Beer Drinkers Appreciation Society (BDAS) 2023 Mentor Group - ALWAYS OPEN (Page 100)

60F would be a warm bath compared to what it is now. I don’t think it’s much over 10C (50 corgis, no, hang on, not corgis, that’s a unit of distance. Farenheit).

It’s a tradition, every 1st May, the local swim club have their premiere, whatever the weather, whatever the water temperature. We’re vikings after all (except I am not and neither is the mad leader of the pack, who regularly swims OWS marathons, he’s American)

It won’t be a long swim but with wetsuit, double swim cap, gloves and booties, I’ll survive.

Yes, I love those weird short distances too, they are a lot of fun.

There is absolutely something to be said about adhering to tradition, regardless of whether or not it might kill you. Brava!

Nat--I'm super jealous you have a tri schedule figured out!! I'm so behind in identifying any races other than MiTi (national championship) and Townsville (world championship)--both of which are in August.

Rest week continues and it is *almost* distracting me from the fact that my marathon was supposed to be this weekend. I mean, the race is still going on, but I'm not doing it. Now I think I should have just dropped down to the HM, but then, I know I can do that and it doesn't sound like that much fun, really. 60' tempo ride this morning with 24' in Z3--watched the team the Bombers are going to play on Friday absolutely obliterate the team that absolutely obliterated the Bombers two weeks ago as my "entertainment." Tomorrow might be a depressing day.

Summer Schedule (so far):
May 4--Ride the Sky, a hilly 53mile ride to support the local humane society
May 27--Trifesta Italiaia sprint (pool swim--350y/15mi/5k--ish, sorta, from memory)
June 22--Tour de Corn, flat af century ride where there will be no corn to be seen until mile 60

July---???
August 11--MiTi 140.6 (National Champioinship)
August 25--Tri the Reef Ultra (some insanely weird distances for an ultra--like a 3/4 IM--World Championship)

September--don't know yet, maybe like this past year with an Oly and maybe a gravel bike and gravel HIM race (same one as last year. For some reason I think my bike handling skills will have improved with absolutely zero additional practice at gravel riding).

I'd like to get in a couple more races in June and early July, including a HIM just for funsies, but the one I like is the same weekend as my Mom's birthday and the other one I've done more locally is usually the last weekend in July, which is a bit close to my 140.6 for comfort. If anyone knows of a HIM in early July somewhere where it might not be STUPID hot and humid that is within driving distance of the butt hole of Illinois, let me know!

Your schedule is not too shabby either.Just need to fill in a few dates in July

2000yds in the pool--set up as 90x25 (although, obviously, I didn't do all 90). We have a guy on our Master's team who turns 90 years old today, so in his honor, we did 90x25.

I'm thinking of quitting my master's "team." I will start by saying I like swimming with master's and I like the time we swim (6am) and I like the coaches and workouts. There are a ton of things I like about the master's team and I think I swim harder when I workout with a group. But, the culture of the group has changed over the last few years from a group of people who take their training seriously with a few people who screwed around to a few people who take training seriously and mostly people who are there for a social event and maybe to swim a bit. It just doesn't feel like it is serving my needs right now, which bums me out, because, as I said, I really enjoy most aspects of swimming with the group.

Do the people who screw around disturb your training that much? I know you wrote before about those who turn up late (that was you, right?) but what do they do other than that? (and who in their right mind would turn up for training at 6 in the effing morning and not take it seriously?)

Training with a group is always more rewarding and as you say, you train harder, plus you like the coaches and workouts. Add to that it’s at a good time for you. It would take a lot to keep me away. I wish I could find a swimming group with these criteria, even if half the group or more was farting around.

How do you track and prep? Do you plan your meals for the week and cook on Sundays?

I realised I needed to do something, as the weight is slowly creeping up again (quick recap, lost 26lbs in 2017-2018, had put half back on by the end of 2022, lost those 13 again in 2023 and now I’m already up 9lbs again).
—I know the weight is only one factor, but I feel, it on my clothes too—

I have been tracking calories with MFP and was trying to keep it around 1500 cal a day to maintain weight but I’ve been going up anyway. So I am back on a calorie deficit which means I need to train more because I don’t want to eat less.

I am also making a conscious effort to eat slowly, I even time myself. Worked great last night, by the time i finished my meal (which was cold by then, that’s the downside), I was full, didn’t get more as I usually do.

I don’t track poop yet but I am waiting for andrew’s sh!tbit to be released.

Have a great weekend BDAS, the weather is finally getting a little warmer, nice long run today and nice long ride tomorrow on the menu.



Edited by Rollergirl 2024-04-27 3:08 AM

Nat--do you work with a dietitian? If not, I'd suggest it for sure. I have been working with one for a couple years now and she has helped me a lot. One of the biggest things she helped me learn is that I need to eat to fuel training properly. 1500 cal a day seems really low for someone as active as you are. It might also be useful to do a body composition study to figure out what your BMR is--what do you need just to fuel your body at rest.

Rest week ends with a 90' tempo run (20' of Z3/4 sandwiched among the rest). It felt good and after mile 4 I really felt like I was enjoying it. Maybe that is the problem with my run...I take four miles to warm up and most of the time my runs are less than that (except long runs). How do I warm up faster so I can get to the good part sooner?!!?!

Weather here is warming up some, although we are in the spring rainy season--as in, nearly every day--makes timing runs, bikes, and lawn mowing a bit of a tricky business.

Today is also the day I was supposed to be running the Illinois marathon. I thought I would feel a sense of loss about it today, but I don't. No skin off my nose. Maybe just an acknowledgement that it wasn't an important race to me at all. I'm actually a bit glad I didn't do it. The run started on the campus of University of Illinois (my alma mater) and then looped around the city, finishing on the 50yd line of the football stadium It would have been fun to go back and see how things have changed in the (ahem...)20+ years since I graduated. BUT...yesterday there were major protests on campus against Israel and they actually had to cancel the Friday night 5k because the law enforcement who was supposed to be directing traffic, etc. were reassigned to the protests and they were thinking the same might be necessary today for the longer races (10k, HM, full M). They didn't send out a final email until about 1am that the race was going to go forward as planned. That is a degree of uncertainty I wouldn't have wanted to deal with. I'm glad it went forward though. I would have felt super bad for the folks who put in all that training and then didn't get their day.