Title 9 and Pumpkinheads Postings
This is where those in the FitBricks Title 9 and Pumpkinman race training will post comments and questions.
This is where those in the FitBricks Title 9 and Pumpkinman race training will post comments and questions.
197 comments
I’m first! (Just like I plan to be on Race Day) : )
psyched
You guys are too funny!!!!
On to the next! Looking forward to the swim in the AM. Any recommendations for a “nice and easy” fifteen mile bike route around here?
I like the loop through Berlin from our neighborhood. It’s pretty easy. I’ll see if I can map it- I can do it, just don’t know all the streets!
If it’s the same Berlin loop that I do, then you and I have different definitions of “easy.” haha
LOL, maybe. I guess I’m just comparing it to the loop around the reservoir that is pretty hilly.
OK, so how about go out to Route 20 to 140 and back- if early enough traffic should be OK. Believe it or not, I have to RUN that loop tomorrow morning! I know it is 13miles if you do our neighborhood 1x. So to add to it, do our neighborhood 2x and go through Blueberry.
Marile - what time are you going to do this Berlin easy/not so easy bike ride?? I am trying to figure out where to do 15 miles locally without killing myself or getting killed by cars
I haven’t decided between the Berlin loop or the Route 20-14o loop. But either way, I will be doing it early on Wednesday. Probably hitting the road at 5:30, assuming it will take somewhere between 60-90 minutes. Would love the company if you (or anyone) would like to join. I hate biking alone!
I’m there - will be at your house at 5:20
God that’s early. I think we are now officially in the “crazy” category.
And people think I’M the crazy one!
Oh, you ARE the crazy one. We’re just slowly working our way up toward your status.
Look out, it comes fast! I can totally see you guys where I am 5 years from now!
WARNING!!!
The Route 20 to 140 route is NOT easy or flat! Who’d have thought that Shrewsbury sits atop a very big hill!! Once you hit Ward Hill, it’s all uphill to 140. And, oh by the way, 140 is NOT marked! You can imagine how the run went this am. I missed Route 140, after 1 hour and 10min of climbing, I decided to turn around without seeing 140. I was very disappointed, but went home and clocked how far I ran at about 14 miles, not 13! No wonder I was dying.
So, you’re back to the Berlin loop, or, go through the industrial park (Northboro Rd) to Route 30 in Westboro. Take a right on Route 30, ride to 135 and come back. This is much flatter.
Hey - I don’t suppose anyone is free to swim tomorrow around 5? Can we swim at Chauncy then? I need to switch things around this week as I’ll be out of town Fri-Sun. Let me know!!
PS: 5PM!!!!
The beach closes at 5pm, so a little after you should be fine to do what you want to do.
Great! Thanks! If I can’t get anyone to swim with me, I might beg my mom to come and sit on the beach and watch!
Hey Diane,
I forgot to ask (maybe you said and I was breathing too hard to hear properly)… How are we supposed to use the times we got from this morning’s run to gauge our fitness? Is this comparing to our previous fit test we did for Danskin or is this something we will use at the end of the six weeks? Do you want us to gauge time or heart rate?
Thanks, Kim
There were 2 objectives for today’s run.
1. to have a baseline so when you do this again at the end of the program, you can gauge your progress; and
2. I wanted you to see what all out felt like for .8mi. This will help you know how hard you can go in your 5k. So, you don’t go to quite this point, but back off ever so slightly so you can finish the 3 miles. Your goal would be to take this time, multiply by 4, which gives you 3.2miles (a 5k is 3.1 miles, so we’ll fudge a little here) and finish within 20-30 seconds of this time. Let’s discuss how the math works for you. With you just getting back into running, I think you’ll actually see yourself at this pace in 6 weeks.
Great - thanks! One more quick question - do you know if the course for the pumpkinman is as hilly as the danskin?
I downloaded the profile- you can check on the website by clicking on the map then elevation profile. It seems to be more rolling, not the three big hills in a row. But, I’ve never been or done it, so I’m not positive. We’ll drive the course on Friday when we get there.
Hey Diane–what are your thoughts on needing a wetsuit for a Sept. 7 race? Title 9 just sent out emails about buying one at a discount, but will it be necessary at that time?
Hi Cheryl, you probably won’t NEED one on Sept 7th. This is one of those nice to haves. If you are going to continue to do triathlons in future years, you will want to buy one. I would wait until next year- there will be deals then too.
Diane,
My back is hurting again! I took yesterday as a rest day but wanted to do the long run today. Should I push and do the run or rest another day and hope my back feels better?
Dot, did you get your back checked? What did they say the issue is? Definitely do not run long if your back hurts, it puts a lot of pressure on the back. I can’t really answer this question without speaking to you to see what else you did the few days prior to today. Do you want to call me tonight?
