GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 95)

DENISE -

Yes, it's true -- and also blue chambray work shirts. I was every fortunate to grow up just outside of Boston, so I spent a lot of time between '65 and '69 listening to the Best of the Best perform at any of a dozen or so great coffeehouses in Boston and Cambridge. Well, make that most of the Best of the Bset, because Dylan was one of the ones I never saw perform live. But by the point I started hitting the coffeehouses, his ego would no longer fit through the door -- it was only bigger venues and the major festivals for him by then.

I lost interest in his stuff after the Higway 61 Revisited album, but I think his unique influence owuld have had the same effect had he stuck with Zimmerman instead of copping the Dylan from Dylan Thomas. But it was a shrewd move, and he's hardly the first celeb to change a somewhat awkward name to something with more panache and snap.

There's a list somewhere of people who have changed their names when they tried to make it on satge or screen, and many of the birthnames are truly dreadful. Things like Murgatroid Dumplehirst (which I'm just making up), and worse.

And what about you giving your parents fits?

MARK -

Another K, R, and G fan! I'll bet there's no other group at BT with at least three of us!

My sis-in-law asked me what "Groove Time" refers to, and it really has two meaning, the second of which piggybacks on the first.

A late, great blues harmonica player was William Clarke, who dies in '96 at maybe about 45 or 46. Like many, he systematically drank himself to death. His harp work was lawys great, but he took it to new levels on his final album, "THe Hard Way". His next to last album was titled "Groove Time", a usage that appears in a couple of his songs on that album.

Where some people will think of something like "Game on !" or "Bring it!" or Let's do it!" before a race, my mantra is the simple statement of "It's groove time". What I mean by that is simply that it's time to get in the groove of the race environment, but more specifically to find my swimming groove, and my cycling groove, and my running groove. In a sense, my groove time is similar to a "sweet spot", as Total immersion or Newton use it.

If you know how to find songs on-line, via something like iTunes, try to find the following by William Clarke:
"Your Love Is Real" (just before the harp break that takes the song home, he says "Groove time!"
"Blowin' The Family Jewels" (REALLY hard to play!)
"The Boss"
"Moten Swing"
"Walkin' "

The final three are form his final album (he made about 10 of them), and feature his staggeringly innovative work on the chromatic harmonica.

I miss him still!

And congrats of surviving that raod trip to Mall of America. You win the Patient Dad of the Week award!

Congrats too for that "other" Iowa team and what they did to Kansas. Of course, Steve A might never speak to you again, but at least you have your state-based bragging rights, big-time!

LISA -

Wow, that's a tough couple of day for The Elders? Is this your mom's first fall? My mom became quite a regular in the falling department, but hopefully your mom will be one-and-out!

Actually, West Point is my second tri signed-up for, the first being Columbia (MD). That's an oly, on May 23. West Point is a sprint, on August 15.

Although I haven't signed up for it per se, I am committed to Lake George (NY), and oly on Sept 18. I'm committed to it because I won a free entry to it at the post-race raffle*. Shortly I will sign up for Burlington (VT), an oly on Sept. 12, and likely Keuka Lake (NY), a sprint on June 6. So, things from those list a week or two ago are falling into place; I guess it's kind of like dominoes.



*A second part of that raffle prize is even more wonderful -- an all-inclusive two-night stay for two at Canoe Idsland Lodge, one of the fine old lodges on Lake George. It doesn't have to be used on the same weekend as the race, but that's probably when we'll do it. It includes meals on Friday night through Sunday afternoon, and use of all their special things, like sialboats and canoes. An "arm's-length" of raffle tickets cost me $10, and the combined expense of the race and the lodge stay would be about $600. Iwquite liyterally have never bought any kind of lottery ticket.....but maybe I should!

SHAUN -

You're asking the worng raceaholic about how many races to do, you know!

Seriously, I think eight is fine, especially if you are keeping them olympic and under. As for 3 in 20 days.....doable, but be guarded. I don't think Welland will sell out, so you could maybe do the T-Rex just bfore it and if you are feeling good the morning after, sign on for Welland. Alternatively, sign up for Welland and make you parents happy, and if you are feeling great at the beginning of the week, do T-Rex, too. Or, you could take it kind of easy during T-Rex, just sort of training through it with your sights set more on Welland.

