my daughter graduated from high school, I decided to become a triathlete, having never been involved in any athletics EVER. My family thought I'd finally lost my mind (so, Diane, I know how you're feeling, not wanting to tell anyone). I've always liked to swim, enjoyed biking, and HATED running. I literally couldn't run from one street light to the next in my neighborhood. Since then, I've lost 28 lbs, completed 3 mini-sprints, 3 sprints, and 3 half marathons (the last just two weeks ago where I cut 19 minutes off my time from last year ... not hard to do when you start out so slowly! ... but an accomplishment for me, and smack in the middle of my AG). I've worked full time as a legal nurse consultant for the past 17 years, after working as a CCU RN for 8 years. I have a 30 mile commute each way, so spend that time catching up on my reading. If I spent as much time running, as I do reading about running, etc I'd surely be a pro!

FAMILY STATUS: Married with four kids - son, age 29; son, age 22; daughter, age 21 tomorrow!; and son, age 11.  All my boys are living at home right now; my daughter is in NYC, living her dream as an actress (subsidized by being a nanny).

CURRENT TRAINING:  I started running with a group associated with USA Fit this summer to prepare for my half marathons in December and January and have really been enjoying it. I've finally been able to change my mantra from "I hate running" to "I CAN do this", albiet slowly.  I'm registered for another half marathon on January 10th and a 5K on January 17th, so will continue focusing on my running until then.  I've enjoyed my running group so much, that I'm thinking about joining a master's swim team in February.  I have access to a gym with a pool and a trainer for my bike.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: 1 mini-sprint, 2 sprints, 3 5Ks (my favorite in Aspen CO this summer), 1 5 mile, 1 10K, 2 half marathons. That seems so unreal, coming from a total non-athlete less than 2 years ago ...

2010 RACES: Registered for the USA Fit HM on 1/10; Houston El Paso 5 K on 1/17.  I'm going to sit down with my calendar next week but would like to do a couple 5Ks this spring, a sprint or two, and hopefully an oly in late summer.

WEIGHT LOSS: I've lost 28 lbs since starting my training and would like to loss about 10 more. I'm 5'9" and 170 at present. I have hypothyroidism, so my metabolism tends to be a little screwy. I eat fairly healthy, and think I don't eat enough rather than too much.


Lisa L.

Edited by lufferly 2009-12-19 10:08 PM

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-23 7:16 PM

M - you'll do great ... and you've got your kids to train with!  As for your hair color comment ... I come from a family of premature gray-ers.  I had been coloring my hair every 3 weeks for over 20 years and was so tired of it.  Last year, at the age of 50, I decided I'd had enough and was going back to my "natural color".  I let all the color grow out, am embracing gray now, and have never had so many compliments on my hair.  (Now, my 11 year old son has different thoughts about it, some of the mom's of his friends are the same age as my oldest son ... I just ask him how many of those other moms do triathlons and run half marathons!)

Edited by midlifeinsanity 2010-05-23 7:16 PM

TRACEY -

I should be answering tings in the order they appeared, I guess, but I just read yours a couple of times and will answer it while some thoughts and ideas are still vivid.

First, though, the most important part -- where in MA? I was born in Concord, raised mostly in Bedford, lived a few years in Boston, and my parents retired (and eventually expired) in Rockport. I haven't lived in MA since '71, I guess, but i still consider it home.

Swimming and breathing! Oh, yes! It sounds like you are breathing every fourth stroke, if you are going only on your right side. I know you say you feel awkward breathing every time your right arm is pulling and your left arm is recovering (out of the water), but that will give you maximum air - twice as much as you are getting by breathing every fourth stroke. And as you talk about dying and being purple-faced, then it 184% sounds like you are allowing yourself to be oxygen-deprived. So, as I just said, one solution is "simply" to breathe more frequently. You describe every fourth strokke as your breath stroke, whereas a bilateral breather will catch air every third stroke. I, like most people, breathe every other stroke.

That's one thing. Another is to make sure you are exhaling FULLY while your head is still underwater. A lot of people will begin their exhalation late, with the result that they are still exhaling as their head turns to the surface. as there is only a brief moment to grab a full batch of air, you really need every millisecond of that time for inhaling; any time that is devoted to completing your exhaling reduces the time you have to inhale fully.

Two "tricks" can help you with this. The more seemingly-advanced is to amke a big deal of exhaling while you are actually swimming; that is, EXPLODE that air out of you! Envelope your face in your own universe of bubbles! Do it so forcefully that you can actually hear it! And once you've done this a few times, or a fewfewfew times, then mellow it down a bit and have the sense that you have no more air left in you - then and only then do you turn your head to breathe.

If/when you do this, give yourself a no-pressure situation, moving to the next slowest lane if that will give you lots of space to work on this without worrying about somebody swimming over you.