Is anyone swimming at Chauncy tomorrow? I would love to have company either at 6:00 AM or 5:00 PM just after the beach closes.
Thansk,
Dot
FYI, I think you can swim at any time now, the ropes are down off of the beach so I don’t think they have lifeguards anymore.
Hey Dot - sorry for the late response. with the weather being so unpredictable lately, I just swam in the pool at WPI today. Hope you can still go!
Dot, just swim by time. Swim 20 min. You should continue to swim in the lake at least 1x/week. Your other swim can be in the pool. You should keep practicing until your last race!
Hi Diane,
Boy, those run repeats are hard!! The run that is scheduled for Friday, should that be around 3 miles? Also, I forgot what you said for our brick this weekend - bike ?miles and run 2 miles. How long is the bike part? If we feel good are we encouraged to ride and run longer or is it recommended to stay with the shorter distances up to race day? (I mean this question even for days that aren’t bricks)
Thanks, Barbara
they’re supposed to be hard! that’s why we don’t care about mileage for these. You should run 4 miles on Friday. The bike/run brick keep to 10 mile bike/ 2 mile run. If that ends up being too easy, we can adjust your next brick. By that time, you might be glad it’s shorter
Diane,
How are we running the hill repeats? I saw Barbara’s message this AM just before I went out to run and thought Oh No. Barbara is a stronger runner than I am so I anticipated a rough workout. It was not pleasant but also not that bad so now I am afraid I did it wrong. I ran up Allen Street (approximately one minute) jogged down until I reached zone 2 and repeated. I only did this seven times (I ran out of time) and then ran back home. I based it on the bike workout??
Yes, you did it correctly if when you ran up the hill you did it as fast as you could.
Yes, that should work!
If anyone is interested in biking the course for the Title9 tri, let me know and we can meet up. I am free any night next week or early morning.
Hi Heather,
I’d love to bike the course. Evenings would work best for me. The only nights that are difficult are Wednesday and Thursday. Let me know if Mon, Tues or Friday work for you and what time. Also do you know if you can park at the state park at night? What time does it close? I’ll try to look into it on my end too.
Thanks
Hi Heather & Barbara–I’d love to bike the course but we’re out of town til next weekend. Let me know if you plan to bike it the week before the 9/7 race and I’ll join you.
I would love to bike the course. Next week is a little crazy though. Let me know what you are planning and I will see if I can swing it. Next weekend would be better. I will be at Chauncy tomorrow AM right at 9:00.
Dot
If we reply to an e-mail received from this message board does the person that wrote it get , does everyone get it? I have been replying to e-mails and I hope they are getting somewhere!!
Everyone gets it Dot
Hi Dot,
I’ll see you tomorrow at Chauncy, we can discuss a bike ride after our swim, I want to look at my scheduled workouts for the week. And yes, I’m getting your messages, everyone must be.
See you tomorrow
Hi anyone swimming tomorrow am…Chauncy??
Yup, 6am triangle then rope afterwards. If you want to join us for the rope part we will be doing that around 6:45am
Hi Lisa,
Marile and myself were going to go at 6 to do the rope.
Kim
What is the ‘triangle’?
Kim and I are meeting at Chauncy at 6AM. I assume we’ll do the rope/tree.
OK I will see you there
Hey Diane,
I think I missed it because I was late the other morning - but was looking over the schedule and next monday it says ARHS Track-Swim… are we riding to Chauncy?
thx,
Kim
No, we don’t have time to do that. I changed the location to ARHS, and must have forgotten to delete “swim” from the previous schedule. Sorry for the confusion.
How was the swim this am? The water was nice.
No problem - just wanted to make sure that I wore appropriate clothing… Swim was just ok… feel rusty. Need to get in the pool to do some laps this week. Water was nice though - but glad that the race is coming up soon as the air was pretty cold.
So do you ever just look at your countdown thingy and think - ah!! I look at it and it stresses me out and I’m not the one who is doing the ironman!
OK, didn’t really need THAT! LOL
I actually don’t look at it because it makes me VERY NERVOUS…
Hi everyone,
Some of us were talking about swimming in Lake Chauncy this week, anyone interested in swimming Wednesday morning at 6 am? Marile and I will be there. Let us know if you’d like to join us.
I will try to make it on Wednesday.
I will try to make it Wednesday morning as well…
Diane,
What is a run with pick-ups??
Dot
I’ll try to make it on Wed as well.
Dot, a run with pickups is you warm up for 5-10min then do fast sprints between telephone poles, or 30sec if done on a treadmill, 5 times. This gets your legs ready for racing. Cool down for 5-10min.
OK?