This clinics and open houses sound wonderful! You and Tracey both rode a fast learning curve recently, didn't you? And I hope you like the Hammer stuff. if you are truly new to the world of gels, you may ahve trouble initailly, but so long as you're not a full gag-speed, give them a few chances. And finding people to swim/bike/run with is ideal for oh-so-many.....although as I have siad before, being out here in the sticks means I have laways been a loner in training.

I will check out that T-Rex sereis asap.






Edited by stevebradley 2010-03-20 10:04 PM

I'm always a bit behind, so sorry for the late and jumbled responses.

DIANE - Bummer that the weather didn't cooperate. Seems like a good call on your part to bail, though, since you hadn't trained. There's always the next one. And good to hear your back is holding up. Yay!

STEVEA - How're you feeling? Did you nuke the cold with all those remedies? I'm excited to hear about your SG report. You never cease to amaze and entertain.

TRACEY - Awesome job on improving your swimming and running. Have fun at the expo!

ANNE - Crazy day! The world was conspiring against you to give you a rest day.

M - My stroke count is that high as well. Have you been trying anything to make it less? I'm at a crossroads and frustrated with being slow! So let me know if something works for you.

LISA - So sorry to hear about your mom, and the timing with your stepfather. It's amazing that you've kept up with the training! I started with Level 2 just so I would have something to drop down to in case I couldn't keep up. So far so good, although I'm kind of afraid of what happens after the base phase. It seems so hard! Hopefully by then I'll be fit enough to conquer all that. Hopefully after recovery you'll be feeling a bit better and be able to make a decision. Either way, no shame in dropping down.

SHAUN - Thanks for all that info. I'm too tired to formulate any more thoughts than that, so I'll get back to you tomorrow more thoroughly. It's so great to have another bike junkie in our midst.

STEVEB - You are one lucky man with all those raffle wins! Wanna buy some lottery tickets for me? I could use a nice vacation right about now

Morning everyone,

Hope you all have a great Sunday.   Off to the pool for a swim then to out of town to visit my brothers for the day.

Finishing week 2 of the 20wk Fitz HIM plan today.   So far so good except for the running part.   Seems to be one thing after another.   Now it's the knee area.  I say area because it is just above and just below on the inside of the right knee and I can feel a sort of pulling in the adductor.   It is still weak when I climb stairs.   Downstairs is OK.     Any ideas, Steve?  

ANNE -

Cold down your way? I'm glad I managed to ride outside Tu, Th, and Fr, cuz yesterday was an uh-uh and today will be the same. We've been spoiled recently, haven't we?

Sorry to hear about the knee, and I don't have any real concrete thoughts. When you say just above and just below on the inside of the right knee -- is it AWAY from the actual knee itself, or are you saying that it is right in the middle of the knee, but on that medial side? And when you mention the adductor, are you feeling that kind of high up, approaching the groin?

If the answer to the last one is yes, then I'd almost think that there are two things going on with you -- something in the knee and a different something in the adductor. Maybe in favoring the knee you compromised the adductor somehow? Or an enthusiastic yoga move -- could that have twanged the adductor?

My only middle-of-the-inside-of-a-knee problem was my torn meniscus in '06 ---- but if you have that, you would know it! Anyhow, try again to zero in a bit more on the knee location, okay?

Got your keys back yet?

KASIA and M -

For a lower stroke count, try the catch-up drill. This is where you leave your front arm extended until the recovering arm catches up to it, and then it will begin its stroke. Same thing again -- the front arm stays out there until the other recovering arm catches up to it. You will feel a very "leisurely" sensation, nd a possible visualization is when a graceful skater pushes off and does a long glide, taking time to enjoy the glide until the other foot pushes off --- and then glides again.

You might find that an aid helps you some just so you aren't kicking frantically trying to keep moving while your arms are taking their time with the stroke. A pull buoy or fins will help. When you get kind of good with this, you should find your stroke rate dropping dramatically. It also might help if you can watch a vido of the "catch-up" drill. Try www.totalimmersion.net?

SHAUN -

You can probably have some control over how life-changing tris can be.......but you also just might find it happening in spite of all your good intentions!

For me, it was certainly a lifestyle change. I had come to it from a few years of pretty serious running-only, but everything ratcheted up several notches with triathlon. The biggest sea-change was when I decided to overhaul my diet......and ended up being vegetarian for close to three years. That involved a great deal of aggressively creative cooking, which of course is life-changing all on its own!

Even though I am highly committed and extremely serious about triathlon, there are many people who take it to far greater levels, one way and/or another, than do I. This is just to say that the scale of involvement is very long, and you can slot yourself in wherever it all works for you. Enjoy the ride!!

