foolproof/Sue7013 Group - Closed

Hi Janice!

Sign me up! I think I might be your (possibly evil) twin a couple years younger! (Does that work?) Last year I turn the dreaded 4-0 and decided something needed to be done. In April of '06, I got me a trainer (Dennis is god) and lost 50 pounds. I have been hovering right around 150 for the last few months and have maybe a percent or so of body fat left to lose. I haven't actually done a tri yet, so this is my first season of multi-sport training. So I guess I'm an "older athlete" too. In my head I'm 30. Does that count?

Running has only been fun for the past several months. I completed a 10K in March and a 1/2 Mary in April (under 2 hrs - yay!). I really enjoy it now. Much different than a year ago. You got 7:53?!? I bow to you. I've definitely got some work to do to get under 8 min miles. See? you're already motivating me. LOL!

I love cycling. That's actually what motivated me to lose the weight. Mr Ell wants to cycle some of the Tour de France routes, mostly the famous mountain stages. I couldn't have done that last year, but didn't want to get left out of a really cool fun trip.  Now I need to work on length of rides. My back/shoulder/neck gets tired and starts hurting. Stamina needed!

Next up is some swimming lessons - I only have "absence of drowning" skills and can demonstrate a complete lack of ability to get to the end of the pool. I play in water, waterski in water, have fun in water, but suddenly realized I have never tried to move myself through the water to get somewhere.

My husband and I train together so that's fun, and I still have Dennis once a week. Hubby is not interested in tris though and he's not up for swimming, so I'll be going it alone on the swim training. We are running another 1/2 mary on July 4th.

Family - Hubby and I have a dog and a cat and are looking for a new puppy. I used to garden. I knit/sew/do craft stuff. Hubby plays electric guitar - which entertains me while I do what I do, but makes the dog go hide. Cat doesn't care.

Do we get tiaras in this group?

Leigh

Hi Leigh!  And welcome?

Tiara's?  Baby?  You can wear what ever it takes to get you over the finish line.  I tend more towards sparkly earrings.

This will be an exciting year for you!  Hope I can help in some way.

My sub-8 run on the Bridge was a gift and an anomoly.  I was brand new to Florida, and running, but was also working with a trainer at the time.  My weight was closer to 140-ish and I can tell you that less weight equates to faster run times.  I've also found that adding speed and interval training into my runs makes them a) more fun and b) shave seconds.

I love cycling - but again, I'm stuck at that 17/18 mph average.  My problem is getting the nerve to ride in the aero position.  That's my goal for the next few months.

Swimming - as I've said, I'm famous for my panic attacks.  I think I can steady-eddy you there too.

I took a quick peek at your logs ... and will look again later today.  Are you following a plan here?  Have you scheduled your first race yet?

Really looking foward to us both making some awesome progress over the next few months!

Have a good one! 

Currently, the only race I have scheduled is the 1/2 Marathon on July 4th. We intended to do an 82 mile ride, but are looking for a different event for later in the summer. There is an all-women triathlon July 28th http://www.racecenter.com/allwomens/ that I haven't signed up for, but I think that if I get some swim lessons and get busy in the pool, I could probably do the sprint distance in that one. Even if the thought of signing up sorta freaks me out at the moment. LOL!

Training plan - yes, I actually do have a plan, but I doubt you'll notice it looking at May. I was sick in early May and missed most regular workouts for about 10 days and then we were out of town over Memorial Day. My trainer helps me out with training schedules, nutrition, etc. My plan is pencil on my home calendar. Actual gets entered on my blog.

Cycling - when you say 17-18 average, do you mean on just any ride or do you mean in a race? We have built up our avg speed to 15-17 over 20-30 miles, but that includes city streets/lights/stop signs to get to and from our usual long training ride stretch. I don't have a race context to compare. My fastest rides have been group rides that include drafting, which I know isn't allowed in tris. I don't have aero bars yet, but it seems like that's the next step.

Progress! Yes!!

Leigh

Sorry Leigh, my internet went down.  We finally got some rain down here in SoFla! 

The 17 - 18 I refer to riding is an average for our training rides.  We've had some wicked winds this last month (joke:  Florida hills) which have made the rides 1/2 pain and 1/2 pleasure.  With a tail wind, we're at around 22 - 23, against the wind, it's a struggle to maintain 15 - 17.  I make it a point not to draft since it doesn't help with race training.  It seems my race speeds this year have been mid-17's for the Oly and a little above 18 for the Sprint.

What are your goals for the Sprint race in July?  It's only six weeks out.  Pool or OW swim?  Your bike and run will be fine, but you're going to want to start getting wet.

Hope you had a great weekend!  Let me know what you're thinking for this week! 

Um. I, uh, just want to finish? Is that a goal? I don't have much to compare to. I haven't done many bricks, and have no real clue about what is a good time for the swim. Speaking of, it is an OW swim, but in a very small lake. There will likely be wind.