I’ll try to make the swim tomorrow!
I am trying to be there as well! Should be nice & Warm:o)
Sorry I missed you all this morning. Hope you had a good swim!! Anyone up for a carb dinner Saturday night???
I’d be up for dinner, and Rebekah, would you email me the name and number of the massage person who comes to your house? Thanks.
YES! I’ve been meaning to do that: I have a great woman who comes to my house. She charges $65 for an hour ($60 if you book your next appt. in advance). It’s she and her husband, in case you prefer a male. They are wonderful! Rebecca and Randy Ames - 508-459-0620
http://randyandrebecca.iwantamassage.com
Is it okay to bike at 5am when it is totally dark out as long as you have a bike light?
Are you being a brat, or are you serious? And, aren’t you supposed to be in class paying attention to the teacher!? LOL
No Krista, it is NOT OK to bike in the pitch dark (especially when you don’t have bright clothing). When we went just prior to 6am today it was a little sketchy on the smaller roads.
Unless you get one of those huge headlights and rear lights, I wouldn’t do it. Why risk it? Pretty soon I’ll have to do trainer rides to get my ride in if I have meetings early in the am, so you can always join me in my basement
Hey - has anyone else heard we might get the hurricane on Sunday???? My mom just saw it on the news. I don’t know about you all, but I am not doing a triathlon in a hurricane !!
We had BETTER NOT be getting a hurricane, I have to ride home from Maine on Sunday!
Enough about me LOL. Don’t worry about weather. You can’t change it, so don’t worry about it. You can figure it out the day of the event. Remember Danskin and how it was horrible, then turned out to be a perfect day for the tri?
Besides, when have the weather forecasts been right all summer this year?
Don’t say that - I’m doing a mountain bike/trail run tri…I could just imagine that in wind and rain. OMG that would be absolutely insane. It’s going to be bright and sunny on Sunday and we are all going to have great triathlons! WE ARE GORGEOUS TRIATHLETE’S! Oh - and Diane is going to have a great ride home from Maine!
I know, I know! It’s just not an exciting possibility. I’d love to have ONE of my triathlons not include pouring rain, thunder and lightning. Just one…
and you will Rebekah- and so it is said
You’re absolutely correct Gretchen!! No worries..
Looks like Sunday won’t be so bad - but Saturday looks to be a washout!
And I just heard the opposite. We won’t know. It depends how long the hurricane stalls over S. Carolina. We could get both tris in with no rain then late Sun have rain….one never knows!
Hi Diane..do we need to come with anything tomorrow am?
Nope, just your smiley faces
Just got off the phone with the tennis and swim club. They quoted me $550 for fitness and $1,030 for fitness/swim for a single membership for the year. September is free registration month (saves $198).
Yup, that sounds right. Make sure you tell them you are interested in the Tri Program for Jan. You can then pay monthly for all of it.
Lesson learned…. never follow Diane blindly into a triathlon in Maine. We previewed the coarse and it is ALL hills - some small, some big - but all hills. Good luck to all those doing the Title 9 - I will write again if I survive.
Hi Kim,
I think you are very brave to follow Diane to a triathlon!!! I’m glad to learn this lesson through you! Although, I’m sure you’ll do great!! Are the hills similar to Danskin or more like Title 9 or just a great combination of the 2? Again, I have a lot of confidence in you and know you’ll be just fine. Have a good tri - looking forward to your post.
Now Kim, you had fun- even though when I saw you at mile 5 on the bike you said “I hate this”. You don’t REALLY hate this
Kim did GREAT on a very hilly course. She looked very strong at the end. And this end was one to remember. The last 1 mile was uphill, around the transition area, then downhill to the finish chute. The course was very pretty.
The rain was torrential when we woke and got to the race course. Everything was pretty much soaked. But by the time we started the swim, the rain had subsided. It started to rain again when I was at mile 7, but that only last a few miles. The run was pretty much clear- sun tried to break through actually, so it was muggy, but all in all a good run.
This is definitely one of those races that the bike course looked harder when you were driving it then when riding it. Atleast I thought so…Kim thinks I’m nuts.
Also, remember Kim, it’s about the journey here. We had a great dinner last night with great friends. We had a great workout this morning. And you finished healthy and feeling good. What more could you wish for? Excellent job Kim. I think everyone should do this one next year. It was a lot of fun.
Now on to Portsmouth to walk around, and a great dinner to prep for my ride home from here tomorrow am. I hope the rain passes quickly for your race guys! Just remember Danskin and how it cleared before the race and all was great!
Can’t wait to hear about your race. Most of all, have fun and enjoy each others support and cheers!
What time are you guys planning on arriving tomorrow morning? Lisa are you a green cap? Anyone else in that wave?
