GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 93)

Hi,

My teams, Minnesota and Wisconsin, both play their 1st round today.  Minnesota's where I live and my alma mater so obviously I'm rooting for them.  They just squeaked into the tourney but you never know.  There's been a number of upsets so far.

And the there's Wisconsin.  That's where our daughter goes to school and we visit Madison (love the town - their farmers' market is fantastic) a lot so I've become a Wisconsin fan.  They're seeded 4 but they can be very inconsistent and I would not be surprised if they were upset by Wofford.

Off for a run and then settling down for a lot of BB.  If the NCAA games get a little boring, I can watch the girls' state tournament games.

Denise

DENISE -

Q: What do you get when you cross a gopher and a badger?
A: A conflicted Denise!

I could've included those two in my list team with some oblique sentimental attachment. I love the Twin Cities, and in my first visit there I tracked town "Dinkytown" -- which was the big folk-blues hang-out area in the 60s. (I learned about it from reading the liner notes to a Koerner, Ray, and Glover album, way back when.)

As for Madison, what a place! There aren't too many places of that size that have so many amenities, are there?

And back to Minneapolis, on a family riad trip out west in maybe '91 or '92, we stayed there fro a day or two, saw a couple of Twins games (thank god they are moving back into an outdoors stadium!), and ate at a fabulous rstaurant called Panakokken (sp?) that serves scrumptious Dutch pancakes of the same name. As the waitpersons emerged from the kitchen with an order, they would holler out "PanaKOKken!" It still makes for a great family memory!

Go Gophers!

Hope everyone had a good St. Patrick's Day and hasn't needed the time I have to recover that i have. No Irish here. American-Canadian is probably most proper. As I understand both sides have been in North America since at least the mid 1800's. Prior to that, 7/8 German and 1/8 British.

SteveB, quick question for you in regard's to plans. Seeing as how my first two planned tri's (Hawk Island and Welland) are sort of hybrid distances would you work within a sprint or olympic plan? Also, am leaning towards adding events in July, August and maybe September hopefully culminating in a full olympic.

I plan on spending some quality time with Fitz's book this weekend to figure out what I think I can commit to/accomplish. I'm leaning towards a 9 workout/week plan to start with.

My head, not my heart!  Tough to beat Coach K, although it has been done many times before.  Kansas is a really good bet too though....lots of brackets predict that will be the big showdown...We will see!   

My heart wants VT to win just because no one thinks they can, and it is the place of my current marathon PR, and a super cool city. Ha. 

And my husband's an Iowa grad so we've got this MN, WIS, IA thing goin on (although IOWA's not in the tournament.

Ah yes, Dinkytown.  I even heard Bob Dylan play at a coffee shop there before anyone knew who he was.  The Koerner, Ray, Glover album you heard was probably "Running, Jumping, Standing Still" - that was their big one.  Either Ray or Glover is dead now but the other two are still around - especially Koerner (I had such a crush on him)

"Pannekuchen" was the restaurant - long gone.

We might even move to Madison in a couple of years.  Northern MN is losing its appeal - especially lack of restaurants.

Denise

That stinks about the calf.  I had that 2 years ago - not a lot of fun.  I did a ton of ice/heat alternating and stretching...but still took a while to come around.  I'm sure it'll get there.

Duke....me and Duke are semi mortal enemies...only because of an ex-girlfriend from college who was a big fan of them.  But, I'd take Duke over North Carolina any day of the week! 

Good luck on the race on Saturday!  I'm sure it'll go well.  Nothing like the adrenaline of the day to mask those nagging ailments.  :-)

REALLY?????

So, decent trainer ride last night.   A little over two hours while watching the game on the computer.  Good times. 

Right knee/hamstring started off real tight, real sore, but loosened up as the ride went on.  Just made sure not to carry too heavy a gear, as it's really the ligaments/tendons/joint that is causing me trouble.  Probably overloaded them on the weekend downhill run, aggravated them on the treadmill run on Tuesday and am making up for it since.

But today, I wake up with a cold.  And I know who gave it to me, and if I see him in the halls....

Grrrr....

It's not full-blown yet, and I am POUNDING water, acai juice, pomegranate juice, Mix 1 antioxidant drinks, and enough Zicam to set off an airport metal detector (isn't zinc a metal?).  It hasn't taken hold just yet and I'm hoping that the 2-hour ride last night and me antioxidant blitzkrieg will knock it out before it can get into the chest.

Goal is to go home tonight and get in a run before date night with the wife, and then sleep in on Saturday!  Mmmmmm....sleeping in.   

