Baowolf's Fun In the Sun Mentor Group (OPEN)

Fellow Trainees:

I am back with the summer season with ya'all

I am happy to be with you fellas. I decided to be more patient and prepare well for races .

Family: Married 8 years and 5 yo boy.

Base: I have done several a half marathons,centuries,several HIMs,

Short Term goal : 1 or 2 Oly, 1 or 2 Sprints, 1 HIM, 1 Mary.

Long Term: Big leap for me and just signed up for IMTX 15 , 12 months to prepare.

There ya go looking forward to enjoy the journey.

Cheers!!!!

Carl

Hi... Poking my head in. I hope all is well. Id like to try and see if I can join as little as I've been around I'd still like to be part of this great group...

All are welcome common in.

I'm in.

NAME: Pink Socks & Pam

FAMILY/DESCRIPTION: Happily married to another BT’er (KWDreamun), 52 years old, 16 y.o. son who just started driving (sigh)

I've completed 12 HM, 1 Ragnar, 4 marathons, 2 ultras, 1 DU, and 2 sprint tris.

CURRENT TRAINING: I'm in a slump - plain and simple. Normally running is my therapy but because of real life and due to normal ebb and flow, I'm ebbing right now and just trying to fake it til I feel it. I've been here before and know that I will get out of it. Actually see a light at the end of the tunnel and in another week, I think I can start focusing on running again. And maybe biking.

2014 RACES: Series of 4 trail races during the summer months. Only other thing right now is Diva HM in Nov with some. GFs.
Looking forward to being back with this group.

Long day, 112 mille bike and 6 mile brick run. Bike went better with less wind today, but man those last 30 miles still suck. Reallly looking forward to a recovery week next week.

Hi guys and gals! I'd love to be a part of a mentoring group, and if you're willing to let me join I'd love to be a part of this one!

Name: Floyd/ Floydciii

Background: I never was really into sports while in school until my senior year of high school(2012) when I started running to stay in shape. Later that year I also got into cycling but I never really competed in either sport. Last summer I left on a bike tour from Dallas to LA and once I got back I tried to get into a healthier way of life. I fell back into my old ways but about 2-3 weeks ago I left on another trip, and 6 days into the ride I had a sudden urge to go home. Soon after getting home I found BT and I instantly fell in love. Today I picked up my first true pair of running shoes and swim gear and can't wait to start training!

Family: Single and live alone expect for my 3 ridiculous cats. Age 20

Current Training: Usually go from bike one day to running the next. I would like to work in higher pace sprinting and weights into my plan. I also need to work on my swimming A LOT. I'm getting a membership to the local Y and plan on swimming at least every other day starting in the next few days.

Previous Races: Bearathon 2014 1/2 Mar - 1:54:21

Short Term Goal: In general, pick up my running and swimming distances. Biking I would like to pick up my pace. The only Tri this year I'm thinking about is the Waco Tri on July 27th I believe. Possibly the Hotter Than Hell bike ride and maybe some regional marathons/ 1/2s.

Long Term Goal: Down the road I would love to be in shape to do an Ironman! IMTX 16 maybe? I'm sure that is everyones long term goal, but more specifically I really want to get my swimming to that point from where it is currently.

Weight Loss: I'm around 135-140 lbs currently. I wouldn't mind "gaining" weight. My arms are fairly weak at the moment due to having a torn muscle in my chest from gymnastics/parkour my Senior year.

So everyone who wants in is in, no worries. Floyd welcome to triathlon. I would recommend getting swim classes as soon as you can maybe doing masters swim sessions for some structure if you are not going to do the lessons.

Sprinting comes after a bit of base building. So the start is to gradually build your base miles to 25 to 30 miles per week to get a safe base. Then start putting in some 30 second faster, 60 second recovery x 3, 4, 5, 6, after warming up for your runs and adding in some tempo runs. Then after say a few weeks of that, then add in 400 yard at 5k pace with 400 yard jog between x 1, then add one per week on your fast days. After you get up to 6 ish you can turn them into 800 yard repeats start with 2 or 3 and bring that up to 6 ish at 5k pace. That will get you started on run speed.

Bike speed comes from blood and sweat intervals at LT, lots, some short some long with recovery etc.

Swim endurance will come before swim speed. You pretty much need classes to get fast at swim.

Ask lots of questions so we can get you up to speed, no stupid questions.

Oh by the way Floyd, you have some good speed, you can drop 10 minutes off your half mary time just by building run fitness.

Edited by Baowolf 2014-05-25 7:36 PM

Nice job on the huge brick Steve. I just knocked out 103. Suffered the whole time. A little nagging in my calf from cramping on my ocean swim Friday.

No brick for me. Fried.