I got in the water today! After my trainer workout, I hit the pool. For someone who previously could not get to the end of the pool all in on go, I did great! The pool is 25 yards (I think) and I can get to the end and back without stopping. It isn't much, but it is very exciting to me.

I'm signing up for some lessons tomorrow. May as well learn to do it right and get some drills to practice. Yet again, something is not as hard as I thought.

Next up: swim lessons, more swimming, bricks.

Hey Janice!

How's the new job??

I got the swim lesson and have been practicing. I'm starting a 1/2 Mary taper week on Thursday, but will still be pushing the swimming to keep the improvement going.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Leigh

Hi everyone.  I am a good friend of Janices...she is temporarily MIA...due to getting anew job etc.  I will happliy fill in for her if you will have me.  My background

41 coming up on my 3rd anniversary of tris.  Have done a bunch of sprints one HIM aquabike, one HIM (Janice ran the 1/2 mary of it with me) and one IM.  I am the injury queen.  Single, 2 cats no kids and I am an orthopedic surgeon.  My Blog is pretty detailed so you can check out the rest there.  I struggle with my weight too.  I am a good swimmer for a triathlete a crappy swimmer for a swimmer a decent cyclist and a horrible runner.  I was a gymanst in a former life.  Feel free to ask me anything and I will do my best to answer

Hi Sue!

The Injury Queen AND an orthopedic surgeon... interesting combo! That first part isn't contagious is it? LOL!!! 

I don't know if you really want to volunteer to be a mentor for a group I'm in. The first one I belonged to in January - the guy contacted me one time "why aren't you logging your workouts" and never spoke to the group again (I did nothing I swear!), and now my second mentor is MIA??? Being my mentor is apparently dangerous work. 

If I haven't scared you off - it would be great to have you. I'm sure I'm going to have a ton of questions here shortly. I have 32 days 'til my first tri.

The swimming is progressing. I decided to focus on form and breathing and forget the speed until later. That seems to be working. Tonight will be adding continuous laps with less rest between.

Riding and running are not a problem.

Oh! And 4 days 'til we get our new puppy. But I'm not excited or anything...

Leigh

 Are you doing a sprint?  Thats so great   You will be addicted soon   Congrats on the new puppy what kind?

Welcome Margot I totally get the whole doing something for yourself bit!!!  I maintain my sanity thru tris and training  I have litterally told my office "I an riding my bike for 45 minutes.  DO not call me unless someones leg is hanging off by a piece of skin.  I will call when I am done>"  

 Its a bit of an addiction   HAve you considered doing something longer than a sprint?  It might give you a different challenge and focus.  Also training a bit longer may help youreach your time golas iGoodluckn a shorter race. 

Aloha all,

Still got room for an old Dog. I'm a 44 yr old male from Scotland. I will log in later tonight and give a lot more details.

Mahalo till later.

OK! (packing bag...) When are you picking me up?  

Actually, I should be good to go then. When I was a kid we used to go to Mexico every summer- a friend had a beach house there and we used to swim all the time. That and waterskiing, and various camping trips at lakes, so outdoor water is good water. My advice on lakes though, is that if you go skinny dipping, make sure the lake is big enough that the fishermen on the other side cannot see you easily with their binoculars. Oops. 

Hi Paul! (waving!)

Hi Janice Hi Sue-

I want in on Janice's group.  Gotta get to know my local peeps.  I'm hoping its not too late...

My name is Cari, I'm 41 years young, single (twice divorced but that was a LONG time ago), no kids, 9 yrd old terrier mix named Gigi, healthy obsession with Michael Buble (canadian crooner), spend lots of time w/ family and friends, and trying to become a good salsa dancer.  This triathlon thing has got me busy right now especially since I finally finished my first sprint this past sunday.  I've got that new triathlete glow guys... I'm shining!

I was born and raised in Miami, FL, cuban heritage, survivor of hurricanes.

Got into this sport because I had always been in complete awe of triathletes.  Complete awe!  I wanted to lose weight and thought to try.  I found BT 2 years ago and have been addicted ever since.

I had participated in several 5K's, cycling events and a half marathon that I trained with TNT for.  All the while my weight was fluctuating but I never achieved a consistent weight loss that stayed off.  Plus I was constantly getting sick.  Ear infections from swimming in the pool, sinus infections, diabetes, asthma, you name it.  My obesity was already wrecking havoc with my body and was preventing me from training consistently.  The hard decision to have weight loss surgery came in Jan of '06 and the following October I had surgery.  Its going on 8 mos later and I'm minus 83 pounds and off meds.  In that time I've completed 3 5K's (two of which I ran for the first time from start to finish), 1 duathlon and my first sprint.  No regrets.

I'm looking to conquer the Key Biscayne bridge for Trilogy #2 and #3... plus some other races I've got on the sked.

Let me know.  Good luck to everyone!

Welcome to BT

YAY CAri...you so ROCK!! and now you are a triathlete