leapdog's group - FULL

Hi Jeff,

My name is Dave and I would like to join your group. I'm 36 from the Detroit, MI. area. I'm married and have 3 dogs and 4 cats. I too work in the IT field for a major news agency.

I am starting training for my first race. It will be an off road triathlon called the Wolfman in northern Wisconson on September 8th. I just wanted to make sure that this type of race is appropriate for this forum.

I'm looking for training tips for beginners and occasionally some motivation. I've never done anything like this and am just looking to finish my first race and hopefully not come in last.

I'm new to BT and this looks like a great resource. Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Dave

Hi,

My name is Heather, I'm 35 and I am also a geek in the IT industry. I reside in a burb of Dallas Texas with my 4 cats, a husband and a big fluffy dog. I'm a complete beginner to triathelons -- I'm not even sure I spelled that right -- but I want to complete one in September with my friend in Bochum, Germany.

I haven't run since high school, but I do remember I enjoyed it. I have cycled in the last couple of years, and I know that I can do 10 miles fairly quickly without breathing hard. Cycling comes fairly easily for me, but I know I can't depend on that to make it through a tri.

At this stage of the game, I don't know how to swim. I take my first lessons of my life starting February 3 at the local Y. I think this is my biggest liability at this point, but I am determined to overcome it. All of my life, I have been scared to get in the water because I knew I couldn't swim in it, and honestly, I'm sick of being scared. I will finish that swim STRONG, because I am going to work it until I get it.

I joined this group because you all seem to be geeks and like pets. Also, I plan to do this tri in Germany, and it seems that MN is going to be a similiar environment to the cool September that most Europeans experience.

I'm doing this for the spiritual experience of doing a goal that is going to be difficult for me to do. I read a book that said that the person who starts a tri is not the same person that finishes a tri. I want to meet that person and shake her hand.

I plan to finish when I finish. I see myself in the middle of the pack, but I don't care if I am the last person: I plan to skip over that line with my head held in the air!

Edited by grnidone 2007-01-27 4:57 AM

Hey Dave!

First of all, welcome fellow computer nerd/animal guy! I didn't really think those attributes would be bike marketing points, but who'd have thunk?

Congrats on training for your first race. It's a big step from being a spectator to hopping into the fray. You won't regret it.

I don't have any direct experience with an off road tri, but have a network of friends that compete in swim/mtn bike/run and canoe/bike/run tris so I can tap into them for insight. I think the concepts that I use for preparation will carry over to your race.

For beginner training tips and some motivation, I'm your guy. I worried about all aspects of a race from prep to race day so I should be able to take some of the fear out of things. I found that once I learned the best way to do things I got alot more comfortable. Race day willies never go away, so I can't help you with that!

BT is a huge resource. I'm not a subscribing member, as I have a trainer that helps me with my plan but I make use of all of the logging capabilities and forums. My brother in law is a member, and makes use of the planning portion of the site and is happy with it.

Looks like the Wolf Lake tri is a pretty small event, so I hope you got registered! MN races of this size fill up quickly. You've got plenty of time to train for this event so I wouldn't sweat that. You'll be missing out on a portion of a tri that most folks fear....the swim...and replace it with one most folks here don't do. How adept are you at canoeing? Have you done it in a lake or on a river, alone or with someone? Sorry for all the Q's - the business analyst side of me is showing.

Again, welcome aboard and I look forward to working together to make your first tri a fun one.

Jeff

Hey Heather!

Welcome fellow nerd/animal person. Based on our backgrounds, I may have to rename the group.

Germany? Wow, nothing like going international right off the bat! I'll be able to work you through race day logistics, but transporting all your gear will be a mystery.

Congrats on taking the step towards your first race. You won't regret it. It's fun, the tri community (at least here in the US) is very friendly and helpful.

Like Dave, you also have a lot of time to prep for your event so I wouldn't sweat where you're at with respect to training. You're solid biking skills will carry you through that aspect.

Great job on getting in the pool! Your approach to working with someone at the Y is very solid. I have a couple of friends in my masters class that swim like fish and do tris all the time but you could never tell that a couple yrs ago they couldn't even put their face in the water! Be patient with the lessons, relax and you'll be fine.

I grew up on a lake, and am a scuba diver so I have never had a problem being scared of water but I can tell you, that working with a coach made my introduction to swimming one that I'd recommend.

I think your goals for your first event good ones. Just enjoy the day, come out of the event on two feet and smile the whole way!

I look forward to working with you, hearing about your swim progress and hearing more about the event in Germany.

Take care, and have a good day!

Jeff

Thanks Jeff, and hello Heather!