My kids.....

Peter is entering into Nevada today, the fifth day of his (and three friends) Phoenix-SanFrancisco bike trip. (Actually, they bussed to Kingman to start it off, so they saved a few - 90? - miles doing that.) They have set up a website chronicling the trip, and that's a lot of fun to look at every night.

Jane is partway through the NYC Half-Marathon, her first. I'm trying to follow her on the Athlete Tracker function, but can't get anywhere. Grrr.

STEVE B, sounds like your kids are busy!!  Luckily, their dad can keep up.  I thought about flying to NYC for the More Half Marathon in April but it's the same weekend as the Lone Star tri at Galveston ... but NY might have to be my next state for a HM.

Sounds like you need to be playing the lottery more!!  What a great win with the raffle ... that will be a wonderful time all the way around!

This isn't my mother's first fall ... she and my sister both have a tendency to take a pretty good fall every year or so.  Both could stand to lose some weight and I think that contributes to it.  My mother read somewhere several years ago that increased falls are associated with Alzheimers (which her mother was diagnosed with in her late 80s).  My mother tends to be a "glass half empty" kind of person ...

Got a 6.3 mile run in this morning.  Now off to do a little shopping!  It's going to be a beautiful day here, sunny with highs in the 50s.

Cheers, Lisa

Lisa,

That's some horrible timing for your mom and step dad...Here's hoping they both get through it OK without any really bad side effects.

SOOO? How did it go?

SteveB,

I know I asked the wrong raceaholic, but maybe I was looking for that too!

I like the idea of training through the first T-Rex (maybe focus specifically on transition vs getting through it all, sure I can say this now...who knows how the adrenaline will flow on race day).

I also ended up with a set of Easy Laces to try out. As for the Hammer products, I got some gels (also Gu brand for some other flavours), Heed, Perpetuem and Endurolytes. All in trial sizes. On Friday night there was a nutritionist who has been tri'ing since 1979!! The one drink she always races and trains with is pink salt and lemon juice in water. She said the pink salt is a salt that is in the form the body can digest without altering it and the lemon juice adds a refresingness to it.

Since I have established the first two races, now I'm looking to fit myself into a plan from Fitz. Welland is hybrid sprint/oly, Hawk Island is super sprint/sprint and T-Rex are sprints. So what distance plan do you think I should look at? I believe I could do 9 a week (the swim/run days would be back to back with the run coming first, if I am at the gym).

Somehow I think 8 races in one season might be a bit life changing! So far it more feels like a continuation of what I started 2 years ago by starting to exercise regularly and eat a lot healthier.

Steve
Thanks for the info on William Clarke, I had not come across him before that I can recall. I'm always on the lookout for new music.

Thanks too for the idea of "groove time" as a focus point for racing. I think it fits nicely with my approach and I like the idea of a 'theme'. Others have made reference to Tri being a way of life for them. I would say that is true for me as well, though not an obsession (my wife Shannon keeps me honest there if I start getting too intense). I plan to train and race as long as it remains fun, as long as I can find my "groove".

How 'bout those UNI Panthers. They've been the most consistent team in the state for 5-7 years. My beloved Hawks are in a mess and looking for a new coach. Unfortunately Wisconsin lost today, but I can sure root for the Panthers.
Mark

Hi everyone. I thought I’d give a quick report on the Multisport World Expo from yesterday.

It was great! Well, to be more accurate, the expo itself was pretty good, but the clinics/workshops were great.

The expo was the usual thing: lots of booths for vendors and race organizers. There were lots of vendors selling cheapo wet suits which intrigued me momentarily (some were going for $99), but knowing close to nothing about wet suits, I thought it would be better for me to do a little more research before buying one. City Sports had a booth there, and they were selling some cool stuff. I got some Body Glide, a cool little aerodynamic storage box for my bike, and a race belt.

I also got some free stuff in my goodie bag: some energy gels, drink mixes, a gel bottle (never even knew those existed), and an indoor cycling workout DVD. I also stopped by the beginnertriathlete.com booth and got a free t-shirt. (Size XXXL though - I guess I can wear it as pajamas)!

I met a woman who works for Max Performance (one of the race organizers that's putting on the sprint I'm doing in September), and I learned that she holds open water group practice swims every Saturday from March until September. I'm definitely thinking of checking this out. I had been planning to practice open water on my own (with my husband in the kayak nearby of course), but practicing with a group would be really good to see what it's like at the race start with all the splashing and kicking and what not.