The other trick, the seemingly-less-advanced one, is to get in the shallow end of probably the ultimately slowest lane, and walk out until you are in waist-deep water. Then bend forward at 90 degrees so that your torso is just below the surface (anbout the depth it would be when swimming) and your head is facing down. In this position, breathe out fully, then turn your head and get a good breath in. The goal here is really to accentuate the exhale, and if exploding air is the best way to do this, then take that approach. Little kids are often taught that way, but that doesn't mean that it can't work for big kids like us! Unless you feel that you'd rather de than be seen doing this, I would recommend at least one five-minute session trying this. Remember, the goal is to make sure you exhale completely while your head is still fully submerged in order to maximize the amount of time you have to inhale each breath cycle.

One more thing with this is to use a pull buoy. There is a lot of discussion about how valuable/harmful "swim toys" are, but I personally think there is a lot to be said for pull buoys -- and this is one of those cases. I'm sure you've seen these, just solid 8-shaped foam devices that are squeezed between the thighs, about 2/3 of the way up. This will neutralize your legs so that you can't really kick, but as they elevate your upper legs they veruy effectively reduce the amount of work you have to do. So, as you practice your breathing while actually swimming, using a pull buoy will allow you to relax a whole lot more , which will lessen the feeling of having to RUSH the exhale, and then RUSH the inhale.

Final thought here -- Even though I have used a buch of action verbs in the paragraphs above, you really do want to do these drills/exercises in as relaxed a way as possible. All that explosiion stuff is fine as a way of emphasizing a particular action, but as soon as you begin to get a sense of air out and air in, then it's time to dial it all down a notch and get quietly systematic about what you are doing.

Let me know how that all sounds to you, please?

Moving on to two more things, kind of quickly.

Ultimately, a road bike would be the best thing if you consider contiinuing with triathlon. (Well, a true tri bike would be the best of the best.....) It is pretty easy to retro-fit a road bike with some tri-specific items, aerobars being the most obvious and common add-on. But let's save this for a while, okay.

As for the neuroma........
You say Morton's, which would be between the third and fourth toes. I say this because technically a neuroma that is between the 2nd and 3rd toes is a Heuter's neuroma. This is far less common than Morton's, but it is what plagued me (right foot) in '05 and which I eventually had removed in early '06. That turned out great, although hopefully you can solve your problem without resorting to invasive surgery.

Here are some thoughts on neuromae:
1. They develop when the nerve is squeezed between two adjacent metatarsal bones, or between a metatarsal bone and the underlying metatarsal heads.
2. Due to this, tight-fitting shoes are a huge culprit in exacerbating the discomfort. (How often do your shoes laterally constrict your toes?)
3. Pointy-toed shoes are a culprit; do you often wear high heels? (Not all high heels will affect neuromae equally, however.)
4. A goal is to create separation between the offending metatarsal bones. That was probably the idea behind giving you orthotics, but unless the have a perfectly-aligned "bump" or ridge right where it is required, they have a good chance of not adequately addressing your problem. So, generic or over-the-counter orthotics will probably do nothing for a neuroma.
5. Something that worked for me is a "metatarsal lift", which can be purchased from Pro-Tec Athletics. Go to www.injurybegone.com and search around until you find these. What you'll see is vaguely oval thing that raised, maybe 1/2". One side is an adhesive, and these work when stuck onto the sockliner (or insole) of your running shoes (or even day-to-day shoes). The tricky part, however, is finding the right spot for them, so my approach was to do a run and carry with me a small roll of paper tape. i would first tape the lift down in the spot where I thought it would work, then run for a bit and test it out. If the neuroma still uhjurt, then I would shift the lift's position, tape it gently in place, and then try again. Anfd again. And again. Eventually I would find the right spot (more or less), outline the lift's position in pen on the sockliner, then remove the paper backing from the sticky side of the lift and tape it firmly in place. Voila! And even if I then learned that I still didn't have it QUITE right, the thing can be removed and re-stuck,; this is okay to do only once or twice, then all adhesion is lost. ***What the lift will do is ever-so-gently force the matatarsal bone upward and outward, thus relieving pressure on the neuroma.***
6.) A painful neuroma develops when scar tissue forms on the nerve. Often, if you can catch this sort of in time, a lot of misery can be avoided.
7.) Cortisone shots MAY help, but try to avoid them! First, the are pretty painful in that area. Second, cortisone can break down fatty tissue, so with repeated shots you will lose highly valuable fat stores from the "pads" of your feet, and this will really be painful - and irreversibly so - for your metatarsal heads.

Too much information?? Please ask questions about anything that doesn't make sense to you about what I've just said. I also have something to say about running shoes.....but that will have to come later.

To bed, now. G'night!

C'mon, sleepyheads! I know it's Sunday and all, but not only was it me who put you all to bed last night, but it's me who's waking you up this morning.

Wakety-wakety, rise and shine!




And as for me, I'm starting with page 3 and working through random comments. I hope to be caught up by this evening!

STEVE -

I haven't forgotten you, and know full well that you asked three excellent, details-based questions. I WILL get to them soon!

LISA L -

As Lisa A (hooslisa) will tell you, I'm forever envious of her various tri- and running-based groups that she is involved with around Reston, VA. So, I am now envious of you for having a running group -- even if running with them involves 5am wake-ups! What's the general goal of your group -- recreational every time, or geared to a specific distance or race? Just curious!