QUEEN ZIP & KathyG - CLOSED (Page 55)

Happy Saturday everyone - i'm up early to meet some other BT-ers for a group ride. It's going to be 50-ish here in the northeast - WOO HOOOO

This will be my first ride since September and first with aerobar - if i crash i'll be sure to post the injury report

 I hope the weather around the world (especially in PANAMA) make everyone smile today!!

I'm headed out for a group ride today too.  It's a slower pace than I want but I need the experience of a group and it's going to hit 70 today!

The snow is all gone except the big uply piles the plows left in parking lots and those will melt fast.

Glittery texts by bigoo.ws

 Hello all! I am headed off to Quebec to ski....so I will not be around......may just go into BT withdrawal unless I can find internet access there!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone! I'm getting packed and off to the races.

It looks like everyone is having a great Saturday.  Bunch of bike rides, running (I did 8-1/2 miles in prep for 1/2 marathon on 3/22), skiing, playing with a new baby.  What a delight to read. 

And I really like the glittery text. 

kaqphin - 2009-03-07 9:48 PM Just had my first DNF Im very frustrated and very upset.... will write the details when Im home as if I do it right now it will just be a sulk fest!

Cat,

That sucked about the injury but given the problems you have had in the past with running you were wise to pull out when you die.  I'm sorry your season ended on a sour note.

QueenZipp - 2009-03-09 3:02 AM

kaqphin - 2009-03-07 9:48 PM Just had my first DNF Im very frustrated and very upset.... will write the details when Im home as if I do it right now it will just be a sulk fest!

Cat,

That sucked about the injury but given the problems you have had in the past with running you were wise to pull out when you die.  I'm sorry your season ended on a sour note.

Thanks Judi - woke up this morning and it actually isnt too bad...swelling has already come down and Im hobbling around not too bady... 

Very very lucky I think! Off to the docs but Im pretty optimistic now...if still a little disappointed!

Hope your ankle feels better soon, Cat!  Remember: Ice is your friend!  (I'm starting to LOVE the smell of Tiger Balm, too! )

That sucks about the race - an odd and prob unwise choice of the RDs to have the wading, imo.  I agree with you: do it or don't, but don't throw everyone such a huge curveball with something like that!  It seems a little dangerous, and probably ends up being meaningless to the competitors, no?  I would be seriously bummed if a tri I was signed up for turned into a du, but that may have been preferable.

It looks like you had a good season, otherwise!  If it's feeling anti-climactic to you (or even if it's not), maybe we can all try to set up a short virtual race when your ankle's ok?  Either a du or a tri and the goal is to do a tempo session of all the pieces over the course of the weekend (if you can't do em back to back, which may not be practical for some).  What do you think?  Heal up first (I'll be doing the same) and maybe that can be an end of month challenge for whomever wants to take part? 

Thanks so much for the support!

I love the idea of trying to do the race properly... or maybe just do the distances over the course of a day or something

The ankle swelling has gone down a HUGE amount and now Im not sulking (so much) I can see it doesnt look to bad.

Saw the doc and the reports are positive... just annoyed some of the tendon/ligement/things but nothing a couple more days RICE shouldnt help with - can put weight on it and hobble around just got to make sure I only do what is neccesary.

Its MUCH better today so Im optimistic - no running for at least a couple of weeks but swimming and riding should be back in the frame soon! Swimming might be more pull sets and the bike a cruise to avoid pressure on the ankles but thats all good...

There is always strength too!

Its feeling very anti-climactic... but I think its also feeling kind of a relief... I was tired and cranky in the race lead up last week and spent a lot of time saying I didnt really want to do it... I wonder if Ive been putting too much pressure on myself...

A friend suggested I look at all this big stuff I have been committing to and look to just 1-2 big things for the next season and I might take his advice... maybe I just need to take some of the pressure off myself! That cant be helping!

So Ive been doing some thinking and Im wondering if Ive been taking too much on with the pressure for this year...

Looking at my 100K ride then first half marathon, olympic distances, a competitive 90K ride next season all within a few months and helping everyone else with their stuff...and finishing a bunch of sprint races! I like racing but maybe not that much!

I love helping others... and Im wondering whether my goal for the off season should be something like running few 10ks, working on my cycling (because I love it but have a HUGE amount of room for improvement and no TT experience yet) and maintaining my swimming...