Welcome to the world of Triathlon! Listen to Steve. He knows what hes doing...

Floyd, welcome to the group. You will love it here. We have all types of people with all types of goals and training plans. Steve is the greatest because he can teach you how to build safely but also acknowledges that life can derail some of our best plans (although he never lets things derail him).

Carl and Mitch, glad to see you back. Hopefully some of our others will join after the long weekend.

Mitch and Steve, Wow!!!! Ya'll are getting ready for IMCDA, aren't you?

Yay, it happened, I got my mojo back! April was terrible because real-life took me away from things. Then I was determined to make May a good month but I couldn't shake off the doldrums. Saturday morn went on one of my routes I haven't done in a while. Checked on the houses, gardens, plants and just found myself running happy. Yesterday wasn't so great where I either went to near heat exhaustion or the sinuses just took me down. But today, back out there and it was beautiful. Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day.

Steve, you are amazing!!! I was wondering "what happened" to our MG. Now I found the restart. Count me in and I will have a bio soon. I ran a marathon yesterday and feel good today. Much easier course than Boston but I am still recovering from 2 marathons now.

Carol, I hope your father in law is recovering. My father fell last year, it was so bad. But over the course of a year he is remarkable. Sending prayers to you.

I'd like to play again with you if you'll have me!

I can't believe summer is finally here!!!

Name's Isabella, 38 y/o from Way Up North (Quebec, Canada).

Family: Married 17 years, husband is a mechanic/entrepreneur, 2 kids (9 and 7) and our sweet 16 1/2 y/o cat.

Current training: I try to hit 3-4 runs, 2 swims and 2-3 bikes a week. Strong leg is the bike, the run makes me suffer but I want to conquer it, getting better at swimming... I am building up to 6-8 hours a week, which is the most I can train for presently (I also work full-time in Marketing).

2013 : 1 sprint to test the waters... loved it!!! (obviously). Before that, other various run (5k, 10k) & bike events.

2014:
June 14 - 85-mile bike-ride for charity and fun
July 6 - Sprint
July 20 - Olympic (my first!)
Sept 2 - Sprint
October-ish - HM (also a first)

Happy training!

Hello, I am Phil and have been on hiatus for a bit, and everything's changed! New group, new members! Welcome, Floyd!

Good news, the stitches are out and I don't think I lost too much fitness; I got 5 miles in at around 8:50 pace so that's pretty close to where I was before the unfortunate slide tackle.

Bad news is I had to defer the half marathon this past weekend til next year; race director was kind enough to grant that. Instead, I took an awesome impromptu trip to a bay/river house for the long weekend off Chesapeake Bay on the Virginia side. Got some wakeboarding in, as well as some kayaking. While I stay active, I don't do those particular sports often, and I'm sore in all these funky places. Feels good!

Anyway, I'll hopefully be ramping back up my training (it's only been 2 weeks but it feels like an eternity)! I'll be sure to update my training log soon too. May won't be pretty but I think I'll feel pretty good about myself, all things considered.

Happy training.

PROFILE (mostly copied/pasted):

Name: Phil

Story: Been doing triathlons sporadically since 2009. I was a competitive swimmer in high school so naturally it’s my best discipline. I took on cycling as a hobby and I’d say I’m about average, but I’m definitely a below average runner. I’m pretty proud of my times, though, consistently in the top 25% percentile overall, and around the top 35% in my age group. My longest distance is the Olympic distance, the Savageman 30.0 in 2013, where I got a 2:48:48. I want to make a jump to half ironman distance this year. I used to use triathlon training as a motivation to stay in shape for the other sports I play, but now I use the other sports as cross training for triathlons!

Family status: 31 years old, recently engaged, with 1 super-hyper 11-month old puppy (Vizsla/Weim) that I intend to take on bikes and runs when he’s of age

CURRENT TRAINING: I've steadily ramped up since February. Got injured in May, but before injury, I was around 5 hours of activity per week. I take part in: a masters swim club, a dragonboat group (seasonal, 2 festivals a year), an adult soccer league (weekly games), a rec basketball group (less often). I started to get in the gym in May.

THIS YEAR’S RACES: My priority is my first half ironman distance, Patriots Half in Williamsburg, VA (September). Other than that, I've signed up for: Jamestown gran fondo (June), Virginia/Doswell Tough Mudder (June), DC Dragonboat Festival (June), National Harbor Dragonboat Regatta (August). Earlier this year I did my first half marathon the DC Rock n Roll (March), I missed my second the Alexandria Running Festival HM due to injury (May).

WEIGHT: 5’11" 178

PREVIOUS RACES: Savageman 30 (2:48:48), )Luray Sprint 2013 (1:41:21), Giant Acorn Sprint 2012 (1:19:48), Bath County Sprint 1010 (1:32:08), Patriot Sprint (1:27:37), Rock N Roll Half Marathon 2014 (2:01:25).

