CubeFarmGopher's Group - Closed

I want to join!

Name: Suzanne

Story: 2nd season of tris. Just finished my 2nd tri ever last weekend. Got into it because after TNT training for a marathon my legs were giving me all kinds of problems and I wanted to cross train. Since Sept 2005 I've lost 62 lbs and I still have 13 to go. And that 13 won't budge. I've fallen in love with tris and have on my schedule for this year 1 other sprint, 1 olympic, 1 longer than oly but shorter than HIM distance, and a HIM to finish the season. I would love for someday to finish an ironman, but not sure how to fit that in with my life at the moment....

Professionally I am the customer service manager for a manufacturing company.

Family status: married for 12 years. Awaiting the referral of our baby girl from China. Expect to have her referral in late spring next year and travel to China to get her in early summer 08. Been waiting for her referral since March 2006 after dealing with infertility for almost 4 years.

Current training: working with a local coach, training for 6-12 hours per week. Swimming is my strongest of the 3 disciplines, but I am not that fast. Plenty of room for improvement.  OLY in June, Sprint and weird distance in Aug, and HIM in late Sept.

Last year I did one sprint and one duathlon.

Weightloss: currently at 138, down from a high of 200. just under 5'4". Goal weight is 125 (ok'ed by doctor) Would love to get to 125 by the fall. I'm finding it hard to eat to sustain training and lose weight.

Biggest hurdle? I've got good endurance, but I'm pretty slow. Working on the speed thing now with my coach.

Hey Shaun!

Your story is very inspiring and feel that your determination would be a great motivator for me by joining your group.

I am Diego and live in Charleston, SC (Mt Pleasant really but most people seem to know where Charleston is).  I started training for my first tri back in early April.  My story is somewhat lengthy but it starts out like most.  I've been married for the last 5 years and have a 3 year old son.  After becoming a parent I found that I spent more time sitting around drinking beer and eating high fat food than exercising.  I had never struggled with weight but eventually found myself 5 pant sizes bigger than what I was before I got married. 

I have a coworker who is our 'fitness coordinator' here and was trying to get participants for a 5k run back in December.  His hook was that the company would pay the entry and there was free beer after the race.  I accepted after having never been much of a runner and found myself winded after 'running' a block.  I trained for my first 5k and finished it.  I was hooked after that.  I then began training for a very popular local 10k race that takes you over the Cooper River.  As race day neared I started to wonder what I was going to do after the race and found out about sprint tris.  I quickly signed up for one, found my way to this site and the rest is history.

I have a decent running foundation but am a beginner swimmer.  Used TI to learn how to swim and working up on the yardage now.  Bought my first tri bike, Felt S32, and am working on building endurance. 

I have a BT plan that is slightly modified to fit my schedule.  Everything is set up to minimize disruption in my family life.  I run and swim at lunch.  I bike on the trainer after I put my son to sleep.  Ride early on the weekends. 

Having never done a tri nor followed this type of plan, I like knowing that I have someone to bounce questions off of and keep me motivated when I don't feel like working out.

Thank you for your consideration,

Diego 

Funny meeting you here.  I guess us Clemson fans stick together?

We are everywhere you want to be.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!  As an NC State alum, I don't know if I can actually allow all of this Clemson talk to take place. 

Welcome to both of you.  Right now, my blog is set to 'Friends Only' so that is why it looks like I was blocking it.  I'll add you guys to the list and you'll be able to see my activities.

Welcome Laura.

I know how it is about sticking with the nutritional and exercise programs.  It was one of the reasons that I chose to go with a personal coach, because I felt I would have to responsible to someone.

I'll see you at, at least, 2 races this year.  I'll be volunteering at IronGirl again (did bodymarking last year) and I'm doing the Goofy Challenge in 2008.

oh, forgot to list my 2007 Race Schedule:

The 'company sponsored' ones are races that our company pays the entry fees for employees who want to participate.  It is part of our Health and Wellness progam.  I am still on the fence about Kiawah because I am not sure I will be ready to complete the swim.  I also have not registered for the Atlanta half marathon yet.  Its between that one or the Greenville, SC half.     

Nice to see you're doing Disney Marathon.  I'm registered for Goofy.

Edit:  I looked at Kiawah and found out it was an olympic.  I checked your blog and saw that you're not quite up to that swim distance in training.   My philosophy is that you should always have one race on your schedule that makes you nervous.  You have 4 months to train up to doing 1500m and setting that race as a goal will push you to do keep up the work. 