I think this will be a great experience. My first tri will be a 3 mile kayak, followed by a 12-13 mile mountain bike, and then a 3 mile trail run.

I've started training indoors because it's cold and icy in Michigan right now. I will post my training log soon. I still have to get it together. I'm still kind of hodge podge right now. I come from a power lifting and body building background and endurance training is very new to me.

I'm sure with everybody's help, I'll get it together.

Thanks,

Dave

Thanks for the welcome, Jeff and Dave.

I printed off the "Michael Pates Total Sprint Program", so that seems like a good plan to start from.

I think I am actually going to do more than the program states, though. I have an aerobics/ yoga class at the local gym I do with a friend a couple times a week, and I'd like to keep doing that. I also run agility exercises with my dog. (He's the size of a German Shepherd, so it is a sprint for me to keep up.)

Will I be exercising too much?

And when/ what do I eat before I swim? I've heard horror stories about people eating and cramping and dying in the water.

What kind of computer geeks are you guys?

My particular forte is search engine marketing which means when you type something into google, I make your web site rank on the first page of search results either by "organic" non-paid means or by putting together a pay-per-click marketing program. I also write copy for the web specialize in web site usability.

My lesser skills: I can do enough MySQL database and PHP programming to create a web site, and enough graphics to do basic graphic work.

I wear many, many hats.

More background:

IT wise, I've too have worn many hats. I started out technical back in the late 80's and opted out of that side of the world when I reached my level of incompetance with Powerbuilder/Oracle. I've been a Business Analyst/QA Analyst/Project Lead (not manager) for the last 10 years or so. I've worked for a variety of companies for 6-24 mo stints but have primarily been in the Health Care and Travel industries. I hope neither of you are offended by the terms nerd or geek. I consider both labels a badge of honor. Though I really consider myself neither, my wife occasionally reminds me that I am.

I've got a very supportive wife, Linda. She doesn't have any urges to compete, but likes to do her core/circuit classes at the club. She's recently been working up to endurance and I have a feeling she may have a 5k in her sometime this year. She comes to pretty much all of my events and is amazed at all the shapes and sizes of folks competing.

Our medium hair tabby, Abby is 14 and our choc lab Sydney will be 10 in April. Syd was recently diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer), so we'll be dealing with that over the next few months.

Heather, while at Masters class this AM, I talked to my swim coach about how someone with your background can be most successful. She said she has dealt with folks that are so terrified of water they start out in a classroom with a bowl of water, and others who are comfy in a pool right away. Sometimes one-on-one works best, other times small groups are the ticket. I also spoke to a fishy friend of mine who couldn't put her face in the water and when using a kick board actually went backwards. Basically, you're on the right track. Try the class at the Y, and adapt your strategy from there. I'm excited to see how your swim journey will unfold. How long is the swim you'll be doing in your tri, typical 4-600 yd sprint distance?

Dave, have you spent any time in a kayak? I assume you're an off road mtn biker/runner or you wouldn't have entered the event you did.

Have either of you ever done any races of any type in the last few years? If not, it may be to your advantage to work towards a 5 or 10k race this summer just so you can experience what it's going to be like on race day in Sept.

If you don't mind, I'll check in your logs every so often to see how you're doing. Feel free to check out mine whenever you need light reading. I'm sort of a stat-freak so I keep things pretty up to date.

One more question before I sign off. Have either of you ever done any heartrate zone training? As I said before, I'm no expert, but I've had pretty good luck with it and can explain the concepts if you'd like.

I hope you both have a great weekend and I'll check back with you later.

Jeff

Heather I forgot to answer your swim question. Like with most any exercise I'd stay away from the 'heavy stuff' (i.e. protien) prior to getting in the pool. Most any of the softer stuff within an hr or so of a swim won't bother you. I had burritos for a late lunch and paid dearly in the pool in my evening swim.

Cramping in the water is similar to that on land. Be sure to be hydrated well prior to getting in the pool. If you've got an hr long training session, go ahead and sip on a bottle of your favorite sports drink while in the class.

You can't drown at the Y, the lifeguards won't let you!

If you like the looks of the Pates program, I'd suggest backing the program off from your event date and going from there. Depending on where you're at with your run/bike fitness, I'd be willing to bet your aerobics/yoga base puts you way ahead of even the first week of the program. The concepts to get out of the program is more the order in which the three events are laid out. I'd follow them as closely as possible, mix in your aerobics/yoga as you feel fit. The swim/bike/run volume look to be pretty manageable.