See you tomorrow
Ok - I survived! It wasn’t as bad as I thought… but it wasn’t easy. I had a lot of fun and was VERY happy to cross the finish line. I did the race the same way as the Danskin - which was to cross the finish line, unhurt and without going to that ‘bad’ place. Overall, I think the venue was awesome and it was a very well organized race. Got a great t-shirt and water bottle and I agree with Diane that the view’s were great. As with the Danskin, the initial downpour made me question WHAT I was doing there but it cleared and ended up being great weather for the race. I think Diane was right that the hills seemed worse on the car ride… but they were everywhere. With all of our good training though, I knew I would finish and could get through the entire course. Diane and her friends from the Westboro tri-team (and their spouses) were awesome. We had a great time at dinner and was great to have people cheering on the course. I think it would be a great race for us all to do next year together!
Georgie and I decided to head back home today… after a full day of shopping on Friday and the race today - I was WIPED. Still trying to decide what takes more stamina - outlet shopping with Georgie or doing the triathlon - think it is a toss up. Great news is… we will be there tomorrow morning to cheer you all on! I am very excited about being a spectator and know all of you will do great!!
Remember our training will get you ALL to the end - happy, healthy and looking strong! Can’t wait to see it!
Lisa, Dot, Bekah and I are planning to be there for 6:30. Lisa is green cap, I’m pink, Bekah’s red, think Dot is blue!
See you there!!!
Oh - and Diane - I don’t REALLY ‘hate’ this - think it is a love-hate thing… but at the end - it is one of the best feelings to know that I accomplished it. Thanks again for all of the great training, support and camaraderie!! You’ll do GREAT in Florida!!!
Hey Kim,
Your my hero, well you and Diane but she’s super human so it doesn’t really count!
I too am looking forward to finish, happy, healthy and feeling good. Next year maybe I’ll work on time
It will be great to have another cheering section. See you tomorrow.
What time does the race start tomorrow? Maybe I can sleep in a bit
Starts at 8:30 am!
You all are so cute! Rock it tomorrow!!
Diane - I am in the newbie group tomorrow (2nd to last wave). Not sure how that happened - I can get it switched tomorrow. What do you think??
And, CONGRATS to you and Kim!!!
Yay, Kim! You are a ROCK STAR!!!!
And you are TOO cool to come and cheer us on tomorrow. We’ll be so psyched to have you there! Might actually motivate me to go a little faster. ; )
Bek-
4 out of 8 waves tomorrow are Newbies. I wouldn’t worry about it. You’ll just have more people to pass! : )
Rebekah,
You’ll rock that newbie group! I don’t know that I’d worry about switching unless you really want to. You’ll do great whatever group your in!!
I know, I just want to see what Diane thinks. I’m sure it doesn’t make much difference - mostly I don’t necessarily want to be with people who’ve never done this and don’t know what they’re doing - and having them affect me!!
BTW - I’m wearing my Danskin team blue tank that we all wore - maybe you all want to as well so we can identify each other!
Sounds like a plan, I’ll try to remember to put on my blue shirt for the bike and run.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to have to worry about others, for myself, I’m enough to worry about
YAY Kim & Diane…I knew you would do great. Not ready yet to start planning for next year but who knows maybe Maine:0) I am more nervous tonight than last time so Kim it will be good to see your smiling face tomorrow when we are conquering that course! See you all tomorrow!!!!!
Hope everyone had a great race this weekend!!!
Ugggh - I had my first DNF today. I’m so bummed out right now. I did everything right for prep…but I knew I was in trouble this morning on the swim because I was wheezing. I got onto my bike and couldn’t catch my breath, I was actually panting. About 1.5 miles into the biking I had to stop. Luckily I had my cell phone and called Joe. A sweeper came and found me in the woods and walked me out on a fire road so that Joe could pick me up. I went back and watched the rest of the race and then the kids tri which was really inspiring. So, this week I’m going to call my doc and get into see a specialist about my asthma - I want to find some rhyme and reason to this so that it doesn’t happen again. It’s so disappointing to know you are prepared to do a race and then have everything “breakdown” like that.
I hope that everyone had a great race - the weather was picture perfect - who knew - Hurricane Hanna blew threw and left us with such a wonderful day!
Oh, Gretchen…. what a bummer! I’m sure you are completely disappointed. I think we can all imagine.
Today did turn out to be a spectacular day (weather-wise). Title IX was great — if not hard — if not exhausting (at least for me!) I did the classic “went hard on the swim and too hard on the bike and had nothing left for the run” maneuver. (Yes, Diane, I know, I know — I heard you on my shoulder through the entire miserable run!) The run course was a tough one too. I think most will agree on that one. But it was wonderful to have the support of our little team. I saw just about everyone along the way and/or at the finish. What a great feeling!
