The Second Wind Group - CLOSED

NAME: kmatt318/Ken

STORY: Hello! I am a 44 year old inside sales rep for a large healthcare software compant in North Carolina.  I am basically a runner turned triathlete.  Hoping to qualify for Boston in March and compete in my first open water tri in May.  My goal is to run an ironman next year.  So this year I have to get into open water.

FAMILY STATUS: Married 12 years.  My children are all out of the house and my wife is retired and staying at home with our grandchild (Devon). We actually have another one on the way, due in April.  

CURRENT TRAINING: I am currently training for the March marathon but also working on my swimming.  Swimming is still a major issue but I working hard on getting it done.  

2012 RACES:  I haven't currently signed up for any races yet but I have a schedule in mind and just waiting on swim confidence to actually commit. 

Would love to join the group.

Name: jondparks/ Jon (Twitter: @jonparks)

Story: I'm 36 years old and I'm the founder/owner of Dijital Farm, a digital marketing consulting agency based in Raleigh, NC.  I got started with Triathlon in late 2011 after a conversation with a good friend about looking for my next fitness challenge.  I've long been involved in athletics/sport, but Triathlon was a new challenge for me.  I have a strong swimming background and had competed in a few 5K runs, but was brand new to the bike.  I competed in four sprint triathlons in 2011 and had a blast!  I learned a lot about myself, my limits and what it takes to really push yourself in endurance sport.  I'm looking to improve in open water swimming in the year ahead.

Family Status: Married for 12 years, 3 children (ages 6, 3 & 2)

Current training: I recently wrapped up a brief 5K season and am beginning my training cycle for an olympic (international) distance triathlon.  I'm also looking to 

2012 Races: I'm targeting 4-5 races this year at the sprint and olympic distances beginning in April and concluding in September.

Name: Cathy (cathyv)

Family Status: Married second time around, 5 years. Two sons ages 23 and 17 from first marriage.

Current Training: Mostly a runner (slow but steady), did some biking last summer. Haven't actually done proper swimming technique since high school and am at a total loss in the pool at the moment.

2012 races: Plan to do a half marathon at the end of May and my first Sprint Tri in August. Will do a spattering of 5K and 10Ks in there too I imagine.  My husband wants us both to train for a Oly or Half IM for the fall, but I'm not yet convinced I can swim a sprint distance Tri yet.

Hope I can join your group!

Good morning team. This morning I had a pretty good swim.  Ran into a lot of "resolution" swimmers.  That is always fun.  But I was able to stick to my routine pretty well.  Still working on my swim endurance.  

Ken,

Welcome to the group!  You will find there will be some great discussion here along with encouragement to help you adapt to the open water.  Looking forward to seeing and hearing about your progress.

Jon,

Welcome to the group and congrats on your first of what I will assume are many BT forum posts.  Looking forward to the opportunity to assist in anyway toward your progress of competing and finishing those Olympic distance tri's.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Good luck in your training.

I liked your comment about your running "slow but steady".  That is how I am as well.  I will not set any speed records.  I enjoy running and running at a comfortable pace.

When started into triathlons last year, it had been over 20 years since I had swam.  At first it took a while, but I can tell you that you will be able to do it.  

What half marathon will you be doing in May and what sprint tri in August?  Will your sprint tri be an open water swim (OWS) or a pool swim?

Glad to have you as part of the group.

Hi Group,

Nice weather here as well.  Got in a couple of short runs in the past two days, starting to get in some regular mileage to prepare for my running group to start up in early February.   Got in 10 miles this week.

Chick, I'm doing the Madison Marathon- half marathon in Madison Wi.  The Sprint I'm looking at is in New Glarus WI and the swim is in a pool (a big part of the draw for me, OW scares me right now).  I got in the pool the other day, it was a bit comical. I'm sure I'm one of the noobs in the pool right now that people are shaking their heads at, though it really has nothing to do with resolutions for me.  I think I'll have a friend come with me next time to give me some refresher tips.  Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure I'll get there too.

Have a good day everyone!

Cathy

Cathy, 

Starting with a pool swim for your first triathlon is always a good idea.  With time you will become more and more comfortable in the pool.  Start out slow and get used to it and you will see improvement.

Have a great week of training everyone.

NAME: Harold

STORY: Hello! I am 60 years old and have been mainly biking for the past 2 years. I am a work from home consultant which works well with my training. In August of last year I decided to embark on the multisport path. I have been swimming, biking and running since that time. I have lost 30 pounds since I started cycling and have reached my high school weight (42 years ago).

FAMILY STATUS: Married with 4 children 41, 40. 37 & 34 and 3 grand children 14, 5 and 2.  

CURRENT TRAINING: I currently train core once a week, swim 3 times a week and bike and run 3 times a week.  Swimming is still a major issue; I struggle to swim a continuous 100m.

2012 RACES:  I haven't currently signed up for any races yet because of the swim.

Welcome Harold and glad you found this group.  Looking forward to seeing your progress throughout 2012.  Feel free to ask any questions here on this thread and we will be glad to assist.

That is great to hear of the weight loss with the working out.  In time the swimming will come easier.  

Since I am new to swimming I am using the Beginner's Swimming Workout. Today was:

 Warmup
4 x 25m
Drill
4 x 25m Catchup
4 x 25m Kick
4 x 25m Fist
Cool down
4 x 25m

I wound up doing 4x50m on each of the drills because I couldn't remember ( hey I'm 60).  My form started to fall apart at the end but I plan to stick with it. I hope to be able to enter a sprint by the fall.

