Madcow's Group- FULL!

How could I not hold a spot for him? I still owe him for letting me use his bike when I was back in Boston.

Now I have room for 4.

My name is Shawn and I"m headed into my second year of tri's.  I'm 35 and married and in the USAF, which on occasion can throw a wrench in my training.  I raced last year at 190lbs but put on 25 lbs the last 6 months, this is what I like to call my winter weight.  I am planning on 4-5 tri's this year, and several 5k's and possibly a half mary.  I'm coming off a knee injury right now and feel about 90%.  I would love to join your group if you would have me.....thanks.

Welcome Kip!

For me, swimming is the easy part. Swimming is all about form. Eventually you will relax in the water and you will enjoy it. Now running...I don't know if I will ever enjoy it.

You sound like I did when I started. I was kickboxing at lunch and all of the kickboxers in my class were running, so I did too. My coworkers would ride their bikes about once a month, so I bought a bike to ride with them. I decided to do a spring sprint tri because I was already doing 2/3 of the events and all I needed to do was add the swim. I hadn't swam in years but loved it as a kid. I started swimming at the Y and got the 500 yards down, so I went to sign up for it. I happened to be driving past the race site the day before I signed up and looked at the water. I had no idea how far 500 yards was, but knew I couldn't swim that in open water, so I didn't sign up. I spent all summer swimming in a pool, then did a tri club race at the end of the summer and loved it! I absolutely regretted waiting until the end of summer to do my first race when I could have been racing all spring and summer. So, I will try to get you up to speed so you can do an early triathlon so you won't miss out on a whole summer's worth of tris.

Hi Tom,

I would like to join your mentor group if you have room.  I am a 44 year old mother of three and grandmother of one.  I was slightly athletic in high school (downhill racing team, cheerleading and some soccer).  But like most stories, I got busy with everyday life, kids, husband, career; and my health and fitness became last on the list of priorities. I weighed 110 lbs (at 5'4" up until my youngest turned 5 and I turned 32, then I started packing on the pounds until reaching 192 lbs.  I didn't even seem to notice except when I was buying much larger sizes in clothing.  But then last year I had a reunion with some of my closest friends from high school and was mortified by the photo of the four of us.  I didn't even recognize myself.  Who was the fat chick?  I had joined weight watchers last year and have lost 50lbs to date and I am still hoping to lose another 20lbs.

 I started exercising regularly in March of '08.  I am running a 10 min mile and sometimes a 8 min mile on a good day, but only for a 2mi sprint.  My long runs are 4-6mi..  I combine this with weight training 2-3 days a week.  I also do interval runs for 30 min twice a week.  I haven't been on a bike in a long time and thought I would start with a spinning class at our local gym.  I swim casually in the summer in our lake, and plan on taking advanced swim lessons at the Y.  I am planning on a finish at the Danskin  Sprint Tri in Webster MA  late July.  I don't know if it is too early to start a formal training program, but I really need to get better at everything. 

Thanks Stacy

Welcome Stacy!

Great. We are officially full! I look forward to helping each of you fulfilling your triathlon goals this season.

Tomorrow will be the official start of our group!

Rest up tonight

Hi Tom

Thanks for including me.  I am still trying to figure out the BT interface, so I am a beginner Tri as well as beginner blogger here.  I will press on!!  Once I'm sure I'm doing this right I post a short bio and my goal.

Good morning group. Shawn, I'm sorry I missed you before you left for work.

Right now everybody has a goal, which is great. I have:

Kevin G - Sprint tri (April)
Melanie - Sprint tri (spring)
Shawn - 4-5 tris (2009)
Kip - Sprint tri (May)
Stacy - Sprint tri (July)

The biggest problem that I see with new triathletes is motivation and focus. Hopefully that is what this group can provide you. Here are some of the things I would like to try to keep this going.

1. Use this thread daily (or close to it).
   The worst thing that can happen for motivation is being away from training or sometimes being away from other triathletes. So I don't want you guys disappearing for days at a time. Even if you check in just to say "Hi", that should be enough for you to stay connected with the group.
2. Pick a race and register for it.
   After you register for the race, print out your comfirmation sheet and post it on the fridge (or somewhere you will see it daily)
   If you are anything like me, you will suffer through a tri just so you won't waste the money you spent on it
3. Check in and say what you plan to do for the day, then if possible, come back and say what you did and how you felt doing it.
   Being held accountable really helps with your motivation. You are not expected to workout every day, so your daily goal could be something as simple as "Eat healthy all day".
4. Use your training logs.
   The training log button is located at the top of the screen, next to forum button. This is a great way to track your workouts for the year. There are a bunch of options in the logs, so everything you could possibly do is in there.
5. Inspire each other.
   The "Inspire Me" button is located in the training log section. You can view other people's workouts, so you can drop in a say something about their workout. If someone leaves you a message and you want to return a message, you reply to their blog using the "blog" button in the "Inspire Me" area.
6. Add the members of the group to your friends list (On the left side of your training log)
   This makes it easy to check on your friends and other mentees. On the top left part of the screen, you will see a button labeled "Control panel" If you click this, you can change your training log settings. Somewhere along the top, near the middle, is a button lebled "friends". If you click that, you can add people (I think up to 50). You need to type in their screen name (correctly) or you can click the "..." button and type in something close, and it will give you the closest names possible. Then find who you want and add them. 
7. Try to come up with goals for the group. I would like to have daily, weekly or monthly challenges to keep us busy during this winter season. The problem is, I am not very creative. So, if you can think of something, let us know. We want this to be fun and challenging.
8. Topics of interest.
   I don't even pretend to know everything about this sport, but from time to time, I will try and post something I have learned about this sport, including race day and training nutrition, equipment and workouts. If you are interested in a topic, let me know and we can discuss this. If I am not familiar with this subject, I know lots of people that can help, so please throw out ideas.
9. Ask questions!!!
   This is probably the most important thing and one thing people are afraid to do. If it could be done wrong, I have either seen it or done it. So please, please please, don't be hesitant to ask. Even if you don't want to ask publically, you can "PM" me and ask.