GOALS THIS YEAR: Complete a half ironman whilst keeping my run under 9:00 min/mi.

LOOKING FOR IN A MENTOR: Advice and motivation.

Hey Group! I'm in...I'm not sure for what exactly at the moment other than to follow this great group of people, and see Steve through IMCDA. Linda, thanks for the prayers. Glad your dad recovered well. My 95 year old FIL fell yesterday, but thankfully did not break anything. I was sick all weekend and still have the crud. Time to hit the reset button!

I'm back for more Steve


NAME: Jay

STORY: I'm not sure how far back you really want to hear.....I was a three sport athlete in high school (football/basketball/baseball) before I went on to play all three sports during my four years in college. I made the decision as a young man to go to a smaller school to play two sports (even all three for one year) rather than go to a D1 school to play football or baseball. A few years after college, my wife and I decided to get married....and thats when the comfort and weight increase happened. I gained almost 100lbs from my college playing weight a few years into my marraige and didn't like it one bit. Over the course of the next six months after seeing that weight on the scale, I got back into the gym and got within 20 lbs of my playing weight. (this happened back in 2003) I have maintained that weight for the better part of 9 years now. I have contemplated doing bodybuilding competitions in the past but I could never pull the trigger.

That leads me to the last few years. I was given some marathon training books by my wife for XMAS 4 years ago as a gag gift. I had always talked about doing the Boston Marathon so I took the present as a sign to start training for it. I have complete 4 marathons since I got those books (including Boston in 2012) and many more half marathons. In 2012, I decided to take on the challenge of triathlon because HM/FM weren't challenging enough. I've gotten my fitness level to the point where I can run an acceptable (for me) HM time without any training. The next logical step was triathlon so in March 2012, I went to a TI workshop to learn how to swim.


FAMILY STATUS: I have been happily married to my wife (Kiley) for 13 years. We have been blessed with two great kids; Braden 9, and Kaelyn 7.

CURRENT TRAINING: It has been a tough year up until the last 3 weeks but I have my mojo back. I'm doing my own program based on my own bias and what I've leared from Steve the last year and a half. Ideally it will be a 4/4/4 program when I hit it full force.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Pumpkinman HIM in September. This is THE race to see if I move to attempt a full IM next year or if I put that in my back pocket....no pressure though lol.

2013 RACES: Worst year ever! I'm fortunate to have gotten in a Sprint triathlon in August and an Oly in September after a complete tear of my left achilles in 2/13.

WEIGHTLOSS: As with my training, this has started going in the right direction too. Much to my surprise, I have returned to my low carb dieting from last year and I like it.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I take the advice given from the group very seriously and I'd like to think I contribute (a little) to the family atmosphere that Steve has created in past groups (and I'm sure this one as well!)

Steve, how do you feel about my 4/4/4 plan? I'm thinking it will help me improve a little in all 3 disciplines. I plan on doing a long day, medium day, and 2 shorter days..with a pull back every 4 weeks. Increasing bike by 5miles per week (need to bike more right now), swim by 300 per week, and run by 1-2 miles per week. (this is for my long distances every week)

Jay increasing the long bike by 5-10 miles a week is fine, swim by 300 yards a week is fine, run I would try to keep to 1 mile increase on the long per week. You can bump you mid distance and long by 1 mile in the same week, but probably not the long by 2 miles or you open up more risk of injury. You would be better off running the 2nd and 3rd miles harder and keeping hte increased distance to 1 mile per week.

I have done a 5/5/3 plan before, but not a 4/4/4/pan. I just have a really hard time swimming 4 days a week, especialy as the swim distance gets longer. Part of it is that my shoulder doesn't like too much swimming so that is probalby a just me thing. 4/4/4 could work if you can get to the pool 4 days a week. Remember to start out at reasonable distances and build slowly. You can also do a build distance/base for a month or two, then build in some speedwork without increasing distance fora month or two and then try to cary that speed into your next build phase, depending on when your races are.

In my own training I am trying to balance intensity and distance. I may back off the distance a bit next season and work in some more intensity. I am not sure where that line is for ideal training ... work in progress. Only one more hard week before taper... looking forward to that about now, have lots of achy complaining muscle groups. I guess the 1 hour teatherball match with my 16 year old son yesterday probably didn't help with that. Still feeling those jammed fingers.

Oh by the way the 16 year old got a 1 mile PR of 5:05 and finished 3rd in small schools regionals in the 1 mile and 2 mile in track this weekend. He has two more years to knock off another 6 seconds and get into 4 something land for a mile, I am sure he can do it if is coach doesn't slack too much on his training.