Lisa gets the “Rock Star” award of the day. She was phenomenal.
Put another notch in our belts, and on to the next…. (oy vey! are we nuts. or what?)
Sorry REBEKAH for not getting your post. My computer ran out of battery Sat afternoon and I forgot my plug. I’m sure the wave you were in was OK though.
GRETCHEN- so sorry that happened to you. You are correct though, you were very ready for the race. Sometimes stuff happens that we cannot control. It sucks, but it’s not the end. You did the absolute right thing to stop if your asthma was out of control. That is something that is life-threatening and you have to stop when you feel that way . Please go see your Dr. to get it under control. Call me if you want to talk about this.
I haven’t seen the results yet, but I’m dying to hear from more of you. Results don’t tell the whole story– as I’m sure you are aware of right now
Gretchen,
So sorry to hear what happen. I was so disappointed at Danskin because of my
back but I just decided to try another one. So once you get your health
straightened out let us know and I am sure you can talk us into doing a tri with
you to make up for today. I was so sure, on the run, that I was not going to do
anymore tri’s, but…
Dot
I’m wondering what the results are too, Diane, because I’d find out exactly how close to the last person I was. Like Rebekah, I was in a newbie heat, but unlike Rebekah, I stayed with the newbies and started out in a late wave. As a result, I totally worked the back of the pack.
I honestly found the water pretty choppy and therefore tougher to swim despite the shorter distance. For whatever reason, downhill biking scares me, so I was pretty slow on the bike course, but made it uphills just fine. But like Marile, I was pretty worn out (and for the most part, running all alone) on the run/walk.
So while I’m glad I finished today, and am far tired out than I was at Danskin, I’m still looking forward to seeing what my official times/splits were to see how they compare. I’ve gotta say I liked the Danskin experience much more than the Title 9.
Gretchen–sorry to hear about your experience, but you know you were super prepared and will rock your next race.
AND there’s a 5k in Natick next Sunday that I’m considering doing, if anyone’s interested. It’s to benefit the Doug Flutie Foundation for Autism research.
Hi Everyone,
Great job today!!! Gretchen I’m sorry to hear about your problems with asthma. What a bummer but I know if you felt better you would have rocked that tri and will on another day!
Kim, thanks to you and Georie for cheering us on today! It was awesome to have you on the sidelines cheering for us.
I agree with Marile, Lisa you were awesome today! Great job!!! I was trying to catch you on the run but you were just too fast for me! Awesome, but watch out I’ll get you next time
As Marile said it was hard. I think I did better on the swim today, more crawl strokes than breaststrokes. The choppy water was tough but I didn’t panic like I did at Danskin. It’s coming, I just need to keep practicing. The bike went well as well, although, I found myself riding with a couple of women and they had a really comfortable pace going and I kind of settled in with them and then I too heard Diane’s voice saying this is there pace your pace is faster, so I got out of that nice pace and passed them
I was really riding their race not mine but it took a few minutes to realize it! The run, the run, the run. Usually my strong point, what I really look forward to in these races, but boy it was hard! Those 3 hills, killed me! I do have to say I felt good passing the 12 y.o. until I realized she probably woke up today and decided to do this race, were I’ve been trying all summer to do it! But I did pass her!!
All in all it was a great day, beautiful weather, great friends. Thank you all for your support it was awesome!! Stay in touch!
Cheryl and Barbara, thanks for the update. It sure sounds like a tough one for your second go-around. But, you guys did it and finished it, and you should feel very proud! I’m so glad my voice was in your heads hahaha LOL. I’m sure haunting you!
Most of all I’m so glad the weather was so nice. Unfortunately, the wind probably made the water a little choppy. See, you never know. That’s what makes all races so challenging.
Great job guys! I’ll keep looking for the results and will give you my thoughts on them when I can analyze them!
Kim, so glad you and Georgie were able to cheer in our athletes. It makes all the difference.
Everyone did an awesome job today! It was great to be there to see everyone - think I caught just about everyone finishing or at least on some part of the course.
On a more personal note… Diane I finally looked at my split times - they were better than I thought considering the course - averaged 15.1 on the bike and 10.18 on the run - not bad i must say. Next year it is ON! Gonna get some new wheels and will work over the winter to be prepared
And today I am not sore at all - which I attribute to our great training.
Thanks again everyone - I have really enjoyed the experience and if anyone of you wants to run sometime - let me know. Onto the tufts 10k!!
Oh yeah - one more thing - Diane your secret is out - they all confessed that you told them few weeks back that you KNEW the pumpkinman course was gonna be rough - and you told them not to tell me! All I’m gonna say is where is the loyalty?! But it was probably better I didn’t know - I might have caught a ‘cold’.