I attended a 2-hour “First Time Triathlete” workshop which was really good. There were two guys that gave presentations on various topics ranging from what gear you need to the most common mistakes made by newbies. They gave some really good tips on things like training schedules, staying calm during the swim, swim drafting, how to pass on the bike, getting used to riding clipless, etc. Tons of useful stuff!

Right after that I did a 1-hour TI Efficiency Tuner clinic. It was great. They split the class up into groups of 6 and we had a TI coach run us through a few of the TI drills (which was great for me because even though I read the TI book, I never really managed to get around to doing the drills). She then has us progress from the “skate” drill to doing very slow freestyle so she could critique each of our forms and techniques. I got some great feedback. She told me I was buoyant without even really having to work at it (which I attribute to having some extra unwanted padding!) She also said my arms were coming up way too high and I needed to focus on keeping my arms/elbows more relaxed and out to the side. I also got good feedback on my kick. She said I was kicking more from my knees than my hips. When I focused on kicking from the hip I saw a noticeable improvement in my speed. I was feeling pretty good at the end because she came up to me afterwards and said I made huge improvements just in that one hour.

After that was the TI Speed Tuner clinic. I have to say I didn’t like that one as much. The coach basically had us use Tempo Trainers and set them to incrementally slower paces, doing sets of 50 or 75 or 100 each time, counting our strokes. She had us do this for the whole hour and just told us that we should try to focus on keeping our stroke counts consistent as we gradually reduced the rates on the Tempo Trainer. But she didn’t really tell us the concept behind this or how to achieve it. I understand the concept but it would have been nice to get a little bit more coaching and advice. There wasn’t really any hands-on critique either. It was like she was just sort of a gym teacher having us all do drills. So I definitely liked the Efficiency Tuner clinic better!

In the afternoon I did a 2-hour Chi Running clinic. We spent the first hour or so going over the basic ideas of Chi Running and getting our postures correct (aligned). Then we practiced doing various movements and exercises from the core and hips in the aligned posture. The instructors (there were two) then explained the basics of how you initiate Chi Running (correct the posture, feel connected in the feet, take a deep breath and elongate the torso from pelvis to the top of the head, then exhale and “fall” forward as you begin to run). You’re supposed to maintain this feeling of “falling forward” as you run, leaning forward from the ankles, landing on the forefoot, and striking your foot down underneath your hips (never in front). They then had us run around the track and practice. This is something I’ll definitely have to work on more. I tend to keep leaning forward from the hip instead of the ankles. I have the Chi Running book so I’m going to start it soon. I’ve really been struggling with my running and quite honestly don’t enjoy it at all, so I’m hoping this system can help me.

After that, it was 4:00, I was tired, and ready to go home!

Tracey

Lisa:

Sorry to hear about your mother's fall!

My mother had many, many falls and suffered quite a few broken bones. I know how tough it can be.

Tracey

Hope things slow down and get less stressful for you Lisa. Sounds like you need can use the recovery week. Mark

SteveB:

How did your daughter's marathon go??

I have a friend who completed the LA marathon today. She's totally psyched.

At yesterday's expo I was chatting with a guy at the beginnertriathlete.com booth and mentioned to him that my first tri is the Timberman Sprint. He recommended that I do another, smaller sprint before the Timberman to get some practice, because the Timberman is such a huge popular event. He said it can be overwhelming to some first-timers because of all the activity, commotion, number of racers, etc.

I'm thinking it's not such a bad idea! Especially since I'll be traveling for the Timberman and will have stayed at a hotel the night before and so won't be on my "home-turf". It's very likely that I'm going to be feeling out of my element all-around that morning, in addition to having the jitters!

I found this local race in June:

http://www.maxperformanceonline.com/escapethecaperace.html

Onset Beach is like 20 minutes from my house so this is totally local and totally doable. Now, if you had asked me in December, I would have said there's no way I'd be ready for a triathlon in June, but now I think I can swing it.

What do you think? Thanks!

Tracey

MANDY and TRACEY -

Tracey, it was a half marathon for daughter Jane; for sis-in-law Jane, it was the marathon. (For both it was the first at the respective distance.)

Daughter Jane had a great time! She lives in NYC and runs Central Park frequently, so the first 8 or so (?) miles, one-and-a-half times around the park, were old-hat to her. Anyhow, her actaul finish time was 1:50:59, and she was very pleased with that. She hadn't planned on that pace, but she just felt it was in her for the whole thing.

