jesswah's group - FULL of sexy triathletes!

Hi Jessi,

I have been a member of TRIOK(Robyn)'s group for the past year. She is a great mentor and we have a great and supportive group. I would like to join up to another group just to get some other people's perspective on training issues. I think that you might be able to help me out because we have similar goals and stuff.

I have been training for about a year for tris. I did two sprints last year and several road races from 5k to 10k.  I am a bigger guy (6'0 230), so running is tough for me. I was a soccer player in college, but that was a long time (and several surgeries to my back and knee) ago.

I have two sons (6 and 8) that live 2 hours away from me. I drive to spend time with them every week and that eats up a lot of time for me, but is a priority. I am a Detective with a fairly large, urban police department so my job is fairly demanding on my time as well.

I am recently engaged and planning a destination wedding as well.  My main goal is a HIM at Tupper Lake, NY near Lake Placid in June.  I used to live up there and I have always wanted to do this race.  I have started a long program for that race...I have been a fatty for a while and can go up and down with my weight and it is a problem.

I hope I can join your group!!

Kirk

Kirk-

You're in! HIM is a great goal.  I had a blast at mine last year, and learned a lot too (like that my biking sucks).

I hear you on family and job eating up time - I got visit my parents 3x/month, though it's only an 80 miles drive.

Congrats on the engagement!!  Where are you headed to for the wedding?

Hopefully we'll get this group filled up and rolling soon.  In the mean time... feel free to ask any questions - I'll do my best to answer.

Jessi

Hi Jessi!  Can I join your group? 

Name- Pattie

Story- I started running in the spring of '05.  Then I got wicked shin splints and started riding the bike to cross train.  I already was swimming a little.  Then some guy at work suggested a sprint tri.  I did my first sprint in June '06 and was hooked.  I did 2 sprints that year and 3 this year. 

Current training- I'm planning to move up to olympic distance this summer, maybe 2 and a couple sprints and a du or two.  My husband is just starting to run also so we can do some tris together.  We're also signed up for a beginner tri/du class at the gym this winter.  I'm probably strongest on the swim, although I hate to train in the pool.  I'm OK on the bike, but not super strong.  I love to run, but it doesn't like me.  I've been fighting with a back issue this fall and it's getting annoying.  If I run over 2 miles, it starts to hurt. 

Weight loss- That's a biggie.  I lost almost 40 pounds back in '05 and about 12 have crept back.  I have no problem with exercise; I just eat too much.  I need a lot of work in that area. 

Guess that's about all about me.  I'm looking forward to lots of training over the winter.  Not much else to do here in MN.  At least I've got a good gym. 

Pattie

Hi Pattie!

Of course you can join!!  I forgot you were on here!!  That's great that your DH is getting into running (by far the best, in my very biased opinion).  Is he going to do some races with you? 

The weight loss/eating thing seems to be a big thing for a lot of people.  It takes a lot of work to keep your eating clean - something I have never succeeded at - but I do find that eating lots of foods rich in fiber, water, and nutrients helps to fill me up with fewer calories, and some protein to keep me from getting hungry too soon. 

Anyways, I hope you can resolve to back problems.  Not much fun to be depreived of your fave sport - but maybe it's an opportunity to spend more time on the bike?

Hey, Jessi

My name is Shelley and I would like to join your group.  I've never been really involved in posting to forums, but I read them a lot.  I hope this will get me more involved with others, like you, that can help me stay on track.  I don't have a lot of time at the moment to layout my entire story, but if I can be part of this group, I will put together something more detailed in the next day or two.

Jessi,

 I know the group is just getting going, but let me throw some stuff out there that I need help with. First is nutrition.  I need to lose weight big time, but I am more comcerned with the HIM performance first.  I have some long workouts (2 hours) in the program already, and I crash big time because of my nutrition. I read about the subject all the time, but I am interested in other people's trial and error with timing of meals, supplements, etc.  I also have an occasional beer or drink. I am a triathlete but I am not dead Right

Amanda - Welcome and Happy almost-Birthday!