I think that is everything. I want this group to stay active and for us to all have fun. If there is anything you want to add, please do. I am new at being a mentor, so I have lots to learn as well.

Have fun!

Tom

Ok, I'll start:

Tuesday.
I am leaving work early to take my daughter to soccer practice. Since it will be just the two of us, I will either take her with me to gym after practice and swim while she works out, or go home and ride the trainer while she watches tv

2008-12-30 20:16:30

Thanks Tom for letting me join your group!

Hi everyone.  Today was my first day back to work after a week vacation.  My plan today was to run on my treadmill for 3.1 mi at a 10.0 pace.  I was O.K. for the first mile and a half, but felt exahausted.  I slowed to  a 12.0 pace and then picked it back up again after a half mi.  The third mile I alternated between a 10.0 pace a 12.0 pace and a 8.5 pace to make up some time.  I did the 12.0 pace at a 3% incline.  I just didn't have the energy to sustain today. 

 My goal is to do 3.1 mi in 24 mins, at this point I am way off.  I am still looking into swimming programs around here and trying to figure out what the best course of action will be to get some bike time; a spinning class or just the gym bikes on my own.  Any suggestions??

Stacy,

Good luck with your goal of a sub 24 5K. I have given up on that goal...at least for now. Although since I have lost some weight, my run times have improved. Go figure

There are some pools that will let you pay as you go, but I am finding that some pools close during the winter, so I am not sure about your area. Also the YMCA and even smaller sports gyms will have a small pool. You don't need a full 25 yard or meter pool, anything will work.

A spin bike or spin class should be good for now. I took a class a while ago and I had a good time. Do you currently own a bike? If so, you might want to look into a resistence trainer that you can attach your bike to and ride at home.

OK, I didn't run and my daughter wanted to stay at the Y camp, so I went home and rode. It would have taken too long to pack the bike and go to the lake (even though it was beautiful out, so I stayed home. I actually don't mind riding on the trainer because everything I need is right next to me, but I would rather poke my eyes out with a stick than to run on a treadmill. I hate not going anywhere

Have a great night folks!

Yes, running on the treadmill can be boring sometimes.  I just crank up some good dance tunes to get me motivated.  We are in the middle of a major snowstorm here in New England, and the roads where I live are quite icy and dangerous, so I don't have a choice right now.  I love getting outside too, so I will probably will hit the ski slopes Friday. 

I don't own a bike right now, and because it is the middle of winter and Christmas is over I should beable to find a good one on sale.  I will need suggestions for this as well.  For now, I will try the spinning classes while I shop around.  Hopefully next week.

Today I plan on doing a strength training video for an hour when I get home from work.  Happy NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!  I think most of us have already started our resolutions!

Hi Tom and group

 Thanks for including me and for devoting the time to do this.  This is kind of a strange time to try to do "life-change" but if I can watch what I eat and stick to my training plan during the holidays, I'm thinking I can keep it going in the less busy times.

I am 47 years old with five kids, 50 pounds overweight and this is my first tri.  My wife (KathyG) has been doing tris for 5 years and I have been her sherpa and photographer.  I was successful at getting to my goal weight (<160) about eight or nine years ago but eat and drink too much with no exercise to keep it off.

Today was a game changer for me because we are having a mini blizzard here in Mass yet I was very intent on getting my workout in.  In doing so, I kind of screwed up KathyG's training day, but it all went well.  We are having our annual seafood festival tonight and I plan to stick with the protein and go light on the stuffed clams and fried clams.

The Y is open tomorrow from 10-2 and Kathy and I are going to go swimming and I'll do my long swim for this week (20 min).  I've been watching this video about balancing in the water and will work on that.  I have sixteen weeks to figure out how to breathe right while I'm swimming.  The sprint tri I'm doing has a very short pool swim, but I already have my eye on bigger things.

Best of everything to all of you in 2009 and have a safe night!