LOL, sorry Kim, but you would have freaked on me and missed all of the fun. Especially when you woke and saw the torrential downpours in the morning.
Just saw your splits too and they are fantastic! You have done wonderfully this year and next year will be even better!
So glad you are not sore today. Just proves how ready you were for it. Tufts 10k will be NO PROBLEM! Just keep building on your long run 1 mile for the next 2 weeks, then back down 1 mile the 3rd week. Then add back 1 mile for the next 2 weeks and you’re there!
Hey Gretchen I am so sorry you DNF. That was a really hard swim….I thought it was tougher than danskin. It was difficult to get any breaths and I don’t have asthma. You will be ready for the next one…cuz we all know now that there will be a next one!!!
It was so awesome having you all there. My friend Chris thought it was great that we were all there for each other! It is inspiring. Speaking of which..Kim & Diane I met Natalie today(not sure of her last name) her husband did Pumpkinman with you all and they had dinner with you. She said you all have inspired her to learn to swim and possibly try Danskin next year. I would say that’s pretty great. God we’re going to have to have more groups next year!!
Diane, I also felt you on my shoulder during the run, I wanted so much to stop and walk but I didn’t and I finished strong…thank you. Next the Tufts 10k…let’s all get together thru the Fall to bike and run.
So glad you had fun Lisa and I hear you did fantastically too. That’s always nice
Too funny about Natalie. Her husband rode home with me too. He’s a great cyclist and triathlete. He is on the Westboro team. We are trying to get Natalie to do tris next year too, so glad she mentioned she might. She’s been biking alot so she’s 1/3 of the way there.
Lisa, if your long run is already up to 6 miles, just build to 7 or 8 miles then back down and do 1 min faster than your steady into your tempo runs. You’ll do great!
I guess I am more tired than I thought I have been responding to comments and Diane is getting it instead of everyone else. I know I had a better time than Danskin today but I am bummed it is not posted yet. I skipped the table and crowd because Danskin was posted almost immediately on-line. I did start my stopwatch in the water when we were treading water at the 10 second countdown and stopped it after someone asked how I did when we were chatting at the end of the race and it was 1:37. So I know it was less than that. I had a hard time on the swim with the choppy conditions but I did not have a panic attack like Danskin and although I did alot of breaststroke the conditions really called for it. I rode hard on the bike, my hills were good, so I am hoping my time improved. I was stronger on the run than Danskin but that first hill was really tough. I got dizzy 3/4 of the way up. I walked twice at the top of hills but overall I ran faster than last time. The last 1/4 mile of the run was on grass or beach sand and was harder to run on. I think the run was harder than Danskin, the swim was about the same and the bike was easier than Danskin. You can see where this is a process of putting all of the tools together and I suspect it is very hard to get all of them into one race. I cannot wait to see the results!!
Hey Lisa– Gretchen was not at OUR race! hahaha. She was doing one of those crazy mountain-bike, trail-running ones! (right??)
Guys, just remember you can’t compare the results of this race to any other race. All courses are different. It’s even hard to compare the results year to year because often the swims are a little off. The most important thing is that you all felt better even though the course was tough. And, you finished well, healthy and happy. After all, we are doing this for fun!
Diane,
Forgot to ask you, how was your ride home?
It was good. Beautiful day out. I posted the details under Ironman 2008 posting.
Hey All,
Thanks to all of you for making this so fun. I have to say, I am REALLY happy with my results. I finished about 3 minutes faster than Danskin, and cut all of my times - except the run. That took me almost 5 mins more!! Oh well. I know that’s my weak spot and will need to really focus on it for next season.
Nice job everyone!!!
Hey, everyone! Congrats on Title IX and the Pumpkinman! I am SO sore and bruised ALL over (and I mean ALL) from doing the off-road tri. I was very sad that Gretchen didn’t make it through, but if you could have seen the bike and run trails, you wouldn’t wonder why! Let’s just say, I will not be doing an Xterra anytime soon, and the challenge was more than I thought it would be, but I tried to focus on how beautiful the woods were. The best thing about the Hale Tri, was watching my son compete in the kids tri, and seeing his ear-to-ear smile when he crossed the finish line. Priceless! Can you imagine how good we’d all be, if we started tri’ing when we were 11? Well, I know I have much more work to do, but Thanks, Diane- you’re an AWESOME coach!
Laura, glad you made it through. Yes, Xterra is a completely different beast. You can click that check box
It is amazing to see kids doing triathlon. They are phenomenally focused. So glad your son had fun.
