GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 62)

I've been really struggling with motivation lately, letting life and work get in the way and most days doing nothing. 
I've been feeling so stressed at the thought of training for a long race that I've decided this will not be IM year for me, that I will stick to short local races that don't involve long travel and a lot of expense. 

I got on my bike the past two days for really short rides and heading out for a run this afternoon.  Baby steps.

CATHY -

I'm sorry that it's all been sort of difficult for you recently, but I think you've made the wise decision with the '10 goals. That's not to say that you should not do B2B, but rather that at this stage of things it is smart to just remove it from the equation -- at least for now. And if it turns out that later in the season you see things open up and feel it is doable, then you can reconsider then; I'm sure it won't sell out!

It's mid-February, and short rides and runs make perfect sense -- especially for those of us who don't have climate on our side. Right along about now there are thousands of people who are rubbing the cobwebs off od their gear and themselves, so you have lots of company with other baby-steppers!

Is the thought at all in your mind to be the B2B half-iron -- just to sort of "test-drive" the course before committing to the full at some future point? I'm keeping a fairly close eye on the registrations for the B2B HIM, as I seem to remember that it sold out fairly quickly last year. Having said that, though, I haven't checked in about 10-14 days; better do that now!! (I guess I'm not keeping THAT close of an eye! )

CATHY again -

No need to panic yet! There are 227 in for the HIM, out of a capacity of 800. (For the full, 159 have signed up, again out of 800.)

Glad you liked the drill links, hope they are helpful.

Thanks for the well wishes on the chimney fire, this was a pretty good one - flames flying out of the chimney and everything.  The fire department isn't super, um...dependable.  Long story on the fire dept, I should write a blog about them - they showed up to the last fire with an empty tank.  Not kidding.  By the time they got here, we had worked to get the chimney fire to burn out, and we had already checked/continued to check the attic for hotness/problems.  They checked what we checked and said we were all set.   We stayed up and made sure.  All is well.

CATHY - motivation can be tough, espeshally with a big race seemingly far in the future, and a busy life.  Good luck, with your training and your goals!

Cheers,
Mandy

Thanks Steve.  I don't think I would want to travel that far for a HIM,  but I am thinking I may want to look at doing a late season HIM closer to home.  For now I'm just going to focus on getting back into some short workouts.  But then I am a woman so I'm sure I'll change my mind a few times before the season ends.

CATHY -

"But then I am a woman so I'm sure I'll change my mind a few times before the season ends."

Ahhh, don't I just wish the changing-of-the mind was that readily gender-specific! Not only am I a terrible decision-maker even at the best of times, but I can - and do! - dither over race schedules ad nauseum. One of the reasons I have not posted any sort of schedule here for the group is because I don't know which one to choose. Believe it or not, there are four "complete" schedules I am pondering, but within each of the four there are several/many permutations that could conceivably happen that actually make them morph into any of the other three schedules. It is all very complex and utterly absurd and ridiculous.

And I'm also a sucker for the concept of "Race of the Day", wherein I learn about a race, check it out on line, get fully psyched, print out all the details, gaze longingly at them for a day or week or so.......and then begin to lose interest as percieved realities - race fees, travel costs (food and lodging), etc - start to sink in.

A good example of this is Timberman, and as I posted to both Tracey and Mandy a day or two ago, I can't decide what to do about it. The HIM will cost either $275 or $300, depending on when I sign up. As for the sprint, well, much as you say that NC is maybe too far to go for a HIM, I'm trying to convince myself to traveling more than a couple of hours might be too far for a sprint. In the past I have gone fairly long distances for fairly short races (and to give myself some credit, for fairly long races, too ), but common sense might dictate that I should tone things down some, reign myself in a bit more emphatically!

The final piece in my changing-mind mentality is injuries, and just getting tired of eating race fees over the years because an injury got in the way. So, whereas a few years ago I was quite good at setting a schedule early on and gearing towards it from many months out, that doesn't happen any more. But back a few years ago I was still working and earning my keep, and also I had not at that point acculmulated so many did-not-starts, so I was just more inclined to choose the races in November, sign up, and be done with it.

ANYHOW, all of that is to say that changing the mind is not just a woman's prerogative, but can be a defining chararcteristic of males, too. (Know of any good support groups we can join? )

Good Morning Everyone,

Where have you all been?   I am getting lonely.       Keep checking in for news in between watching the Olympics and training, but it's been VERY quiet.   

