Steph's Group - CLOSED

I'm replying to add that I just realized that I have not yet registered for the Ridges Resort 5k swim, but it is on my calendar.  It will be done before month's end, though, because the fee goes up then.  I have, however, registered for the Half Rev in Knoxville on May 15.  Whoo!

In the Georgia forum, we are doing a January goals challenge where we all posted our individual goals/plans (mileage, # of exercise minutes/days, etc) for the month and are reporting back weekly on our progress.  I am finding this a very helpful way to remain on-track and accountable, so I'm hoping to be able to do something similar with this group.

I'd like to join your group.  I did one triathlon in grad school about 10 years ago and then two oly length ones last summer.  After the first, I was hooked and joined our local tri club.  I've always liked to run and I swam (Div III) through college.  My biggest challenges are my time contrainsts and trying to balance my new found love of tris with working full time and raising 2 year old twins.  I have high hopes of completing Boise 70.3 in early June but also know that it just might not be realistic yet.  I know that if I can put in the time, that I'll have the fitness to complete it.  I'm just not sure how often I'll be able to go for long rides.  Anyway, other than Boise 70.3, I'll do a couple of other local oly length races.  i havent decided which ones yet and it really depends on how our summer shapes up.  As much as I want to do tris, I dont want to sacrifice too much fun family time for them.  What else... Weight:  I really liked what you said about weight and not focusing on it.  I dont need to lose any weight, I would just like to turn what I've got into muscle.  I guess one thing that I'd like to get out of this is training support and camaraderie.  And, since I'm online all day, i have plenty of time to check in and see whats going on.   

Hi,

I'd like to going your group.   I'm going to be doing my first triathlon in Aug (the Danskin Sprint in Seattle) with perhaps a half sprint in June.  I'm married with two small kids (ages 2 and 3).  I'm a dentist with my own practice.  

My race goal is very much the same as yours.  I want to be happy at the end, not just dead tired.  It'd also be great to lose the last of the "baby fat" and fit back into all of my pre-pregnacy clothes.  

I used to be a competitive swimmer before dental school.  I picked up running after dental school but had to stop after my first daughter was born because of problems with plantar fasciitis.  Last Summer I bought a bike to commute to work.  A triathlon is something I've wanted to do for quite some time and it finally feels like all the pieces are in place.

I'm nervous, but really looking forward to this. 

Welcome Elizabeth and Kate!  I'll bet you guys are busy with 2/3 year olds in the house!  That is such a fun age, though, because they are so funny. 

You are both great swimmers, so that is good.  Lots of people on the boards have a really hard time with the swim leg, so you will be a good resource.  I swam only in HS on the summer league and school team, so I'm only OK with the swim advice.

Elizabeth, it would be good if you opened your logs.  If you are concerned about privacy, you can limit access to friends and only "friend" the folks in the group (or other people you know) so that we can check-in and inspire (message) you about them.  Kate, I see that you have started a log, so the next thing is to start putting your workouts in it.  The logging feature on BT is a little cumbersome, but it is a great way to stay on track with your workouts.  On some days, I do my workout solely so that I can color in the square or because I have something that I want to blog about it.

So, Elizabeth is looking at a 70.3 in June.  Are you following a plan?  What are your workout goals for this month?

Kate, I see that you registered for the Danskin tri in August, which is plenty of time to train.  You are going to do great!  It is really not as hard as it seems at the beginning - I think I started out just trying to do each leg 2x a week and that seemed to work.  Are you starting your workouts now?  What are your goals for the month?

OK, I just went and added you guys to my friends list and realized that it is a bit challenging, so here are the directions:

1.  Click on the wrench icon at the very top of the page that says "Settings"
2.  Select the "Training Blog Customization" tab
3.  Select the "Friends" tab
4.  Click in one of the boxes after a number (where the name goes), then click the box with the three dots in it (this is the search function).
5.  Enter part of the name of the person for whom you are searching and click the enter button
6.  Select the person you want to friend and click the "Submit" button
7.  After you are done entering all of the friends you want, click the "Update Friends" button at the bottom of the page

All of the people who have you as their friend are listed in the box at the bottom of the page so you can see who is keeping tabs on you.  My username should appear there because I have friended you.

Kate is up and ready to go with her logs, so that is good.

Elizabeth, I get the "user's logs are private" message on your log, so you probably need to go back into "Settings" and choose the "Training Log Settings" tab and then pick "allow only friends to see logs" instead of "keep logs private". 

Supreme Court argument.  Wow!  That trumps the computrainer any day.