Again, great job on getting started this early with your swimming. Many people on this site tend to train hard in the event they're good at and let their weakest event slip. My trainer's approach is just the opposite. Especially in the winter, you should work on strength (yoga/core/aerobics) and put extra effort into your weakest link. For me, that's the run, and you it's your swim.

Do you have all you need as far as getting in the pool? Of course you'll need a suit (careful, they shrink over time), but you may want a swim cap and definitely want swim goggles. Once you get started swimming, there may be other things you need, like fins/kick board/pull buoy etc or perhaps they have that stuff for you to use at the Y.

Don't get me yakkin', I can talk tri all day!

To answer Heather's query,

I work in what they call the services and technology department of a major news agency. I pretty much do systems and satellite support. I have a lab at home and I'm always experimenting with new os's and software.

I also wear many hats. And working with end users is not my forte but the people I work with are pretty much less than computer literate, so I end up in desktop support alot. If you have an ignorant computer question, I'm sure I've heard it and probably have an answer or two (usually rtfm )

As far as training, I'm doing some weight lifting and plenty of cardio on the elliptical cross trainer. I'm looking forward to starting to train out doors. I'm really not a runner, but I've had some experiences where I've had to, so I just need to jump in and hope for the best. I'm more used to muscle building exercises as opposed to endurance training.

I'm not in the best weight range right now because of a lifting injury (laid around watching too much tv), But I tend to shed pounds pretty fast (even at my age).

Let's do this!!!

Edited by lizardlocks 2007-01-27 6:06 PM

>How long is the swim you'll be doing in your tri, typical 4-600 yd sprint distance?

The event I will be doing is:

750 meter swim (1/2 mile or 820 yards)
20 km cycle (13 mile cycle)
5 km run (3.11 mile run)

Is milk too much of a protein to have the morning of a swim or a tri? How about yogart?

Also, do we put all questions to you in THIS thread? So by the end of the three months, this thread wlll have like 500 replies?

Edited by grnidone 2007-01-28 10:26 AM

Hi!

My name is Pedro, I'm a Spaniard a bit lost in translation in the middle of Austria. I was looking for a mentoring group to join and though I don't have any animals at home, I hope my IT background can just be enough to let me in, in this one. I will tell you a bit about myself, and leave the decission up to you.

I'm 26, 1.82m tall (that's 5'11'') and around 66Kg (146lbs). I´m not very sporty, a bit lazy when it comes to training (working on that), but I do have qualities for endurance (I guess because I´m slim).

I plan to compete in a sprint triathlon (750m swim, 20 Km bike, 5 Km run) on the 2nd of June, here in Vienna.
I´ve run for fun a couple of 5Km and 10Km races. 31st Decemer 2005 I run for the last time, a 5.5Km, under 27min, with costume :D. I guess that with a bit of training I could make it much better. Last time I tried to start training fo running, I had some problems in my knees, with tendonitis of the "tensor-fascia-lata", so I need to be careful when running on tarmac (don´t have a park near me).
Biking is what I like most. I can´t go very fast, but I´ve gone for more than 80Km a couple of times before with my mountain bike. I like going uphill, as my weight is an advantage.
Swimming is what I´m training now, as the weather is not nice to go running/biking. I attended some swimcourse when I was young (I mean 13 or so), so my technique is not so bad. I can go for long with breaststroke now, though I´m struggling a bit when it comes to free-style.

I´m also trying to convince some colleagues to join me and make the training more enjoyable. The race can be a lot of fun!


Edited by Dubosky 2007-01-29 11:35 AM

Welcome Pedro!

There's no animal/IT requirement in this group, but it was looking like there should be!

It looks like you've got a background in all three facets, so getting you ramped up for your tri should be no problem.

I'd suggest you locate a beginner tri training plan (from this site or another) and back the plan off from sprint tri date. That'll give you an idea of what volumes/types of activities are necessary to get you to where you want to be come race day.

I think you have right idea by getting colleagues involved. That sort of network has a tendency to keep all of you motivated to do the event as best you can. Perhaps there'll even be some 'bragging rights' that come out of it.

If you need help finding a plan, let me know.

Have yourself a great day, and welcome aboard.

(Dave, Heather, Pedro)

I'd suggest you all start logging your training here in the BT website. This will help give me an idea of how often and what activities you're working on. I hope all is well with you.

Hi!

I already chose de Sprint - 2x Balanced - 16 Week, because is the "lightest" one. I want to be realistic. Now I'm working in two places on different days (including weekends, and from 10:00 to 21:00), so even that will be hard to manage.

As you can see in my log I´m training only swimming for the moment, but can´t wait to jump on the bike already.