Saturday afternoon, I drive to St. George for a long day of riding and running on Sunday.  Plan is to meet my friend in Vegas around 5:00ish, hopefully swing by Lake Mead on the way to St. George and get in an hour swim at the lake, and then sleep over in St. George to get an early start in the morning.  Sunday:  get on the bike at 7:00 am and off the run by 2:00 pm and back home to LA by 9:00.   At least that's the plan.  We'll see how that goes!

What I really need to figure out is when KU plays on Saturday and if I can watch the game!  RCJHGKU!

Hi SteveA:

I was just reading over the part where you say that you can often find a way to fit in a training schedule, if it's important to you. I like this attitude! Just last night I was reading The Idiot's Guide to Triathlon Training and was dreaming about someday doing an IM. (Like maybe before my 45th birthday??) I barely have the time to fit in the training I do now, and right now I have it good because work has been slow. But I think you're right about this. If I make it a serious goal, perhaps this could someday be a possibility for me...

Tracey

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.  My back is bad today, not sure if it was the bike ride or the way I slept last night.  My training partner is walking it on doctor's orders so we may be walking it together.  It is pretty hilarious, after a beautiful week of weather here they are predicting a high of 40 and rain and snow.  I am looking forward to it.  In any event, it will be a memorable first race!

Hope that everyone has a good training weekend! 

Lisa:

Sorry to hear about your stepfather. I hope you're doing okay.

And what a stressful situation with your husband's job. It's so tough to think about moving, never mind when it's a situation where you have to move in order to be employed... I hope it all turns out well.

Tracey

SteveA:

What's a 50m set up? The pool at my Y is 25 yards long, so all my swims have lots of turns. I can't wait to get my wet suit and start doing open water swims.

Tracey

Good luck on Saturday Diane!

Good luck getting rid of the cold, resting up, and with the trip to St George!  And good luck with KU

DIANE!Good luck tomorrow!Mandy

SteveB:

I have a couple of achievements from both swimming and running today that I'm excited to report!

I went for a swim yesterday after being away for a week (I had to travel to Philly for work for a few days last week, then when I got home I came down with a nasty case of food poisoning. So that had me out of service for a couple more days...) For some reason, when I'm away from the pool for more than a few days, my form and ability seem to suffer. Yesterday started out disastrous. My swimming was clumsy and choppy, and I was extremely tired. I felt totally out of my element. Instead of the consecutive 500 meters I've been able to do, I had to rest every 100 meters or so. I did have the excuse of still being somewhat dehydrated and tired from the food poisoning, but I think being away had something to do with it too. I did end up yesterday's session though with a consecutive 250 meters, so I think I started to get back into the groove toward the end.

I was back at the pool today, and thankfully I was able to complete the 500 meters with no rest. So I think it was just a matter of getting back into the swing of things. And I was happy to see that I finished it in slightly less time than my last 500 meters. Yay!

But the bigger accomplishment came afterwards when I decided to do another 250 meters, this time focusing just on the catch by exaggerating the pause in the hands just before the recovery stroke, and really reaching with my arms. I intentionally slowed my stroke rate down, because I wanted to really focus on getting a good catch and reach so I can work on improving my glide. I FELT like I was moving slowly, because my arms were going slow (and also because I was less breathless), but I was surprised to see that I finished the 250 meters in my usual time (about 8 minutes). So.... since I was moving my arms more slowly, but maintained my usual speed, this must mean that I decreased my stroke rate. I guess all that work on catching the water, reaching and gliding really does help with efficiency!! I only counted my stroke rate once, a few months ago, and it was about 21 strokes per 25 meters. I'll have to count again the next time I'm at the pool and see where I'm at now.

I also went for a short 2 mile run today. Even though it was a beautiful morning, I was just not feeling it. Within literally the first 1 minute of the run, I was saying to myself: I HATE running... this is getting harder, not easier... why in the world did I sign up for a 10k... But I kind of pushed myself along. I ran at what I'd consider a comfortable pace. Breathing pretty heavily but not really pushing myself. I was just kind of wanting to get it overwith. But I had skimmed through a few of the sections of the Chi Running book the other day, and one of the things they suggest is to imagine that you are making circles with your feet as you run (as opposed to just sort of moving them back and forth in a sawing motion, I guess). So I tried doing this throughout the run. As I got tired, I still imagined the circles but just did smaller circles. When I finished the 2 miles, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I did it in 23:17, which is considerably better than the 12 or 12 1/2 minute miles I usually do. I imagine that circling motion is making me lift my heels back a little more (which I struggle to do), which in turn might be propelling me a but further with each stroke. I'm just guessing here... But it was a good end result, nonetheless! I'm interested to see what else I'll learn tomorrow at the Chi Running clinic at the expo.

Tracey

Oh, they just switch up the lane lines to go the long way (50m) instead of across the pool (25m).  I guess they'll run the 50m lengths once swim season is over for the high schools. 