It sounds like you have a really active tri-club, so that is great, but I'll bet it is really hard to make a 9-11:30am workout while maintaining your job.  I find that making group workouts with our local tri-club is sometimes very difficult because they are often in the evenings and my DH and I try to do family dinner with the kids at night.  It used to bother me that I could never do the group workouts, but now I just post my workouts on the GA board and sometimes people join me for them.  I generally exercise first thing in the morning (5-6am) because my kids are still asleep  then and I know that I will talk myself out of doing the workout if I wait until later in the day.  As you find your easiest time of day to workout, I'll bet your scheduling will get easier.  My DH never schedules rest days for himself because he says that life gives him enough of them, so maybe that attitude would work for you because if you are doing a lot of litigation and your DH goes out of town, those days are going to happen for you too.  Do you have a trainer you could ride at home with your bike if you know that a workout might get missed?  That would be a good way to get your bike in on a busy day.  People love the Spinervals DVD series and the videos at www.thesufferfest.com.  You can also watch "your shows" on Hulu or even Disney movies if you can convey/enforce the "no touching the bike" idea with your kids.

Hi Steph - My story is much the same as yours.  37yo, 2 kids (9,7), 1 year tri training done (2 races).  My realtive strength is swim.  New to bike and slow to run (but improving!)  My husband is a tri geek too and beats me with ease on everything.

2011 Goals:  run a sub-2:00 1/2 marathon (in March), swim a 1:30sec 100m over 250 distance; finish an olympic distance tri, win my age group swim in any race of the season.

Training: just finished a 1/2 marathon run plan that has me sub-2hr.  Also doing some cross-fit swim training.  Need to get back on the bike (aside from weekly spin class). 

Looking for inspiration to keep me biking and improve my run speed.  Nutrition info welcome as well.  Not looking to lose weight but ideas for daily nutrition (without feeding the kids salmon and flax at every meal!)

Thanks for the help!

Welcome, JLA! 

It looks we are a bunch of swimmers in this group.  Have any of you done Coach Sara McLarty's workouts on the Clermont Masters Swimming website?  They have really helped me in the speed department, though I can still only do the "B" workouts.

I would not sweat just doing the spin classes.  As long as you are working hard, time on the bike is better than no time on the bike!  You can also add minutes to your spin class by showing up early or staying after.  The trainer workouts I mentioned above are also a good alternative if you need to get your spin done while the kids are in bed.

Way to go on your half-marathon plan.  What race are you doing? 

I noticed that you also have empty logs.  Maybe our Group's goal for this month should be to get some workouts in our logs and then we can move on from there?  I promise that filling in the blanks is very addictive - so much so that you won't want to skip a day. 

My nutrition secret is snacks.  I try to have good-for-you snacks available so that I can eat them at regular intervals and not pig out at meals.  A piece of fruit or handful of nuts to combat the 3pm sleepies helps a lot.  I have portion control issues, though, so I have to pre-portion the snacks.  I know that is lame, but otherwise I just eat all of the berries, or all of the nuts in one sitting.

Hope you have a great day!
Steph

I think that I just opened my logs to everyone, hopefully it worked this time. 

And in the interest of full disclosure, I sounded way cooler than I actually am when I said that I had a supreme court argument - I'm an attorney and do criminal appeals for the state so I argue in front of the court of appeals or supreme court at least once a month and 85% of the time its super boring and lame and there is no real issue and the defendant remains in prison where he belongs.  About 15 percent of the time there's actually an issue to get excited (or worried) about. 

The biggest benefit of my job is that because its mostly research and writing, I have tons of flexibility - for working out, staying home with sick kids, whatever.

Hi Steph,
Is your group still open to join?  A little about me.  I'm 28 years old.  I'm very much a beginner.  A couple of years ago I lost about 40lbs through diet only.  That summer I completed a sprint (barely) without any real training.  I know that I did it the wrong way, and now that I have gained back most of the weight my goal this year is to "do it right." I am looking to complete a full tri during August.  There are two that I'm looking at, one beginning of Aug or one at the end.
My reasons for doing this are first to get in shape.  I don't care about the number, but I do care about the way I feel.  Second, I love to swim and bike.  Running is not my forte, but it is something that I'd like to start.
I have to say my biggest problem is motivation.  It is really hard to keep myself motivated (which is why I didn't really train for the first one I attempted).  I'm just looking for someone to talk to about any problems or questions I have so I don't get discouraged and quit.

Welcome FlyGirl!

Sure you can join.  We are glad to have you.  Congratulations on your weight loss and your first tri!  Since you have already done the tri, you are already a veteran.  I don't think there is a wrong way to train - you got out there and did it and learned from it, so that is all that matters.  Training more will make the next one easier, though, and faster.  : )

It sounds like we have a couple of good swimmers in the group so far and some of us working on our running and biking so we can all support each other. 

Elizabeth - I can see your logs now!  We are in business!

Well hello!!!  I'd like to join if you'll have me.  I really want to be in a mentor group and I'm glad I checked them again today!!  (I'm so glad you are doing this.)