Shaun:  I'd like in

Name: ASA22/ John

Story:  I've been around BT since 2005.  I had a good year for a beginner in 2005, I did one sprint, lost a lot of weight, started eating healthy, I had a late year sprint planned but I hurt my back so had to back out of that one.  Then 2006, I ran for politcal office and that took up pretty much the entire base building and race season.  Once I lost the election I really didn't do any training or working out for months.  I gained back ALL of the weight I lost in 2005.  Right now I'm the heaviest I've been in 3 years.   I'm back up to around 260 pounds.  Mydaughter will climb on me and call me "squishy belly", she's only four, so for her it's not malicious, in fact in her eyes it's a term of endearment.  But I don't want to be the Fat Dad at all the school functions.  Soon that endearment will turn into embarassment.  I'm tired of being fat, I'm tired of going into stores and worrying if I'm actually going to be able to find clothes that fit me.  I'm tired of pretending I'm a triathlete and get down to really being one, again.

More than anything else I need to stop "working out" and start focusing on actually "training".  What I need more than anything else is some serious accountability!  So feel free to kick my butt when needed!!!

Family:  married (My wife ROCKS) and a 4 year old daughter.

Current training: vague and un-focused!!!!!  I had planned to do a TNT olypic this year but I had to do a realistic assesment of my physical ability and there was no way I could be ready for an Oly in 4 1/2 months.  I'd like to get three sprints in this year.

Welcome Amber.

Like I mentioned before, my philosophy is to have something on the calendar just to put a stake in the ground and to work towards.  I can't say how many times I've woken up in the morning just completely not wanting to train.  Then I look at the race flyer on my wall and realize 'Train now, or pay later' and it forces my body to get out the door, even if it takes my mind a bit to follow. 

When I started doing my weight loss, I read a whole bunch of different books on nutrition.  I found that my favorite is Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition guidebook.  Now, if I could just keep from buying the Twizzlers, I'd be in a better position. 

Congrats on the new baby.  That number of kids definitely must keep you hopping.

So I've tentatively set my races for this year:  Englewood Beach Tri in July; The Venice Tri in September; and the Boca Bop in November.

I'm  a little worried about the first one that seems pretty close.  The Venice Tri is going to be tough schedule wise because I'm up to go to a national conference the week before and I wont get home until the day before the tri.  So I might have to check out another race.  But I really like the venue of the Venice tri, so hopefully i can make it work.  We'll see,  nothing is written in stone yet. 

I know exactly how you feel.  I hate the thought of travelling the week before a race, especially if it is any sort of distance.  Last year, they wanted me to travel to Chennai, India the week before my HIM.  Obviously, I said 'no'.

Of the 3 that you have put on your calendar, is there anything special about them that you want to aim for?  Is one of them your anniversary race?  Do you want to push for a PR at one of them? 

I'm thinking that you can use one or the others to ramp up, work up the confidence, and then crush the 'A' race.

Welcome Amber!

John,  you can get ready for the July race! Just make sure you start NOW!! Just don't worry about being fast at first.  And by the way, my husband and I have been on our own mission to drop weight so that we aren't the fat parents. We've got about a year to go before we get our daughter and I am just about to my goal, and my DH is just about where you are. I think it's a great motivator!

For YOU, I'll make the exception and allow one extra. 

So, let's hear it.  What's your secret? 

I think that's a good idea.  My plan is to use the July race as a test, not so much of my racing ability, but of my physical fitness.  The September race I had planned as my "A" race, but the travel situation has me really worried.  I can't miss the seminar, it's one I've been begging to go to for the last three years, and will really help in my job.  So I guess I'll set the November race as my "A" race.  I volunteered at that race last year, and it's a great venue.  So I guess that's the plan.  Now Im going to sign up and drop the cash to motivate me.

P.S.  This looks like a pretty good group.

Drive to another area. I do that sometimes when I get bored with my same old route. I take my bike to work and then on the way home I'll drive to another area. I like to park in golf course parking lots and ride in areas around courses. They are usually pretty safe.

Nothing embarrassing about being concerned about handling and speed around a 3,000 lbs vehicle moving much faster than you.  I would load my bike up and find somewhere safer to ride where you can improve your handling skills and become more confident.

In my case, I ride my bike on a trainer Monday through Friday because its usually 9 pm by the time I can ride.  I try to meet up with a riding group on Sunday mornings.  Are there any groups you can join in your area?  I really enjoy mine because there are all levels of riders.  By hanging mid or back of pack you can watch how other riders handle situations on the road such as debris, high speed turns, traffic, etc.  This have given me a lot of confidence in my riding.    

Nothing to be embarrassed about.

I'd recommend that you load up the bike and take it to a nicer (and safer) place to ride.  Over time, you'll build the confidence in handling and speed to eventually desire to conquer the 6-laner.

I live 5 miles from the Columbia Triathlon course and there are days when I don't really want to fight the traffic to ride there, load up the bike, and drive it over.  Plus, early mornings on the weekend may also make it more comfortable to ride on roads with traffic.