I'm with you on the open water.  I'm a little nervous about my sleeveless suit, as all the posters on the IMSG board are making the water temperature sound like the North Atlantic in Titanic.  I'm pretty sure that the water off Malibu is in the 60-64 range when I train in it, and that's what the lake should be like, so I'm assuming they are all just being dramatic.  Let's hope so! 

I hear the same thing about Lake Winnipesaukee in NH, although I imagine water temps in the lakes of New Hampshire are considerably colder than where you will be!

OK, I just have to laugh out loud again.  Made the mistake of getting onto the IM Distance forum.  Somewhere along the line, and I'm not sure where, I must have downgraded from "Type A" to "Type B". 

One recent posting was all about someone who just realized, 10 weeks out from their event, that they miscounted, and that they only have 23 weeks to do a 24 week plan, and should they try to cram the extra week of training into the time left?  Their plan calls for swims on M, W, F, and they can only swim on M, T, SA, and should they just give up? 

yadda
yadda
yadda

STEVE B - help me out here, because as I get closer and closer, I'm becoming less and less concerned about every little workout.  This week, for example, after the hard weekend workouts, I took a rest day Monday, ran hard Tuesday, and will not have run again until tonight.  Technically, I was supposed to have already had 3 runs by today and then another long run on Sunday.  I'm not really worried about it.  I read some posts that I'm supposed to be taking my body to the bleeding edge during the peak.  Should I be worried about backing off a run or bike if things are very sore, or should I be pushing the issue unless I am truly injured? 

I guess I just don't feel any huge sense of panic right now - I am kind of manic about my long sessions, but not at all concerned if I miss a 1-hour session here and there mid-week.

Thoughts?

Steve A - lets hope the water is warm for your event!

Tracey - by August, Lake Winn will be fairly warm - I think high 60's, but Steve B can say better than me...Ofcourse, consider the source (me saying the water in NH is warm), who is looking at the recently iced-out Wyman Lake boat launch drooling just a little and considering a dip (if I can only con someone to boat with me for safety, I am in). 

Shaun,

Seems like your LBS is on the same page with my LBS. I'm leaning towards to the 2.1 solely because of the 105 drivetrain. Seems to be a consensus among most bike people that it's worth the extra couple hundred bucks. Next step is deciding what sort of pedals I want for the bike. I have a pair of Pearl Izumi Tri Fly II shoes with no screws/clip-ins/whatever you wanna call them. They're compatible with SPD and three hole LOOK style pedal systems, whatever that means. Care to enlighten me? Pretty please...

Steve,

Rugby team. Definitely gave the quads a workout, so I'll sub that for the bike ride I was supposed to do that day.

Speaking of bike decisions, I'm trying to decide between pedal systems. See my above post to Shaun. Essentially, what's the difference between SPD and three hole LOOK style?

Kasia

Nice going on the swimming and running.   It's great to hear when things go well.  

Very encouraging to hear how the Chi running helped.   I think I am going to have to give it a whirl again, because right now, my running is going no where.

Have fun at the expo.   

As they say, the best laid plans.........

Got to the pool today to do my swim and then do the tethered water running right after (laying off the dry land for a week) and forgot it was March break so the schedule was all messed up.   No problem.   We have another pool close by and I was able to get over there in time for the start.   There must have been 30 people in 2 lanes, and I will call them seniors, even though I know that is what I am!     The people in the medium lane were all WALKING and the people in the fast lane were doing dog paddle, some kind of back stroke that looked liked walking backwards and the others were floating logs.   Can you tell I was grumpy???   I'm not even fast and I would wait till most of them were at the other end of the pool and start swimming and by the time I'm half way up the other side, they are 3 abreast and there is no way I can pass them so I have to STOP swimming. 

Talked to the lifeguard about have 2 lines of circle swimming because the lane is double a normal width, and basically he shook his head, so I decided fine, don't ruin my day, just do what I can.   On the way out I spoke to the attendant and she said these people have been coming for 25 years and they won't listen to the lifeguards - they start yelling and being verbally abusive.   I have a hard time comprehending this.   

SO, I finish my swim, scoot home for lunch and figure I will pick up some groceries, then do a bike ride and get to the 6:00 p.m. running class.   After my last stop, I throw my bags in the trunk along with my purse and my KEYS and shut the trunk!   Ken had just started a 90 min yoga class, so there was no way I was going anywhere for a couple of hours.   Thankfully it was beautiful day and I wandered the streets for a while, and also I was only 10 minutes from the yoga studio so was able to sit and wait for Ken to drive me home and get the extra set of keys.

SO, no bike ride,   and no water running, but there was NO WAY I was going without supper!    It may have been 8:30, but at least I can say my tummy is full.  

I guess somebody was trying to tell me I needed a rest today.