We can always improve in triathlon, that’s why this is so much fun. No matter how good you are, there are always areas to improve. The best of the best have multiple coaches working with them to shave those few precious seconds off of each leg (and transition!). And you guys have shaved MINUTES off of your legs.
You should all be very proud. Here’s to continual growth and most of all FUN for next year!
My sentiments with everyone about Title 9; man was that a tough course. It was nice to have everyone there pre-race and to see all your smiling faces whiz by me at all the legs. In the end, my time was identical to Danskin, but it just shows that there is plenty of room to improve for next year!
And my one piece of advice…no matter how much Diane says two nights before the race is the most important doesn’t mean to not sleep the night before. I only wonder what my time would have been if I had been in bed and asleep at a normal time!
Sleep is always good! Once again, we can not compare Danskin and Title IX. Very different races! If you did the same time, then you improved
It sure was great to see all of you there on Sunday. Although I like this course more than Danskin, it was tough for me this year. I felt much better in the swim but got bumped so much and swallowed a lot of water so I would have to stop and cough it out…….ick.
And my legs were definitely gone by the time I started running so I had to walk half of the first and last hills…….I think I need to do way more bike/run bricks!! hahahaa………I guess I have plenty to work on this winter.
Looking forward to seeing you all at Jodi’s in a few weeks.
Leslie, glad you finished safely. The issue is that when biking hills, you use the same muscles as running. This makes the running much more difficult. If you add running hills on top of it- double disaster! So, now we know and we’ll have you bike hills then do a short run afterwards. Don’t go crazy on the bricks in the winter though. Just do simulated bike hills on one day, and run incline another day (only 1x/week). This will get you ready for bricks in the spring. Too much of a good thing is no good in triathlon!
See you at Jodi’s
So that feeling that I was gonna vomit through the whole run? Maybe not attributed to my biking too hard afterall — Dave and I BOTH came down with the stomach flu last night. : (
Marile - you poor thing! If you came down with it last night your body was probably already fighting it!! Amazing that you were able to do the race at all! Hope you both feel better soon.
Hi Diane,
Thank you for an awesome training experience and the words of wisdom about our Tutle 9 times. When I first saw my results I was thinking I had done the best I would ever be able to do (my times were roughly the same as Danskin, except my transitions were better) but after thinking about it my swim did improve and my run time was better because it was a longer and tougher course. So I guess I do have room for improvement! Turely the highlight for me was doing this with everyone. I was so proud of everyone and really enjoyed seeing people on the course. It is especially nice to hear someone cheer you on (Once again my family was scattered across MA all day). I do not think I can wait until Jodi’s to get to together. What do people think of a Title 9 celebration at my house? Would Friday night be too soon?
Dot
Sorry now that I am awake I did mean everyone from the training group. Title 9, Pumpkinhead and crazy ladies that ride in the woods (only kidding). When I told my husband about the possibility of a party Friday night he had one request, Do I have to come? I guess he does not want to hear anymore tri stories!! That includes my entire family so I need someone to listen.
Dot
Hi Dot,
I think I can make it for a little while anyways. I can’t make Jodi’s because of work, so I’d love to see everyone. What can I bring?
Hi Dot -
I think I’m available too! What time on Friday?
So, to add to my frustration of having to stop my tri because of my asthma attack…I went mountain biking last night (I still had all this pent up energy because I had done my rest days!) and rode so well - why couldn’t I have done that on Sunday! We went to Needham woods and did mostly single track (very tight, winding trails). Basically the equivelant of the tri course - I blew through those trails last night so fast, was barely breathing hard and Joe was pushing hard to keep up with me. I went up some hills loaded with rocks and roots that he had a hard time getting up. I have found that I definitely have a passion for mountain biking. I told Diane that I found an Xterra course that is near my mom’s in Vermont - it is in the end of June. So, with some input from Diane, I’m going to spend my winter months gearing myself up for that. Although, I think I’m going to have to upgrade my mountain bike - I think my shock is going from bouncing off of rocks and my seat is creaking so I might have broke it. I certainly would have never pegged myself for a rock hopper, but I’m totally addicted!
Hey Dot - that sounds really fun, but I’ll be in Maine. Sorry!!
Dot–thanks for the invite, but this Friday is a no-go for me. Sorry! Can’t wait for Jodi’s on the 24th though!
Gretchen– you go girl! You are a crazy woman!
Hi Dot—I can’t make it on Friday either, but am looking forward to the night at Jodi’s. Glad to hear everyone is doing well two days post!
Hey Gretchen,
We all knew you would rock your race! Sorry you didn’t feel well on Sunday, but I’m sure you’ll do great in June. I’m still trying to conquer the streets and hills around here
Hope to see you Friday!
Gretchen, you rock! You’re going to do great.