TRACEY,

How did your run go? 

CATHY,

Sorry to hear that motivation is a struggle right now.   I went through months of it in the fall, so just pulled back and changed the goals a bit.   For the most part, our bodies tell us everything we need to know, and we should listen to them.  Hope you have a good week.

STEVEA,

Looking forward to hearing about your weekend.


STEVEB,

Hope you shared those pies with everyone.  


HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GOOD WEEKEND.   

SHAUN -

Don't feel too bad about missing out on Life of Pie, as it's been there for only about a year.

And congrats on the 305! Is it to be considered a late Christmas present, or an early birthday present, or just an I-want-it-and-so-I'm-getting-it gift to yourself?

ANNE -

Of COURSE I shared the pies! Honest! For true!

Pretty good run for you yesterday, it seems? Yes?

ANNE:

The run was not too bad, thanks for asking!

I managed to run the entire 5 miles without having to take any walking breaks, which was a big deal for me! I was really hoping to finish the race in an hour or less and try to maintain 12 minute miles, but I finished in 63 minutes (give or take a few seconds). There were guys at each mile marker giving times, and at 1 mile I was 11:57. But I got slower as I progressed along...

Despite the neuroma being such a headache for me lately, it was actually my left quad/hip flexor that gave me the most trouble during the race. And it was really sore last night while I was trying to sleep. I felt it every time I tried to move.

I'm doing another 5 miler in about a month, so my goal for that race will be to finish in under an hour. We'll see!

Tracey

Well the NB 1123's were a no go! Just like Anne, as soon as I put them on I felt the zing of the neuroma. All I had to do was take a few steps and I could feel it. I put my old Mizunos back on and I no longer felt the pain. So I suppose cushioning is the way to go despite what I had thought about needing stability shoes.

I'm exchanging them for NB 1064's in a wide width:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002NPD2CI/ref=oss_product

I'm hoping the wider width/toe box will help take the pressure off the neuroma.

Tracey

We're going to title this one:  ALL  I EVER NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT TRIATHLON, I LEARNED IN ST. GEORGE.

So, let's start at the beginning. 

1)  Lesson 1:  Do not sit in a car for 8 hours, go to sleep at midnight and then wake up at 6:00 am to do your scouting work.
2)  Lesson 2:  Do NOT do a VO2 test and then sit in a car for 3 more hours on the way to the course before riding.
3)  Elevation - it sucks.

Yes, seems elementary, but hey, lessons learned.

So, left work early, took 8 hours to do what is normally a 4 hour drive, and started on Saturday tired and stiff.

Did a V02 test at a place in Vegas that my friend uses and got what I think is some good info, but more on that in a different post.

ANYWAY - the course. 
Swim - well, it's a swim, so not much info on that.  I'm pretty sure the water there is Hydrogen and Oxygen, so, familiar ground.

Bike - this is both easier than advertised and harder than expected.  There are two pretty meaningful climbs out of T1 before you get to the dreaded "loop".  Fortunately, these climbs of 3-4% are longish, but don't have any particularly steep rises in them.  And, the first comes after a fair amount of flat course with great road conditions, so it should be pretty easy to get hydrated and some food in the system before the first climbs.

And, after the second climb, which looks nasty, but is not all that bad when you're on it, there is a good 10-12 mile downhill section until you reach the loop - so again, great area to fuel and spin and get the legs ready.

The loop is going to be tough.  No doubt about it, but the toughest part of it is no the climbing, but the road conditions.  Chip seal everywhere and weathered/aged asphalt.  So, the top layer of the road is gone and you are on a very rough, pitted asphalt surface.  Heavier riders will be impacted less, but I was getting bounced around quite a bit on it.  And, it makes the downhill sections a little trickier, because you are never 100% comfortable in aero going down the short pitches. 

The road is in such bad condition that when there was a section of newly paved area, my speed went from 17-18 mph to 22-23mph on the same incline, same gear.  The resistance just dropped to nothing and the bike took off. 