I will post info later when I have a moment if that's all right.

Are you still taking members?  I am a 29 yr old female in Georgia who has done tri's for about 3 years now.  I am a recreational athlete who enjoys warm weather - something we don't have much of here in Georgia at the moment!

Oooh ooh!  Can I be a "reserve" member of your group?  I'm pretty sure you will have the best mentor group ever but I don't want to take up a spot and someone else not have an awesome opportunity.

Full disclosure....I know Steph from the "real world".  She is VERY knowledgeable and is VERY supportive so she is probably the best mentor someone could ever ask for. 

X2 - Steph is the best.

And I also do not want to take up a spot from someone else.  But I would so love to be a part of this group in some capacity.  Please please please accept me!  (I feel like I'm applying to college again.)

You guys are goobers.  Absolutely, join the group!  

Elizabeth, Kate, DLA and FlyGirl, Karen (karen26.2), Becky (aureua), Katie (crazyalaskian) and I are all in the same tri club.  We try to work out together sometimes, but mostly we just encourage each other.  I will let them introduce themselves, though.

Karen, Becky, and Katie,  please introduce yourselves to the group and add everyone to your logs.  So far, we are working on getting started with our logs and friending each other.  DLA, your logs are still private.  PM me if the posts above don't explain how to do it well enough and I'll walk you through.

I think for next week we should each think about one thing we want to accomplish for the week - for example:  exercise a certain number of days/minutes/miles, resist the snacks in the breakroom, decrease the beer consumption, do some stretching, etc. and make it our goal.

So, everyone think about this (over the weekend is fine) and report back (1) what your goal for the week is, (2) why you picked that goal, and (3) what you are going to do (what actions) to accomplish it.

I'll start:

My goal for the week of January 17 is to practice some portion control.  I picked this goal because I cannot seem to eat normal human-sized portions and there are currently whole sections of my wardrobe that are out of the question.  To accomplish my goal, I will (1) increase my water consumption because many times I eat when I'm really just thirsty.  Getting hydrated will be a nice side bonus for this action, and (2) SIGH!  I will measure my portions and return any excess to the serving bowl (or cereal box or chip bag or whatever).  This part sucks.  I am dreading it, but for this week (at least), by golly, I'm doing it.

Edited to include logs info.

Edited by Mrs. brown_dog_us 2011-01-14 12:33 PM

Alright...introductions...

My name is Katie and I'm 28 and a mother of a two wild boys (5 and 2).  I started doing triathlons by first doing one a summer (without training) for a couple of years during college as something to do and then after my first son was born I started whining to my husband about how I can't just "go to the gym" but needed something "to train for" since I was used to competitively swimming and he mentioned doing another triathlon....big mistake because I've been hooked ever since.

I did three sprint tri's that "first" year, took a year off to have my youngest, and was back to it the next year.  Last year was the year to venture beyond sprints and I did two Olympics, two HIM, and Ironman Louisville with my studly partners in crime; Steph, Karen, and Becky.  Who made sure I actually got in those LONG training runs and rides.

I'm looking to keep my motivation up, follow through with my training goals, and get FASTER.  My background is swimming (unfortunately sprint swimming...) and I have a lot of room for improvement in my biking and running (and still in the transition to becoming a "distance" swimmer).  I'd like to lose some weight but am a sugar fiend and am not willing to follow any kind of regimented diet.  I'd prefer to focus on training and try to make healthier selections along the way instead of obsessing over food.


 

Name - Karen

A little about me - I'm 45 (yikes!), married and have a son who is 20.  Growing up I played softball and a little tennis.  Never ran except around the bases or on the court.  I decided to start running when I was about 30 in an effort to lose weight, and after about a year signed up and ran San Diego Rock 'n Roll marathon.  I became hooked (who couldn't after San Diego RnR?) and did about a dozen or so more, but grew tired of constant stress fractures and various other injuries.  I started biking while healing from the injuries and found that I loved biking.  A friend talked me into doing a sprint tri a few years ago (it was a pool swim and the only reason I agreed) and we had a blast.  I did another one a few weeks later with a lake swim, decided I could handle open water, and the following year did some more sprints and my first Olympic.  The next year I did sprints, an Oly and added in a HIM.  Then this past year I did those and added in an IM.  I'm fortunate to have a grown child and very supportive husband.  It allows me to train when I want , the only issue I have is work occasionally getting in the way.

2011 Races - I'm planning on doing a few trail races, a 5k swim, Georgia Marathon in March (full or half, not decided yet), an Olympic in July, maybe a HIM (not sure yet) and then IM Wisconsin in September.  I want to keep my race schedule this year light again so I can focus on IM training.  My goal for the IM this year is to finish without blisters on the bottom of my feet, and feel good enough to be able to stick around at the end to watch folks finishing.