Any suggestions about a general strengh/core exercise routine that I can do at home? (I'm thinking about doing it two times per week).

Regards from Europe

Question for Heather...

Where and when is this triathlon in Germany? Maybe it´s not so far from Vienna. I don´t find any triathlons around here, and if I´m training for one... why not try to do a couple more afterwards?

Pedro,

I don't know this myself. But I will let you know when I know more. My friend in Germany is setting things up.

Hi All:

This looks like a fun group - geeks and animals my bag!!! AND MN gets worse winter weather then Cleveland, Ohio - you get bonus for that!! Get geeked up watching tour/IM/Road Races etc. Not a IT geek myself - but a dabbler in IT stuff - I married an IT geek though sooo that should count!!(He does database programs & some web stuff on the side) We have 5 Shelter cats - I also volunteer as a dog walker! (husband has banned me from going to the cat building Thought this would be fun to share experience and the like with others!
Been running 13 years - started working with a coach last year - wanted to try cycling and have a complete program - food, cycling, running, core etc. Basically did not want to think- just follow a plan and see where it goes!

Well, what a year - PR's 5k- Marathon - Won my first 2 Duathlons and missed a Short Course Worlds slot by one place. Going to try my first 1/2 IM SteelHead in Michigan - just started swimming - been biking and running got the first race in April 7 in Richmond VA LC qualifer. Then going to Indy for the 500 1/2 marathon!

Like to share info and have fun with a group!

Michelle

Welcome Michelle!

With 5 cats and and IT hubby, you definitely qualify for the group.

Your running/cycling credentials OVER qualify you, however! Seriously, I look forward to learning a thing or two from you.

Looks like you'd best get in the pool!

I'm off to run now and will grill you more later.

Jeff

Hi Jeff:

Grill away!!! in the throws of base - for all sports - I run, bike, or swim (also weights and core) 6 days a week. I have a great training partner - Roger - we workout 5-6 days a week. He's going with me to Richmond - He's a really fast runner - and just started swimming 2. I swam some when I was young (no competition,just for fun) - I'm 43. I'm in the Master's Group - Decided to move into long course - because my running is stronger over 10k distance. Plus last year Roger and I had soooo much fun training we wanted to DU and TRI more in 2007.

PS: Live and die by the heart rate training - It took running and racing to a whole new level!

PPS: Rick is my husband - very supportive - does run and lift some - no multi-sport stuff until they add Bud Light and bar hopping as a sport!

Michelle


Edited by michlmead 2007-01-31 8:16 AM

Wow, with a workout schedule like that, YOU should be leading this mentor group! We'll all learn from one another so this is going to be good.

I've never done a DU as I never really started out as a biker. I'd feel cheated if I didn't get to swim.

I too have alot of fun training since I've off loaded the plan to my trainer. She saves me so much time, as I don't have to worry about what I'm going to do on what day at what intensity. I just do what's on the plan, and the results just happen. I do a few workouts a week with my trainer - she's a really fast runner and swimmer so she pushes me well.

I also live and die by heart rate training. I started doing so a couple years ago and have not looked back. I've been VO2 tested (New Leaf System) for both biking/running so I've got a good gauge on my zones. My trainer owns the system, so testing/retesting happens every few months.

Like you, I also lift and do core work. I've also got some weekly interval that I do. I've just started moving off of base training and getting into a bit more intensity. My 'A' race is to finish IMWI Sept feeling good (will defer time goal for now), but will do some shorter tris, half mara and mara in between.

With your strong bike/run backgrounds you'll kick tail in your HIM. The swim is the relaxing part and the bulk of the time is spent bike/running.

Thx for the details and have yourself a great week.

Jeff

I'm so glad you guys know heart monitor stuff.

I know I need to do it, but I'm overwhelmed by which one to get. I don't have a whole lot of money, but I do want to get what I need.

What do I need?

Hi Heather:

I use a ladies Timex Ironman Triathlon Heart Rate Monitor - 30 laps it was not crazy expensive ... it was $90.00 compared to all the other expenses - this was some of the best $$ spent. I like the ladies version because it's smaller. It is simple and easy to use. It has some features - I've never used like programming the zones - I know what my zones are sooo I build my workout on what is on the plan.

The other piece of equipment I could not live without - is my bike computer - It's a CatEye Dual Wireless -counts cadence, speed, distance, and laps.

Michelle

ok.

I guess I need to know what features I need with a heart rate monitor.

I would get one that counts Laps (30 is usually the min), Heart Rate, it should show Average HRT, Max, Min.

Indiglo - for night running

I can swim with mine too!