Anyway, the hills - there are really only 3 hills on the loop of any consequence, and a few rollers.  It really is quite a beautiful course, scenic and peaceful.  The first hill is less than a quarter mile, maybe only an 8th of a mile, but you run out of gear very quickly, and are out of the saddle, HR climbing quickly.   Speed got down to about 6 mph on that puppy and my HR peaked at about 162 or so (fortunately, that is still z2 for me).  At the top, you have about 4-5 miles of rolling flats before the major effort.  I think it's about a half mile.  It starts off manageable, I was in small ring and the middle of the cassette.  It is tricky though, as if you are not careful, the road pitches high about half way through and if you don't shift down early, you get caught in the wrong gear and will lose momentum shifting late.  Which I did. LOL.  So, half way up, I was in my smallest gear and alternating 20-second efforts in and out of the saddle to keep things going.  6 mph was about it at the peak and we were spent.  I have to say, that hill hurt me.  HR maxed out at about 178 and it was a good 30-40 seconds before I could comfortably drink once it got flat again.

I like to think that it was the fact I was tired, stiff and a bit taxed from the V02 test and that we didn't start riding until about 1:30 pm, so it was already a long day.  I am going back out on the 13th to do it again and hopefully under more ideal prep conditions. 

After the bit hill there is some rolling flats again (very beautiful country) and the a turn onto highway 18.  This will be a mental gut check, as you just got done with the "big climb" and are looking forward to the downhill recovery.  Only there is one final effort before that happens, and it is stretched out before you in a long snaking bend.  More than once, Jason and I were laughing out loud screaming, "F U Hill!!!!" 

Side note:  there is a gas station there before that final hill.  We met two riders there who were also scouting out the course.  One of them said she had done Cour d' Leone (sp?) and in her words, "that had some hills, but this thing is ridiculous".  Made me feel good as while the big hill hurt me, by the time we got to the station a few minutes later, it was already becoming a distant memory. 

Downhill - not nearly as steep as I feared (I am afraid of downhill), but there are a few areas where I hope they have the entire right lane protected for us, as there is a very tiny shoulder, and the road continues to be pitted and rough, making it hard for me to stay aero.  I was able to keep the brakes at a minimum though.  Up until this point, we were averaging about 15 mph, but by the bottom of the hill, we were back up to about 18.2 mph. 

All in all, it will be a very fair but challenging course.  Pacing will be critical, as there are some sections on that loop where I wanted to be more aggressive and attack - especially after a roller or two.  But I think success for me will come from taking advantage of those flat sections to rehydrate and gel up.  The 20-30 seconds I could make up isn't worth blowing up on the climbs. 

The RUN - This is what scares me the most about this course.  Pure and simple - it is going to be a tough run.  There is a pretty steep climb right out of T2, which levels out to a 1-2%ish grade for the first 3 miles.  Then a steep pitch on a small side loop.  Then, after you're out of that, a long, hard climb of about a mile.  Pure and simple, that one is going to hurt us.  We didn't run it on Saturday, as it was almost dark at that point and we didn't have any reflective gear or lights.  We'll run it on the 13th for sure.  What I am going to have to get mentally prepared for is the second loop.  Returning to T2, you are downhill and recovering, but turning around and going back up that hill is going to be mentally taxiing. 

All in all, I have mixed feelings about the course.  I feel under fresher conditions, I'd have performed better than I did.  I have no doubt about that and I hope my visit on the 13th confirms that.  Even so, I am now starting to understand how hard this is going to be and will need to get my head right between now and then.  My workout this morning started off very poorly, because that course is already getting in my kitchen as it were.  By the end of today's workout, I was fine and back on track.

The game plan from here.  HILLS.  HILLS HILLS HILLS.  And then, when I'm tired of hills, I think I had better do some more HILLS!  LOL.

St. George, here we come!

VO2 - also got this tested this weekend (see note on prior post about not sitting in a car for several hours afterward before working out again).

Good news and bad news.

Good news is I seem to have a pretty healthy Aerobic and Anabolic threshold.  My Aerobic Threshold is 46.5 or 167bpm, and my Anerobic is 58.5 or 184 bpm.  My Peak was 65.1, maxing out at 193 bpm on the test.

As a result my zones are as follows according to the test:
Z1 and Z2 - 101-167
Z3 - 167-184
Z4 - 184 - 191
Z5 - 191 - 193

One other set of factoids they gave me is that from my peak of 193, in 1-minute of rest, my HR dropped 74% (down to 125bpm) and in 2-minutes, I had recovered 113% of my HR (89bpm). 

The good news is that the fear I've had the past several months that I'm doing my distance efforts in Z3 was unfounded.  Turns out, I've been solidly in the bottom/middle of my Z2 for most of the training I've done. 