So I have a good couple of Olympic distance races next season...  rather than anything else... or maybe running and cycling longer would be better for that...

Just thinking out loud here...  there is a 10k run with the half marathon so its an option...

Yes I want to do a HIM sometime.. but maybe a couple of solid times in Olympics would be  better than ramping up distances just to get there... ideas?

Cat,

With all the health and injury issues you have dealt with my advice is to go S-L-O-W with ramping up for these things.  Be patient with the body getting into the volume.

Bike clinic was great!   "It's a girl thing", and except for 2 male instructors, it was all women.  Various ability levels, and I think we all got something from the weekend.  I can corner with much more confidence, and I'm looking forward to heading out again!   One of the younger girls 'tipped' me over....she couldn't get out of her clips at a stoplight, and went down on top of me.  So, a few pretty colors are springing up on my right side, but not too bad.

I'm starting to feel fine, except for the knees and ankles still a bit.  Any advice as to how long I should (can!) maintain (stretch out!) this rest/recovery period?!?

Linda

Sounds live a great bike clinic. Sorry to hear that you got "taken down" I hope the bruising isn't too bad.

My 2 cents on recovery. Give yourself a couple weeks (2-3). Listen to your body and slowly gear back up. Consider getting reacquainted with the pool. Congrats again on an awesome finish!

I concur w/ Jessie on the recovery.  Better to ease back slowly than go too fast and risk injury.

Awesome bike clinic!  (except the part of being knocked down)

Thanks Judi.... I think this week is going to be all about working it out for me... Its that whole end of season thing I guess...

Just realised I may be trying to take on more than I can mentally handle...

Maybe you could sit down and figure out how much time you actually have after your work life and personal life for training and other activities.  Once you know what time is available look at all the things you want to do and rank them by which excite you the most or which you find the most rewarding.  Once you have your list figure out the time committment involved for each one. Then look at your ranked list and decide what you can realistically do.  It sounds like you really enjoy helping train others even though this takes time from your own training, making a dedicated decision about where you spend your time may make it easier to say NO to what you don't like, or feel you should do or just don't have the time for.

Glad to hear your ankle will heal quickly! How did CG do?

Unbelievably! 59th OA and 6th in AG.... pity he didnt get to swim really but he says he cant wait to do the next one... including the big race I want to do in November...

He is a bike freak so now wants to get set up with a full TT rig too... to use his words he has been 'bitten by the tri bug'...

The most annoying thing... he didnt train for the run once but ran the course like a pro.. hard out and flying! Arrrgh! Wish it was that easy for me...

Anway apparently Ive 'created a monster' so thats kind of awesome... for someone who just a few months ago told me NO WAY would he ever do a tri because of the swim! So proud of him!

Oh well i know I have him to help with my cycling long term now...

It will be good motivation... Id like to really work in the off season to have a great race in November and hold my own with him... i wont be as fast as him but not a being a tail ender would be awesome!

Good afternoon all.

Hope everyone is doing well this week. My race went great this weekend (RR is up) I've got some bruising on my feet from T1 and getting a rock stuck in my foot but generally not a huge problem.

On another note what are thoughts on race wheels ... I'm not sure it's worth my money (because I'm not the fastest cyclist) to buy or rent but a few people are talking them up and I'm wondering if I'm missing anything. Should I consider them for my HIM or just let that idea go?

I don't know much about it, but from a couple MA BT folks I was chatting with, they seemed to think that the covers are a much cheaper solution and provide similar results.  You *are* pretty fast (just saw your RR - you go, girl!), but from what I gathered, unless you're elite (and doing longer rides, but I guess HIM might qualify) the seconds shaved between the two may not amount to that much.

I don't know how accurate those statements are, but it might be good to explore covers as an option instead of discs.  (Wait, were you talking about discs or getting lighter wheels?)

Lighter wheels, the course tends to be windy , disks would get blown around a lot. I'm not a pro and I don't think I'm getting a Kona slot (unless roll down gets down to the MOP'ers like me).

Hey everyone!  Work suckage kept me from checking what's up today.

  Kathy, excellent advice for Cat.  Absolutely makes sense to set priorities and set plans accordingly.

Jessie, I saw the RR, you had a fantastic race!  Congrats!