Weight  - I do want to lose weight, the same 10 - 15 pounds I've been trying to lose for a few years now.  I do agree that the # on the scale really doesn't mean anything.  Body fat % and how my clothes fit are what I really care about.  But I've got to say I do look at that number and want it to go down 10 - 15 pounds by September.

What I'm looking for - I pretty much have the motivation when it comes to working out, but I'm hoping to gain more knowledge on nutrition & pacing, and advice on how to become a faster swimmer and runner.

I've read through everyone's posts and it seems like a great group so far.  Lots of good swimmers which is great.  Maybe you all can help me figure out why I'm the slowest kicker out there.

As the group still says OPEN I'm hoping there's still room for one more ;)

Name - Emily

Story - I am 16 so there's not too much to mention... After getting injury after injury playing year-round soccer, basketball, volleyball, and lacrosse, I decided I needed to focus on my two favorite sports: track and cross country (and swimming, but it's my least favorite, so I slacked). But I still got injured. Injury tally:
Freshman year I sustained a foot stress injury (which hurts right now, two years later), a pulled hamstring, a sprained ankle, a broken collarbone and a sprained back.
Sophomore year, plantar fasciitis, and a knee injury that has yet to be diagnosed, and shin splints.
This year, the knee injury and foot injury are back, and I hurt my other ankle.

I get injured with such frequency that I was told by my coaches and my family to give up, that I was not meant to be an athlete. Seeing my injuries listed, I see their point. But this is what I love, so I decided to stop high school sports and train on my own. Triathlon seemed like a good balance between running and cross training, which will (hopefully) help with my injuries. 

Besides exercising, I volunteer (I won the Jefferson Award for Public Service), I am an excellent student (#1 in my class), I quilt, I do jigsaw puzzles, I travel, and I read :)

Training/Races - I did my first sprint last spring and it was the most fun I have ever had racing. I was on a mountain bike (hadn't persuaded my parents for a road bike yet) and came in third in my age group. I didn't do any triathlons the rest of the summer because I was volunteering in Spain and vacationing in China. Other races I do are Cross Country 3miles and 5ks. I qualified individually for the California State Meet my Sophomore year, but injuries got the better of me Junior year and I didn't race much.

I am signed up for Barb's Race which is an all-women HIM on the Vineman course. It was the only one I could find that would allow 17 year olds to race, but it is an easy course and close to home. I'm racing a few olympics and sprints before the HIM to get more acquainted the sport, but I am confident I can finish (preferably under 6 hours). 

For training I am basically following the HIM plan on this website with modifications. I changed the schedule around a bit to accommodate school, bike/swim team practices, and extra-curriculars, but mostly it is left the same. For those of you who haven't seen the plan, it has 3 double days and 3 single days which is pretty standard among training plans.

Weight  - I agree with Steph on this one. I do not try to lose weight, but eating as well and exercising as much as I do, it happens. It makes me laugh how much of an atypical teenage eater I am: I don't eat sweets or drink soda at all, I have high fiber cereal with soy milk or steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast, I eat a chicken/avocado sandwich on wheat bread plus two pieces of fruit and a yogurt for lunch, I have barley, bean, and spinach soup for an after-school snack, and have some sort of meat/veggie combination for dinner. There's more variation than listed here, but that's a pretty standard day and it keeps me full and energized. But what matters even more than food is SLEEP. I sleep about 9-10 hours a day which I understand is not possible for most people. However, if you want to lead a healthy lifestyle and lose weight, get more sleep!

Goals -
Injury free and healthy! (Any tips you can give on healthy recipes, helpful workouts, what gear is most important, etc. would be appreciated)

Under 6 hours for my HIM, great transitions, and not losing faith in the swim :)

It's great to meet all of you and I look forward to getting to know you all better! Thanks to Steph and everyone for giving up their time to help a beginner triathlete!
~Emily 

That came out a little longer than intended. Writing something that is important and interesting to me doesn't happen often in high school....I got a little overexcited!

Wow Emily - that's an incredible story.  Your parents must be very proud of you.

Vineman is in Northern California isn't it?  I grew up in the Bay Area and miss it so much.  I didn't realized they had an all women's HIM, that's pretty cool and should be a lot of fun.  Great first HIM.

Emily -   this website:  http://www.trifind.com/gs_kids/KidsTriathlons.html lists races that are either kids races or accepts racers under 18.  Good luck finding races.  My local team in Boise has really struggled to find races for people under 18 and usually just puts on its own races.

OK, so i just re-read your post without my kids climbing on me and realize that you're probably far advanced for this site. 

Edited by elizabethk 2011-01-14 9:23 PM

It says the group is still open just want to make sure you still have room? I would love to join your group also!