Other good news is that I have a lot more leeway in Z2 than I thought I had, which means I can increase my effort and not worry about spending too much time in the dreaded Z3 area.

Other other good news is that the guy told me my recovery times were excellent and that with that kind of recovery, I should be able to really increase the volume at which I do interval training. 

Other, other, other good news is that the guy told me that with these types of numbers, I have a good "upside" should I wanted to focus on maximizing my potential.  He said the tools are there, it's just a question of what I want to do with them.

That's the kind of mind-twist with the test.  All those great bits of info are wonderful, but they don't make me any faster or more durable.  LOL. 

The "bad" news, if you want to look at it this way, is that my Z4 efforts in recent weeks have really been Z3 efforts.  And, what's worse, I'm not sure how I'm going to get into Z4 with any regularity on the run.  I tried today in my workout, and was able to get into the high 170's, but not 184 - and not for the 6-8 minutes at a pop like I'm supposed to.  Simply put, I don't think my structure is set up for that kind of exertion.  I'm likely to need to do a lot more strength training in my legs/glutes/lower back so they can withstand the pounding of that kind of effort.  I guess I know what I'm doing in the off season! 

Steve, would love to hear your input/feedback on the stats and your take on the test.

Great scouting report!  Now, go run/ride some hills!

Ha, nope, thankfully that was our first one (I hope our last!) - I meant to the last house the Fire Dept went to, the tank was empty, I just re-read and see it does sound like we have fires all the time! Oops.  Thankfully, not! 

Cheers,
Mandy

Yeah, I was pretty happy with the run, but disappointed I could only get the 2km in.  We don't have any other indoor tracks and I'm not ready to take the new shoes out on the road yet.   Want to be certain they are the right ones.  

What do you think about my comment about maybe running TOO slow is not good for the neuroma?   Last week when I did a couple of fast 2km's my foot was feeling pretty good and I think I commented that when I slowed down for the last km, not so good.  

Kind of happy about the last 3 weeks of training.   Was consistent with a slight increase in volume each week and lots of energy even with Bikram 3-4 times per week.     I have reduced the volume slightly for this week and then will build up again for a couple of weeks which brings me to March 8th (20 weeks from Muskoka).  

Still unsure about what plan, if any to follow.   What do you do?   Do you create your own plan/workouts each week?    What is week 1 on the Fitzgerald plan like?   Does he just lay out volume or also provide detailed workouts?  

Thanks,  

CONGRATULATIONS!    Not having to take any walk breaks for that distance IS a big deal.   Be careful of your hip flexor.   That has been my 'achilles heel' for years.    Seems once you strain or injure it, it takes a long time to come back.    I think alot of us are weak in that area and should maybe pay a bit more attention to strengthening it.    

I'm sure with another month of running under your belt, and those new shoes, you will have a great race next month.  

Thanks for the directions!   

I WILL let you know when we are going to be up that way, for sure.    We often go in May and October and sometimes Feb.   It will be easier when Ken is retired too.    If the weather is nice, I like that Early Bird tri (sort of).   I don't like the swim because you have to swim under the lane ropes at each end and I always get caught up in them and then you have this ridiculously long run to transition.    We like to cycle in the Gatineau park.   I was freaking with excitement the first time I rode back down; I'm sure I was close to 70km/hr.   I know I was over the speed limit.     

Not sure if we will get there this May with being gone 3 weeks in April, but you never know.  If we have any money left, and the weather is looking awesome, we will probably still come.  

ANNE -

I'm going to venture an opinion here, really before I've had time to think about it. But I'll get it out in the open, and we can both think about it.

Faster cadence = Faster running. Faster cadence = Less time that the foot is in contact with the ground. So......Faster running = Less time the foot is in contact with the ground. Does that make sense? If it does, and if the neuroma acts up when it is moving/rolling over the ground during a run, then increasing one's cadence might be a way to slightly minimize the amount of moving/rolling the neuroma is subjected to. Whadaya think?

Regardless of cadence per se, it might be that when you increase your speed you are landing slightly differently, and with your footstrike in a different place, that might be a spot where the neuroma is less subject to the impact/rolling of your slower pace runs. How's this sound?

Anyhow, I'd say that you've found something to tinker with, and it is definitely worth exploring further. You might want to make fartleks a regular part of your runs, just fairly brief speed increases to see if the neuroma is less sensitive when you're in one of the faster spurts. The beauty of fartleks is that they don't require much of a warm-up, and you're just increasing your speed whenever it suits you, and you're not keeping track of zones and time spent at a certain pace, s you might with more rigorous interval efforts.