Harold

Great job on the swim Harold.  Just keep sticking with it.

I had an interesting moment on my run this morning.  Just 3/4 mile into the run a deer came out of the woods right next me.  Needless to say, we were both caught off guard.  I am sure my heart rate jumped a little.  I saw it out of the corner of my eye.  It went about 15 feet behind me, stopped and just watched me.  Then, he was gone. 

Always interesting scenes when you run at 4:30 am.  For me it is either seeing deer or an occasional fox.

After the run went to the pool and knocked out a 1000 yd workout (300 warmup, 10 x 50 fast with 15 seconds rest between and 200 cool down). 

This is week 2 of 18 for my half ironman training.  So far it is going pretty well.  The toughest for me is being able to get the bike workouts in because of work and family committments.  I know I will not be able to get in every workout.  I will do what I can to be prepared for the event.

What does everyone have on tap regarding training for the weekend? 

For me on Saturday I have a 5.5 mile run scheduled, but I am coming out of a retirement (so to speak) to play in an ironman street hockey tournament.  That will a lot of running, probably like interval work an should be a few miles.  I am thinking of trying to wear my Garmin to see if it will pickup to actually track how much running I end up doing playing hockey.  I know we have at least 5 games where each game last 12 minutes with a continuous running clock.  I used to play a lot a few years ago and a friend asked if I wanted to join to play with former players.  Should be a blast.  Then on Sunday I have a 30 mile ride on the schedule.

Have a great training day!

Chick, I hope you have a great time.  Cross training is really good.  I am sure that once you get back out there you will rekindle that love for the sport.  

My training this weekend consist of a 20 mile long run.  I will probably try to actually do this on Saturday since I am leaving for a vacation cruise on Sunday.  My training for next week will be totally abbreviated being op board ship.  I am sure that I will be able to run on the treadmill but I am not sure about lap swimming or cycling.  But its supposed to be vacation so I am not going to be to concerned about it.  I have a decent base to draw upon. 

I hope everyone else has a safe and fun training week. 

Name: johnthecat/Markus

Story: I'm 41 years old and an IT Manager, born in Germany, moved to the US in 1998. I've been interested in Triathlons for a mighty long time but still have yet to do one. I was a Gymnast from age 5 to 14 and did all kinds of other sports after that, swimming, skating (ice and inline), Martial Arts and multiple others. About 4 years ago I finally went ahead and got me a road bike and signed up for 2 sprint triathlons. God had different plans in mind for me and my wife and we adopted an 11 year old (at the time) instead. After that, life got busy with the demands of having two older adopted children and the Triathlon's got put on the sideburner. Last year I fully intended to get my first one in and about 3 weeks into my training I pulled a groin muscle that took a long time to recover followed by shoulder tendonitis and lower back problems. Now that all my aches seem to be gone I want to refocus and finally complete a Triathlon. The swim shouldn't be a problem, I'm more concerned about the running and of course afraid of pulling another muscle

Family Status: Married with 3 kids and expecting another one in July (15 years, 12 years, 11 months)

Current training: Nothing yet, but starting tonight 

2012 Races: Possibly a sprint in May, if not there's a couple in June/July I have my eye one

NAME: cupchamp10/ Ken

STORY: So far I've run 5  1/2 marathons and thought that  it's time for my first Tri.

FAMILY STATUS:  Married  23 years with one daughter and one son.

CURRENT TRAINING: So far not much w/our great weather . Hopefully I'll be training for my 4 th. Bjorklund (grandma's  1/2) while starting  my tri training and hopefully finding a suitable race after that.

THIS YEAR’s RACES:  Bjorklund  1/2 mary, Lumberjack dash

2012 RACES:  Depends on entry lottery for bjorklund.

WEIGHT LOSS: Poor diet this past year , I need to lose 10- 15 lbs to get back to my race weight.

Can I join?

Name: ltcsh1/ Court

Story:  I am almost 40 and work in law enforcement. I got the tri bug after watching my city host a 70.3 for the last three years.  I have been "building base" for about 18 months or should I say I have been not entering races and just SBR.  But this year will be different.  I am wanting to join for accountability and I like your message Brett (The Second Wind).

Family Status:  Married for 15 years with two daughters, three dogs, one cat and one turtle.

Current Training:  Finishing off the last few weeks for my first ever race

2012 Races:  I am working toward a HM right now with two sprints and one olympic for the rest of the year.  Maybe a few 5k along the way ( I found I like running).

Weight Loss: Would LOVE to loose about 15 pounds, but I don't know if I will/can.  I am more fit now than ever and I don't if I will shake that last little bit. 

Thanks for having me

Welcome Markus!  Glad you have found the group.

As you said, God had other plans a few years ago.  All in His timing.  Glad to hear all of your aches and pains have subsided.  Taking it steady in your training will hopefully help you get to that triathlon start and ultimately the finish line.  I know I have found that triathlon training helps in avoiding injuries with have multiple disciplines that you are training on.  That allows different muscles to be used and not having the focus on muscles used for say running.

You mentioned you were starting your training last night.  How did that go?  

Starting with a sprint distance is a great idea.  With targeting one in May, you have plenty of time to get ready.

Again, glad you found the group.