Just for the record, on this busy day for people who matter to me, sis-in-law Jane did Quintiles Marathon in 4:11, and Neil from my last year's group did L.A. Marathon is 4:18 (eleven minutes better than his previous marathon p.r.), and Mindy, also from that group, did Atlanta half-marathon in 2:23, while her husband did it in 1:53.

I'm tired, just living and racing vicariously through them all today! Whew.......

MARK -

Uh-oh, poor Denise will also be sad that the Badgers lost. (I'm a tad sad myself..... ) Overall, i've kind of lost track of who's done what, I guess largely becasue there is no team that truly grabs my attention. I need to see the brackets for the Sweet 16!

I had no idea that UNI had been so consistently strong of late; it's another of those collegiate programs that kind of flies under the radar. But i guess that's what makes yesterday so extraordinary.....although for you all who follow them, you mightn't've been too surprised.

I'm glad "groove time" works for you. I probably should've explained it earlier, but no one asked and I guess I decdied I would treat it like a piece of abstarct expressionistic art -- leave it up to everyone to draw their own conclusions and assign it the appropriate personal significance.

How is your Mall of Ammerica recovery going? You have to tell Shannon that nothing you have ever done has been more intense than a 13-hour round trip to MofA. Nothing!

TRACEY -

Your report on Multisport is outstanding -- it sounds like a terrific day, and you did a superior job of being a sponge! I will comment on it later (including the second TI session, which seems odd to me, too), but for now I gotta say......

DO ESCAPE THE CAPE! DO IT! DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!!!!

You Will be ready for it, and it is a very first-time-friendly course. The swim sounds ideal, being point-to-point with no turns. The bike is described as flat and fast, and that it something that cannot be said for Timberman! And they describe the run as flat, too, so that is a further bonus. The final bonus is that it is so close to you, and that eliminates many headaches. DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!

Max Performance is a relatively new player in the game, but I have heard good things about them. I get the feeling that the brains behind it are very experienced triathletes who know what makes a good race. And although i haven't gone to it yet, it is encouraging to see that they have a link for "Beginner Triathletes". Have you read through that yet?

You're very lucky to have so many races so close to you! Beyond Escape and Cranberry, it can't be too far for you to get to the one iin New Bedford, and maybe the Nantasket one, too? And Buzzard's Bay*! There's also something in Plymouth, and.......so many, I lose track! In going through the list of race exhibitors at Multisport, last week, I saw Escape, and that was a new one for me; they're sprouting like weeds in a ditch!

So, as for Escape The Cape --- DO IT!!


* When I was about 4, I cracked my head open on the docks at Buzzard's Bay. Further to this event there was my laughing father and a sadistic doctor, and sometime I will relay the whole story to you -- or not; I'm sure your life wil be perfectly wonderful without that tale of (sniff) woe.

SHAUN -

Please don't think I'm avoiding your question! I'm thinking about it, is all, as it's an intriguing situation that doesn't provide me with an immedaite answer.

You've got three races in your sights:
June 6: 400meters - 16km -- 5km
June 23: .5mile - 12.4miles - 3.1miles
June 26: 750meters - 30km - 7.5km

The first two are clearly sprintish, but the third one, Welland, has the over-long (in sprint terms) bike and run. Tough call! I think what I need to do is look at the Fitz oly plans and see how the final three weeks can be modified to accommodate Welland for you. Another way to do it is to slightly over-train for Hawk Island, which might work as you seem to be making good progress right now. Really, what you have with Welland is a bike that is ONLY 10km more than a sprint, and a run that is ONLY 2.5km longer than a sprint run.

Can those differences be made up in the space of 20 days? Probably, especially if one or two runs as part of your Hawk Island training can nudge up closer to the 7.5. Ad looking at Fitz right now, I see that he has long runs for the sprint programs at 1:05, 1:10, 1:20, 1:30. There you go! Done! (Remember, not all of those long runs will be part of whichever plan of his you choose.)

So, yeah -- My first thought here is to go with a sprint plan. But, I will look into this in more detail, soon, soon, soon!

SHAUN -

By the way, I really like the tone of the T-Rex website. It's kind of cool that the three races each have a different dinsoaur name, but what is really nifty is the line that begins: "THe Head Cretaceous Creature says...." I've been giggling over that for several hours!

SHAUN once more -

And if I'd known about that when I was still teaching, I might've told my classes that I was the Head Holocene Honcho.

??