As for Fitz's first week, I will get it up here soon --- hopefully this evening, if not then tomorrow.

TRACEY -

Terrific job at Paddy Kelly, turning in a solid time while under the duress of shoe decisions, neuroma worries, and an evolving hip flexor issue. With a goal of going under an hour at the next one in a month, I'd say your chances are really good. Your P.K. time was under 1:03 (I peeked at the results! , so you have less than 3 minutes to shave off your time. If you can tame the neuroma and resolve the hip issue (sometimes those are just the result of a particular run, and settle right back down within a day or two), then you can get some good runs in between now and the next 5-miler.

And I like the new choice of shoe! RRS considers it a neutral shoe, which is where I think your feet and legs will be happiest. RRS includes a new descriptor: "buttery-smooth ride". Can't argue with that, I guess!

Just to further support the hope that a wider toe box will help, here's what Dr. Perry H. Julien says in hos book "Sure Footing":
"Often if you switch to an athletic or dress shoe with a wider toe box, the symptoms decreasze or even disappear." His comment that realtes to Anne's cotton ball idea is: "Using a toe separator between the affected toes may also take pressure off the nerve."

Hopehopehopehopehope!

TRACEY again -

Even though I took a somewhat cavalier attitude towards the hip flexor concern in the previous post, I agree with what Anne says -- watch it carefully, don't let it gain ground on you. Ice is good, and within a day or two some gentle stretching targeting that exact area will be helpful if it is still tender or sore. But wait a bit before starting a stretching routine!

STEVE -

Wow! I have virtually nothing to add to your first post, the "scouting report". You have done a brilliant job of defining the nature of the bike course AND already working out a plan of attack. If your experience with your pre-race trips is similar to mine before Lake Placid, many, many things will crystalize when you're back there on the 13th. As for it "getting in your kitchen", believe it or not, I think that's good - especially now, so far out from May 1. I'm sure that what you'll find is that with continued thought and visualization about the course between now and the 13th, and then even more intensely after that, you'll have a huge amount of mental control over the course. Right now it (the course) is just setting things up for you to gain mental dominance over it later on.

And it might be good that you didn't run the run course, just drove over it and now have four weeks to strategize about it -- and, hopefully, get some more hillwork in so that it is less formidable when you do it!

Couer d'Alene definitely has a rep as a fairly tough bike course, so her comparison ought to make you feel really good about how you emerged from the demands of the big hill. And to think you did all this after subjecting yourself to VO2 testing; pretty damn impressive! (But for the love of god, don't do lactate testing before your nest visit to SG!!)

That stretch of lousy road sounds especially awful, and I'm sure it calls for pretty high tire pressure (to reduce the chances of a pinch flat). You won't want to do that the day before, and ideally it will be race morning when you can get to your tires and fully inflate them. That's what I think, anyhow; I'll try to check this and make sure that what I'm suggesting is accurate info!)

Again, fabulous job of scouting it out and making a bunch of informed decisons about the course. A trip well worth taking!!!

Thanks STEVE!

Question for you, if I may...

I read somewhere (can't recall where now) that attempting to increase your stride in an effort to increase pace is inefficient, because you end up spending energy lifting yourself up off the ground that could be spent moving you forward.

But when I see reflections of myself running, I'm barely lifting my feet off the ground (although it FEELS like I am). The only way to increase my pace without lengthening my stride would be to increase cadence, but when I do that I'm almost doing like a comical little trot.

I did some sprints on the treadmill today (which right now for me is about 10:30 min/mile), and I was able to maintain it only by exaggerating my stride, and also by exaggerating the lift of my back foot after it strikes the ground (if that makes sense...) (Regarding the lift of the foot thing: when I see myself run it seems like I barely lift my foot off the ground before I bring it forward again, so I'm thinking that I need to lift it more to better propel myself forward...?)

I'm looking for any "technique" tips here. One would think running would be a natural thing. But at the race yesterday there were just so many people zipping by me, just breezily running along looking very relaxed and casual. And their strides look NORMAL. There was a couple that whizzed by me having a conversation, looking fabulous and probably doing like a 7 minute mile. How do people make it look so easy??

Any tips are appreciated!

Thanks,

Tracey