Thanks for the input Steve. Ultimately, you could be right about 4 days of swimming impacting my shoulder but I want to give it a shot. I feel like I need to dedicate 4 days to swimming to make sure I have a good swim in September. I've already seen improvement in both my swimming technique and comfort in the water as I've gotten back into the water...we shall see if more means better soon enough. Thanks for letting me know I can go up 10 miles on the bike as well....forgot it was 5-10.

Congrats to your son...that's a blazing fast time!

Your son is quite swift. Can you ask him if he can be my running coach?

Edited by phifatech 2014-05-27 4:21 PM

I'd like to be a part of the group again if I can. I shall try and read and post more actively this time around.

I was wondering what happened to the old thread.

NAME: Anish, 39 y/o from South Carolina.

FAMILY: Married with a very supportive wife (who is getting into running) and two kids

2013 : 3 Sprint Triathlons and 1 Spinternational Distance Triathlon.

2014 events done so far:
April - 1/2 Marathon
May - Lake Murray Triathlon

2014 Goals
3 Sprint Triathlons
1 Olympic Distance
PPD Beach to Battleship 70.3 in October

Overall goals - Graduate from a solid BOP to the MOP. Could use all the help I can get.

Anish, welcome. Your main focus in training at this point is simply to establish a basic training routine. You need to establish base miles on the bike, run and swim that you can then build into some speed. It almost doesn't matter how fast your potential is if you are not able to get in the training to support it. That said life can be challenging schedule wise and I don't know what your challenges are there. So enjoy your base building. In order to complete that fall HIM (with any kind of speed) you will need your monthly workout totals to be larger than your total for the past 5 months. Given that you have around 5 months to build that means starting your HIM plan um.... now.

So.. foggy swim goggles. I had heard that if you put 1 drop of baby shampoo on the inside of your goggles and kind of smear it around covering the inside surface, then add a few drops of water to smooth out the finish (no bumps) and then let it dry that this will help defog your swim goggles. I was a bit skeptical, but ended up trying this out and although not perfect, was a big improvement. The treatment lasted about 3-4 weeks before needing to be redone at a cost of probably nearly 1 cent per month. It basically provides a layer that reduces the surface tension on the fog water drops so that they mush flat and don't beed up to block your vision. Or something like that.

Edited by Baowolf 2014-05-28 11:38 AM

I was lazy today due to the cold/damp weather that hit Mass. I was due to go on my long run but I forgot my Garmin and decided that was a good enough excuse to not run at all. Instead, I lifted, did 15 min on the stairmaster and got in 400 yards swimming. The 400 was good because I got in a new long of 150 consecutive (I'm trying to increase 25yds every session for a new consecutive long distance). My theory is the stairmaster will help with running hills down the road and increasing my long yardage is a good way to work my way back up to a mile consecutive...and eventually more) I'm not sure what tomorrow brings because I had planned on doing my long bike ride then.....I may run and then bike because I don't have a solid base built for the bike yet.

Hey guys have a question for you! I'm starting to notice after running quite a bit that one of my knees seems to be a little more fatigued than the other. It only starts up about 15-20 minutes into the run, which is a little over half way through my runs. I can only think that I either have something wrong with my running form or my right knee(the one that doesn't hurt at all) is stronger than my left. I used to skateboard a lot and the way I pushed put a lot of wear and tear on my right knee. Could my right knee just be stronger than my left? And to clarify it's not pain in my knee, just a kind of ache.

Also I got a membership to my local Y, the only place with a large sized pool in my town, and they don't even offer swim lessons . I'm looking around for personal lessons now and hoping I find someone! What kind of town doesn't have swim lessons?!

Floyd, I have an odd question for you. Do you always run on the same side of the road? The reason I ask is because I hurt my IT band awhile back and it was due to always running into cars. The roads were paved slightly downhill so there was always a little more pressure on my left side...which ultimately lead to my IT problems. So perhaps you need to switch up how you are running? Also, maybe your knees aren't made for asphalt....perhaps some trail running or some boring track work may help.

On the swimming thing....my Y doesn't offer swim lessons for adults either. However, if you ask the lifeguards for some tips, they will share them with you. Most of the lifeguards also teach lessons to kids. If that doesn't work....I strongly recommend trying to find a Total Immersion coach or clinic near you. Its not cheap but its how I learned to swim....not that I swim well....but I went from not being able to swim to doing an Olympic in about a year and a half.

Steve

Just need to bring up something to you last few weeks i have been running mostly indoors because of the heat is creaping up a bit in Texas... Any disadvantage on doing all my runs on a dreadmill i really dont mind up to two hours on a dreadmill.

Thoughts anybody??

Cheers

Carl