Shelley - Welcome!  I look forward to hearing more on your background and goals for this year!!

Kirk - Nutrition is a huge area - one that could be considered it's own disciple with respect to tris.  The rule of thumb I have heard for eating while working out is 200-300 calories per hour.  In reality, this has worked out to as much as I can tolerate eating.  For pre-workouts, the timing depends on how much I eat.  If I just have a small meal or snack, I can usually head out in 30-60 minutes.  If I eat a large meal, I have to wait at least 1.5 hours before going running, but can go swimming or biking within an hour.  But it will also depend on what you eat.  Food with fat will digest more slowly, which means more blood (with essential oxygen and energy) is being diverted to your stomach to aid in digestion - instead of to yur muscles.  This does not bode well for running or biking after eating fried chicken.  Unfortunately, we are all different as to what foods work best, how much we can eat, and how soon we can exercise after eating.  Me?  I'll eat almost anything.  My last long run I stopped halfway through at the store for Mountain Dew and Hostess cupcakes.  I got some really strange looks as I was running around town carrying those, but the sugar and caffeine gave me a boost - and it tasted a heck of a lot better than gels.  There is also the issue of recovery.  If you do not fuel properly after a workout, you will suffer at your next workout.  Try to get in 100-200 calories within 15 minutes after ending a workout; mostly from carbs, but a little protein.  Things like granola bars are great for this.  For eating in general, I try to get in as much fruit, veggies, and whole grains as I can.  I find that when I so this, I have less room for the unhealthy foods.  Also stocking healthy snacks for the inevitable eating between meals.  And, don't deprive yourself of food!  There's been a lot lately about how 4-5 small meals is better than 2-3 large ones.  If you deprive yourself, you will binge at your next meal, consuming more calories than you otherwise would have.  And it's just no fun to be hungry.  I hope this isn't too much to think about at once.

I encourage everyone to use the logs here - not only is it a great motivator if you know people will be checking in on your progress, but is a useful tool to look for potential trainig problems.  Also, adding all the group members to your friends list makes it easy to check on and encourage everyone.

Happy Training!!

(Btw - I am home for the holidays, with patchy internet, but will try and log on at least 1x/day, if not more)

Jessi and group, how is everyone doing! If there is still a spot available I'd love to join the group.

About me: My name is Jeff and I'm soon to be 39. I've been on this site since May of 2006. Before joining I had ran briefly, flirted with the bike and played one year of water polo in high school. Since joining I have done 4 sprints, 1 oly and 1 HIM. Since the HIM in late October I've done two workouts, which includes today. I'm seriously lacking in motivation and thought that by getting involved with a group that it would help me out.

I was also involved in a car accident where I was rear-ended by a construction truck. Fast forward and I'm now in physical therapy for my neck but really starting to want to get out and about again.

Anyway, I was in Donato's group last year and it was a great experience and would love to meet some great new people to cheer on through the next year. I don't have any goals set but am thinking of doing at least one more HIM this year in hopes of one day doing an IM.

Cheers!

Here goes about me:

Jeff - Welcome to our group!  I know Donato too!!  We did a couple races together this year - he's a really speedy guy!  Sorry to hear about the accident, but I hope the PT is going well and gets everything back to normal.  Looks like you had a busy year with 6 races - wow!

You mentioned motivation... signing up for races is one way. Watching IM videos on YouTube is also a great way - or buying/recoding IM coverage to watch while you ride the trainer.  And buying new toys to play with in training too!  And of course, knowing that others will be checking your log and harassing encouraging you to get out. 

Here is what you would run in while living in the NE :

Hi Jessi,

If there is another open spot, I would be more than happy joining.

My Story: My name is Ronen. I am 38 years old and started training (running) right after my 37th birthday, after noticing 3 things:

1. That I gained too much weight...

2. That my blood work  results were not good...

3. That I am getting close to 40 years old... 

I started training in September of '06 and by April of '07, I finished the NJ half Marathon in 2:23. Last summer I moved to San Diego and decided to start training for Triathlons.