Dot, I can stop by for a few minutes Friday. Great idea!
Also, my husband was the same way about the “tri talk” so I worked for 6 years on recruiting him, and now he is hooked LOL Maybe Mike will come around
Hi, Dot-
(Sorry about my swimming attitude, Diane!) Also, if anyone is planning on doing the Tufts 10K, maybe we can coordinate a few group runs.
As one of the crazy ladies that (sometimes) rides in the woods, thank you for the invite for Fri., but I will not be able to make it, due to a prior commitment. I look forward to hearing from folks about continued training efforts, and if anyone is up for doing the Sutton TDD Duathlon, it just got postponed, so you have a little more of a respite and training time before the race. Anyone up for joining me? Just think- NO swimming!
Laura -
Have they put up a new date for the Sutton Duo? Also - I know a few people are doing the Tufts…Kim is signed up for sure. I’m signing up this week. I think Kim mentioned doing some long runs on Sundays…not sure what time or where - but that would be fun to have a group of us meeting up and running together. Does anyone know if any of the local tracks have lights on in the evening? With it getting darker out, it’s nice to have a well lite area and we could do some speed work at night.
Hi Dot, thanks for the invite but we already have family coming over for dinner on friday night. Looking forward to seeing you at Jodi’s though.
I took the plunge yesterday and signed up for the Tufts race. Would love to meet up for longer runs with the group as the longest run I’ve done so far was only 4.5 miles so I have a lot of work to do in the next month!
Hi all,
Dot - unfortunately I won’t be able to make it on Friday but thanks for the offer - I will see you all at Jodi’s.
Also - if anyone wants to run the 10k but has not signed up yet - we have a registration already (Georgie won’t be running…) - so if you don’t mind running under a pseudonym we can pick up the packet for you and can save yourself the fees…
Kim
If no one else bits…I haven’t registered yet…as long as Georgia doesn’t mind my slow time under her name!
Hey Dot, Thank you but not sure I can make it Jack has hockey if anything changes I will call you.
Hi,
OK we have three people that can make it on Friday. So it is up to you three if you would still like to meet. We could try for another Friday night? Let me know what you think.
Dot
Hmmm - I’d say lets try for another Friday night…
Hi, all!
It looks like the Sutton TDD Duathlon may actually be canceled, not just post-poned, so we’ll have to stay tuned for more details. There is, however, the Halloween Duathlon in Wrentham in October, if you’re interested. Of course, if you still have energy after the Duathlon, you can shop ’til you drop @ the Outlets!
Hey Dot - I probably could do another friday night… Kim
Hi Dot,
Another night makes sense to me. Let me know what you come up with. Anybody running this weekend? I can’t do anything until Saturday afternoon or sometime Sunday (just not too early - I haven’t slept in since….?). Anybody need a running partner?
Dot - I could do another Fri night!
Hi Everyone,
Have you seen the pictures from the race? You guys all look awesome. Lisa you look so strong in all your pictures. I of course look so disgusted coming out of the water - need to remember to smile
Our group pictures are great! Did you guys all get them? Diane here is the website, I’m sure you’ll love to see the pictures. http://www.brightroom.com
Have a great day everyone.
OK, where the heck was I when those group shots were taken???
We were all just standing around talking when the photographer wanted to take out picture and had us pose…super random.
And Dot, another night would totally work!
The group shots are great! Marile?!?!?!!!?
I only saw one group shot under Lisa’s pix–where were the others?
Hey Diane - our pictures are up too - I look like a linebacker - and your picture coming out of the water - you look like you mean business - that is a great picture.
never mind–found them. We look great!
Clearly I missed the memo.
No photos of Cary - how did that happen?? maybe he ran too fast
Kim I’m looking at ours as we speak. I know, I wanted to make Cary a collage for xmas for his first season- oh well. This happened last race too! I think he is incognito until he beats me LOL!
what is your race number?
race number 563 - the linebacker
Diane is going to do awesome in November! She looks scary good in her race photos!!
I don’t know if I want to look SCARY, but thanks
not you looked scary - but ’scary good’ guess it is kim speak - that was a compliment
I guess that is like when my son says ” sick” and that is good term these days LOL.
I might actually purchase that one so when I have grandkids, and they are getting unruly, I can show them how scary I used to be!
exactly…
I think you both look great! Definitely examples of extremely fit and athletic women - the way women should look! Woo Ha - you go girls!
I’m not convinced anyone should be allowed to take my photo during these events. Not my best look!
Diane and Kim: you both look so cool in those photos!
Rebekah: I hear ya - tight spandex and that extra tire around my waist is not a good look for me at all. Inspiration though for me to lose weight so I can have a rocking photo next yearR