I started training on my own, joined the Triathlon Club of San Diego and since then attended two club races (sprint distance) and one duathlon.  

My goal is to attend Superfrog Half Ironman Triathlon - Coronado, CA on April 4th of '08. I will start following a plan in the second week of January.

That's about it.

Thanks for your time and effort.

Ronen 

Ronen- Welcome!!

Great job taking the leap to a HIM.  Are you planning on an oly before then?  Any plans for the rest of the season?

Thanks Jessi!!

I would like to attempt an oly sometimes between mid-Feb. to mid-March somewhere local (SoCal). I am still looking for one. Any suggestions?

The rest of the season is a bit uncertain at this point. In June I'll have to leave the country for about 3 weeks. During those 3 weeks I'll not have access to a gym, bicycle or a pool - and I am a bit concerned about this. Because of that, I am planning to look for doing another HIM towards the end of the '08 season during September/October timeframe.

Once I'll have my travel dates nailed down, I would complete the racing plan for 2008 accordingly...

While not traveling, I am planning to attend all the TCSD monthly club races.

I've closed the group to keep it nice and cozy here.  Everyone here is in!  If you wander off for a couple weeks, no worries, you can still come back.

gator22 - Kirk

rowdypaint - Pattie

blockertri - Amanda

pole_dancer - Shelley

elheffe99 - Jeff

Ronen - Ronen

jesswah - Jessi

Now that we're full, we might as well get rolling, even though January is still 2 weeks off.  Some of you posted that you have a training plan you are following - which is excellent!  If you don't, I would suggest that you try and find one (here, or at another tri site).  They're great for knowing what workouts you should be doing, and mixing hard/medium/easy days.  Most will have a set schedule, which probably won't work with yours - feel free to mix-n-match the days in a week so the off day falls on your busiest day, swim days are when you can get to the pool, etc.  If you can't find something you like, PM me and I'll try and help you outline something. 

Browsing the message boards here, you'll see lots of jargon and abbreviations - if you're curious, you can look it up in the dictionary.  Actually, it's really extensive (I learned quite a bit) and some parts are a bit entertaining too (or maybe I'm just really bored).

Need motivation or entertainment?

IM Kona 2007 and underpants run

IM Kona 2005

Ironman

Feel free to post up any questions you've got!  And also, everyone here can chime in and answer questions.  We all have a lot of knowledge and experience to share with eachother.

Haven't looked at calendars for that area, but I do know that Cal Poly will be hosting their annual tri on 3/22.  That may be a bit late for you, as well as a bit far north.  But it is an awesome race.

I just checked trifind.com, didn't find an oly tri, but there is the OC International Du on 3/8 in Lake Forest.  If you don't find one, I'd still recommend the Du or a sprint just to fine tune racing strategy and transitions.  And long bricks to work on nutrition.

Here is something I noticed about myself while training for my first HM: I used to wake up at 5:00am and go to the gym (I lived in NJ and it was winter time - so I did not have much of a choice).

When I just started, I would wake up brush my teeth, wash my face, dress up and leave for the gym. Getting started was pretty tough and the first 5 minutes of warm up on the stationary bicycles helped, but I still felt like I could lay down my head and fall asleep again... That was the case until a friend of mine told me that I should grub a granola bar (with sugar in it) on my way to the gym. He said that when you wake up the sugar levels in your blood are low and that your body needs it a s fuel. Well, I listened to his advice and immediately noticed the difference. After the 5 minutes warm up, I felt like I can run faster on the treadmill and the training became easier.

Ever since, I attribute nutritions a significant importance in my training.

Just my 2 cents.

Ronen 

Hey everybody! I know that despite my best efforts, there will be some serious slacking on my end the next few weeks.  Anyone doing any cool holiday themed races or events?? I will be doing the chase after my kids and play Nintendo Wii marathon

If I am behave, the boss might let me do a new years day run.....

Same here!

The next few weeks are going to be pretty busy... Both family and work are the priority.

BTW: Can the sport games in Wii  be considered as a workout - if you play them enough